Facing My Water Fear

As a teenager, I suffered a near-drowning episode at The Wedge,in Newport Beach, in one of the largest September swells ever. Having loved the ocean and body boarding up until that point, I have since developed a fear and (healthy respect) of large bodies of water. 

But, I love to fish - usually finding local lagoons, lakes, and shore break good enough to catch surf perch, Corbina (yum), pretty leopard and sand sharks (always throw those back!). 

I recently faced my deep-sea fear, heading out on the half-day boat, Premier, with HM Landing, a highly recommended company in Point Loma.

It's always astonishing to watch a group of men over 50 starting their morning off with smoking, beer, and hot dogs (no lie - it was 7am). Being on a boat is a lot like being in a casino; time starts to feel like some man-made pretext. I can only imagine, a casino, on a boat.

But they were good-ol' boys and nice as could be. See one here...as proof.

Every time we do something that frightens us, and nothing bad happens, it's disconfirmation of our belief system. It's exposure to the anxiety-provoking stimuli, which, over time, wears away the traumatic memory. It's all G...

While we didn't come away with any great fish tales, we saw an amazing dolphin show (vid below).