Talking ‘Bout Tan Lines

Twenty-plus years ago, when I was single, I fished more and was less careful with sun protection. Accordingly, I frequently had some oddball facial tan lines. In anticipation of her wedding, in which I was to be the best man, my then-sister-in-law-to-be asked that I do my best to avoid such tan lines, as there’d be permanent and potentially embarrassing photographic evidence of that day.

I heeded her request and lathered up with sunblock when I fished a club tournament on North Carolina’s Chowan River the weekend prior to the big day. I was proud of myself for being careful. Unfortunately, that cautiousness and good luck did not extend to my driving home. While towing my boat up the highway I happened to go through the back of a braking Suzuki Samurai, thereby deploying the airbags and scuffing up my eyes. It wasn’t quite a black eye, but it wasn’t far off.

Today I’m much more careful about sun protection, so the raccoon eyes show up less frequently, but I still know that it’s a signifier of someone who spends a lot of time on the water. That’s why I appreciated the t-shirt pictured above from Fathom Offshore. Raccoon eyes, for better or for worse, are an indicator of fishing effort, and those are the guys who tend to catch ‘em.

Of course, some tan lines are better than others.