[Super Duper Fantastic] ISFP/INFP. 4w5. World Explorer. Super Hero. Rose-colored Glasses.

We went sailing with friends in the Bay this weekend. RV brought his fishing poles in hopes of catching a halibut that would make a great addition to our mostly carb lunch of sweet potato chips, an orzo pasta salad, and focaccia. Unfortunately, he didn’t catch the halibut he had intended to, but he did land a few other things.

At first, we thought the line was stuck under the boat. The line seemed unyielding, and RV had to let some of it loose a few times to bring it in. As he reeled in, the rest of us were anxious to see what was holding down the line. Whatever it was, it swum back and forth under the boat, leading RV to both sides of the boat while keeping a grasp on the fishing pole.

When it finally came up closer to the surface, we could see that it was a Stingray! It flapped around from the surface, trying to set itself free from the line. It was fairly huge, and before we could get a net around it, the line snapped. Goodbye, Stingray! Goodbye, bait fish!

Correction: It was a Bat ray!

RV hadn’t brought the crab snares, so we definitely were not expecting to see a Dungeness crab, but there it was holding onto the frozen fish bait RV had used. You can’t keep Dungeness from the Bay anyway, but RV tried to lift it out of the water for the rest of us to at least catch a glimpse. The crab let go though, so no pictures!

What RV did end up landing was an average-sized adult leopard shark! It put up quite the fight before it finally gave in and let itself be reeled in and netted for the photo opp. Before holding the shark up, RV took the hook out of its mouth. He said that it blinked at him. :p

He looks so proud of himself, doesn’t he?

I’m proud of him too! Before the trip, I totally made fun of him for wanting to fish for our lunch. I told him that the entire group would starve if we waited on fish from him, but at least he did provide a bit of entertainment and excitement for the day!

We spent the last hour of the trip wondering what this monster was up to. It moved much faster than we did, so we watched it go by and maneuver through narrow channels.

It was a fun day, even when I was holding on for dear life as the wind kicked us around! I’m very lucky to have friends who belong to a sailing club, and I’m hoping that we get to go again some time! More sailing day photos: here.

An update to the 101 in 1001 : 003 – Go on a crabbing/fishing trip.

This was on both my list and RV’s list of things to do. So rather than just grab some bait and a line and bring it down to the local pier, I decided to make it part of his birthday surprise.

After exploring Fort Bragg and Glass Beach the first day, most of the second day was spent on a boat out in the ocean. Armed with Ugly Stiks [haha!], we tried out fishing for the bottom feeders [mostly cods of all kinds] for the first time. It wasn’t so easy, and I [along with most people] was surprised by how well we did!

I had trouble figuring out when the line hit bottom, and so on many occasions, my line would get stuck. :/ Very frustrating, but finally we were able to get the hang of it. Unfortunately I never took photos of the larger fish we caught, but I did take one of the very FIRST fish that I caught. It was smaller than my hand. RV’s first fish was a little bit smaller than that.

It was encouraging enough for me to keep trying, and by the time we left Fort Bragg, we had thirteen fish [various cods ranging from 2 to 5 pounds] in our ice chests and some crab too! Totally worth the money, time, and experience. The crabbing portion of the trip was really taken care of by the crew of the boat. It was made a little interactive by them telling us to help measure the crabs or to help reel the lines in.

Anyway, a good time! My car smelled of fish for a little while since I had to transport the goodies back to SF. I wrote a fairly useful review of Telstar Charters – check it out on Yelp!

It’s RV’s birthday today! We’ve already begun celebrating, and there are lots of other festivities to be had.

I planned a surprise [aka "sheer terror"] party for him a few days ago, which ended up working out. I had to sneak my set of the keys over to a friend first, so that he could let everyone in. I went out to dinner with RV, while the handful got into place. His apartment is small, so I had to limit the number of surprisers. Everyone was so quiet when we got to the apartment that I wasn’t sure if they were actually there! It was awesome. There was ice cream cake and wine, and we all had a good time. I was able to invite one of RV’s older friends, which was a nice surprise for him.

On the actual birthday [today], a casual wine happy hour with friends. We were able to reserve a wine bar nearby, so I am looking forward to that. And in a week, I’m taking him up to Fort Bragg for fishing/crabbing. When Keane and I were up there a few weeks back, the bartender we talked to gave me a card of a local charter that went out. RV’s been wanting to go crabbing for awhile, and the fishing/crabbing is on my 101 in 1001 list, so there’s no better time than now.

RV’s been such a significant part of my life in the last year; I really wanted to make his 25th memorable. Hopefully the wine happy hour and fishing/crabbing trip will be fun!