Sail Beausoleil

I bought a gently used fishing rod in a bustling fishing store in Vero Beach, FL on our way South earlier this year. I had them install a brand new non-casting saltwater reel at the same time. They also loaded me up with bait, tackle, books, a net, a gaff, everything I needed to become a “fisherman”.

Each time we anchored I would bait the hook and drop it in the water off the boat. I would usually catch something. In Vero Beach I caught a tiny Pinfish, in West Palm Beach I caught a colorful Lane Snapper, in Miami I caught a bunch of little Sea Bream and Silver Porgy and one medium sized Blue Fish.  Needless to say I threw them all back due to their size.  I had tried trawling behind the boat also when we left Biscayne Bay headed for the Florida Keys.  I couldn’t catch a thing.

Monday morning, May 25th Beausoleil departed Cape Canaveral, FL headed North. We decided to make our way East to the Gulf Stream to see if we could get a couple knot boost in our favor. As we neared the edge of the West side of the Gulf Stream, the sea came alive.  We saw thousands of flying fish, sea turtles, a hammerhead shark, a school of Mahi Mahi, some Wahoo and many other fish we couldn’t identify.

I grabbed my pole, determined to catch something, baited my new metal leader with the “Mahi Jet” lure, looks like a yellow and green squid, and dropped it in the water.  I let out about 300 feet of line to keep the lure from skimming the surface as it was dragged behind the boat.  I secured the rod to the stanchions and went on about my business getting some work done.

Shawna Fishing at Sea

A few minutes later I hear Jon yell “You caught something!”.  I ran up the companionway, grabbed my pole, adjusted the drag up so the line would stop feeding out, and vigorously began reeling it in.  Wow, the fish jumped right out of the water, scurrying and wiggling like I had never seen.  It was a beautiful Mahi Mahi.  I was determined to bring it in, so Jon slowed down the boat and took over reeling for a few minutes.  I took the rod back and began to reel again.  Finally after about 30 minutes, we had tired out the fish and had it up next to the boat.

Mahi Mahi, a.k.a. dorado, or dolphin

Jon grabbed the camera and the gaff hook.  After taking a few pictures of the fish in the water, he hooked the gaff through the gills and brought it on board.  We threw a towel over it’s head/eyes (I was told to have a towel handy and if you throw it over the eyes it will keep the fish from flogging all over the boat – it worked) and began to pour Ouzo into it’s gills.

Fresh Fish

Jon proceeded to filet the fish.  I went below cut the meat from the skin, placed it in double zip lock bags and put it in the refrigerator.  Jon got us underway again, I cleaned up the mess on deck, rinsed my fishing pole and put away my gear.  Finally, I caught something that I could keep!

Look, Dad, I caught a real fish!

We had fish tacos, grilled mahi sandwiches, and grilled mahi steaks for a few days.  There is nothing as good as a fresh caught fish!  Next time I am going after a Yellow Fin Tuna for some Sushi!

Well, due to insurance reasons, we had to get Beausoleil north of Cape Hatteras, NC by the beginning of hurricane season. And to make it fun, our friends Rick and Allen made a bet: who would get to that latitude first – Beausoleil, or Rick and Cindy in Dragonfly? We were delayed in Port Canaveral a bit longer than planned due to our mechanical issues and the weather.

We did, however, hurry north so our insurance company would continue our coverage. We left Port Canaveral on Memorial Day at 0630. We sailed the 300 miles to Charleston, SC in about 37 hours, getting there Tuesday evening at 2045 (8:45pm for you landlubbers). Shawna had some conference calls for work on Wednesday, so we waited til Thursday morning to leave for the Chesapeake.

Leaving Charleston, in a thankfully short rain squall, we actually passed our friends Jack and Alois on Adventurous on the way out. They had sailed up from Fort Pierce, FL. We’re going to visit them in their home waters of the Chesapeake. We continued on, covering the 416 miles to Hampton, VA in 57.5 hours, getting there Saturday, May 30 at 5:00PM.

• Total distance for the trip: 716 nautical miles (824 statute or land miles).
• Total elapsed time: 94.5 hours.
• Average speed: 7.58 knots (8.7 mph).

Even though we cheated by motorsailing, that’s still good time.

And, yes - Dragonfly did beat Beausoleil across that latitude. So Alan had to cough up a bottle of rum to cover his bet with Rick.