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How's the Diving on the Big Island of Hawaii? Click here to read about Rob's Speargun Setup. June 28, 2004 Of course I scheduled my vacation around diving rather than the reverse; dive first, everything else second… Sorry ladies. And boy did I have big expectations of bringing a huge Ahi back to California for my brother’s wedding with the tail sticking out of the cooler and everything… Did I mention I was supposed to be spearing reef fish for a rather enormous Samoan friend of mine? Well, a short stop at the buoys won’t hurt too much. That is, unless I don’t spear any fish for my little BIG friend, than it’ll be me getting speared… or worse… Anyway, I ended up spending all day throwing palu into the blue to find something, anything. As the day went on I started to feel like you might when your sitting at the Poker table in Vegas and all your money is gone except for maybe one more hand…The beads of sweat roll down your forehead and dangle on your brow, your mouth becomes dry as you look around for a drink, the people around you seem too close, why is everybody watching you, the house is demanding for you to place your bet, come on, come on, do you put it all in at once and win or lose BIG or do you split it up so your chances are better but only win small or lose small? So I dumped everything I had left. Over the side it went and down it fell. At this point my sinuses were adding to the fishless drama by demanding my attention to the migraine they had created. Squeezing my nose hard enough to remove the first layer of skin, I must have resembled a cartoon character just before their head exploded from trying to clear me ears and sinuses. I managed to add to the migraine but all the effort did nothing for my sinuses. As I exhale and relieve the pressure from my brain, the few cells I had not killed managed to notice a figure inbound toward the palu. For a second I thought it might have been part of my brain tissue floating around in my mask but after I shook my head the image was still incoming. As often occurs, the Ono had little interest in the palu other than possibly the shimmer that enticed him to investigate. I dove with my hand on my nose right from the surface and started trying to clear. Right about thirty feet where my eardrums would implode, a painfully slow high pitch squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek immerged from my head as my sinuses finally cleared. The Ono was laughing at me as the squeak persisted for about a full ten seconds while it cleared. It was enough time that the Ono turned away than turned back again, than turned away than turned back again, than turned away than turned back again. Now that I mentioned it, maybe he was saying “No way man… this guy is a Donkey,” like he couldn’t believe it. Either way, it brought him in close enough for a shot. So I guess I had the last laugh. My Samoan friend accepted the Ono but said something like, “What bra, dis small-kine Ono neva feed my hole Ohana. I da small one in da family. Dis one feed only me!” Well, at least it got me off the hook for a little while. June 7, 2004
Bruce Ayau and I have dove together for many years, but with age comes responsibilities and responsibilities take time and time for responsibilities takes time away from Bruce and I diving together. Years have passed since I have had the opportunity to dive with Bruce more than “once in a while.” Lately, I have had the pleasure to dive with my diving mentor, my teacher, almost weekly. Bruce seems to have a rejuvenated spirit about “Mother Ocean” possibly due to his father Henry’s passing, without irony, while within “Mother’s” arms, calling to his son to return to the ocean where they have spent so much time together. A vision of Henry giving Bruce the pelagic aqua shaka. As the stories of late tossed between us, the Twin Vee sped us South to high hopes. We both admitted talking story was necessary to lower the anxiousness of the ride as thoughts of Ahi, Ono and Mahi Mahi danced through our heads. Approaching the runway to UU buoy, we landed among the, now usual, billion boats dropping lines and busting bags. UU undoubtedly had fish but with a buffet bonanza for the Ahi to choose from, our boats soggy Anchovies must not have looked appetizing enough. Realizing our chances were slim, we packed up and headed further south hoping to come back to UU latter in the afternoon when the majority of boats had gone home. A short trip to B buoy we jumped in with little more desire than simply to waste a little time before we headed back to UU. Some usual Aku showed up to hammer the first handful of palu but they were unusually large specimens. Bruce took the opportunity to spear one of the Aku to use as fresh palu and stoned the speeding bullet! Only, he forgot to “clip in” his tag line to his release so the stoned fish and his spear shaft slowly sank downward. Before he could dive down to retrieve everything, he stuck his head out of the water and yelled to me on the boat that an 80-pound Ahi came up and “pushed” the Aku down… I yelled back, “Ya right!!! So I jumped in within a few seconds after responding in disbelief. The next two hours were filled with some of the most incredible multiple mind-gasm moments of my life… Bruce had grabbed his (Cannon) #5 Metal Tech with the Full Wing Kit, 3/8 shaft and Slip Tip rigged with four (4) 5/8 dia. rubber bands so he was more than ready when about thirty (30) Ahi’s ranging from 40 – 110 pounds came up to the Palu and calmly began feasting twenty feet below the surface. We took turns alternating dives without being able to line up a PERFECT shot. After we had drifted far down current, the Ahi disappeared. Bruce and I, grinning from ear to ear, began kicking our long-blades to catch up to our free-drifting boat so we too can ride up current and start the process all over again. Routinely looking around as I swam, I caught a sight which caused my to yell to Bruce who was concentrating on making it back to the boat as quickly as possible. I yelled, “Look behind me and below!!!” His eyes, like mine, stared in amassment without blinking at the thousand + Ahi about one hundred feet below creating a “carpet” of giant, rainbow colored footballs swimming in unison. Reaching the boat, I could hardly contain myself. I started throttling forward almost before Bruce could board properly. With his fins skimming the surface while he hung onto the boat for dear life, Bruce and I sped, full throttle, up to the point where we had started. We jumped in, through some palu, and waited. It took only a minute, but felt like a generation, for a large loaner Ahi to come shooting up from the depths. I caught a glimpse of the inbound Ahi and looked over at Bruce to give him the open opportunity when I notice he was busy checking our location in reference to the buoy and speed to which we were approaching with his head above water. I dove to intercept but was having difficulty lining up on the abrupt changes in direction as the Ahi sped back and forth through the palu. Just as I turned to surface I heard the unmistakable sound of a speargun firing. It surprised me at first but I was VERY happy to see Bruce’s unloaded gun leading to the Ahi with a clean shot right between the eyes shooting straight down. “HE GOT HIM” I thought to myself so loudly I screamed underwater to Bruce just before I climbed on his back gagging for air and continuing to yell!!! As usual, we started cheering and congratulating one another before the fish was even on the boat. Realizing this I yelled something like, “WAIT A MINUITE… LAND THE DAMN FISH FIRST THEN WE’LL TALK STORY!!!” Laughing, Bruce stuck his face back in the water and started working the fish as I grabbed his unloaded MT#5 and boated all our gear to clear the water of any possible entanglement which could endanger ourselves… more than this sport already does anyway. The Ahi was speared good enough that the single Riffe float held its own and simply stood vertically on the surface. Bruce tried to hoist the Ahi upward toward the surface but in the unique nature of the Ahi, it wouldn’t give up. Finally Bruce was able to control the fish enough to climb on the boat and pull it aboard…THEN THE PARTY BEGAN!!! The first words muttered through the breathless hunter was a simple yet meaningful “Thanks dad,” as Bruce looked toward the heavens. We admired the bright, beautiful coloration and talked the story through as noted from different perspectives. Bruce’s satisfaction and exhaustion was obvious once the adrenalin wore off, resembling a victorious boxer after a tenth-round TKO. I jumped back in the water and tried everything I could to get “the big one(s)” to come in for another shot but they stayed just out of range. We packed up and left for home satisfied with the visuals and proof of our seemingly tall tales. Hanging the Ahi at Honokohau Harbor’s official scales, the Ahi weighed in at 76 pounds, a new “personal record” for Bruce who said this fish just gave him more desire for the 100 + pounder. I think this is going to be one of the longest workweeks in history for Bruce and I. May 31, 2004 Memorial Day weekend is a great day of recognition for the veterans who have fought and fallen fighting for our freedom and rights as human beings. Our being at war on terrorism and with close friends fighting for all of us over seas I can only hope for the best. My thoughts today were mixed with images of war contrasted by the beauty of Hawaii. This day of diving was different, special. Simply, realizing where I live and the fresh air that I breath was enough to put a smile on my face. Anything better than simply being alive would be icing on the cake. This year the game fish seem to be congregating at UU buoy instead of C buoy like last year. I wasn’t sure how long it would take for everyone else to figure that out but with a billion boats fishing on Memorial Day and they were all on UU Buoy, I had my answer. We joined the crowd but tried desperately to find our own little section “away” from everyone else, and it paid off… a little. First of all nobody shot at us, but better yet, some nice Ahi’s showed up. Alternating dives, we tried our best to get a bead on a visiting class of 30 – 50 pound Ahi’s but they were definitely well schooled. Possibly due to the fact that we were not able to get a shot off, my partner Bruce decided to take a shot head-on on an inbound torpedo flying at full speed toward a piece of palu. As the gun fired, the noise created caused the Ahi to turn just as the shaft penetrated the lower mid section. The Riffe inflatable floater skipped across the surface and than stood on end bobbing half way under the surface. Bruce handed me the line, while I was in the boat, and asked me to pull up the fish. I agreed considering it wasn’t a record fish and it would help expedite the process for him to reload his gun. Bruce had a strange look on his face as he handed me the tag line so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when pulling up the line. When I pulled up all the line and the shaft with a slip tip…there was no fish to be found??? But oddly enough I still felt tension/weight on the end of the spear as if there was some kind of ghost Ahi on the end. I said out loud “WHAT THE…” Bruce laughs and tells me to keep pulling up the “other” line. “Other” line… “What other line?…” I responded as I noticed a clear piece of monofilament tangled around the slip tip leading back into the water. Pulling up the foreign line yielded the Ahi which had fought free of the spear shaft but the slip tip had entangled an already existing fishing line and hook in the Ahi’s mouth. I still couldn’t believe what I was looking at even when I was holding the Ahi in my own hands. The correct answer, I decided, was “OK, I’ll take it…” than laid the 25 pound Ahi on a soft bed of ice in the cooler to await its final destiny with a glass of wine or a cold beer. After the momentary bliss the day taped off until all the bottom fish in the entire Pacific Ocean were well fed from our numerous cases of fruitless palu. I guess that could be considered “Giving Back?”
May 24, 2004 From the moment I slipped into the water to the last bit of palu at the end of the day I felt an energy that was screaming something BIG was around. I know this feeling is partly self produced by the desire to see something big, I also know that many times I have had this feeling and there was, in fact, something watching me; like another game fish, shark, ray etc… This day nothing materialized from my imagination, or feeling, so I am left to think logically that what I was feeling was the increase in activity around the Buoys. Or maybe it was the 150lb. Ahi swimming directly at me ten feet under the surface…? The morning trades were way up. What this meant is from first light I was already getting hammered by the tight wind swells the Twin Vee would spit out the front, between the hulls, and cover the boat. Needless to say, I suited up and was plenty wet by the time I actually jumped in at VV Buoy. There were tons of fish and many were of worthy size for my spear but they wouldn’t stop for a chat. I packed up and headed south to check the other buoys to see if I could get a hundred pound Ahi to impale itself in my spear. Again, C buoy was loaded with fish but they were all too deep and they wouldn’t come up. So after wasting most of my palu I decided to try UU buoy since this is where the Big fish have been congregating this season. My first attempt at UU revealed an abundance of all kinds of game fish. I thought to myself, “Here we go again, I can’t shoot any of these Mahi that are surrounding me because there was a school of 50 – 80 pound Ahi below them but at quite a reasonable depth.” Out of the deep I notice one Ahi WAY bigger than the rest. His girth was at least twice that of any other Ahi around and he was swimming at about 100 feet directly below me. I dove to see if he might become curious or even to come in to get a good laugh at this clumsy looking four legged land mammal trying to look like he belongs in the ocean. My breath left my body in disbelief as the Ahi kept his onward direction but heading upward until he was about ten feet under the surface and directly underneath four Mahi. As was becoming a routine, the Mahi would do a loop from the buoy outward in a big arc and than head back to the buoy; but this time they had company… Placing myself as best I could into the path of the entourage, I dipped below the surface, tucked in all my digits and tried to appear as small and unaggressive as possible, looking up periodically to watch the distant approach. Zeroing in on the Ahi with each slow peek out of my seemingly uninterested shallow hover, he closed the gap and began to turn slightly to go around me. I could see the full sideward coloration including each jagged yellow finlet including the length and girth of the Ahi I estimated at about 120 – 160 pounds. With my “small” gun in hand I didn’t even bother to extend it from it’s tucked position realizing the distance to the Ahi was about thirty feet from my position. Once again, if I had my bazooka, Riffe Blue Water gun, I would have had a very good chance of landing this beautiful fish. Trying and trying again I threw every bit of palu I had while needlessly trading my “small” gun for my “big” gun. As the last scrap of palu drifted in weight of its final destiny, I knew this was the last opportunity to pull the trigger for the day so I had decided to take the first “reasonable” fish that came up. Dropping down, all the opportunities swam away with mouthfuls of my hard work, hope and desire. Exhausted from the days work the visuals danced in my head consoling the not of today’s catch. My first kick toward the drifting boat I spied two missiles approaching to my right flank. Painfully slow I dipped below the surface to intercept. The two Ono’s veered from my direction but kept eyeballing me. I ascended slowly, took two breaths at the surface and headed back down. This time I tried the same technique I used on the Ahi and it worked. My Blue Water gun hit hard as the larger of the two Ono’s headed for the depths. As I had mentioned last week the desire to watch my float get buried I was again hoping the same. My Riffe Torp. Float stood on end but held true as the 35 lb Ono tried valiantly to escape the grip of my custom slip tip’s claw. The sight that followed was none less than a dream… The speared Ono dangled at the end of the tag line glistening through the clear, sunlit water. Thousands of small Aku and Ahi surrounded the Ono circling it within a few yards. The closest fish to the action was the dozer Ahi I had seen on the surface earlier in the day. The Ahi’s width was almost the same as the Ono’s length - making my Ono look more like an Opelu. My tears were hidden in the salinity of the vast Pacific Ocean. Cheers of congratulation rang from a nearby boat who had witnessed the action. I raised my proud Ono so they could have a better look but I stand humbled by the one that got away. Until later, I thought to my finny friend swimming below, next time you’ll be bigger and I’ll be ready…
May 17, 2004 It wasn’t any kind of record but it still meant the highest quality Sashimi will be served on the dinner table for several friends and their respective family members. The Ahi(s) appeared at the ending part of an(other) incredible weekend. After a rainy and windy last few days my internal weather meter and my desire to dive was screaming for me to go out on the boat again. Taking a chance, I fueled up, iced up and chummed up to VV buoy as early as the ambient sunlight would allow. Billions of Oceanic Piranha (Hogi, otherwise known as Trigger Fish) greeted me and my palu (chum) with a surrealistic attack like they have never seen food before. They polished off several handfuls of palu before the numerous reasonable sized Kamanu (Rainbow Runner), which were swimming in the distance, could come in and offer me an opportunity to take one home for pupu’s. So, reluctantly I decided to rely on these things developed over a long period of time and a lot of effort known as “tactics…” You know, those things that take a little bit of effort to execute… man, using palu is just so much easier… Finally, my stupid tactics I had to use, instead of palu, worked and several Kamanu came in for a visit. My shot left the fish without a struggle. The hungry Piranha wasted no time to start nibbling on the speared Kamanu merely seconds after I pulled the trigger. Good thing I didn’t have any cuts anywhere… Onto C buoy which yielded ten-fold more Piranhas than the previous VV buoy, so I really had to keep an eye on my personal digits to make sure I had everything tucked in nicely. Three Ono graced the depths but wanted nothing to do with the palu, the Piranha eating the palu or my stupid tactics. Bobbing next to the buoy I kept pace in the mellow current and a handful of palu tucked tightly against my chest waiting for an opportune moment to disperse. That moment came and went quickly when a small Striped Marlin approximately 60 to 70 pounds swam directly below me. I dropped the palu, which only caused the Hogi to come in and cloud my visual of the Marlin. Before I dipped below the surface I noticed all the Hogi had turned completely black with small speckles of white, which typically is the result of a fish being VERY scared. I found this profound due to the fact I have seen Hogi swimming among Ono, Mahi, Ahi, Kamanu etc. and even being corralled by Porpoise, but they never showed signs as obvious as this that they were scared. I could swear I even saw the expressions on the faces of the Hogi change as they balled up and swam at an even, purposeful increased pace toward me, or the buoy. I could almost hear them saying to eachother “Oh my god… Oh my god… Oh my god… Just keep swimming and don’t look back… Oh my god…” Diving on level with the Marlin I could clearly see his pronounced fork tail but he never showed me any sideward curiosity or variance from his very purposeful direction. It was exciting for the few brief moments of seeing my first Billfish but it was so brief I didn’t even have a chance to get truly excited. After a few more attempts on the deep dwelling Ono I moved onto UU buoy. Again, the usual hungry-hungry-Hogi greeted me but I was ready this time… While the boat was cruzing past the buoy I threw a handful of palu behind the boat than hammered the throttle to a different location trying to trick them into staying near the buoy. However, they obviously knew this trick and were on me as soon as I jumped in the water almost one hundred yards up current. Again they devoured all the palu before it could drop ten feet down, not even giving the small 5 –10 pound Aku and Ahi a chance to come in for a bite. After several more tries the Hogi had accomplished to eat most of the palu except a few handfuls. Climbing back onto the boat to maneuver us well up current I noticed some splashes up about two hundred yards. Again I hammered the throttles on the twin Honda four strokes to get me into the thick of the splashes. While the boat was still moving, but out of gear, I threw some palu and jumped in. It took only a few moments before I could see what was causing the commotion. For the first time since last year, a ball of 30 – 40 – 50 pound Ahi arose from the depths to partake in a mild feeding frenzy. So mild that my first attempt which didn’t offer a “perfect” opportunity, I felt their demeanor was such that I didn’t need to take the first opportunity, like I have previously had theorized, so I casually swam back to the surface. Watching this beautiful sight was breathtaking, which for a Freediver is not really a good thing… My second attempt was carefree due to the simple enjoyment of the visuals. However, several Ahi came well within range so I picked the largest one and pulled the trigger. As soon as I noticed I had hit the target I manually pulled my release assembly out of my gun to offer the Ahi as little resistance as possible. Besides, I have never witnessed a fish take my floater down under the water and I wanted this Ahi to do it. To my “disappointment” I had stoned the Ahi so I would have to wait for another opportunity to watch my float disappear into the abyss... I should be careful what I ask for, uh… Oh ya… I shot my first Opelu… To most of you who know what Opelu is you’re probably saying something like… WHAT THE #@^%*??? I just wanted to see if I could AND many people have been asking me to bring some back after my stories of huge Opelu this time of year. As a matter of fact, you’ll probably hear about more in the future and some other crazy stuff I have planned… Can you say “Blue Water Hunting with a Break Away Three Prong?” Sure you can (Mr. Rogers Neighborhood). Ahi 40 pounds
May 10, 2004 It’s not because I haven’t been diving that I haven’t kept up with my journal. It’s more like the drama in life got in the way of writing it down but the diving has been very good. The issues with the West Hawaii Fisheries Council are still persisting but we did have a turn of events lately (see Fish Lips for the latest WHFC gossip). But as always, my diving on the weekend keeps my sanity in check and my heart rate doooooooown. In weeks past, sporadic Mahi and Ono spearings have been noted but nothing size-wise to brag about. But the neighbors sure appreciate it. You know, the ones with the constant bellowing smoke stack oozing through every orifice in the building smelling of bittersweet, sticky fauna which stimulates ones appetite beyond reason where week-old leftovers suddenly vanish from the refrigerator? While I was prepping the boat at the shop around 5:00 am I kept hearing the phone ring, but didn’t answer it thinking it must be someone from New York calling during their lunch break. Finally a familiar voice sounded from the recorder and I picked up to talk to the barely awake voice of Bruce Ayau asking “Any room on the boat?” I responded, “Not really because the boat is full of ice and palu… I’ll meet you at the harbor in a half hour…” The tide was low and the excitement was high. The trade winds had died over the last couple of days so the water was as calm as a lake with only ripples like the washboard stomach on my dream girl. The boat seemed to be sitting-still under full power due to the lack of pounding from the usual onshore morning breeze. Distant ambient light peculated through the dormant volcanic Hualalai mountain treetops creating a surrealistic purple colored liquid canvas that I invaded with utmost care and stillness. Shortly after entering the water at VV Buoy I was rewarded with a simple, yet enjoyable, encounter with a sizable Kaku (Barracuda) that investigated the palu but kept swimming in a meaningful manner. I dipped about thirty feet down to taunt the Kaku when I had the feeling I was being watched. As the palu continued to carelessly descend and shimmer as the sunlight reflected off the wavering, lifeless bodies, a brilliant green Mahi Mahi stared at me to my right. I slowly turned to my side as the Mahi swam a distant circle and headed back straight to me. Realizing this was a female I placed the shot according to how much I wanted the fish to fight so its limited struggle would attract the Bull if he was around. Reaching the surface I panned the surrounding water for an approaching Bull Mahi but all I could see was more beautiful purple empty canvas broken only by the hull of the boat. Finally, after a few minutes I could see the outline of the perfectly color-blended Bull heading in my direction. Carefully, the Bull surveyed the area staying just inside visible range. Meanwhile, I asked Bruce to load another gun and hand it to me only to realize both guns were rigged with breakaway assemblies but we only had one tag line… Bruce and I looked at each other an laughed because we were thinking the same thing… unclip the speared Mahi and clip the tag line onto the loaded gun. Sounds logical, however, we both knew the speared Mahi needed to stay in the water, so Bruce carefully wrapped the shooing line around his hand and held on as I released the line. If the speared Mahi caused Bruce to let it go…it was gone and I would loose my shaft, and the day of diving would be over for me, so there was a bit of incentive to hold on! The Bull teased me, coming in than quickly turning away time and time again. I knew the game so I just sat still and waited patiently, trying not to stair too much in his direction. Finally he made his final approach so I dipped gingerly under the surface as I could only hope Bruce was still holding on to the other Mahi. The Bull turned away but his curiosity became overwhelming as he slowly turned head on. I could see his girth but his blending color made it difficult to determine his size and range. A shot placed to his spine quickly subdued any fight. He managed to make a couple efforts to run away as I pulled him close to me. Meanwhile, Bruce was busy pulling up and subduing the first speared Mahi on the boat as it smacked the deck of the boat with the shaft still in it. I waited patiently as the Bull began to bleed profusely through its wounds. I looked to see if anything might be eyeballing the Mahi or me as I noticed the retreating backside of a small Galapagos shark. As we secured the two Mahi’s (the first Mahi 25 lbs., the second 35 lbs) and iced them down in the cooler we laughed at the entire scenario yet landing two beautiful fish on the first attempt. We mad several stops at other buoys to no avail; they all had tons of bait consisting of small Ahi, Aku and huge Opelu but nothing worth reloading the heavy rubber bands. With only one float and two divers, I opted to chill on the boat as Bruce jumped in at B-buoy. Within a few minutes Bruce had a Mahi on and was asking for the other gun just like we had done before. But this time I opted to swim him the gun rather than hand it to him so I could watch the action. We switched equipment just like before as Bruce continued to hunt some Ono he had seen come up to the struggling Mahi. I boated the 20 lb. Mahi, reloaded the gun that didn’t have a tag line attached and jumped back in. Right as I stuck my head in the water I could see an Ono underneath me and heading in Bruce’s direction. I stayed perfectly still, pressed up against the hull of the boat so I wouldn’t attract the attention of the Ono. I watched Bruce’s descent as the Ono’s excitement accelerated his pace with all the other small Ahi, Aku and Opelu racing to the palu. Bruce made a distant but great shot as the Ono headed straight down almost burying the Riffe Torpedo float. Bruce yells to me and points the other Ono below. I swam over to Bruce with the loaded gun watching the speared Ono stretching the tag line to the fullest wondering how we were going to do the hand-off-the-float thing again. Bruce, in a calm gurgling voice caused by the speared Ono as it kept pulling him underwater says, “The other Ono down there it the bigger one!” Ok…now I was getting excited… Finally, Bruce’s speared 35lb Ono began to tire out so we quickly did the switch-thing. Immediately I dove to intercept the oncoming Ono torpedo. He headed straight at me and than agitatedly turned a fast 180 degrees around. I gave a couple of good kicks to get above him and close the gap as I focused on the width of the Ono saying to myself, “it’s the same width target as dive-bombing an Uhu” so I would calm down and focus on a good shot. My aim was true and stopped the 42lb. Ono instantly. As soon as I noticed the Ono was stoned I look up at Bruce, who was already yelling underwater, to give him a big smile and a shaka. As soon as I hit the surface we both erupted with laughter and hi-fives… Our cooler was full and it wasn’t even noon yet. What a day!!! The water remained glass the entire way and all day. We headed home with two stupid grins on our faces shaking our heads. Out of nowhere either one of us would just break into laughter for no apparent reason but we both knew what the laughter was for… Lucky we live in Hawaii… March 21, 2004 When is enough enough? So I get two days off a week and one day is for errands and the day is for diving. But is six hours in the water too much? I am more or less built like a bird with light bones and just enough muscle to cover them so I don’t exactly have a huge reserve of fat for going long periods without eating or long periods without drinking…drinking water that is. Saturday night (the night before) I tried stocking up by eating a few carrots with dip, some chocolate cake and beer for dinner at a party…not a good idea! On Sunday (dive day) I was tired from one hour of sleep, dehydrated from the alcohol and malnourished from not eating dinner. Not a good start to what was going to be a long day. I met my Freediving training partner Deron Verbeck at Honaunau bay at about 8:00 am. I didn’t bother stretching or warming up I just went for it. For the most part my warm-up dives went ok. However, my deepest attempt for the day almost resulted in a blackout. Deron, on the other hand, did quite well easily breaking 200 ft. as one of his target dives for the day. GO DERON!!! At about three hours into the day we called it quits and headed in. Now onto phase two... Since I did my duty spotting Deron, which he ended up actually spotting me, I headed to meet Bruce Ayau to go Spearfishing at a VERY SECRET location known for it’s large, aggressive sharks. But get fish dis spot!!! (Re)Entering the water in this unprotected, churning and boiling ocean location where the afternoon sun was hidden by the clouds of the changing seasons was more than ominous and intimidating but the pursuit of Big Fish and adrenalin urged us two determined divers literally to the edge. Piercing the dark surface water yielded an abundance of life and clarity in the immediate swift moving current. Watching eachothers back like on a battlefield of warriors we entered the Dragons lair of the hydrodynamic, top of its food chain, shark infested food pit where the bait comes in and never leaves. Our fins bowed under the stress of the current while pushing the two nervous divers further and further into the lair pulling with them an offering which would ensure an encounter with the oversized, striped, toothed menace or even several of his counterparts. Armed with the knowledge of many days past but hampered by the immobility as compared with our rival we made peace with our destiny. Bruce swiftly released the first round of offerings to our Amakua hoping to attract a smaller predator than the ravenous shark to take home as an offering to his own family. I, floating on the surface of the adjoining turbulent northern and southern current, visually penetrate the distant blue trying to catch the slightest movement of approaching fish or signs of danger lurking below. As experience may aid us, it is still no match for the evolution of predation developed over millions of years of adapting and modifying the finely crafted skill of stealth hunting overlying the incredible bursts of speed and power created by the whipping motion of the tail fin compared only for reference to a Martial Arts master Bruce Lee in modern human terms. An Ono appeared below and behind Bruce smelling the chum offering Bruce had distributed throughout the clear blue. Wanting to scream, I yielded a gesture to Bruce who was busy scanning the area looking for what was unknowingly directly below him but heading in my direction. The opportunity to quickly scan for danger and dive to intersect presented itself and I took it. A simple dive on the swiftly moving sleek, stripped missile offered me a quality opportunity to engage this girthy feeding machine and hammer it with my 5/16 shaft. The Ono headed for the depths but it also took a left turn toward the reef. Immediately concerned for sharks I tried uselessly to hoist the Ono from the bottom as it repeatedly tortured me with numerous and relentless runs. My triumphant and trustworthy Riffe inflatable float once again displayed is strength and diligence to once again keep me from harm and to aid in securing another beautiful fish. My 100 ft. tag line was stretched tight and undulated as the Ono fought to free itself from its tether. Finally gaining some headway on the tag line Bruce encouraged me to force the Ono to the surface before it attracted any sharks. I was again pulled below the surface, skiing underwater, before Bruce could even finish his sentence. Now, well into the northern pulling drift and deep water, I felt the same desire as Bruce to wrestle this Ono to the surface as quickly as possible. Text book style, I gently grabbed the Ono by his tail and slid my hand up it’s belly to the gill plate and dispatching it with my trusty knife, all without incident. Ironically, as soon as I loaded the Ono on my stringer and looked up to find Bruce, he was already looking at me waiting to tell me to watch out because he had seen a shark in the area. I appreciated the warning but in Bruce’s usual abnormally calm demeanor I was nervous about the packaging and brand of the shark. Bruce noticed several more Ono but they were on the move and not interested in what we had to offer. After only a few minutes, and well into the shark pit, the relentless current was leading us into the hands of the unknown. We decided not to tempt fate and turned toward shore. With team-like tactics Bruce and I shared the arduous task of checking and rechecking behind us ensuring the survival of our Ono and ourselves. Exiting onto the A’a Lava never felt so good.
January 18, 2004
I decided to camp since I had “nowhere to be and nobody to impress (that’s just an expression)” and I also got the call from my friend Jimmy that the wind was down. Packing more stuff than I’ll ever need, I headed onward at about 4:30 am on Sunday morning. Jumping in the water at first light I was greeted with an incredible abundance of many different species of fish, none of which were on my short list of the desired catch of the day but still put a smile on my face. Continuing on, I found a nice sized beautiful Kumu that seem to illuminate with vibrant colors of deep purple and shades of pink in the majestic blue backdrop on an early morning rising sun-lit coral reef. Shortly thereafter, I came across a small Ulua house but knowone was home. I looked to my right after hitting the surface and out of nowhere an Uku appears, possibly curious to the activity in the nearby cave. I thought to myself, I have no palu…I have no flashers…well, I just got to try. Making a slow quiet decent I dove parallel with the Uku so I would appear as “unagressive” as possible. Dropping about fifteen feet down I looked over to see how the Uku was reacting to my action and noticed he was swimming very calmly still parallel to my position. I turned slightly in a more intersecting course while simultaneously the Uku turned in my direction. We were now staring at eachother, the Uku’s mouth to my spear tip, about one foot apart. I’ve never tried it but I decided to shish kabob the Uku and spear it right down his gullet. As I pulled the trigger the Uku turns to starboard and the shaft penetrates his back. My heart dropped as my original intention and shot failed but luckily within the fish’s movement it crossed the path of the shaft at that moment in time. With an incredible burst of speed the Uku took off as an Ulua, weighing about 100 pounds, appears and gives chase in what seemed like an attempt to eat the Uku. I’ve seen this before but I found myself getting mad at the thought of the Ulua eating my dinner. I know this sounds passé, but I had no idea how big the Uku was until I brought it up and grabbed it to secure him. I knew he was definitely a new PR (personal record) and it’s my favorite fish in the world…I was stoked!!! A bit to big for my body-kui I put him on it anyway to make sure nobody touched my prize. However, it became too difficult and distracting to swim, as with each kick of my fin I would kick the Uku. Reluctantly I strung the Uku on my floater thinking I will just keep the floater near me rather than extended at the full length of my tag line and out of visual range. Five seconds after I string the Uku on my floater and start swimming again I look back to make sure nothing was tangled and that the Uku was plainning properly, when I see a shark’s shadowy outline trailing the floater!!! I couldn’t believe it…So I whipped around, ready to bit the shark if I had to, and made sure the shark kept on it’s merry way. A few nice Uhu’s and such latter I called it a day knowing I would be back in the water the following morning. I made it up to Jimmy’s house to offer some fish to his family and to enjoy the scenery and talk story. I left Jimmy’s about 2:00 pm’ish and headed out to find my camping spot for the night where, hopefully, I could find some “untouched” grounds and dive a spot I’ve never been. With high hopes for the following day I traveled one of the most incredibly horrible 4X4 trails I’ve ever been on. Don’t tell the guy I just sold my truck to that I said that…Anyway, I went for three hours on this road to find a spot knowone has ever seen. Ya right. Check this out. I find a nice spot and pull in. I’m checking the “amenities” for no more than five minutes when I hear a truck’s motor traveling the 4X4 road I just turned off from, probably going back home after camping the weekend I figure. Suddenly I hear the truck motor stop right in front of my little entryway to my camping spot. I hear a voice say, “Hay, I think that’s Rob’s truck.” Way out here and somebody finds me…I couldn’t believe it!!! Three trucks pull in as I lift my head wondering if I should load my speargun. But it all worked out great as four Hawaiian bruda’s pile out with big smiles and tons of the usual ALOHA. As much as I was hoping to have some peace and quiet…you know, just to get away for a little while…I was happy to see these guys. Talking story they let me know that this particular spot didn’t have much action but was a nice place to hang loose for the night. Now for all you “non-Hawaiians” outside the state of Hawaii, I got to tell you something…Hawaiians know how to do camp-outs. These guys offered to help me set up my tent and before I could even get the directions on this two (2) year old tent that I’ve never used, they had it set up, pinned down and rain ready!!! Next they were talking about recipes for how to cook Lobster and how they ate so much over the last two days that they were sick of it…If only I could find a woman like that…So my thoughts of finding peace and solitude turned to pleads of…you guys can hang out one more night can’t ya? After a few pau hanna’s, some great fishing tales and a few pictures they were back on the 4X4 trail heading home leaving me hungry with thoughts of melted garlic butter and Lobster, recipes for the Uku and beer munchies. The next day I decided to head back a ways to an area I was more familiar with and that I knew had some fish I could take home for grinds and/or offer to friends and their families. Finding the spot I was hoping to jump in at somebody had already beaten me to it. I drove about another half mile down and jumped in at the first spot that had a reasonable entrance/exit point. The reef and conditions were incredible but no fish! The few fish that were there would see me and dig out before I could do anything. But one of the major benefits of this particular spot is that there are many caves and in relatively shallow water i.e. easy access to Ulua houses. And if I hadn’t put in writing yet than here it is…my 2004 New Years resolution (for diving anyway) is to land the “100+ Pound’er Ulua. You know…the fish that keeps destroying my gear. I’ve speared about a dozen but they always get away! After checking several holes and seeing nothing, I managed to wedge myself between two rocks while looking into what I thought was just a ledge but turned out to be a nice roomy cave…with an Ulua inside! I managed to head to the surface to catch my breath without the Ulua spotting me. I repositioned myself over the opposite side of the cave due to its better visibility as to what’s inside the cave as well as better approachability. Catching a good breath I slowly drop to a good position and start crawling inside. Thinking I’m seeking up on the Ulua I look a little to my right and see the Ulua looking right at me and sitting very still. I continue my crawl inside the cave as the Ulua comes out to greet me. Just as the previous days Uku, the Ulua was about a foot or two off the tip of my spear. But since we were inside a cave, not open water, I chose to back off and wait until the Ulua was at least three or four feet away before I took the shot. Man, I need to go back to school…Even at four foot range and a target the size of a barn door I still missed the kill shot. The Ulua bolted out the opposite side leaving me shaking my head wondering why, why, why do I have to destroy a perfectly good customized shaft every time I spear an Ulua?!? Finding my way back out the cave an up to the surface I swam over the ledge where I could hear my poor shaft taking the beating of its short life. Still shaking my head in wonder I watched motionless from the surface as the Ulua snapped my shaft in half between two rocks while obviously hurt badly swimming upside down thrashing aimlessly. I swam down, knife in hand, to dispatch him in his tangled mess of bent and broken spear shaft and monofilament line but he tried to use me like the reef and remove this foreign object from his head by sticking it in me, so I abandoned the attempt and opted to wait for him to tire out a bit more. Finally securing him on my floater, he weight in at exactly 50 pounds. Nowhere near my goal but good practice for the “main event.” I’m looking forward to this coming weekend weather permitting…I’d better get on the new spear shaft. See ya… January 11, 2004 The weather has been so nuts around here over the last two weeks so that no possible way diving could be achieved by even the most hard-core. But with everything bad you just need to look and you’ll see the good… Bad conditions means less (or no) divers shooting fish, more nutrients and oxygen in the water and an increased amount of floating structures in the Blue Water like logs and debris. I had promised my friend and Freediving training partner Deron Verbeck (National Champ) that I would help him train…but man, I wanted to go spearfishing!!! Jeff and I took the boat out hoping we could make it through the mouth of the harbor without capsizing. We made it out no problem and headed down to Honaunau bay, about a 45 minute boat ride, to meet Deron on “the line.” Jeff and I noticed right away that outside the breakers it was beautiful and calm. The swells were big but spaced far apart because there weren’t the usual strong driving prevailing winds. Frankly it was one of the nicest days I’ve ever seen, but you would never be able to tell from shore. After training with Deron for about an hour and a half, Jeff and I headed out to C-buoy, which is right outside Honaunau. We threw a couple handfuls of palu but nothing came in. Because the weather was so nice, off shore, we decided to go all the way down to TT-buoy which for our forty-gallon fuel tank is a bit of a stretch. Without any luck we decided to head home direction but way outside to try and find some “rubbish lines.” Again, we stuck out with finding any rubbish but at least we were in-line with F-buoy. Jumping in at F-buoy, after a nice but long uneventful day, we were greeted with all the fish in the ocean that seemed to be congregating at one spot. Again (as in past journals), my excitement got the best of me and when I threw the first handful of palu I speared the first Ahi of “reasonable size” that I saw. The problem is, as soon as I fired I looked around to see if any sharks were going to try and get my 20’ish pound shibi, but what I saw was about a dozen Ahi from 40 to 80 pounds coming up from the depths. I pulled up my “little guy” and put him on the boat as quickly as I could. Jeff and I got back on the boat to go back up current exchanging ooo’s and ahhh’s about the bigger Ahi we saw come up. Jumping in again up current and with an almost full box of palu and big Ahi hanging around I was flying with excitement. With every handful of hope and desire we threw, the big Ahi (now ranging in size from 40 to 100+ pounds and about forty to sixty in quantity) would take turns to come in grab a bite and than hang about thirty to fifty feet outside and circle the palu. In other words…these Ahi took Jeff and I to school. We used the “alternate dive” tactic where two divers trade off diving i.e. when one guy’s down the other stays up, and than the guy on the surface starts his dive as soon as the diver-down begins his assent. This is and was a great tactic but these Ahi were way too smart for us. They would just mill around until we couldn’t go anymore or any deeper, than they would come in and polish the palu off like it was candy. We could see them very well…we just couldn’t get them. About two hours latter, approaching 4:00pm or so, we headed home tired but full of unreal visuals. To think that we just dove among a school of some of the most desired fish in the world is incredible. Who said you need to go to Mexico to see this stuff??? Make sure you look in your refrigerator before you go to the store because what you need might be right in front of your face.
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