The COVID-19 “Upshift”

A graphical way to think about coming changes

As I write this in late March of 2020, we are living through a global pandemic. It’s difficult to see our way past the terrible daily news of rapidly mounting cases of COVID-19 and loss of life. Here in the northeastern US, we are on a lockdown in our homes. Schools are closed, and only essential businesses are operating. More than 3 million new unemployment claims were filed in the last week. The loss of life and the impact on people trying to manage huge economic disruption is tragic, and all of this seems likely to get worse before it starts to get better. In the United States, a $2-Trillion aid and stimulus package, much larger than we’ve ever seen, was just written and agreed to rapidly in a bipartisan way by congress and signed by the president. In so many ways, these are extraordinary times.

All of this considered, though, I’m optimistic for the long term. I believe that we are in this for the long haul, but I think we will come through and when we do I think there will be some things about the way we live our lives that will change. Some things will become more common, and some things less. As I think about the changes that may come, there’s a graph shape that keeps popping into my head that I think of as the “upshift.”

Upshift Curve - D.Kassabian March 2020 - dkassabian@gmail.com

The Upshift Curve charts a behavior or activity (the y-axis) over time (the x-axis). It’s not intended to be an actual graph of hard data, but rather a rough trend shape that real data could eventually be compared with. The shape describes a steady state, an inflection point causing a rise, another inflection point as the initial change conditions are relaxed, and then a new steady state prevailing that is different (in this case, higher) than the earlier steady state.

Let’s talk through an example.

When people were sent home from work and from school earlier this month, there was a sudden and massive growth in remote work and in online teaching and learning. Neither of these things are new, but we went from some lower steady state level to a temporary level involving the majority of workers and students. Eventually, when we get past the worst of the pandemic, students will go back to college campuses and district schools and workers will go back to the office, but I believe that attitudes about remote work and online education will be changed, possibly drastically and possibly for the long term.

Let’s talk about working from home, a practice that is possible for some jobs (such as office desk workers) and not for others (first responders, for example). Many companies allowed for the remote work concept in limited ways while some companies and some staff supervisors were not comfortable with the idea. Thrust into remote work at scale as a necessity, though, I think many companies will find that it can work, that their workers appreciate the flexibility and lack of onerous commute and are able to be productive. Additionally, over time the practice could be cost effective for many businesses through reduction of office costs. While remote work is clearly not suitable for every job, and while some people may prefer full time in-office work surrounded by co-workers, this recent emergency is demonstrating that remote work is viable for many businesses and has some benefits. With that considered, I think the practice of work from home will level off post-pandemic at a level that’s higher (and possibly much higher) than before the pandemic struck. So let’s look at the upshift curve again.

Upshift Curve - D.Kassabian March 2020 - dkassabian@gmail.com

As we think about this idea, the upshift could well apply for a great many things. How many of the following things that were already done at low levels before the pandemic might level off at substantially higher levels after? Consider the following list:

1. Remote-work and work from home (described above)
2. Online schooling, both K-12 and Higher Education
3. Telemedicine/Telehealth (rather than visiting doctors and hospitals)
4. Online ordering of most household groceries
5. Online commerce (already big, but perhaps now growing faster)
6. Use of online apps and payment systems for goods and services

For each of the above, what is your own sense of the likelihood that they will be in more common use post-pandemic than before? What would you add to that list?

I think of most of the above as primary or first order effects, and that for many of them there are cascading second order effects. For example, if more people work from home then the upshift curve might also describe the frequency with which we see our neighbors or the amount of weekday business that local neighborhood shops and restaurants get. 

These secondary effects suggest that there might be another kind of secondary effect, a kind of inverse or Downshift. The downshift curve is just the Upshift flipped on its head. These are things that I think experience the same kind of change but from a higher steady state pre-pandemic to a lower steady state post-pandemic. One obvious example might be handshaking and hugging in business and social settings, which probably won’t disappear but may well become less common.  I would bet that contact among family and very close friends will not experience this same Downshift (I certainly hope not), but in settings where it was a mere social pleasantry before it may become less common.

The Downshift curve looks like this:

Downshift Curve - D.Kassabian March 2020 - dkassabian@gmail.com

As with the upshift, there’s a drastic change at an inflection point and then eventually a return to something closer to normal, but now at a lower steady state. Here are some possibilities I’ve thought of.

1. Handshaking at work
2. Full-day 5-days-a-week, in-office work
3. Rush hour traffic, subway ridership, and urban congestion
4. Walk-in traffic to food establishments and retail shops near large offices

Even if only some of these changes take hold, what do you think the impact will be on personal interactions? How will these things play through in the economy?

The Upshift and Downshift Curves have been a useful way for me to frame my thinking about what might change in our world in the coming months and years and how. What do you think? Is this a useful framing, and why or why not? Where would you apply an idea like the Upshift Curve to things that you think will change?

Please leave a comment and share your thinking with all of us.

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[RapidGroove blog posts are my own and are in no way 

intended to represent the views of my employer]

Wireless Charging

Another step toward cable-free convenience

We take it for granted these days that we can walk around with laptop computers, mobile phones, and tablets – untethered yet still actively on the Internet. I have news for those under 30 years old... this is not the way things always worked. Computers and telephones were anchored by communications cables until the end of the 20th century. WiFi networks and carrier 3G are both only about 20 years old, which for people my age is well within recent memory. 

Early mobile devices were large and heavy (by today's standards), battery life was limited, and data rates were... let's say "limited." Over the years, things have improved substantially. Data rates are much better on both 802.11 WiFi networks and on carrier networks, with a promise for big improvements in both in the coming years. Devices are thinner and lighter. Even the battery life is slowly improving which is a higher hurdle than might at first be obvious, because we keep putting faster processors, more memory, and higher performance communications electronics in our mobile devices all of which require real power.

Over that same set of years, cables still played a role for mobile devices. In the early days we plugged phones and tablets into computers to sync data and perform upgrades, and to charge their batteries while we did so. Over time, the mobile devices became less of a peripheral or accessory to a computer and more a standalone device. They became able to store and back up data in the cloud and to download application software and operating system upgrades without a computer playing a part. We now even have the option to get rid of wired ear buds as Bluetooth ear buds like the Apple AirPods are an (expensive) option. It seems as though everyone at the gym has them now, and I admit to loving mine.

But the cables are not yet completely gone. We still plug our mobile devices in at least once a day (for me, usually overnight) to fully charge the batteries.

Now, with inductive charging available for some mobile devices, and very likely a rapid increase in availability in the coming 1-2 years, we may get rid of the last of the cables. Setting my phone, tablet, and Bluetooth ear buds onto a charging mat once at the end of the day and never plugging anything into them at all would be a great next step.

Is this a convenience you want? What's a reasonable expectation in terms of charging time and cost of equipment? Leave a comment and let us know.

Links:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3G
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth
• https://www.apple.com/airpods/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inductive_charging

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Rethinking the TV Experience

Traditional "cable TV" may not be a winner for me anymore

Back in September of 2011, I wrote about cord-cutting, the idea that people like us who value flexibility and balk at cable's high prices might move away from standard cable packages. Since then, many of my friends have done it and most have been happy. And the world of video options is only getting more sophisticated (and complicated). In addition to traditional cable TV packages there are Internet streaming services that offer original content, and some that offer popular shows in reruns. Many offer movies. There are even streaming services that provide what traditional cable TV packages do – aggregations of commercial television channels but delivered via the Internet. More services are coming online all the time.

Let me describe the video entertainment service – or combination of services - I want. Then I'd love to hear whether this is the kind of service you want, too.

First, of course I want great content and on this score I’m really happy with the offerings we're seeing lately. There’s quality stuff these days on HBO, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video and other streaming services, with more services coming online often. Services like these probably account for 75% of my passive entertainment time. I don’t watch commercial TV much at all, other than news, sports, and Comedy Central.

Next, I want to watch without interspersed commercials. I can live with a few very short pre-rolls. And to be clear, I don’t just want to skip through commercials I prefer to have no commercials at all, like on HBO and Netflix. I recognize that as commercials are a monetization mechanism that this means I need to pay (more) for the limited set of things I want that are on "commercial" television. Even without commercials, I also want the ability to pause, rewind, and fast forward. 

I want to be able to watch all of this content on my large screen television sets, on my laptop computer, on my tablet, and on my smartphone. And when on my mobile devices I want to watch from anywhere and not just on my “home” network. I also want profiles, so that my wife and I can independently set up favorites and keep track of what episode we’re on if we happen to be watching the same show separately.

Lately, I find myself paying about $300 a month to a major cable television provider. And sure, that includes my Internet service, which really is quite good most of the time, but it’s still way too much and it isn’t quite the service I described above.

Is it time for me to “cut the cord?”

I’m seriously thinking of firing my cable television provider entirely and then getting a good Internet connection from a different service provider. Next, I’ll get a basic television service like YouTube TV, Sling TV, or FuboTV to get my primary news and sports channels. Then I’ll layer on a few streaming services. Netflix and Amazon for sure. Possibly HBO. Others are possible. 

When I do the math, the savings actually seem to be significant. I’d be going from a cable company triple play (including unused phone service) for $300, to a more limited set of channels delivered over a solid Internet connection, and then including Netflix, Amazon and HBO streaming. I’d add services like Britbox -- and in fact I'd add and remove video services as my interests change. For example, maybe I'd add CBS All Access for a while to watch the new Star Trek series and then cancel if and when it wasn't of interest. I can watch all of the content on television sets through my Apple TV boxes, watch on my laptop computer and mobile devices through apps. The total cost of what I want to do looks to be about $100 less per month than what I'm paying today.

Is there any reason not to do this? What's your plan? Leave a comment and let us know!

Links:

• https://rapidgroove.blogspot.com/2011/09/cord-cutting.html
• https://tv.youtube.com/welcome/
• https://www.sling.com
• https://www.fubo.tv/welcome

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Predicting The Future In the Past

10 years ago I was crazy enough to put my predictions down in black and white and share them as a "note" on Facebook. This was before I had a blog, which came along about a year and a half later. With the benefit of hindsight, how did I do? I welcome your critiques, scoring, high-praise, and laughter.

My post from Dec 24, 2009 follows, unedited. 

A Few Tech Predictions for "beyond 2010"

Deke Kassabian

December 24, 2009

At the end of every calendar year, the IT community tends to share predictions for technology for the coming year. It's the subject of many late December trade press articles, and a New Year's tradition. Those who make predictions sometimes review the accuracy of predictions made in the past. But why should tech pundits have all the fun? Let's join in.

My own day-to-day work, and the work of my teams, can often involve the internal details of low layer network communications, security and identity management, communication application interworking, and other areas that are not terribly exciting to most people not also working in those spaces. So, in what follows, I'll talk about my predictions in areas of more general technology interest.

What follows are predictions of mine for technology: not for next year, but for 2011 and beyond. These aren't areas in which I'm an expert, and they aren't things I've carefully researched. This is just for fun and obviously I could be way off base! The predictions that follow are based on some reading of scholarly engineering journals and also popular IT trade press (print and audio), some conversations with colleagues from around the country in multiple disciplines, and a little of my own thinking to synthesize it all.

I predict that the following technology developments will happen during the next decade, some a lot sooner than others. Don’t bet your retirement fund on any of these, but give them a read, tell me what you think, try your hand at a few predictions and share them, and have some fun.

Happy New Year!

(1) Robots among us

I'm picking the most exciting and outlandish of my predictions as my first: That robots get to be way more common place as an element of our technology.

Now, we know that there are many things already in reasonably broad use today that can be called "robots." Roomba floor cleaners, for example, have been around for years. But I think that when most people think of "robots" they think of Sci-fi movie robots or Rosie from the Jetsons -- something that stands and maybe walks and talks and responds to voice commands and looks vaguely humanoid in its size and/or shape. And my prediction is that these cooler robots are coming.

Close to home, in our own Engineering School, The GRASP Lab (see

http://www.grasp.upenn.edu/) does amazing things with robotics, including robot motion that can handle inclines, irregular terrain, and even being pushed or bumped.

Commercially, Honda has the Asimo (see http://asimo.honda.com/). Fuji

Soft Inc and others are following suit. These companies have robots that stand and walk and can be programmed to move in ways we expect "movie robots" to move. Some of this stuff is commercially available now, though still a little expensive.

So, I think that impressive robot motion is clearly well on its way. What about interactivity? The fact that my car’s GPS device and my smart phone are (slowly) becoming better at interactive voice response tells me that the technology is coming along and may not be incredibly expensive. If a $500 (unsubsidized price) smart phone can do it, why not a $5,000 robot? But beyond just interactive voice response, robots may, even in the relatively short term, offer some visual feedback reminiscent of emotion. For robot development that may truly excite you -- or maybe creep you out -- check out Hanson Robotics (http://www.hansonrobotics.com/), developers of technology that bring facial expression and "attitude" to robots.

Allow me to now put a finer point on my prediction: maybe we won't all see a robot in every home and office in just a few years, but encountering a semi-autonomous, mobile, interactive humanoid robot a few times a year will I think be common for people in urban environments relatively soon.

Time frame: 2013-2015

(2) The Kindle and today's iPod fade

It has been really interesting to watch the growth of the e-book reader space. The Kindle became the first big-dog to the market and then the Sony and Barnes and Noble entries expanded that market. Most of us have experienced them, either by becoming owners of the technology or by trying out a friend's shiny new device.

My prediction is that the dedicated single purpose e-book reader will have a short life as a general interest device and will fade to a niche device for a much smaller community of users. My bolder prediction is that dedicated mp3 players like conventional iPods will do the same thing. The reason, in both cases, is that I think capacitive touch devices like today's smartphones (think iPhone and iPod Touch, or Droid), and tomorrows larger-screen tablet devices, will supplant them. Smart phones and future multi-media tablets promised by big players like Apple and Microsoft, and smaller players like Joo Joo (nee Crunchpad) and Notion Ink Tegra, will be able to function as an e-book reader or an mp3 player, but will also do much more. Voice calls, video calls, web browsing, TV and movie watching, organizing and sharing photo libraries, and much more, become natural on these devices. Having separate, dedicated music or book devices will only make sense if their user experience is much, much better, or if none of the tablets are any good or all of them are overpriced. And I don't think that will be the case.

Time frame: 2011

(3) SSD for serious laptops

This one is a little simpler and maybe a little more obvious. As memory continues to get cheaper, and as people continue to gravitate to laptops over desktops, fast boot and fast wake will be differentiators at first (and perhaps we’re already at this point) and expected soon after. So high-end laptops will move to Solid State Disk (SSD) for their primary storage, followed soon after by the mid-range. Prohibitively expensive for many now, it's just a matter of time for this stuff to get cheap. Conventional spinning disk drives for Netbooks and very low-end laptops will still make sense. SSD will be the choice for mid- to high-end laptops.

Time frame: 2012

(4) The “Clouds” are clearing

To borrow terminology from Gartner, and apply it to this year's biggest buzz-phrase, the slide from the "Peak of inflated expectations" into the "Trough of Disillusionment" is about due for Cloud Computing.

Cloud Computing as a service offered by some industry players is a very interesting tool that looks like it can be used strategically. But the assumption that it is the solution to a long list of IT woes, and a transformational technology to be broadly applied comes from, in my opinion, a misunderstanding of what Cloud Computing really is. This seems especially true within Higher-Ed.

Over the next several years there will be some outsourcing of email that will be mis-categorized as cloud computing (when it really is tactical outsourcing). In some cases, the use of ad-supported and otherwise free commodity web-based services will be mis-categorized as Cloud Computing. For other uses, the realization that it isn't free and it can be somewhat brittle will hit some of us over the head.

But then some enterprises will carefully study and understand the Cloud technology that is really available, will consider policy and law as it applies to services and data and will navigate the complexities of the SLAs, will do real ROI analyses for services that are not free, and will deploy services based on Cloud Computing -- some successfully and some not. As that happens, Cloud Computing will "level off" into its rightful place in the Gartner "Plateau of Productivity" and become one of many tools that the best IT shops will be able to use strategically and effectively.

Time frame: 2012

(5) 3D printing comes home (or at least to the small office)

3D printing, already in use at Penn at the School of Design and perhaps elsewhere, is the process of building up 3D objects through the printing of successive layers of plastic or other materials. The printer gets a 3D specification as input and literally prints out a 3D object.

This technology is very valuable for prototyping newly designed objects, but it might also turn out to be a handy way to get small and simple replacement parts in a hurry. Imagine printing a camera lens-cap, a battery cover, small toy parts, and more. Rather than writing to the manufacturer to buy something that costs more to ship than to make, the manufacturer could allow you to replace the parts yourself (and fully at your cost).

3D Printers are available today in the $10K-$20K range (and of course at much higher cost, too), with some new entries showing up at around $5K. If the price gets closer to $1,000 soon and $300 eventually, and if product manufacturers end up liking the idea of making some of their replacement parts available as specifications for home printing, these interesting devices could become a lot more common.

Time frame: 2015

(6) Cars that drive themselves

Really, truly, drive themselves. You sit there and read the newspaper (if newspapers still exist).

Several times over the last decade, teams from around the world competed in the DARPA Urban Challenge in which vehicles navigated and drove entirely on their own with no human driver and no remote control. The results so far are mixed, but that there are any successes at all is really quite impressive.

This one comes with a lot of anxiety. Would YOU get into a car that a machine was driving? Knowing all you know about the rate at which computers and other automation systems fail? Would you get in and trust your life and the lives of your loved ones to a non-human? Not today you wouldn't, and neither would I. But some day I think you will. In fact, you already do something like this all the time. Elements of air travel and even elements of car travel already depend upon technology in ways that have crept in over time. When technology works very reliably for a long period of time, we begin to trust it.

The pieces to make this real already exist in rudimentary form. In fact they are already commercially available. I know I’m oversimplifying, but … (GPS) + (Cruise Control) + (External proximity sensors) lead to self driving cars. Again, I’ll grant that there’s more to it than that. But how much more? Some high-end cars already have on-board systems that allow them to self-park. Others are starting to have crash detection systems that allow them to respond to imminent impact in ways that minimize passenger injury. Isn’t all that the beginning of self-drive?

Time frame: 2020 for the first workable self drive concept car from a major car manufacturer. A while longer before they are driving down your block.

(7) FAX will still be a technology in somewhat common use.

Really.

Time frame: 2020

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Improbable Tech in Entertainment

Suspending Disbelief

Here’s a topic I’m betting many of my technology-industry friends can relate to. As techies, we have a reasonably strong sense of the state of the art when it comes to tech portrayed in popular culture and entertainment. In my own case, I understand certain online communications, networked multimedia delivery, encryption, and geolocation well enough to know when television and the movies use these technologies in ways that strain credulity.

Photo credit: engadget.com

When it comes to a superhero movie like Iron Man or Aquaman, or a sci-fi space adventure like Star Wars, it’s easy. We all know that we check our sense of reality at the door. These movies are taking place in an alternate reality in which technologies like flying suits, magic tridents, and light-sabers (“a more elegant weapon for a more civilized age”) exist. With Star Wars we accept light-sabers and death stars easily. After all, the stories are taking place in a galaxy far, far away and maybe they have different physics and different tech. But in television dramas like the CSI shows or The Blacklist, which seem to take place in our real world with no aliens or super heroes, some of the use of technologies can be jarring.

In CSI (Crime Scene Investigations), we see some incredible things happen with technology that can strain our sense of what’s actually possible. Characters use their technologies to assemble and correlate data and present it in 3D visual interfaces in seconds, bringing absolute clarity and rock-solid conclusions. In a favorite TV show of mine, The Blacklist, FBI agents work wonders like intercepting communications that use encryption of unknown origin and break that encryption in seconds (while some timer counts down to zero). The communicating endpoints are identified down to the room number when the right supporting character is present in the FBI command center, and that character then brings up a full 3D rendering of the buildings involved to show us where the people involved are standing.

While I recognize that government agencies almost certainly have technologies that I haven’t heard of, to the best of my understanding the things described above are not realistic. The state of the art wouldn’t really allow that, but because I love these high drama shows and movies that provide me with some enjoyment through escapism I’m entirely okay with it. I suspend disbelief and enjoy it, and maybe even appreciate that while these things may not be practical or even possible in 2019, maybe they will seem more realistic in the future. Maybe pop culture tech will continue to be a window into our future, the way Star Trek communicators, tablet computers, and voice commands inspired real technologies for years to come.

Either way, I’m personally happy to take my television and movies with a healthy dose of improbable technology. For me it actually enhances the entertainment value rather than prompting me to complain about a lack of authenticity. How about you? Do you prefer your pop-culture tech to be very real or do you like some alternate reality escapism like I do?

Leave a comment and let us know. 

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Sportfishing in Cabo

Last weekend I got the chance to go fishing in one of the most amazing spots in the world – Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. In this blog post I’ll share a description along with some photos and video clips.

Our charter boat

The opportunity came along because my wife Tacey had business in San Jose Del Cabo, a short distance east of Cabo San Lucas. She and her co-workers were there earlier in the week and while most headed home after business concluded, Tacey and a few others stayed on for a few days along with their partners to enjoy the location. I flew in late in the week as their business was ending. We stayed for a few days in a beautiful beachfront all-inclusive resort, and would fish on Saturday.

Buying live bait on the way out

I’m a planner and if I know I’ll be visiting a place where the fishing can be good, I’ll research the seasonal fishing opportunities and the boats that ply the trade. I’ll call and ask questions, and make specific arrangements, and that’s what I had done here. After some research back in August, I ended up booking with Kingfish Cabo and they did a great job for us. We chartered a 40’ Riviera sportfishing boat with an experienced captain and crew.  

At the Arch

Originally, the plan was for Tacey and I to fish alone, but since two of her coworkers were still in the area and wanted to fish, and since a sportfishing charter like this can handle up to 6, we made it a group. Tacey and I were joined by two other couples – Ric and Lorraine, and Chris and Rachel. Early on Saturday, we all took the 30-minute Uber ride down to Cabo San Lucas to board a fishing boat I had chartered two months earlier.

The boat, Los Compadres, was in great condition and was well equipped, as advertised. It had a full crew including captain Carlos, who had 25 years of local fishing experience, and a crew that included two mates, Juan and Victor, on deck. Having one mate is typical but they explained that when trolling a full pattern of lures and baits, clearing lines after a strike was best handled by two mates. In these situations on other charters, I’ve helped to clear lines but I certainly didn’t object to the extra hands.  

Captain Carlos

    

Chris and Ric

Chef Ventura

A final crew member, Ventura, was our private chef. He had coffee, fruit, and pastry for us as we arrived at 7am, and when lunchtime rolled around he had prepared two kinds of fresh ceviche and three kinds of tacos for us all, and even some sashimi at the end of the trip. The charter also provided a big cooler full of local beers like Tecate, Pacifico, and Corona, as well as plenty of water. Back in the galley, Ventura had Tequila for us so that we could drink Margaritas as we headed back to port in the afternoon.

The main story, though, is about the fishing. This is a great time of year to fish in Cabo as many coveted gamefish are around and close to shore. Throughout the previous week, a major Blue Marlin tournament was underway and as a result all the pros in the area were well informed about what was biting and where either because they fished in the tournament or spoke to those who did. I had originally expressed an interest in fishing for Wahoo (a tasty gamefish I have yet to catch) and our crew said they’d look for them, but also said that we were likely to encounter Striped Marlin. That sounded good to me. I’d caught Sailfish and Pacific Spearfish before, and I’d been on boats where others landed Striped Marlin, but I hadn’t caught one yet. I should mention that while wahoo is a fish kept for food, marlin of all kinds are revived and released after a few photos. 

Fishing begins

The boat got underway just after 7am, and our gang of six decided to ride up in the fly bridge. As we cleared the marina our first stop was at the local bait boats where the mate bought some mackerel for the live-well and some ballyhoo to be rigged. From there we proceeded out to open water and watched a beautiful sunrise as we rounded the famous Cabo Arch area. From there, Los Compadres and several other sport fishing boats throttled up for the run to the fishing grounds. After only about 25 minutes ride to the northwest, never more than a few miles from shore, we were ready to fish. The mates lowered the outriggers and got a pattern of 8 lines out to troll, with a mix of lures and baits.

 

The first strike came after about 40 minutes. The group quickly encouraged me to take it, so I grabbed the rod and hopped into the fighting chair. The mates told us it was a striped marlin as I started the fight. Early on the fish took line faster than I got line back, but after 25 minutes and three runs, the fish was alongside. We hauled it in and got some photos and took a measure, and then let it free to fight another day. The marlin was a beauty, at 92” in length.

Over the next three hours, we landed two more. Ric caught one of similar size and his did some beautiful tail dancing during the fight. Chris fought one that got off the hook, and then later landed one of about 96”. Each fight was 20-30 minutes and featured some great jumps and many exciting photos and video clips. We revived both fish carefully and sent them on their way after some photos. We then dug into the ceviche and tacos, as well as the beer, while the boat trolled some lines on a long run back towards home port. After a while, though, the captain up in the fly bridge saw some serious fish activity in the distance and we pulled all the lines in and ran flat out to get in on it. Once there, the fish hit the lines right away. Tacey decided to get in on the fun and took a rod to the fighting chair, and a moment later a second hookup happened and I took the rod. With the chair occupied, I needed to fight the fish standing up which was extra hard but extra fun. A third fish raced past the stern and picked up one of our baits, but dropped it quickly. For the next half hour, Tacey and I fought the two striped marlin at once. They dove down deep, they peeled off line, the jumped, and we got back line when we could. In the end, she landed a 96” fish and I got the biggest marlin of the day at 104”. Again, photos and measurements and high fives all around, and then release.

Tacey's Marlin

It was finally time to head in, and we drank beers and margaritas and relived our catches. We took pictures with the crew and again saw the Cabo Arch. As we approached the marina we ran up the capture flags. As they went up we were surprised to see sea lions following behind us. The mates weren’t surprised though. The sea lions apparently do this every day. They hopped up one at a time on the boat’s stern swim platform and looking every bit like a friendly dog, begged for fish. We tossed them mackerel, which they ate, and ballyhoo, which they didn’t.

The boat arrived at its slip in the marina and after a few more photos with the crew we said our goodbyes. It was a great day and though we were exhausted, we hiked a few blocks through Cabo … to get a little food and drink at Cabo Wabo, the famous Sammy Haggar cantina.

Pancho the Sea Lion

Carlos

I can only say that it was a magical day fishing. The boat and crew were great, the ride was smooth, the scenery was amazing, and the fish were biting. So many fishing days don’t work out, but we fish knowing that once in a great while, a perfect day like this one comes together. The trick is to know how lucky you are when it does.

 

The Friends

Links:

• https://kingfishcabo.com/fishing-cabo-san-lucas/

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