Tuna fishing in the North Sea

A happy fisherman

 

We were delighted to reel in our first ever Tuna yesterday evening. These fish are pure muscle so very heavy for their size and this one, though relatively small, put up a good fight before we finally reeled him in. When Graham gutted the fish, its stomach was full of 2" sprats so our squid lure was its last, fatal snack of the day. We now have six very nice Tuna steaks in the fridge for when we get into Niue later this morning.

 

We decided to leave Beveridge Reef yesterday as the forecast was for increasing wind and larger swells; it seems to have been a good decision. We've sailed goose-winged all the way and during the night the wind increased, with occasional gusts of Force 7. We're therefore well reefed down but still charging along at close to our hull speed and Winnie is doing an amazing job at keeping us on course.

 

As light dawned this morning we seem to have accidentally sailed into the North Sea – the sky is grey and a big (3m) swell is crowned with white caps of surf whilst a light and relatively cold drizzle envelopes us. We're looking forward to a sheltered (we hope) mooring spot on the west side of Niue.