Silent Night Tuna Hunters

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i really miss the days of traveling around the world.  meeting such happy people and eating delicious street food.  in this case, let’s go back to Mexico 2015!

as a free diver, my dream was always to spear a yellowfin tuna.  i spent thousands of dollars on trips and equipment trying to make that happen, and i wasn’t going to give up until it did.  airplane transits, long car drives, and even longer boat rides, i found myself in the middle of the Pacific Ocean off Baja Mexico.

when hunting tuna, you may or may not even see a single fish on the whole trip.  but when you do see a huge monster fish swimming in the deepest dark blue sea, you better keep calm.  everything has to be precise, and you better be able to seize the moment because that moment may never come again in your lifetime.  in this case, i was singing “silent night” in my head because nothing gets me more happier and calmer than Christmas!

spearing the fish is the easy part, getting it on the boat is the challenge.  you have to kill it, you have to make sure it doesn’t kill you, and you have to make sure the sharks don’t eat it, or eat you.  so you can’t celebrate until it’s on the boat…

after i shot a hole in one on the golf course, i stopped golfing.  and after shot this prized yellowfin tuna, i stopped hunting for tuna.  a big box checked off my “bucket list.”

i brought most of that tuna home and ate sashimi every night for a week.  no fish tastes better than the fish you hunted.  i relive that moment many times, especially when i’m singing “Silent Night” at Christmas.  haha…

KIRBY FUKUNAGA
ハワイで生まれ育ち、プロサーファー、フォイラー、スキンダイバー、カメラマンの肩書きを持ち、ウォーターマンとして、海で多くの時間を過ごし、海から多くのモノをもらいながら生活しています。彼が伝えようとしていることは、海がある生活は僕らを豊かにしてくれるということ。そして、自分だけではなく、いろいろなことをみんなにシェアし、人生を楽しむということ。現在は、ハワイでプライベートサーフィンガイドを主催。
カービー福永のハワイサーフィンガイド
https://go-naminori.com/kirbyhawaiisurfingguide