On our drive home from San Diego from our fishing trip, we drove through central California on Highway 395 to Reno, Nevada, back into California, into Oregon on Highway 97, West on Highway 58 to I-5, and home. When we were driving through NE California, we saw miles of fence running parallel to the road, only about 18 inches tall. I googled it and found out that it was built to keep tortoises from going out onto the road and getting run over. As I continued to read, I read that the fence project was declared a failure because the tortoises, when they got to the fence, would walk back and forth trying to get through, and would continue this pursuit until they died from anxiety. The entire thing seemed so strange to me that money would be spent on fencing to keep tortoises from getting run over, but they died anyway from tortoise anxiety. I saw hundreds of armadillos killed on the road when we bicycled through the Southern States several years ago, but there was no fence to save them, and there wasn’t one around here when possums were dead on the road everywhere. There are several places in Alaska where fences are built to keep moose off the roads, and they even have big culverts under the road so they can get through without dying from anxiety trying to get to the other side. I think the moose fence was built to protect motorists, but I am not sure. The tortoise fence reminds me of Proverbs 14:12: “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” I make a lot of choices in life that seem right at the time, but later on, I would call them a tortoise fence. The big question for me is how to reduce the number of foolish choices I make. The answer from Proverbs is to be a wisdom seeker. If we seek wisdom like silver and gold, we will find it, and when we get wisdom, Proverbs says we will know every right and wise choice in life.

I got home from my 14-day fishing trip yesterday. We drove two days down and two days back to San Diego, where we went out on a ten-day fishing trip on a 100-foot boat. I caught about 20 fish total, including yellow fin tuna, Dorado, yellow tail, wahoo, ling cod, and rock fish. It was a very enjoyable trip with lots of new experiences. I fish a lot and usually do well, but this was a new fishing experience for me, and I think I caught the fewest number of fish of anybody of the 25 other people on the boat, including two ladies, so I went from the world’s best fisherman to the worst!

With the boat constantly rocking back and forth from the waves, you adapt by walking with your feet spread apart and swaying in time with the boat. The most challenging place to manage the rocking was in the shower, with my eyes closed. I managed to keep from falling while showering, but came close several times. Now that I am home, I am still walking like I am on the boat, and last night in the shower, I found myself swaying back and forth.

One characteristic of those with wisdom and character is their ability to adjust quickly to different situations and environments. It isn’t that we compromise or become phonies; instead, we recognize which behaviors foster unity and strengthen our witness among diverse groups and kinds of people.

It didn’t take long on the boat to discover that most of those on board were very wealthy and made this fishing trip at least once a year, and many several times each year. I think my friend Scott and I were the only first-timers on the boat, and I found myself constantly being scolded and coached by the others around me on how to fish. With 25 people all fishing at once around the boat as it drifted and turned in the current, you had to adjust to the others around you; it was almost like dancing. I regularly got tangled up with others because I was out of step, and I got scolded for it. At first, I was very intimidated by this, but I soon learned that they enjoyed coaching and teaching me if I responded in humility as a learner. I asked one of the guys if I could buy a 12-ounce weight from him, and he gave me three and said his payment was watching me work hard at learning to fish.

There are approximately 30 people on the Excel, including eight crew members and 22 fishermen. The boat is about 2,500 square feet, about the same as our house. We have 11 living in our house, and we often think it is crowded. The crowded condition in our home is not a problem because we are a family and get along well. There are small groups of friends on the boat, but most of the people on the ship don’t know each other very well. There are some very nice individuals and some not-so-nice ones, so at times it can be a bit stressful for me. I have never done this kind of fishing before, and several people on the boat have done it frequently. Some of the experienced guys are very gracious in their teaching and explaining to me how to fish for various species of fish, but some are arrogant know-it-alls who make my temperature rise. I have developed six guidelines for these ten days of fishing on this boat, to be a positive influence on the others and to make the trip personally enjoyable for me.

1.      Smile a lot. Several people in the past have said that I have a nice smile, so I am going to use God’s gift to me of nice teeth to connect positively with people.

2.      Honor each person by paying sincere attention to their words as they talk, maintaining eye contact, even if they cuss a lot.

3.      Ask questions about fishing and their personal lives.

4.      Pray for people silently as I listen to them, that God would bless them and bring them to Himself, and help me to love them.

5.      I haven’t caught nearly as many fish as I thought I would on this trip, and I have had numerous seals steal my fish, and I have caught a bunch of junk fish that we throw back. But I am committed to rejoicing always, grumbling about nothing, and rejoicing with those who catch more fish than I do, though that is hard.

6.      Make the trip about growing closer to God rather than about catching fish. Sitting out in the ocean, taking in the beautiful sunsets, has been a great reminder of God’s power, His attributes, and His love for me. The time I have been able to spend praying has been great.

Today, I had a seal grab my fish and almost pulled all the line off my reel. I didn’t lose my line or my jig, but I did lose my fish, and by the time I was done fighting that seal, I was totally exhausted. Another guy lost most of his tuna to a shark. We fished for yellowtail most of the day, and the boat caught 79 of them. We had another beautiful sunset as we watched the sun sink into the ocean. Being on the sea is a constant reminder of God’s creative power, and I have been blessed by my times of reflecting on God as I observe His creation.

It is always fun to have “firsts.” Today I saw my first flying fish. They have wings and launch out of the water, gliding a considerable distance. I hadn’t actually seen them glide yet, but I did see one in the bait tank. One of the deckhands caught it with a hand net and put it in there, but I have been assured that I will see some flying this evening. Another first was that an owl was roosting on the top of our boat’s mast. We are 100 miles from shore, so I am not sure why he was out here; he must have gotten lost. I caught two nice yellowfin and two big Dorado so far today. The boat rocked so much last night that I hardly slept. Finally, I tucked some dirty clothes under one side of me and managed to sleep a little bit. We ended the day by catching a lot of Dorado fish. The sunset tonight was amazing. It was so beautiful it took my breath away. I don’t know of a time when I have felt closer to the Lord than tonight.

The boat trolled for Wahoo all day yesterday. Five rods are going out the back of the boat. When one rod is hit, a deck hand blows a whistle, and the Captain stops the boat. Those with the other four trolling rods reel in, and the one with the fish fights it. Everyone else on board the vessel casts out their rods all over the boat, away from the one being fought. Usually, there are two or three more hook-ups while the trolled rod is fighting its fish. When the fish hits the deck, everyone reels in, and the troll starts again. When you catch a wahoo on the troll, you are out of the rotation until everyone has caught one. There are 25 people fishing, and I was the second-to-last one to catch one. The one I fought and landed was the hardest fish I have ever fought, including halibut and sturgeon. When I finally got him in the boat, I was sure I was going to need CPR. Wahoo are like a Marlin without the sword.

We had yellow fin tuna for dinner last night, and it was the best-tasting fish I have ever had. It was so good. All the food has been exceptional, but that was the best.

The weather has been sunny every day, with temperatures around 70 degrees, and the ocean is relatively calm today. I am getting my sea legs and can now walk without holding on to something all the time. I am sleeping well, despite rolling around on my bed.  

While we are trolling, I spend most of my time praying. I have gone through all my kids, their spouses, grandkids, their friends, siblings, their families, and Patty numerous times. I also pray for my church, and I include a prayer for fish regularly.

Fished today. I landed four yellowfin tuna, lost three, and threw back two small ones. We are currently trolling for wahoo and will switch to tuna fishing a little later. It is a bit wild, tuna fishing, because there are almost always three or four people with fish on at the same time, and you have to pay attention to avoid or navigate over or under people’s lines as their fish run up and down the railing on the boat. I pretty much know everybody by this point, so as the guys catch fish, everyone works together as we catch fish. The ship caught 40 tuna and 20 wahoo today, and we didn’t start fishing until 1:00 pm, so hopefully tomorrow will be better. I had a funny thing happen today. There is a big rack that holds everybody’s fishing rods. When the bite starts, everybody grabs their rod and starts to fish. I grabbed what I thought was my rod, and then when I got it over to the water, I realized it wasn’t my rod; I had accidentally grabbed someone else’s. I got it back before anybody noticed.

The meals on the boat are excellent. Tonight, we had steak, and it was one of the best steaks I have ever eaten. My goal was not to gain any weight on the trip, but I think I abandoned that goal tonight. Fishing starts at daylight tomorrow, so I am going to try to be in bed by 9:00 pm, and it is 8:00 pm right now. Everybody is sitting around playing cards and some crazy dice game—lots of laughing and telling fish stories. I am reading and writing this blog. I am working hard to read my Bible every day and spend time memorizing Bible verses, but it is tough to squeeze it in between fishing bouts, eating, and games. I am enjoying my experience very much and have declared this trip a success even if I don’t catch any more fish. 

This is the second day of fishing on the Excel. Actually we aren’t’t fishing, we are traveling SW at 15 mph from noon yesterday, all night, and all day today to get to where the good fishing is. There are some pretty good size waves and the boat is rolling quite a lot. I have to be careful walking, hanging on guard rails all of the time. I woke up about every thirty minutes last night literally rolled over in my bunk. We have rails on the bunks so we don’t’t fall out on the floor. I have the lower bunk so I don’t have far to fall if I did. With just travel these two days I have had lots of time to read, memorize, and write. There are about 20 other guys on the boat so we do a lot of visiting. I have shown a lot of pictures of my grandkids.

One of the major blessings in my life are the number of different experiences that I have had. There is something about new experiences that spices up life and makes your energy level rise. I am at the age (my birthday is today and I am 77 years old) where new experiences aren’t as appealing at first because they usually move you out of your comfort zone, but now that I am in it I am very excited to be here. I can’t imagine what the experience of entering heaven will be like and it will continue to be new and exciting for eternity.

We got up at 5:30 am, and I had three hard-boiled eggs at the motel’s complimentary breakfast and a cup of coffee. We then got carts and hauled all of our stuff down to the boat and got on board. We took off at noon and stopped at a fish market, where we purchased thousands of live little herring that we will use for bait. They keep them in these large tanks, and we reach in and catch them with our hands, then put them on our hook for bait. They swim around with our hook in them, and hopefully, a big tuna eats them. We are now cruising along on this 124-foot boat at about 15 knots. We will continue nonstop until about 5:00 pm tomorrow, when we arrive at the location where the fish are. Scott and I share a room that is approximately ten feet square. He has the upper bunk. The boat rolls quite a bit from side to side as we cruise along, so I have to be careful as I walk. Especially when I go down the stairs to the sleeping rooms, they are really steep. They have a TV on board, and they can get a signal from somewhere, somehow. I have been watching football all day. They also have pretty good Wifi so far. They have a wide variety of snacks and food available all the time, so I will probably gain a few pounds, but so far, I have been doing well. I am also spending time memorizing Bible verses and reading. After tomorrow, I hope to be fishing 16 hours a day.

The fishing trip to San Diego has started. Over the last two days, we have driven from Jefferson, Oregon, to San Diego, California. The first day, we drove for twelve hours to Bishop, California, and stayed overnight in a motel. Today, we drove for eight hours to San Diego. The driving was mainly on back roads, and it was beautiful, with mountains and two herds of elk. I am going on this trip with my friend Scott Haven, and he drove the entire time, both days, so I have had a relaxing time looking at the scenery, sleeping, and reading on my iPad. Tonight we went out to a very nice restaurant and had a great meal. Tomorrow begins the adventure. In the morning, we get checked in and board the boat with our luggage. There will be 28 people on the ship, including captains and deckhands. It will be noon before everybody gets checked in and their gear is hauled on board and stowed, and we head out to sea.

This trip is a lot like going to heaven. I am very excited about going, but I have never experienced this before, and all the unknowns make me anxious. My nervousness is not based on fear but simply on not knowing what is going to happen. It is a good kind of anxiety. An eagerness to get on board and catch my first fish, but not knowing how it will come about. There are so many unknowns about death, going to heaven, and my new glorified body that I get anxious. Not a bad kind of anxiety that is related to fear, but simply not knowing and wondering. It is an eagerness that results in nervousness about the unknown. It is a good thing.