On 25 March 2011, the guys (Andy, Jerome and me David) decided to go by the ‘Castle’ as our expectations were soaring from the standpoint that having the ‘right bait’ the odds of hooking up would be stacked on our side. The target fish for this outing was ‘Crab Crevalley’ a known predator that can’t resist the ‘right bait’ but known even more so for its fighting ability. However, before we arrived at the ‘Castle’ we had to make a vital stop to collect the ‘right bait’. Having obtained the treasure we then set off on our journey to the ‘Castle’, which was only about 5 minutes away. Andy as usual was in top form and with a smile offered me to lead the way well of course I looked at him with eyebrows raised all the while thinking that this is a total set up and in my mind I felt just like an albino in a snow storm trying to hitch hike because Andy knew that this was not my territory and in the dead of night he is asking me to lead the way ….wow well done Andy. I told Andy that he was always trying to embarrass me, thanked him for the generoue offer and I graciously reversed and allowed him to lead the way. Andy and Jerome smiled at my parting gesture and soon we were on our way.
This final journey was filled with a lot of left turns and right turns and can best be described as going through a maze oh here comes another right turn… We were now at our destination the sounds of the ocean beating against the rocks greeted us just like Mohamed Ali was greeted by cheering fans at ringside for a scheduled bout. Yes, we too were here to do battle and we quickly unloaded our vehicles. It was customary for Mohamed Ali to remove his robe just before his fight however, in our cases we had to put on our robes or overcoats simply because we were just recovering from having the cold. So there we were all rapped up tightly keeping ourselves warm against the mighty chill of the night air. The mighty roar of the ocean grew even louder as we got closer to our fishing hole. The crashing waves looked like a giant hand pounding the surf angrily and we all remarked and agreed that this is crevalley water.
Having reached the fishing hole and all of our gear now at our feet we began to prepare for what should be a memorable nights fishing. As usual when the bite was not on or in other words the fish were not cooperating we often turned to our ‘other’ favourite topic Astrology, Andy was first to bring this topic up and asked me about the ‘Supernova’ which could literally light up our skies if it occurred. Here’s a little about the ‘SUPERNOVA’:
Earth may soon have a second sun
The red supergiant star Betelgeuse is getting ready to go supernova, and when it does Earth will have a front-row seat. The explosion will be so bright that Earth will briefly seem to have two suns in the sky.
The star is located in the Orion constellation, about 640 light-years away from Earth. It's one of the brightest and biggest stars in our galactic neighborhood - if you dropped it in our Solar System, it would extend all the way out to Jupiter, leaving Earth completely engulfed. In stellar terms, it's predicted to explode in the very near future. Of course, the conversion from stellar to human terms is pretty extreme, as Betelgeuse is predicted to explode anytime in the next million years.
But still, whether the explosion occurs in 2011 or 1002011 (give or take 640 years for the light to reach Earth), it's going to make for one of the most unforgettable light shows in our planet's history. For a few weeks, the supernova will be so bright that there will appear to be two stars in the sky, and night will be indistinguishable from day for much of that time. So don't count on getting a lot of sleep when Betelgeuse explodes, because the only sensible thing for the world to do will be to throw a weeks-long global supernova party. (http://io9.com/#!5738542/earth-may-soon-have-a-second-sun)
Okay, lets go back to the fishing trip… Soon it was time to take a much-needed rest and of course Andy had his rest about 20 minutes earlier so it was my turn. Just as I was about to relax I heard the shout from Andy ‘Yes’ signaling that a fish was on and as I glanced over to my left there he was with bent rod fighting his fish. He declared that it was a monster and wanting to pull his arms off. Both Jerome and I rushed to his assistance…. Jerome was to his left and I to his right. The battlefield commander; again issued his next order, ‘bring the gaff’. Jerome complied then Andy said ‘here David take a feel and see how this bad boy is pulling’ well I also complied and in somewhat it reminded me of my childhood days when I used to fly paper kites I think I was around 7 or 8 years old flying a paper kite with cotton boy those were the days. Well, with those memories still fresh in my mind I looked at Andy and said ‘ yup, its pulling really hard’ I was not one who likes to burst someone’s bubble but I could not help but to think of the rest that I could have been having…… Anyway, Jerome delivered the gaff and the commander indicated that I should gaff the fish, which was literally at our feet. Again, Andy was amazed at its size and I was tempted to ask him what channel he was watching as I was seeing a fish that could fit comfortably on my saucer note that I did not say plate. The task of trying to gaff the fish, was similar to gaffing a sprat, it was impossible. The commander decided to take matters into his own hands and requested the gaff from me, I smiled and handed him the gaff. Well, sure enough he too could not get the job done and in the end I simply hoisted the fish up, all the while you know who was saying, ‘be careful, watch the rocks, easy does it, watch the ledge, not too fast take your time’ and so on, the commander was relentless in his pursuit of victory.
With the fish now gracing our presence Jerome shouted ‘wait, I thought it was bigger, it looked much bigger when it was in the water’ Andy agreed to his comments and smiles were on the faces of everyone. Well, after that eventful episode I made a request to the commander, ‘can I get my 10 minutes of rest now’ I was assured that I could and the fish was placed in a bucket where it rested to await its final fate at the Thorne’s residence.
Submitted by - David Carrington
