i’m not the only one with ahi fever! Satoko-san sent me her screen shot and i was laughing. sorry Satoko-san, but no ahi yet!

thank you Matsuda-san for the thunder chocolate and wasabi pistachios!

got up at 3am, loaded up the boat, and spent another long day in the ocean. watching the sunrise from the middle of the sea is amazing.

the drivers seat! why would you want to be asleep at first light?

Kyle and Brent is hooked on ahi fever too. i still don’t understand how we all went from free divers to fishermen? haha.

no ahi, but we caught a big ono or sawara. i’m pretty happy with the results, BUT today was my last day i will spend trolling. i officially give up. to me, trolling around in the ocean for hours spending big $$$ on gas is a waste. it’s like throwing money into the ocean. a lot of my friends love it but it’s not for me. i rather free dive.

while i was washing Mayuki, Brent and Kyle were cutting and packing up the fish. perfect team work!

wanted to tell all my friends in okinawa to please be careful! i know most of them will be outside chasing the swell but this mega typhoon is huge! please stay indoors and if you decide to go surfing, catch a wave for me!

and yes, hawaii is getting ready for our own tropical storm next week. 35mph winds compared to 185mph in okinawa?
spent a very long day in the ocean and am very tired. no more ahi fever for me so it will be a good night sleep. oyasuminasai.

A great day!

either i wash the truck myself, sometimes Mckinley, and sometime Yajima’s. both Yajima’s and Mckinley are good, but nothing beats doing things yourself. i have good eyes for perfection and after i spend money on something, i expect it to be perfect. both places good, but both places miss spots. so i end up coming home and doing it anyway. then it rains, then the truck is dirtier than it was before i washed it. nobody wins. haha. oh, my advise? take it to both and i’m sure it will be perfect!

the cool thing about Yajima’s is they have free ice cold green tea. i drink 10 cups, get hyper, and can’t sleep for days.

see the birds? see the tiny island in the back? well, the birds tell us where the fish are, and the tiny island tells us that we are sooooo far out to sea. if your boat breaks, you die. simple. here we are fishing 20 miles or 32 km off shore. no cell service and no tow trucks.

and we aren’t alone. there are other crazy fishermen waking up at 3am, spending hundreds on gas, and testing out their luck. this is part of “Ahi Fever!”

i didn’t realize what we caught was called “otaru.” every fishermen in hawaii told me they prefer the otaru over ahi. yes, katsuo over maguro. i was wondering why it tasted so dam good! i ate it 4 days in a row and still wanted more. i hope to get one of these again soon.

right before i slept the other night, i watched a NHK documentary on the city of Onogawa. i’ve drove through there over and over since the tsunami wiped the whole city away. each and every time, i was so sad.

and when the survivors tell their stories, all you can do is feel for them. i will never forget the strength of the people of tohoku.

last, a guy was swimming in california and he got attacked by a great white shark. guess who saved him? yup, surfers!