Catch of the day

In windless conditions motoring is rather boring. And Tuesday morning the wind was nowhere to be found in Buzzards Bay. Now, one thing that the bay had going for us last time was catching a fish, so we were hoping that luck would be on our side this time as well.

Leo decided to go on the floaty behind the boat and was shortly joined by Peter. I wasn't sure how secure they would feel there, so I started with gentle 4 knots and then ramped up to 6.5. To spice things up further I started doing zigzags and then circles. That created a bit of action that made the kids laugh and ask for more.

At one point Leo almost fell off the floaty but stubbornly held on and was able to get back on after I stopped SG. The second time the front edge dug into a wave and went under the water, both kids ended up in the water. We quickly resolved the "man overboard" situation and got them dry and warm.

As we were approaching the canal entrance we saw terns diving for fish. Terns are one of Mark's favorite birds: whenever they start diving for fish it's a clear indication that a big fish like bluefish are hunting for small fish driving them up to the surface. This gives fishermen an opportunity to cast a lure and hope that the big guys mistakenly go after the lure instead of the fish. For half hour we circled around trying to get one of the big fish. Papa caught a black sea bass, but it was too small and we released it. Ultimately we gave up and went into the canal.

As we passed Sandwich marina, Mark and I contemplated whether we needed to pull in or keep going hoping to find a place to drop the anchor. After we looked at the chart more carefully and noticed that the bottom was sandy we decided to go a couple of miles away from the canal and drop the hook.

Peter took out the fishing rod and dropped the lure into water. I was steering to avoid the lobster pots. As I passed one of the pots the line of the rod started spinning. Fish!? Motor stopped (what if the caught on the lobster pot) we started to reel the line in. It provided some resistance, but very steady. And then there was a jerk on the line. Yes, definitely a fish!

With care the line was reeled in and lead into the net that Mark was holding. Beautiful bluefish!

Bluefish are commonly found off the Northeast coast, but I've never seen them sold in Europe. It's an oily fish with slightly blue tint of the flesh, perfect for grilling.

After a swim the fish was cleaned, head and tail preserved for soup, and the rest grilled. Perfect portion for 6 hungry sailors!

After dinner we were treated to the most spectacular sunset of this trip! Perfect day on the water even if we never unrolled the sails!