Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Virgin no more

A good friend of ours named Loren, who you met in an earlier post, Great day with a mixed bag, asked if we would like to help him pick his new boat up from Suva. This pick-up would involve some fishing as well as getting the boat back to his dock. Who can pass that up?
We set the plan for an early morning departure. It is a 45 minute drive to the boat so we all pile into a taxi before dawn and head out.
There is a chill in the air but as the sun breaks the horizon our bone warm up.
From ChiChi delivery
By the time we reach the boat it has been prepped and is ready to go. Just a few last minute pointers for Loren from the builders and we are ready to go.
From ChiChi delivery
Loren's boat is a 24ft version of my boat. Very stable and comfortable to ride in if we were to run into any bad weather. That was not to be. It was mill pond flat and a real pleasure to be out on it.
From ChiChi delivery
As we left Suva Harbour there is always a plethora of sights to see everything from sunken ships to mega yachts.
From ChiChi delivery
Not forgetting to mention the Supa Blu.
From ChiChi delivery
If you have ever entered of left a large busy harbour with completely inadequate markings, then you will relate to theis image. Myself and Loren trying to find our way out of the harbour.
From ChiChi delivery
We are almost out and here is a shot of the weapons for the day.
From ChiChi delivery
Here is an awesome sailing vessel we passed on our way out.
From ChiChi delivery
Once clear of the harbour we made a bee line to some reefs that looked really fishy on the charts. I insisted that Loren take a few casts while I get to drive his boat.
With the drift set and the water looking fishy Loren and Rosie proceeded to cast poppers towards the reef. It did not take long before we all saw the strike. Loren's popper was violently taken by a good size fish. After a good fight and a couple of guesses as to what the fish was, we finally see that it is a nice Spanish Mackerel (Walu).
This was not only the first fish on the boat, but it was also Loren's first Spanish Mackerel all on the maiden voyage.
From ChiChi delivery
We fished on for a while but nothing else was biting. The weather started to look a little iffy so we decided to head home. The ride was smooth and comfortable and Loren was happy.
Here's a shot of the boat's new home.
Tight lines

3 comments:

Team MiRketti said...

Very scenic pics, and that Spanish Mackerel is one awesome fish. Would have loved to been there for that trip.

Rambling Expat said...

Hi there,

This look like a angler dream...
Nice boat, flat waters, and some pelagic on the poppers...
What else do you want?

Have a good day.

Ben said...

Nice report and cool pics. I know EXACTLY what you mean about navigating without markers!! Here there are some markers but the colours have fallen off, so you have to learn of by heart which way to go...