184: FOUR LINES - FOUR MAHI - NOW WHAT? What we learned NEVER to do again!

After SEVEN weeks, we were giddy with excitement to finally leave the Abacos and sail to Eleuthra on Christmas Eve. We had seen so many of our friends make this journey, leaving us behind. It was now our turn. Little Harbor Cut turned out to be an easy cut to navigate and we were off. We thought we would have mild wind and seas, but it turned out to be VERY sporty. We were flying, often surfing down waves at 10+kts. We caught a skip jack tuna right out of the gates and pulled it in. Soon after, we snagged a Mahi on the line. It jumped off after a 20 minute battle royale. Then, we had TWO mahi bulls hit the lines. Brown and I grabbed the poles and did our best to keep the mahi, but the boat was moving way too fast. We were occupied and couldn't slow the boat down and we ended up losing both of the Mahi. We did not have the skills to pull them in, but one thing we need to practice is heaving to so next time, we CAN take the time to reel them in. It's always a tough one when stretched for daylight on a long sail. You have to make decisions about slowing down and losing daylight or continuing speed and losing the fish. We chose the former and still believe it was the right decision to get through Little Egg Cut and anchor down by Current Island before sunset. #sailing #bahamas #mahimahi #littleharborcay #abacos #eleuthera NEW TO OUR CHANNEL? We are Eileen and Brown Councill. Welcome to our channel and a glimpse into our life adventure! 2020 was a year of uncertainty and change (for all of us, right?), but we overcame the challenges and decided it was time to chase our dream, to sail around the world! Did I mention that we had very NO sailing experience? Before leaving Qingdao, China, our home of 4 years, we sold almost all of our earthly possessions and started our international search to find the right sailboat that we would call "home." After 5 months of unanticipated twists and turns, we found what we were looking for, a used Leopard 44' Catamaran located in St. Lucia. So, here begins our journey, filled with unmatched excitement and honestly, a bit of trepidation as well. We have much to learn as we travel the world on our floating home and we intend to document that journey and share it with you. We are so glad you have decided to join us, and we hope that you will find our story so compelling that it will inspire you to chase your dreams too! As a viewer, we consider you to be part of our family and look forward to getting to know you. Don't hesitate to comment on our videos and ask questions. We will do our best to answer every correspondence! All we ask is that you have patience with us as we work really hard to improve our camera/video techniques and ability to tell a story. Hopefully, you will be as BLOWN AWAY from watching, as we are in experiencing and producing our adventures! HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT US? If you wish to support our video efforts, all we ask is that you SUBSCRIBE, give a THUMBS UP, SHARE our videos with your friends, AND COMMENT! WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET TO KNOW US MORE DEEPLY? It would be an honor and pleasure to deepen our relationship with you as a Patron. Please click on the following link to see how: https://www.patreon.com/sailingblownaway WOULD YOU LIKE TO FOLLOW OUR JOURNEY? https://www.noforeignland.com/boat/6040796987916288 WHERE CAN YOU FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA? Instagram - @sailingblownaway Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SailingBlownAway Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/eileen.dietrich/ YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/sailingblownaway