Spear fishing

Hey all, a quick post about spear fishing.

There are loads of outdoor activities to get into in Guam, but one I was not expecting was spear fishing.  Now, when I first heard about it, I couldn't wait to go.  My concept of spear fishing was that a bunch of people go out on a boat, bring some beer along, and stand on the deck and shoot fish with some sort of awesome spear gun (since doing with a 9mm would just not be sporting).  Rarely has my mental picture been so far askew from reality.

In reality, spear fishing is a much more intimate sport.  It pits man versus fish, hunter versus hunted, me who can barely hold his breath for 15 seconds versus fish who breathe water like they can't get enough of it.  Basically, it's free diving, or diving under water with just snorkeling gear, and hunting fish with a gun that shoots a spear attached to some tubing and rope.  You can go out on a boat, or, you can skip the boat and just walk out on the reef.  This past saturday, I went out with my buddy Alex and another dude Jordan.  Both had gone spear fishing many times previously, so I knew right away that I was going to be the least feared by the fish.  No matter, as alex said, at worst, spear fishing is just snorkeling with a spear gun.

Spear fishing is best done in calm water so you're not getting thrown around on the surface.  The early morning ocean was pure glass, so after a quick cup of coffee, the three of us drove down to the local spot, put on our booties, fins, masks, snorkels, rash guards, and toted our spear guns.  The guns we used had a trigger that, when pulled, released a 3ft long metal spear attached to a rope.  When you shot it, you retrieved the spear, and reloaded it back into the tube, locking it in the trigger position by pulling two-three rubber tubes the length of the gun and hooking them so their taut.  To actually spear a fish, you dive down, get to the fish's depth, and get close enough to where your spear can hit them.  Apparently, you don't look them in the eye, because they can tell you have murder in your eyes.  Also, they are completely aware that a human with a big metal spear has entered their territory, and often flee as soon as you dive down.  This means that the key is to be able to dive down to depth, and then stay there patiently until the fish comes back out.  This was the biggest hold up for me.  As soon as I got to depth, I felt that annoying and pressing need to breathe buckets of oxygen, so I rushed back up to the surface, threw off my snorkel and mask, and indulged in all the atmosphere I could take in.  I tried to focus my chi, slow my heart down, zen it up, and make a better go of it, but even after that, it seemed like I could barely make it 30 seconds.  Something to work on I suppose.

So needless to say, I didn't even come close to spearing anything.  I shot the gun once, just to see what happened, and then I couldn't reload it properly.  To be fair, there weren't a lot of fish out and about, and Alex, a much more seasoned hunter, also came away empty handed.  Jordan, the most experienced of the group, didn't catch anything by spear, but did catch an octopus by hand and killed it by biting into its brain (this is what kids from Hawaii learn I guess).  It was a pretty sweet catch, and quite randomly, a Japanese dude in the beach parking lot wanted to buy it.  So, with the $10 from the octopus, we picked up a six pack.  Turns out that spear fishing does involve beer drinking after all.

Fun Guam fact of the day: there are almost no birds on Guam. There is only one native species of bird left.  All the others were killed off by brown tree snakes.

-More to come-

Saipan: Guam's Canada

Hi all,

Continuing the theme of blogging about islands other than the one I live on, a quick post about the island of Saipan, the capital of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).  CNMI is a commonwealth of America.  Yes, we have commonwealths.  It was a US protectorate after WWII, and in the 1970s, the local government decided to form a covenant (not surprisingly called "The Covenant") with the US.  Saipan was great for the US in that for a long time, textile factories could operate there, not pay the locals minimum wage, but still claim the product was "Made in the USA."

These days, Saipan is in a little decline and has taken on a little brother complex to Guam.  This relationship between one place that is comparatively more built up and modern, and another place in close proximity that is not as built up, but lays claim to the status as more authentic, quaint, and less concrete, is not unique to Saipan and Guam.  New Zealand has it with Australia.  And of course, Canada has it with America.  I learned about this little rivalry when I was first interested in applying to work in Saipan.  During my interview with the attorney general himself (see "criminal charges" referenced below),  he went into a 5 minute, unprompted tirade about the differences between Guam and Saipan.  This is, mind you, in the middle of a job interview.  I felt weird telling him I had even applied to positions in Guam.

Much like NZ/Australia and the Canada/US dynamic, the Saipan/Guam rivalry is so poignant because of how similar the two places really are.  Saipan is very much like Guam, except that it's smaller, fewer people, and fewer street lights.  But basically, they're two tropical islands 120miles apart. Any differences are ones of degree.

Anyway, because the people I do know on Saipan are fantastic people that were extremely generous with their time and connections in trying to get me to move there, I figured I should pay them a visit.  They hosted an ultimate frisbee tournament last weekend with free flowing slushy sangria and Busch Lite all day, so it was not exactly a tough sell.

The tournament was a great one day event.  Besides the aforementioned bottomless coolers of brew, the fields had massive puddles perfect for wantonly throwing your body around.  Our team lost on the last point in the finals, but I did win the MVP, likely due to the fact that I was the muddiest person there.

The next day it rained a lot, so it was a recovery day of college football and all day brunch.  It also gave me the chance to see what my life would have been like had different things happened.  It seems rare that once you pick one path in your life, you have the opportunity to peer through the trees and see the other path that you might have taken.  See, I was very close to moving to Saipan.  Everything was going well until the attorney general (referenced above), had to go resign and get himself indicted. Your potential future boss committing some criminal activity has got to be the oddest (and funniest) way not to get a job.  So this short weekend trip gave me a sneak peek at my Saipan life that never was--who my friends would have been, what I would have done for fun, where I would have lived, etc.  After being so warmly received by the Saipan crew, I'll be sure to visit my Saipan life again very soon.

Fun Saipan fact of the day: Saipan has no waterfalls.  One point to Guam in that category.

-More to come-