Our Captain - Dave - seemed to be a Beach Boy that never figured out he was supposed to grow up. Geared definitely for the younger crowd, he played loud music that whole time. Jacky and I enjoyed the music for the most part. Dave picked appropriate songs for every new activity we did. It just was a little loud - and especially so for Allen and Carolyn who were the oldest on the boat.
We immediately headed out of the harbor and across the channel to Lana'i. Dave warned us the channel was bad, wave wise. I have to admit the only time I believe I've been in worse wave conditions was on the North Sea. If you were even the slightest bit prone to sea-sickness, you would have been losing everything you ate for the last week over the side. The first mate, Jeff, was an excellent driver and did a remarkable job keeping it as smooth as possible. But I still stood there, white knuckled, watching the water drop from the side of the boat. There were cliffs of water. It was fascinating and a little terrifying at the same time! Like car wrecks, you couldn't keep your eyes off the water...
Our first 'stop' at Lana'i was at a ship wrecked off the coast. It had been used to bring in gasoline and ammunition for the war. When it was no longer useful, the captain put holes in the hull and 'sunk' the ship. As you can tell, the ship is not sunk now. Dave told us there have been only a handful of times in 6 years that the waters have been calm enough for people to snorkel here. Today was not one of those days.
Frankly, I was glad the water was too rough. That whole structure was made of concrete - can you imagine?
On to other areas. We continued around the island. The waters didn't really get better but we did come to our first snorkel area. I can't say I was thrilled - it looked cold, and the waves were crashing up on shore. But I did get the flippers on and the snorkel mask. I am glad I went in. The coral was even better than at the beach (of course it was further down) and there were lots of fish swimming around. I started up the GoPro camera and taped what I could. It really was quite fascinating down there but the waves were moving me and the fish all over the place. After I got a little water in the mask so my eyes started burning, and then my throat started burning from the salt water, I decided I needed an above water break. Note: at the sand bar here yesterday, Dave said there was a female Hawaiian monk seal. There are only about 1000 of these left and they are critically endangered. I never made it to the sand bar but Jacky did, and did not see any seals today. :( I DID get to see a sea turtle - well, his shell as he trucked on over the water. We were trucking in the opposite direction but at least I saw that much! No sharks, eels, barracudas, seals or other such though...
I hope this video works. It takes like an hour to upload! I actually used the one from yesterday because it showed the fish better. Today was basically the same fish but farther away and they don't come out very clear on this underwater camera. By the way, the video starts out kind of squirrelly but it does get better, I promise! I just really wanted to show off my pathetic snorkeling ability and prove I did do it! And yes, the operator of said camera needs to take a few lessons....
The cliffs and shoreline of this island were rugged and sparse. But with the high surf, it made for beautiful wave shots. Not the Hawaii most people get to see but it's worth it at least once:
Waterfall Rocks
After we finished there, we went on to the next spot. This was a sea cave that spouted water. We got the bow of the boat in quite deep when Dave tried to get some of the passengers wet. It was a lot of fun.
Now on to the next snorkel spot. This place was full of other tours which Dave said are never there. It was an indication of how rough the ocean was today because these other tours had to skip their usual spots. I actually never got in here. First we had sandwiches and then I decided to try to dry/warm up before I went in again. I was walking to the step to get in the water when Dave started the engine up and motioned for the people in the water to get away from the boat. What? I guess the mooring had broken that was holding the boat in place and the boat was dangerously close to the cliff. As we started moving away, the snorkelers in the water frantically tried to follow us. Poor Allen! He's about as strong a swimmer as I am and I could tell he was really puffing trying to catch us. Of course we didn't leave without everyone, but it cut our session short. Here's a picture of Allen and Jacky checking out the coral:
The wind kept getting stronger so we ended up just heading back to Maui. We all wanted to watch for whales (after all, the tour was supposed to include that) but our fearless captain didn't want to because he has ADHD and no patience for it (his words). So,* sniff, sniff*, no whale pictures. Can't complain, I got nice ones in Alaska and I did see whales, even breaching. Just not close enough to take photos.
Famous Daves BBQ for supper (after a nice long hot shower) and a little shopping. Tonight is try to fit everything in my suitcase and NOT have it go over 50#. On the way here it was 47#. Not nearly enough wiggle room! There will be a full day tomorrow as our plane doesn't leave until 11:30 at night. So yes, Mom, there should still be one more blog! See you on the plane!
Sorry about not seeing whales, but you had a great adventure. Another great video.
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