Birthday Wish

Today is my birthday and at 34 years young I’m blessed in having been able to travel and dive to pursue the fish of my dreams and meet so many great people along the way. Each year I try to set my goals for the coming year and it gives me something to focus my thoughts on before, during and after the dive.    If you live an breath spearfishing you probably do the same and I’ve found I most often reach my goals if I put them down on paper and pursue them.

Here are some of the highlights of my past year spearfishing:

Brazil was the start of my year, sight unseen Beto and Silvio led me to some of the best pelagic fish I’ve seen and treated me like family. We only had two weeks but I learned so much from both of them hunting Marlin and 40+ lb Dolphin in the blue and Dusky Grouper and big Cuberas on the Reef.  Thank you both for sharing your home and waters with me we need to do it again.

Brad and I ran a boat across to the Bahamas on the coldest day of the year in South Florida arriving in the Bahamas to find that the water was in 60′s and having to dress like we were snowboarding instead of enjoying the tropics.   Brad shot a Wahoo with the pole spear while I videoed and then returned the favor and filmed me stoning a 58 lb Black Grouper that only a year ago would have been the world record!

Last minute trips, impromptu trips are usually the ones that turn out the best and it was a red bull fueled trip in February that brought Mark Healey away from Hawaii, Brandon Wahlers from California, and Keith Love together to chase Wahoo and big fish South of the Border.  Heals capitalized on every opportunity and shot 2 of the three wahoo we saw despite hundreds of big sharks that also wanted a taste. Brando and I played the game with a school of normally deep residing Black Jacks patiently waiting to get a double shot on video which resulting in two 15+ lb ones and some sweet vid.

Opening weekend of Grouper season in Florida with my little cousins Aaron and William who will undoubtedly be two of the best spearfisherman in the world. At the rate they are going they have already both shot Wahoo, tuna, cobia and more grouper and hogfish than any other 13 and 16 year olds  I know.

My dad introduced me to the sport as did his father and I have always worked hard to make him proud and to be as good of a diver as he is. He was diving 90 feet before floatlines dragging fish I still only dream about to the surface on a single breath and will always be my favorite lobster diving partner.

If you haven’t already subscribed to any Spearfishing Magazines then you’ve been missing out. Truth is the level of these publications has come leaps and bounds in the past few years and I am proud to have been a part of some of these publications. In the past year articles and pics have been featured in Hawaii Skin Diver, Outside Magazine, Spearing Magazine, Deep Worldwide, Spearfishing Downunder, International Freedive and Spearfishing News, and Apnea.   Thank you all for making working with me and taking our adventures to print to share with the rest of the world.  To have been on the cover a few times is pretty cool too!

The Bahamas trip this year on my own boat with Jennifer gave us a chance to relax and enjoy diving and hunting together.  She trusts me to get in the water even when there are 3 sharks she can already see from the surface and there is nothing more enjoyable for me than being an underwater tour guide and showing her everything we experience underwater together.   It makes me love her even more the way she appreciates everything we encounter in the ocean and even if I’ve shown her 10 times already she smiles and laughs and sees the ocean as I do, captivating and more amazing by the day.  As I plan for the coming year, and rest of my life, more and more trips will be with my family and friends relaxed, low stress and making the most of our time together in the ocean.

Having Jay Riffe take me out and lead me to my first, second and third White Seabass in one morning.  I gained a lot of respect for the guys that put in long hours and cold fishless days hunting these delicious Croakers.  Thanks again Jay and look forward to the coming year.

In November I received the USCG Silver Lifesaving Medal for rescuing Steve Bennet from Shallow Water blackout on July 5 2008.   The awards ceremony was impressive with Senators, Admirals from the Coast Guard past and present and dozens of officers and their families there. When I was onstage and they read the account of the incident one by one and then all at once all of the officers and Politicians stood up in respect.  I still feel so honored by that gesture even though it was for something that we all never want to have to go through this single incident and the education it has providing over the past two years has brought attention to our fellow divers and led to many more people saving friends, family and their own lives by being more careful.

The Admiral that presented me with the award said that in his 37 years with the Coast Guard, he had only seen the award given one other time and that was posthumously.  A great honor.

If you haven’t read the story behind Steve’s blackout and me shooting him to bring him to the surface:

http://www.spearblog.com/2009/07/14/what-it-feels-like-to-shoot-your-friend-to-save-his-life/

I still love diving at home.  Big Dolphin this year were thick off the East Coast of Florida and we had some great days with multiple 30-45lb fish.

So that about covers a 1/4 of my year!  I didn’t realize how much fun I’d had until now when I started putting this together.  In addition we won the Florida State Championships with my cousin Blake Gaylord and Ed Walker, I placed third individual and shot most of my fish with my Riffe Pole spear (available next month so stay tuned to find out where you can buy it),  Speared 3 Dogtooth Tuna over 115 lbs, rode a Bull shark and a Silky on the same dive, speared a World Record Grouper and Dogtooth Tuna, travelled to half a almost a dozen countries, and it just keeps rolling on better and better.

So its not that bad being 34.  I am going to think about some goals for this year and want you to as well.  This year in honor of all of our birthdays, we will be giving away a lot of gear and clothes on spearblog.com.

Set your goals now and post them below, as the year unfolds and you reach them I’ll make sure that the best ones are appreciated.  Take care and feel free to take me diving for my present!

My goals this year?

1. Live in Indonesia for 6 months

2. Spear a 130lb Wahoo

3. Pole spear a 100lb fish

4. Get it all on video