Wicked Tuna hits close to home

The new season of Wicked Tuna is scheduled to start next Sunday February 16.  We follow that series pretty closely and Jim likes to see if he can match up the docks and boats to something familiar from our visits.  We also just like to hear the fishermen talk.  That distinct Massachusetts/Boston/Gloucester-speak is something we miss --we also now miss hearing the Irish brogue but that's a different story for a different day.

Turns out we have a second cousin who will appear this season with his vessel The Lily.  I think the third episode "Into the Storm" is the one you might want to watch on Sunday March 2.  This is the link to the NatGeo TV website about that episode with some pictures. 

Capt Billy "Hollywood" Muniz is a grandson to our "Aunt Eleanor" Pierce.  Some of you might just barely remember Aunt Eleanor--most of you probably remember her being referred to by Timothy, Peter or Dad.

This is Aunt Eleanor with Barbara Pierce from the 1992 reunion.  I believe the lady on the left is Eleanor as she seems to have the recognizable Pierce features.  Barbara is a "no-blood" :) 

I was telling Paula that we had a cousin appearing on Wicked Tuna and she asked me how I tracked that down.  I really led her down the wrong path in giving her the wrong name and the wrong story.  Sorry, Paula--how I tracked this down was actually from some handwritten notes I had taken during our October visit.  I always try to be prepared, but when Uncle Tim starts telling stories or dropping hints, sometime I have to scramble to find paper and pen.  Sometimes it's after some libations.  Often it is during libations.  In this case, my notes get a little shaky BUT he clearly noted that Eleanor's daughter Carole had two children and that he thought Billy Muniz was a fisherman with his own boat.  I kind of remembered seeing the Muniz name in the Good Morning Gloucester blog, so off I went searching for him.  Lo and Behold: Wicked Tuna, Season 3!

Capt Billy is involved in some fishing initiatives including the Large Pelagics Research Center and the Northeast Consortium Collarborative Research Project (wow that's a mouthful) and that's how I found this picture.  I believe he's the big guy third from the right.  Watch for him and our very brief 2 degrees of separation from fame!