More of this Feature • Part 1: Lone Sharking, On Shelves, and more • Part 2: Suit Settled, and more
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Lone Sharking
What started off as a peaceful, one-man fishing trip turned into a shark battle royale—mano y mako.

For more than six hours last September, John Miller struggled solo against an 815-pound mako shark about 25 miles off the California coast near Santa Monica. Miller, an experienced Redondo Beach angler, hooked the female mako while fishing aboard his 32-foot Crestliner sportfisherman.

During the intense fighting, Miller managed to place a radio call to a friend, Mike McNamee, asking for help. McNamee set out immediately aboard his 23-footer. He found Miller about an hour later, tied their boats together, and hopped in the cockpit to join the fight. “We both held on for dear life,” McNamee told the Sacramento Bee newspaper.

The two worked side-by-side to subdue the enormous shark. Finally their efforts prevailed: They reeled in the ten-foot-long fish, secured it to the side of Miller’s boat, and towed it back to port. Their catch set a tournament record for makos on the West Coast and was the second-largest mako ever caught in the area. To put it in perspective, the second-place catch in the tournament that day weighed in at 299 pounds.

Coincidentally, the episode was a mako sequel for Miller and McNamee. Three weeks earlier the pair took the trophy at the Mako for Dollars Shark Tournament when their four-man team caught a 720-pounder about 22 miles offshore from Marina Del Ray.

According to UCLA’s Ocean Discovery Center, mako sharks are rare along the West Coast, making them especially high-prized catches for professional anglers—whether they’re on the tournament trail or casting solo.

ON SHELVES: Under the Black Flag
Thanks to thousands of dime novels and quasi-history books that extol their high-seas adventures, pirates like Blackbeard and Captain Kidd have enjoyed glamorous reputations for centuries. But David Cordingly’s Under the Black Flag breaks down the myth of pirate life and illustrates the hard realities these criminals endured. A former curator at the National Maritime Museum in London, Cordingly explains how pirate captains often subjected their crews to ghastly torture and how onboard factions routinely ignited deadly battles over plundered treasures. He also dispels the myth that pirates always retired to sunny islands with chests of gold: In fact, most died broke and hungry while marauding the seas. Whether you’re a maritime history buff or you simply wish to add some reality to your swashbuckling story collection, Under the Black Flag will make for great reading on your next cruise.
$14, paperback. Harvest Books.

December
4-6. The International Workboat Show and Conference in New Orleans. (207) 842-5693. www.workboatshow.com.
7-16. The Paris International Boat Show at the Paris Expo. (33) 1 41 90 48 24. www.salonnautiqueparis.com.
28-Jan. 5. The New York National Boat Show in New York City. (212) 984-7000. www.discoverboating.com/boatshows/newyork.

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