Mexico 3: Sam Gets a Sailfish

[sunrise.]

Before we left for Mexico, we watched a few of those Planet Earth movies, and happened to see one that had a shot of hundreds of sailfish swimming through the water like kites.  Oh, they were pretty.  So although we were looking forward to fishing, we were reluctant to find one of those guys on the other end of the line.  I needn't have worried.  I didn't fish a bit, since about a half hour after I got on the boat I threw up my breakfast over the side, and pretty much stayed horizontal with my eyes closed for the rest of the day.  Seasickness was not a good time for me.  But I did manage to get some pictures, and Sam did catch a sailfish.  It was enormous (you'll see), so I think by the time he got him in the boat, after several near-escapes, Sam didn't care about the scene where they all looked like kites.  At least not when it came to this guy.  Kite, shmite.

                          [view from the boat.  it was right around here that i tossed my cookies, so to speak.  but hey, so pretty, no?]

                                                          [sam's dad preps his fishing pole.]

                                                 [sam reels in the beast.]

                                                          [fernando the fisherman tends to the beast. oh, he was a pretty purple.  the fish, not the fisherman.]

                                     [fernando the fisherman ponders whether there's any more fish to be had.  sam's dad got a black tuna, which had the most beautiful silver pattern.  we took that one to a dock and a beachside restaurant brought it ashore and turned it into tiritas (which is like ceviche in the sense that it's raw) and everyone but me (it wasn't a good time for me to eat raw fish) feasted.  by all acounts it was a good fish.]

                                                     [sam stands triumphantly with his catch.]

                                                         [sam inspects his catch.]

                                         [the purple fin of the sailfish.  and this is the toned down version.  when he first came out of the water, he looked bejeweled. sam ate fillets of this guy for several days, but most of it we had fernando distribute to people who could use the food.  i think he fed a lot of people, which is a good thing.  there were plenty who seemed to need it.]