Finding a partner
Cordoba wasn’t Alvarenga’s usual fishing partner. He usually worked with Ray Perez, but Perez had pulled out of the trip at the last minute, leaving Alvarenga to find a replacement for the heavy lifting required on the overnight excursion.
Cordoba was 22 and a local football star. He was strong enough to deal with the hard work, but he was an inexperienced fisherman. As going out on the trip alone would have been even more dangerous, Alvarenga decided that he could more than make up for Cordoba’s lack of knowledge.