I.II.III.I – Caye Caulker (Again): Day One
CAYE CAULKER (AGAIN)
I.II.III.I – DAY ONE
18/09/22
Going back to Caye Caulker felt a lot like going back home. The week I had spent there was amongst the best of my life and I couldn’t have enough of it. Truly heaven on Earth!
Almost a week and a half into my fling with Roy and things seemed to be getting serious. I’m talking ‘meeting the family’ kinda serious, with his elder sister Judy visiting the island for the weekend. Being the Belizean court’s accountant, she had been planning a much-needed holiday for ages, and finally it was time. Despite living in Belize City which is quite close to Caye Caulker, it’d be her first time visiting the island.
While I expected it to be awkward, I gotta admit that we got along pretty well right from the start. She’s the direct, straight-to-the-point kinda girl, which means, she’s exactly my type of girl. She’d roll her eyes at my jokes and tell me to shut up when I’d go on and on with my ramblings – something I’m used to from hanging out with my closest friends. Also her dry humour would crack us all up. Oh, and the way she dances to Soca… Miley Cyrus’ twerking pales in comparison!
Fishing
Knowing we all had little time in Caye Caulker, I nudged the Bloodclaat Gang, which now included Judy, to do as many things as possible. One of the things I had really wanted to do but was too broke to afford was fishing. Luckily, Roy’s resort had a fishing boat of their own which he gladly offered to us. Julio; one of his staff members who happened to be an expert fisherman, would be joining us.
I was so excited at the prospect of fishing again! It had been almost seventeen years since I had last done it. I think it was the last thing my brother and I used to do before we grew apart actually. God, we used to spend hours on that dock, going back home with a bucketful of small fish which our mom would cook for us. I remember that one time we got this huge red scorpionfish and my dad almost had a fit when he saw me handling it haphazardly! As much as I consider myself to be anti-family, I guess we did have some good times after all… Look at me going all sentimental…
Okay, moving on! We’d be going at it by hand. Line fishing, as it is called, involves tying a hook and a sinker to the line and then throwing it into the water. That’s it. No fancy schmancy apparatus. Just the line with some bait on the hook and you’re all set. Roy and I had already tried it once at the pier in front of his resort, though the results weren’t quite satisfactory. We sat on the pier and cast our lines, using tiny fish as bait. On occasion I’d feel a pull and the second I’d reel the line back up, I’d find out the bait had been eaten. Roy didn’t have any luck either; which, I’ll be honest, made me feel better about myself. That said, the lady standing right next to us caught fourteen grunts whilst we left there empty handed. I was so disappointed!
But finally we’d be on a boat with an experienced fisherman, exponentially increasing our odds of finally catching something. And that we did. First it was Julio. Then Judy. Then Becca. Then Oliver. Then Roy. Then the cycle started all over. And just in case you haven’t noticed, that cycle doesn’t include me in it. “Fish must hate me! My bait’s bad! I’m useless!” I yelled, much to the others’ amusement. By then, the bucket was already full of grunts, but none of them were mine.
Probably annoyed by my woes, Julio came in to troubleshoot. He quickly realised it was probably just my line being too short, at which point he replaced it with a longer one. Still cynical and hopeless, I cast my line. No sooner than I did, I felt something pulling – hard. I reeled it in, my hopes blunted from experience. Lo and behold, there it was – a beautiful, glorious, shiny blue striped grunt that was about a foot in size! I couldn’t quite believe it – especially after having been at it for so long. I felt so, so accomplished.
I guess it was the short line, after all. With the new one, I was catching fish left, right and centre. By the end, I counted at least fifteen, with the majority being blue striped grunts. Amongst the others we caught were yellowtail snappers, grey snappers, white grunts and red hinds. I felt exactly like Fisherman Sampei! Needless to say, dinner that night was extra special given we had caught our own food.
