Our buddy Kevin (s/v Lucky Seven) is anchored right in front of us (when we arrived, the anchorage was pretty full, so we crowded in close to him). He and Scott spend their days running back and forth between our two boats on dinghies, borrowing this, lending that, fetching one another to spear fish or just to have a beer.

A few days ago, Scott went over to either drop something off, or pick something up..I’m not sure which. Soon after, he hailed me on the vhf….”Get the camera, Kevin caught a shark, and we have to cut it loose.”

Kevin keeps a baited line off the stern, with whatever leftover fish he may have, ’cause you just never know when an easy dinner might come callin’. He’d forgotten to check the line first thing in the morning, and when Scott arrived, they noticed the shark. It was a four foot nurse shark, which aren’t typically aggressive, thank goodness, but I’m sure it was pretty steamed, nonetheless.

Scott pulled the line, while Kevin tried to manipulate the hook out of the shark’s mouth (maybe Kevin lost the coin toss). Of course, it started to pour rain as they began to do this, so everything came to a halt (for all of two minutes, because that’s how fast most of the downpours last here).

After the rain stopped, Kevin moved into his dinghy to get closer, while Scott stayed in the cockpit, trying to keep the line taught. Our friend Pete showed up on his kayak to lend moral support…and get some video footage.

Kevin’s first attempts weren’t working, so he went to fetch a second pair of pliers. Scott relocated into the dinghy with him, to get better leverage on the line. The poor shark kept trying to get away, but they managed to keep reeling him back, and were eventually successful at removing the hook.

Job complete, it was back to business as usual, and whatever “important, pressing” issue they’d been involved in.

Here are some more shark photos.

“Shells Sink, Dreams Float. Life’s Good On Our Boat!”