Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Ou Pou July 3 - July 4

On July 3rd we left at 4:30AM to head for Ou Pou. It was a 65 mile trip and we wanted to make sure we had enough daylight to get there. It gets very dark, very quickly here at about 6PM. The trip got off to a bad start when we the watermaker would not turn on. At first we assumed it was a belt problem we had had before, but pretty quickly ruled that out. Seems like power isn't getting to the unit, but it was too rocky and rolly for us to do much after determining that.
Things got much much better however when we were motoring along the shore of Ou Pou, not far from our destination harbor, when all of a sudden the fishing reel started screaming. Jeff grabbed the reel and Angie slowed the boat down and Fred went below for the gaff. After quite a fight Jeff managed to bring the fish alongside the boat and Fred gaffed it like he'd been gaffing his whole life. And what do you know, it was a 10-12 pound skipjack tuna! Hooray! The guys got the thing bled and filleted pretty quickly. We were left with 2 big ziplock bags of beautiful red meat and a deck that was covered in blood. Really looked like a murder zone. About 3 hours later, Jeff turned some of that fish into a fabulous dinner of seared tuna with stir fried rice. It doesn't get much fresher than that.
However, Fred and Jeff were not very impressed with the quick trip they made into town after anchoring, so the next morning Fred went back in super early, got us some more fresh baguettes and we headed on to Nuka Hiva to have Jeff's birthday there.

3 comments:

Lee said...

It is SO good to get these updates from you!!! Sounds like you're having a blast, as expected!!! Wish Jeff a belated 'happy birthday' for me. Miss you!

Parson Paul said...

I am glad to hear that all is going well. I am very jealous it sounds like a great trip. Keep us informed. Uncle Paul

Anonymous said...

I am living vicariously through the 3 of you and hanging on every word! Sounds like you are all having the times of your lives! Have fun and be safe!

Julie, Barry, and the girls