Hella' Halibut in Murray Labyrinth

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FROM AMA LOG: Sunday, 8/20/17

Murray Labyrinth



WEATHER: Foggy morning, light winds. Mostly sunny and temp. about 72˚



There isn’t a more perfect place to wait that than in the Murray Labyrinth. It’s stunningly beautiful, the kind of place that is featured on covers for Travel British Columbia website and Canadian sportsman magazines! At least 2 other boats slip into the Labyrinth the back way and we congratulate ourselves on our smart anchoring after all.



Meanwhile back on Ama that is starting to look like a repair shop and while waiting for paint to dry (actually JB Weld), what could be better than going fishing? Peter merely drops his line overboard, letting his banana sinker hit bottom, and he snags a grand halibut. From that moment on, we no longer felt sorry for ourselves.



The fish was a fighter, 45 pounds and all muscle! He linked to us for good with a hook in the lip but it took two knocks in the head and spear where it counts before the animal was subdued enough for us to bring it alongside. Another 30 minutes to tire then together we pulled her onboard where that fish filled our cockpit! We gave thanks for this incredible bounty!



It takes almost 3 hours to process 33 pounds of pure fresh, snowy, white halibut; carefully filleting it’s 4 sides and carving out the cheeks for a special occasion. We seal small and large packages and load everything into our little fridge & freezer, moving the lowly peanut butter and vegetables outside to the cooler that still had a couple small melting ice blocks.



We were heaping prayers on the engine repair to hold and were dying to check the engine but had planned to wait at least 24 hours for the weld to be firm. Still we had to check it just once before turning in, and no alarms, no overheating so we hope our departure in the morning is possible.

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