Swimming with the Ironmen on Paul Allen's Reef

Last Friday we got up bright and early and parked down by the pier around 8 AM.  As the competitors for the I

The King Kam Hotel.  Where are the Ironmen?

ronman had arrived and were training for the big event, parking was at a premium.This day Sandra and I were lucky to be joined by Kim Davison from the Methodist Church.  It is one of my pleasures living in Kailua to introduce friends, who have somehow avoided the event, to the joy of the Ironman. Hanging with the competitors at the pier has proven to be one of the most enjoyable for me, and we hoped Kim would  have a memorable time.

   As the Ironman side of the pier was full of ironmen churning back and forth in an expanded swim lane, the better to accommodate the multitude, we chose to swim on the Paul Allen side in front of the King Kamehameha Hotel.  The three of us donned our swim gear and left our clothes in front of the beach boy shack.

    The beach and the lagoon were almost empty, in contrast to the rest of the village and especially the other side of the pier where the competitors were training.  As we headed into the water, which Sandra and Kim thought was cold (in fact I put it at 82 degrees) we encountered a handsome young man and his six year old daughter who was frolicking by his side.  I asked if he was a competitor and he allowed that he was.  And he had a story that he was eager to relate.

   Johann was from Switzerland and he was 40 years old.  He  had competed in Kona 16 years ago, as a relatively young man. .  On his 40th birthday his wife had asked him if he thought he could qualify for the Ironman again.  I suppose she wanted a family trip to the Big Island.  Or perhaps she wanted Johann to buff up.  Regardless, he whipped himself into shape and, he being now able to check a new box on the entry form, qualified for the 40 and over age group.  As he finished relating his story, his daughter shrieked merrily, tossing her flaxen locks she grabbed his hand and he spoke to her in some inscrutable tongue.  Swiss-German, I presume, but have you noticed how foreign languages never

Two Flowery Flounders.  Which one gets to be on top?

sound the same as they do on the instructional tapes when the natives are speaking to one another, or in this case their children?

    Well our mini-interview was over and it was time to swim.  Just inside the small jetty by the heiau Kim spotted a whitemouth moray hunting.  We watched the eel for a minute or two and as we did he swam over a pair of flowery flounders, lying on the bottom in about five feet.  Kim had never seen a flounder before and enjoyed the hell out of it.  Although one would suspect that she has enjoyed flounder with some lemon and tartar sauce, she had never considered the curious physiology of this curious group of fishes.  Among other things, she wondered how the flounder avoided sucking sand into the breathing apparatus on the side that faced the bottom.  What a twisted world the flounder inhabits, I explained, with all the important structures, eyes, gills, cat and wives, rotated to the top.  How many flounders were going to Saint Ives?   Well there were two here, which is sort of unusual.  I wondered if they were getting in the mood to make the two headed flatfish.  Even my photographic efforts couldn't interfere with true love, fishy style, so I wouldn't be a bit surprised.

   Out in the bay we were lucky to spot a yellowtail filefish.  he wasn't terribly deep, perhaps eight feet, and he was more cooperative than most.  I had not seen one on the Paul Allen side before two

Yellowtail Filefish, Kailua Kona Pier, October 2017

years ago and this one was closer to the pier than any previously.  Perhaps they are getting more common.

   Out on the PAR we admired the dead coral, which is neither better or worse.  This being the end of summer, we should be thankful that no major bleaching occurred in 2017.  The main reason to admire the dead coral flat here, about 15 to 20 yards from shore, is the opportunity to look for Potter's Angelfish.  We had prepared our guest to look for this blue tailed beauty, but none were found.  We all spotted four voracious crown of thorns starfish, though.  This was a new species for our guest and she was quite pleased.  Knowing that the crown of thorns eats coral polyps, and that this particular reef has so few polyps to spare, we were less than overjoyed.

Yellowtail Surgeons and Kim Davison Brave the Surf

   My last treat for Kim was a look at the spotted surgeon.  I swam over by the steep lave reef that forms Paul Allen's beach and sure enough, there were three of these dinner plate-sized surgeons cavorting in the surf as it exploded against the lava wall.  My friend Kimmy is not a wuss, but she was a bit
cowed, intimidated if you will, by the surf crashing against the rock. It took a bit of persuasion.  Finally, though, we coaxed her within five feet of the reef and she was able to see the spotted surgeons as they swam though the surging bubbles.  Brave Kim, happy fish.

    Sandra had seen enough spotted surgeons, and has tasted the vengeance of the lava and the waves, so she watched this introduction to the surf on the reef experience from a safe distance.  Not that there was ever any danger.  Just keep telling yourself that and things will be fine.

   On the way in, we spotted a reef lizardfish reclining on the rip rap on the outer part of the jetty.  Usually not a big deal, but it was Kim's first lizardfish.  

All he needs is a mask and snorkel

   Back on the beach we headed to the showers, where we met a petit Ironlady from the Phillipines.  I was able to tell her about the 19% of my felow Hawaiians that are Filipino, the state holiday in their honor and invite her to go shopping at Walmart where she can speak Tagalog with her countrymen.
  For here in Kona we are all one big happy family and we embrace our friends the Ironpeople from all around the world.

  Maybe if Donald Trump and Little Rocketman came to the Ironman, we could all live in peace.  Perhaps I could  persuade them to look at the spotted surgeons on a particularly rough day.  Now your talkin'.

jeff

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