Deep Blue

This past weekend, I went deep sea fishing for the first time. Several weeks ago, my friend Dave sent out an invitation to join the trip on a charter that he was organizing. I jumped right on the chance to go. It had been so long since I’d done any sort of fishing and I was really looking forward to what I heard was supposed to be a great time.

Okinawa at 5:30 in the morning.

And it was. For about half of us. Seven of us started the trip out to sea on Saturday morning, leaving port at around 5:30 am. The sunrise was beautiful, the sea was calm, and the weather turned out to be fantastic ? clear skies and warm weather. Unfortunately for some, the inner calmness didn’t last. While four of us were doing just fine, the other three were alternating between lying on the deck, leaning over the side of the boat, and in one case, fighting sickness long enough to pull in a few fish.

Eric with his first catch.

We fished for about 8 hours and, though I stopped counting, pulled in lots of fish ? mostly tuna, but also some smaller bonito. Kerri even managed to snag a flying fish, but threw it back (I learned a few days later than they are apparently really tasty).

Dave cleans the first fish on our way back to port.

It was a blast! My freezer is now full of thick fish fillets. I made a nice dish last night. I roasted tomatoes, onions, olive oil, garlic, and seasoning for about 10-15 minutes at 200 C, then added the fish for another 10-15. Topping that off with a bowl of rice, it was a nice dinner.

At the very least, I learned something important about myself ? I like providing my own food. Granted, we chartered a boat and had to travel pretty far out to sea, but the feeling of reeling in a fish by myself was something I needed. It’s got me wondering what other sorts of things I can do on my own.