Success Is Living The Life You Want (Two more Fuzz Pics on Page 3)

Disclaimer: I planned on having this just be a post about 2013 and all the fun I had diving but as I started writing it turned into a little more....

"Success Is Living The Life You Want"...words of wisdom from our brother Joel who left us way too soon on September 29th, 2013.

2013 was a pretty intense year for me with a lot of ups and downs...But I  tried to keep Joel's words in my mind when things got rough or stressful, and to think about them when making decisions about what path to take in life...at home...at work...online...and in the water.

From a diving standpoint, I told myself at the beginning of the year that I wanted to get as many PBs as possible, shoot my first Halibut, shoot my first Male Sheephead and reclaim my Monkeyface State Record. The path I chose to achieve those goals was to play the Diver Of The Year comp, and challenge myself to enter as many species as I could.

I threw myself into DOTY from the very get go and was out in snotty winter storms in January hunting for all the different species on the list...by the end of February I had managed to get all the more common species, and had also found a copper and my first sheephead of the year.

My birthday is in March so took several days off work to explore new territory and hunt new species. The more southern areas of Monterey County yielded a PB Cabezon, a PB Vermillion, and two more nice female sheephead.

Also in March, I had the good fortune to be able to join the Jackson Kayak Fishing Team...really took me by surprise because I don't really "fish" and am by no means an outstanding diver, but I have been doing my best to show what kinds of fun can be had both above and below water with my all black Cuda14 and have been really enjoying the experience of being on the JK Team.

In April I took my longest monkeyface yet...31 inches of majestic eel. But it's belly was empty so was still short of breaking Harold's state record.

In May I managed to take my first Male sheephead, and my biggest abalone yet up off Abalone Point in Shelter Cove while up there for Gimme Shelter.

Starting in June I began my quest to find and shoot a Halibut...hours and hours of staring at literally miles of sand underwater...skipping out of work early and often, bringing home coolers with no fish, just ice and empty beer cans...

June also brought the sad news that Joel Mooch was in a Hospice...Was fortunate enough to be able to go visit one day and push him in his wheelchair all the way down to the beach. Seeing Joel in the condition he was in at the Hospice shook me to my core...

July brought more Halibut hunting and empty sand, another big female sheephead, and another 30+ inch monkey that was just one measly ounce short of fuzz' record. In July we also held the Pay It Forward Event, raised over $10k for Joel AND he was there and looking great and was out of the Hospice!! I was SO happy to see him doing so much better!!

August had me still staring at sand and then it took me up to the Albion Open where I found tons of abalone and uni to share at the campground and a PB Black.  On August 30th I finally found my Halibut...in an area I had looked a gazillion times already...have no clue how I didn't botch the shot, but I didn't and was SO STOKED to finally swim into shore with that fish!! 

In September, a week after getting my Halibut, I explored a new area and found two monkeys over 30 inches. One had its belly stuffed full of rotting kelp and a small octopus and it weighed 7.36 pounds. New State Record!!! 

Joel doing good, raised the most $ yet at PIF, got my Halibut, got my State Record Monkey title back....heck yeah!

However, by the end of the month I was an absolute wreck....

Joel passed on September 29th. I had been having struggles at home already and I felt his passing was one more straw on my back and I honestly didn't know if I could take anymore...

Luckily for me I have incredible friends and family that helped me get back on my feet and supported me through some very dark days and didn't judge me for the decisions I had to make about what was best for me and my family...

All through October I was struggling to deal with my demons and come to terms with what kind of life I really wanted and what that looked like...

Saying goodbye to Joel out at HMB was one of the hardest things I have ever done but it feels really good knowing that we were able to send him off to Heaven together as a group and scatter his ashes in the place that he loved...all throughout that emotional month I used the ocean as my therapist and spent a bunch of time in the water and was rewarded with a PB greenling and a nice 19 inch Olive.

I also ran the Nike Women's 1/2 Marathon in October with my wife and some good friends. We did the run for Joel, called ourselves Team Mooch Strong and wore our pinky down Mooch Strong/Live Life shirts with pride!!

Things were looking up in November, and I headed North a few times to get the last of my 24 abs for the year and also managed to take my first Giant Pacific Octopus and find my first real abalone pearl. 

I headed home to NOLA for Thanksgiving with the goal of spending as much time as possible with my grandma who is on Hospice care....she started going downhill while I was there and we even had the Priest come in and give her the Last Rites...the same day we gave her the Last Rites we got news that my Aunt had fallen on a cruise ship and had a massive stroke and was in a Coma. She still has not woken up from the Coma, is not expected to, and is still actually in a Hospital in Chile where the cruise ship dropped her off. My family is hoping to be able to finally bring her home by this weekend...

When I left NOLA I said goodbye to my grandma...and knew I was really saying goodbye this time because I won't be able to fly home again until next Christmas...feel fortunate that I was able to spend time with her, tell her I loved her, let my daughters spend time with her and be able to kiss and hug her goodbye.

In December, my goal was to get a nice big winter Ling. Had taken many ~30 inchers over the year, but nothing bigger than 32 inches...In the first week of the month, the stars aligned and I was able to stone a nice 38 inch 22 pound Ling down in a cave at 50+ feet. My second biggest ever. 

Have at most two more dives in me before the end of the year so for all intents and purposes I am done. 

I'm hoping that I finish DOTY on top this year, but no matter what happens I will always look back at 2013 as the year that I said goodye to Joel and my grandmother; the year I realized I needed to make certain changes in my life for myself and my family; and the year that I dove as hard as I could as often as I could.

I consider 2013 a success because I lived the year the way I wanted, depsite all the ups and downs. I know Mooch is looking down on me and is proud of me. 

Attached are some pics and a vid, and here are some of my diving stats for the year:

I got 11 Personal Bests: Copper Rockfish, Vermillion Rockfish, Halibut, Sheephead, Black Rockfish, Abalone, Greenling, Cabezon, Kelp Rockfish, Monkeyface, Perch.

My 16 DOTY entries (my biggest fish of the year) were taken from 11 different dive launches between Big Sur and Shelter Cove in Humboldt.

Only 4 of my DOTY entries came from when I launched at SWS, my most convenient/frequent launch site.

I had at least one DOTY entry/upgrade in 11 of 12 months.

I dedicate this video and my entire year of diving to my friend Joel Herranz Lotilla aka Mooch.

Love you bro!!!!!!



Sincerely,

Jim

Some more 2013 pics...

Jim, from the deepest bottom of my heart .... THANK YOU for sharing all this with us & being a integrate part of the family here!

~Bill

And..a few money shots taken by fuzz of my big ling.

 

Special thanks to my dive partners and friends for putting up with me.

 










Sincerely,

Jim

Heck of a year Big Jim!  You are my hero bro!

Rey

  thank you for sharing your year with us Jim and I am glad to have shared a couple of adventures with you on the water.........

Solid year diving Jim way to slay it!!!

-Charlie
CharlesLaKamp.com

You're a beast, Jim.  Thanks for sharing your year and for being a great friend to all of us.  For as tough and badass of a guy as you are, you are also a wonderful, loving person, and I thank you for that too.  Enjoy those last two dives of the year.  I look forward to hooking up with you in 2014.   

thanks jim, what a year, goods and bads,  thanks for sharing, cameron

Incredible.  Stoked for you and congrats on a great year.

You've had one hell of a year Jim, thank you for including us on the highs, the lows, and everything in between!

You are a pure example of "Living The Life" Jim......life is full of ups & downs,,,i try not to let the bad times overtake the good times.
Thanks for being you!    

Terrific post, Jim!  We are all so blessed to be able to do what we do.

Dang Jim, that was the DOTY post of the year Bro!

dude, I didn't even know you had nailed your halibut!
I must have been on a plane when that happened. Congratulations!

As for the year, yeah ups & downs. But hey, we're still here, still fishing & diving and that counts for something.