Traveling 6000 Nautical Miles by Boat: Crossing the Equator, Africa to Ascension Island!

After several hours under tow a leak is discovered in the 33L&H gameboat. The Badco team is forced to turn back to port in San Pedro, Cote D'Ivoire Africa. With no time to waste the crew makes the decision to load the gameboat back onto the mothership that night. It’s 2:30AM by the time the task is complete and the support vessel is once again on its 900NM journey to Ascension island.

The next morning starts early with the fishing team diagnosing the cause of the leak. It’s discovered that the 5200 sealant for the towing eye was imbedded incorrectly creating a false bond to the hull. The day is spent disassembling and resealing the eye correctly to the hull with a cocktail of 5200 and splashzone.

When the team wakes the next morning they’re greeted with a nice surprise. A weather buoy that sits directly on the equator. Separating the northern and southern Atlantic Ocean. Anthony and the crew cast some small tackle out and are immediately hooked up on dorado and tuna. Since no one on the boat has ever crossed the equator by boat before, they are subject to participate in an old mariners tradition to be initiated into the court of king Neptune…

With a day left of travel the team starts rigging tackle and reflects on the their journey and anticipation about the remote island of Ascension. They will be the first visitors to the island in 8 years and the excitement about the untouched fishery is at an all time high. The team goes to sleep setting their alarms for 4:30am, when the mothership will finally arrive to the island.

At first light the team gets their first glimpse of Ascension. The support team drops anchor and everyone begins preparing the gameboat to be craned off the mothership. One problem…a high swell advisory was issued the night before and the crane is at maximum capacity.

The group makes the decision to attempt the launch anyways. An extremely risky and dangerous task. After securing all anchor points the craning begins. Swinging and jolting from the large swells causes the hydraulic pump to turn off, freezing the crane and leaving the 15,000 pound gameboat free swinging. The filming is cut as David (our videographer) jumps in to help. After resetting the pump the gameboat is quickly craned over the side and placed safely in the water.

Both the mothership and gameboat go unscathed, a huge success for the team. Now to get clearance to go fishing…

For more information about the team, fleet, and tour, head over to badcompanyfishingadventures.com or become part of our crew and join the Adventure at badcocrew.com.

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CONTENTS OF THIS VIDEO:
00:00 - Previously on Ascensions Part 1
1:51 - Craning the the 33' L&H onto BCS150
4:45 - Repairing the Tow Eye
7:55 - Prepping gifts for Ascension School
8:48 - Fishing the equator
12:51 - King Neptune Equator Crossing tradition
16:44 - biting the heads off fish?!
18:50 - Rope swinging from the crane!
20:12 - Almost to Ascension, how does it feel?
23:18 - Arrival to Ascension
25:58 - Unloading the 33 L&H is almost a catastrophe
28:07 - L&H successfully launched, time to check in on the island!

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FEATURING:
Anthony Hsieh
Captain Kevin Bohannon
OB Morton
David Lassley

Videography by David Lassley | IG @david_lassley
Video edit by Tanner Matthews | IG @filmpacific