By Arabella Horsfield
At the crack of dawn, the golden rays of sunlight emerge from the horizon, the same one that separates the ocean from the sky. This yellow bulb rises higher and higher while the minutes pass.
We start off in the morning the same as every other day. The sun is like a dandelion in bloom or a burning flame circling you no matter where you go. It wakes you up in the morning like how it woke me up on day 6 of crossing the Atlantic, a day we can all agree was unforgettable.
The 6th day of no boat sightings began as well as the start of our luck and success. I awoke to the sound of absolutely nothing other than the noise waves create when they crash into each other and the recognized sound of Azania snoring right beside me. Walking upstairs to the wind howling and the dolphins jumping next to the boat is something I could never ever get tired of.
The day started off as usual as sailing can get. Fixing our sails position depending on the angle and the speed of the wind, playing board games and changing the lines every time we saw brown and yellow seaweed cling onto it. The seaweed was like a magnet that sucked onto any fishing hook you have even if it’s miles away. Some people on the boat started getting anxious, annoyed and even upset that absolutely no fish, no matter what type it was, no matter what size of the fish it was, there was nothing catching on. Daddy told us that he was going to catch a blue marlin, not just a fish but particularly and specifically a blue marlin. Would we? How?
The tension on the boat started to grow as the hours passed. Time is long when you wait and we waited. Our aspiration slowly but surely turned into desperation. Everyone started to stop trying and began to give up. Just as we were discussing to remove the lines from the water we heard it, the sound of god coming down on us and blessing us with the hope we truly needed.
We ran towards the sound of the rod in all directions as if it was a priceless artifact or jewel, some flew down like a hawk and some scrambled up like a mole. We clipped daddy onto the boat as others clipped fishing gear onto him, he pulled while we prayed, he kept the rod sturdy and secure on him while we rushed around frantically. Minutes passed like hours. We started becoming eager, not wanting the fish but needing the fish. In a way this fish was our entire life, if we lost it it would crush us to pieces. Then it jumped, the blue stripe across its body could tell you everything, it was a blue marlin! It splashed back into the water on its side and carried on trying to remove the line and hook that was buried in it’s massive mouth. The white shadow swimming in the water was haunting, it was so intimidating that it could even frighten the mightiest of mighty dragons. But then we got it. We hooked the gaffs into the marlin afterwards, securing it by tying a rope onto its tail. We cranked up the magnificent creature on our crane, watching it grow bigger the higher it went felt mesmerizing. The blue marlin towered over us like a skyscraper, I felt so tiny like a teeny ant under an enormous giant. This felt spectacular, like we just got a hundred awards or we just defeated a monster.
It took 40 long scary minutes in total to bring in the fish though it took 5 long hours to clean, slice, package and put all the steaks away into either the fridge or the freezer. This was a calm process unlike what we went through earlier. This took so long to do and I could tell you every single detail like zipping a plastic bag full of fish but I’m not going to bore you with all that very interesting and fascinating information.
To conclude, we finally got a fish, not just any typical fish you catch on a regular daily basis but a 500 pound, 2.7 meter long blue marlin! That catch left us in the biggest victory ever, something I’ve never fully experienced but would love to another day.
Arabella, this is amazing! I love reading this. What a priceless experience! Your description brings me right there and I can almost feel the sun, the ocean and the tension building as you all pull the Marlin in. I can’t wait to hear what you all cook with the 500lb fish! We miss you all very much!