Article by Capt. Franky Pettolina
Doing some quick cyphering in my head, I just figured out that half of the summer of 2018 is behind us already. We went from a spring that never was right into some pretty darned good tuna, mahi and marlin fishing. The Canyon Kickoff tournament had its highest entry, largest payout and best fishing ever. The Tuna Tournament had some big paydays and a really solid turnout. Then the wind started to blow. Today is the fifth day of the blow and it has at least one, maybe two more days left.
For the first time since its inception the Ocean City Marlin Club Kids Classic Tournament had to be cancelled. That kind of sucked. Other than the past few days, however, I have enjoyed the summer of 2018. Hopefully the best is yet to come.
The Big Fish Classic will have come and gone by the time you read this. Mr. Evans and I were going over our tackle and formulating our fishing strategy for the tournament this afternoon. Depending on what is featured on the cover of this issue, or documented somewhere in its pages, you will know how we did. Also, by the time you are reading this we will be elbow deep in preparation for the Heels and Reels Ladies Tournament and the biggest of them all, the White Marlin Open. It is an exciting time of year no doubt. Fame will be achieved and fortunes will be won. Hearts will be broken and dreams will be crushed. Such is the way of tournament fishing.
But that is not what this column is about. Tonight I had dinner with two of my lifelong friends, Shannon and her cousin Sonia. It was a very enjoyable evening. We got caught up on our careers, our families, friends we have shared and generally talked about life. We don’t see each other much these days. Life kind of gets in the way of that, but it is always wonderful when we do finally get together.
I met Shannon when I was 9 years old. Her Dad owned a boat in the White Marlin Marina and she and her brother Shane were dock rats just like me. We were all close to the same age and it just made sense for us to become friends. When we weren’t messing around at the marina we were at the boardwalk or the downtown waterslides. When the boats came in we would wash and shammy them. Shane and I learned to rig baits and Shannon was right there with us. I even remember a picture she drew that showed Shane squeezing the poop out of a ballyhoo while standing in the back of his Dad’s boat.
After a couple of summers at the White Marlin Marina our families moved the boats over to Shanty Town Marina (now the Ocean City Fishing Center). Shane and I were promoted from mates in training to mates and Shannon still handled the boat washing duties on her Dad’s boat. On the days when the boats weren’t chartered we would swim in the marina basin or go out and get ice cream at Shantytown Village (now some houses and building lots at the far end of the Ocean City Fishing Center).
Move the calendar forward another couple of years and our family boats were tied up at Bahia Marina. Shane and I were still working as mates, but Shannon had retired from the boat washing business. I think she might have been working at the Dough Roller on the boardwalk. That summer Sonia came on to the scene as the new boat washer on her uncle’s boat. It seemed like every night we would head to the boardwalk when the boats were all cleaned up and the pizza shop was closed. We rode the roller coasters, played in the arcade (Shannon was pretty dangerous at air hockey in her prime) and generally did fun teenage stuff.
As the next few summers passed, we continued to grow up together. Shane went off to college first. Then it was Shannon’s and my turn. Sonia was the baby of the group, but she caught up to us a little later. We still had our summers at the beach. We would see each other some in the winter, and we kept close through phone calls and letters.
Now many summers have passed since that first one (about 35 of them). Shane, Shannon and Sonia all have their own families and live on the other side of the Bay Bridge. Their family boat was sold about twelve years ago (and is actually for sale again - its pink, you can’t miss it). We keep in touch through social media, texts and emails and have dinner together once a year.
Half of the summer of 2018 is behind us. Just like the 35 summers since I first met Shane and Shannon. I am always saying that every summer moves faster than the one before it. My goal for the rest of this one is to try and slow it down and enjoy it even more. Leaving dinner tonight I set one other goal. I told Shannon and Sonia that we would get together more often. We can’t let life get in the way of living. Enjoy the second half of the summer of 2018 everybody. Catch the big ones, make some lifelong friends and try not to let it go by too fast!
Capt Franky Pettolina is Co-Captain of the charter boat, “Last Call”, owner of Pettolina Marine Surveying, Inc. and multi-term President of the Ocean City Marlin Club.
