Fantastic fisherman

The one that didn't get away!

We’ve towed a line for 10,000miles in the Med and caught a handful of fish, mostly mackerel.   In Greece we came painfully close to hooking some big tuna – but ended up just losing a lot of gear.  In Corsica this season schools of tuna taunted us – swimming alongside Bandit for miles, surfing the waves beside us and even leaping out of the water like dolphins.....but completely ignoring our lures.  Apparently, tuna will only take the lure if they are hungry and this lot weren’t.

But halfway between France and Menorca our luck changed.  We already lost one lure to something seriously big so knew there were fish out there.  At around 4pm on a hot day, as we hummed along at about five knots the line suddenly whizzed and the rod bent at an alarming angle indicating there was something serious hooked.  Thirty minutes later and we had a huge tuna on deck.  I wouldn’t have made a good cavewoman – I desperately pleaded with David to let it go....but the poor thing was pretty much dead.  And...later that night.....after eating sashimi then tuna steaks with salsa verde, any thoughts of pity for the fish had faded.  It provided enough tuna for 10 meals for the two of us – thanks to the freezer.

That was the highlight of a fairly ordinary two day/two night sail from Porquerolles in the south of France to Menorca.  The wind was frustrating at times (usually early morning and early evening) but we managed to sail most of the way.