Tuna Fishing

My brother and dad took me tuna fishing for my 40th birthday. I caught a 5 foot bluefin tuna (that's just the football/body and not counting the tail). It turned out that it was the biggest fish caught by the boat in its three years of fishing. The fish was so big that it couldn't fit in the large fish box in the aft of the boat (a good problem). It was a beautiful, sunny, mild day at sea. We saw so many whales that I stopped counting at 30. I suspect that we saw over 50 humpback and right whales. We saw them launch fully out of the water, celebrate feeding frenzies, and swim within feet of our boat. Words just can't describe the grander of it all. See the slideshow for more pictures.

Another Night Sail

After a couple of days of fun in Provincetown, Gianni and I set sail for my bother's house in East Falmouth. We left knowing that we were headed into a cold front, but knew that it would pass later in the day, leaving us with great conditions. We sailed across Cape Cod bay trying to make the outgoing tide at the Cape Cod Canal. The winds were up and down and in the end we did not make great time. We pulled up to the beach off of the canal at 6:oo pm in a 15 knot breeze and again dogging thunderstorms. We set anchor and started dinner and then the big storms hit. Luckily we were dry and cozy in the cabin enjoying dinner. As the sun set, the last few storms moved by and we went to sleep. I woke up at 1:00 am to a full moon, beautiful skies and a stiff breeze. The current was perfect in the canal, so I set sail with Gianni still sleeping and screamed through the canal at 8 knots. I had another perfect sail through Buzzards Bay and a magical passage through Woods Hole at sunrise. I never saw another boat all night long! We sailed through Vineyard Sound and into Waquoit Bay by early morning, ending the 55 mile voyage. After a challenging, muddy anchoring we waited pickup from my brother, Paul. After two moonlit night trips through Buzzards Bay in one week, I'd have to say that these were some of the most special moments of my life.

Sailing to Provincetown

Last week Gianni and I sailed to Provincetown at the tip of Cape Cod. It was a most incredible voyage. We did the 110 mile trip in just over 24 hours. This was our first long voyage together on our boat Spiff (a 26 foot J/80). We started with a 7 knot sail through Fishers and Block Island Sounds. We stopped to see a giant sunfish floating on the surface, something more common in the tropics. Toward dusk the wind died and we hit adverse currents off of Point Judith. We dogged thunderstorms for a couple of hours. I was ready to head into port when Gianni encouraged me to sail on through the night, since the front had passed and the night promised clear skies. The decision proved to be a wise one. We had a 12 knot breeze that pushed us through Buzzards Bay as Gianni slept on deck and I watched shooting stars. We made it to Cape Cod Canal at 4 am with a perfect tide for a crossing. We emerged into Cape Cod Bay as the sun rose. Exhausted, I stopped for breakfast and tea. Gianni awoke and we started the final leg to P-Town. After anchoring off the cottage of our friends, the Wasser's, Gianni spent the afternoon tubing with the kids as I slept. We spent the next two days enjoying time with our friends, fishing, wakeboarding, eating and relaxing before heading out on our next voyage. You can see Gianni asleep on the deck in these photos.

Fluke Fishing in Montauk

Gianni and I sailed over to Montauk, New York a couple of days ago on our annual trip with the Costa's. So far the weather has been fabulous and we have done quite a bit of fishing, sailing and tubing. Yesterday Anthony, Gianni and I went out on a head boat for some fluke fishing. We caught more fish than we could count, but they were too small. Gianni did catch one keeper and then some other folks gave us their catch, so we had quite the feast last night, with plenty more for tonight. Check out our slideshow for more pictures.