In real time, we recently visited the vacation and spa destination of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico on June 25, where it is said there are so many street vendors you can even buy a timeshare right off the pier, though the beauty of its beaches and abundant aquatic and marine activities just might tempt you.

When we signed up for port excursions for the anticipated Around the World Cruise about a year ago, Dean said what he REALLY wanted to do was sportfishing in Cabo. I signed up for it too, but with some reservation, thinking it could end up being a long day of sunburn and seasickness. But when the day arrived, Dean and I, along with fellow passenger Richard, took off to the sea in a small but well-rigged fishing boat with its crew of Victor and Sergio.

We would be bobbing on the ocean for four hours, so the three of us passengers democratically decided to take shifts of 45 minutes each at the chair should there be a hit on the line, thus eliminating any confusion if the situation got exciting. We were very lucky to catch two large marlin, one by Richard and one by me. Mine was judged to be about 160-170 pounds and took a lot to pull in along with help from Sergio, while Dean snapped photos on the wildly pitching and rolling boat. The experience was thrilling enough to avert seasickness.

I was still pretty giddy the next day and when I met some ship friends on the beach for a beer in Huatulco, we were approached by a vendor selling tattoo decals and I took the bait, so to speak. The memory will last longer than the tattoo, but my friends officially titled my new chest design “Brando”…”Marlin Brando”.

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