Hurricane Sandee — Petite but Mighty

Over a decade ago, Ray Heredia joined my bass club, and because I was already a curmudgeon at 39 I paid him little mind. It had nothing to do with him specifically – just the residue of the fact that I was living in my own bubble, and with 15 years of tournament experience under my belt I knew not to invest too much in the FNGs until they’d shown a desire to hang around for a while. 

Fortunately, in the time we spent together I quickly learned to appreciate his passion for the sport and for giving of his time. Furthermore, it turned out that we had remarkably parallel interests – I went to Brazil, he went to Brazil, but separately. Similarly, we both went to Southern Africa to chase tigerfish, but not at the same time. Halibut? Same plan, different dates. For differing reasons, neither Ray nor I hung around the club too much longer. His military career took him to South Carolina, and my newfound love of fishing travel took me away from tournaments. Nevertheless, mostly through the ease of social media we stayed in touch, and in 2016 he traveled to El Salto with us. Unfortunately, his wife Sandee had taken a job in Portugal at that time, so she was not able to join us. In fact, but for a handful of Christmas parties I’d spent very little time with her. 

That changed this past week when both Ray and Sandee were part of our six-person team that traveled to Panama. Making it even better not only did we get to travel together, eat and drink together, and laugh way too much, but I also got to fish with them one day, and the three of us tag-teamed a monstrous 130-pound yellowfin. 

I thought I was the luckiest man on earth, having found a wife who not only accepts and tolerates my obsession, but also shares in it. Like Hanna, I doubt that Sandee will every go out of her way to visit a tackle store, or gossip about the tournament scene, but they both relish every minute on the water – and they’re both hyper-competitive. Furthermore, they both take great pleasure in seeing their husbands at their happiest (i.e., on the water). Sandee’s laugh, her desire to see the world and her 90 pounds of positivity were a big part of what made this trip exceptional. 

I know several couples who share an equal passion for fishing – Keith and Jennifer Combs, as well as Mike Yee and Samantha Sukupcak immediately come to mind – but Sandee and Hanna come at it from a completely different angle. Neither came into the relationship with any interest in the sport, and it’s not their passion per se, but they’ve learned to love it to the point where it’s made their marriages stronger and more equal. The best marriages start with two differing but overlapping sets of dreams and eventually you get to the point where you can’t tell whose is whose. 

I can’t wait to see where we all go next.