May 17, 2008 Dives - Mahi & Makaha Caverns

On Saturday, May 17, 2008, I dove with Shawn McElravy (divemaster) from Ocean Concepts, and Ryan Cox. We did two dives, the Mahi, a 95 foot deep dive on a ship that was intentionally sunk as an artificial reef and Makaha Caverns, a 50 foot deep dive on a shallow coral reef with lava tubes and swim throughs.

Dove with Ryan in Shawn's group. We were the only two with cameras. There were 12 divers and two "guides", so they paired up all the divers and the two guides each took a group. Our group was the second in and Ryan and I were the first of our group to giant stride in. Headed down the mooring line to the wreck. Ryan, Shawn and I hung out until everyone else showed up. Took some photos, and tried not to burn through too much air.

Made one lap around the wreck taking photos. Got a nice photo of a Scrawled or Broomtail Filefish and some photos of a juvenile Leaf Scorpionfish. Also got a photo of Wire Coral and an Imperial Slug.

Headed back up the line at the end of the dive. I was a little low on air again so Shawn sent me up with another diver who was also low.

For the second dive, Ryan and I giant strided in and dropped down to the bottom. Shawn led the group on a "tour" of the caverns. Went through several swim throughs and little slot valleys. Took lots of photos. Lots of turtles - got some really good photos, especially of one small turtle that was being cleaned be a swarm of Ringtail Surgeonfish.

Got a good photo of a Triton's Trumpet, a Tiger Flatworm, and a Fourspot Butterflyfish.

I discovered the how to use the macro function on this dive and it really helps!!

I was a little low on air again so Shawn sent me up with another diver who was also low. Ascended without a safety stop and hauled out.

I like this operator better than all the others I have dived with in Hawaii so far. They are just much more professional in their approach. They conducted a good safety briefing and a good dive briefing. The have an air station suspended at safety stop depth for low air situations. They provided lunch. Even though they are a few dollars more, they are worth every penny.

Playing Hooky in Hawaii

Actually it was Spring Break, so in April 2008, Lauri and Rebecca spent a week with me in Honolulu. Reb has been wanting to go over ever since I started working there, and she finally got her wish.

While I worked, they played and saw the sites and shopped and just got to know the Honolulu area a little better. Perhaps they will post on their sites about the things they did when I was not around, such as their visit to Pearl Harbor.

Instead of diving this trip, we went to the PCC and up to the Punchbowl and to Laie and just enjoyed being together.

March 22, 2008 Dives - The Corsair & Koko Craters

On Saturday, March 22, 2008, I dove with Erin (divemaster) from Aqua Zone, Kevin and Steve. We did two dives, the Corsair, a 107 foot deep dive on a WWII fighter that crashed in 1946 when the pilot ran out of fuel while waiting for an airstrip to open up. The Pilot survived and made it to shore. The second dive was Koko Craters, a 35 foot deep dive on a shallow coral reef.

Backrolled into the water and immediately headed down the anchor line about 10'. Kevin was the first in and as soon as he went vertical, his weightbelt went right to the bottom, so Erin had to fix him up with a new one. Steve and I hung out at 10' until he was ready.

Descended along the line until we were at the bottom. Kevin was a little slow coming down.

Made one lap around the plane taking photos. Would like to have gotten a better photo of the Hawaiian Garden Eels, but didn't think about zoom. A little narced I suppose.

I discovered the flash and color!!!!

Got a nice photo inside the cockpit of a Greenhead Moray Eel and some good photos inside the fuselage of Bigscale Soldierfish. I was a little surprised by the color that showed up on the flash photos inside dark places, since you cannot see it at all with the naked eye.

Headed back up the line at the end of the dive. I was a little low on air at the safety stop, so shared air with Erin. Forgot how to set a safety stop bookmark in the computer, but looked it up later. Need to see what I can do to get better air consumption. Less movement, better conditioning, I suppose would help. This is my second most favorite dive site.

This was my first dive with my new dive computer. I felt much more comfortable than the past two dives with Andre'. I knew how deep I was and how much time I had.

On the second dive, backrolled in and dropped down to the bottom. Peered under ledges and looked for turtles and other critters. Lots of turtles. Most had large growths on their heads caused by agricultural runoff.

Got a good photo of Hawaiian Squirrelfish. Erin found a Leaf Scorpionfish and showed us all. A little later, she also showed us a Devil Scorpionfish.

Looked at a Cushion Star, actually saw two of them.

As we were headed back to the mooring line, came across a Humuhumu-nukunuku-apua'a, but was not able to get a photo.

Ascended without a safety stop and hauled out.

February 23, 2008 Dives - San Pedro/Y0-257 & Kewalo Basin Pipe

On Saturday, February 23, 2008, I dove again with Andre' from Reef Trekkers. We did two dives, the San Pedro/YO-257, a 90 foot deep dive on two ships that were intentionally sunk as artificial reefs, and the Kewalo Basin Pipe, a 60 foot deep dive on a shallow coral reef and an old outflow pipe off of Ward Center.

I got in, immediately submerged and grabbed the anchor line and waited for Andre. He submerged as soon as he hit the water, so I just followed him.

Dropped down to nearly the bottom alongside the San Pedro (90') following a Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle and then swam back up to the deck level. We did a swim through of the cargo hold and then up to the deck and swam around for a little bit and then followed Andre over the side and we swam over to the YO-257.

Swam through the oiling equipment on the deck. All throughout, there was a pretty strong current running that made staying clear challenging. Also, there was lots of crud in the water. It almost looked like a snow storm. Took a bunch of photos, but they all were not too good.

There was a White Spotted Eagle Ray just off the side of the YO as we were about to start back. I managed to get a photo as we swam back over to the San Pedro. We swam over the top of the wreck to the mooring line and began our ascent. Just before getting to the mooring line, we passed over another White Spotted Eagle Ray and I got a photo of it as well.

Did a three minute safety stop and then went up and boarded the boat.

Even though I had cleaned the o-ring on my watch after the last dives in January, it flooded again on this dive, but was still functioning. My depth gauge never went below 70 feet and stuck on 60 feet coming back up. I talked to Andre about it and his response was, "You are with me and I will keep you safe." I decided then that either I would get my own gear or not dive with Andre' again. I like him a lot, but it is not worth risking so much.

For the second dive we dropped down to the pipe at between 40 and 45 feet. Andre and I swam slowly out to the end of the pipe and then back in a large circle around the reef. Saw and took photos of various reef fish and one little moray eel.

The circle brought us back to the mooring line where we slowly ascended and did a three minute safety stop. Finished the ascent and boarded the boat.

Even though my watch is flooded, it worked until the end of the dive and died just as I was getting out of the water. It is now toast.

January 26, 2008 Dives - Sea Tiger & Horseshoe Reef

On Saturday, January 26, 2008, I dove with Andre' from Reef Trekkers. We did two dives, the Sea Tiger, a 115 foot deep dive on a ship that was intentionally sunk as an artificial reef, and Horseshoe Reef, a 45 foot deep dive on a shallow coral reef.

Dropped down to handrail level on the deck (100') and immediately spotted a fairly large (8') Whitetip Reef Shark laying on the bottom so we went over the side and investigated it from about 115'. I did not take my camera on the first dive since it was my first dive below 60 feet. I wish I had. Andre took a couple of photos.

Swam back up over the rail toward the stern of the ship and immediately came upon two White Spotted Eagle Rays. They were motionless in the water just hovering over the stern of the ship, their tails straight out behind and their wingtips curled upward slightly. Andre took a couple of photos and then we did a swim-through of the cargo hold. There was a Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle in the hold.

As we came up out of the hold, we swan back over the starboard rail. The two eagle rays were still there but a much larger ray had swum over the wreck and was swimming away over the stern. Everyone called it a hawaii ray, but as near as I can tell it must have been a Manta Ray.

Andre took a couple of photos and then we swam over to the mooring line and ascended. Did a three minute safety stop and then went up and boarded the boat.

My watch was leaking after this dive, but was still functioning.

The photos Andre' took did not turn out well, so he gave me a photo of a shark and one of some eagle rays, but they are not the ones from this dive.

I took the camera on the second dive.

Entered the water and dropped down to the reef at between 40 and 45 feet. Andre and I swam in a large circle around the reef. Saw and took photos of Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles and various reef fish, including a Humuhumu Lei.

The circle brought us back to the mooring line where we slowly ascended and boarded the boat.

My watch was still functioning, even though it had moisture inside. Back at the hotel, I took it apart and dried it out for a couple of days and it worked OK. The o-ring needed to be cleaned and lubed, so I did that in the hope it would be OK.

2007 PB Christmas Party in Honolulu

So, this year, since I was not in Utah and able to attend the PB Christmas party (seems like that has been the story the past several years, actually), I was in Honolulu and was able to attend theirs instead.


I have to say, it is sooo different than the semi-social bunch at the Murray office. These folks over in Honolulu know how to have a good time. And they did it without alcohol!! That is unusual for the Honolulu office, but it does follow the actual Corporate guidelines to the letter. The guys planning the party didn't know that the guidelines are always ignored for the Christmas party, so they all did without and had fun to boot.

Jim Dunn and Kanuji (Kanu) Parma

We had dinner;

The Dunns & Linda Sebald

They passed out door prizes;

Going to Get My Prize

Getting My Movie Tickets

We had a contest to see which table of engineers could build the tallest structure out of toothpicks and marshmallows;




We tied for first at 10". (No photo of the structure.) No matter what anyone tried, 10" was as tall as you could build; try to go above that and they just collapsed. Marshmallows make lousy building materials--think marshmallow sidewalks. Scary!


So we had a group karaoke contest to determine the grand champions--we lost!!!

It was a fun party, even if I was by myself.

Halloween in Waikiki

I have never been to Carnival or to Mardi Gras, but they can't be much stranger than Halloween in Waikiki!

Lauri came with me for a week at the end of October 2007. We stayed at the Imperial Hotel in Waikiki. It is a timeshare, so is a little more comfortable, but the neighborhood is loud and the facility is old. It is about 2.5 miles from my office downtown.

On Halloween, everyone in town flocked down to Waikiki for the evening. Many were driving down, but thousands were walking along the streets, most of them in costume. They were the most outlandish costumes I have ever seen. Many were Japanese and I think they were attempting to all dress as streetwalkers. The streetwalkers must have been hating life, because no-one could tell them apart from the crowd. I did not have my camera with me and by the time I got to the hotel, did not think to take it when we went to get dinner, so I do not have photos. Wait till next year!

It took me 2-1/2 hours to drive the 2.5 miles. I could have walked it in less than 1/2 hour.

On the flip side, on the Saturday before, we went to the Arizona Memorial. The movie is a sobering and thought-provoking experience. The emotions it evokes are hard to explain.

This plaque is only for those lost before and after WWII.

For me, however, the Lost Submarine Memorial was even more emotional. There are no multimedia presentations, no crowds, very few who came, seemed even to notice that it existed. Just a large circle of individual plaques--one for each submarine that was lost in the Pacific during WWII. So many men lost at sea, far more than at Pearl Harbor--most without us even knowing for sure where. They simply did not return from their final mission.


That is the horrible price of our freedom!

Here are some more photos:

PB Office Blessing

On October 9, 2007, the new PB Transit Office in the Pauahi Tower in downtown Honolulu was "dedicated."

It seems a little strange to us in Utah where not only is church separated from the state, but also persecuted by the state, but in other states it is not so. Especially in Hawaii. The have "Blessings" for everything and talk openly about spirituality.

We had a native Hawaiian priest come and he blessed the office in hawaiian. During the blessing he sprinkled "pure water" from a mountain spring on the door posts and lintel and key manager's hands using a bunch of Ti leaves.

I also included a couple of photos from my lanai:

October 6, 2007 Dives - Kewalo Basin Pipe & Secret Reef

On Saturday, October 6, 2007, I dove with Ryan from Dive Oahu. We did two dives, Kewalo Basin Pipe, a 60 foot deep dive on a shallow coral reef and an old outflow pipe off of Ward Center, and Secret Reef, a 45 foot deep dive on a shallow coral reef.

I was still a little nervous about the deep dives, so I decided to be a little conservative again and I chose 2 shallow reef dives for my second dive adventure in Hawaii.

We descended along the bow mooring line to the pipe. Right after getting there, I saw and took a photo of a Zebra Moray Eel which is pretty rare. Swam slowly down (Makai) the pipe to the end. Saw lots of reef fish and eels. Took photos along the way. At the end of the pipe, there was a moray and a school of Bigscale Soldierfish in the very end of the pipe.

Swam slowly to the west and then mauka back to the mooring line. Ascended slowly along the mooring line and got back on the boat with 900 psi to spare.

The second dive was really from the same place. Once again Ryan and I swam around to the bow and descended along the mooring line. We swam mauka along the pipe and the reef along side for a ways.

Turned to the east and swam over to Secret Reef. Swam around the reef and looked under overhangs and saw the whole reef. Swam back to the pipe which sucked up all my air. Only had 400 psi left and Ryan found two Day Octopus swimming. I got a quick photo and ascended.

I took lots of photos, but not very many came out so you could see what was supposed to be in them.

September 22, 2007 Dives - Turtle Canyon & Portlock Point (revised)

For my first dives in Hawaii, I decided to be a little conservative, so I chose 2 shallow reef dives rather than the standard here of 1 deep dive followed by 1 shallow reef dive.

On Saturday, September 22, 2007, I dove with Daryn from Aqua Zone. We did two dives, Turtle Canyon, a 40 foot deep dive on a shallow coral reef off of Hawaii Kai, and Portlock Point, a 50 foot deep drift/wall dive.

I did not take my camera on the first dive since it was my first dive in the islands. I wish I had. I was the only one to see the Commerson's Frogfish, so I did not get a photo. Daryn had his camera, and I bought the CD from him.

Did a backroll from the side of the boat to enter the water since it was a small boat without a dive platform. Descended along the mooring line and struck out in a northerly direction.

We swam in a large circle around the reef. Saw lots of reef fish and a couple of moray eels. Ascended slowly up the mooring line and boarded the boat.

Here are the photos from the first dive:

Right at the end of the dive, as we were nearing the mooring line, we came across a large greenish Whitemouth Moray Eel that was swimming. We followed it to a coral head where it hid and watched a Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse attempting to clean it. It snapped at the wrasse a couple of times. Daryn shot this video:



The second dive was really cool. I had no idea at the time, just how good conditions were, since I had nothing to compare with. It is by far, my favorite dive of all the ones I have done here in the islands in the year since.

The water was absolutely clear. Far and away the best visibility, and I like this site better than any other I have dived. Only problem is that it is a rarely visited site and getting someone to take me there again will be difficult, since the conditions are a little challenging.

Backrolled in and immediately descended to the base of the wall at 50 feet. Daryn deployed the float and we swam along the wall. The bottom is covered with huge boulders. Lots of reef fish and the vis was excellent.

There are several small caves in the wall, and in the first, we found a Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle. Took some photos in the cave and while it was swimming. In the next cave we found a 5-6 foot Whitetip Reef Shark. Same routine - took photos in the cave and as it swam away. Saw one more turtle just before swimming out from the wall a ways and ascending.

I took the camera on the second dive: