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Yahoo!
Wahoo!
It was still
dark outside and he was already up. Ken had
to be excited, hell I was, how often do you
get to fish
in waters like we will
today?
My boy Ken
was visiting me in Hawaii and had come all
the way from the little town of Olton,
Texas.
The day before
we had ridden the trolley all over the
small
town of Kona which is on the big
island.
We saw the
600-pound Hawaiian hat maker, how he
even
got in and out of his car was some kind of
miracle.
But there he was on Main Street as
usual, to sell his
straw
hats.
I looked at the
clock. It was 4:30; still plenty of time to
get ready and call my Taxi Cab guy Richard.
Not much
sense in having a car on this
island I had decided, so
I sold mine before
leaving Colorado.
There was a
little market and one of those laundry places
right across the street where I could use up
my quarters,
what more does a Man really
need?
The year was
2000 and Ken was getting closer to 30 now
and I remember, at about the same age I
fished the Gulf
of Mexico for the first
time. It was Sailfish that day. Caught
2 of
them too! Got sicker than hell by drinking that
water
down there too. I won’t ever forget
that.
We both sat down
to have some Corn Flakes for breakfast
and
Ken asked me, “Dad, what do these Wahoo look
like?”
I went into a
long explanation that ended with “Be careful,
they have mean huge teeth” (Of course I had
to tell him
that they are called Ono here in
Hawaii, not Wahoo.)
Wanted him to
sound educated while on the Boat, know
what
I mean?
Chartering a
Boat to fish here is expensive but being the
shrewd person I am, fashioned out one
helluva deal.
Everybody wanted
$150.00 or more for only ½ day and
I swung a
deal out of the yellow pages for only $100.00
for a full day. I remember thinking to
myself “People just
don’t bargain enough”
But old Daddy Bob did that
day.
I knew that as
usual, it would be between 82 and 84
degrees
out there and the max wind would be about
10
mph, perfect day for hunting down an Ono or
two.
We finished
breakfast and I called Richard, the Cab
guy.
He was an on-timer, I knew he’d be here in 20
minutes and we needed another ½ hour to get
south
of town to Kona Sportfishing Harbor.
Still gave us an
extra ½ hour to chat with
the captain and his mate
and look the Boat
and tackle over.
I was one
that liked to check everything out, kind of
like I really knew my
stuff.
We pulled into
the Harbor entrance and circled around
to
the very back of it where our Boat was going to
be.
I saw a few old small boats but could
not spot a
charter boat anywhere.
Two
Hawaiian guys were sitting on a couple of lawn
chairs so I asked them “Do you know where
the
Lily-Marie is?” (The name of our Boat)
The young guy
sprung up and said “Oh you
must be Bob” “The
Lily-Marie is right here”
“Have you got the money?”
I looked around
again, still could not spot a charter
boat.
So I said “Right
where?”
He asked me
to get out of the Cab and just follow him,
which I did. (The first mistake
today)
Over to the edge of the dock we went,
he pointed down,
"there it is sir". I looked
over the edge, there floated a
16-foot boat
that looked like it had a 1950 Mercury
outboard engine strapped to it.
My
stomach sunk. (Boy this was going to really
impress
Ken all the way here from Texas.) (I
had convinced him
years ago that I was a
master fisherman.)
Being such a
decisive person, I told the guy, “No way
on
that boat” He just said “Ok” and headed for his
lawn chair.
Thank god the Cab was
still there and I asked Richard
to take us
to wherever the “real” boats were. He
circled half way around the harbor and there
they
were. At least 20 of them and gleaming
in the early
light. Big Rigs sticking out of
all of them, those ones
with the Huge
fishing reels that look like
gold.
Now we're
talking, I thought.
A captain came up to
my window of the Cab. He asked
“Looking for
a charter today?” I said, “you bet” “How
much for all day?” He said, “You got lucky
today, only
$300.00.”Too much, way too much.
“How much for
½ day?” “$300.00 he said” made
no sense at all,
same for ½ as all
day?
Hell, “Will you
take a MasterCard?”
“Nope, cash
only” “Sorry”
I got back in the Cab (This
cab was becoming very
expensive)
Ken, I’m sorry
but it looks like no fishing today. I saw
the disappointment in his face and he said
“Dad, we
can use that other boat” “Look how
calm the water is”
I could see how much
this day meant to him and just
couldn’t
disappoint him
I finally said “OK son”
and then asked Richard to take
us back to
the two lawn chairs. He obliged, I paid him
his $45.00 (Usually $10.00) and told him I’d
call when
we got back this
afternoon.
The two that
would guide us to the fishing grounds
were
re-loading all of the gear and bait in the boat
and in just a few minutes the young guy came
and
said “we are ready to
go”
Ken and I carefully climbed down the
old wooden steps
into the rocking boat and
managed to find a place to sit.
The
captain was up front and the young guy was
pulling
the rope to start the
engine.
And
pulling.
And pulling.
Finally, a
puff of white smoke came out and the engine
was alive. (At least running)
I
looked at the rod and reel on my side. A little
rusty but
as I turned the handle I was
thankful it still worked at
all. Ken’s was
about the same and I thought; “Now if
the
line isn’t shot we may be
ok”
Turned out, the
line was fine.
The young guy was now busy
tring to turn the boat
around so it faced
the Ocean and I said “Why not just
back it
out?” He said “No Reverse”
My first hint
of the possibility that this may not be
the
best day we would have. But like
Ken said, the water
was like glass that
morning, so what was the big
worry?
We were moving!
Slowly through harbor passing many
gleaming
boats we went and I mean slowly.
Safety
first the Captain said and I thought this guy
seems ok and he had said he had some
pictures of
the fish they had brought back
on other trips, so
be cool, I
thought.
As we neared the harbor
entrance, things looked a
little different
out there. The water was choppy and
I could
feel a little
breeze.
To much
breeze.
Ken was chattering
away with the Captain and looking
at some
old black and white pictures of fish that had
been water logged a long time. One of the
pictures
caught my attention; hell the fish
was bigger than this
boat. They must have
had to tow it all the way in if
they even
caught it at all.
The boat was already
rocking back and forth and once
in awhile a
wave would come over top and wet us
down a
touch. We were only a few hundred yards
out
of the harbor and I gave some serious thought
to just say, “Take us
back”
With one outfit
already set up and ready to go in the
water
I decided “why not try awhile” and within a few
minutes we were trolling in the blue Pacific
for Ono.
The wind was
almost completely gone and the water
was
starting to look like the water inside the
harbor.
“Hot Dog” we are going to catch some
fish. (Little did I
know then, it was only
changing direction, the
wrong
direction)
The Captain, knowing these
waters, started a big circle
with the boat
in order to face the wind and troll directly
into it. Chop, Chop, Chop, here we go
again.
An hour into it, I looked back at
the shoreline, I could
see it but barely. I
wondered right then “How far can
I swim at
60 years old?”
The last
time I had looked at Ken he was focused on
the
tip of his fishing rod but when I
glanced over at him
this time, he was
looking at the boat bottom. His nice
suntan
was gone and he was starting to look awful
pale.
My stomach had turned over a time
or two and I knew
it was just a matter of
time before I lost my Corn Flakes
and any
other debris that might still be hanging
around.
The situation was
critical, we had a long way to go to
reach
calm water and that’s what was needed now.
I asked Ken, “want to turn around” he
doggedly said
“no Dad” “lets try a little
longer” I said, “OK son,
but only a
little”
Then it started.
Over the edge of the boat Ken’s head
went
and he unloaded. My turn shortly followed.
That’s it I said, “Captain, take us
back”
Here we were, no longer able to see
the shore, in a
16-foot boat with an ancient
motor. What was
wrong with us?
Well, at least we were
going back before it got too
horrible.
Then it happened. The motor
quit. Just stopped running.
The young guy
said, “just more gas” and I felt a whole
lot
better
instantly.
Ken was over the
edge again and had no idea of the
peril we
had just escaped.
The young guy filled it
up with his gas can and pulled
the rope to
start it.
Again, again,
again.
Now the damned thing won’t
start.
I was thinking,
“why wouldn’t that guy take MasterCard”
“Everybody takes MasterCard” I hated that
guy right
then and didn’t even know his
name.
I thought Ken was going crazy, he
had stood up in the
rocking boat, pulled
down his jeans and was trying
to find a way
to balance himself on the edge of this
damned boat.
He said “Dad I have the
runs too” He finally got relief
just in time
to stick his head over the edge to let loose
of it out the other
end.
This was getting
serious. What do we do here, just drift
around until we finish eating the fish
bait?
Water, my God,
did they bring any water?
I had under
rated this captain, he not only had water
but he also had a two-way radio.
We are
saved I thought.
By that time Ken was
curled up in the bottom of the
boat
dehydrated and delirious but still alive. I
don’t
think he had enough strength left to
get over the
side of the boat another time
so whatever happened
to him now was going to
happen right where he was
curled
up.
Not good, if we
somehow get back, will Richard even
take us
home? I’m a strong man but all I really wanted
to do then was rip that radio out of the
captain’s hands
and scream mayday or
whatever you scream when you
know that
you’ll drown soon.
Of course I held my
cool and only shouted, Mercy,
please
mercy!
It’s amazing what fishing does to
a person’s mind.
Suddenly, one of the reels
was screaming, "fish on"
the captain yelled.
Ken, staggered up and said “Dad
don’t touch
that, that’s my
outfit”
I was proud of the
boy as he battled that Wahoo.
Took him a
good ½ hour to get it close enough to
gaff
but only a few seconds for Ken to be back in
the bottom of the boat.
Fish with
big teeth flopping around or not.
Just
amazing, huh?
Well,
finally another boat showed up on the horizon
and soon was towing us back into the
harbor.
We took a picture of what was
left of Ken and his
Wahoo and good old
Richard did take us home.
Ken went back
to Texas in a few days and I’m sure
told all
of his friends about the Giant Fish he caught
in Hawaii.
As for me,
I remain here in Hawaii, love to fish, but
no more of those charter’s for this boy.
It only takes me twice to
learn.
©Copyright Bobby
2001
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