Day: February 6, 2006

So, as the counterpoint to diving underwater to watch the beautiful and unique wildlife, we instead geared up a large boat, stayed on the surface and threw lures in the water to entice the fish to eat them, so we could in turn reel them in and eat them.
Perhaps that’s a little over-simplified, but it was fun, nonetheless. Nothing like being at the top of the food chain. 🙂
Ok, our morning was spent on a large and very comfortable boat. The Captain took us out in search of primarily Mahi Mahi.

First up to catch a fish was Michael. We had 4 lines in the water, so when a fish was on one line the other three were brought in. The crew worked very efficiently to make sure all we had to do was sit in the fighting chair and reel in the fish. That sounds a lot easier that it is though. These are large game fish and don’t come in without a fight. Granted, a Mahi Mahi or Tuna is no Marlin, but it’s still a great fight.
When Michael brought the fish close enough so that we could see it, I was really surprised at how beautiful it was. Such a vibrant blue. I’d never caught a mahi before (or even seen one in person).
When it came next to the boat, the crew again impressed me with their efficiency. One directed it in and got the door open and the other gaffed it and brought it directly into the cooler. If you have a weak stomach, it could be a bit of gruesome site, but the process is still fascinating.
Here’s Michael with his spoils. Unfortunately, the color fades when the fish dies, so it’s not nearly as pretty, but you can see what they look like (if you’ve never seen one before).

Next on the docket was me and a fish. Mine was rather elusive. It took lots of line out and was fighting hard. When we finally got him in, it was a football sized tuna. Perhaps not as impressive as the Mahi Mahi, but a good little fighter.


Dad was the final fisherman to get one. He also brought in a nice sized Mahi Mahi.

Well, after 4 hours, we only brought in 3 fish, but we had a great time doing it.
Here are some other shots as we enjoyed our time on the boat.


As we came back into the harbor, the crew filleted our fish for us. For part of the tuna, we enjoyed a little sushi. It wasn’t yellow fin tuna, but it was quite tasty. There’s nothing better than taking your catch from the sea and in a matter of minutes, fillet it and eat it raw (with a little soy sauce and wasabi of course). Yum. 🙂


Here’s our party and crew back in the harbor.

Next stop was back home to cook up some of that tasty fish. Michael helped make a delicious meal of the fillets.
After we had our fill of the fish, we packed up our gear and went North for a short hike to Hilaan beach (AKA Shark’s Hole and Lost Pond).
On the way there, we stopped by Two Lover’s Point. Here’s a picture of Julie and Michael there.

Here is everyone hiking on the beach.

Julie, Michael and I ventured into the jungle in search of Lost Pond (it’s not very lost if everyone finds it, is it??). Unfortunately, like many trails on Guam, this one had about 10 different branches going off it. So, we took a couple wrong turns and found ourselves in very think growth with the pond nowhere in sight. However, we did come across a number of coconut crabs (a land crab that eats primarily coconuts and is considered a delicacy here). Since none of us were wearing the right gear to be trail blazing, we turned around and headed back to the beach.
Since I couldn’t let the jungle beat me, I decided to go back and make sure I could still find this lost pond. I did, but as usual, the mosquitoes were voracious, so I didn’t savor the discovery for very long!
We stayed out on the beach until the late afternoon, then hiked back to the car.
Here’s another shot of the beach.

After this picture perfect day at the beach (which also happened to be New Year’s Eve), we returned home. That evening Anna and I went to a New Year’s party for work and everyone else stayed home, packed up and got a good night’s rest for the very long journey home the following day.
Early the next morning, we took everyone over to the airport and said good-bye. It was a great visit and we really enjoyed having them come see our home in Guam. Not just anyone would travel halfway around the world just to come say hi!
We can’t wait to see them again soon!
So, until the next adventure.
–Jim

Once the whole Gingras family was together, we decided it was time to celebrate Christmas together as a family. It was the first time in three years I had been able to join everyone so it was a treat for me to be there. Last year, Anna and I were here in Guam (and unable to make it home) and the year before, I was deployed to Kyrgyzstan over Christmas.
So, here are a few pictures from that night.

My Mom made herself right at home and treated us to some delicious meals while she was here!


Of course, the big event was opening presents. As you can see, Julie gets rather excited when she opens her presents (this was a new lunch box … she teaches 3rd grade, so now she’ll be the envy of all her students with this spiffy new one!)

Here’s Michael checking out his gift.

Anna trying on her pretty new bracelet.

This is the chaos that ensued after the presents were opened. In fact, since we don’t have a very large condo, it’s pretty much indicative of the state of our place while we have guests! Sorry Mom and Dad. Hope you didn’t mind the clutter too much! 🙂

Well, we also took everyone out on the dive boat while they were here. There is some of the best SCUBA diving in the world on Guam. Ok, so it’s not Palau, but it’s certainly better than most other places we’ve been! They (I don’t really know who “they” is exactly though) say that Guam is better than 80% of the diving in the world. I would have to agree with that assessment (at least from our perspective).
Here we are all geared up. Anna, Michael and I were the only divers. Mom, Dad and Julie all stayed closer to the surface and went snorkeling.

We were fortunate and on the first dive saw 2 sharks. Both small, one white tip and one black tip, but only our 4th sighting in the wild, here on Guam.
Both dives we did were drift dives. So, while we were underwater, we’d just let the current push us along and when we finished, ascend up to 20 feet below the surface and wait three minutes for the safety stop. While doing that, we’d inflate a long orange tube (called a safety sausage) and let it rise to the surface. That way, while were below waiting for our safety stop to finish, the boat captain could see our sausage and motor over to pick us up. If the group stays pretty close, it’s a fast process. If not, it takes a while to pick up spread out groups of divers. Both times were about average for us. 🙂
Here’s what we look like in the water waiting to be picked up.

Well, that about does it for this post. Next one will have the counter point to SCUBA diving. That is deep sea fishing.
–Jim