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October 13, 2006 by riplipboy

SNAPSHOTS FROM THE TOWER

Published week of Oct. 16, 2006 Baja Beat of Western Outdoor News

Get your motor runnin’
Head out on the highway
Looking for adventure
And whatever comes our way
Yea, Darlin’ gonna make it happen
Take the world in a love embrace
Fire all of the guns at once and
Explode into space!

“Born To Be Wild” Steppenwolf 1968

Steppenwolf’s classic headbanger is doing a downill cavalry charge out’ve the speakers rumbling and thundering and bristling with power and I suck it in like an audio nectar of power.

I can’t help but remember a scene from an old pirate movie (Treasure Island?) of a few years back. The bad guy pirate climbs to the top of the mainmast. He looks down as his ship is blasting away with a British man o’war and all hell is breaking loose. Smoke is swirling. Shot is whizzing by his ears. Both ships are burning. You can taste the cordite and sulfer. He doesn’t care if he’s winning or losing. He’s oblivious to the fact that both ships are getting shot to hell but he raises his sword and screams from the top of a yardarm,

”I LOVE THIS LIFE!”

Today I am in my own crow’s nest of sorts. I’m up in the tuna tower of a sportfisher and we’re in hunting mode. I’m crew. It has been a long time since I was up here. I’m on a gunship. Not a banger local boat. This boat is meant for hunting. Full arsenal of gear. The crew is trained. No weekend warriors aboard. It’s as close to being a professional boat as I could hope for. There’s a sense of pride with being asked to play with the big boys. This boat has game and it’s been a long time since I’ve worked a boat like this and it’s ready for a rumble!

I like smoke and lightning
Heavy metal thunder
Racing with the wind
And the feeling that I’m under

When you work at ground zero every day close to the waters on the pangas, you forget the view from on high. You can’t see the forrest for the trees. Up here, I’m king of the world again. Leo di Caprio has nothing on me! I’m flying and king of all I survey.

We move up along the rust colored islands and I wedge myself in and hold on as the boat rhymically rocks as we troll along the edge of the drop offs easily distinguished by the torquioise shallows dropping to the cobalt cliffs splashing by under the fiberglass hull.

Porpoise join and roll under the bow wake. Their dark sleek bodies effortlessly gliding below my lofty grandstand. It seems that from here, I can see for miles down into the depths as easily as I can spot a single finner 10 miles away. Maybe tuna under us? I don’t care. I look back and down at the cockpit astern two decks below me. The warm sunshine beats down and the music pounds from the deck speakers.

Six lines. The outriggers are set. In perfect unison and expertly set in our wake, the big slant-headed popper and smoker heads cut, shimmy and pop out of the stern waves. Occasionally, one leaps then falls back and each leaves a perfectly smoking bubble trail behind it. Crew members on each stern corner know their jobs. All eyes scan. The wind drums lightly on my ears and Steppenwolf plays on as the big gunship bumps, halts and glides as the bow bites each swell then pushes through and I ride the gentle bronco from high in my tower. Salt mixes with diesel and the aroma of burgers on the galley flat grill waft up to my perch. I love this life!

Then, there is is…dark…darting…blink my eyes to be sure. A dark elongated shape is in the trolling pattern. It jigs, zags and examines one then another lure. I can clearly see the flurescent patterns of bluish purple stripes on the marlin as it chases then falls back, clearly in “feed mode.” FISH ASTERN! A bill comes up and slashes once, twice, an outrigger clip snaps with a loud crack and a 50 wide sings it’s song! Then the starboard short line also goes off. FISH ON! Double hooks ups!

Fire all of your guns at once
And explode into space
Like a true nature’s child
We were born, born to be wild
We can climb so high
I never wanna die!

It’s good to get above it all now and then. Everyone should get to be a king of all they can see at least once in their lives. Nowhere else but the Baja to do it in!