Good fishing

I got up pretty early and went spear fishing. I found a nice reef on the Southern end of Contodora where I shot a 2 nice groupers. I BBQ’d one for lunch, and fried the other with garlic & onions for dinner, this fishing thing in the Pacific is really working for me.

When I was exploring the reef today, I saw what I thought was a large grouper in a small hole in the reef. When I got closer I thought it was a moray eel and poked it with the tip of my spear gun. It responded to the touch, but not much. I stuck my whole head in the hole and saw that it was the tip of the tail of a nurse shark (about 5 feet long). Nurse sharks are pretty dossal creatures, and quite beautiful, but will bite when threatened. Stupidly in the past I’ve grabbed their tails and let them take me for a ride, I’ve never been bit though, I don’t bother them any more, I just admire them.

After my Grouper lunch I motored back around to the North side of Contodora thinking that the winds would shift to the South-West and it would make a better anchorage, but they have not shifted I think I’m in for a bumpy night…….

45 minutes later.

Hi again, actually I just got back to the South Side again, it really picked up. I HATE, I HATE, I HATE, having to be a human anchor windless. Do you have any idea how hard it is to pull up 150’ of chain with a 40lb anchor in 25kts of wind, and a 3’ sea bearing down on you. I bought a used manual windlass (sea tiger 555) a while ago for $50.00, obviously it didn’t work. I have a guy in Panama working on it, and I prey that he can fix it. If he can, I will install it once my sister leaves, I will dance in happiness every time I use it.

Someone emailed me the correction to Chris’s toast last night, I will have to commit it to memory, and here you go. I’m raising a glass to all my friends whom I’ve never met through my website as I’m typing, thank you for enjoying projectbluesphere.com :

“There are good ships and there are wood ships, and ships that sail upon the sea. But the best ship is friendship, for this shall ever be”.

I have many friends which makes me a prosperous man.

Thank you everyone.

Peace, Love, and friendship.

– Alex