this is how it happened: we arrive to the deep blue. so deep that all you can see is dark blue turning into black. Brittney jumped in first and said “there’s a bait ball!” that’s good news. i tell Maki-san to jump in. i know she wasn’t excited because it’s her first time and i still remember my first time. so freaking scary!
i jump in and see the bait fish. they were moving around fast probably because something big was chasing it.
i took a deep breath and dove down and leveled off at 71′ deep. looking around checking it out because i love it down there. so peaceful and so relaxed. as i thought to myself that i’d better start going back up, i see 3 big rainbow runners trying to eat the bait fish. i swim towards it, lined up my shaft, and thought to myself “why not try?” i hit it and it started to go straight down taking me with it. oh shit! i knew i was already way to deep, out of breath, and trying to fight a fish that wasn’t going to give in. either i let go my gun and come up, or wrestle the fish all the way up to the surface.
i chose to wrestle it up. i look up to see how far i was from the surface. OMG, not even close. my right hand holding my gun, and my left hand trying to doggie paddle up because i wasn’t moving.
i never come up looking like this. the only reason i use my left hand to assist me is because i’m on the verge of running out of breath and drowning. still i refuse to let go of my gun and lose the fish. but hey, i don’t advise diving like this. haha.
i finally make it up and yell out loud. mixed emotions as i was happy to catch a big fish, and happy to be alive.
as i was pulling up my fish, i seen another big one coming in close. see it on the right of the photo? one part was telling me to go get another spear and shoot that one too, and the other part was telling me to calm down. i chose to calm down.
i tell Brittney “go shoot my fish in the head and kill it!” she looks at me and i could tell just by her eyes that no way she was going to do that. so she passes me the other spear.
i dive down and kill my fish. now it’s secure.
this is when i start to celebrate deep down inside. in other words, i’m stoked!
take him back to the boat. then reload.
did a couple more deep drops just to get my heartbeat back down to relaxing mode. it’s my way of keeping calm. and once i was calm again, we headed back to the harbor for ice cream. thanks again to my dive buddies for the amazing time!
