surfing and other aquatic adventures

We are surrounded, encased, hemmed in....by water.  In reality- every piece of land is, it's just more obvious on an island.  With that change however, comes the change in culture to one that is very integrated with the same water that surrounds us.  Driving down the road, about 1 in 5 cars has some sort of water faring equipment on them.  My favorite has become the obvious work trucks/vans loaded with ladders, paint, extension cords, and of course- their surfboard.  And when you see the crystal blue water here- it's no wonder people can't wait to jump in!
First for surfing, or attempts to at least =).  I've been out a couple times so far, neither very successful if you are picturing me standing up cruising along on a wave!  However, I am getting more comfortable on the board in terms of balance and paddling.  Unfortunately, my old shoulder injury is a little limiting in terms of paddling, and I wonder if this is part of why catching waves is so difficult.  But I'll keep trying for now!  Of course- there is an all surfing channel here, so inspiration is never far...

The cool thing about Kailua is that it's located on the 'windward' side of the island- so the town and beach parks are full of other water sports as well!  From stand-up paddling to wind surfing to kayaking - you can find some water sport that fits your interest and skill level.  I haven't been out on a SUP since leaving Annapolis, but plan to invest in a board soon - great sport if you haven't tried it!  I have been out kayaking several times though.  Our lake offers nice smooth water to paddle around on, or you can paddle up the canal to the beach and head out on the surf.  I had never been ocean kayaking before- but it's pretty fun!  Jill and I kayaked out to a small island a couple weeks ago.  The waves are certainly more challenging to paddle against, but you can sort of surf them on the way back in too. 

Kayaking with Amy L

On a different kayaking adventure, my friend Amy from LA (featured in the first post) came down to Oahu for a visit.  We ended up kayaking after dark which was a cool variation- it's amazing how quiet the lake is after the sun sets.  There are a ton of fish in our lake, and the intermittent fish jumps out of the water and splashes around.  However, when a fish jumps out of the water and into your kayak after dark, it's a little harder to see!!  The poor fish bounced off the side of the kayak and then essentially into me- at which point I'm trying somehow flip him back into the water without also flipping myself into the water.  All I can see is flashes of silver and of course you can't grab those slippery scales very well!  Eventually (probably about 10 seconds in real time), I got him back in the water without flipping my kayak.  Then Amy and I laughed for a solid 10 minutes on how random that was.  I could only think of the Sesame Street skit where Bert and Ernie are out fishing, and Ernie's solution was to call the fish into the boat ("Here fishy!").  Featured here if you never saw that one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFTjeaDlxDI
I also recently saw this extreme fishing video with a similar theme, although slightly more dangerous: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGWiaqGjQaU

In other water adventures- I got my first Hawaiian jellyfish stings- luckily not as bad as I expected.  Leslie (my new roommate) and I decided to swim out to a small island from the beach park.  About 3/4 of the way there, a slight stinging sensation between my fingers made me pause.  Attached was a long blue tentacle to a very small little jelly, apparently a Portuguese man of war.  Although his tentacle was super sticky, we got it detached and decided to head back in to shore.  Where there's one jelly, there's probably more.  I had always pictured the man of war jellies as these huge things, which they can grow to significant size.  Luckily, this guy was about the size of a quarter, although his tentacles were already about a foot long.  Easy to see how people get stung very badly even when the top part of the jelly is so far away.



Portuguese Man of War

So those are the aquatic adventures for now.  I wonder if the people who get so called 'island fever' perhaps don't embrace the water as part of life here, but maybe more as the boundary of their land life- making them feel trapped.  Hopefully, this syndrome won't take hold on me, or at least not for a while to come.  Next up- wind surfing!