Black Hole Sun

For Father's Day Sue gave me a GoPro surf camera for my quiver. I put an FCS plug in the nose of my old buckled 9'2 for the test run. Attached is some Super-Fun™ footage of my first paddle out with the gadget on deck. Thanks also to Greg Jacobs for recommending the gift.

Muy bueno video here

It's hard to hear much through the case so I added in a music track. I picked Sound Garden's "Black Hole Sun" due to an interesting lense effect. See if you can spot it.

Raging Isle Sprint

The North Shore Swim Series started today. It was a pretty fast group, but without Noa Sakamoto and John Flanagan there to win the race hands down, some new names popped up to the top of the board. I finished third, which is a personal best. Last year, I was more at about the Seventh place slot.

Sue and the kids came out to cheer me on, as is our new custom. The Adams family was also in attendance at the finish line. Kapua and Ilikea, thanks for the flower leis.

results: TimeLineHawaii.com

Giant Insect Safari

Now through August 2nd Pearlridge mall is hosting an awesome robotic bug exhibit. Animatronic beetles, mosquitoes, grasshoppers and more are on display for free in the common areas of Pearlridge upper and lower mall. I took the kids on daddy adventures after work today and we checked it out. Funny that the Safari train through the insect patch is 3$ a keiki, but monorail rides between Pearlridge Upper and Lower are only 50¢. Whatupwidat? a quick lesson in money. "Son you can either have six McDonalds apple pies or a 5 minute ride on the kiddy train." Yeah, I think he gets it.

Here's some video from our safari. Btw: footage was shot entirely w/ the new iPhone, to get the best impression, be sure to click on the "view in high quality" option when youtube starts to play the video.

Ni`ihau Sighting

We checked out of the Hale Kua a little early Sunday and went for drive around the SouthWest side of the island. I am channel swimmer having swum 3 (of arguably 7) Hawaiian channels. One of the channels I have not swum is the 17 miles between Kaua`i and Ni`ihau. It's a tricky swim because Ni`ihau, though part of the state of Hawaii, is privately owned. Technically you can't go there without permission. Seeing the channel with my bare eyes for the first time gave me a chill. It's an inviting challenge I hope to experience first hand one day. Above, Sue standing on the beach at Barking Sands, the island of Ni`ihau is barely silloutted on the left side of the horizon.

Kaua`i Trip Part Duex

For Father's Day weekend, Sue snuck into the office Friday, threw a lei around my neck and kidnapped me away to Kaua`i sans keiki. We have been staying at the Hale Kua B&B in Lawai at the foot of the mountains on the south side of the island. The accomodations are seperate and down the hill from the owners' house. Our lodgings are surrounded by green trees, bird sounds and cool breezes. We drove down to Poipu yesterday and stopped on the way back for a trip to the infamous Puka Dog hotdog stand. We also picked up some very fresh poke and Gin & Tonic to go with the limes that are growing wild near the B&B. As a special Father's Day weekend treat, Sue let me beat her at Cribbage while we enjoyed the G&Ts after sunset. Aces!

Never Land

Locals with kids should know: Thursday nights at Ko Olina, a restaurant near the Marriott hosts a movie in the courtyard between the hotel and Lagoon 3. We got the tip from a work friend of Susan's. We rolled in around 7:15 and the movie started at dusk. We brought some snacks and stretched out on the lawn with the St. Ledger family. Everyone enjoyed a West-side sunset and trip to Never Land with Peter Pan. (Thanks for the pics Paul)

Shark's Cove

We packed up the van with sandwiches and swim suites this morning and after church, made a run for the North Shore. Though the North Shore is home of legendary surf during the winter months, this time of year it is often flat. It was in fact totally flat today. The kids and I explored the rocks and crevices of Sharks Cove while Sue got in some much needed snorkeling.

No School

Today is Kamehameha Day (no school!). Instead of running around the house getting the kids ready for the bus, we got up a little late and enjoyed a big breakfast at Denny's in Kunia.

Hau Bush Sunset

Sue and I had a doctor's appointment in the middle of the day. I ended up working from home to make things simpler. The best part about working from home is the commute. At pau hana I'm 5 minutes from surf. I got a head start around sunset and Sue came by with the kids and some ono chicken sandwiches about a half hour later. -- Love the half hour of golden light on the West side this time of year. Awesome.

DIY Surf Rack Mod

Greg Adams gave me his old Thule surf rack. The rack had those little clamping ears which are supposed to work between the car roof and the door gutters. My Hyundai hatchback is a two window job with no gutters and a curved roof. Here is a DIY video on how I modified the rack, and my old car, to make it work.

BBQ/Sprint-Meet at UH

There was a notice on the workout board at practice this morning. "Potluck BBQ at 5:30", coach Jennifer also said she was going to arrange a sprint meet too (races under 100M) to be held before the grill got hot. Always looking for something to do with the kids after work, I took them with me to the event as a Daddy-Adventure(tm). The kids swam and jumped off the diving boards, I got in some good sprint events and then we totally pigged out on ono grindz right on the pool deck. It felt like the worlds largest pool patio bbq. Good times! (pics)

(above: Gnomes cheers me in lane on right -- I'm blonde these days)

Spring Program

Nate and Ben had their Spring Program at Holomua elementary today. Nate's class did a cover of Jack Johnson's: "Reduce, Reuse Recycle". The class did a jig with pom-poms made from 'reused' shredded up plastic grocery bags. (Nate above center)

Ben's class did a dance with all the kids dressed up kind of like gangsters (I know right), the song was called "Cupid Shuffle". Kind of hip hop. Sue and I had one of those moments where we realize how big Ben is getting as we watched him throw his long arms and legs around to the beat. Sniff, sniff.

Man in the Gray Suit

I had a fun session this morning at Hau Bush. I was a little disappointed by the wave size. It was projected to be seven foot faces. As you can see from the video, it was not. With big wave forecasts comes crowded breaks. There were over a dozen of us out there until an 8 foot tiger came through. The short boarders paddled in post haste. My fan club attended today's session again! Thanks girls.

Cerrado

Ode to Richardson:
Richardson, how I will miss thee.
we trained for crossing the Kealaikahiki

There was never a finer pool by a barrack
that had been deterred by a prick named Chris Deryck

Two and-a half years we trained for Pailolo
The Au'au, Roughwater, and the North Shore with Cholo

The COs, the XOs, CSO's they came
they said MWR's regs were to blame

So now here I am, a base pass cardholder
No PHM masters to train with and shoulder

The end of an era occurred for me at 4:55 AM this morning. The Naval Base Chief of Staff Officer Hodges and an assistant personally appeared at the sign in register for Pearl Harbor's Richardson pool. Due to some recent event, even those civilians who are MWR card holders, will no longer be able to swim at PHM (Pearl Harbor Masters). Interesting that it pretty much took the base XO's authority to trump MWR's guest policy. Even more interesting that the COS was dressed and on deck in the 0400 hour to waylay would-be benevolent civilian aquanauts. Clearly, there are some personal politics involved, maybe some favors called in. Be that as it may, once it was obvious that I was not swimming with PHM, I scurried off into the dawn to soak myself in the more hospitable waters at the longcourse pool of University of Hawaii. I got in 3400 yards there. I think this will be the new thing.