Chapter 9 Summary

Dick goes to the crow's nest and observes the perfectly calm waters, the only variance being their own wake. When Elsie comes up an hour later, she films the waters in front and behind the boat. Dick explains to Elsie how they find swordfish. If there is a warm sun, the fish surface to let the warmth kill the worms on them. You can often see their fins and sometimes their whole bodies just below the surface. The boat pulls slowly to the fish, and then a barb called a lily is harpooned into the fish. It has a line attached to a beer keg. There is no line from the boat to the fish then, so they follow the beer keg in the water to track the fish. When the fish begins to die, they pull up alongside it and gaff it...