Keoghan's Heroes

Phil Keoghan, the host of the CBS reality series, "The Amazing Race," uses his down time between races to do some global exploring of his own exclusively for The Early Show.

Piloting a Cirrus jet (www.cirrusdesign.com), he been doing some globe-trotting of his own. His first stop was Hilo, Hawaii, where he learned that the true roots of the hula have nothing to do with long-haired women wearing coconut-shell bras.

His second stop took him to Malibu, Calif. and a visit with one of his personal heroes, Laird Hamilton, the surfer extraordinaire, who put Phil through an exercise regime he'll likely never try on his own (think bicycling uphill with weights on your bike).

He third stop brought him to Montecristi, Ecuador, one of the last great centers of Panama hat production. Keoghan met up with Brent Black, a man who is helping to save the dying art of Panama hat weaving.

Black left a lucrative advertising career in the United States when he learned that few young people were entering the profession. He is trying to improve pay and working conditions for the weavers. Phil decided to spend some time with Black to learn what it takes to weave these hats and to see if he could find the perfect Panama hat for himself.

Keoghan then went to the Bay area to meet gutsy rower Roz Savage, who traveled alone across the Atlantic last year and is about to take off on another solo journey — this time, a two-year-long jaunt across the Pacific.

No ready to give up on splashing around, he traveled to Eastern Tennessee to grabble with Marty and Fostana Jenkins and a group of young women. These "Girls Gone Grabbling" showed Keoghan how to submerge his body into muddy waters and coax a giant catfish out of its hole. No, really.

Phil's final stop was in upstate New York, where he encountered a new frontier, one where no "Star Trek" fan has ever ventured before: a full-on, to-scale replica of the Enterprise flight deck, a meticulous recreation that has drawn uber-fans from all over the world. Oh, did we mention they're making new

Here is his report:

Fishing and hunting. These are the things that you would expect to be going on in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains of eastern Tennessee. But I stumbled upon a muddier, more adventurous activity here being done by some pretty wild girls.

In Oklahoma it's calling noodling. But my friends in Tennessee call it grabbling. Grabbling is a very hands-on way to go catfishing. What you do is you coax an enormous catfish out of its nesting hole and catch it with your bare hands.

No rod. No reel. No fear.

On my trip I got to meet some young women who star in their own video — "Girls Gone Grabblin'!" The producers of this strangely successful video, Marty and Fostana Jenkins, are long-time grabblers themselves.

While it might not be skydiving, Fostana told me that grabbling gets her adrenaline pumping. "The first time you put your hand in there and you pull out a 35-pound fish with your bare hands, it's excitement." The girls agreed.

I joined the girls near an old concrete boat ramp in preparation to grabble. It felt odd knowing I was about to stick my hand into the water underneath a rock and a gigantic fish would be there.

"It's a rush," the girls assured me.

The aggressive nature of the catfish wasn't exactly good news as I readied myself to go grabbling for the first time. Fostana said, "You want to always keep the hole blocked because they'll kind of run out." She added that catfish aren't averse to biting a hand or toe or leg or any other precious extremity.

As we all submerged our bodies into the murky waters and got into "the position," we heard a loud thudding below. Something was lurking. Christy took the first hit from the catfish, and we slowly worked the beast to the surface.

Thirty feet away, Callie had cornered a much bigger fish. I was hoping it was the legendary "Cat-zilla," a catfish rumored to inhabit the side of the lake we were on.

As I watched the girls try to catch these beasts, I couldn't help but wonder about grabbling. These girls go underwater and can't see anything and have a very large fish trying to bite them. Is it really a good idea?

Fostana certainly thought so. "You need to eat fish tonight. We're having a catfish fry. You're catching dinner," she said.

Later on, a catfish holed up by me and I thought I could make my first catch as it was just inches from my reach. But it started biting, and I wasn't prepared. At least Callie had a good laugh.

All joking aside, it was time to tame this potential Cat-zilla. We needed to bring in the Tiger Woods of grabbling, Marty. But even he struggled as he forgot the first rule of grabbling: never relax your "grabble."

But he redeemed himself shortly as, eventually, the catfish were practically jumping into our arms. And, when all was said and done, our hard work paid off as we feasted on catfish.

A great day was over, but I will always remember that there is more than one way to catch a cat.

(For more on the "Grabblin'" Girls, go to catfishgrabblers.com and stacyandteresawilson.com)

Roz may be small in stature, but she is huge in heart. And not just because of her physical exploits. Seven years ago, Roz Savage was the very picture of suburban contentment, a husband, good job, and a perfectly lovely home.

"I had the house and the little red sports car and the income. But it just didn't really make me feel fulfilled I suppose, so I started thinking about what I really wanted to do with my life and decided that I wanted to have a bit more excitement, a bit more adventure," she told me.

So, at 37, with zero sailing experience, Roz bought a boat. Volunteers outfitted it with radar and satellite phones, her Mother packed the lunches, literally – lots and lots of pre-packaged shelf-stable meals.

It's funny, in hindsight how ill-prepared Roz was as she set out from the Canary Islands. But there would be little laughter on the Atlantic. One hundred and three days of relentless rowing, 12 hours a day, over 3,000 miles of mostly unfriendly waters.

"It was really hard and I think psychologically it was the toughest aspect — very tough physically, but mentally, there were so many times when I really doubted whether I could do it," she recalled. "But, as Winston Churchill said, when you're going through hell — keep going."

Everything that could go wrong did — all