Back to the drivel

I was a little taken aback by the response I got to my last blog posting. I got a number of "nice entry!"s from a few people. It does put a little bit of pressure on me to produce quality topics and quality writing with each entry which, let's face it, doesn't always happen. Cool, meaningful events don't happen with the regularity that lends itself to deep, impactful blog entries on a daily or weekly basis. So while I appreciate the positive feedback (really, I do), I can't guarantee that my entries always be that good or reflective. As a matter of fact, there will always be a certain amount of drivel that you'll have to wade through . . .

It's been a little more than a week since my last post. I've been on four more dives and enjoyed them all. Zac and I expanded our diving buddy network to include some additional people along with Bernadette and Ken. I've seen some crazy critters down there on the ocean floor, and that only at 30-55 feet. I would really like to take an underwater photography class when I get the chance, just to record some of the neat stuff I've seen. I can't imagine what lurks down in the depths of the Pacific abyss. I'm not sure I want to. Creepy.

Last Tuesday Zac's command took a day to kayak out to the Moks off of Lanikai. A couple of wives (and a girlfriend) went along, myself included. It was a beautiful day. I really like that side of the island. The water is gorgeous, due to the shallow depth and sand. It is that crazy, electric aquamarine color that looks like it's been altered with food coloring. It really is quite lovely.


The command kayaked out to the northern of the two islands, Moku Nui. There's a nice sandy beach to land on and you can walk around the perimeter of the island to get some great views of lava rock and crashing waves. The inner part of the island is a bird sanctuary, so you can't climb to the top of the island. As you walk around the island there are some crazy burrowing birds that growl at you as walk by. I've never heard a bird growl like that. It sounded like my cat, Nala, when she got pissed off at Toivo. That low, primitive "get back" sound.

On the back side of Moku Nui is a neat sea pool where you can hop in the water to cool off. I was on photo duty so I didn't get in the water, but another one of the wives who went told me it felt very much like you were being flushed in a toilet. The waves would come in, fill the pool, raise everyone up, then the water would flow out, dropping everyone. Maybe I'm glad I didn't go in. I probably would have gotten sea sick. I scampered up on to some rocks to record the fun.



Of course some of the guys had to climb up on the rocks and jump into the water. Here's Ken and Zac having some fun.




The only glitch in the day is when I tipped the kayak. While we were paddling back on the return trip I decided to hop off the kayak to cool off. (i.e. pee in the ocean. What?!? You think I'm the only person who does this?) When I tried to get back into the kayak I realized that I couldn't touch the ocean floor, meaning that I had less ability to propel myself up and and back into the kayak. The first attempt resulted in me tipping the kayak, knocking Zac and our dry bag into the ocean. While he righted the boat, I grabbed our bag and the oars and I gave it another go. I flopped myself into the kayak, banging my shins and elbows in the process. Elegant? No. Effective? Yes. (By the way, at no point in my life have I ever been, or will ever be, called "elegant". Just not something I do. Motor skills are challenging on a good day.)

We made it back to shore without further incident and the command headed over to a burger joint in Kailua to toast our morning.