Fishing

Well the wind is still howling in the British Virgin Islands! Shock to the system to see a lot of boats around as well. Tonight when we went by the bight on Norman about 4 PM every mooring ball was taken and there were boats anchored all over the place in between the moorings! yeeks!! We anchored in Privateer and there is probably 20 boats anchored here tonight.
It has been a busy day. The boys took the guests up to see the Great House at Peter, and spied this cute little Iguana on the way...

Then it was diving for a couple, snorkeling and kayaking before lunch...I have gotten really into lately making some off beat breads that have been usually turning out quite well. Today was green onion with Rosemary and Thyme...



After lunch we went for a sail and a fish, here we are waiting for the one that got away!

It was off to the Indians for an afternoon dive, and the girls saw a 18 inch shark when they got in the water and promptly walked on water to get to the ladder and were trying to both launch themselves on at the same time. I wish I would have had a picture! It was funny!! Cocktail hour was banana coladas...

The sunset tonight was spectacular, and these pictures have not been touched at all! What glorious colors!

This one turned out rather well also with the flag of the BVI in front of it...

2o minutes later this is what the sunset looked like, it was very muted...

****FOR THOSE WHO DON'T LIKE FISH AND SHARK CATCHING READ NO FURTHER. DO NOT EMAIL ME AND TELL ME THAT YOU DISAGREE WITH FISHING OR WHATEVER, JUST PUT THE BLOG PAGE DOWN AND WALK AWAY, GO ON, YOU CAN DO IT!******
No fish were harmed (well, except the bait fish the large fish ate!) in the making of this blog and he was released and off like a torpedo!
For those who do like pictures of big fish and believe that we may actually have a shark or two in the waters down here, this was a pretty exciting night! We caught bait fish, and then put out the lines. We usually have pretty good luck with big fish off of privateer bay we do and tonight was the biggest one we have ever caught! Glen had him on the line and reeled him in like a master, it took him about 40 minutes and we had a couple scares thinking he might go under the anchor chain.

Can you figure out what he is? We use a lasso to bring him on board so we don't have to gaff him before we throw him back. The funny thing was that we all were screaming and pulling and taking pictures. We put one of the smallest guests on the line to pull and this baby was 6 feet long and weighed over 200 lbs! To Melissas credit, she did not let go, but did fall over.

Look at the teeth on this Bull Shark! It was amazing to watch and see....

Funny our proud fisherman did not really want to get too close to him for pictures though. We had to bring him on board with a halyard he was so large!

This whole procedure happened, guess when, about the time we went to put dinner on the table as usual, generally when we catch big fish and made dinner an hour late!i

Guess I better finish off the blog from this charter week so I can get onto the next one! We obviously saved the best fishing for last, as we had quite an exciting night. A few tarpon were hooked, but none landed and I had already been in bed for awhile when I was told I should come with my camera. That always means something big to me! It was a Reef Shark! They just about had him at the boat by the time I arrived...

I just keep on thinking when I see the guys with these toothy creatures on deck that they are going to lose a toe! (nothing else is long enough I am sure to get caught, just a toe!!)

Bazza was doing the complicated task of trying to let the shark free while holding his towel up at the same time. We were all giggling about that. Second popular item of clothes on the boat after pajamas are towels!! We just get larger ones as us and our guests get...older

All else were at a respectable distance with their toes right out of the way...

The next day was an early start, to get people back to Road Harbour to catch ferries. We had a new captain as well! John we had put to work the last couple days quite a lot barbecuing and helming...He seemed to stay away from the dishes though and also thinks, like me, that his working conditions should include Satellite TV!

I love this picture of Amy going on the mats watching the harbour come up!

We sent them all on their way to the airport only to have the airport close because of a small plane that crash landed. I did not hear about this until last night and the news online said that a lot of people had been stranded at the airport for hours and rerouted over night. Since I never heard from our guests I thought they managed to get out ok, which they did, just a longer day!
So, once again the bi annual vacation comes to an end, but a good week was had by all. I remembered what sore feet were about 2 days into the week. You lie in bed at night and your feet throb in and out all night long! Takes a few weeks for your feet to get over being bruised!...and I don't have nearly enough time to socialize now either!
They left some nice comments in our guest book, and we were on a flurry to get cleaned up and turned around for our next charter, a short 24 hours later...

Jim and I had a wonderfully relaxing week...amazing how you can slow down after keeping such a hectic pace at home...and how good that feels! Thank you for accomodating our special "food" allergies and needs. You did a great job and the food was delicious. We always looked forward to the bell ringing for mealtime. We appreciate all your special efforts and hard work. We became attached to the boat and especially the crew after 5 days...We hope to be back LINDA AND JIM

Well the fourth trip was as good as the first! The days just fly by so fast- great diving, food, drinks and friends. Thank you for all you do to accomodate all ten of us. We loved having Simeon back, our "Dive Nazi" he's the best! Best of luck with your season and we hope to see you again in 2010 JOHN AND AMY


Wow! After 4 times, you never cease to amaze us! Each time is better and better. We love you all and sharing your home for a week is fabulous. The diving, the food, happy hours and bar hopping. You make every minute special. This is the trip all of our "other" friends are envious of! Simeon, sorry 'bout all the jabbing, but its just like having the ole crew back together again. See you all in 2010 TERRY AND JANET

Thanks for a wonderful week. Once again Kathleen and i had a great time. The SCUBA was great (once Kathleen figured out how to get her gear together) The food was wonderful (the diet starts tomorrow) and relaxing time with friends can't be beat. We look forward to coming back in 2 years when our photos from this trip will seem like pictures from our youthful days once again. Have a great season. SCOTT AND KATHLEEN

Another wonderful week. Your knowledge and guidance always sets the scene for fun days, day after day. As a matter of fact, a week vacation feels more like a two week! The hospitality and atmosphere make it easy to unwind quickly and adopt the island ways. Or was that the painkillers? Thanks so much for everything! JENNIFER AND BILL

I just took this off of BVI News online..

Under powers contained in Section 43 of the Constitution the Governor may exercise clemency in relation to any person convicted of an offence in the BVI having first consulted the Prerogative of Mercy Committee.

The strong expressions of public concern in relation to the incarceration of Richard Baker for fishing in a non registered vessel and without a license convinced the Governor that clemency should be considered as an option. The Prerogative of Mercy Committee met on Friday 2nd November to review the case.

In the light of the advice of the Committee the Governor has decided to exercise clemency. In doing so he is particularly conscious of the following factors: a) that Richard Baker had caught no fish at the time he was arrested, b) that Richard Baker is the first recent case of illegal fishing leading to a prison sentence, c) that he has already spent six weeks in jail, and d) that the Premier has undertaken to bring forward amendments to the law in particular to reduce the hefty sentences for illegal recreational fishing.

The Governor shared the concern of the Prerogative of Mercy Committee about a certain belligerence that Richard Barker had displayed in court. Mr. Baker has now written to the Governor and the Senior Magistrate apologising to the people of the BVI for violating our laws and for any inappropriate behaviour exhibited in court.

Following receipt of these apologies the Governor has now written to Richard Baker commuting the fine for illegal fishing to the period he has already served in prison. This means that with the $1000 fine for illegal entry already paid, he will be free to leave Balsam Ghut.

In reaching this conclusion the Governor expressed thanks to all those involved both in the trial and the clemency process. He wishes to make it clear that the clemency extended to Mr. Baker in no way reflects criticism on the Senior Magistrate who in the Governor’s view acted professionally in applying a law which in many people’s estimation is now outdated and in need of amendment.

I took this from BVI News this morning. Yeah for Premiere O'Neal!

In light of the growing international media spotlight on the Richard Baker case, Premier and Minister of Finance and Tourism Hon. Ralph O’Neal has pledged to review the fisheries legislation which he described as ridiculous.

He said: “… In the legislation if a local person is caught fishing in an unlicensed boat or he doesn’t have a license, he can be fined up to $50,000 and an alien can be fined up to $500,000; now I think that that is almost ridiculous therefore this matter will be discussed in our caucus. We will consider whether those fines should be reduced especially in view of the fact that our coastal waters are now 12 miles; and there may be other matters that we need to attend to in looking at the legislation.”
At Monday’s press briefing, Premier O’Neal was asked if he could do anything about Baker’s incarceration and he said it is up to the Governor.

“The fact is this, I don’t know if you know about the division of powers. You have the judiciary, you have the legislative and the executive, and the executive cannot interfere with the judiciary. The ministers of government cannot do anything…. But the governor can use his powers of pardon if he thinks he should do it.”

The Premier said amending the legislation could run into December or January 2008.

“It all depends on the various agencies that we have to deal with. The matter will have to be discussed with caucus, then the Ministry of Natural Resources and Labour prepare Cabinet paper, then Cabinet will consider it, then it will go to the legislature, and a bill as you know have to be read three times,” O’Neal explained.

A couple pics from yesterday of Great Thatch and West End, looking very pleasant and empty (well except for the ferries that hunt us out everywhere we go!)

We always have one of the barges that likes to go between us and the shore in Baughers Bay seeing how close they could come, and to my chagrin I heard them coming at West End last night while I was down below (a distinctive sound) and I went up, and yep, there was the same barge coming as close as they could to us!

This is not a good picture, but you can see a close up of what a tarpon gill looks like

And another lousy picture, but I see very few decorator crabs here and this one was out walking around in the sand last night. They decorate themselves with all kinds of coral and the like.

We went over to White Bay on Jost today, hoping the ATV's would be around, but no luck, so the guys went metal detecting for a bit on the beach, and came back with an entire .76 cents for two hours work! They better not lose there day jobs...

We wandered up by Sandy Spit and Little Jost Van Dyke to spend the night. Beautiful here, nothing around at all. We spent a few hours fishing, and there is no bait fish where we are so the tarpon by the hundreds are staying out of the lights. We barbecued some steaks and caught quite a few fish. I took a picture of this Isopod, they are a parasite who live on the fish by their eyes all the time. They don't seem to hurt them, but I have wanted a good picture of one for quite a long time!

Wade did catch a couple big jacks tonight, here is one of them.

Now it is bed time! I am really into the second season of Lost and even though I am trying to stretch it out, I watched 4 episodes last night!!! The seasons don't last long that way!

Kick those little Mahi aside!
Although not edible it is the most exciting fish that has been caught on the boat since our Wahoo's!
For those fishermen in the know: It was caught on 15 lb line and took about an hour. Weighed almost a hundred pounds!!
I was told "fish on" and none of us move too fast as our hopes have been dashed so many times this week! Eventually we all gathered on the back deck, although we were told that it was 15 minutes away!. See the collander on the back deck? Apparently we have decided that scooping bait fish is the way to go, forget about catching them!!!

Well, 15 minutes away was a bit of an understatement, it took him an hour to get it in. The tarpon managed to wrap himself totally around the anchor and then RUN, apparently he took most of his spool of line when they were trying to get it away from there, as if it went tight, the line would have popped. So, the snubber came off and the anchor started coming up so he could see how to unwind it off. Very lucky we did not lose it there, usually it is all over when it gets that far!

The Tarpon is circling the boat, Bazza is running around the boat to keep him from going under, Richard is point to hand the rod over things back to Bazza, Lisa has the flood light, Bradley is next and I am behind them all with the camera, so I wish someone would have had a picture of that performance! It was like the pied piper! The guests just waited and drank!

My speedlight on my camera gave out just about as got it up to the boat, and then there was panic as we needed pictures. I stupidly put it down on the deck to use the flash inside the camera and it was kicked overboard, so now, it is quite an expensive fish!
Bradley and Richard were told how to position themselves on the platform to land this big boy as we did not want to gaff him, Brad was not quite as sure about that operation, but damn it we will make a fisherrmen out of him yet!

And the TARPON! Bazza and Richard could barely pick it up and it was as tall as their shoulders, so great catch!!!





Now, we are all wide awake! This is the hook after the fight. It was just hanging in the mouth and Bazza was shocked that he did not lose it!

Here is a tarpon scale, just the gray part is what sticks out of the water, so they really are armour plated!

We dropped him back in the water and he did not even hesitate, swam right away!
And the picture of the satisfied fishermen!


The guests thought we were quite clever to leave the finale fish for tonight!
Then after all that, we sent one of the boys down to see if they could find the speedlight, the batteries had fallen out on the way in, so it could perhaps be salvaged. Now, you know by now, the guests have about gone to bed, next time they wanted to know if we could get the big fish on the line about 8 so it did not interfere with bed time! So, in Bradley get, then in Richard gets, and then after a bit, feeling left out, clean Lisa who had had her shower and now was in her pajamas here, jumped in as well!

Good thing Lisa did as she found one of her expensive good knives right under the boat. That was quite a suprise to her, and it must have been in the slop bucket when it went over! So they came back with a speedlight and a knive!