Sea wife is sea witch

TWITTERS:

---Early morn. Leaving for Kona today. Afternoon fishing. 12:10 PM April 18, 2008 from txt
---Driving along north coast of big island. Up and down thru forests, jungle...blue ocean whitecaps to my right. 02:48 PM April 18, 2008 from txt
---Boarding 'The Sea Wife' for fishing. 04:53 PM April 18, 2008 from txt
---From the deck of the Sea Wife: still no bites :-( 06:15 PM April 18, 2008 from txt
---Fm deck of Sea Wife: shipmate 'calling the fish' (puking overboard), so maybe a fish will strike soon! 06:33 PM April 18, 2008 from txt
---Fm deck of Sea Wife: 'seahorse shirt guy' just keeps puking overbd. No fish yet:-( 07:30 PM April 18, 2008 from txt
---Fm deck of sea wife: guy called the fish (puked) enuf that we finally caught a couple wahoo. 08:58 PM April 18, 2008 from txt
---The SEA WIFE is a waste of $, time, suncreen and dramamine. I feel ripped off. 10:00 PM April 18, 2008 from txt

Got up early to drive the 3 hours to the other side of the island. We had a fishing charter booked out of Kona.

Warning: if they advertise themselves as "the only ship in the fleet that is Coast Guard certified" do NOT book a trip. Back away!

Mike grew up in Miami. He's been fishing more times than I've been in a corn field (that's an Iowa joke, people). Then for 4 years, we lived on Cape Coral and went out fishing all the time. Charter boats typically take six fishers out at a time. It's called a "six pack." News flash: Apparently, if a boat is "Coast Guard certified" it gives them dispensation to take 12 -- yes, 12, one dozen -- people on board. Something neither Mike nor I knew until we boarded.

What a total rip off! They put 12 people on the boat and then went around in circles in the bay. Everyone had to draw a number for a CHANCE to fish. Only 2 people got to touch fishing poles the whole, long, boring, afternoon trip.

Of my 11 shipmates, one was a newly-married couple on their honeymoon. She was 3 months pregnant and not feeling too great. So she stretched out for a long nap on one of the only two benches on the boat. Most of us just stood on deck the entire time.

Another shipmate was "seahorse shirt guy," a small Asian man wearing a t-shirt with several different varieties of sea horses on it. He was puking overboard the entire time. We were hopeful that would draw an unwitting fish (it usually does the trick). No such luck.

The first mate was a real trip. He spent most of the trip down in the hold, playing his PSP.

First time in my life I've gotten off a boat and seen Mike NOT tip the mate. He was steaming mad.

Again, in case you didn't get my main message: Do NOT go on the Sea Wife out of Kona.

Earth, air, fire, water, spirit

TWITTER: Will be dark w/in 30 min. On our way to see lava flowing into the sea... Dark hike in a dangerous place. 11:01 PM April 17, 2008 from txt


TWITTER: Wow. We survived. Black night. Treachorous lava field. Red burning lava meeting the sea in boiling steam. 01:20 AM April 18, 2008 from txt

Donned the required long pants, sturdy shoes, gloves, flashlights. Set out for the southeast part of the lava flow, where the ocean meets the magma, near Kalapana.

Renata had told us it would only be a 1-mile hike over the lava field to reach the active flow. She was right. But she neglected to mention that we would probably have to park at least a mile away from the trail head. So it was a dark 2-mile hike (1 mile on black top road uphill, another mile over the lava field). We were exhausted after the exertions from earlier that day.

It gets so dark here! There is no light pollution. And walking across the lava field was difficult enough in broad daylight. This is treacherous. If you fall, the lava lacerates without mercy.

There are many other people making the inky black, blind, trek. Many are talking as we all try to follow the little flourescent strips that mark the way to our destination.

It comes into view. Voices are silenced. Orange fire spews into the night sky. The lava has found an egress in an ocean cliff. Molten earth spurts from the cliff into the ocean. Mighty waves crash upon the lava, bubbling, squeaking, hissing, as they touch the magma.

Here's what it looks like after dark, where Madame Pele spews into the raging ocean (Windows Media). I think my heart stopped.

EARTH... AIR... FIRE... WATER... and my sated spirit... all in one place, a conflagration of such proportion that my heart had trouble holding the moment.

There was little conversation on the long hike back to the car. We were introspective. The earth is an amazing place.

If you know Mike, you know he can talk just about anyone into just about anything. He actually convinced a couple we'd never met before to give us a lift to our car (they had gotten into the closer parking area), so it was only a 1-mile hike back to the car. Great couple... based on the 4 minutes we were with them. :-)

Flower power, mini wahine style

First project working with the Hawaiian fabrics I brought back with me from the Big Island (oh, I haven't blogged about that part of the vacation yet!).

Dress and hat (modeled by my iron) for the lovely mini-wahine, Caille.



As usual, click on the photos for larger pictures.

UPDATE: Forgot to mention that this is McCall's 4432 and the dress was SO-O-o-o-o easy.

Don't forget water

TWITTER: Don't forget water when you hike over the old lava flow to the Pu'uloa petroglyphs (*gasp*) 09:08 PM April 17, 2008 from txt

85 degrees. Walking on a field of black bolders. Following a path marked only by piles of stones.

This is a sacred place. The figures were carved in the rock over a thousand years ago.

Yes, sorry this is taking so long

Sorry it's taking me so long to get my vacation blogged. Thanks for being patient!

Chain of craters, fields of lava

TWITTER: Via 'chain of craters road' down volcano to where old lava meets sea: the Holei Sea Arch is awesome. 08:09 PM April 17, 2008 from txt

Lava tube

TWITTER: Hiked down into the world's largest lava tube. Umm... Now we have to hike back out! 06:54 PM April 17, 2008 from txt

Volcano house: pukey food, great view

TWITTER: Lunching at the VOLCANO HOUSE overlooking kilauea crater. 05:21 PM April 17, 2008 from txt

Lunch was awful. Nasty. Uck. It was an "all you can eat buffet" with 2 choices. Mostly rice.

But the views are absolutely incredible.

The first Volcano House was covered in lava and burned down years ago. They built a new one.

The mermaid beckons and we write postcards

TWITTER: Stopped in at the kilauea military camp to use the post office...still in volcanoes natl park. 04:29 PM April 17, 2008 from txt

Where was a post office that would have the Kilauea postage mark? We asked, and were told to go to the Kilauea Military Camp, still within Volcanoes National Park.

The front desk staff told us that this is where military personnel come for R&R. It's a military resort.

Look at the cute cottages. They are adorable. Each one has a fireplace. And two stained glass windows.

Mike saw the sign of the mermaid, so we stopped in the mess hall for Starbuck's coffee and wrote postcards. Then we went to the camp's post office and mailed them.

Kilauea caldera spewing poison gas

TWITTER: Standing at edge of Kilauea caldera- sulfur smell, eyes burning, giant plumes of gas/smoke from bottom 03:51 PM April 17, 2008 from txt

No lava in the crater. But gaseous poison spewing out from the crater floor. My throat was burning, eyes were burning and tearing. I was looking into Madame Pele's heart.

Poison poison everywhere

TWITTER: Just entered Hawai'i Volcanoes Natl Park. 02:59 PM April 17, 2008 from txt

http://www.nps.gov/havo/

The sign says VISITOR ALERT. And then talks about high levels of sulfur dioxide poison being spewed from the volcano. The day before, they had to evacuate a city nearby.

We asked where we should go first in the park. The ranger said we should go to the caldera first, because it was likely to be evacuated withing a couple of hours.

Computer was in a coma; alive again now

My home pc is ancient. It died for a few weeks, but was resuscitated (barely). Actually, maybe it was just turned into the non-dead. Yes, a zombie pc.