The stuff that old man and the sea was about.

I have seen in person the epic battle that Earnest Hemingway tried to convey in his book The Old Man and The Sea.

Each and everyday that we leave the dock there are infinite things that can go wrong. Captains and crews have fallen from the tower of bridges of Sportfishing boats. Mates have been pulled over the side by blue marlin. Boats have caught fire. Boats have been caught out in dangerous seas.  Any number of things can happen at any moment offshore. Anyone working on the water knows that it is always in the back of your mind that things can go wrong quickly. All you can do daily is works smart and work safe.  The the ocean can be dangerous at and turn.
As most of you know that have been following this blog, We are fishing in the Dominican Republic. We fish alongside with and at times in direct competition with the local small commercial boats. These gentlemen have it hard. They travel between 30 and 60 miles offshore each day in boats that most of us would consider  a boat for a bay or lake. These boats are between 24 and 26 feet in length. They have no radio, only one engine, most have no bilge pump, and none have flares. These boats are completely open and they have no shade to shelter the two man crews that ply the waters with them.
As I said, we at times are in competition with these gentlemen. We are fishing their waters, we are fishing the Buoys - FADS ( fish attracting devices) that they work so hard to put out. They want to kill blue Marlin to sell for food, We want to catch and release them to catch them another day. Even with all the conflict that there is between the two sides, The small panga boat fishermen have gained so much respect from the American sport fish boats. These guys risk their lives with every wave that crests and each fish they fight. They fight fish not with $1000 dollar fishing rod and reels, but with hand lines and skill. This is the stuff that Hemingway wrote of in "Old Man and The Sea".
Yesterday One of the fishermen (Ines Rondon) from San Pedro was lost to the caribbean when a wave washed him away. He was the captain of a small boat called El Progresso. I did not know him. But anytime a fellow fisherman is lost to the sea it brings to bear the dangers and mortality  that we all face each day offshore. There is an unspoken brotherhood that exists between mariners no mater where in the world you are. That brotherhood has one less soul today.
My thoughts are with the family of our
Fellow seaman lost yesterday. Much respect to you.  Rest in peace brother.