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This is a continuation of start and grow. Please refer to them for context and continuity.

By Faith We Understand: Hebrews 11:1-3

11 Now faith is the ^[a]substance of things hoped for, the ^[b]evidence of things not seen. ² For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.

³ By faith we understand that the ^[c]worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

In my maritime life I have worked on commercial fishing boats, tugboats and on private sailing boats. The following stories are taken from across many years on the ocean and are in no particular order. They are written down as God brings them to mind.

When I was a young man, I loved to travel. I was asked to help deliver a sailboat back to the west coast from Hawaii. Sailing to Hawaii is easy, the trade winds blow you straight to it. Getting back, now that is another matter. You generally need to sail straight north to the line of latitude or above it. This is depending on the winds, and then east to your destination. Newport Oregon our destination is at 44′ north; we were sailing from Honolulu which is 21′ north. Just getting to the line of latitude is 1380 miles. It’s another 800 miles east. Suffice to say it takes a while on a boat that can got between 5-7 miles an hour. 18 days is the average, we took 21 days because we were becalmed, (this means no wind) in the pacific high-pressure zone that hangs around north of Hawaii. The following story is from when that happened.

We were almost to the line of latitude we needed to hang a right (east) and head to Oregon. In this area it is one of the furthest points from land on earth. 1100 miles to the nearest land. Not a breath of wind on this 32-foot ketch sailboat. It was night and my friend Mark, and I were on the back deck talking. I suddenly decided it would be a great idea to jump off the boat. We had a rope ladder for just such occasions, and we are swimming around the boat having a fun time. Mark gets back on the boat and I’m just floating around the boat, I start to swim away, and I get a couple hundred feet from the boat and look back at it. I had a thought that continues to amaze me still today.

One of the most amazing things about water this calm is it reflects the sky like this.

You have the sensation of floating in space. As I was swimming it was like I was swimming in space. I stopped and was staring up at the sky and God brought this thought to me. I had a flash vision of my head sticking out to the water, by a boat, on the pacific, on earth, in our solar system, in our galaxy, in the universe. God then says, “you are really small.” I just swam there in awe of my smallness, yet I was connected to it all. I understood He was telling me, “You are small, but not insignificant.” Thank you, God, for that memory.

When I was fishing the northwestern Hawaiian Islands with my dad, we were at a back called, “West Northampton Sea Mount.” it is closer to Midway than Hawaii. Here it is on the map.

It was another of those magical nights, calm, the ocean like a mirror. We were anchored over a large pile of fish, but they had stopped biting several hours before. We had eaten and were getting some much needed sleep. I was in a deep sleep when I was woken up and told, “get up the fish are biting.”

My best friend at the time had changed from a shark to a fellow named, “Big Dave.” Dave is a giant of a man. 6’6″ and about 300 lbs. He has jeweler hands that can do amazingly fine things for a giant. He is a gentle soul, loving, kind and a Texas gentleman. We not only worked together we lived together. Renting an apartment with him and his wife Janine. He was the first person I ever woke up got drunk, passed out then did it again in one day with.

I woke up Dave and told, “get up dood, God told me the fish are biting.” Without missing a beat Dave says, “cool let’s catch em.” We then spent 6 hours in one of the greatest fish bites we had ever experienced.

The Ipokai could hold about 15-17,000 lbs. of ice packed fish. Catching 1,500 pounds or more on a given day was good, 2000 pounds or more was a great day. We had this massive brine tank that could hold about 3,000 pounds. We would add saltwater ice, it is much colder than regular ice due to the salt content, then we would add sea water until it was the consistency of a slushie. We would add water and ice as it filled up, so the fish did not move and damage themselves. This is called super chilled, any colder the fish would be frozen.

We were in about 350 feet of water; we had a line that had 6 hooks on it and an 8-pound lead weight. We would put squid on the hooks for bait and had a special bag on the top for chum. We got my line ready and threw it over the side. I had marks on my line so I would know how much line was out. They started at 30 fathoms and then 50 fathoms. (a fathom is 6 feet) We were in 50-60 fathoms and right as my line hit 50 fathoms it stopped and went slack. “What the f$ck.” I said as I reached over to find out why it didn’t go all the way to the bottom, and I feel a bunch of fish on the end. I drop it in a pinch puller to bring it up as I exclaim, “Holy $hit the fish stopped it.” Here is a picture of a pinch puller. It grabs the line and coils it in a trash can. My complete line was 2400 feet long so when it broke, I didn’t have to replace it every time.

Dave and I set up an assembly line, 3 fishing rigs, (the part of your line with hooks on it) they use a really strong clip to attach them to your line. We were in a flow state, one taking the fish off the hooks and adding bait. The other would clip on a rig that was ready and drop it over the side. The second line would come up and that person would take off the fish and add bait, By then the other rig was baited and ready, it went over the side. We caught 72 fish on 72 hooks like 3 or 4 times. We kept looking at each other in amazement. It is the kiss of death to comment on the state of the bite. Not sure why but way too many times someone said something, and it just stops.

From 0100 until 0600 we fish alone, glass calm, in silence and in a state of amazement as we catch 3000 pounds of fish just the two of us. My dad then got up, I look up to the wheelhouse and he is giving me a curious look. I open the brine that is packed to lid. His eye got huge, over the PA he says, “wow, what do you want for breakfast.” He then woke up the other crew man and we moved the brine into fish hold. About an hour later it stopped. But wow, what a night. I learned about Shalom or peace.

Shalom is not the absence of anything it is being at peace in anything. Dave and I enjoyed that night at a level I only had a few times in my long fishing career. God told us to just to be at peace and enjoy it, and in next level peace we did. I am so thankful for it. But it was conditional on listening when He said, “get up the fish are biting.”

By Faith We Understand Hebrews 11:3

³ By faith we understand that the ^[c]worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

The fish were unseen, then they weren’t, trust the hints He gives you; it could create a memory that lasts a lifetime.