In the Galapagos with Jenny!

First off, sorry for the lack of recent blogs, its been a busy and sad last two weeks. We have lost two wonderful people this March, our closest companion Raine, and our wonderful friend Gerry Deverin, so this post is very bittersweet. I consider myself incredibly lucky to have had shared my life with both of them.

I arrived in the Galapagos on March 3rd after a long passage from the Las Perlas Islands (Panama). The winds were light to non-existent and we had to motor quite a bit. The only excitement came from the 250lb Striped Marlin I managed to hook while motoring 400 mi outside the Galapagos.

It wasn't the first Marlin I hooked this trip. While in the Caribbean Sea we were trolling using with a big spinning reel and a flying fish that we had found on the deck that morning. The flying fish have a hard time seeing the boat at night, so its not incredibly uncommon to have one hit you while sitting in the cockpit after the sun goes down. When the first one hit the line, it managed to take almost all the line off the reel before snapping it, leaving me incredibly frustrated. So, while I was in Florida, I took the opportunity to purchase some heavier duty tackle. It paid off (see attached picture of the new reel, ironically enough called the Marquesa, our next destination).

Steve was on watch and I was napping down in the Saloon when I heard the strike. Steve yelled my name, but nothing wakes me up from a slumber like line screaming off a reel. However, after a brief hit, the rod went eerily silent. I had a feeling it was a Marlin taking a swing at the trolling lure with its bill, so I picked the rod up out of the holder and released the drag and let the lure lay still in the water as we motored along. Three seconds and a gigantic splash later, I could barely hold on as Steve and I were treated to a fantastic show of a magnificent Striped Marlin jumping clear out of the water 200 yards behind the boat.

We put Quester in neutral and it was all hands on deck as I battled the fish for 45 minutes, as it forced me to scamper around the entire boat as it made a large circle. Luckily the fish managed to wear itself out before I did, and we were able to get it alongside the transom, while Mike got down on the swim platform and snipped the leader just off the hook. Quester now has the largest catch and release of the Oyster World Rally, and I would love to see someone try and break that record. I'll send another post with more pictures of the Galapagos so far, but in the meantime, check out my sister Emily's blog www.whereintheworldisemtorciv.blogspot.com