When the word “whining” comes up, what exactly comes to your mind? If it has nothing to do with fishing, than simply don’t read the following article…

-Baby, how would you like to go skiing for Christmas? The guys have invited us to their cottage house on the mountain.
-To the mountain? But there is no sea there!
-………………………………….
-We can also take Fluffy! (My little dog) He will be able to play all day!
Now all means are used…
-Ok I will think about it, but if we go there for Christmas, you can forget about me on New Year’s Day, I’ll go fishing!  

This dialog probably reminds you all of something. Similar conversations are pretty often with your mate about Christmas, Easter, summer, holidays and most commonly, a simple weekend.
A dialog that most of the time is civilized, like the one above while other times, it spins out of control from either member of the couple. A saying goes like this “as you make your bed so must you lie on it” and it finds perfect use in our case. I can imagine some of you smiling while others are shaking their heads…
The truth is that after so many years as a spearo I have met almost all of the kinds. Friends that have managed to set things straight from the beginning and by doing so enjoy fishing as they should and of course others which if they manage to finally go spearfishing, are clinging to the cell phone, reporting constantly for their every move.

-Yes, we are on the road now, yes we just arrived, yes we are starting to get prepared now, yes I will call you as soon as I come out of the water, yes we got out a bit late and we will be on our way soon, well we are still half way there, you know there is a lot of traffic and much more…

I’m sorry but screw that!

You are trying to do something that theoretically relaxes you and they make it a true nightmare! That’s not spearfishing, its torture! Instead of being anxious about the presence of the pelagic fish, your all stressed up about calling your loved ones!

It’s about a decade since I began taking day-long spearfishing trips. You know the ones you leave before the break of dawn and finally return at night, completely wasted but with that stupid grin of joy on your face… At that time my mother had not still understood how important of a thing spearfishing was for me and as a mother; she was worried etc. etc. etc.
So for her not to be worried, she made me promise I would call her every time I got out of the sea (I know, that’s a classic). As I was still naive of this trap being set, I would always call from my cell phone, sometimes even with the water still dripping from my face.
And then, one nice summer day, Bill, Kostas, Manos and I headed for o whole days of fishing in the Corinthian Bay. Getting to our destination, we got prepared, pushed the small inflatable boat in the water and floated off. The day went by amazingly fast, as usual. Fish, photos, snacks and until we got out, the time had passed and night started to fall. The boys prepared the boat, I started to clean the fish, my hair was a mess and since it was summer, before I knew it, the time was 10! Suddenly a feeling of panic came over me since I still hadn’t called my mother. “As soon as we get in the car, I’ll call her”, that’s what I thought but that actually didn’t go as planned. You see the signal for any cell phone was simply absent so we had to travel 20 more minutes with the car until I could use the damn phone. I will never forget the anxiety I felt as I was thinking of the anxiety my mother was feeling… What a mess, ha?
The road seemed endless, the good times we had all day were long forgotten and the only thing I saw in front of me was the face of my desperate mother…
Finally, the signal was strong enough. I asked Bill to pull over on the side of the road and had a truly humongous fight on the phone with my mother! All the anxiety and suspense triggered an amazing attack. Nevertheless, the important thing is that she understood. Even if I was completely hysterical, she understood. I also made it clear that it was the last time I was calling her after a fishing trip so she can stay calm and not only that, I also forbid her to call me so as to see how I was and what I was doing. “When I will be back home I’ll call you but it may be 11 or 12 in the night and don’t worry, if something has happened to me you’ll know it, bad news travels fast, and that is not up for discussion!!”        

She never said a word!

The truth is that in these years I was pretty tough on her but as I see it, I trained her. I’m sure she still worries, but my life and especially spearfishing has become much better after those brief but so important discussions.
It’s only natural for all our loved ones to be worried, but that should not be taken out on us. What can be more beautiful for all those people surrounding us than to see us happy? If this hobby came along, we cannot help it…
Of course there is also the other side. Many friends take along on their fishing trips their mates and leave them to roast under the sun on the beach or boat for the whole day. Wait a second! Do you really think she/he enjoys waiting for you all day while you are executing aspetto’s for those damn dentex?
Of course there are also some occasions where both members of the couple enjoy the sea at the same level and actually share those feelings with each other but that is not our case! What I am trying to say is that it’s very selfish to ask from someone to follow us when he actually is not having the best of times. For example, do you enjoy going shopping? Having to walk all day through malls hoping that this torture will come to an end and having to answer positively to questions such as these “Do you like it dear? Does this look nice on me baby?” So that is the way it is gentleman. The only thing necessary is for them to realize how important it is for us to go and dive in the sea. The more space you will give to someone, the more he/she will take…
Of course battles will be given, fights may come up, but if you come to the point of getting into fights you are better off going fishing instead of staying at home. You may even find forgiveness through a nice fish you might catch even though he/she might rub it on your face for revenge. Anyway, I believe it’s worth a try.
They say “you should not be afraid of people with hobbies” and I believe that.
If someone has a problem let them find the solution.

Just for the story, I never went skiing for Christmas. It’s not a good spot for sea bass…