A Day with Reverend Sunny and Other Delights

    This week Sandra and I were given a new challenge...by God, no less.  Since her arrival a few weeks ago, our new pastor, the Reverend Doctor Sunny Ahn, had yet to be in the water.  Swimming pool, ocean or baptismal.  (Or even to the beach, for crying out loud.)   And she was straight forward in saying that the

Kim, Sunny and Sandra in the Inner Harbour.

ocean made her nervous.  Hence on Friday, Sandra and I, and Kim, another of Sunny's flock, brought our shepherd down to the Inner Harbour for an introduction to the ocean.

    As we made our way to the beach in front of the King Kam, I pointed out the myriad outrigger canoes waiting patiently on the sand.  I noted that this was our state sport and that, as sure as Michael rowed the boat ashore, there must be members of her congregation that paddled.

   As they dipped their ladylike toes, both Kim and Sunny thought the water of the Inner Harbour was cold.  Sunny was nervous, so I guess it was understandable.  However, even in this coolest of spots, in mid-August the water must be around 84.  "Come back in January", I said, "and we will show you cold water."  Once in, everyone agreed that the temperature was just fine.

   At 3 to 1, Sunny had a very high teacher to student ratio.  It took her about ten minutes to shed her apprehension.  After that she was getting her face in the water, putting on a mask and paddling around with a noodle.  It was a beautiful morning, sunny (as you might expect) with blue skies and even the water in front of the King Kamehameha Hotel was clear.  Sunny saw a few fish and even swam (sort of) without the

noodle for a short distance.  Everyone agreed that the day was a success and Sunny was thinking about a new ministry that involved preaching to a congregation in the water.  Heaven knows, the fish and the coral need all the divine intervention they can get!

                            




               
                         >)))) ; >            >)))) ; >            >)))))) ; >            >)))))) ; >

    Well, neither the redoubtable SKG or your humble correspondent got in much of a swim with the Reverend Doctor Ahn, so the following day we returned to the pier ready to enjoy the marine life.   We knew it was going to be a good day when right where we were donning our swimming apparel, some kind

"Free Bike for someone to Enjoy.  Ride On!! 

soul had left a free bike.  In addition, someone had left seven purple leis floating in the water. 

    With all these positive omens, we hit the water.  Like the day before it was just cool enough to be refreshing and pretty clear.  Out by the 4th swim buoy we happened upon a man and lady angling.  I'm OK with angling, mostly because it has to be the least effective way to kill fish.  Dynamite, poison, nets, spears, angling.  Does that sound about right? 

    The bait ball was patrolling in their vicinity. As I watched the school of scad, I counted no fewer than 19 ulua in pursuit.  Back on the surface I asked the angler in the kayak if he was fishing for the scad or the ulua and he said both.  So then I asked if he ever caught an ulua from the kayak.  He had and we decided that it was pretty exciting to catch a fish strong

Let's Go Fishin'

enough to pull the vessel you are fishing from.  Think a Nantucket sleigh ride on a smaller scale.  I suppose that Santiago with his marlin was  more dramatic, but I think catching a three foot trevally in a kayak would be quite a thrill.  Maybe even dangerous.  Perhaps the piscators in the audience can weigh in on this.

    As we left our fisher-people I spotted a fine scale triggerfish.  This fellow raced away so there are no good pictures to be had, but it is a moderately uncommon fish, so I thought I would mention it.  Although this large gray triggerfish usually races away from the would be photographer, that is not always the case.  In the last few years there have been a couple instances where two or three finescale triggerfish set up house keeping inside the swim buoys at the pier and were remarkably approachable.  I'm offering you a picture from 2013 that shows this sea going ghost at his most photogenic.

Finescale Triggerfish  Kailua Kona Pier  Oct 2013

   The day was brought to a conclusion with a colony of bright orange sponge growing right under the swim line about four feet from the pier.  This brilliant optical orange creature has to be the colorful thing on our

reef.  According to John Hoover,  it exudes a pigmented mucus that irritates the skin.  Thus it can afford that flamboyant color.

     As we swam ashore, we noticed that the leis had washed away.  And up by the cubbies, someone had taken the free bike.  Aloha.

jeff      

The Brightest Color in the Hawaiian Sea