Holy crap, I didn't think it would be possible to bring in something like that on a handline without a smooth working drag. Did he jump much? Billfish often spend a lot of time in the air.

sounds like he jumped right into the skillet, but I’m not a fisherman.

i'd love to be able to go out on a boat and catch fresh fish to eat. How does a random non sailor person do this? Any companies that run simple boat tours for random strangers that aren't cruises where people just catch fish and shoot the breeze?

They're generally called party fishing boats. Dunno if they have them on the east coast but they have them in San Diego.

I think I’m set on a trans-Atlantic for two weeks from now on a 57’ custom cat, assuming the rigger in St Martin finishes in time.

What did you think of that boat? It’s on our short list. We just chartered a 450F and thought the helm was poorly set up for single handing.

They are everywhere. More generally, any kind of day charter fishing operation would do it.

The term "charter" usually means it's for 1-5 people, friends or family, and costs a lot more than a party boat. A party boat means multiple individuals, not "whoo", as in any person can walk up (assuming it's not full) and pay a fee to rent tackle and fish. There might be 10 people, there might be 20. The boats are usually set up for seating for eats and a small kitchen/snack bar inside.

p4b - one initial jump on the strike, but all I saw at the time was a huge splash. It stayed under all the way to the boat. I tried to keep the line as parallel to the water as possible the entire time. No drag on a handline but you can give the fish a little play manually.

Sandra - fishing like you are thinking is pretty going to be via a fishing charter boat or doing a bareboat charter on your own. Or making friends with some fishermen.

NS4U - 450S is too big a topic for my 2G internet. There are things I like and things I don't like, but those are mostly Lagoon related rather than the model itself. They definitely cheaped out on a few things like quality of clasps, brackets, hinges, etc.

In Virginia, you normally see those called “head boats” although anyone will know what you mean if you call them party boats.

Just dropped anchor in the lagoon of the Makemo atoll in the Tuamotus after a 3 day sail down from Nuku Hiva. Only have a single bar of E strength signal so still no photos. The water here is impressively clear. Dodged a few pearl farm lines on the way in but the lagoon is mostly clear overall.

Caught a decent wahoo the day before yesterday on the way from Nuku Hiva down. Brought it in on a hand line fast enough that the squid skirt was undamaged and no chew on the mono, which was a nice bonus. Should be enough for about 4 full crew meals or so. Small tuna the day before was good for dinner that night.

Going to atoll hop for the next few days then make the run to Tahiti.

How long was the wahoo? They can get pretty big.

not too big, maybe 1m / 3ft or so. I'll put up a photo if i ever get wifi or 3G+ again

dropped anchor in a different part of the atoll today. a few black tip reef sharks showed up and took up residence underneath. immediately jumped in and got some bad gopro footage, one decent sized shark let me get pretty close which was nice. he had two remoras and a couple of pilot fish attending. another smaller shark was missing part of one of his pectorals, named him Lefty.

going to make wahoo for dinner and attempt to bungee my gopro to the swim ladder just under the surface, then lure the sharks in closer with wahoo scraps for some sweet closeup vids. that plan sounds pretty good right now but actual execution may have varying results

Sailing in a nutshell

Man, I just do not like sharks, from my fishing experience. Caught a couple small ones (5 footers) that looked exceedingly nasty, they would eat fish I was reeling in, steal expensive lures, etc. One hung out under our boat that was the same length as the boat (17 feet). Yikes.

Chopstick,

Since you're traveling for quite a while already, I feel like this would be a good place to ask this question.
What is the best bank to use while your traveling? So which usually has the lowest costs for getting different currencies?

T - that's not something I'm qualified to answer. Guess I'd say to find a bank with no foreign transaction fees, ATM reimbursement, and quality 24/7 support.

Currently in Tonga, made landfall here a couple days back after sailing out of French Polynesia to Palmerston Atoll in the Cooks, then Niue after that. Palmerston was a trip. Chased parrotfish into a net by running thru the water on a reef, then broke their necks by hand while fending off sharks with a wooden spear. There the scraps to the sharks who went into a legit feeding frenzy.

Some time in Tonga, then on to Fiji.

landed that one on a handline a couple days ago on the passage from Niue to Tonga. we were going 8kts when it hit and they refused to slow the boat down under 5kts so it wasn't the easiest to land but eventually got it on board after a long battle. would have been a lot easier with a rod and reel but ofc much less memorable. it's another short bill spearfish, a little bigger than the last one at around 2m/6ft+ long. the boat freezer is now complete jam packed full.

An Aussie boat we met in Palmerston crashed on the reef on entry to Niue the same day we arrived there. The owners survived and were rescued but the boat is totaled. They are adamant that they struck an uncharted reef 5nm east of Niue but there isn't anything there as far as Niue SAR believes.

Another boat broke free of its mooring at Niue but some fisherman saved it before it crashed on the reef. No one was aboard at the time.

Yet another boat we met at Niue hit something unidentified about 50nm west of Niue on their way to Tonga the day after we left, and had to immediately abandon ship. They were lucky that two other sailboats were only a couple of hours away also on the same route, and were rescued by them from their liferaft but their boat sank and they lost everything. They had also struck something unidentified two days before Niue landfall but had only lost part of their toe rail.

A few good reminders of how dangerous sailing can be.

Tonga is pretty sweet.

Just landed in USA#1 after living on a boat the past 3 months. Thanks for all the advice, Chop.

For me, I think it’s Charles Schwab. No foreign fees, rebate ATM fees, best exchange rates.

chop,

If you're getting around Tonga and get up to Vava'u, might check out La Paella restaurant. IIRC, it's on a smaller, nearby island.

A Spanish couple runs this little place. The man gets out his guitar and plays a bit after dinner, a nice evening.

YVVM, and it's been 10+ years since I was there, so there's that.

Appears to be unlucky and dangerous to meet you on a boat right now.

Thanks for taking the time to answer.

Your stories are still inspiring, so I took some sailing lessons and now started traveling, slowly looking to get some sailing in when I arrive in the south east of Australia! Thanks for all the stories!


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Beautiful, unlucky fish

Bump

Bump

Oh, the ironing.

Not exactly as planned, but found a boat to join while traveling. Took a passage from Fiji to New Zealand as a first sail trip ever. Had a good time, caught 2 fish and filled one myself with the help from this topic.

After coming back re-read this whole topic and it's still awesome to read, especially after visiting some of the countries that you've been. Also downloaded Polytopia, and it is addicting!

Thanks a lot for all the stories, hope your doing good