May 19 2008
Gonzo is acquired at about 11 am in front of slip 784 at the Ala Wai harbor on Oahu. We left Oahu within about 5 minutes of handing the last check over to Graham, destination Kalalau on Kauai. After a quick fuel stop at Ko'olina, we took off. The sail over is nice once we get in the channel, and with 15 knots through the night we arrived on the early side the next day.
We decided to continue onward to Ni'ihau to dive and fish. The wind had died, so we got to try motoring for a bit. Vog, which stands for volcanic fog, from the Big Island, was heavy. At some points the visibility was under 5 miles. We dropped the anchor in Lehua Rock, a horseshoe shaped island that is the remainder of a volcanic crater. While entering the cove, a huge pod of spinner dolphions came along the boat to welcome us. We motored at about 1 knot, while I hung off the bow taking some underwater shots of them swiming around the boat. Some of the pics turned out alright. Pretty fun. The diving here is incredible. Maximum visibility, and lots of life. I shot some black fish that looked good, and we had some lunch. We used the guts for chum and tried shark fishing that night, and we got a 3 or 4 foot white tip up to the boat. The next morning when we went to leave, we find a cormarant tangled in our anchor line and a bunch of nets. Dad tries to cut it free of the nets, but it snaps back and slices him, so we had to let it float off to die in the nets somewhere. I've heard of this a bunch before, but it's kind of a bummer to actually see wildlife out there so far from people, just wrapped up in our trash and dying.
No comments:
Post a Comment