IN LATITUDES
Top left: 'Cinderella's' electric motor is clean, quiet, and, so far, trouble-free. It may look simple, too, but took many months of R&D (lower left) before the first screw was turned. Above right, heading south in nice breeze.
and you can't release a fish that you've stabbed. Pull up on the leader to lift the fish out of the water. If it's a big one, this might take a couple of people and some coordination. Typically they're small enough that one person should be enough. (If you're squeamish or not really that into fishing, you can skip this next part.) Holding the fish by the leader in one hand, take the towel in the other hand and grab the base of the tail. Suspend the fish head-down over the bucket. At this point you need to decide if you're going to keep the fish. Assuming "yes," take the diagonal cutters or knife and make deep incisions into the fish's gills on both sides. If you do this correctly, arterial blood will start pouring into the bucket. Drop the fish head-first into the bucket
and get the lid on as best you can. This is where a bigger bucket is useful. The fish will struggle for a minute or two but it will usually bleed out very quickly. This is a (relatively) humane way to kill the fish and bleeding results in top quality meat. We carry a fish bat to stun the fish, but it's not necessary. If you're uncomfortable with watching the fish struggle, squirt alcohol into the gills before making the cuts. This anesthetizes the fish. You'll obviously need a squirt bottle for this and some high-proof alcohol on board. Leave the fish in the bucket for a few minutes after it has stopped struggling, just to make sure that it's dead. Cleaning Most people fillet large fish. You can also steak them or cook them whole if you have a big enough barbecue, or are doing it on the beach. The best way to learn to fillet is to watch someone do it. (There are plenty of examples on YouTube.) You'll mangle the first few you try but you'll get
Preparation How you prepare the fish is up to you. We carry sushi fixings on board for a fun meal. We also grill, bake, pan fry or barbecue a lot of fish. And we love ceviche. Whatever you do, keep the fish cold until you are ready to prepare it. Remember it Dorado are one of the best-eating fish in the ocean, but it's important to dispatch them humanely and prepare them properly.
MOJO
ALL PHOTOS CINDERELLA
it with practice. The most important part is to use a very sharp knife. We carry a knife sharpening tool on board just for this. Our favorite technique for filleting requires newspapers — lots of newspapers. We fillet on top of our sink because that's the largest flat space we have. We line the surface and all adjacent vertical surfaces with several layers of newspaper. The point here is to avoid any fish bits splashing around onto the boat surfaces. Have some large Ziplock bags handy, along with some paper towels to wipe your hands. Put the fish onto the newspaper and cut off the fillets. Drop them into the Ziplock bags, and put those into the fridge. Fold the newspapers over the carcass of the fish and toss the whole bundle overboard. If you've done this right, it shouldn't take more than about 10 minutes from the moment you hooked the fish, and should leave you without a drop of fish guts or blood on the boat. Don't worry if it seems a bit chaotic the first few times, or you get blood and fish bits everywhere. You'll get it eventually.