For those of you who don't know what the Jose Andres is, it happens to be a 65 foot fishing boat, belonging to Tony Reyes of Tony Reyes Sportsfishing. I was fortunate enough to have been invited along on this six day trip and I thank Señor Reyes profusely. It was a trip I shall always remember. This, then, is my story (and I'm sticking to it).
We were originally scheduled to leave at 9:00 a.m. Sunday, October l7, 1999. However, due to a sudden wind storm, we were unable to leave until 9:00 that evening. The first night was a scary one. The winds were blowing like crazy and the water was so rough. El Capitan, Tony Reyes, Jr., drove that boat like a charm. It's obvious he was raised on the Sea of Cortez. I am not literate in fishing lingo, so it's still not clear to me if one does indeed "drive" a boat. Tony finally said to me "Katherine, you don't land a boat, you anchor it".
At around 5:00 a.m. Monday we arrived at Mirimar Island, where we seeked refuge from the wind and sea. Everyone on the boat was so anxious to fish, and we hoped the wind would die down. Nature was to have her way however, and we were unable to leave until 9:00 that evening. All was not lost - Monday evening, we were treated to a mini concert by Steve and Carol Lord, with some of the fishermen joining in. We were tucked between the pangas on board, so it blocked the wind. In spite of the lack of smiles, we really did have a good time.
Playing cards was also a "waiting to fish" activity. Below are a few members of the Lodi Sportsman Club. There were nine of them on the charter, and I'm here to tell you, these boys love to fish. They also like to play poker. Word has it Harlan Knoll was the big winner. Reading,resting,and eating was another popular activity during our waiting game. And, shock of all shock, we even had a laptop on board. James Miller, a retired traffic cop and now a computer software developer, took time out to work on a program he is developing. And I thought they only fished!
