A Lousy Day for Surfing at K Bay

    While that may seem like a strange title for a blog about snorkeling and fish identification, it has way too much meaning for those of us who enjoy a pleasant, relatively effortless snorkel at Kahalu'u.

  When the surf is up, as it has been for most of the last two weeks, K Bay has a monster current as

A Lousy Day for Surfing at Kahalu'u.

the breakers pour over the Menehune Breakwater.  I compare it to swimming in an infinity pool.  You get away from the entry and start swimming as hard as you can for as long as you can.  In my case, being old and feeble, I might swim hard for fifteen minutes and gain fifty feet up current.   At that point I give up the ghost and ride the current back to the entry over a minute or so.  What fun.

    The long point that creates the north shore of Kailua Bay protects the water around the pier from many high surf conditions.  Both currents and waves may be minimal and the water is usually fairly clear.  So we have had a couple enjoyable snorkels over the last fortnight at the pier. We haven't seen much , hence there have been no breathless blogs.

   After one of these swims, as I showering, I met a gentleman in a bright green rash guard shirt.  I asked him where he was from and he replied, in a voice reeking with eloquence,"Lincoln, Nebraska.

Manini,  Kahalu'u, February 2018

 I replied, "One of my favorite colleagues (that incredible gentleman, raconteur and wine bibber,  Bud Hanzel), was from Nebraska and his brother was a professor in Lincoln.  You seem like a well spoken fellow.  Are you a professor?"   To which he replied, "No, I'm an anesthesiologist."  I won't bore you with the rest of our dialogue, and I certainly will not reveal the intricacies of the secret anesthesiologist handshake.   Suffice it to say that Joe is tired of taking night call and looking to retire in Kona.

   However,  I will bore you with one of my favorite stories about Bud Hanzel.  One day Bud came to work and told me that an esteemed professor at the University of  Nebraska Medical School had come to Hawaii on vacation and broken his neck boogie boarding.  The folks back in the Cornhusker State were in shock.  I noted that the people in Hawaii were very well aware how dangerous boogie boarding can be.  To which Bud replied, "Well, I guess the people in Nebraska don't know that much about surfing."  Ba-dum.

Star Eye Parrotfish  Kahalu'u  February 2018

     Getting back to the snorkel at hand, I made my way out over the denuded sandless sand entry and
enjoyed a lovely snorkel with a veritable battalion of my new friends.  I was on the lookout, so  I didn't take an elbow to the chops.  But the opportunity was there.  This is, after all, the height of tourist season.  In addition to the plethora of people, there were plenty of fish.  I'm including a few

Today's Leaf Scorpionfish  Kahalu'u February 2018    La de da.

pictures from today for your enjoyment.

   I was having such a good time, cruising effortlessly over the coral, or what used to be the coral, that I may have gotten further out than I thought.  This can happen when you are cruising effortlessly, which not infrequently means you are riding a current.  As I was passing over a multifaceted lump, I spotted a small leaf scorpionfish.  This guy was black and white, the same color pattern we saw a year or so ago here in K Bay and also, under the wing of the redoubtable Peter Kroppje, at Mahukona, late in 2017.  Suffice it to say, we are still plenty excited to see a leaf scorpion in Hawaii, but it is not the earth shattering experience it might have been only a few years ago.  If you keep your eyes open, you may see one , too.

    I did my best to get a picture of this handsome scorpion, clad as he was in evening wear...you might say he was wearing tails, or at least tail.  Après la photographie, I looked about and saw a man

The "Sandless" Sand Channel Greets the Returning Swimmer.

and wife team swimming nearby, but could not attract their attention..  At that point,  I took note of my location.  I was about forty yards out from Surfer's Rock,  which was bout sixty yards further out than I thought I was.  Luckily, it was a beautiful day with only a modest current flowing out of K Bay and it made for a a nice ten minute swim back in to shore.  All's well that ends well in the land of the leaf.

    May your day end with such luck and beauty.

jeff

              

Not everyone was happy to be at the beach.