Monday, June 29, 2009

Shark Fishing

Jacob has a fascination with sharks about as intense as his fascination for dinosaurs. With that in mind, Greg booked a private charter to take us fishing for shark while we were on vacation this year. Those of you who know me well are probably wondering why on earth I would even consider such an endeavor. Yes, me, the person who gets violently motion sick on very short trips, the one who threw up on a bus ride less than 6 miles long, took on the open sea!

There is one thing to be said for suffering from chronic motion sickness: one is never surprised by it. Unfortunately, Jacob has inherited my stomach, and gets sick too. Fortunately, however, unlike the rest of the crew, the two of us took Dramamine before we boarded the boat. The rest of the sea goers (except Greg, and the captain, of course) found out a little too late that maybe their stomachs weren't as strong as they thought! No one actually vomited, but the kids did feel queasy at one point. And although my uncle Chris would not admit it openly, I think he felt sick too. Sitting still waiting for sharks is when you feel it most. As long as the boat was moving, and a breeze was on our faces, the rippling of the waves beneath us was barely noticeable.

Driving through the bay was no big deal. That was very similar to boating I had done before. "Don't worry," Greg said to me ten times before we left, "It's just like fishing on Lake Raystown. You'll be able to see the shoreline the whole time." Yes, I was able to see the shoreline most of the time when we were still. But no, it was nothing like fishing on Raystown. Open water is not still ever. Even a calm sea is undulating.

Anticipating the ride, I thought I would be nervous on the water. The thought of being so far away from land was scary. Honestly, however, what made me nervous was riding out of the bay, over the breakers to get to the open water. When the captain said, "this is going to be a little rough," I felt my stomach knot up a little. Greg offered to hold Jacob for me, and although I know that Greg has ten times my strength, I needed the comfort of knowing that my arms were around him. So there we sat, on a cooler at the front of the boat, going over some rather bumpy waves. Jacob thought it was fantastic, and of course I pretended that I did too. All in all, once those 5 minutes were over, the rest of the ride was literally smooth sailing.

Captain Mike had a weather GPS and although there was a mighty storm that day, he navigated us around it. We watched it circle us in the distance, but didn't feel the wrath of it until we pulled into the dock and had no other choice. All in all, it was a great day - 4 hours of fishing equalled a some fabulous quality time together and a ton of fish for dinner the next day. What more could we ask for!

One last little notation: Jacob thought that riding over other boat's wake was great fun. By the end of the day, when another boat would drive past us in the bay, he started yelling, "Mom! Here come some quakers! Hold on!" I think he was mixing up "earth quake" and "wake" and in his own mind, the boat wake became "quakers."

Trolling in the bay.

Heading out. Jacob isn't sick here, he's just irritated that we keep taking photos.

On the way to shark infested waters!

Before boarding the boat, the three of us pose for a photo.

An old shipwreck we anchored near. Here we caught Trigger fish. They were the ugliest fish I have ever seen, with 4 really sharp teeth. They clicked their mouths after being caught, like a grumpy old man, "Put me back in the sea, you nit wit!"

My Uncle Chris helping Justin reel in a Trigger fish. They were strong!

First catch of the day.

My cousin Erin with her first catch,

Jacob trying to reel in his own prize.

Jacob and Greg. The fish were ugly, but they had nice thick and tasty fillets!

At last, the coveted shark! An Atlantic Sharp Nose. 3 feet long.

It looks small, but the teeth were still very sharp. I was also struck by its eyes. They were almost haunting, with such a light iris and black slit of a pupil.

After we were done fishing for shark, we drove back to the bay and trolled for a while. There we caught mostly Spanish Mackerel, which were also very tasty!

Greg and Jake relax for a while at the end of the day and enjoy the view.

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