Turtle Food

Ulva lactuca - Sea Lettuce.

This is the staple food of the Green Sea Turtles that hang out at Lani's.

Flat Spined Sea Urchin

Algae eaters like their other cousins, but flattened spines on the outward facing sides to protect them against constant pounding from waves.

Niche eaters with specialized adaptations.

Mat Surfing

And this is my Sunday afternoon.

I used the mat to surf at Lani's.

I got a ton of great waves and didn't fight one bit (like I would have to on a shortboard)!!!

This thing is AWESOME!!!

I used it at Leftovers Saturday morning, but I used less air in it on Sunday and it worked way better.

I love my inflatable surf equipment (toys) - surfmat, FAQ SUP, kites!!! Perfect traveling stoke generators!!!

Gnarly Dude!!!

Of all the Ironwood Trees I've seen, I really haven't seen their root balls (unless the tree fell over).

This base was odd - really gnarly, and curled up on itself.

More Kailua

This is my buddy Nick who was in for the day (on the way to Maui).

He's on his Cabrinha 12m Crossbow and a travel 6'9" board (handmade!)

I didn't bring my kite stuff because I could do all that back where I came from. But I did wish I did (especially 30 minutes into my run).

Kailua

Kalama Beach Park on Sunday morning. Lots of canoe clubs practicing.

Lots of kitesurfers going at it.

And pleasantly surprising, there were several windsurfers! This was one of the birthplaces of windsurfing and it is good to see it still going.

Another thing that has changed here - it is WAY MORE crowded that it was from 95'-00' - or at least it seems that way to me.

Community

I drove past all my old haunts this weekend to see what changes did or did not occur (it's been over 10 years since I left - I've been back several times since but never longer than a week).

The one thing that has not changed is the sense of community you get seeing the way things are done.

99% of the people here will NOT honk their car horns and they will let merging cars in to traffic. You can easily tell the tourists from the locals in this regard.

I saw four different canoe congregation areas this weekend. This was at Ala Moana Beach Park. Lots of people paddle out here - OC1, OC2, SUPs and OC6. These boats always got a sense of respect from me and is another good symbol of how this community works together.

Ala Moana and the Ala Wai

It's sad that a close look at the water in this part of Oahu yields a bunch of trash (that could be easily picked up) and some questionable water quality.

The guy SUPing is at Ova'rocks - I used to run past this spot every other day and no one surfed it (check out the shallow rocks). With the explosion of SUP surfing, spots that used to suck or did not suit conventional surfing have opened up. A new way to surf actually opens minds and eases crowding issues - too bad some people don't see that point of view.

Oahu on Dwellable

Cool Seaweed

A few of the many types of limu that grow on this mid-Pacific coastline.

Driving Down Memory Lane

It's been three years since I last drove down this stretch of road.

It's been 12 years since these Norfolk Pines were planted. I remember the first year, some of them fell victim to cheapskates looking to have a Christmas tree (way to celebrate Jesus's birthday - by stealing a tree).

The last picture is the Green Sea Turtles being "loved" - they come ashore to rest after gnawing away at the Ulva lactuca (sea lettuce) that grows just south of the spot at Lani's.

Oahu is nice, but it is getting crowded...

Oahu on Dwellable

Put Out to Pasture

Lots of things to see at the Merlion Park.

Here is a LARC (Lighterage Amphibious Reconnaissance Craft). This looks bigger than a LARC V that I've been on. But it spews diesel fumes indiscriminately just like a LARC V.

If LARCs had feelings, I bet this one would either be glad it gets to take tourists out everyday, or it would want to shoot it's self because it has to take tourists around everyday (and not do amazing things like underwater construction).

Well - it shouldn't be a question in anyone's mind about how a LARC gets put out to pasture.

Funny Things

Ah - the things you notice when you have nothing but time (or are waiting for a connecting flight).

A hotel for those who want to aggravate their allergies - Ah Chew

A restaurant for those feeling a bit randy... Porn

And a big statue that the sculptor felt compelled to include correct posterior anatomy.

Poor Guys

I felt sorry for these guys.

When I catch something to eat from the sea, at least it gets to fight back. I have tons of scars to prove it.

These guys just wait until somebody points to them and it's all over...

Doesn't seem fair.

Merlion

The ubiquitous symbol of Singapore.

Last time I was here - Steve-O and I completely missed this. I was bound and determined to find it this time. Turns out it was just around the corner from where we were... Go figure.

Nice day - check out the people posing for pictures - catching water.... nice to see lots of people with good senses of humor.

Looking at all the water spouts kinda makes you want to go pee....

Squid Jigs

My employees have been telling me about this area in Singapore - Beach Road. Finally got to make the trip to check it out.

Lots of stores that specialize in fishing gear.

There were a bunch - some smaller than others, but the "Kaiser" shop was AWESOME!!!! Jigging and Popping was their focus. They had plenty of pictures hanging on the walls of monster Trevally, Amberjacks, groupers and other fish that like to fight all caught in far off places.

I left with these specialized jigs. More ammunition to hunt sea monsters!!!!

Dinner - Hokkaido Style Ramen

This is amphibious because I'm eating it on an island (Singapore) and Hokkaido is an island.

Not quite as good as the original, or the bowl you can get in LA, but still good (considering I've been eating dried ramen for the past 8 months).

Not a Trevally but...

I did catch a couple of fish on the fly I tied yesterday.

"Frankenfly" caught a hawkfish (plump one at that) and a wrasse.

That was really satisfying - tying a fly and catching fish with it. Bonus points were flowing since this fly had recycled materials.

The chain eyes weren't heavy enough to sink the fly quickly. The rubber from the balloon didn't help in that regard either. The circle hook did make a difference - was able to release the fish quickly and they were happier (at least I assume they were, as opposed to being deep hooked in the throat). I don't think I'll use any other types of hooks for tying the small flies.

I did at least see a couple of Bluefin Trevally - but they saw me first and got spooked. There's always tomorrow...

Happy Birthday goes out to Steve-O "Spaceman" Sandusky - who caught a wrasse "that was bigger than my wrasse" with his Birthday gift.

It's in the Mail

I ordered one of these Fat Ass Quads directly from Uli.

I asked Jim (Weir) to put four D rings up front so I can use it for multiple purposes (fishing platform, trainer for the kids to get up on when catching a wave, snorkeling platform, etc). Also looking forward to using this on the Potomac through Great Falls this coming Summer.

I'll be on a trip to Oahu starting this coming week and the board already arrived at a friend's house (Mahalo Jimbo!!!). I'm still debating which 3 piece paddle to get to compliment the travel-a-bility of the FAQ - Quickblade or Werner...

6 days and I'll get to surf again after several months hiatus. The things I give up...

In a way it makes you appreciate the things you give up even more. In other ways it plain old SUCKS. Actually - besides not having the family with me, I have little to complain about - I'm not getting shot at and I'll never have it this good EVER AGAIN on the fishing front.

Oh well, no time to dwell on the negative - life is too short.

Awesome times ahead and I'm going to surf the crap out of this board. Stay tuned for the paddle mounted GoPro shots!!!!

Frankenfly

Part party balloon

Part Clouser

Part Gotcha

Tied on a No. 6 Gamakatsu Circle Hook

We'll see if this freak will catch something (my money is on a Bluefin Trevally)

Social Hermit Crab

Hermit Crabs have the perfect social setup.

If they want to socialize, out and about they are.

If they want their own space - they've got it on their back.

This guy wanted nothing to do with me, but I got the pictures anyways.

Sunday Morning Flying

The Trevally and Bonefish were not playing today - I was out for three hours and not a sign of them. The rematch will have to wait until after the full moon wains -

I did see a bunch of Unicornfish and some Titan Triggerfish, but as usual, they didn't go for the fly.

What I did catch were three of these Wrasses and two of these Two Barred Goatfish.

The goatfish seem to be nervous fish - the first one I catch went from pale pink (normal colored) to bright red while I was removing the hook. When I released it, it sank straight to the bottom and stayed there for two minutes either still in shock or playing dead. Then it returned to normal color and swam off like nothing happened. That happens pretty frequently when I catch these guys - maybe it's a mechanism to help it cope with getting eaten by a GT...

The Wrasses were a different story - defiant to the end. Another "poo" flinger...