Pilar Martinelli, one of our lingcod fishing families, sends this report from their ongoing lingcod fishing trip this month.

We left the dock this year, with not only a washer and dryer on board, but a baby! Our son, Rex Orson Martinelli, joined the crew of the Tantrum as the world’s youngest lingcod fisherman at 4 months of age. While he may be too young to help out on deck, he did his part as daddy’s little cheerleader, squealing with delight over each fish landed on deck. There is nothing like baby smiles and baby squeals to brighten the long days out on a fish boat. Rex is a welcome addition to our lives, both at land and at sea. Even shy and quiet Maximus is all smiles when Rex is on deck!

Super Daddy Skipper Bruce and First Mate Maximus Extraordinaire handle all the fish duties from pulling to freezing and everything in between. Their days are long and their work is tiresome. I would normally be on the frontline helping bonk, gut, bleed and cheek fish, but it turns out that it’s a little challenging to cut an onion while carrying a baby, let alone carve out a cheek. There is a new normal in our lives and my days as Cheekey P are on hold for the time being as I embrace the roles of full-time Mama-P and part-time galley cook. Lucky for me, the boss is a nice guy and let me bring the baby to work.

We’ve had a couple of days off with weather, finding ourselves anchored close to shore and wandering some of the most beautiful and deserted beaches of the west coast. Other than wolf prints, ours were the only foot prints on the beach. The guys roamed the beach in search of glass balls and treasures. No glass balls were uncovered this time, but Maximus did find a rare item amongst the driftwood – an unopened can of cold beer! In all their 30+ years of fishing, that was a first indeed!

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