Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
“Yes, there they are; there are more than two now; there're about ten of them,” I replied
sulkily, upset about my gun. “God, all we need is one fish! Please Murphy, just piss off for
a few bloody minutes won't you please!” I begged my malevolent alter ego.
Gavin was perched awkwardly on the taffrail on the other side where I had dropped my
gun. I saw him take aim and heard the clank as it rang out. Would you believe it, he dropped
his gun in the water as well! But he didn't wait too long; he jumped in with all his clothes
on and floundered around trying to fish it up. He was too late; it sank as well. Funny
though, it was made of wood, yet the weight of the metal spear was too much to float, and
down it went. Gavin was yelling something to me, “Throw me a line quick. Help me get
out; I think there are sharks in the water!”
I laughed hysterically, not from the obvious humor of the situation, but because I had
had enough. I was exhausted, mentally and physically. We were both malnourished, bone
weary, and in mild shock. I helped Gavin out as best I could; it took a while as he grappled
with the toe rails and his wet clothes. We sat in the hot sun staring about in silence. Sud-
denly he exploded in filthy expletives and vehemence. He swore at Murphy like I had never
heard. He told Murphy what he could do with his mother, his wife, even his sisters. I think
towards the end of his diatribe he was giggling insanely on the brink of a mild breakdown.
I looked down at the water and suddenly noticed a lot more fish.
“Christ almighty,” I jumped up, “Just look at them all! There must be at least forty or fifty
dorado there! How the fuck can we catch them?”
Suddenly I had a bolt of lightning go off in my sun-affected head. I flung open the lazarette
locker hatch and threw out the hand line. Quickly, I unraveled about twenty feet of line.
Standing up and facing the stern of the boat I flung the lure into the school of lazy, blue
green fish. I gave a series of vicious jerks and shouted out with sheer joy as I felt one take
the bait!
“I've got one!” I screamed out.
“You must have foul hooked him or something!”
“Foul hooked shmoul hooked, whatever, he's on the end of this line and he's a' comin' out!”
Sure enough, the hook was in the corner of his mouth, and there was not a whole lot he
could do about it. He was wriggling and quivering on the deck planks before he could say
whoza!
“Let me try that,” said Gavin in amazement. He threw out the line into the school of trailing
dorado. “What did you do, just snatch it now and then?”
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