Day 6 – Friday Evening 10 January.

By Grant Chapman.

Shortly after we had settled down for the evening, having finished the daily blog entry and awaiting the tuna bake that was about to be served, things suddenly changed. The game fishing rods off the stern of the boat came alive as something big started running out the line on both reels like there was no tomorrow. Grant leapt off the helm which he handed over to Chris and Marcus was summoned from down below to assist. We considered that we must have hit a school of tuna because few fish are capable of swimming so hard against a boat travelling at 10 knots. As Grant had only brought one of his rod bucket harnesses he and Marcus took it in turns to try and land the fish. It took Grant just under half an hour to work the rod before the fish took its final run close to the boat but as he brought it alongside to gaff the swell in the following sea picked it up and the line vent slack, allowing the fish to shake itself off the lure. This in itself wasn’t a bad thing, provided we could land the second one as we would need to release one anyway, two big fish being far too much for our needs. We just hoped that the fish would survive after such a buildup of lactic acid in its system after its herculean attempt to free itself. Marcus was next and be pressure was on to bring us in some fresh food as our minds concocted all sorts of sushi dishes in anticipation. After a grueling half an hour fight, during which Marcus commented that gym visits had never given him such a good workout he brought the fish to the stern of the boat and Grant gaffed it. Sure enough, it was a blue fin tuna weighing approximately 12 kg. We quickly dispatched if with a blow to the head and secured it to the boat with a rope around the tail.

We suspended the tuna in a bucket on board and proceeded to make incisions to let it bleed out, its highly oxygenated blood a bright red color as is typical of such athletic predators. Need we cut a wedge out of its forehead and reamed it with a piece of stiff wire. Reaming (or pithing) involves pushing a wire down the tuna’s spinal cord to improve the quality of the meat for sushi and most buyers of tuna on world markets like to only buy fish with the ream still in to know that it had been done. The thinking is that the spinal cord releases chemicals into the flesh that damage it during its last moments. Inspecting the stomach contents revealed whole bait fish, squid and shrimps. After gutting the fish and removing the head we sliced off some belly flesh and had it for sashimi with soy sauce and wasabi paste. Our tuna bake that we had put on the back burner during all Re action was served as the main course and proved delicious.

The peninsula in all her glory as we leave the Cape on Day

Peter and Chris on the foredeck in fair winds with the white

Marcus helming with assistant Cathleen in big seas

Lorraine and Ashwyn making our daily beer bread

The ever cheerful Virgil working up some magic in the galley

Skipper Peter at the helm

Navigator Grant with the big purple bag up front

Marcus with Bluefin Tuna