Our Zodiac Raft
May 24, 2014
I started the morning with a snorkeling tour from Captain Zodiac. I think one of the best things you can do in Hawaii is get out on the water. The water is warm and blue and the marine life is everywhere. As we left the marina we ran into a group of spinner dolphins. It was fun to watch them play and frolic. Our guide said that the spinner dolphins are one of the smaller species of dolphins. We watched for a while and then we pulled away and headed to deeper waters.
I have to admit, there is a fear of the ocean for me. I never had it until I saw “Jaws” and once I did it scared me. It is hard to get in the water and not think, what is around me that I cannot see? Before I left for Hawaii, I was watching a show about man and nature frequent collide. There was one scene when a couple spotted a pilot whale, the woman dived in, her husband filming, she hugged one of the whales and another came charging. He grabbed her leg and pulled her down. She lived to tell about it but she was surprised to.
It was filmed in Kona and where were we? What do you think we saw next? Pilot whales. We saw them at a distance at first and the guy next to me talked about this video that I had just seen and we laugh about it. We get closer and closer and the whale is about 10 yards away and the next thing I know the guy I was talking to jumps into the water with his camera. I am thinking, “are you nuts?” I watch the whale glide under him and the boat. Next thing I know, he is swimming around the boat and following him.
Nothing happened but I wondered, why is it that some people want to test fate?
After seeing great views of the Island and of Marine life, we headed back in to do some snorkeling. We went to the Captain Cook’s monument. The place where Captain Cook landed in Hawaii. The following are not my pictures but my friend Sophon’s pictures but he took them with my camera so I feel entitled to use them. Later he would comment that taking pictures of fish is tough. He got a lot of pictures of a tail or nothing. He did get some good ones.
Unfortunately, as we left Captain Cook’s Cove, it was clear there was a problem. I had overheard some of the conversation with the driver and the home office, there was a problem with the hydraulic steering. Part way home, he called the office and said we had no steering left. We pulled into a closer peer and within 15 minutes, there were two SUV’s pulling up. I have to admit, the Captain Zodiac people handled this very well. The got to us quickly and got us back to our cars without much of delay and they were extremely nice about it.
I thought the yellow fish pictures were excellent! It is hard to get good underwater fish photos, but Sophon did a great job.