Location: Abeam San Clemente Island, California Channel Islands, USA
Captain Rob is in command and I have been shoreside ever since the Nautilus Explorer departed Steveston on August 17th. The start of our Guadalupe Island 2008 great white shark season is just around the corner and it’s time to get the boat down to Mexico. The original plan had been to get the ship away at 2300 but all our weather models were showing a decent sized weather system and wave train approaching the Oregon coast. So our hard working crew and staff put a super hustle on and Mary Anne and Judith worked straight through the night to get everything done. They got away 12 hours early and Rob kept the power up for the first couple of days, making good time down the coast and staying ahead of the weather. From what I can tell from his dispatches, they are having an easy passage with 10 hours of 9 foot seas and otherwise calm or benign. The only problem they have encountered is a lack of tuna on the fishing lines they are trailing off the transom. I still remember catching tuna 150 miles off the Columbia River during our first couple of transits and the fun of hauling the lines in “hand over hand” (we were told that we didn’t need to bother with fishing poles or reels or any of that stuff – just tie a line around a railing and pull it in when you catch something!) and putting the incredibly fresh fish right onto the barbecue, seared on both sides and medium rare inside. It was far and away the best fish I have ever had. Incredibly good. footnote = tuna stocks in this part of the world are stable and troll-caught fish are on the “green list” from a conservation point of view.
Captain Mike
Weather: Overcast and foggy on the way down which is why we call it “faugust”
