The Ship of Fools Tournament 2010 in Garza

The plan that we had devised had two stages. Stage one was to release double digit Sailfish, bring a few Dorado and Tuna to the boat for our evening dinner plans and to come home with the tale of the trophy Blue Marlin. Stage two was to laugh, share stories, talk about how cool we used to be and drink a few beers. We got way closer to completing stage two.

The morning started off with a super smooth ride out in the 31’ Fountain that we were fishing on with Capt. Ryan and first mate Jason with Agua Azul Charters. Our team consisted of Brandon Nappy, Buddy Nappy (My Dad), Justin Nappy (My Brother), Brian Bombard (Capt. Ryan’s Brother) and Craig (Our friend). We were pumped up with visions of billfish and trophies.

All decked out in our “Ship of Fools” shirts we left the port at exactly at 7AM, taking full advantage of the 7AM to 5PM fishing times. Some of the folks on the boat decided that these same times applied to the beer drinking schedule and started with the blow of the horn. I personally decided that it was probably a good idea to have an accurate coutn of how many fish we caught when I got home to my wife and decided to hold off for a bit.

We headed northwest for about ten miles to where we started trolling an area where boats the day before were catching 80lb Tuna hand over fist. We had no such luck.

We trolled through this spot and into Sailfish and Dorado territory where anticipation was high for a hook up on a Sail and some reel screaming action. We found a good current and a trash line and trolled them for a few hours trying to raise something. Again, no such luck.

Just before mid day we came up on a really good current that we could see ran for miles and we started trolling it. After fifteen minutes or so we all had a little adrenaline boost when we raised the first sailfish of the day. He came up and hit the outside teaser hard but didn’t take it and run with it, ending that round of action with nothing but a little excitement and a broken nap for the drinking team.

About half an hour later we got pumped up, and woke up the drinking team yet again with another raised Sailfish... and this one took the bait and ran. Jason set the hook and the reel started to scream, we had hooked into a Sail! Unfortunately as the fish took his first run he shook the hook and we were left with nothing but a chewed on Ballyhoo and a bummer.

It was about a six pack for the drinking team later before we would see any more action and it would come in the form of another raised, but not hooked, Sailfish.

By this point it was within a few hours of when we would have to start heading home as the winds were picking up and we had to be back before the tournament’s 5PM end time. We had not a single fish in the boat. In other words, stage one of the plan was not working out so well. Stage two, however, was beginning to be carried out without any hold ups as we had plenty of time to talk, laugh and drink beer.

About two hours before we had to be home we finally got a break from the bonding and an introduction to points on the board with a sound of a screaming reel with a 37lb Dorado on the end of it. The Dorado hit the bait like freight train and ran for a few hundred yards, with the entire team screaming the whole time.

Craig fought the fish for about half an hour and the monster gave us some amazing Dorado acrobatics toward the end of the fight. Jason gaffed the fish on the first try and we were on the board! We were taking bets on the boat on how much the fish weighed... the lowest bet was 55lbs and the highest 70lbs... I still think the scale at the weigh in dock was broken. The fish weighed in at 37lbs.

Folks, that’s how fishing stories get started.

The rest of the day was pretty slow and the wind picked up even more. We were in four to six foot seas for the last two hours of the tourney. We did raise one more Sail but he was less than interested in committing to the bait.

With one huge Dorado and many stories under our belts, we headed home for a bumpy, windy, beer drinking end of our adventure.

We came back to the beach with the tourney’s biggest Dorado. We won $225 for this prize, which the team decided to donate to the elementary school in Garza through the Surfing Nosara Foundation. We will use the money to complete a project that the school is in need of. Stay tuned to the foundation page of the site for more information on where the money was put to use.

The first place winners of the tournament were Dain, Marlin Bill and some other folks that I did not get the names of. They came in with a released Sail and a Dorado.... 140 points total. Ask Marlin Bill to see the trophy next time you are there grabbing lunch.

The post-tournament party was a lot of fun with music pumping and great food straight from the grill to my mouth.

All in all the day was an amazing success... we caught fish, had a great time on the boat and raised some money for charity.

For any more questions about the Tourney or how to register for next year’s battle... feel free to shoot me an email at brandon@surfingnosara.com