Ocean view…

Good morning 3:15am.
North shore 4-6′ and good.
Ala Moana waist high and good.
Diamond Head chest high and bumpy.
Trade winds at 20mph.
Sun, showers, and rainbows.
Going to the sea.
Have a wonderful day!

Lots of preparation going into a boat trip.  When you cross dangerous channels between islands, you have to be prepared.  But as much prepared you are, the ocean has a mind of its own.  Anything can go wrong at anytime so you don’t have to only be prepared, you have to be ready to go with the flow.  

I’ve been taking these kids diving since they were little kids.  Now they are big kids that know the ocean a whole lot more.  Every trip we take, we all learn about boating, safety, hunting, and each other.  We have the coolest conversations.  

Now I can sit in the back seat and relax.  I’m in good hands.  I let them make decisions, and I go with their flow.  

And their flow is always good.  I know for sure that we’re going to find fish.  And a rainbow too.  

For me, the highlight of the trip was watching these dolphins swim around the boat for a long time.  They kept on making circles around us all morning.

Watching them swim is the most peaceful thing.  It puts your mind at ease and you feel so connected to them.  

I start to mimic dolphin noises and they turn around to check me out.  

Then as they pass by slowly, I look right into their eyes and I can see their happiness.  It’s like they are coming to say hello and it feels like they are watching over us.  It just feels so safe.

We were stranded here for a while trying to figure out how to fix the boat.  Joshua and Benji were so calm about the situation.  We all agreed that this isn’t too bad of a place to stranded for a while.  Even stranded forever…

After coming home from a boat trip, I always crave meat.  So before I go on a boat trip, I make sure I have a fat piece of ribeye in my refrigerator.  As soon as I get home, I sprinkle some salt, add garlic, rosemary, olive oil, and butter.  Then put it on the grill.  This turns out better than Ruth’s Chris steakhouse.  

I learned a lot this past trip.  I learned that you can’t find parts or anybody to fix your boat on an island where there are no stores or people.  It took a lot of thinking, problem solving, and luck to make it back to Oahu.  I made sure I fixed it myself so I don’t have to depend on anyone because you can’t depend on anyone.  

As I was working on the boat, there was this tiny little puffer fish swimming right along the side.  I could hear it telling me “you can do it!”  

Success!  I fixed it and didn’t drop any parts or tools in the water.  I almost fell off once though.  Haha.