Out all Night

THIS POST IS FROM MAY 18TH, BUT UNFORTUNATELY DID NOT GET POSTED.

Wish me luck! Its 7:30 pm, in 2 hours I head out in a 4 meter boat for the entire night. A little scary! I should be looking for 40 winks but don't know if I can. Getting to the other side of the reef is no easy task by day as the reef is usually just below the surface making it barely visible. It certainly helps to know where it breaks. By night it is necessary that there is a full moon to illuminate the reef's edge. My new friends speak as little English as I speak French, so it will be a quiet night. I have been waiting to view the night sky without mosquitoes eating me alive. We have mosquitoes from dusk on, so it makes it difficult to lie out. Alana translated a story told by my captain for tonight about catching a shark, reeling him in ,and having to cut the line. I guess the shark swam away and then returned pissed and started to ram the boat. Yikes! He snorkels down 15 meters for 50 to 100 lb fish that he spears. I have seen pictures of him standing beside the cut off head of a hammer head shark that is literally up to his chest, just the head, I wasn't able to get the story behind that one. My new friends live half their life out at sea, and went the extra mile for me. We got back at 9:30am over 12 hours in the water. It went something like this.



Nearly a full moon night, 24C, on rough yet manageable water, and very alone. The first hour I was spent with my last three meals cycling between my stomach and mouth. The second hour the water went calm, the fishing was excellent. No rods just a glove and a line in your hand. Just as I started to get comfortable catching, my friends wife pulled up a smaller blue fin and as she attempted to clear the boat with it a huge Barracuda chomped the entire body away leaving only a very sad looking head.



I can't do this! I need sleep! Ok, what’s the short version.

They ate the bait! Not the fish my friends ate the bait, which of course was very fresh fish, but not my night for sushi. I brought BP& J but it’s still sitting in the 6 ft cooler that is super full of fish. Not a minute of sleep but I stood, sat and lay on the bottom of the boat gazing at the night sky with a line in a gloved hand. Amazing shooting stars and night sky.
It was scary, the only time you can see the reef at night is in the moon light, as it shines a thin silvery line across the water. The reef is miles out, the waters are shark invested around the reef and dangerously shallow but no land. We later fished with rope and foot long bait in 300 ft deep waters. By 3am the temp. dropped to 15.


This morning at six was the best time. The flying fish where travelling above the water for ten seconds without submerging. Manta rays and large predator fish were clearly visible looking and waiting for me too fall from the boat.
The boat ride back took the better part of an hour even at full throttle. It was so choppy I thought that as I bounced up off the cooler lid the boat would disappear from under me. It felt as though each pounding wave was driving my neck further into my body, until my head sat neck less on my shoulders. Even with that, this was the experience I would not have been able to live without. I will remember last night forever.