Gone Fishing: Spiritual challenge at sea

Colleen Christian
November 1981

Left to right: Rev. Martin Porter, tournament co-chairman. Rev. Paul Werner, chairman Chris Fiala, first prize winner, for heaviest fish (1122 lbs.). Herb Mayr, second prize winner, for longest fish (1201/2"). John Topping, third prize winner, for highest aggregate weight (1984 lbs.). Tom Sugiyama, International Seafood representative. Kenji (Daikon) Onuki, Ocean Church executive director.

The best of Massachusetts this summer was not a tour of author Nathaniel Hawthorne's famous House of the Seven Gables, or watching a re-enactment of the Salem witch trials, or even a visit to Gloucester's own Friendly's Ice Cream Parlour. The best of the Bay state this summer was an auspicious training course entitled "Ocean Challenge." Funded by Ocean Church, the latest educational outgrowth of the Unification Church, this program put into a few weeks of intense oceanic practice Father's sacrificial and lofty principles -- this time, on the high seas.

The goal of the course, which was taught to Unification Theological Seminary students, was to hook the sport-fish heavyweight, the blue-fin tuna. Captain Alan Hokanson nailed down basic instructions to each class on small boat handling, seamanship, navigation, lines, knots, baits and hook-up techniques. Course graduates received a certificate in basic navigation.

Mr. Kenji (Daikon) Ohnuki, executive director of Ocean Church, spoke to the seminarians about Father's desire for the ocean providence. "I think one of the most important things Father wants us to learn is spiritual challenge," he explained. "Last year at the fishing grounds, the Moonie fishermen found a 'hot spot.' It went something like this: Ocean Church members were up and out to sea before 4:00 a.m.; then other fishermen would start going before 4:00. Father would subsequently prod us to wake up a half hour earlier. We'd find a great fishing corner, and others would want to come and take over our `hot spot.' This kind of competition went on every day. But it's the kind of spirit Father liked. Our efforts, our persistence to win are qualities he's really been teaching us throughout these past eight years.

"Another example is seasickness. If you got seasick, did you give up and say, 'I'm going to stay home'? Father wanted you to 'go over,' to keep going out to sea until you could get over it. Father's way, as you know, is confronting the challenge face to face, and then breaking through. It is not the easy path. We need this kind of training as pioneers, as children of our Heavenly Father.

"Ocean Challenge is not the only way to challenge yourself to go over difficult points, but it is a rough one. Father is tired of the concepts and comparisons church members have made about their different missions. That's why Father has asked you seminary students to challenge the sea, to develop a piercing spirit.

On the sea, you can really try to develop a strong will and live in the spirit of Father, free from study, free from books. It is so needed, so valuable for your future, for our future."

Secrets of toning tuna

Main Aridj, captain of the One Hope 34, spoke in soft French-accented tones. "When it's ten fathoms deep and you can't see the bait, that's good. Already the tuna strike. The darker the day the better. A calm, bright day is not good; there's no motion, no action. One thing about fishing: while you are waiting for the tuna to come, you have time to think about life, about motivation. For instance, a good place to start is to ask yourself what is your motivation for catching tuna.

"I remember one period, about two weeks in duration, when all I could think about was how people back on land would applaud and take my picture if I were successful -- and I didn't catch a thing! The lesson, for me obviously, was humility. And respect -- respect for life, for the fish. When I finally caught that magnificent creature, I felt so much respect for it."

Chris Fiala, captain of the One Hope 39 and first-prize winner for the heaviest fish in the 1981 World Tuna Tournament, remembered that "as soon as we got to the fishing grounds, I told my team to start chumming like crazy."

Herb Mayr, captain of the One Hope 52 and second-prize winner for the longest fish, became known for his unique fish-fighting maneuvers. Most fishermen at least let the tuna run and tire a bit before hauling it in. Herbie chose instead to immediately pull in the line -- with a very feisty 900-pound contender on the other end.

John Topping, captain of the Go Happy and third-prize winner for the highest aggregate weight, was a good-luck fisherman. "God must have wanted John to land that fish, because by all rights it should have broken loose," exclaimed one fisherman about the techniques he used to bring in one tuna. One night during the season, a friend came up and asked John, "When are you going to catch a tuna?" "Tomorrow," he replied with a grin. John's exuberance produced finny results the next day.

Sister dispensation

Rev. Won Pil Kim had just returned from visiting Father when he called together one team. He smiled before speaking to the four members of the One Hope 30 team, an unusual outfit for two reasons: (1) they were all female and (2) they had already landed four tuna, including the season's longest, caught just two days before the tournament.

"In you, Father has seen strong daughters," he began. "The reason he endorsed sending sisters out to sea was so that you would understand what your fishermen husbands will have to endure -- the hardships, the long hours. In this way, Father felt husband and wife could really grow closer together and love and support each other better."

Now training on land back at the Unification Theological Seminary, the four -- Nancy Breyfogel, Susan Fox, Jane Rees and Lois Ramunnihad never been deep-sea fishing before the summer program. Why did they form a sister's boat? "Like anyone else," said Lois, "I wanted to try it because it just sounded exciting. It was something new." The key to their success hinged on "working as a team and helping each other out," asserted Captain Nancy.

Actually, the captain of the neighboring boat, Gerhard Peemoeller of Sea Hope II, could have testified to the esprit de corps of the One Hope 30. With poignant dedication, Jane Rees led the others in daily physical exercises; not one, but two sisters worked on a tuna line; anchors were lifted with a back-off technique; hourly prayer vigils and holy song renditions kept the atmosphere alert. It also helped -- if a short sister was at the steering wheel -- to stand on a chum board in order to see over the windshield on the way home.

As a boat lifestyle could quickly remind us, we live on a huge watery sphere, floating in a larger space. The sea beckons us to test it for solutions. Some this summer found it to be both a teacher and a comforter, a strict disciplinarian and a surprising nourisher. For Ocean Church and perhaps for our larger Unification Church as well, our liaison with the ocean has not ended. We are only just beginning.