A BLESSING

I have a file labeled “ARCHIVES”.  From Wikipedia: An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located.^[1] Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization.  In my case the physical place they are located is my mind and the organization is me.  To be stowed away in my archives file a memory must have been particularly noteworthy.  Yesterday was one of those. 
It was the occasion of a grand daughter’s birthday.  Any one of our 5 would have been special for 2 proud grandparents but this one happened to have a special twist.  As always they are each given the choice by their parents of what they would like to do on their special day.  Disneyland is a common choice, as are ice skating, horseback riding and the old standby, Moon Bounce. 

Paige chose a day at the Aquarium combined with a whale watching boat trip.  The Aquarium was a safe bet as what self respecting kid does not like fish.  Also, sea otters, seals, sharks and others things with tails and fins.  The whale watching, not so safe a bet.  Mind you this is the dead of winter.  The majority of winter days would lead to half the boat load of people leaning over the side, victims of sea sickness, to say nothing of the typical winter cold and wind.  Granted there had been reports of more than the normal migrating whale sightings off our coast, but taking a large family group of young kids, their parents and a couple of mature seniors along was really rolling the dice. 

Have no fear.  Paige stood her ground and we assembled on the dock for boarding at high noon.  To show you the power of positive thinking we departed in 80 degree weather, not a breath of air, no clouds, flat calm and you could see forever.  Catalina Island some 20 plus miles away seemed touchable. 

All of us gathered on the bow as we steamed seaward, wind in our hair, searching for whales.  Soon the skipper altered course to head toward splashes on the horizon.  A good sized school of dolphin/porpoise intercepted our course and surrounded us.  As we weaved back and forth through them they darted under the bow, swam alongside and surfed our wake.  The screams of excited kids filled the air. 

The skipper suddenly swerved and headed toward a distant spout of steam from a whale.  As he approached he throttled back the boat to keep a safe distance and avoid disturbing the great mammals.  The whales had submerged.  We idled along as we waited for them to surface.  Suddenly, not far off the bow, first one, then two and then a third whale spouted as they broke the surface to begin their long glide as they sucked in air for their next dive.  First came their head then their long, broad back, gleaming in the sun before they descended beneath the waves.  We even had the rare treat of seeing them turn on their side as they fed on anchovies and sardines.  We did not overstay our welcome as our skipper, in a show of respect for these magnificent creatures, swerved off and then left them in our wake as he set a course for port.

As if the day had not been special enough, God saved the best for last.  As we departed the boat at the dock and walked toward the Aquarium we were treated to a blessed sight.  It happened to be a day the Aquarium was hosting underprivileged special needs people.  All ages boys and girls, men and women were touring the Aquarium.  These special people were given legs and arms that don’t function, eyes that don’t see well or at all, ears that hold up their glasses but don’t hear, and minds that don’t send the proper message to the rest of their body.  Some were selling key chains and gadgets while others, beautiful artwork done with a paint brush held in their teeth. 

Just as special were the loving, caring families that watched proudly as their less fortunate loved ones tried to comprehend what those things gliding and splashing through the water were.  Dealt a lifetime of unspeakable horror, I am sure, if asked, they would say they were blessed.

Message received loud and clear God.

THE BOAT

 

You might wonder why I would title a blog “The Boat”.  Simply because there is this one particular boat that represented the fork in the road for me. 

I was a junior in high school.  Our family had fallen in love with Newport Beach.  What had been a vacation spot for us became our permanent home several years before.  My love affair with the ocean and everything oceanic had long since kicked in.  For someone like me I was in paradise. 

At that time, much more so than now, there was little doubt as to the maritime nature of our beautiful harbor.  A few years earlier there were boatyards turning out vessels for the Navy.  Some of the coasts busiest sport fishing landings were based here and were the lifeblood for  restaurants, fishing and marine supply stores, fuel docks and a host of other businesses.  There was a cannery for the commercial fishing fleet that was busy 24 hours a day.  Surfing was still at the stage where locals were very territorial but it was obvious the boom was on.  And Easter Week in Newport Beach was standing room only.  Like I said, this was Nirvana.

We were fortunate enough to have a fishing boat at the time.  My Mom and 2 sisters were not quite as smitten by the ocean as me, my Dad and brother were so they stayed home while we  fished for white sea bass and yellowtail in the spring and albacore and marlin in the summer.  I loved fishing with my Dad.  Working as hard as he had all his life he enjoyed our days on the ocean.  Early on, he let us handle the boat, do the navigating and taught us to leave her spic and span after a day’s fishing. 

I began to think that I wanted to make a career of being a fisherman.  I had made an albacore trip with a high school buddy of mine who was a 3^rd generation commercial fisherman.  We picked up a couple of transients off the wharf to complete our crew and fished some 100 miles off shore until our 8 ton hold was full.  I loved it.

I talked to my Dad about my desires.  He knew how strongly I felt.  We began to scour the waterfront and watch the papers for a boat.  One morning Dad said he had seen a boat advertised for sale in the local paper.  We called the owner and arranged to go see her (the boat was the “her”, not the owner). 

It was love at first sight.  She was a 42 foot Monterey.  The Monterey is a famous double-ender design that was popular at the time, particularly as a jig boat for albacore fishing.  That means that you use outriggers to pull 8 to 10 jigs at one time.  The owner showed us every inch of his boat, his passion for her obvious.  He was retiring from a life at sea. 

You may think it is hard to love a boat but you would be mistaken.  He had loved her for the life they had spent together.  I loved her for the life I could imagine.  I talked things over with my Dad and he consented to me making an offer for the boat.  I had saved up $7,500 from working as a fry cook in a local beachfront café.  I also had a 1957 Chevy.  I made an appointment to see the seller and made my offer; my Chevy plus $7,500.  He said he would get back to me.  The next day he called.  He explained that because he was retiring he needed cash much more than he needed a car.  No deal. 

I was crushed at the time.  I look back now and see this as the fork in the road I mentioned earlier.  If I had bought the boat I would have begun a life making a living at sea.  While that itself was appealing there are some aspects of that life that are not, like being gone from home.  That is a big one for me.  I most likely would not have met my precious Terry and God knows what my family would have been like. 

The road I did take led to a life designed by God for me.  I could not have dreamed anything better.       
                                                            

MY FRIEND THE WHALE SHARK

Lately the local papers and even some TV stations have been documenting the seasonal migration of many types of whales off our shores.  Close ups from whale watching boats as well as aerial shots show many types of whales and porpoises including the solitary journey of the massive blue whales and pods of pilot whales and killer whales.  Unusually large amounts of plankton in our waters is said to account for the most sightings in many years.  Those lucky enough to get a close look at one of God’s most magnificent creatures will treasure the memory. 

I have one of those memories.  Even though it is from many years ago it is as if I can click a “Play” button in my mind and watch a replay at any time with all the color and awe of the original happening.  In my case it is not one of the various whales, but a whale shark, which most certainly qualifies as one of God’s most magnificent creatures as well. 

Why it is called a whale shark I don’t know because it is not a whale.  A whale is a mammal; the whale shark is a fish.  Why it is called a shark I also don’t know because it in no way resembles a shark other than they both have a head and a tail.  It especially does not resemble a shark in its desire to eat other fish and occasionally people.  They are the exact opposite, kind of a fish version of Eeyore. 

We were on a fishing boat some 10 miles off Bahia de los Frailes (Bay of the Friars), a small, protected bay just around the corner from Cabo San Lucas in the Bay of California.   It was a hot spring day with not a breath of air.  The ocean was as flat as a pool table for as far as we could see.  When the ocean is that calm, anything that breaks the surface, no matter how big or small can be seen for miles. 

We were fishing for marlin and tuna so all eyes were scanning the ocean’s surface for birds, bait fish or other signs of life.  Off in the distance we could see 2 forked tail, frigate birds slowly circling way up in the sky.  Fishermen know to follow birds because their uncanny eye sight can find fish humans would meander right by.  We headed in their direction. 

As we got closer we could make out a dark object, just breaking the surface, moving very slowly in a large arc back and forth.  The sun was in our eyes as we approached, preventing us from seeing down into the water.  Moving as slow as we could so as not to spook whatever it was, we circled around so the sun would be at our back.  As we did, we could now had nearly unlimited visibility into the purple blue water.  What we saw left us speechless.

Whale sharks can get up 50 feet long and weigh 20 tons.  This one was right there.  The dark object we had seen was the tip of the whale sharks tail.  If you can picture a guppy with a big front end tapering back to a tiny tail and then multiply that by a bazillion, that’s what this fish looked like.  He was brownish gray in color with yellow and white spots and stripes.  While the tail was at the surface the massive, flat head was some 10 feet under water.  His mouth, some 4 feet across, was open as he engulfed plankton by the ton. 

It was as if he had his own village with him.  A small school of 100 pound yellow fin tuna swam along in his shadow.  Small schools of mackerel and sardines swam close to the big giant to protect themselves from larger predators.  Remora clung to his body while other small fish were busy keeping him clean. 

We idled along next to him for close to an hour, his glacial pace never changing.  Eventually he inched deeper and deeper until he disappeared from view.  The last thing we saw was the tip of his tail in one last sweep.