Just another fishing trip, I thought, but so much changed that day. My parents often told me how high school was approaching and I needed to change my ways. “People will expect more from you,” they said, but as a hardheaded 8th grader that seemed farfetched.
Summer came and we traveled to the Florida Keys to delight in outdoor activities that are customary to the paradise. This year for the first time my dad and I were participating in the annual summer fishing tournament. All the father and son pairs from the neighborhood would go out at the crack of dawn and the pair that caught the biggest fish would win the tournament. I usually expect the Keys to be a stress free time, but this vacation, things were a little different. Our first night the after dinner conversation once again turned into a discussion about my lack of maturity. Here we go again, I thought, and being immature I rolled my eyes and walked away. The next morning before sunrise, I was suddenly woken by a loud “Let’s go!” With drowsy eyes, I fumbled out of bed. My dad was ready and he wasn’t taking “five more minutes” for an answer. We made the 10 minute drive over to the marina and we got everything ready. I loaded the rods and bait onto the boat, and as we took off, the stillness of the water brought me to life. We began the two-mile offshore trek to the reef that held the fish bounty. We anchored and began chumming to bring the fish around the boat. The excitement began! I hooked one right away! After a couple hours our cooler was full. Yet I knew that the fish we needed to win the tournament was still out there. So both us kept throwing bait in and just were patiently waiting for that fish to strike. Just as the sun was starting to set we heard the fish take off on the line. This magnitude of this sound was far more powerful than any other fish we had caught for the day so we knew this was the one we needed. My dad and I start reeling in the fish taking turns, as the fish was very aggressive. After about 30 minuets of fighting the fish it was finally next to the boat and it was beautiful. This mahi-mahi’s color was like no other the greens and yellow were like nothing I had seen before. We were finally about to bring it onto the boat and we both just looked at each other and left out a breathe of exhaustion and smiled. Finished rehydrating and getting our energy back we put everything back in the boat and decided it was time to go in. So I started the engines and started cruising back. We were cutting the waves so nicely and going just about top speed when we cruised about a mile when the boat began slowing down. I looked at my dad to see why, but he hadn’t touched the throttle. I then saw that the boat was filling up with water. Panic struck! We stared at each other in fear of what was to come. Instinctively, I grabbed a bucket and swiftly began scooping water out. Water was coming in faster than I was able to scoop this was not safe as we were still about a mile from the shore and a frenzy of emotions kicked in. As we madly scooped water out of the boat, my dad just kept glaring at me with piercing eyes. I didn’t understand, but I was too busy with the task at hand. It felt like an eternity. We continued cycling between steering and scooping water out as fast as we could. We made progress, but 20 feet from the marina where all the boats took off from and the boat sank! We tried to salvage anything we could and we swam to shore. Another pair of father and son that witnessed our struggle loaned us their phone to call for help. So I called my mom and I was so out of breathe and hyperventilating that she couldn’t even understand me so my dad got on the phone and told her the predicament we were in. Mom showed up scared and was relieved to see us well. There was no time to waste. We had a recovery mission. We came back to dive in to salvage what we could. The main goal was to find the cooler that had our winning fish in it. After about an hour of diving around where the boat sank were able to recover the cooler and we swam it in to see if we truly did have the biggest fish of the day. Through the mask I could see my dad’s piercing eyes still staring at me.
This was the longest day of my life. I was exhausted and shaken. I needed to rest. After a few hours of sleep we all sat around in the heat of the night to recount the events of the day. As we retold the scary turn of events I questioned my dad about all the stares I got while desperately trying to save the boat. Dad then looked at me with delighted and proud eyes. Now I was puzzled. Had I done something wrong? He stood up, put his hands on my shoulder, and congratulated me for my responsible behavior, my quick action, and mostly for my maturity during a dangerous situation. When your parents acknowledge you and make it clear that you have made them proud its one of the best feelings because you know you are doing something right. I guess that day wasn’t just a fishing trip, but my own realization that certain situations make you grow up really fast. On that day I lost a boat, but I became a man in my father’s eyes and my own two never rolled again when he offered me life advice.