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At last, the long wait was over...

That's me standing on one of the tuna fishing boat's palatik. 

Ramil hurriedly entered my office when he saw that I already arrived for work to inform me that IJ fishing boat was already set. By the way, it was called "IJ" taken from the initials of my name and that's I for Ivan and J for Jude.

Two Boats Are Better Than One

For three consecutive months the JWDR Fishing boat, the boat where I invested my 50k, suffered major losses due to successive bad catch.

 A depressed businessman. Photo Credits

In the first month, the boat docked at Indonesia to comply with the quarterly docking requirement of their fisheries and marine bureau. They were only able to catch few tuna on their way there. The sales that it brought in was only enough to pay for the corresponding dues. Adding to that, the Indonesian Rupiah has a lower value than a Philippine peso. If I'm not mistaken, the equivalent of 1 Philippines peso was 225 Indonesian Rupiah at that time.

Rolling The Boat Ashore

The boat construction concluded after 4 months...

Usop hammering some nails at the rear part of the boat.

Usop, our boat builder, once again impressed us with another masterpiece.

But, it still isn't totally complete. Usop's part was only to make the structure and to put all the wooden pieces together. It still lacked the engine, final coating of marine paint, ropes, and other peripheral equipment. So, it has to be transferred to Ladol, Alabel for the finishing touches.

Of course, we can't travel the boat by land and, since it cannot float by itself this time, it needs to pulled by another boat. But before that, our newly constructed boat first needs to be pushed on the shoreline.

Get Your Engines Ready

Instead of just two weeks, the hardwood logs arrived one month and two weeks after it was ordered by Ramil. The delay became a blessing in disguise because it gave me enough time to look for the cash needed for the boat building project after Jhoven backed out.

During this time, Ramil and I went to different surplus engine shops to look for an engine that's suitable for our boat. We opted to look for it in surplus shops because brand new engines are unavailable in our area and it's very expensive. Besides, these surplus engines are still in good condition.

Surplus 4DR5 Engine.

How I Raised Money - If There's A Will, There's A Way

Based on Ramil's records, it will take around 2 to 3 months for a boat to be completely built from scratch.

And within that span of time, I needed to raise half of its cost which was estimated to be around 180k pesos.

Piggy Bank Savings. Photo Credits

Summing up all the money from my different bank accounts, I only have 135k pesos and a part of it was already used to pay for the down-payment of the hardwood logs. Thus, I still need 45k pesos more.

I knew that I could not depend on my salary to raise this amount in a very short period. Also, my salary is not that big that I can just use a portion of it without considering a lot of things. Even though I was still living with my parents, I still need money for my basic needs like food, clothing, transportation, and some other necessary things. That leaves me with just a few thousand savings each month.

Never Back Down

Two weeks later, the three of us convened again....

The male casts of 90s tv show "Friends'. Photo Credits

I was hoping to hear some good news about the hardwood logs that was ordered by Ramil.
But when I asked Ramil about its status, he informed us that the loggers were having a hard time transporting down the logs from the mountains due to unfavorable weather conditions.
That was kinda disappointing to hear because it would certainly add more delay to the start of the boat construction.
But, I also understood that those things were beyond our control and we can't blame anyone about it.

We Can Build This Dream Together

Then it was decided...

Paper boat. Photo Credits

That we will build another boat...
Ramil, Johven, and I will be the owners of this boat.
Based on our estimates, the cost of building one boat is 360k Pesos.
So, each of us needs to chip in 120k Pesos.

Is There Really A Truth Behind Every Joke?

The next day...

A typical Filipino lunch. Photo Credits

After I finished taking my delicious 20 pesos lunch, I immediately went to our MIS technical office to share with Ramil about what Jeffrey did to his fishing boats...

I started our conversation saying, "Mil, I have something to share with you about fishing...",
"Oh, really? What is it then?", said Ramil.

You Don't Want To Be Left Behind, Don't You?

One more cup of coffee. Photo Credits

One day, me and my friends from my previous employer agreed to meet up at a local coffee shop. It has been quite a while that we haven't seen each other. I felt very happy knowing that my friends didn't forget me although I already transferred to another company. Big buddy Arze and lover boy Jeffrey was there and also our dear friend Dexter.

I was the last one to arrive there and, when I did, I immediately asked each of these guys about what's going on with their lives. Jeffrey and Dexter recently broke up with their girlfriends while Arze is still courting her longtime crush. Aside from their unpredictable love life, I also learned about the new developments in the department where I was previously a part of. While sharing words with them, I recalled the good memories we've had like playing table tennis during coffee breaks and our unplanned escapades.

Be Prepared For Repairs

I just came home from an honest day's work and when I was getting off of my motorcycle I felt something vibrate on my left thigh. I knew that it was a message received by my mobile phone and so I grabbed it out of my pocket to check who it was. It was a text message from Ramil informing me that our boat docked earlier in the morning an that it had a good catch.

A guy reading a text message. Photo Credits

"At last! After a few weeks of break-even, I'll finally receive something again.", I said to myself.

6 Important Things You Should Know About This Blog

A port laborer transporting a tuna from the fishing boat. Photo Credits

Never in my life did I thought to have something to share about fishing. Not even once. Though I was born in a town just 25 miles from the shore, I never bothered thinking about fishing. My only encounter with the blue waters was when we went for swimming. I was born and raised as a typical small town boy and such was my background.