Ono, More Dolphins.
The world Ironman championship is (usually) held here on the Big Island every year, and the 2.4 mile swim course starts at the spiritual center of Kona, in the ocean near the town pier. During the 364 days when the Ironman is not being raced, the swim course remains open, marked by buoys that get farther apart the closer you get to the 1.2-mile turnaround buoy,
We made a plan so that all of our guests could get what they wanted from their swim, be that a small taste of the course or the entire 2.7 plus mile swim (it’s longer than the race because they place the start line out into the bay a tad). Ryan would be out front on his SUP watching Kyle all the way out then ½ way back, Heather would swim with Kimberly, Angie, and Patricia, Kekau would paddle his SUP near Luise and Chris, and I would swim with Charlie for 30 minutes, then turn around and come back.
After swimming with Charlie and dropping him back at the pier, I decided to jump back in to escort any swimmers still on the course. I ran into Heather and her group about ½ mile out, but we were separated by about 120 dolphins. They were everywhere, under us, behind us, doing big lazy sleeping circles. They swam up close to us, and I could see some cookie cutter shark scars on one of the older looking adults. We follow the rules: we don’t touch the dolphins or swim after them. We just treaded water out on the course and let them swim around us. At some point, one of them flapped his tailfin on the water a few times, and they all swam out to sea. Pretty magical.
Back at the pier, lots of hugs and high fives. We parted for lunch in town, and Heather and I jumped into the back of Ryan’s pickup truck, Hawaiian style, for a ride down the street to Lava Java’s restaurant. Most of us finished our stay in Kona with a shave ice. I refuse to order one anywhere but on this Island.
Back at the Hale, naps. I mean serious, drool on your pillow napping. The kind where you’re not sure what day it is when you wake up. The kind that makes you stumble around for awhile afterwards with a goofy, confused grin. The kind you have after swimming with a pod of dolphins. Naps.
Our evening splash consisted of a swim to the north side of our bay, where the bottom is sandy and about 10 feet deep, perfect for running rocks, a training exercise developed by big wave surfers to improve their stamina. We found 3 different sized rocks, and started running. You dive down, plant your feet on either side of the rock, pull it toward your chest, and run along the bottom as far as you can, then drop the rock and swim back to the surface. I was impressed when Luise did this 3 years ago, when she was a mere 80 years old. I think she actually ran her rock farther this year.
I whipped up some cocktails using the same kind of grafted limes that I had found in Grenada, adding bourbon, rum, and cranberry and mango juice. Chef Dan put out a platter of sashimi from the Ono we had caught. S’ono dang tasty. Mahi Mahi for dinner seared in Indian spices and served over Israeli couscous with some type of lemony drizzle. Key lime pie for dessert. Uncle. We all toasted each other, and Heather played a slideshow of our week in pictures.
How much we did!
The Pacific bestowed us with abundance this week, and these 7 guests fully embraced it all. It’s always a little nerve wracking to have new people join us on SwimVacation. All week, we felt like they GET US. They really get what we do, and why, and they dove right in.
If that isn’t worth dolphin bucks, I don’t know what is.
Mahalo, Hawaii.
Mahalo, Pacific.
Love,
Hopper (and Heather)
