So our day begins. We got up at - 3:30/4 AM? I dunno, I straggled. Doesn't take me long to dress like a fisherwoman. It was still dark, and me in my long sleeves and leggings under my skirt...I was roasting before we even got out of the house. Our charter boat left from the Hickman Air Force Base. Civilians can also take this charter, as Sonny, the Captain, can sponsor them onto the base, but we had Phil. Kadi, Kortni and Phil NAPPED on our way out. Can you believe that - the most exciting fishing adventure ever, and they were napping. I can't nap. I am too full of curiousity, wonder, questions, and awe. The sky was beautiful, the sliver of the moon was beautiful, the water was beautiful. It was all amazing and wonderful. I have selected a handful of photos from today, because we took lots, and we don't need them all to tell you about the events :) Phil caught the first fish, an *ono,* and apparently mainlanders call them "wahoo." My turn was next and I caught a mahi mahi (I like mahi mahi, and they're pretty). The long skinny fish is Phil's ono. My mahi mahi was big...until Kortni got hers on board...and hers was bigger than mine. Then, Kadi put us all to shame, on her turn at the real, her mahi mahi was like 20 pounds and close to 3 feet long. Then we kind of just cruised around for a while, trolling, but catching nothing. 
We saw TONS of whales (yeah, no clue about what kind). Jumping whales, diving whales, whale spouts, awesome whales. We also saw beautiful water, birds diving for fish, sailboats and shoreline. I love it, I really think I could live aboard (especially since sailboats are quieter and that's what we'd live on).
Kyle & Neil were our deckhands, and today was Neil's first day. Kyle has been on the boat for almost 4 years, and Sonny helped him to earn his Captain's License! Next month, Kyle will be leaving for Astoria, Oregon, where he's been sponsored to attend the Maritime Academy for their 2 year program to learn more about the sea and piloting larger craft! He is a very nice young man, and it's really exciting for me to have met him and hear him share his love of the ocean - and know that someone has invested in his education so that he will have a rock solid career doing something he loves, with enough education to make a decent living at it.
The flags on the rigging were put up as we were running in, they are to indicate what sort of fish we caught, the larger or more numerous fish being the highest flag. Kyle added that those flags were going to be flown at half mast because they were also coming back dead...
At the end of it all, we came home to package fish and cook up some dinner (which, by the way , was AMAZING and DELICIOUS). Kadi and Phil cleaned up and packaged all of the fish that we weren't going to eat today so it could be frozen...and packed into the freezer so we can take it home to Dad.
While Phil was packaging the fish, I noticed that a perfectly upside down version of him was reflecting in the ball/knob handle of the cake platter display, so I took a photo of that too :D
My Dad only called...I dunno, about 20 times probably, altogether...during this fishing trip, to see how we were doing - He was probably the MOST excited person involved in the trip, and he didn't even get to be on the boat :( THANK YOU DAD for an awesome day of fishing, the opportunity to meet Sonny, Neil and Kyle - that last one, btw, we're bringing to Kortni's wedding :D 
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