What We’re Watching
Feel-Good Fish Story
If you want a heartwarming film that blends fishing, community resilience, and a true underdog spirit, Netflix’s Blue Miracle is an excellent choice. The movie follows Casa Hogar, an orphanage in Cabo San Lucas, and its unexpected entry into the prestigious Bisbee’s Black & Blue marlin tournament in 2014. The competition—founded in 1981—has grown from a handful of boats to as many as 150 entries, offering top cash prizes that can exceed $4 million.
Blue Miracle opens with Hurricane Odile devastating Cabo, leaving the town and its residents scrambling to rebuild. An anonymous $250,000 donation helps local charter operators afford the $5,000 tournament entry fee, and one entry is given to Omar Castaneda, the orphanage director. He brings along three children and teams up with a weary charter skipper portrayed by Dennis Quaid. With determination and teamwork, the group connects with a 385-pound marlin and finishes at the top of the leaderboard, winning $258,325 for the orphanage.
The film focuses less on technical fishing accuracy and more on the human stories behind the effort—community recovery after a hurricane, generosity in hard times, and the bond forged between adults and children through a shared goal. If you’re in the mood for an uplifting movie that centers on sportfishing and charitable spirit, Blue Miracle is streaming on Netflix.
More Salty Reads
Bay Boat Books
The Chesapeake Bay has a long maritime tradition shaped by purpose-built working boats used by watermen to harvest oysters, clams, crabs, and fish. Larry Chowning brings an encyclopedic knowledge of these regional craft and the people who built and sailed them. Two of his notable titles, Deadrise and Cross-Planked and Chesapeake Bay Buyboats, examine the design, history, and evolution of two of the bay’s most iconic working vessels: the deadrise workboat and the buyboat.
Deadrise and Cross-Planked explores the deadrise workboat, a hull form widely used for its ability to handle the bay’s variable conditions while carrying crews and gear for daily work. Chesapeake Bay Buyboats traces the buyboat’s story—from its early role transporting freight around the bay to its later function picking up oysters directly from the grounds and hauling them to shore. Both books document construction techniques, regional variations, and the cultural importance of these boats to Chesapeake Bay communities. (Price: $35, Tidewater Publishers.) — Gary Reich
What We’re Listening To
Tip Top Boat Tips
For practical, experience-based advice about boating, the Boating Tips Live podcast—sponsored by MarineMax—offers weekly episodes covering a wide range of marine topics. Hosted by two veteran captains, the show tackles subjects from charter vacations and megayacht operations to watersports, maintenance, and marine electronics. Episodes blend first-hand stories, professional insight, and actionable tips that appeal to seasoned boatowners and newcomers alike.
One of the podcast’s strengths is its live Q&A segments, where the hosts field real-time questions from listeners. These sessions often address troubleshooting, safety practices, rigging and gear choices, and how to plan trips or maintain engines. The conversational format makes technical topics approachable while delivering practical takeaways you can apply the next time you head out on the water.
Boating Tips Live is available on all major podcast platforms and streaming apps. Tune in for concise, reliable advice from captains who understand the realities of life on the water, whether you’re maintaining a small bay boat or preparing for a longer offshore cruise.