Goodbye and Hello

........and so it begins again. On Tuesday, January 27th, I board a plane bound for Brisbane, Australia. Yesterday I said goodbye to some of the most amazing people in my life...again. After a month of wandering in my old territory, the time has come to make my next move. Although everything necessary for my trip to Australia has been squared away for weeks, the flight remained unresolved until last Tuesday. I grew tired of waiting for things outside of my control and pulled the trigger. Now I sit in Carlsbad, having said goodbye to all of my dear friends in San Diego, spending some of the remaining time with family.

The past month has been full of great experiences. My friends have made sure that we celebrate every day of life. San Diego and Los Angeles have been filled with sunshine, surf, and Lakers victory. A great combination if I must say so.

Having looked up old contacts from my travels in 2006, I realized how many people I know in Australia. Although contact has been sparse with some, as soon as I looked them up, old memories resurfaced and I remembered the warmth I experienced while there. I am very eager to catch up with my Aussie mates and forge new experiences in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

After an 18 hour flight, including a 4 hour layover in Fiji, I will arrive in Brisbane on Thursday the 29th. After hanging out in Brisbane for a few days I will hop a train to Noosa where I will meet with family friend, and legend, Dennis. This will be my home base until Seton arrives and I can secure a job and an apartment. Who knows what will happen along the way but I am ready for whatever comes, greeting all with a smile and a lust for adventure.

A New Chapter

I know that it has been awhile since my last post but once again I am in Southern California awaiting my next move. It has been great to see family and friends however I miss the excitement of travel and although I was excited for my fix of La Playa burritos, the sharp decline of quality food in my diet has become depressing. I constantly find myself missing the fresh lobster, scallops, crab, octopus, and shrimp delivered to the back of the boat by local fishermen.

I miss killing dinner.

Furthermore, it wasn't too bad having a chef constantly preparing a vast array of culinary delights with these freshest of ingredients.

Today I got my first surf in since I returned. The 57 degree water and hazard to health warnings made me realize how good I had it in the crystal clear 78 degree water of Mexico. One of my most memorable experiences while with the El Tigre is when I woke up one morning to another ponga at the stern of the boat trying to sell shrimp. We already had alot onboard but managed to strike a bargain anyhow. We gave them fresh water in exchange for a ride over to Santa Maria point where the waves were firing. I grabbed my board and jumped in for the ride. When we got there I jumped off the ponga and paddled into the lineup. The waves were small, but they were consistent and peeling and I had them all to myself.

Other then surfing I remained on a strict regiment of fishing. It quickly became routine as I learned to control the cockpit. I would need confidence when it came to some of the flurries we encountered. At one point, while chasing a school of dolphins at close to a thousand strong, I witnessed the most intense display of sea life I have ever seen. The dolphins were breathtaking in themselves but when they were joined by 10 marlin at the surface it became more exciting. We hooked up 3 of these marlin at the same time then started catching the other fish that had joined the feeding frenzy. Everyone on the boat was hooked up at once. We had marlin, Dorado and tuna on at the same time. We spotted the tuna when they converged on a bait ball so concentrated that the surface of the water boiled with tuna leaping out of the water. In the midst of all this, the owner of the boat cast out on a marlin only to have a gray whale surface mere feet away from his bait. It was truly an amazing sight.

Although my time in Mexico with the El Tigre was an experience I will never forget, and no doubt improved me as a person, after getting the boat to Cabo San Lucas, I have chosen to leave. As soon as I returned to San Diego I planted myself at the computer trying to plan my next move. After days of contacting every family member and friend that I have met over the years through travel I have decided to move to Noosa, Australia. While studying in Brisbane Australia in 2006, I always talked of returning to work. Since I made the decision I have sold my truck and applied for a Work and Holiday Visa that will allow me to stay and work in Aus for a year. If an opportunity presents itself, I may stay longer. My plan is to leave as early as the end of January and set up shop. My buddy Seton, who has been a partner in travel and crime will be joining me. From there it is fairly easy to visit Luke in Japan and Cisco in China (when he gets there). My family friend Dennis Dunsten will be helping us get settled in with a job and temporary housing until we find our own apartment.

As chaotic as my life is, im still living, and adventure is always on the horizon. I may never be able to live this freely again in my life so I am going to take full advantage of it while I can. As a great man in Chicago said once, "Just do whatever."

The Trip

I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I thought that I knew way more than I did coming into this. Not the case. I am getting schooled on a daily basis, and stoked. Slowly, and not always smoothly, I am transitioning into a serious fisherman. I have not yet set foot on land. 11 days into the trip and we have caught over 30 marlin, and countless yellow fin tuna, dorado, and wahoo. I am the man in the cockpit; rigging all rods, pinning bait, gaffing fish, and leadering marlin by hand. It is intense and extremely exciting.

Today I had to take the "donkey knocker" (a plastic bat full of lead), and bash a dorado's head in after it got into the boat so that while flopping around on the deck, it didn't hook one of the people in the cockpit, or damage the boat. The aftermath included blood spatter worthey of Dexter.

Other then brutally murdering sea life, I have seen a lot of great things. Paddle boarding the small but extremely long waves at Santa Maria, snorkeling, watching dolphins ride the wake off the bow of the boat from the pulpit, epic sunsets, 80 degree water, and eating like a king, have all been great additions to the rigorous fishing schedule.

Unfortunately the weak connection here has rendered me incapable of adding photos or video but I will get it up soon. Until next time.

AT LAST

Finally I can post something from my travels abroad. On Thursday I left Newport Beach and this evening we reached our destination at Turtle Bay. I can't believe that I am as fortunate as I am to be doing what I am doing. Right now it is my captain Bob, the wild Hawaiian chef Lane, and myself. They have already taught me so much.

The first night we motored all the way thru, all taking shifts on watch. The following night, at midnight, we anchored off the coast of a small mexican island inhabited only by those that worked on the salt mines and fisherman. After bartering with the local fisherman for some beer and T-shirts we ended up with 29 lobsters. Lane and I proceeded to clean them all to get ready for some feasts in the near future.

Later in the day we got radio from the Tigress, whose firstmate is my buddy Tommy who got me this job. They were on their way back up from Cabo and found some great fishing. We saw eachother in passing as both boats pulled in unlimited amounts of yellow fin tuna. We murdered 13 good sized tuna and decided to leave the rest to the multi hundred porpoise pod that were traveling with us for about an hour. One of the new things I learned today was that you must put tuna on ice immediately, not because they will spoil, but because they fight so hard that they can cook themselves from the inside out.

When we finally got to Turtle Bay, Lane and I set up shop to clean all of the tuna. It took a few hours but we ended up with the pounds vaccume sealed and frozen, along with freshest sashimi I've ever had. Now we are resting and getting ready for whatever tomorrow brings. Life is good.

Still Waiting

So yes, its true, my departure got pushed back again. I don't know if I am ever going to be able to head out. Its becoming a bit frustrating. Checking out all of the pictures that Seton has posted of Europe as well as the recent photos that Luke has posted of Japan, I'm becoming jealous of their adventures and chomping at the bit to get out of southern California.

Even so, things could be worse. Now I am able to vote easily, hang out with my friends on Halloween and get better acquainted with Newport Beach. The other night I went hoop netting for lobsters with my friends Tommy and Carver over by the famous Wedge. We headed out after sunset with squid and macarel for bait. We caught some more bait fish with the same set up that I landed the seal a few weeks ago as well. Had a few beers, baited and dropped some traps, and enjoyed the full moon, clear skies, and calm water. We didn't pull up any lobster however we did catch a couple of crabs and an octopus. Attached is a video of the octopus and a picture of Carver pulling in the largest crab. Although we didn't have anything to grill when we got back to shore at midnight, after getting pulled over by both fishing and gaming and the coast guard, it was still a great time.

Other then that working and surfing has consumed all of my time. Getting more acquainted with the boat, the water, and getting ready for the trip is all I can do for now. I can't wait to post something from Mexico. Until then limbo continues...

Good Times

Bailing on Princess Cruises was one of the best decisions I've ever made. My life on El Tigre is turning out to be exactly what I was looking for and it will only get better when we leave for Mexico in early November. For now, Newport Beach is a cool town. Turns out I had some friends up here, and through them I've got a chance to see the area and meet some new people.

This week we will taking inventory of what we've got and prepare for our trip south. I'm so excited to get on the water, kill some fish, surf, and "get salty." The only time that I've been out of the harbor on El Tigre is when we went bait fishing for a trip to Catalina that had to be cancelled due to the gale force winds caused by the Santa Annas. Even so, it was a good time. The chef hung around and made dorado and cheese enchiladas along with fresh sushi.

While fishing for bait, I was consistently pulling in multiple fish at a time. At one point I cast out and I felt something big hit the line. At this point I didn't know what I was fighting but I fought it and got it toward the surface. When it got close I was surprised to see I had landed a seal! A cod was on the top hook and the seal must have went after it and got snagged. Luckily it got off the hook before I had to take it out with pliers. Fisherman don't like seals and when we figured out what it was my captain said in jest, "bring it in, let's club it!" Didn't get to club it but it's the first story of many that I will accumulate while on El Tigre.

Change of Plans

Although I was supposed to be an employee of Princess Cruises and board the Sapphire Princess this Saturday, I opted out of the opportunity. Instead, through the help of some good friends and good people, I've landed a more lucrative job working on El Tigre, a yacht out of Newport Beach. Although Marla wasn't too happy to hear about my late bail out I had to do what I had to do.

Tomorrow is my first day working on the boat and preparing it for a 3-4 month voyage to Mexico. The majority of our time will be spent in Magdalena Bay, north of Cabo San Lucas on the Pacific side of the Baja peninsula. There is good surf there and I hope to get alot of good maritime experience with captain Bob. This is a picture of Cuevas, one of the best breaks in the area.

We leave at the end of October prolonging the goodbyes that started at the end of July. Soon enough no one's going to believe that I'm leaving. Although I was extremely eager to board a ship and get the hell out of dodge, I guess I will be hanging out in Southern California a bit longer.