I really enjoyed my time working at the Barbers Point dry dock in the mid 80’s. It was a job I did until the investigations of the cases of Americans missing in South East Asia kicked in late September 1988. At that time, I became the NCOIC of the Investigations branch and went on the road constantly for the next three years. As much as I loved fishing at the dry dock and hated to give up my part time job, I was thrilled to do this exciting work in SEA. I will include some blogs about Vietnam later.
However, two incidents stand out in my mind from my time on the dock.
There came a night when we had the spot light focused just off the end of the dry dock about about ten feet from shore. I would guess there water was about 20 feet, maybe even a bit deeper there. The light penetrated easily to about 15 feet. There were at least two nice schools of fish. We were pretty casual about other folks fishing in our light and as I recall two or three of the employees were fising off the end of the dry dock and there were one or two guys fishing from the bank. Another guy came along and asked for permission to “throw a net.” I told him he was welcome to throw a line, but, if he threw a net, I would get out my knife and cut the net up. He pulled out a pole and caught some nice fish.
I do not know why nets upset me so. I guess as a short fat kid growing up, I developed a bit of feeling for the under dog. Those stinking nets take everything, there is with no chance of escape. If I had let him throw the net, he would have cleaned out the fishing for a long time to come. On the other hand, there was almost always someone fishing there both day and night. We never sufferred from a shortage of fish. So the moral of that story is, let’s shepherd our resources so we can all enjoy them for a long time and have the courage to stand for some reasonable principals.
The other conversation I recall was with a guy named Alex. He was a big guy. Chinese extraction but about six feet tall and certainly over three hundred pounds, not that I ever picked him up or weighed him. I did notice whenever he walked on to the dry dock, the dock tipped. He was from “The Big Island” (Hawaii). We were chatting during a slow time one night and he asked where I lived. The conversation went like this: “Hey, where you stay?” “I stay Waianae side.” “You stay Waianae side? What one hauli boy stay Waianae Side fo? Kinda rough, yeah?” “I nevah get no problem deah.”
In other words, he could not fathom (seing we are talking about the ocean), how a white guy would live out in the Waianae coast area. Now, I was not the only white guy out there, but, it certainly was an area that was primarily “local people” from Hawaii. I got to thinking on the subject and figured out it really has more to do with how we ourselves behave than anything else. I have been a minority or foreigner most of mylife. I grew up as a third culture kid. That is a child who grows up in a country that is not his own. Diplomats, overseas businessmen, missionaries, military kids fit the bill for this definition. The Thais call these children “Chamelion people.” It is an apt expression. All my life I had worked at fitting into the society where I was temporarily residing. No where was home, but, you figured out how to fit in. It worked the same in Waianae. You made it a point to “talk story” over your fence with your neighbor. You did not have to agree with everything, you just had to be friendly. You made it a point to meet the guys down the street. You made it a point to meet AND HELP people in the community. It was amazing how kind, helpful and wonderful the people were. To me, it was not “rough” at all. It was a blessed and joyous seven years I thank God for having the opportunity to enjoy.
So, when in Rome, eat spaghetti! When near water, Fish with the Emmrod Fishing System! Check them out at www.mycompactfishing.com
Tags: 8 coil fishing rod, Emmrod fishing pole, Emmrod Fishing System, Fishing fun
I really enjoyed reading this post, keep on writing such exciting stuff!!