We had a detour to Kimbe in West New Britain to meet with a boat builder who has shown a big interest in our voyage. It was so cool to meet someone passionate about building boats and with tons of experience. While in Kimbe, we discovered the area is famous for fishing and the shops had lots of fishing gear. We were running low on fishing gear at this point and we splurged a little to get good lures while we could. That investment quickly paid off.
After spending a few relaxing days in a “private marina”, kindly offered by Liamo Reef Resort for free, we set off again towards the Solomon Islands. The winds were light, much preferred over headwinds, and the water was calm. We were trawling our new fishing lures when suddenly something struck. We had something on, and it was big! Billy was on the fishing line and he put on the newly acquired gloves. As he pulled it in we saw a big billfish and we immediately thought it was a black marlin, a renowned fighting fish.
The atmosphere on board was electric! Everyone was super excited as Billy pulled in the fish. He seemed to have superpowers as he kept pulling in the hand line. Soon the fish was alongside the boat and we had the new gaff in hand to pull in the fish. It was huge and bashing wildly alongside the hull. Now what? None of us were confident to use the giant hook and pull the big fish in, but Billy was. He held the line in one hand and the hook in the other. With an aim worthy of a Solomon Islander, he hooked the big head in the eye, a sure shot to get a good hold.
He pulled the giant fish in over the stern and the line got caught in the bamboo shade. Sammy was holding the other end of the line, but it was stuck. As Billy pulled, the structure got trashed. The fish was jumping wildly on deck and the big bill was dangerous to our feet. The long, sharp bill caught between the deck planks and broke. I think that quickened its demise, and it calmed down shortly after. What a crazy fight! We took turns taking photos with the giant fish, and I measured it to 210 cm from tip to tail.
The fish was way too big for us, but we figured we would donate most of it to the village where we would anchor overnight. We have no fridge or freezer on board, so we usually get rid of the fish during the day. We eat like kings and serve the fish for our next meal or two, depending on the size. Preservation beyond that could probably be done, but we don’t bother. We just follow the lead of our islander friends and do what they do. We gave over half the sailfish to the village and kept the rest for ourselves. For dinner that night we had sailfish steaks fried in sesame oil. It tasted absolutely delicious, and it was finished too soon. We regretted giving away that much fish but hoped it would be a blessing for the village as much as it was to us.