It was a battle scene aboard the fishing vessel Stardust out of Santa Barbara Landing, with a boatload of our nation’s revered military veterans aboard, and fortunately it was large and tasty fish they were battling with rods and reels.
The trip was sponsored by Santa Barbara Elks Lodge #613, and logistics were deftly handled by Col. Dave Lopez USAF (ret), of the Santa Barbara Chapter of Coastal Conservation Association (CCA).
Col. Dave, myself (your intrepid reporter), Yvonne Pedersen, Capt. Tiffany Vague, and Darren Crile came as support. Col. Dave was the organizer and handled logistics.
I went on the trip because I am on the board of CCA’s local chapter, the board of CCA’s state chapter, and because I’m a member of the Elks Lodge. Yvonne Pedersen is the CCA chapter’s director of fun, and she made sure everyone was having a blast fishing, telling their stories, and she took loads of pictures.
Capt. Tiffany was there as the president of the local CCA chapter and as an Elks Lodge member. Darren was there as a board member of CCA’s Inland Empire Chapter and to bring some much-appreciated swag from Okuma ,which makes some tried and trusted fishing gear and apparel.
Besides the Stardust captain and crew members, the rest of the people on board were military veterans who have defended our freedoms on U.S soil and abroad. They were the reason for the trip, and I must say it felt wonderful to be doing something so good for a group of people I admire and appreciate so much.
Some of those veterans had hardly ever fished before and one said the sardine baitfish we were using were bigger than any fish he had caught previously. At the end of the trip, the veterans all gave Col. Dave a well-deserved and enthusiastic ovation for his hard work organizing the adventure.
Capt. Sal and his crew of seasoned professionals provided the best possible experience. Jaime Diamond, the owner of Santa Barbara Sea Landing did everything possible to provide a fabulous experience for our veterans.
Fish the anglers caught were a variety of species collectively called rockfish. Some of the tasty fish were vermilion (“red snapper”), bocaccio, starrys, olive rockfish, lingcod, and ocean whitefish. I will be enjoying some of these fine fish for dinner tonight. I’ll saute them in butter with cut up bell peppers and onions.
Okay, I confess, after writing that favored recipe, I had to break off from telling the story and go cook ’em up. Now it is early evening and I’m back at it tapping my sword (keyboard) and patting my full tummy. Those fish were delicious!
The good news is, the Elks Lodge and CCA are talking about more benefit fishing charters to show appreciation for our veterans. We are talking about possibly providing similar trips for disabled or disadvantaged youths.
When two great organizations like the Elks Lodge and Coastal Conservation Associated put their minds and resources together, our community benefits. My well-worn hat is doffed to the Elks and to CCA.
Let’s keep this ball rolling. You can join the Elks Lodge, 150 N. Kellogg Ave., Santa Barbara, or online at Lodge #613 Welcome elks.org. You can join CCA online at www.joincca.org.
— Capt. David Bacon operates WaveWalker Charters and is president of SOFTIN Inc., a nonprofit organization providing seafaring opportunities for those in need. Visit softininc.blogspot.com to learn more about the organization and how you can help. Click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.
