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If you found this blog via a link from a cruising site ~ we did cruise Mexico on our Ocean 49 cat for a season. See the first text box on the right for links to our preparations, trip down Baja, life in Mexico, cruising and trip back up to SoCal. Unfortunately we are back to the grind in the USA...

Friday, October 24, 2008

Bonanza to No Name Cove #7 ~ Dorado Day

Up ~ me finally feeling better ~ Yipee!
I even had some coffee.

Jim pulled up the anchor and headed out to the fishing grounds.
Motored around a bit ~ a little windy and lumpy at first.

Then a "ZING"!
Jim pulled it in and COLOR!
It's a DORADO!
Grab the gaff!
I hold the pole and Jim gaffs.
Then gaffs and gaffs and gaffs and gaffs.
The fish avoids and avoids, swims under the boat and avoids some more.
Finally gaff success!
Slippery on the deck.
Blood everywhere.
Put the dorado in a trashbag in the cockpit.
Jim drives and searches for more.
I clean the starboard deck.

We search for splashes, search for birds working, search for activity and ZING!
Caught another!
And it's another dorado!
But caught on the line on the other hull.
Another elusive one ~ she gets gaffed on the first try, but spits the hook out and slides off of the gaff onto the deck and tries to slide back into the water.
Not going to happen...
Jim bellyflops onto the fish.
Blood everywhere.
I grab the hook.
Grab the sliding away gaff.
Blood everywhere on Jim, me and the port deck.
This dorado goes into the trashbag with the first dorado.
After we we? did I say we? hit this one on the head with a winch handle.
So Jim drives the boat again, and I clean the deck again.

We meet up with "Sweet Lorraine" on the other side of the Channel and head up the island.

Now the boat line gets a fish!
Pull, pull, pull the line in (just a line out, not on a fishing pole with a reel) and grab the gaff again, oh yeah, color again, another dorado!
Pull, gaff and now there is blood everywhere on the first deck I cleaned.
Had to use the winch handle again...
More blood.
New trashbag.
Jim drives once again, and I clean the starboard deck for the second time.
Ok enough of this, but a record for this boat!Whale.
Lumpy as we make our turn towards the island.
Watch out for the whale.

In to our favorite cove and wait for Dave and Kellie to make sure they like it before we anchor.
They like.
We anchor.
And now we we? did I say we? have three fish to filet.
So out comes the fish, filet knife and blood.Now we have blood everywhere in the cockpit.
I somehow got out of cleaning this time...

Time for a swim / float!

I made brownies and prepared the sour cream, dill, mint and caper sauce for the fish.

Dave and Kellie come over for hora feliz and a wonderful dinner of fresh dorado, salad and garlic potatoes!

Watched the planets and stars come up.
Another beautiful night at a beautiful island.

5 comments:

judith said...

That reads just like it was taken from "An Embarrassment of Mangoes" what a life. I'm so jealous...sitting here with my fingers so cold they won't hit the correct keys. I want your recipe for the sour cream stuff.

Jim and Heather on Meerkat said...

Except we didn't include any fruit. She was great with fruit. I'm trying to remember what other cruising books I have read that I enjoyed (blank brain). "A Curve of Time" by M. Wylie Blanchet - might be hard to find. I am going to do a post on it shortly.
Sour cream stuff is about a tablespoon of mayo, 3-4-5 tablespoons of sour cream, 1/2-1teaspoon of crushed mint (fresh would be great, but I only had dried), 2 teaspoons of dill, sometimes a small handfull of minced red onion, and a tablespoon of capers if you have it. Mix together and put in fridge for awhile. A little bit of olive oil in the pan, put fish in, spread some of mixture over each piece, when cooked 1/2 thru, flip and spead a little more mixture on top. The mixture will cook and melt. When done, pull fish and cooked sauce and put in dish. Reserve some of the uncooked mixture to add to top of each piece. Simple, easy.
We are happy to have 75 degrees at 8 am!!!

Anonymous said...

YUM, I know what we're having for dinner tonight, I just wish my fish wasn't frozen. I want your life... can we trade? I'll even barf if I have to and I hate barfing, it make me sick to barf. I'll even keep my sick grumpy hubby, I just want a boat!!!! Even one that rolls like a pig!

Meghan said...

Mmmm... Garlic potatoes.

Ewwwww..... Capers.

Me and my dad both HATE capers.

Alaskan Dave Down Under said...

Any chance of you mounting a webcam next time so we can watch the carnage?

The recipe sounds good, gonna try it with some hoki I have.