BY MERIT McCREA
It had been years since teen sweethearts Jeff “Cowboy” Jessop and Lori “Half-Day” Mueller had been a thing. But they refound each other decades later and married last year (finally!). Both had grown up on the docks and decks of the L.A. area sport fleet, first in Redondo. In the interim, Jeff went on from deckhand to captain to fleet owner over the years and in this past year retired from sportfishing and sold his two boats, the Freedom and the Apollo. The Jessops have started a new chapter together out of state with Jeff hiring on in law enforcement.
The rumors and posts have been out in the wild for a while now, but really boat sales don’t happen overnight. It’s a process, with Coast Guard, surveyors, documents and documentation escrow accounts. But the word is it’s finally a done deal for both boats.
Captains Chris and Edgar Isaac and Marc Sonoda, owners of the El Patron out of Long Beach Sportfishing are the new owners of the Freedom at 22nd Street Landing Sportfishing. The 85-footer will continue to run 1.5- and 2-day open party trips there, as well as be available for private charter.
For those unfamiliar with the boat, she boasts 52 bunks but open party trips are limited to just 35 anglers. She has showers and features ample bait capacity as well as 4 tons of refrigerated fish-hold capacity.
The Apollo was purchased by Captain Justin Ryan of the Aztec at Seaforth Sportfishing in San Diego’s Mission Bay. “It’s a dream come true for me” said Ryan.
He says he’s worked out of Seaforth Landing for at least the last 15 years, so that’s home. However the boat will continue to run its springtime charters out of 22nd Street Landing this year, heading for its summertime San Diego offshore schedule as it has been doing. The boat will spend fall and winter months out of Puerto Vallarta, MX fishing heavyweight tuna. “That’s the plan,” said Captain Ryan.
