The Devil Scorpionfish at the Kailua Pier or An Inauspicious Beginning

     As Sandra and I returned to the Big Island following a six month hiatus, I was suffering with back problems.  I had experienced leg pain with a touch of weakness for two weeks.  This may  have stemmed from falling off the Little League bleachers a year ago.  But it was clearly exacerbated by my spinning ballet move that drives a butterfly into the bottom of the net.  At any rate, the airplane journey to Hawaii made the situation much worse.  And there was no rest for the wicked.  Cleaning the house and getting our gardens in order were not going to wait.  

    Finally on our third day back I made it into the water.  My left leg was still painful and a little weak, but as we know, the fish wait for no man.  Sandra dropped me off at the pier, so I had only a few steps to walk and a very short flight of stairs to descend and I was in the water.  I'm pleased to report that the water was clear and warm.  I waded out up to my chest, secured my mask and began my swim..  This lasted for only a few seconds, as my snorkel immediately filled with water.  I surfaced and tried again with the same result.  Examining my snorkel I noticed a small bit of white material loose in the cage that protects the purge valve.  In fact, it was what was left of the purge valve. 

Devil Scorpionfish, Kailua Pier, November 2022

    It's amazing that when you desert a piece of equipment, be it an automobile or a snorkel,  in this hot, humid climate, what can go wrong while it seemingly just sits in repose.

    Having established that this little venture was going to occur without a functional snorkel, I pushed off again, breathing intermittently, like a normal swimmer.  In just a few feet I was rewarded with a large Stout Moray Eel and a Devil Scorpionfish.  The scorpionfish was sitting still (of course) and permitted me to dive down for a close up photo.

   I swam for about thirty minutes.  After a short while I tried covering the sealed plastic cage that protects the purge valve with my hand.  This actually worked, but left me with only my debilitated legs for propulsion.  I saw only the usual suspects for the rest of the swim and struggled ashore with a weak and painful left leg and a broken snorkel. No one ever said life was going to be easy.

My Replacement Mouthpiece and Valve Assembly

   That afternoon I called my favorite dive shop, Honu Divers in the Old Industrial area of Kona.   The manager said bring the snorkel in and we'll see what we can do.  The next morning I presented the snorkel to Jeff Jones.   (Us Jeffs have to stick together)  and he rummaged through a bag of snorkel parts while pointing out that the TUSA snorkel purge cage is welded solid.  He went off to search elsewhere in the shop and I looked at new snorkels identical to mine.  They now cost $54.  For a snorkel!  

    Jeff came back with an entire mouthpiece valve assembly, saying it had come off a broken snorkel.  One might wonder what else could go wrong with a snorkel.  Anyway, he did this out of the goodness of his heart.  In return, I'm going to give him a nice selection of Indonesian Fish Christmas ornaments.  Original works of art produced in Kailua Kona by yours truly.  

   If you want a set of Christmas ornaments, let me know and we can work something out!

   In the meantime, Sandra is keeping an eye on me and not permitting me to get in the water until my back is better.  Hopefully that will be soon.

jeff

  While waiting to heal, we have kept busy.  Yesterday we went to Honokahau and discovered that the gate is now open and one can park near the walk down to the Dog Beach.  For those of you who can walk on rocks, this is very good news.

A Female Jackson's Chameleon, Greenwell's Coffee,  November 2022

   Today we went to Greenwell's Coffee up in Kealakekua.  After enjoying some intriguing brews, we were treated to a plump Jackson's Chameleon.   Usually the chameleons are tucked away among the many leaves of the orange trees.  This female was across the street, eight feet up in an avocado.  The avocado tree has fewer leaves, providing us the opportunity for a nice picture.  Notice how the little lady, while not moving, was able to rotate her eye to keep us in view.

jh