The Billfish Connection

Friday night I attended the semi-annual meeting of the Billfish Club. The purpose of the club is to promote fishing as a sport. The club has been around over thirty years and is considered the senior fishing club here in the islands. What attracted me was the chance to get out and fish for the big ones and when I heard the rules I knew I was in the right place. Now you can keep all the fish you catch but each species of fish has a minimum weight that has to be met in order to be counted for tournament points. For example each tuna submitted for tournament points must weigh at least 40 pounds, now that’s fishing. The meeting was run by an executive board with the president presiding but Roberts Rules of Order were only vaguely imposed and it was fun to watch the give a take in a chaotic atmosphere. There were appetizers and beer and several of the younger men had been to happy hour and were feeling no pain. At one point, one of the younger men began swearing and using some pretty strong language. Across the room was a table of elders. One of them had heard enough and he raised his hand and pointed across the room and said that he didn’t like the that type of language being used in the club. The youngster shut down and the rest of the room calmed enough that the board could finish the meeting. Good thing they only meet twice a year.

Saturday afternoon, Becky and I went snorkeling for the first time on the reef out our back door. We have been swimming in the lagoon almost every night but our snorkel gear has not arrived yet. This morning Kathy (the k-8 principal) stopped by with some loaner gear so we got our first chance to see what was under the water. The tide was out and coming in so the water at the shore warmer than bathwater but cooled rapidly as we went out.  The water was crystal clear, the corals were unbelievable, and the fish were many and varied. After an hour in the sun and sea Becky and I were on our way back. It was time to express how I felt about our living situation. In my best Forrest Gump accent I said “I’m on vacation. It's where you go and never come back.” Beck just laughs and shakes her head.

Our Beach Looking West

Life’s tough when you’re the Cabana Boy “Ta Da”.