The Ironman Is Coming...and So Is Kelly!

     Last week the pace picked up in Kailua Kona.  There were more cars driving faster, more people on the

Deck the Halls with Flags of Athletes 

streets. More bike riders.  And way more people swimming on the Ironman side of the peer.  Which is far from coincidental, as the Ironman World Championships will be run next Saturday.

    The King Kamehameha Hotel is decorated for the occassion; Sandra and I were there the morning that the national flags of the athletes were hung in the back hall.  They have the countries with the greater number of athletes at the front of the hall.  There's a lot of flags (Sandra says that 52 countries are represented by athletes, but I swear there's more like 100 flags.) hung in echelons of thirty or so.  The USA, Australia, the UK and Deutschland are at the front.  By the time you get to the back of the hall there are some truly obscure flags.

    As the Ironman side of the pier is now largely taken over by practicing swimmers (I ran into one rather

Speckled Scorpionfish Sebastapistes coniorta  Kahalu'u 2013

 painfully a week ago) I have been snorkeling alternative venues.  At Kahalu'u last week I got my best picture ever of the obscure and cryptic Spotted Scorpionfish.  This little guy lives in Pocillopora (cauliflower) coral.  Dive down and look at enough corals and sooner or later you will find one.  They are difficult to photograph because they are wedged so deeply among the branches.  I'm very proud of this picture.  If you look carefully you will see the spines on the dorsal fin!

    Its fun to hang with the training Ironmen and with that in mind, Sandra and I volunteered this week at the information booth on the pier.  Mostly this involved filling the five gallon juice dispensers, but we did get to talk to a few of the athletes.  And I've been swimming on the north side of the pier, out on Paul Allen's Reef.  Sadly, it hasn't been all that productive recently.  No barracuda or porcupinefish and Mr. Scribble is no where to be seen.  

Saddleback Butterfly Swimmin' in the Crystal

However the water has been warm and clear and there's been a few good fish, including an orange tailed immature of the Pink Tailed Triggerfish and a Saddle Back Butterfly swimming in the Kona crystal.

    Since the shark episodes of the summer, I've been swimming out on the PAR a lot less frequently.  A good part of this is that one is, more often that not, truly alone out there.  Some days there might be a kayak or another swimmer, but usually its just me and my friends the fish.  The Ironman has proved a good impetus for getting me back into this special spot.  Regardless of seeing a new species, it is truly beautiful out there.  The coral is as intact as anywhere in Hawaii, the water is frequently perfectly clear.  And to be honest, I have not heard of a shark on the PAR. 

    The biggest news I have today has virtually nothing to do with fish.  Hang on all you Kailuaites, because Kelly is coming!   Unless you are a Jeopardy geek like me, you may be oblivious to Kelly Miyahara.  She is

Go Kelly!

the perky Asian member of the Jeopardy Clew Crew.   As a typical day at Casa Ono includes an invigorating swim and hopefully a killer fish or crab encounter, so does it include watching jeopardy, which comes on at 4:30 in the afternoon.  the quiz show stars Alex Trebec, who is both the good cop and the bad.  Serving as foil to Trebec are the three young adults who deliver some of the clues.  Kelly is my favorite.  Check out the Ironman site to read the touching story behind Kelly's appearance in the Ironman.   

    Your humble correspondent will be working in the medical tent at the finish line.  I don't hope to see Kelly in the infirmary, but maybe she will wave as she walks by.  Or maybe we'll see her swimming out on the PAR!

jeff