Sheilagh's Two Cents

Jim's blogs are keeping track for us and our family and friends of where we are and what we're doing. I'm so glad because I forget (or don't need to know) what day it is!

I'm putting fingers to keyboard because I want to be able to put myself back into some of the smaller moments that flavor this trip for me.

This mornings' inspiration comes from a tiny crab slipping sideways under water--he's traveling along the submerged dinghy rope for some crabish reason. Our mornings start with the local fishermen swarming into this lagoon for netting bait fish. They come in in pangas, about 3 to a boat and the lead/forward man arranges the net over his shoulder, continually straightening and sorting the lead weights that pull on the edges until the men spot a pelican or other fishing bird make a kill. Then they power the boat over to that spot and the net man flings out his net in an almost perfect circle and he pulls in the haul. The boats wind around the lagoon amongst the yachts for about an hour and then are gone. Later today there will be smaller skiffs with lone fisherment either net fishing or overseeing a partner with flippers and mask. A plastic coke or milk bottle marks the diver down and the swimmer hands over oysters into the boat as he gets a new breath of air. Less sophisticated, but apparently successful, fishermen use coke bottles with the line wound around the middle--they grab the neck of the bottle to fling out the hook and weight then turn it sideways again to wind in their catch. People make use of everything!

Later in the day the pelicans get busy. During low tide they hang out on the mud flats, the fisherman's shack (and I DO mean shack) that sits on stilts, and various poles that stick out of the mud. They're experts at spotting fish-cleaning operations and jockey for position to catch the skin, bones and guts that the fishermen throw over as they prepare their catch. When the pelicans are not hanging around for a free meal, they cruise on the updrafts to spot fish. When they spot something they shift, lock on their target, compact them selves and dive. Last thing that fish ever knows! I don't know what a pelican weighs but they make a tremendous, noisy and wet cannonball splash--they've jarred me out of a quiet read many a time!

I've caught 2 fish with, I'm sure, more effort than those pelicans! We have a setup for dragging a line off the back of the boat. Each time that I've fed out the line with its bright yellow lure and hook I've giggled at my resemblence to Napolean (Dynamite) trailing his super-hero doll out the back of the school bus (you'd have to have seen the movie to get the reference!).

Both fish were tuna, maybe 10 lbs., I'd guess. I read a lot about proccessing (i.e. killing, pithing, bleeding, gutting and filleting) before I started on the first one and it was as messy as it sounds and very time-consuming by the time I cleaned it all up. I hung around some local guys at one small anchorage and learned a lot aboaut how they do it all--it cut the time and mess in 1/2 and I'm encouraged (and I pour vodka into the gills to make it at least look less painful to kill them). Then the cooking part (no, we don't like sushi too much). I'd rather cows could be caught off the back of a boat (probably make that processing a proportionately bigger nightmare!). A couple who know a lot about a lot stopped by for a visit the day after we caught the last tuna and stayed to show me how to prepare a really good-tasting fillet--their pay was getting to eat 1/2 of it!

The second, less-messy tuna along with the fishing line in my left hand

and my pre-haircut

So now I have to go back and finish reading my book so we can bring it to do trades at a pot luck this evening. Work, work, work!