Punta Baja and the Fish That Didn’t Get Away

Punta Baja (29 57 206N 115 48 138W)

Environmental conditions: Air and water temp cold, but Rand had to take cruiser shower (brrr) to clean the bonito off (haha!).

Fridge temp: Perfect

Battery state: 13.2V (i.e., perfect)

Papa’s bday! Weighed anchor about 0850 in San Quintin and within a couple of hours, we were under full sail and decided to drop a hand line in the water in hopes of catching dinner. Humdeedum… Nuthin’. We enjoyed a lovely sail while listening to our “Boat Party” playlist (thank you, Tannika!),but still no bites on the line. Until that is, Capt. Randy started his anchor buoy splicing project AND we were within a few miles of the anchorage, then, you guessed it, FISH ON! And it was a nice-sized bonito (~10-12 lbs?)! Jody’s uncle, Nobi, would have been so proud! We hauled it in and, well, then, had to figure out what to do next. For those of you who don’t know, Rand is not a fisherman and Jody is mostly a vegetarian. She will eat fish if she knows where it came from and/or it is on the Monterey Bay Aquarium “green list.” Well, she knew where this guy came from and it was on the end of our hook, so it was time to get da boat a little messy. Despite some adrenaline pumping, Rand did an awesome job of, um, putting it out of its misery and preparing it for filleting (i.e., letting it bleed out — yikes! Did I really just say that?! Sorry, Court and Kristin).

“There are few things in this world that I know less about than fishing.” – Capt. Randy

Once the catch was secured and the gear somewhat organized, we got back to the task of sailing into the anchorage and getting settled. It was super rolly and swelly, but the holding was good and we were home for the night. Captain Fishguts filleted his prize beautifully and we took a little dinghy tour around the bay to look for surfing opportunities, but got shut out. It was back to the boat where we finally reciprocated by making T/K grilled bonito for dinner. AND there was lots left for the new freezer. All in all, a good day.