June 24, 2008
Day started out badly as our port engine appeared to be overheating and the engine load appeared to be increasing for no reason. I had nightmares about another blown engine, as these are similar to what happened on the old boat before we blew the engine in Cosa Rica. Of course, while we were in the ER trying to figure out what was going on…we raised 2 fish that we didn’t hook!!! As it turned out, I was pretty confident that our problem was a bad temperature sensor, as our mechanical gauges looked good, and the engine was running perfectly….fished the rest of the day, and plan to change the sensor tomorrow.
Finally got a fish to eat a pitch in the PM….we tried leaving the rod in the holder and using a loop in the water for a dropback. A little tricky keeping all from tangling, but it worked like a charm. We are thinking that the combination of the big rod, heavy line, and big leaders are causing the fish to drop the bait…..We’ll see how this new idea works out. David got in the chair on a fish about 600+, but we pulled the circle hook about 10 minutes into the fight. So, we have yet to catch a fish on the pitch.

June 25, 2008
Changed the sensor, and all is perfect….going fishing. Very slow day on the rip….I don’t think a fish was seen today. Go figure…tomorrow is another day!

June 26, 2008
Another flat calm day….we started heading to the west end of the island for a change, but seeing nothing, we came back down towards Funchal where we have been seeing our fish. Saw a tailer, and got her interested, but again she picked up the pitch, and dropped it. This wasn’t a very aggressive fish…maybe the moon phase (declining moon)..maybe must a shy fish! Anyway, about a 500+ and off she went. Raised a second fish about 4:00 which we hooked on a lure, and David caught it in about 15 minutes…another rat…about 350…but jumped all over the ocean, and looked good at the boat. This makes 16 bites in 11 days…..not bad!!!!

June 27, 2008
Got fresh local mackerel today from Eduardo!!! And it worked….we finally pitched a mack to a big fish, and he ate no problem!!! I guess they like what they are eating. David had a great pitch, and we released a 900+. Great fight, and Cory got to pull on a big one! Can’t wait until tomorrow. It is David’s last day, and we will hate to see him go back to SF.