Day 22 Big tuna

Counting down at midnight
The Highlight of the day
Position - 04º04S x 133º56W
A day of variety - The mist closed in at dusk last night and the squalls started shortly thereafter. We hand steered through the night as the autopilot was overpowered by the wind. Around dawn when Mark was on watch, a ship passed within a half mile of our starboard going in the opposite direction. Mark tried to hail them on the VHF radio but got no response. Through the binoculars, he could pick out people on the deck of the ship. In the gloom, it looked like another Japanese fishing boat. We assume they are after tuna.
The rain and squalls continued throughout the morning and although we enjoyed deck rainwater showers, our mood was tempered by the fact that the cabin was a hostile place of turbulence, heat and wet and dirty clothes.
In the early afternoon there was a brief respite as we sailed between storms. Suddenly the fishing reel sang out and Kurt belted up for battle. For the next 30 minutes, it was man against fish. This was our eighth fish but it was clearly larger than anything we had caught before. At the beginning, the fish was taking out line even though Kurt struggled to control him. Finally the fish tired and was brought little-by-little closer to the boat. When we finally caught a glimpse of him under the water, we knew we were in for a treat - a yellowtail tuna - and a big one. Mark helped bring him on board with the gaff and filleted him on deck. Tuna are an amazing animal. It seems that 90% of the animal is muscle but when it is cut into strips it is unimaginably tender - it melts in your mouth. Also surprising is that the meat is warm to the touch - warmer than the water from which it was taken. When we finally got everything cut into steaks, we had 24 steaks that were at least one pound each. The fish must have weighed close to 35 pounds. We have big plans for sushi, seared ahi steaks, tuna salad and tuna casserole. See the “Big Tuna page for more pictures”
Although the rest of the day was rainy and squally, our fishing success helped our mood even though we our dinner was once again cup-o-soup.