"Wake up!” my mom shouted. “We’re going to be late! The boat leaves the ramp at 5 am and its already 4:20.” I quickly got up and smacked my little brother on the forehead. 

“Wake up bro, we’re gonna be late!” I shouted. As everyone in my family managed to get in the car I quickly grabbed the window seat and went right back to sleep. 

At 5am we arrived. “Good morning, folks!” my uncle yelled out his window. He reversed the boat onto the ramp enough until the boat was floating, then unhooked it. ”Everybody hop in,” he shouted. As the boat left the docks I watched the sun rise above the horizon. It was so beautiful and somewhat humbling in a way. 

     I watched it rise above the clouds and soar into the sky. Everything was going smooth until we left the break wall. You could hear the roar of the open ocean as you entered. The vast open space of the ongoing sea made me feel sick to my stomach. Shortly after the break wall I looked over at my little brother. I’ve never seen him so pale. “ you okay lil bro”, I said. “Nope!” My brother replied. 

“ Just keep your eyes on the horizon and don’t look at the sea”, my uncle said. Just as he said that I threw up everything I ate last night. After I was done I quickly washed the taste out of my mouth with some water. Next thing you know,  my mom, little sister, and brother were all blowing chunks. It was disgusting. The smell of everyone’s stomach acid made me nauseous again. (YACK!). I threw up again, but this time I made sure I got everything out of my body. Shortly after, I laid on the fish cooler, stared up at the sky and focused on the cloud formations until I fell asleep. It felt like the longest sleep of my life but in reality it was probably a 30-40 minute nap. I woke to my uncle asking me to move off the cooler so we could get started. I felt a hundred times better after the nap and was ready to start this fishing adventure. 

We were 20 miles out from shore. I could see Mauna Kea in the distance but man were we far were out. My uncle and his two daughters secure the poles, set the lures and slowly let the lines drift into the deep blue sea. My sister hid and laid under a compartment at the front of the boat, unable to shake off her sea sickness. My brother started to come around and was able to partake in the fishing tales. My mother seemed to be okay for a short amount of time and then out of the blue I’d hear, “I can’t, I have to lay down,” and then she would drop to the floor. 

While we cruised the open waters waiting for action we came upon a buoy with birds circling around it. As we approached it, “BANG!” Both lines started screaming. My step dad took the wheel while my uncle and I each grabbed a pole. We both started reeling in our lines hoping for a big catch. I reeled in my catch first, a small four pound Ahi, while my uncle gave his pole to my brother who fought with his fish a little longer and ended up losing it. We stopped the boat to fish near the buoy and within 45 minutes, my brother and I had caught six more Ahi’s. We threw back the fish because they were too small, when all of a sudden my uncle decided to use one as bait.  The sound of the reel went Ziiinngg! The pole bent and a huge fish jumped into the air. 

“Whoa! Das a big one!” my cousin shouted. I quickly grabbed the pole and put in some work to reel it in. As it got closer to the boat my uncle informed me that I was reeling up a Mahimahi. We finally got it into the boat and into the cooler. The beautiful aqua colors of the once alive fish have now turned grey.  “Looks to be a 15 pounder,” said my uncle.

 “Nice catch!” I heard come from my mothers voice as she slowly lowered herself to the ground. Somehow she managed to get up and watch the excitement before feeling ill again. We all felt bad for my mom and sister but the adrenaline of catching a big one makes you want to catch more. We didn’t stay out much longer before heading back but we did end up catching two more 10-13 pound mahimahi’s. 

As we got closer to land and into the breakwall my mother and sister started to get better. While inside the breakwall we turned off the engine and swam for a bit. As I jumped into the water I could feel the cold top layer of the ocean. And when I dove down deeper, the warmer the water got.  We each took turns jumping from the top of the boat. When we got home my Uncle Glenn taught us how to clean and cut the fish. We ate fresh mahimahi for dinner that night and even had enough to give away to other family members. The fish tasted so good and just melted in your mouth. It felt good to provide food in such a way. “So are we making yearly trips or what!” my uncle shouted. “Yessir!” I replied. Even though everyone got sick and all, I had a bunch of fun and I’m super grateful for this fishing experience.