Ship’s Log July 16th–Aug 3rd 2020
Grind to Success
We took on 1000 gallons of fuel at only $1.78 each. It is Covid 19 time of life and fuel is cheap. On July 16th we had a new weather computer installed and then Jeff, Seanna, Apollo and I headed on a long goto of 150 miles west. July 17th we were still a long ways from the reported hot spot. 37 fish joined the party that day in what turned out to be a very rough ocean. The next day had us in the zone for a very rough work day which gave up 204 nice fish. We are on them! But the shit show continues. The following morning the compressor was freezing up. I cannot figure it out. BACK TO WINCHESTER BAY. 150 miles. July 20th we waited at the mouth of the Umpqua River for the tide to allow a safe crossing.
We fixed the problem and left Winchester Bay at 10:30 am on July 21st for the long haul back to the tuna grounds. We were irritated to say the very least. So with an extra Monster Mean Bean or two we traveled non-stop until we hit good water and ended up with a great score of 338 fish by the end of the day July 22nd.
About 9pm on July 26th there was a VHF call from an Ilwaco vessel the Tommy John. They had the Lazarette full of water and were on a list. It was a crappy rough night. We were the nearest boat to them, so we assisted a bit with the radio relay to Coast Guard. Zeke on the Sunset Charge and I were fishing together out there those days, so he and I headed his way, about 7 and a half miles directly West of us. The Tommy John’s captain was reluctant to drain his bait tanks. SO much IMPORTANT bait will be fed to the sea. The struggle was REAL… The balance of it all was entirely up to that captain. He ended up draining them, and the list corrected and the danger was subsided. I hung back a mile with Sunset Charge nearby when the Coast Guard helicopter got to the scene and dropped down a de-watering pump. The crew of the Tommy John made quick use of that, and discovered loss of steering could not be corrected. They required a tow.
The next day was a good one with 138 fish. Then a dud day so we moved back down and out a hundred miles or so… We got them pretty good! On August 3rd we arrived in Ilwaco with a respectable 32,779 pounds of albacore.