Bonfire Feast

In the last two days, we have spent four and a half hours trolling and six man hours spearfishing (Dominic with the speargun, me with the Hawaiian sling), and all we have to show for it are a few scales falling listlessly through the water. We had two solid bites on the line, one as we left the pass in Foa, one as we entered the pass in Uoleva. We got a few good shots off on parrot fish and a job fish hiding in the coral, but all fish lived to tell the tale. Mother Nature 4, Dolcis 0.

Not all boats have been so ill fated. Toccata, a South African sloop, caught three large mahi-mahi and one enormous wahoo and fed all ten the boats in the anchorage at a barbecue and bonfire we had on the beach last night. Brad, the lead fisherman onboard, shared some of his secrets to building successful lures: use red electrical tape to join many hooks together, then use a crips wrapper (potato chip bag) to make shiny silver and blue home made squid skirt. We’re working on it.

In the meantime, the coral and underwater scenery here is fantastic. We saw whales while cruising to Uoleva; in the water we’ve seen spotted eagle rays, black tip sharks, and more fish than we’ve seen since the Tuamotus. The beach is clean, soft, and expansive. We’re thrilled to see a week’s worth of calm weather in the forecast, so we can kick back and enjoy our last few weeks in the tropics for the season.