ANOTHER GREAT DAY ON THE WATER:

Once again we were invited on our landlady's boat "Ocean Queen" for another day on the water along Oahu's west shore. Two of her neighbours also joined us, Bob and Dee. Bob is an avid fisherman and he brought along two very heavy duty fishing rods. He typically catches Mahi Mahi or tuna and sometimes a marlin. Reportedly his biggest catch was a 345 pound marlin! Well that talk sure generated a lot of anticipation.

Our first stop was to fuel up Ocean Queen. Other than the price of $2.95 per gallon, the most interesting part of that operation for me was that it is 100% self serve. You first go to a box and insert your credit card and get pre approval for your desired $ purchase. Then you identify the pump number you will use. Then you go to that pump, pull out the hose and start pumping. Of course this is almost identical to buying fuel for your car. But on the Great Lakes where we boat, the dock staff at the marinas do all the handling to fuel up your boat. Very interesting difference.

Then we headed out on the water to a very pleasant 10 knot breeze and light rollers of maybe 8 to 10 feet. A while later, Bob put enormous lures on the fishing rods and their 50 pound test line and deployed both lines out about 200 feet. We cruised along at 6.5 to 7 knots dragging the lures along the surface. The hope is that the fish will spot the lure splashing along the surface and they'll attack it from underneath, grabbing the lure and tearing off, dragging the line out, alerting you to the "hit" by the sound of the ratchet on the reel. While we waited with great anticipation for action, the fishing rods sat secure in rod holders on the transom of Ocean Queen.

After the excitement waned somewhat, we enjoyed Fran's magnificent Southwest Salad and crusty bread along with some beer/wine. Yours truly held off on the libations as I was busy at the helm keeping track of our whereabouts.

As is often the case when fishing, it is more about enjoying the day on the water, the company and the scenery. If you happen to catch a fish, then it is a bonus. So there was no bonus fish caught today, but the outing on the water was magnificent as was the company, the food, libations and the sunset at the end of the day.