Here and Honaunau

This morning we took a ride south to Honaunau Bay, adjacent to Pu`uhonua O Hōnaunau National Park. There's a great lava rock formation there called Two Step.  Thousands of years ago, the lava cooled in a perfect little staircase at the water's edge, making entry and exit very comfortable.  We plotted a course around the bay's rim, then across the mouth to the other side. The coral and fish life here is unbelievable. There's massive green coral heads thriving on the underlying lava rock and big schools of yellow tang making an incredible visual contrast. As we swam across the mouth of the bay, the water was clear to 60 feet then the bottom disappeared into a yummy endless iridescent blue. Amy, Jeff and I swam abreast with Leslie close behind. Snorkelers/noodlers began to show up as we finished our first lap; I always feel smug about how much more ocean open water swimmers cover, and how much more we see. Hugh and Hugh waded around the bay, stopping at points of interest with McGuckin. Heather and Jenny continued to work on positive strategies for Jenny in her upcoming entry in the Big Shoulders swim. This woman has totally embraced her strength in the water this week.   

After another lap along the bay's edge, guide Ryan found a jumping rock (a new tradition it seems). Jumping into even 10 feet of water here takes some faith; the water clarity made it look rather shallow, but I trust this Hawaiian. Post-swim, we hung around on Ryan's massive 12 foot standup paddleboard. It was a board meeting. The most fun kind. It took 5 of us to sink it.  I took stroke videos of every guest as Heather began swimmer portraits. Ryan left to work the noon to 7:30 shift at the pool.

  

Leslie kicks off the swimmer portrait session, as Hopper get's a great shot of Heather at work.

  

Amy Jeff and Jenny 

  

Hugh, Hugh and the notable "Board Meeting".

We toured the national park after healthy doses of, yes, Perrier. This place both a royal palace and, more interestingly, a place of refuge for the Hawaiians of yore. Displaced war victims and defeated soldiers were given shelter here. So were people trying to escape the wrath of the Ali'i soldiers after committing a crime. Many  of these crimes we'd  find silly today, like "stepping in the king's shadow".

Lots of naps this afternoon. We welcomed friend of SwimVacation Carter, and ran some errands with him. It seems we never have the right cables for whatever TV we are using, so we bought some cables. Back at the Hale, Carter reviewed everyone's stroke while reviewing the video taken earlier. He's a great stroke technician. Tomorrow he'll pull guests aside during our big swim to give them pointers.

  

I made Hawaiian mojitos for sundown, substituting sugar with a fresh mango and pineapple juice blend. Clare put out smoked marlin and poke for appetizers. Suffering was minimal to non existant.  We welcomed Karlyn Pipes as a guest tonight, she's a hotshot masters swimmer and runs clinics all around the world. Dinner was traditional Hawaiian; cabbage and pork, poi. lomi lomi, fabulous wines.

A special thanks to our swimmers for enduring a situation that could have spoiled our Aloha spirit today. Many Mahalos to you.

- Hopper