Hawaii - JONATHAN WESTON CREATIVE MULTIMEDIA VIDEO PRODUCER PMP

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 Adventure Sports Guide Hawaii tc quot;
SURVIVING HAWAIIquot;
 By Jonathan Weston ©Jonathan Weston 2010 407 Ewell Ave. Aptos, CA 95003 westonimages@gmail.com (831)601-9924 tc quot;
TABLE OF CONTENTSquot;
 TABLE OF CONTENTStc quot;
TABLE OF CONTENTSquot;
 1. WEATHER & WARNINGS SEASONS BIG SURF HI WINDS RIP TIDES DROWNINGS TSUNAMIS HURRICANES SUN SCREEN 2. HAWAII ADVENTURES SPORTS ON THE SEA Surfing, Windsurfing, Kiteboarding, Boogieboarding, Bodysurfing, Skimboarding, Canoeing, Kayaking, Free diving, Scuba diving, Sailing, Sport Fishing SPORTS ON LAND BIKING: Road, Downhill, Mountain TRAMPING: Hiking, Backpacking and Camping ENDO: Marathon, Mtn. Triathlon, IronMan, Xterra Rock Climbing SPORTS IN THE SKY Hangliding Paragliding 3. ADVENTURE MAPS OAHU, MAUI, KAUAI, BIG ISLAND, LANAI 4. THE ALOHA RULES Thriving in paradise Hawaiian Culture Dawn of the Dude The Dark Side 5. ADVENTURE SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY Shooting tips and equipment advice: How to take great shots with your consumer digital Right place, right time Amateur and Pro outfitting Water photography Long lens photography Underwater photography Aerial photography 6. DA BUGGAS Things that will come back and bite you: LAND BUGGAStc quot;
CHAPTER FIVE SURVIVING DA BUGGASquot;
 Centipedes, Wild Boars, Mosquitoes, Ukus… SEA BUGGAS Sharks, Jellyfish, Urchins, Eels… AIR BUGGAS Mosquitoes 7. FIRST AID Stings, zaps, bites, sprains, breaks, motion sickness, other tropic ills Introductiontc quot;
Introductionquot;
 You are an adventure traveler, seeking new experiences around every corner. In Hawaii, these corners come closer together, in the ultimate playground of the Pacific. Impossibly blue seas, epic surf, with tradewinds powering sails and kites across the water. Bikers and hikers choose between flying down the side of volcanoes all the way to sun drenched beaches, or meandering through the fragrant rain forest - ripe with fruits, waterfalls, and pick your jaw up off the jungle floor scenery. Paragliders get lifted above it all to eye the mind-boggling scenery; divers plunge into wonders below, in waters colorful and warm as banana pancakes. To a surfer, there’s nothing like waking at dawn with your game face on to the sound of surf rhythms strumming the shore. To the hiker, gazing out the window at sun kissed palms stretching from jungle to dawn painted sky. No matter what your adventure, your spirits rise with this sun and grow like those trees with unbounded possibility. Barely are you able to digest that papaya, so eager to be biking along volcanic trails, swimming amongst a rainbow of sea creatures, or sailing swiftly like a bird across a whitecapped sea. Yes, Hawaii is the adventure sport lover’s dreamscape. We are all here to enjoy an otherworldly tropical experience, and as long as you are prepared for all that path may cross, you may escape with only a few minor cuts and scrapes. But big things can and will go wrong in paradise. That’s right, 101 things a day. Some days, it is even the smallest thing, like a centipede or an urchin spine, which will undo your plans for the next few days. Other times, it’s taking on something bigger than you can swallow, or biting off more than you can chew, like a big wave, strong wind, or bye-bye rip tide. From jellyfish to mosquitoes, everything tropical loves to eat, sting and bite. Granted, unless you’re on your way from Guam and something is lurking under your seat besides gum, one of the few things you don’t have to worry about getting gobbled by is a snake - for now. Of course, it is seldom that you would ever experience life engulfing tsunamis, rivers of burning lava, torrential flash floods and howling hurricanes – and hold the soundtrack, the dreaded shark gobble. Yet in Hawaii, one can at least get cracked by a falling rock, sucked out to sea, and drown without too much trouble. Chances are slim that a major catastrophe or a flying coconut will hammer you on the head, yet give it time and it will. Call it act of nature or act of God, regardless of your faith or lack of it, whether your chances are good or your chances are bad, chances are. A little awareness goes a long way. And you were thinking, what in the name of Elvis could there be to downing a couple of coco milks, grabbing yourself a board, a bottle of sunscreen, and heading for the beach? Break out a flip flop? Step on a pop-top? We’ve all worn that t-shirt. A little local knowledge and a good dose of uncommonly good sense goes a long way. If you don’t have any, this book is your bible. So, should you go back to your hotel pool and enjoy the beach chair, before it’s too late? Alas, here one can even meet their demise from pure laziness alone, a blissful disease locally referred to as Tropo. A ship that never leaves the harbor is not a ship. Here in Hawaii, not only does one need to survive the surf and two million insects per visitor, we need to survive culturally as well. It wouldn’t hurt us to learn a low-key thing or two about something called Aloha, or better yet, Hawaiian Style. Perhaps we will assimilate qualities possessed by the best of easygoing island folk, such as: patience, courtesy, modesty, and a bit of respect. Here in Hawaii, you will reap what you sew. Nearly every island adventure sport, at least those that do not involve mufflers and carburetors, is covered in this book, along with tips for both the novice and advanced adventurer. Detailed descriptions, maps and illustrations, even a section on adventure photography, will guide you towards the right equipment you will need, surf spots for your ability, as well as hiking trails, dive and snorkel spots, and other valuable local knowledge. With a few pointers and heads up taken to heart, you might even turn into one akamai (smart) adventurer, find yourself more attentive and prepared to offset the unexpected that will ruin your day, and inherit some basic non-idiotic behavioral maneuvers in the process that will keep you in the lineup. There is also a handy section at the end comprised of local first aid knowledge; some of it obtained from actual doctors, most of it coming from trial by fire and a jury of jellyfish. Unfortunately, even if you do take advice from the first few chapters, you may have to refer to it often. As a Kama’aina (someone who has lived over half their life in the islands), a professional cinematographer, photographer and water cameraman, as well as an all around fish headed windsurfing, surfing, diving, biking and hiking enthusiast, I’ve been fortunate to enjoy many of the fruits Hawaii’s nature has to offer. Sure, I arrived as dumb as a coconut, been threatened and chewed on by everything tropical that flies, crawls or swims. Loads of research has gone into this book. So that you don’t have to, I wiped out aboard every craft that rides the surf, runs, bikes and flies down volcanoes, have been bitten by most everything that flies or crawls, even managed to swim out of a lucky plunge into the surf in a helicopter. Drowning, lying unconscious beneath the waves from a board spearing my skull, nearly bursting my gills in the grips of Neptune’s garden too many times to count, lying unconscious with my bike on the crater at midnight on the side of the road after hitting a cow, I am overly fortunate to be dubbed by the indigenous, Haole Still Kicking. I’m guessing by reading this book, you might be somewhat like me, with a streak of red dirt, salt and adventure running through your blood, so if you take a few lessons from my school of sailing onto hard rocks, you will Still Be Kicking Too. Heads up, watch for flying coconuts, and enjoy your read. Hawaiiya Papaya! CHAPTER ONE: WEATHER AND WARNINGS SEASONS There are two sides to every story, and in Hawaii, two completely different surf scenarios. In the Wintertime, huge swells travel thousands of miles from Alaska, unheeded by more than a Humpback Whale, so that by the time they reach Hawaii’s North Shores, they pack a full head of steam. The less distance/time the waves power is eroded by traveling over shallow waters, add on some more wallop. The more shallow and directly hit a reef gets as it faces that open ocean, is where you get your Hawaiian punch. Oahu and Kauai have the best North Swell spots, with some fewer epic days on Maui. In the Summertime, swells come from smaller storms, farther away, and travel often over shallower water. It doesn’t take an oceanographer to figure out that the areas hit by these swells are on the South side of the islands. Generally, Oahu, Lanai, and Kauai have the best South Swell surf. Much of Maui gets blocked by Lanai and Molokai, except for on a true direct South. Mostly you get Southeast swells. We don’t talk about surfing on Molokai. There is none. The West and East sides of islands get some swells their way, but fewer and far between. Often a huge North swell will wrap around to West/East, but less often will a South wrap. The other reason that Winter is the most popular season for surfing in Hawaii is that the tradewinds die down or blow in an offshore direction. Strong Kona Winds, blowing in the Winter from the South, really make for some epic looking surf, but most surfers have trouble getting down the wave. Great for bodysurfing and boogieboarding though. So when does it rain? On the northeastern windward shores, you can expect showers at night lasting into the morning year round, while the leeward shores remain bone dry for all but the winter months. Kauai gets the most rainfall, leeward Lanai the least. www.hawaiiweathertoday.com BIG SURF Ever since Hawaii Five O aired, and perhaps long before that, people have congregated near shorelines to stare at epic surf. (It’s always been a mystery as to where this wave was actually filmed. Some say it is Ala Moana Bowl, others claim it to be Waimea). Wherever the big waves may be, their force is stronger than one might ever imagine. Drowning is one of the worst ways to go, top ten on most people’s list - just below getting chomped by a shark. Our planet is made up 3/4 of water. Your body is made up of 98% water. By poor design, humans were not by made to breathe it. Even so, the ocean calls upon every brave soul, ready or not. Here are a few precautions you can take: • Get in surf shape, and if you’re not, know your limits. Everybody has them. • Check for high surf advisories. Buoys hundreds of miles out to sea have sensors that alert the islands when big surf is on its way. A good practice is to check the local weather channel or surf report each day before you head to the beach. • Watch for strong rip currents. Most surf rescues are made for those who have been sucked out to sea by a rip current, and tried to fight against it. • Buddy up, and keep an eye on your buddy. • Look before you leap. In other words, before you just jump right into the ocean, take some time to stretch and observe. How big are the sets? Ask around. Which way is the rip going? Where’s the channel? Is the channel closing out? Are there any sea monsters... • Check your gear over to make sure it’s intact. Once you have taken these precautions, and the precautions have failed, then you have two options. A) You can relax and hold your breath. B) You can struggle and panic. A is the proper choice. www.prh.noaa.gov/hnl/pages/watchwarn.php (for the latest high surf warnings) HI WINDS Wind is a blessing to kiteboarders and windsurfers, a curse to surfers, divers, and kayakers. Kauai is the last windy island, Maui the most. On any given day on Maui’s Maui’s southwest shores, you might think you are in a hurricane. A sunny day on Maui has winds 10 to 30 miles an hour stronger than Kauai due to the Venturi Effect (increase in winds squeezing between a valley or channel – on Maui, it’s both). These mountains can not only cause winds to increase, but to cease altogether as well. The wind shadow can be limited to a five mile stretch of coast, more or less depending on how big the mountain is doing the blocking. These can be the areas divers and surfers head for in the afternoon, when the winds pick up. Hawaii’s spring, fall, and summer tradewinds are very consistent, and are caused by large high pressure areas to the north, combined with low pressure areas to the south, vacuuming the air right through the islands. This is why Hawaii, and Maui in particular, is a mecca for wind sports. In the Winter, these highs either sit over the islands or are replaced by a low pressure gradient, killing the wind for good surfing. RIP CURRENTS Generally, you can see the rip current by it’s tell tale sign, which looks like ripples in a river, small little waves generated by mass movements of current. The larger the waves, the swifter will be the current. Toss a stick in and see how quickly it drifts out to sea. That could be you my hibiscus shorted friend. The trick here, as many people know but ignore in grips of terror, is to swim sideways to the shore. My trick to beating a rip is to relax. I just go with the flow. Sometimes, even with a board to paddle or fins on, I know I’m not going to beat it. Once the rip has its grip, let it suck you out through the channel to a point where you are behind the waves breaking furthest from shore. Swim to the rear of the waves until you get to the middle of the break called the peak; where the waves first begin to break. Here comes the fun part: As the wave approaches, swim under, relax, and let the brunt of the wave crest over you. Ascend between the spiraling boils of water just after the brunt of the wave passes. You will still be in the wave’s current, which will be pushing you directly back to shore. When between waves, keep swimming towards shore and calmly repeat this ducking action every time a wave crashes over you. Within a minutes time, you will be close to land, at which point you should be able to swim to shore without getting sucked back out again, which still may happen. If it does, remember, the more you struggle, the more you panic, that ocean’s going to win. And don’t be afraid to swallow your pride and ask a nearby surfer if there is one to give you a hand. It’s better than swallowing a sea of saltwater. In Hawaii, near shore, you will never see what is called a “rogue” wave – they are seen far out to sea, just before they perfect storm your boat in two. People often refer to a rogue wave meaning just two waves doubled up in size, but these types of waves occur on big surf days when there is already something big to double up on. Often, the weather service will warn of this type of rogue wave, and supersize the advisory. What one really has to be on their toes for is a “sneaker” wave, one that wraps around the island on a day that the waves are breaking at great heights on other shores. In other words, if you are on the West shore, things may seem very calm, even though on the North shore, waves are reaching 40 feet and higher. Once in a while though, a wave will sneak around the corner, and there you are walking along the beach with your sweetheart when, whamm! Once lover, now floatation device. LIFEGUARD OFF DUTY Most beaches in Hawaii do not post a lifeguard. If you are in a situation where you encounter another person drowning, the best thing to do is get something that floats to them, something other than your body, like a boogie board. Even Aquadude or Aquabetty should not underestimate the strength of a panic-stricken person in the water. A careful approach can prevent injury and drowning to any rescuer. Take a lifesaving class to learn more, but know this; a drowning victim will not dip their head underwater and follow you deeper. When a drowning victim tries to grab you, swim down deep and away. Being a water photographer, I’ve been in many situations where I was the default lifeguard. I had the good fortune to rescue a lot of people who have gone down in the surf. Among these, a world champion windsurfing model who freaked when she got knocked off her board in ten foot surf, a drowning kid who was way over their head in Makena shore break, and a 300 pound Cornhusker who got sucked out into the Pailolo Channel on a boogie board. Having fins on sure helps, but whenever I can, I try to enlist another person to help with a boogie board, surfboard, or anything that floats. Once I have calmed the person and let them know that we were going too get through this if they follow my lead, I then basically repeat the steps necessary to get them back in through the surf, starting at the peak of the break. No sense in both of us struggling through the rip, however, talking someone who is completely freaked out that you are going to swim them over there towards the peak of the waves and dive under does not always go well. Worst comes to worse, you can drag them under and rescue them again after they have rolled inside to safety. So back to my Cornhusker. I’m out there bodysurfing at Flemings, I see a 300 pound Cornhusker float by heading out to sea, what’s a guy to do? It turns out he was of not the sharpest tool in the shed, and when I tried to talked to him, he just made funny gurgling noises and smiled a lot. I knew I couldn’t handle him alone, so I went back in, grabbed another boogieboarder, and we managed to swim him in. When we got him back to shore, his family looked sorely disappointed. Seems I foiled there plans to ship Uncle Louie out to sea. DROWNINGS According to the Hawaii State Board of Health Statistics, there were 306 victims of drowning in the state over a 5-year period. Nearly half (139) occurred on the island of Oahu. That’s probably because nearly half of the people who live in Hawaii are on Oahu. More than 80% (250) of the victims were males. Most of the women drowned in their bathtubs or private swimming pools. This proves that women are smarter in the ocean, more relaxed in the tub, or men don’t bathe as much. Not surprisingly, other than soaping, swimming was the most common activity associated with drowning (18% of all incidents). Thirty six of the victims were fishing at the time of drowning, including at least 9 of whom were fishing from the shore and were swept out to sea, as were another 9 victims whom were gathering opihi from the rocks. Other common activities were scuba diving (23 victims), snorkeling (20) and surfing or boogie boarding (17). Only one was due to windsurfing. Forty-one percent of the drowning victims were not residents of Hawaii, aka, dumb Haoles. The majority (80%) of victims drowned while snorkeling. Some dumb tips for beachcombers: Don’t dive into unknown water or into shallow breaking waves. If you are walking into the water where there is a beach break and see a wave coming at you of ample proportions, do not turn your back and run! The best thing you can do is to face the music and dive under the wave. As the wave passes, pop back up to the surface and if you feel you are out of your league, wash on up to shore and fight your way to dry land. Always keep your eye on the next wave. In one day at Makena, eight backs were broken by people running from the wave with their backs to the wave. Children with ADP, attentive disorder parents, are the most susceptible to drowning. If you need to be told to supervise young children while they are in, on, or near the water, you should hire a personal lifeguard. Drownings and near-drownings of children occur during very short lapses in supervision. Don’t let older siblings or Barney watch your children while you go to the beach bar. Do not rely on water wings, man of flubber toys or other floatation devices to protect a child. Take a CPR course. Keep a cell phone charged and handy. When there’s an emergency - don’t stall, don’t call Baywatch, call a real lifeguard or 911! Children are not waterproof. TSUNAMI tc quot;
TSUNAMI quot;
 Of all the catastrophic elements in the tropics, the Tsunami ranks highest among Hawaii’s fear factors. This image of a massive wall of whitewater charging towards us as we stand with our toes plastered in sand, heart pounding, shorts filling - reminds us of how fragile our existence. With little warning, there is no place to run or hide. Within seconds, caught in the palm of God’s hand, we are crushed and flushed like a bug. MYTH: Hawaii’s Tsunami’s come in the form of huge jaws- like, life engulfing waves. FACT: Rarely would you witness such a Hollywood epic. Hawaii’s Tsunamis occur when an earthquake in Japan, or an undersea tectonic plate movement, send a huge body of water Island bound. If you were lucky enough to be close to the shores of civilization at this time, you would hear a siren that lasts for more than a minute. This, my funny gecko shirted friends is a Tsunami warning - not a call to break out the long board. Head your Hummer for higher ground. These Tsunamis generally consist of a series of waves, often referred Once in a blue moon, a huge wave will form, like those paintings you see, an abrupt front of whitewater, a high rise gobbling monster. Most often, the Tsunami comes in the form of a massive tidal movement. First, the tide goes way out, stranding fish in their tracks, luring clueless people into walking out onto the dry reefs with shopping carts to collect flopping fish. Then the tide rises quite rapidly and the water comes rolling inland like a flood heading uphill. As the Tsunami recedes, anything not planted twenty feet into the ground is going out to sea in a roiling boiling mass of panic and devastation. Turbulent backwash may form standing waves of destruction, as swirling currents make swimming even in a Hummer2 difficult at best. All hell breaks loose, and yes, the sushi collector, the Cosco shopping carts, rafts of toilet paper and all your luau plans go out to sea. The Tsunami wave train. The amount of time between successive waves, known as the wave period, is only a few minutes, though in some instances waves are over an hour apart. The distance between each successive wave crest is much larger than that of a normal wave, and may be hundreds of miles apart. Depending on the depth of the water in which the tsunami is traveling, it may attain speeds of up to 500 miles an hour in the deeps, yet you could be scuba diving, or in the ocean on a boat, and never even notice the Tsunami passing by. Of course, the Tsunami will slow significantly before it ever reaches shore, but unlike a hurricane, there is little time to pack your lunch, yet plenty of time to eat it. Fortunately, they now have sensors in the ocean to improve the chance you will not be caught dead by a fifty-foot wave while sipping on your Mai Tai beachside. Supposing the sensors are working, supposing you are not in a remote area, and supposing you are not deaf; when you hear an air raid siren, saddle up the Palomino and gallop Upcountry. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has issued more than 20 warnings since it was first established in 1948. 25% of these resulted in significant Pacific-wide tsunamis. Even though all significant Pacific-wide tsunami events have been detected since 1948, 61 people perished when they failed to heed the warning. Many people have lost their lives after returning home in between the waves of a tsunami, thinking that the waves had stopped coming. Remembering back a few paragraphs if you will or can, the distance and time between waves is huge. Once a warning has been issued you should evacuate immediately. So what is the worst island to be on during a tsunami? History has it, the Big Island. There have been several significant tsunamis resulting from the Big Islands close proximity to local earthquakes or submarine landslides. The most recent and devastating of these tsunamis occurred in the early morning hours on November 29, 1975. Within little over an hour, two earthquakes jolted the island. The first, located three miles inland of Kamoamoa village in Volcanoes National Park, registered 5.7. The second, centered two miles offshore of the Wahaula heiau (also in the park area) was much more violent having a Richter magnitude later to be determined as 7.2. The result of this earthquake was a 10-foot erosion of the shoreline and the second most destructive local tsunami ever to be recorded in Hawaii. Campers in the remote Volcanoes National Park coast at Halape were awakened by the violent shaking of the first quake, unknowing that a second and more severe quake would follow in just over an hour later. Some of them had barely gotten back to sleep when the second quake shook so violently that standing was nearly impossible. Within 30 seconds, the first of five tsunami waves struck Halape. Nineteen were injured. Two campers did not survive. Boats are safer from tsunami damage while in the deep ocean rather than moored in a harbor. Even scuba divers diving just off the coast of Phuket were unaware of the Tsunami that killed thousands just onshore. However, U.S. Coast Guard guidelines suggest watercraft deployment far out to sea where water depths are at least 1,200 feet (200 fathoms). However, don’t attempt to get underway if it is too close to the first wave arrival time. Anticipate slowdowns caused by traffic gridlock and hundreds of other boaters heading out to sea. Back in 1970, the entire town of Kahului, Maui, flooded, and took out huge points of land such as the picnic area at Hookipa (North Shore). The destruction was so paramount they had to rebuild much of Kahului. Now they’ve put in giant sea walls in the form of K Mart, Wall Mart and Costco to shore things up (which effectively became the superstore tsunami that wiped out a lot of small businesses in Hawaii). MYTH: When you hear a conch shell blown three times, a Tsunami is coming. FACT: Actually, that would mean the Luau is starting shortly, or hot doughnuts at Krispy Kreme. For more on Tsunamis, go to: tsunami.org/ lumahai.soest.hawaii.edu/tsunami.html HURRICANES Since 1950, when they started keeping records and calling these bouts of high wind, hurricanes, at least seven storms of hurricane force have caused serious damage to the Islands. This could keep you on your toes. Though these storms are tracked and you would think with modern technology at hand, there would be plenty of time to hop on a plane and dodge the bullet. Hurricane season runs parallel in Hawaii to the Caribbean’s. From August to late October, you can pretty much brace yourself for at least a good scare or two. When a hurricane is approaching, even the best weather folk can be steered wrong by a storm’s track. The whammies of life are just not meant to be so predictable. ”Alfredo is heading safely out to sea, and will lose strength within the next six hours, downgrading to a tropical storm by midnight...wait...Alfredo has redirected and strengthened to 120 mph and is heading straight for us!” Little Pig Little Pig! Houses fly when we least expect it, and are often worst prepared for it. The common thought, even after New Orleans, even after Iniki, tends to be, “That would never happen to me, not on my watch. It’ll be a little storm, blow some sand around maybe. I planned this trip all year, paid good money. Just think how good the surf’s going to be.” How quickly us’ns forgets. Here are a few of the more common catastrophes acquainted with our 50th State, along with a few tips on how to prepare to at least wiggle out of harm’s way. tc quot;
HURRICANESquot;
 • 1957 Hurricane Nina blew record winds in Honolulu on the day I was born. • 1959 Hurricane Dot blew the doors off Kauai. • 1982 Hurricane Iwa romped through Kauai and Oahu, leaving extensive damage. • 1986 Hurricane Estelle produced shore-gouging surf on Hawaii and Maui with flooding on Oahu. • 1993 Hurricane Fernanda produces high winds and happy surfing. • 1994 Hurricane Emilia had the lowest central pressure of any storm ever in the Pacific. • 2002 Hurricane Huko just misses the islands. Perhaps since this book’s release, a few more have been unleashed. Certainly the Big Island gets more than their share of shoreline damage from the destructive surf generated by a major storm surges. Yet, one of the amazing things about Hawaii’s weather is that the same mountains that make one island windier than the others on normal tradewind days, actually act as a redirecting buffer against a hurricane’s path. The Big Island has the tallest volcanoes in Hawaii, and Mauna Loa is, from the ocean floor up, the tallest mountain on earth. Maui has 10,023 foot Haleakala standing guard. On the North Shore of Maui, during one of Hawaii’s most terrifying hurricanes, Iniki, not even a chicken feather flew. During most hurricanes, Mauians can be found surfing and windsurfing the South Shore having the time of their lives. (Mauians should be more concerned more concerned about Tsunami’s than hurricanes). Lanai, Oahu…now there are some nice low lying islands. To this date, modern Waikiki has escaped Huff and Puff’s wrath. Waikiki was built on a swamp, so if it ever does hit there, expect the face of Hawaii to change forever. Kauai homeowners, and hotel owners to a larger extent, shake in their sandals when they hear the Big Bad Wolf knocking. While Emilia was the strongest to pass through our part of the Pacific, the most direct hit came from the piercing winds of Hurricane Iniki. On September 11, 1992, Hurricane Iniki was the most devastating of all God’s 9/11 wake up calls for the people of Oahu, and much worse, to all who chose to weather the storm on Kauai. Billions of dollars in damage was done. Houses, hotels and tourism were devastated. By luck or miracle, only a handful of those who rode the storm out perished. (On the sunny side, it was a really good day for carpenters and the construction industry). But just in case you have defied the laws of stupidity, and decided to buy property on Maui or upcountry Hawaii, observe that this topographical theory does not always ring true - tall mountains and tradewinds do knock the breath out of, or at least redirect even the strongest hurricanes, but there is always exception to the rule. On a surf trip to Puerto Vallarta in Mexico, I asked my taxi cab driver if he had experienced any hurricanes. He said, “Yes, many in the North where I grew up in Chihuahua, because the land there was flat. My house, it was leveled many times, as were the Chihuahuas. But here in Puerto Vallarta, we have the mountains, so there is nothing to be worried about, no danger at all.” The very next week, Puerto Vallarta experienced the worst hurricane in their recorded history. For more on all Hawaii storms and their history go to: prh.noaa.gov/cphc/pages/hurrclimate.php soest.hawaii.edu/MET/Faculty/businger/poster/hurricane/ hawaii.com/visit/weather/ SUNBURN AND SKIN CANCERtc quot;
SUNBURN AND SKIN CANCERquot;
 Very simply, sunburn and UV light can and will damage your skin, and this damage can lead to skin cancer. There are of course other determining factors, including your heredity and the environment you live in. However, both the total amount of sun received over the years, and overexposure resulting in sunburn can cause skin cancer. • Minimize your exposure to the sun at midday and between the hours of 10:00AM and 3:00PM. • Apply sunscreen with at least a SPF-30 or higher, to all areas of the body which are exposed to the sun. • Reapply sunscreen every two hours, even on cloudy days. Reapply after swimming or perspiring. • Wear clothing that covers your body and shades your face. (Hats that provide shade for both the face and back of the neck.) • Avoid exposure to UV radiation from sunlamps or tanning parlors. • Protect your children. Keep them from excessive sun exposure when the sun is strongest, and apply sunscreen liberally and frequently to children 6 months of age and older. Do not use sunscreen on children under 6 months of age. Parents with children under 6 months of age should severely limit their children’s sun exposure. Baby beach is not good for babies. Hereditytc quot;
Heredityquot;
 If there is a history of skin cancer in your family, you are probably at a higher risk. People with fair skin, with a northern European heritage appear to be most susceptible. Most people receive 80% of their lifetime exposure to the sun by 18 years of age. The message to parents from this is, whether you have a history of skin cancer or not, protect your children by applying spf 30 or greater sunscreen before they go outside. Environmenttc quot;
Environmentquot;
 The level of UV light today is higher than it was 50 or 100 years ago. This is due to a reduction of ozone in the earth’s atmosphere (the Ozone Hole). Ozone serves as a filter to screen out and reduce the amount of UV light that we are exposed to. With less atmospheric ozone, a higher level of UV light reaches the earth’s surface. Other influencing factors include elevation, latitude, and cloud cover. Ultra Violet light is stronger as elevation increases. The thinner atmosphere at higher altitudes cannot filter UV as effectively as it can at sea level. The rays of the sun are also strongest near the equator, as you might guess. But even in Antarctica, Chile, and New Zealand, the UV level is much higher than normal especially in the springtime due to the ozone hole in the southern hemisphere. Cloud cover can burn you more than a sunny day. Who is at risk? tc quot;
Who is at risk? quot;
 Although anyone can get skin cancer, some people are at particular risk. Risk factors include: * Light skin color, hair color, eye color. * Family history of skin cancer. * Personal history of skin cancer. * Chronic exposure to the sun. * History of sunburns early in life. * Certain types and a large number of moles. * Freckles, which indicate sun sensitivity and sun damage. SUN DAMAGEtc quot;
TYPES OF SKIN CANCERquot;
 Everyone gets a little sunburned when they come to Hawaii. Rays reflecting off of water are a sure fire recipe for at least a good bacon fry. Depending on the fairness of your skin, once in awhile this can be harmless, but on a continued basis, deadly. Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. More than 1 million new cases of skin cancer will be diagnosed this year. The three major types of skin cancer are basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma. Although basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas can be cured if detected and treated early, these cancers can cause considerable damage and disfigurement. Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, causing more than 75% of all skin cancer deaths. The average age at which melanoma strikes has been dropping dramatically. Ten years ago it was considered unusual to find skin cancer in anyone under 40. Matt Schweitzer, son of windsurfing inventor Hoyle Schweitzer and ten time windsurfing national champion, suffered career ending skin cancer before the age of 30. This year, fully one-fourth of all melanomas will involve people in their 20s and 30s. Tragically, children are the most susceptible, but the problem may not show up for years. If caught early, malignant melanoma is virtually 100 percent curable. The sunburn they receive this week may take 20 years or more, but chances are it will sooner or later become some form of skin cancer. Sunscreens dramatically reduce the chance of skin problems. Although most experts agree screens with an SPF of 15 sufficiently protect most skin, recent studies show that higher SPF numbers offer additional protection, especially in the first few hours of exposure. Be sure your sunscreen guards against UVB and UVA radiation. Sunscreens are maximally effective if smeared on when skin is warm, and allowed to soak in for about a half-hour before extreme exposure, then reapply every hour. If you’re someone with a very susceptible skin-type, consider completely blocking UV radiation with an opaque substance such as zinc oxide, and wear protective clothing. Some medications, combined with sunshine, decrease the time it takes for UV light to damage skin: tetracyclines, antihistamines, sulfa drugs, diuretics, and some oral contraceptives. Consult your physician or pharmacist. UV light damages eyes as well as skin. The conjunctiva can swell from UV exposure, sun-induced cataracts can form from repeated exposure, and direct UV will burn the retina. Wear sunglasses that absorb or reflect UV light. My first year in Hawaii, I spent day after day surfing the North Shore. On one extremely reflective day, I thought I went blind. My vision clouded over so much I had to be driven home by a friend, and I could not see clearly for three days. Upon visiting an eye doctor, I found out I had a thing called Terridgeums. They look like tobacco stains on your eye. The doctor’s recommendation was to scrape them off my eyeballs, a risky operation where you have to keep your eyes open the whole time. And I thought going to the dentist was bad. CHAPTER TWO: ADVENTURE SPORTS SPORTS ON THE WATER There are a lot of adventure sports enjoyed in many spots of the world, but it is the epic conditions of Hawaii’s ocean playground that attracts most people to either visit or become a perma-vacationer. Before I get into details on each adventure; whether it be a surf sport, wind sport, paddle or dive sport - here are a few topics of interest to all water sports enthusiasts.tc quot;
THE CHAPTER SURVIVAL AT PLAYquot;
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 SURFINGtc quot;
SURFINGquot;
 Surfing in Hawaii is like college football in Idaho. Rather than a restricted playing field with all sorts of rules and regulations, surfing is a sport performed on a liquid landscape of warm colors and fluid motion. You don’t have to get tubed or ride the perfect wave to bust out of your skin with ecstasy. Simply standing up on your first wave is one of the purest forms of adrenalin rush on Earth’s greater portion. When landlubbers ask why we waste so much of our time on the water we reply, “Why else would God have made our planet 75% water, if we were not to spend 75% of our time on it?” Yes, surfing is the sport of Kings, not to be confused with the King of Beers (beer cans get dents - surfboards get dings). It’s only water, right? Though surf is a liquid, the beautiful molecules of water, when ganged up can deliver a solid Hawaiian punch. Maybe you’ve been playing rugby all your life, are some level of Kung foo fighter, even a champion of the Daytona surf club. To get through this coconut cowabunga experience with all pieces intact, you will need straw hats full of local surfing knowledge. Most surfers who come to Hawaii have a few healthy doses of respect in their head, if not fears. Fear of monster waves, fear of razor sharp reefs, fear of big sharks, going broke, and last but not least, mean locals. My what the Hollywood industry has done to our psyche. Virtually everyone who enters the surf is going to take a pounding and come out with at least a bad case of reef rash, but that’s all par for the course. There is nothing more jolly than a great session of sunburned, skin chafed, shin knotted, head whacking SURF! If you, rookie, get up on a wave before getting mowed over, avoid hitting the reef, do not get the snot knocked out of you, and make it back to shore in one piece, you’re not trying hard enough. Paddle back out there and get some more. The common types of surfing injuries are self-inflicted - usually cuts and gashes. Not by sharks (though you should keep an eye out for those as well), but those sharp skegs on the underside, and the reef further below. An errant kick of the fin will take a huge chunk out of your foot as well as your leisure time. Sand the edges down to round them off. A slight loss in performance is better than a month out of the water for injury. Just ask one of the most famous surfers in the world, Gerry Lopez, who engaged a fin in the okole region. During periods of low tide, the reef can poke right up out of the water while you are riding the wave. If this happens, you will want to stay high on the wall of the wave angling down the face. Diving head first into a coral head will at best give you a gnarly face rash that will hard to explain to your partner back home, at worst break your neck. Few people actually die from surfing, a lot fewer than one would expect with the dangers of drowning, hitting the reef, and getting run over by fellow padre. Everybody nearly drowns or gets a sharp nose to the noggin more than they would like to admit. The highest area of casualty is at Pipeline, where the gnarly wave spits out onto a shallow reef. The biggest danger is from other surfers. Some spots in Hawaii are more packed than The Black Hole at a Raiders game. If you are learning, search out some of the less popular breaks, and if you’re awesome Dude or Betty, at least exercise good surf etiquette. This is not saying that you have to fear the locals, but if you don’t respect them, it could spell trouble. Even if you’re the hottest surfer from Santa Cruz, don’t go for it on Bruddah’s wave. When you’re done, don’t yell out to your buds, “Dude, was I ripping or what!” You may get the what’s for. There is no better way to gain respect for your self in the islands than to be patient, modest and respectful. There is no quicker way to an early exit than to be an arrogant, barging (dropping in on someone else’s wave), disrespectful surfer. So head out there to a spot that is not above your ability, give the locals their waves, then when one lines up just right for you and nobody else is on it, give it your all. That would typically be the last wave of the set, when all the good surfers are inside smiling from their ride. Fear and timidity will get you nowhere. You have to have that “go for it” attitude or you will go nowhere at all. The best surfers are going to be the closest ones to the peak, but by sitting on the shoulder you will only get a nibble of a ride if any at all. Try somewhere in-between the two, or surf at a break where the point is shifting and less defined. Head for a less crowded break, and remember, the early bird gets the worm. Those new to the sport can take a lesson from a bevy of surf instructors. Asking the guys at the surf shop is your best bet, or just look for a beach shack or van loaded up with sponge planks. If you go for the trial by fire plan and rent/buy a board at any local surf shop, don’t go for one of the cool short boards you see all the groms carrying around; get a long board you can really learn the ropes on. To avoid confrontations and make your surfing experience a memorable one for the right reasons, pick a surf spot with lots of kindred spirits. There are breaks on every island that are notorious beginner grounds. For example, on Maui, there is a place called Thousand Peaks. Affably, it is also called Grandpas and Thousand Geeks, but don’t let that bother your ego, it’s a fun place to ride. If you’re gun shy, get a 10 footer and paddle with fellow Kooks to outer reefs and other places where the surf is not prized for its speed and barrels. On Oahu, Waikiki is a good place to learn. Besides having too small of a board, the most common technique mistake beginners to intermediates make is to be in the wrong spot at the wrong time; too far in front or more typically too far behind the peak and too far down the line – away from the power of the peak. If you’re not in the power pocket, you’re going to biff, and too far in front, bonk. As well, beginners tend to lie too far back on their boards and spend too much time in the prone position before they stand up. You have to go straight from prone to standing as you drop down the wave, no kneeboarding in-between. Here are a few basic rules to follow: • Do not get between your board and the beach! If the board’s coming at your head, duck under! • Wear a leash. Make sure it’s got a quick release in case you get the leash wrapped around the reef and it won’t let you surface. • Hang onto your board. When caught inside, always swim out through the channel or away from the peak. If a surfer’s coming at you, angle your board a bit away from the direction he is traveling and keep paddling out. Don’t jump off your board and freak. The board could go over the falls and hit another surfer. Also the board can recoil from your leash and whack you as well. • When you are paddling out, find a channel to get out through the waves so you are not getting in the path of those riding them. • Stay out of Harm’s way. Harm could be the name of a scrapping Aussie. A good way to avoid confrontation is to know who has the right of way. The wave belongs to the rider closest to the peak, regardless of who has it first. Of course, territorial rules do sometimes apply, and you’ll pretty much know you’re out of line when you hear the agro words, “Get lost, Kook!” It’s entirely up to you whether you pay any mind. EQUIPMENT Surf Shorts: Not too loud or girly, even if you’re a girl. Pull them up if you’re a boy. Rash Guard or Wetsuit Vest: To protect from nipple rash and man boob chafe. Sex Wax: Even if you can’t get any. Wax Comb: For your board, not your bikini. Leash: Make sure it has a quick release, like a DaKine, for when your leash gets wrapped around a coral head or someone else’s neck. BOARDS Shortboard: For the rippers. Comes in many designs: Swallowtail, Squashtail, Roundtail, Rounded pin Generally, the wider tails like the swallowtail and squashtail are for smaller waves. 6-7 feet long. Modern designs to handle larger waves have pulled in noses. Gun: For big wave riders Narrow pintail 7-10 feet long. Footstraps optional. Mini-Tanker: For small to medium mushburger waves, or for novice surfers who find waves harder to catch but want a looser ride than a longboard. Rounded pintail (or Spoon), wide in nose and tail. 7-8 feet long. Performance Longboard: Small to medium waves. 8.5-10 feet long, wide but thin. Newer technology sandwich boards produced by SurfTech are much lighter, thinner, yet floatier. Come in many shaper models, Robert August and the Wingnut models being a favorite. Tanker: Small to medium waves. 9-10 feet long. Often carved of wood or made with foam and heavy duty fiberglass. Most durable and glideworthy. Tandem: Small to medium waves. 12-14 feet long. Two ride for the price of one. The next platform for a John Heder/Will Farrell movie? Stand-Up Paddleboard: Small to medium waves. 10-12 feet long, extra thick and wide so you can stand up and float without motion. Stand up paddleboarding is a form of surfing in renaissance, with quite a following by even the best of surfers. Using the paddle to catch the wave and lean into the turn, it has become an art form that brings new life to the sport. Tow surfing utilizes Jet Ski’s to pull the surfer into larger waves than they could paddle into. A miff to surfing purists, it has tamed waves impossible to ride otherwise, using footstraps to keep the rider on board. Unless you own or have a friend with a Jet Ski, you will not be participating. www.surfnewsnetwork.com www.holoholo.org/surfnews/ hisurfadvisory.com www.surflessonshawaii.com/ www.hawaiisurfnews.com/ (big island) www.surfing-waves.com/travel/hawaii.htm WINDSURFINGtc quot;
WINDSURFINGquot;
 There is no better spot in the world that has more consistent conditions for windsurfing. Beaches with sideshore winds, warm waters and a wide choice of wave heights make Hawaii a hotbed for this sport. Windsurfing is a powerful adrenalin rush, mixed with an intense communion with colors and nature. You are already riding the wave long before it breaks, eliminating the most difficult part of surfing. Though in few places crowded, you do not sit in a lineup and hustle for waves. Outside of plowing into somebody at 30 nauts, one of the greatest dangers of windsurfing comes from hitting the reef. After a few times of soaring into the air on a mast high jump, then landing your feet in coral, you will perfect the “pancake landing’’, which essentially means you fall as horizontal to the water as possible. This can sometimes result in a backslap or belly flop, so be advised to wear at least a wetsuit vest, and wait for medium to high tide until you get it down. Unless you are an expert, stay away from Oahu’s North Shore, Diamond Head, Maui’s Hookipa or Jaws. There are plenty more places like Kailua (Oahu), Kanaha and Kihei (Maui), to have fun without wasting your board or body on the rocks. Absolute beginners should schedule a lesson. This sport is way too difficult to learn without at least a few pointers. Schools also have the right equipment for your learning experience. Launching your board into the water can be the most difficult part of your day, so go somewhere there is little shorebreak. This would not be Hookipa. The shorebreak there can slam you onto the sand, rip your sail and break your mast. You almost make it out through the channel, till this one wave pops up and you go flying into the air, knocked out of your footstraps. Any other dangers you should know about? A lot of people tweak their ankles from ill adjusted footstraps. Then there’s that occasional collision (know the right of way, the same as in sailing), the jousting of the mast tumbling in the surf, boom in the teeth as the lip pitches, upside down head on board after doing a perfect double (don’t ask Francisco Goya about that one, he won’t remember), shark bite, broken appendages, swallowing water by force, burst eardrum.... all in all, still safer than most land sports, and a lot more fun. For the amount of pleasure derived from this sport, the equipment is well worth the price. Certainly, it can break your wallet if you go out in dangerous conditions and break a 300-dollar mast every week and rip your 600-dollar sail. A new board, which always goes on the rocks first day out, will run you 1200-2000. Add in a boom, universal, harness, etc., and you find yourself swinging a light purse. But you can also find a lot of bargains at the second wind shops, as well as rental gear. If you are a windsurfer new to the islands, there are just a few things you need to remember. • Starboard tack, heading out, still has right of way. • Stay away from any peak with five or more surfers on it. • Look before you jibe. •The person to catch a wave closest to the peak has right of way. • Watch for spear fishermen and stay out of no windsurfing zones. When you fall, hang onto your mast about 3/4 ways up and sink it before the wave hits you. Hand on and ride it out to the inside of the break or a break in the waves if you’re a quick study at waterstarting. To become a quick study at waterstarting, tilt the mast forward, sheet in and hope for the best. (The following quill is by Fred Haywood, first human to break 30 nauts on a windsurfer, big wave rider and Maui real estate magnate) “ I remember that Monday morning well. Arnaud de Rosnay stopped me in the middle of the highway at9 am to tell me that the biggest waves of the year were coming in today and that he had a helicopter scheduled for12: 30that afternoon. He asked that I be present and I mentioned that I would be there at3: 30 pm.“ “I explained that since I had sailed the previous 5 days at Hookipa the biggest wave would come in on the tide change which would happen at4: 30 pm. He rolled his eyes and told me I would miss the photo session. I told him that I did not care but that I intended to ride only one wave and it would be near4:30pm.” (Arnaud was not only a very prominent photographer, but a great adventurer himself. After having made many successful long distance windsurfing voyages, Arnaud was lost in heavy seas attempting to cross from China to Taiwan). “I arrived at the beach at 3 pm and rigged a 5.9 sail on a 16 foot mast as I watched Mike Eskimo, Craig Masonville, and Malta Simmer on the waves. The wind diminished by the time I attempted to sail out, which took about 40 minutes. My heart pounded as I scaled the huge white waters coming at me. I finally connected with an opening between set waves and inched my way out while free falling several stories off the back of huge set waves approaching.” “ I sailed back and forth for nearly 45 minutes waiting for the horizon to blacken. Finally, I could see a huge set feathering with one wave in the background standing up like a skyscraper over the others. The light wind had now turned more offshore so I had to reach across the wave to get down the face. I tried to outrun it by sailing into the flat in front of the wave and noticed that the back of the wave in front of me was now blocking my wind. I was out of wind so I feathered my sail looking for wind while I backed back up the wave behind me. I was really scared now, as I didn’t know whether this wave was going to crush me. The wave landed on my tail block and exploded like a bomb causing me to release my booms to my fingertips while all the whitewater hid me for several seconds. Surprisingly, I collected myself, squeezed my booms, and reconnected with the wind and sailed back out of the whitewater and straight to the beach. One wave and one big smile.” Fred Haywood (Love Life. Live Maui) www.fredhaywood.com iwindsurf.com http://www.maui.net/~mauiwind/MWR/mwr.html http://windcam.com/ http://www.places-to-go-things-to-do.com/windsurfing/windsurfing-hawaii.htm BOOGIE BOARDINGtc quot;
BOOGIE BOARDINGquot;
 Almost everyone who comes to Hawaii and gets their feet wet gets a boogie board, which qualifies you to wear a Surf T-Shirt. It’s a great way to hop into the waves and have a little fun, while learning the dynamics of how and how not to ride them. Boogie boarding has its advantages over surfing in that you don’t have to be super coordinated to stand up, you have less distance to fall, get tubed easier, and you pay less for mistakes. In boogie boarding, there are usually no skegs or sharp noses to deal with, and as long as you hang onto your board, there is also a sponge between you and the reef. It’s a great way to initiate your way into the surf, and even grown adults have been known to ride them, so don’t take offense to being called a SpongeBob, or SpongeBetty. Going over the falls can still be an awakening experience. Losing your board, plowing into the sand and/or slamming the reef head on, a sleeper. The best way to avoid getting a sponge injury is again, to head for a beach that is a bit tamer than most, with a sandy bottom and no surfers. Look for waves that are not breaking head over heels. The worst places for a beginner boogie boarder or bodysurfer is a place like Makena Beach on Maui, Sandy Beach on Oahu, or Brenecke’s on Kauai. These are also the best places to boogie board, but when the surf is high, typically in the summertime for these south swell beaches, the waves are for experts only. To boogie board, you will also need to be a good swimmer. So the trick to boogie boarding is to turn slightly toward the wave as it is approaching to determine where the peak of the wave is going to break, then paddle and kick like mad towards that peak. Next, determine by the angle of the wave to the beach, which way the wave is going to break. Figuring out whether you are too far in or too far out will come with experience. Too far out, you won’t catch the wave. Too far in, and you’re toast. Position yourself forward on the board if you want to have a chance at sliding down the wave. Once you catch the wave by paddling your brains out, rather than ride the wave straight towards the beach, you want to angle in a direction that the wave is breaking, scooch back a hair, and pull up hard enough on the down-wave rail to stay on the wave Typically, you will need surf fins, the short rubber fellows required to catch a wave in deeper water, but in shallow water less than chest high, you can get away without them and just jump into the wave. Some of the best waves are micro barrels breaking right up onto the beach, and fins will only impede your ability to ride the wave. Get a good board, not a cheapo. Wax it and have your dog scratch it up so you will stick to it better. Boards with stiffer bottoms for performance on larger waves cost about two hundred bucks. The place where you don’t want to scrimp is with the fins. You don’t want to use scuba fins. Get a good pair of short, soft rubber Churchills, Duck or Tech fins. You really need to slow yourself in order to get tubed. As the wave curls over your head, spread your legs or a hand for drag, and pull the rail up hard into the wave. As the wave closes out, pull even harder on the rail and duck right into the wall of the wave so you don’t go over the falls. It takes a while to figure this out, going over the falls and slamming your shoulders into the sand time and again, but once you get it down, you can handle larger more critical waves. http://www.alternative-hawaii.com/activity/osrsw.htm BODYSURFINGtc quot;
BODYSURFINGquot;
 Few sports immerse you more into the elements than bodysurfing. Using your own body as a surfing projectile, you swim hard down the face of the wave, stretch your arm out and glide like a pelican. If done right, it’s delphinic. If done wrong, it will end with a primitive plow into the sand and a wishboned collarbone. Wave positioning in bodysurfing is as crucial as the other surfing venues, the only difference being that you need to be in towards the shore a bit more than surfers, waiting till the wave is in pitching mode. You also need to claw straight towards the bottom to initiate the ride before angling in the right direction (or the left). Reach the arm closest to the wave out and angle your torso as if you were going to almost do the sidestroke, guiding your way with the arch of your back. To end the ride, you can simply curl your body back into the wave and become as hydro dynamically dysfunctional as possible. Bodysurfing is almost the cheapest sport for the most amount of thrill there is. A good pair of fins costs about 60 bucks, and if you want to take the sport to the next level, a handboard can run from 50 bucks for a plastic model or 200 plus for a crafted one. Barney Trubble Of the countless waves I’ve bodysurfed, my favorite day bodysurfing was on Christmas Day at Hookipa in eight foot barrels on an offshore Kona wind with “Tube” Johnson and Fred Haywood. These guys have bodysurfed Pipeline, Waimea, big Makena and everywhere in-between. On this epic day, we rode giant winter barrels too windy for surfers to stand up on for what seemed like an endless summer. But the day that unfortunately sticks out in my mind the most was on a three-foot day at Little Beach with this English chap named Niles. Niles used to come over to my place every night telling me he was the best windsurfer from the UK and if I just took his photo in the water he’d make me famous and rich beyond my dreams. I kept telling him if anyone was going to make me famous, it was the likes of Robby Naish and Mark Angulo, not a kook like him, so why would I want to waste the film? The English are neither easily insulted nor give up. Good old Niles, for the next few months, he hung close to me like lepo on caca. On a day the wind died, he followed me over to Makena, the Big Beach side, but the waves were deadly, which means over on Little Beach they’re perfect. I guess the word was out, for it was a very crowded day. Some had suits on, some did not. It must have been national hot dog derby day. I’m standing there, with a knee length suit on by the way, Niles in his Speedo, and did I mention that Little Dong Beach was also a great place to go snorkeling? Makena has the bluest water anywhere outside of Fiji or Tahiti or some other make believe island. You can see Turtles, moorish idols, angelfish, morey eels, dolphins, and all kinds of colorful critters, and if you look close enough, many underwater snorkels as well. So here’s this bald guy snorkeling in the surf, one snorkel above and one below. It’s sand soup, you can’t see the surf, but there he is anyway. Face down, as snorkelers will, with his legs spread open just wide enough so that when Niles catches his wave, puts his head down, closes his eyes and surges forward, well, you get the picture. Now there was one shot of Niles brown nosing that I regretted not having taken. KITEBOARDING tc quot;
KITEBOARDING quot;
 When people first started windsurfing, passer-bys would look to the sky and say, “What is that, a bird, plane, Superman?” Now, when someone sees a kiteboarder , it’s more like seeing Batman. What was once considered a sky high jump in windsurfing is a mundane altitude for this sport. The boards are smaller, lighter, similar to wakeboards, and those that know how to use them can really carve and fly. It’s truly the next level. Kiteboarding does resemble fly-fishing for sharks though. Human flies up, human dips in the water. Flies up, dips in the water. Sort of like a tea bag full of meat. Here Buddy, here Chum. But that’s the least of your worries. More people have been hurt or killed in kiteboarding’s infancy than the advent of flight. At first it was like base jumping with termite wings. Of course, you’re going to do it anyway, because it’s really cool. And it is. It’s also really dangerous to learn on your own. You absolutely have to take a lesson, and pay your tea bagging dues. Not that kind of tea bagging. It’s pointless giving any tips, because you absolutely have to go through a series of lessons to learn this sport. The curve is as steep as the heights attained. Recommended is a progression of first learning how to sail, then how to windsurf, so that you completely understand the wind before you attempt this sport. Learn how to fly a stunt kite before you get in the water with one as well. • Don’t get in the way of other kites or kiteboarders. • Watch out for windsurfers and especially spear fishermen. • Always wear a safety leash on your kite. • Check the wind report. Kiteboarding is a good sport for medium winds. Typical tradewind days on Maui are too windy for all but experts. Get out early in the morning before they pick up, or utilize the winter months. Many areas are off limits to kiters due to a few runaway kites that ended up on the runway. Kailua on Oahu is an excellent place to kiteboard due to its moderate winds and long sandy beaches. The board will run you around 500 bucks, but you will need to buy several kites. They range from 600 to 1000+ bucks. Some people own six or seven. Comparatively, the lines are cheap. Most importantly and most expensive, you need full coverage health insurance. Of the many gruesome kiter stories: George the Jungling into Kiawe trees, landing on jetties, breaking limbs and losing fingers. Greg Putnam, nice fellow he is, took it upon himself to catch another guys loose kite. The kite wrapped around his ankle, and picked him upside down 20 feet in the air. He had the survival skills to grab the line with his hands and unwrap. The line took all the skin off his hands, cut through his ankle to the bone, and made a nice tattoo. http://www.kiteboardingholidays.com/united_states/hawaii.php http://www.hawaiikiteboardingassociation.org/ tc quot;
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 KAYAKINGtc quot;
KAYAKINGquot;
 One of the best ways to see Hawaii is by Kayak. You can pull up along a reef for the morning and go snorkeling, up onto a beach and camp privately for a night, or head off on week long journeys along places like the Napali Coast. Most kayaks you rent in Hawaii are for tourists, and you just kind of fall off and get back on them. If you are using a sea kayak or hollow river type kayak, you will need to know the Eskimo roll. Hawaii is a great place to learn this as opposed to Alaska. The main dangers in kayaking are not knowing your ability and being oblivious to the ocean’s conditions. If you are a beginning kayaker, planning a trip without a guide around cliff regions, high surf, heavy currents, or high winds can end up being a trip to Tahiti. Here are some bad conditions: • High Cliff Areas: Some of the most spectacular scenery to go kayaking for is also the most dangerous due to heavy currents. Make sure where you are going has plenty of beach exits with little or no beach break. If you get tired, you can just pull up on the beach. • High Surf: Stay inside of reefs and don’t venture out to any place you see waves or people surfing unless you are in a surf kayak and know what the heck you’re doing. If you don’t, you will endanger not only yourself but also the surfers in the water. You can also get separated from your kayak and then have a long swim. If you do get separated from your kayak, follow the rules for getting swept in with the waves and not taken out by the rip current. If you get to your kayak quick enough, it should be waiting for you just inside of the waves. If you are slow, and you get to the inside (in front of the waves) and can’t see it, it may have been taken out by the rip and be sailing through the channel towards deep water. In this case, ask a surfer to spot it for you, and only if you are a very strong swimmer, make your way with the rip to follow it back out, where it should be waiting for you just outside of the surf, behind the waves. • Heavy Currents: The strongest currents are not only associated with high surf, but with channel areas as well. Channels are the bodies of water that run between the islands. Most notorious is the Pailolo Channel, between Maui and Molokai. Some of the channel currents run in excess of five nauts so if you get caught up in one and don’t notice, you will quickly lose sight of your origination point. If you can’t paddle faster than the current for a long period of time, and are not sure what a current looks like, go on a guided tour with a professional who will take you to slacker waters. One can rightly wonder if instruction is necessary for something that seems so simple. After all, all you do is dip the paddle in the water and pull, right? Well, sort of. But remember that you will perform this motion once every second, 60 times in a minute, 3,600 times in an hour and up to 36,000 times in a long day. There are advantages to doing it in the most effective and efficient way. A whole chapter could be written about the stroke. It’s important to not only move your arms, but to rotate your torso at the shoulders and at the base of your spine and hips where your power is located. This involves more of the muscles of the abdomen, hips and legs. You also want to keep from moving so much that your kayak bobs or yaws as these extra motions reduce the efficiency of the hull. The touring stroke requires a different technique than the power stroke, and before you head off on some long and perilous journey, you should have really solid technique. If you are afraid of being on the ocean alone, you can rent a tandem kayak, and if you are really into paddling, find a ride on an outrigger canoe. A good Kayak costs between 700 and 3 grand. Paddles don’t always come with them. You will need a PFD, flares, and all the accessories that go with, like a Life is Good hat. http://www.kayakkauai.com/ http://www.top-10-hawaii.com/14087.htm http://www.aloha.com/~twogood/ http://www.playmaui.com/mauiecotours.html SAILINGtc quot;
SAILINGquot;
 From exciting to romantic, sailing in Hawaiian waters can be the stuff dreams are made of. Whether it’s zipping along while hanging from the trapeze of a catamaran, or sipping mai-tais on a cattle cruiser at sunset, this is the life. Sailing in Hawaiian waters can be the stuff nightmares are made of as well. It amazes me that you see so few sailboats on Hawaiian waters. Of the 50 States, Hawaii ranks 51st in boating activity. Why? The wind in Hawaii can come up in very short notice. Heavy winds, whitecaps, and the thought of breaking down and drifting to oblivion keeps most people off the water. During the summer months, the wind is fairly predictable. SE light winds in the morning increase to NE 20-30 nauts in the afternoon - more than most sailors can handle. Some islands are more prone to Venturi effects that can add to this wind speed. Maui and its channels are the windiest of all the islands. Kauai is the least windy. During the Winter, the wind is typically lighter, sometimes completely calm. However if a Southerly “Kona” wind kicks up or a front approaches from the North, the wind can reach upwards of 60 mph. Following the weather and checking in with the surf and wind report is a must for sailing between October and May. Weatherman Glenn James, wwww.mauiweathertoday.com is a valuable resource. A popular bumper sticker reads, “Eddie Would Go,” referring to the big wave Waimea Bay surfing legend Eddie Aikau. Eddie died leaving an ancient Hawaiian voyaging ship in a valiant effort to save the others, trying to make it to shore on his surfboard. That was one time Eddie might not have gone. Those that stayed with the boat lived to sail another day, but hey, it could have worked out differently and Eddie is hands down the icon of bravado in the islands. If your boat breaks down, stay with the ship and carry flares so that when you see a ship, you can make your mayday known. If you don’t know how to right a Hobie Cat, or get one out of irons, rent a catamaran with an instructor. Don’t be surprised if a sailing test is mandatory to rent a boat, as a lot of people talk crap about their sailing knowledge. Loose lips sink ships. Just because you can sail a dinghy in Cape Cod doesn’t mean you can sail a catamaran in Hawaii. The technique needed for sailing a Hobie Cat or other catamaran is how to get out of irons. You can spend your entire afternoon or rental time stuck “in irons”. You will head into the wind, and stop, and at best swing back the same direction you don’t want to be heading, which may be into lava rocks. The trick in light winds is to back the sail by pushing it with your hands against the wind. If there is a good sea running, you won’t need to even do this, as the boat will be going backwards automatically. The next trick is to reverse the rudder. Remember, you are going backwards, so this should make sense. Wait until the boat swings all the way over to a beam reach, and then quickly pull the rudder towards you and sheet in the sail, jib first. You should be on your way again. Jibing is simpler but more dangerous. Boom. Flip. The trick to righting a catamaran is to first stand on the hull and pull on the righting line so the boat does not turn turtle (upside down). It is doubtful you will have a righting pole. Next, have your crew get the mast perpendicular to the wind, so that the wind will scoop under the sails and empty the water out of them, helping you to right it. Make sure none of the lines are cleated, or you will spill back over the other way. Now, get two people on the line and hang out till it rights, and hang onto the rail to pull yourself up and get control of the boat. You will now be in irons. Owning a boat is really expensive these days, a hole unto which one pours money. Renting one is not cheap either, but considering all the activities one sends their money up in smoke on in Hawaii, it’s well worth a go. I owned a Hobie 16 and kept it on the beach at Kiawekapu. Being a very experienced sailor, I used to take it out in some pretty horrendous winds. One day, the wind was scorching, so I took a third person on board and we headed out past Molokini. We were flying along when I heard a loud crack. The entire downwind hull had snapped in half! Instinctively, I jibed the boat, thinking that if I could quickly get the bad hull flying in the air and the good hull in the water, we’d make it back to shore. Unfortunately, the bad hull had snapped behind the shroud plate, the shroud being the wire that holds the mast up, the mast henceforth crashing down onto the deck. Hmm...a dilemma. My crew had a look of frightened concern written on their faces. Fortunately, I had taped a set of flares to the hull, and as soon as I sighted a fishing boat, fired one off. Within minutes, we were rescued and towed back in. I dug an old hull out of the sand dune and was back on the water the next day. http://www.maui-hawaii-activities.com/activity-providers-hobie-cat.htm OUTRIGGER CANOE tc quot;
JET SKIING quot;
 Perhaps even outdating the sport of surfing, and certainly high on the cultural sport list is paddling. If you don’t paddle, you aren’t Hawaiian. If you’re not Hawaiian and you are paddling, at least you’re in the same boat. Some of the cultural centers and hotels offer the tourist paddling experience. To really get involved in the sport, you will need to get involved with a local club, or paddling hui. They offer levels of paddling from novice harbor paddles to advanced racing from Molokai to Oahu. The more exciting craft to board are the outrigger sailing canoes. From the smaller craft to the ocean voyaging Polynesian boats, these craft require a sharp set of seafaring skills. FREE DIVING tc quot;
FREE DIVING quot;
 Other than swallowing your snorkel, the numero uno rule for scuba diving and snorkeling in Hawaii is don’t dive alone. Whether it’s tank diving or free diving, bring a buddy along. That way you can at least narrow your chances 50/50 right away of meeting Gipeto. More importantly, if anything goes wrong, your friend may be able to get timely help should a disaster occur. One of the greatest big wave riders to ever hail from California was Jay Moriarty. He rode waves like “Mavericks” and mastered behemoths of water. But one day in the tropics he decided to take a dive alone, and other than the fact that he drowned, nobody knows what happened. Had someone been around, at least there would have been a chance of resuscitation. Great ways to avoid lying in Neptune’s Garden: • Use a dive flag. It’s a floating flag that alerts boaters that a diver may be surfacing in the area. • Watch for currents carrying you away from the beach or your dive boat. • Wear a liberal coating of waterproof sunscreen, with zinc, on your back and the backs of your legs. The thin film of water over you acts as a magnifier and because the water keeps your skin cool, you may not realize your skin is burning until it is too late. People who are especially sun-sensitive should wear a thin wetsuit or lycra covering. With a wetsuit or nylon rash guard, you will be warm and stay in the water longer, as well as float with ease. You may also avoid some reef scrapes and even a jelly fish sting or two. Clear your snorkel by saying the word “two” two times. Keep the hair out of your mask and your mask clean and fog free by spitting in it or using a small drop of liquid soap or pay five bucks for the same thing in a bottle at the dive shop. Don’t strap your mask on too tight or too loose, just right. Free diving and scuba diving both require you to equalize your eardrums. Equalize before the pressure from diving down gets intense. Don’t attempt to go any deeper once you feel pressure on your eardrums before equalizing. The best way to do this is to shut your mouth, pinch your nose and blow internally until you feel a release of pressure in your ears. If you can’t do it, you may have waited too long, so ascend a few feet and try again. Those with colds and sinus problems may be relegated to the surface view. Not to worry, you won’t be alone. At Molokini, not even ten percent of snorkadorkelers attempt to dive below the surface, much less get their hair wet. • Dive in the early morning before the wind comes up. • Look for red flags on the beach, which mean high surf and dangerous currents. • Check the surf report and head for the spots on opposite side of the side of the island from where the surf is hitting. • Remove your bling bling, and your hearing aids if wearing them. Take the cell phone out of your pocket. • Don’t step on the reef. It kills the organisms that make up the reefs, mucks up the water for everyone else, and could result in an urchin poke or morey eel bite. • Do not even touch the coral. The tiny jelly-like polyps that live inside the hard calcium casing are fragile. One swipe of the hand can kill hundreds of them. • Swim gently and avoid kicking up a lot of sand when near a reef. Many popular shallow reefs have been decimated by treading humans. The sediment can eventually smother the coral and block vital sunlight. • Do not feed or touch the animals. Even a gentle caress can disturb the mucous coating that helps protects fish from diseases. If fed by humans, after a while they become dependent on handouts and lose the ability to forage. Also, they lose their natural wariness, which makes them easy prey for poachers. The equipment you buy will be pretty much correlate with your comfort and experience in the water. Get a silicone mask with a dry purge snorkel from a dive shop, not at a discount store. If your mask fits well and has a good coat of spit or defog solution, you will spend more time looking through it than adjusting it. Your snorkel needs to fit in your mouth perfectly, or you will be slurping water and dealing with gum sores. No more sipping on pineapple drinks for the rest of the week. If your fins fit, facilitated by the wearing of neoprene booties, you will spend the rest of your vacation or upcoming workweek blister free. You can rent all this stuff from most any dive shop or Snorkel Bob’s. The only other expense you will have if you don’t shore dive is a ride out to an offshore reef on a boat. This could run you 40-80 bucks. Though you may see many Sea Turtles in spots, they are an endangered species. Don’t ride the sea turtles. It’s a 500 dollar fine, and the turtle’s don’t get the money. If you see someone riding a turtle, plant your finger in the top of their snorkel and tell them you are a Sea Sheriff and if they want to live to see another day they ought not do that. Also, do not dive naked amongst sea turtles. At famed nudie central, Little Beach Makena, a guy had his dangling participle mistaken for turtle food. pacificwhale.org besthawaiisnorkeling.com snorkelbob.com SCUBA DIVINGtc quot;
SCUBA DIVINGquot;
 Placing a scuba tank on your back gives you a ticket to living in a weightless wonder world, where you become one with the fish. In such clear water, it’s easy to forget that you are a human. Many of the same common human sense applications of amphibious thought processes that apply to snorkeling apply to scuba diving. The dangers of scuba diving reach deeper. Most divers who meet the Titanic dive alone or get separated from their partners in search of giant octopi, the little mermaid, sunken treasure, or perhaps just a chance to relive an episode of Sea Hunt. Think of your dive partner as a second chance at life, a reserve supply of air, and never separate under any condition. If your partner ends his supply of air before you, and you want to stay down, find another partner and make sure they are aware that you are depending on them for air supply should yours expire. Tiny Bubbles “Blow bubbles!” you must always remind yourself before and during every dive. If you can just remember this, you can probably wiggle your way safely out of most messes. In advanced dive training, we would have to hand our tanks over to the dive instructor and float 80 feet to the surface as slowly as possible, all the while blowing bubbles. Should you take your regulator out of your mouth, ascend from that depth and not blow bubbles, you will blow your lungs out, chum. Da Bends Very few people die from diving in Hawaii’s open ocean. Those that do are caught in currents and are diving by themselves. Others have died from heart attacks. Only a few have died from what is commonly known in the dive world as “the bends.” One gets the bends by staying under too deep for too long and then ascending too quickly. Few vacation divers ever go below thirty feet, which is where most of the light and fish are. A telltale sign of the bends, or DCS (Decompression Syndrome), is aching joints and headache. Of utmost importance, never fly in a plane within 24 hours of a dive, another way to get the bends. A headache while diving could be a sign of the bends, but only if you have been deep diving for a long period of time and exceeded the dive tables (a formulated table that states how deep, how long, etc.). There is a good chance you are going to get a headache anyway from the pressures of diving, especially if you drank too much the night before. Diving is kind of like driving, so go for the virgin drinks the night before a dive. Narc In The House One of the most common causes of diver mishap is Nitrogen Narcosis, also known as “Rapture of the Deep”. Yet, this old-fashioned name for nitrogen narcosis is misleading. Narcosis doesn’t always feel rapturous. As well, you don’t have to dive very deep to get it as most people think. You can get “the rap” at 33 feet, though it is more prevalent at depths greater than 100 feet. Nitrogen narcosis is an impairment of your mental processes that occurs when diving, a form of being underwater stinkin’ drunk so to speak. It can take the form of elation and nirvana, but it can also manifest itself as extreme anxiety and depression. Frequently, your emotional state - whatever it is - will be heightened. If you’re diving in warm clear water and happy about it, you’re likely to become euphoric. But if it’s cold and dark down there and you’re not happy about it, you’re more likely to become paranoid. It’s pretty much just like any narcotic, or Narcosis. What’s important to remember is that Nitrogen Narcosis impairs your mental judgment, your ability to recognize danger and avoid it. Under its influence you can become so lost in the beauty of the dive that you forget to check your instruments and lose track of time, winding up too deep with too little air. Stories are also told of narc’d out divers who have abandoned their regulators, thinking they could breathe like a fish. Your partner, though a guy with a beard and beer belly, may take on the form of Daryl Hannah. On the other hand, in cold, dark water and say, a small reef shark swims by; you may think it is something out of Jaws III . Baradontaglia Baradontaglia during diving may be due to tiny pockets of air within your dental work. During descent, the air pocket becomes a “relative vacuum,” creating pain. Pain during ascent means that air has filtered into the space, and pressure is building up. Sometimes this pressure can actually make a crown break or fall off. The pain can occur under crowns, caps, veneers, fillings, or root canals. Active infection at the roots of a tooth can also be affected by pressure changes. If you get tooth pain while diving (or flying), tap on your teeth with a finger until you identify the “problem tooth.” Then see your dentist. The best way to improve your diving is to just relax. Take longer, deeper, slower breaths to maximize your down time. The inflation and deflation of your buoyancy compensation vest is another key to energy efficiency. The more you have to struggle to stay down or get down, the more air you are going to burn. You will also avoid a lot of underwater goggle stink eye by staying off the reef and not kick up sand, which makes the visibility poor for others. Snuba Doo On the other end of the scale for shallow dives is a fairly recent development, especially first time divers. Snuba offers a tank free yet airline connected to raft, non-certified way to breathe underwater. It seems fairly safe and you are guided by an instructor. Nitrox Diving There is a new mixture of air that goes in the tank that many divers are switching to. It’s called Nitrox. Why would you want to use Nitrox? The main benefit derived from using Nitrox is you double the available bottom time on most dives compared to that of a normal air dive. So your previous twenty-minute dive to 100ft. now jumps to forty minutes, and for the diver who doesn’t get to dive but once or twice a year the benefit is more than worthwhile. Nitrox most certainly is the wave of the future, and with its acceptance by the worlds largest recreational dive association, PADI, its continued growth is assured. You have to take a course to become a Nitrox diver and become Nitrox certified, if you are just a recreational diver who gets enough with a normal dive time, you don’t need it, but if you are a true grit diver, you must have it. Here are the benefits of Nitrox: 1. Longer dive times. 2. Reduced nitrogen narcosis due to the lower percentage of nitrogen in your breathing mix. 3. Reduced decompression penalty due to the lower level of nitrogen absorbed during the dive. 4. Shorter surface intervals and longer subsequent dives due to the lower residual nitrogen level following a dive. The following claims are also made touting Nitrox but have been disputed: 6. The reduced level of nitrogen in your system has also been claimed to reduce the feeling of lethargy or tiredness following a dive. Personally, I haven’t noticed any difference, however, on a recent dive trip a friend insisted that he felt much more alert after dives on Nitrox - just before he dropped off to sleep on the way home. 7. A lower gas consumption due to the higher percentage of oxygen in the mix. 8. The effects of a barotrauma may be reduced. This is supposition based on improved circulation due to high blood oxygenation and lower nitrogen level implying fewer nitrogen bubbles. This sounds plausible but I don’t know of any research evidence to support this claim. A final note: Pushing the oxygen toxicity limits of Nitrox is as risky as pushing the oxygen toxicity limits of air - you will probably croak. Diving equipment can run from 2 up to 5 grand to completely outfit yourself. Dive boats are about 80 bucks a ride. The air is not free. Instruction however, is much cheaper than it used to be. When I learned how to dive at age 12, the course took eight weeks to complete with several dive tests. In Hawaii, you can get certified in a day for a fraction of what it cost, okay, my parents. One of the most surreal dives you can make in Hawaii is off the coast of Lanai at a large underwater cave called Cathedrals. Cave diving, however, can be and is the most dangerous form of diving. Currents can pose the worst problems for divers in the ocean. For one, the current coming through the holes in the caves can push so strongly you can get jammed into a hole. You can also get lost, and this is one jungle with no escape. http://www.mauiscuba.com/ http://www.aloha.net/~kaimanu/ http://www.blue-oceans.com/scuba/big-island/ CANOE TRADITIONAL SAILING CANOES, HILO Step aboard a traditional Hawaiian double-hulled sailing canoe. Kiko Johnson-Kitazawa and his father build canoes according to the ways of their ancestors. Head out to sea on a full-moon night and listen to Kiko’s stories as you glide across Hilo Bay, or if you prefer, sail by day up the lazy Wailoa River. On the Kohala Coast, paddle a traditional Hawaiian canoe off the Orchid Resort. FISHINGtc quot;
FISHINGquot;
 Sport Fishing and/or Shore Fishing are to some the greatest things on the planet. It appeals to their caveman or woman instincts somehow, and in the end, there is fish for dinner. Short of getting seasick, catching a hook in your eye, or your beer spilling, chances are that not a lot can go wrong on your deep sea fishing trip in search of the big one. Then again, you could be in for that Perfect Storm or Three hour Tour. Odd things happen on fishing trips. Guys, make sure Ginger’s aboard. Girls, kick her over the side. Here are a few of the disasters that have occurred in Hawaiian waters, oh, and one lonely vote for Mary Anne: • A Japanese Sportfisher was skewered through the temple by a breaching billfish. • A submarine surfaced like a breeching whale and broke a boat in half, killing all aboard. • Breeching whales have also broken boats in half, even when they were not fishing. Practice getting up really early in the morning, and popping beer caps. Don’t forget to bring along something for motion sickness. Look before casting, and try not to cross your line up with another. Sort of like in the movie, one Captain was trying to help one of his rum loving customers uncross a line, when the boat backed over the line, the hook sunk in his finger, and overboard he went right into the propeller, slicing and dicing his hand. A fishing trip costs typically about 650 a day for up to six people. From the shore, the cost of a rod and reel, and bait, unless you are a local, there is free Haole for bait. QUILLS: I was fortunate to have filmed a PBS special titled “Ancient Hawaiian Fishing”. We traveled to a forbidden part of the Big Island where you have to be majority Hawaiian to cast your hook into the sea. You can see worn holes in the rock from centuries of crushing eel for bait. After pummeling the poor eel, they hang the bait from a wooden pole over a barely submerged rock, where the Ulua who likes things the hard way is supposed to leap out of the water and chomp the eel and carefully insert the hook in his or her own mouth. When we arrived, they had just landed a big one. My suggestion was to dip it back in and get a Hollywood shot just in case another did not bite. “We catch plenty,” were the Hawaiians famous last words. To my surprise, there were lots of rules to this game. You could not lie down for the fish would think you were lazy. You could not speak about the fish, or even look at the bait, which was a hard chore for someone trying to focus on it with a camera. The day went by without another fish. That night, I witnessed real “ohana,” which basically means family. They caught Eel together, taught me to throw net, and as a solid line of bodies, chased the small fish into a bigger net. I tried to eat all the ono grinds they served on my plate, which was everything under the poi moon, while the family watched eagerly the reaction wrought on my face. Some foods of course, like the taro leaf used for wrapping, nobody ever ate, but they had fun watching me try. Days went by and still no fish. They switched to the rodeo style of lassoing the bait on a rope towards the fish; nothing worked. Not even a cowfish was wrangled. We hiked seven miles to a new spot. Go fish. A return trip yielded the same results. We had captured the lifestyle, the interviews, and the essence of ancient Hawaiian fishing. Everything but the fish. Of course, each time we boarded the plane back to Maui, the fish struck with a fury. Rule number one: Don’t bring Haole’s to sacred Hawaiian fishing grounds. http://www.kuuloakai.com/ PARAGLIDINGtc quot;
PARAGLIDINGquot;
 The magnificence of the islands attracts the most phenomenal hangliding and paragliding pilots, taking advantage of the cliffs and lifts that the steep mountain ranges and big volcanoes provide. Paragliding, being far safer than hangliding, has taken over the skies. The best pilots know the weather and terrain like few others, which is the number one factor for safe flying. “Top guns” offer taking people tandem off Haleakala Crater, the highest descent in the world. A certified Ultralight Instructor, can also take you paragliding in a motorized paraglider over the calm skies of Hana. Hangliding, outside of a late night in Waikiki, is the most dangerous sport in Hawaii. This is due to the quick changes in weather, extreme winds, and dire need of local knowledge. Perhaps it is my personal fear factor due to the fact that I lost a very good friend in the pursuit of this sport. Paragliding, though far safer than hangliding, still has its inherent risks, the ground being harder than the water. The most common downfall in Hawaiian skies is a spiraling down currents that plummets pilots into the turf. Always fly with someone who knows the weather, knows where he or she are going, and know CPR. Some of the best pilots are also the best instructors; so even if you know how to fly, get with one to clue yourself into local knowledge. For those who really want to fly while they are in Hawaii, I would suggest contacting a local flight training school like Proflyght Hawaii. Scott is national paragliding champion, or Steve, I can’t remember which (they’re twins) and both are superb with their knowledge and safety of the sport. I flew tandem with Scott and felt like I was in really good hands. His demonstration of flying skills is phenomenal. http://www.maui.net/~gliding/ http://www.gravityhawaii.com/ FLASH FLOODS What is a “flash” flood? A flash flood is any flood where you have less than a six hour warning. It may be as sunny as a Golden Retriever where you are, but up on top of the mountain, a downpour can cause a flash flood quicker than hell in a hand basket. Granted, it is usually raining everywhere when the most treacherous floods occur, but keep your ears and eyes open at all times when crossing a stream, particularly in the Winter and Spring. Every year, deaths or injuries occur as a result of people getting swept away, with the most frequent victims being the keikis (children). Kauai and Maui are both notorious for flash floods, with their tropical rainforests and heavy downpours on the windward slopes of these islands. At times of heavy rain on steep slopes, warnings could be as short as, “Hey Pharaoh, look behind you.” Perhaps the biggest cause of flood-related deaths and injuries is a common lack of understanding as to the severity and danger involved in flash floods. You would not believe how many people are killed while trying to drive or walk on roads and bridges that are covered by water. Even though the water might look only inches deep, it could be much deeper with very strong currents. It only takes a foot of swiftly moving water to sweep a soul off their feet. Trucks, four-wheel drives, and sports utility vehicles are also susceptible to being swept away by high water. Such vehicles often give motorists a false sense of security, believing the vehicles are safe under any conditions. (Large tires add to the vehicle’s buoyancy, causing it to lose traction that much sooner.) Unless you have a Hummer, even though vehicles in front of you have passed through the high water, you may not be as lucky. If your car stalls mid-stream, roll down your windows and abandon ship only if you can safely reach shore. Many deaths have resulted from attempts to move stalled vehicles. The two most dangerous hiking trails for flash flooding are the hike up to the waterfalls at the Oheo Gulch (Seven Sacred Pools) on Maui, and the Napali Coast Trail on Kauai. People are often swept right off the trail by a deluge of water, or down streams and over massive falls while trying to cross flooded rivers. High winds and heavy rain daily occur in some parts of the islands. Trees fall right in front of you, in not on top, pulling down entire power lines, sparks flying everywhere. If a power line lands on your car, you should stay in the car and wait for help. soest.hawaii.edu/MET/Faculty/businger/poster/flashflood/ mothernature-hawaii.com/text_only/kauai/flood_kauai.htm ROCK AND A HARD PLACEtc quot;
ROCK AND A HARD PLACEquot;
 I’m not sure how many people on average get taken out by falling rocks a year. The most devastating rockslide of the century occurred at Sacred Falls on May 9, 1999, killing eight people and injuring 50 others. To date, the park has been closed and is under a litany of State lawsuits. It seems the signs posted at the beginning of the trail were not enough to warn people. Perhaps the rocks should have been painted orange. The volcanic rocks in Hawaii are so loose in their foundations, it’s a wonder that any parks are left open at all. Just look at the road going from Kahului to Lahaina, and you will see the major expense the county had to go through to protect cars from falling rocks. They had to fence off the entire cliff from Maalaaea to Olowalu, a stretc

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