BIG JACKS

Aloha! Sorry about the quality of the last video I posted. It looked great on my computer but when I saw it on the blog I was really disappointed.I couldn't even see the eel and I knew where he was supposed to be! Hopefully this video will be better. The fish are a lot bigger so maybe that will help. Jackie and I took this video on Monday at Anini. The water was a bit choppy and we even debated whether or not we should get wet. Glad we decided to get in because we had a nice little snorkel. We headed out on our usual route and discovered the convict tangs behaving a little strange. They seemed to be a little more agitated than normal as they weren't stopping to feed as much as they normally do. There also seemed to be a few more of them than normal but that could have been because they were swimming around more. It wasn't long before we discovered what had them all stirred up. There were 6 large ulua out hunting along the reef. Our book has them listed as bluefin trevally. These guys were between 3 and 4 feet long and I would bet the largest one must have weighed over 50 pounds! It was a real experience swimming with these guys as they didn't act the least bit concerned about us. We were unable to see them actually catching any fish so maybe we did have them distracted a little bit. They stayed in an area about 50 yards square and Jackie and I swam thru it 4 or 5 times. We saw these fish on each pass and sometimes we would run into them more than once. We also ran into a white mouth moray. This was a good sized one and I think I got a pretty good clip of him. I used the zoom on the eel but the video of the ulua was shot without any zoom.

Getting Closer

Aloha! Jackie and I have enjoyed a very peaceful week here on Kauai. On Tuesday we went to Anini snorkeling. The conditions were great with very little wind chop and pretty good visibility in most spots. We did run into a few places out near the outer reef where the current had the water stirred up a little but seeing as we are almost into our wintertime conditions this is something we are just going to have to learn to live with. Speaking of winter time conditions on Thursday and Friday we had surf heights of 20 feet or better here on the north shore. Guess we should have made a better effort to get out and see the large surf but neither Jackie or I could pry ourselves away from the house. Thursday evening the surf was pounding so hard it woke me up! I got up and looked outside expecting to see thunder and lightning only to realize it was the surf making all the noise. Jackie and I are really looking forward to seeing everyone when we get home. We should be arriving in Pasco around 9am on Saturday the 10th. Can't wait to give my grandsons a hug! I posted a video we shot Tuesday at Anini. The eel in this video is an undulated moray. According to our book this variety of moray is one of the more aggressive ones and it says you should avoid trying to feed or handle a undulated moray. I would think that would be very good advice...right up there with not poking a grizzly bear with a stick!

MORE PICS OF NAPALI

NAPALI COAST

Aloha! Things have been pretty quiet for Jackie and I. I think we have made it to the beach once since the last of our guests left. Not real sure why we have decided to hole up here at the house as the weather has been great...light trades and temps in the low 80's. Of course if you ask Jackie she will tell you the main reason we haven't left the house is because I am too lazy. So far I have been unable to convince her that all I'm trying to do is save up my energy for our trip home. Some how she has come up with this queer idea that you can't save up your energy before hand and that all you can do is rest and recover after your energy has been spent. Now all of you who know me will understand just how alien this concept sounds to me as I have spent my entire adult life saving my energy up for when I get old. At least thats my story and I'm sticking to it! The pictures I posted today were taken on our boat trip around the Napali coast. We did this trip with Dr. Mary when she was here. Dr. Mary chartered the Sea Breeze and there were 15 of us who took this trip. I must say I was really impressed with the boat captain and the gentleman he had crewing. They did a wonderful job of making sure everyone was as comfortable as possible. They were real good at pointing out things and letting us have enough time to look. They were also very well informed about the history of the area and were more than willing to share this info with us. Of course the best part of the trip was the Napali coast itself. The pictures just don't do the place justice. All I can say is it was awesome! There was unbelieveable beauty every where you looked. We dropped anchor near a beach on the southern end of the coast and we snorkeled for close to an hour. The snorkeling could have been better as the water clarity was just fair but the sandwiches were great and we ran into a few dolphins on the way home. The trip back was a bit rougher but not too bad. Jackie and I got the biggest kick out of watching Nicole's son Drew. He is about 9 or 10 years old and every time the boat would get airborn off the waves he would giggle and laugh then grin like a possum. Bet he grinned more on that 45 minute ride back than he did on his entire trip!

ANINI

Aloha! Jackie and I have had a very enjoyable morning. The weather was perfect...low 80's with light trades. We arrived at the beach around 9 and found great conditions...not much wind chop and hardly any people. The water clarity has been better but with all the other factors being what they were it still made for a very nice snorkel. We saw a ton of fish including a few ulua. The one in the photo is probably 24 inches long and about 15 pounds. Some of the others were quite a bit larger but I was not able to get a good pic. We also saw 3 or 4 yellow tangs as well as a teardrop butterfly. Jackie and I were in the water for almost an hour and I think this was the first time we failed to see a single cornet fish even though we snorkeled in our usual spots and have always found them to be quite abundant in the past. We left the beach a little past 11 with the only firm plan being to find a warm shower and something to eat for lunch!

NAPALI COAST ABOARD THE SEA BREEZE

SMITH FAMILY LUAU

Aloha! Jackie and I have been having the best time! The last couple of weeks we have had friends and family here visiting. Normally when I post I have a very hard time finding anything to write about. These past couple of weeks it has been just the opposite. We have been so busy going that there are way too many things to post and I have no idea how to even start to tell you about our many adventures! All I can say is I will try to put a few slideshows together and you will have to supply your own commentary!

WAIMEA CANYON

MATT AND BRANDI'S WEDDING

Aloha thought you might enjoy this little slideshow

Poipu beach and Hanapepe

Aloha! Here's a few more pics of my nieces visit. Most of these were taken at Poipu beach on Sunday. I also included a few from last nights luau. I can't believe how fast the days have flown by since they arrived and I bet they have flown by even faster for them! Maybe after Brandi's wedding today things will get back to normal and everyone can experience that slow relaxing Hawaiian charm that Jackie and I have found to be so enticing!