Fish on!

Right after our last posting, Mark laid down to take a short nap before his 5-9 watch, and I blissed out on deck. Just at the moment I was settling into complacency about our daily routines, I noticed that the snubber on our fishing line was stretched taut. I ran below and woke Mark with a shout of "fish on!". After years of practice going from sleep to being absolutely awake, he didn't waste a minute. We hauled in a beautiful 10 lb. striped bonito, and put it to death with an amazing technique I'd
read about in a cookbook my friend Debbie gave us for a wedding gift. Vodka. Yes, it's true, a healthy squirt of inexpensive vodka to the gills of this fish, and she never knew what hit her. It was so much more civilized and humane than the usual bludgeoning. Bonito is in the same family as tunas, so the meat is delicious. We had seared fillets for dinner that night, ceviche yesterday and tonight's dinner is a Sicilian recipe for slow-roasted tuna with tomatoes and spices. I was very grateful for
this beautiful fish, and I'll post a picture when we get to an internet connection.

We arrived in Bahia Magdalena yesterday afternoon, anchoring around 3 p.m. We saw a number of gray whales, both outside and inside the bay. We found a spot to ourselves, a little to the north of Puerto Magdalena, in 15 feet of water, looking at the dunes of Isla Magdalena. It was great to turn off the engine, and get a good night's sleep last night. Today, we inflated the dinghy and went ashore. It felt glorious to walk, so we spent a few hours on land, hiking across the dunes to Bahia Santa Maria,
and back. We had two coyotes come near, got incredibly close looks at a peregrine falcon and savored the absolute peace and quiet. Tomorrow we're planning to explore Howland's Lagoon in the dinghy at high tide. It looks interesting on the chart, and from the water with binoculars.

~ Michelle