Working the Pole
It’s not often your husband asks you to work the pole, but recently Pete made that request in order to ensure that we’d have a perfect fishing trip to Guatemala. Shortly before we left we needed to make sure that we knew how to get spectacular coverage of our sailfish with our GoPro as the lodge doesn’t take the sailfish fully out of the water and into the boat in order to take pictures.
We needed to figure out a way to aim the GoPro directly back at us as we held the fish against the boat. A pole -- a 9-foot pole -- would surely do the job. From the GoPro video you can capture stills. That we knew. What we didn’t know was would we, could we, pull this off?
If the waves are crashing and our adrenaline is pumping from the big catch, how do we know we won’t take a picture of the sky? As planners we decided to reenact the upcoming scene.
So, picture this: We are in the garage, Pete is laying on the deck of the boat, hanging over the side, with his blow up (come on, puh-lease! Get your mind out of the gutter) Busch Beer inflatable bass, pretending it is a sailfish we raised, caught and are getting ready to release.
I am hovering over him, in a down jacket and pajama pants, trying not to bash my head on the rafters above, trying to determine the correct angle of the GoPro.
Do I need a longer or shorter pole? Ladies, feel free to weigh in on this important size matter.
What I was really wondering was if the whole darn contraption would just end up in the drink. Up, down and all around, it stayed attached, we watched my coverage and I am proud to say I nailed it!
Then came Pete’s turn.
I give directions to people all the time and invariably they are able to get the job done. Giving directions to your spouse, well that is a whole different can of worms.
“Turn it on.”
“Yes, the button on top.”
“No, not sideways – upside down.”
“Don’t move it so fast.”
“Out further.”
Pete’s hearing is fine, he just doesn’t like to be told what to do. Thank goodness there is playback, opportunities to redo it, and that I have the patience of a saint. Our garage pole demo wasn’t a bust by any means as we both got some good coverage and I was able to capture some stills.
While our neighbors might think we are nuts, and it might not be the best thing for marital harmony, I highly recommend this and other similar practices prior to your big trip. Prepare, prepare and prepare again! If you don’t get the picture of that fish of a lifetime, that is a lot worse for your marriage, believe me!
Yes, we are still talking to each other and although we went south completely prepared with all our equipment, we were also fortunate that the mates on the boat had done this once or twice before.
Results are below -- and who cares who took the picture.
