Just Squidding

"Squidding?"

"Yeah, you know, like, squid fishing."

I was on the phone with my sister, calling from my guesthouse on Koh Samet Island.

"Do you fish?" she sounded skeptical.

"Well, no. I mean, I think I've caught a fish before. When I was a kid... with Dad..."

"Hmm... sounds... fun." I could almost hear her rolling her eyes. Rachel is nothing if not supportive.

I have to admit. I'm no fisherman. But for some reason a sign at the pier had caught my eye. "Night Squid Fishing and Enjoy", it had said. "600 baht per person. Relax and enjoy the time with your friends." Well, why not? I may not have had any friends on the island to enjoy the time with, but it was my last night on Koh Samet, and I wanted to do something unforgettable.

my ride

At half past seven, I made my way to the pier. The sun had already gone, and with it, the heat of the day. Nighttime brought a cool breeze. It was almost cold. One of the fishermen, a giant of a guy with very few words to say, and none in English, led me to our ancient boat, to be technical, a wooden squidding jigger, with two decks and a rattling motor. On the upper level, a number of deck chairs had been set up. I claimed a seat. Before boarding, the people at the pier had suggested we go into the nearby 7-11 and pick up some drinks. A bunch of drunk people on a nighttime fishing trip... There was a section of railing missing near where I was sitting. I hoped that nobody would fall overboard. I settled back in my seat and cracked open a cold one myself, with the cool sea breeze blowing in my face. This is nice.


Storm clouds out in the distance

Squid, for some reason, are attracted to green light. As we traveled out over the deeper water further away from land, the captain illuminated the bright squidding lights, flooding the surrounding area in a weird green glow. I'm told that there are so many squid fishermen in the Gulf of Thailand, and the lights are so bright that they can even be seen from space! The green light was a bit disconcerting, and made the whole scene seem eerie and a kind of spooky. At one point, as I looked over the rickety wooden railing, I could see dozens of large white jellyfish, as big as dinner plates, illuminated with the green light.

the sun has gone down over the island

At a certain point, the boat stopped at a small buoy. Those passengers who had brought fishing poles went down to the lower deck to try their luck night fishing. If you wanted to try but didn't have any equipment of your own, the crew had rigged up a few makeshift "fishing poles" of a hook and line tied to an empty plastic soda bottle.

As for me, I was perfectly content to sit back and relax on a deck chair and watch the fishermen go about their business

spooky green selfie

They unfurled a huge orange net over the side of the boat, which they used to drag up the night's squid catch. After not too long out at sea, the waves began to get rougher. Maybe it had something to do with the storm brewing out over Rayong, but our boat began to rock uncomfortably. On the lower deck, water was sloshing over the sides of the low railing, but the crew didn't seem to mind, so I wasn't too concerned either. Still, there were moments when it felt like the boat was tilting further to either side than I felt like it really should have!

We got back to the pier around midnight. Luckily, nobody fell overboard, despite the rocking! I have to admit, it was a little funny to watch people stumbling around on the the boat from the comfort of my deck chair.

It was also interesting to see a real squid boat at work. There was a definite no-nonsense attitude. The fishermen didn't mind us being there as long as we didn't get in their way. I was happy to watch them at work from the upper deck, and it was really cool to see what they do with the big net.

Would I do it again? Absolutely, if not only to sit back, relax, and chuckle to myself as drunk would-be "fishermen" (ie tourists) make fools of themselves stumbling across the swaying deck. What a night!