Q&A with Trey Hackett-Son of Rich Hackett
By: Carly Smith
What was your initial reaction to your dad wanting to start Sea Mercy?
T: I was pretty amazed because he’s very creative but mostly I was just shocked. Then he started telling me exactly what he wanted to do and how he wanted to go to all these different countries and do these things, so I was just amazed. Then he asked me if I wanted to go with him and that was crazy but I was also super excited to go.
Was there a specific memory you remember most about Tonga?
T: There are so many, but this one time we were on the catamaran fishing and we put our fishing poles out of the boat as we were going and one of the poles had a huge amount of bait on it, so it was meant to catch really big fish. I was kind of sleeping with my headphones in but then I heard this really high-pitched noise and it was the reel spinning so my dad and I sprinted to the pole to tighten it. The reel was just spinning so fast and finally it snapped and right at that moment a 300 to 400 pound marlin just jumps out of the water about three times and it was just a really cool experience.
What was something that you took away from the trip with Sea Mercy?
T: Because of this trip I never whine about what I don’t have. I never complain about not having something because seeing their lives and what they don’t have was just crazy. I definitely respect the people who have less than I do and I just don’t forget about it. Now, I never complain about the things I don’t have because these people in third world countries don’t have important, necessary things, yet they never complain.