Hot Day and Stinging things in the Water

Today was quite hot all over the outer banks. We went to the beach at around noon. The water was warm, but after a few minutes we had to escape--things were stinging us! Couldn't see anything. We consoled ourselves by going to get a little something to eat which turned out to be a tasty fresh yellowtail tuna filet. We came back to the villa and did some work, and then went across the causeway into Manteo to go on a sunset sailing trip on the Downeast Rover

We got on the boat


It was chock full of people, but we were in the after area and it was amiable and not crowded. The young woman who was crewing on the Rover said that we had probably encountered a combination of sea lice and dismembered jellyfish. We hope they will be gone in the morning.

Here are some pictures.







How 'bout those old salts. Then we had to get a little something to eat and even though they were out of softshell crabs we found some other fish and consoled ourselves with the homemade key lime pie.

Nag's Head August 2008

Back at our little Ocean Villa. Margaret first came to the Outer Banks in 1959, came back when she was at Duke, and then we came in 1987. Things probably changed less between 1959 and 1987 than they have in the last 20 years. So far, we have had NC barbecue, fresh seafood including our favorite place for softshell crab, and a dolphin sandwich at John's Drive-in. (Note: it's not the flipper kind of dolphin, it's a small fish)

Mostly we have been at the beach.

On the other hand, it isn't all about the food, we saw this line-up of charter boats back from a day off of Hatteras.

The old homestead

One last thing--on the way to the airport, we drove around looking for the house Margaret lived in after graduating from Duke, the year she did community organizing. Here it is.



The shrine is fabulous

Last Day in Durham

We went to the Sarah B. Duke gardens for champagne brunch. Everyone who was anyone was there, although President Brodhead didn't stop by our group for a chat:


Later we drove around the area north of Durham, where the small towns and farms are gradually becoming bedroom communities to the research triangle. Nice statue of the Confederate War Dead:

Cameron, Hog Heaven, Saturday Night

We went to a fascinating discussion of work in Women's Studies in the morning; then a speech by President Brodhead; then lunch at Cameron Indoor Stadium where the group photos were taken.





After the luncheon we made our way back to the Duke Student Coop, which was doing a goldrush business in Duke-branded clothing, bookbags, umbrellas (it was raining), and did our bit with Duke baseball caps. We went to a very inspiring panel on the DukeEngage program which is promoting social engagement among Duke undergrads.

Back to the shuttle bus at Reunions Central near the athletic complex,


to get back to the car, and a drive around the outskirts of Durham before dinner. Guess where?





and back to the Quality Inn for an exciting evening of NCIS reruns and Cubs baseball on the cable.

Duke, Class of '68

Today we arrived in Durham for the 40th reunion of Margaret's Duke University class of '68. We found bookstores, food and classmates:

Last day in paradise

The dive trip I had planned to go on today was cancelled because the weather had caused too much turbulence and impaired the visibility underwater. So instead I drove south, stopped for lunch in Kihei, and kept going. I went as far south as seemed reasonable given the lava flows, and turned in at Ahihi Bay Marine Reserve. There was no beach, just a lava flow running into the ocean.


The snorkeling was usually supposed to be good, but, people coming out of the water said the visibility was terrible. The water was an amazing color.


I headed back up the coast, and stopped at Polo beach. Just my luck, yet another beautiful beach with construction going on in the background.



There used to be picnic tables, but the amenities had been displaced by heavy construction equipment, and Surveyors In Paradise:





I was informed as I was leaving the beach that they were helping in the project of laying fiber optic cable from somewhere to somewhere else.

On the other hand, there was also a wedding pending, with people setting up computer, sound system, and hibiscus corsages, etc. And the wedding party began to assemble. Of course, I felt that these girls were suitably dressed for the beach (evidently the wedding was for standing people only, no chairs)

Molokini

Today was for doing more than looking. I probably got some more whale shots but they are still in the camera. I took a snorkel trip that was supposed to go to the Coral Gardens on the West coast, but an unusual south swell had reduced visibility so the Captain opted for Molokini. Visibility when we got there was 100 feet, and we could see tons of fish.

There were whales everywhere too--you could feel them as well as see them. On the way back, I counted a whale do 22 consecutive tail slaps, where the whale lifted its tail straight up out of the water and then smacked its flukes down flat. I saw a baby whale breach-jump all the way out of the water. They certainly seemed to be having fun.

Me too.

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Snorkeling at Kapalua

Kapalua is a mid-size beach north of Napili. Snorkeling is good on the north side of the cove along the reef. Looking out from the sand where I was sitting, there are two canoes sitting halfway between me and the reef.


Looking back over my shoulder, you can see some other indigneous wildlife: the crane, visible at the top of this photo above the palm trees.



The construction made this place feel like it could be Puerto Vallarta or anywhere else where there is eternal construction next to the beach.

Anyway, into the water. When I picked up the fins and mask from a shop here, they basically threw in an underwater camera. Using it was a little challenging since the viewfinder was useless--the camera had an attached plastic grid/crosshairs which you could flip up to supplement the viewfinder, but there was no way to tell what relationship the thing had to what the lens would actually capture. However, I did manage to include some fish in the shots.



Underwater photography is pretty interesting from a physics standpoint, because both the photographer and the subject are moving in all three dimensions all the time. So I could see the value of slightly better equpment than the $9 disposable camera I had. But I think you can see a flock of fish in this next picture.







Before packing up for the day I gave the auto-timer one more chance:



Mahalo for reading!

Some one to watch over me

She is watching me from the sliding door between my bedroom and the kitchen....

(taken by blackberry camera and posted by mobile phone msg)

Up the coast

This morning I went for breakfast at a place near the harbor in Lahaina. The food wasn't what I had hoped, but the couple next to me pointed out a new arrival in the harbor: a nuclear sub. They had binoculars and could seen the crew on deck. I took these pictures for them:






I guess they didn't want to get close enough for good photos.

A little later I drove up the coast to Ka'anapali. A couple I met on Weds. had said that there was a park near the Westin, with good snorkeling, so I was on a dual mission: to get a shirt I could wear in the water (sunburn prevention) and to figure out what they had described. Ka'anapali has shops, the famous Hula Grill, fancy shops, resorts, and shops. There's a walkway along the beach past all the fancy hotels, and there are public access points to the beach between the hotels. The challenge is parking, of course, since you're not supposed to park in the lot at the shopping center. It turns out that there are about 23 public parking spots which the hotels have generously allocated to the masses. I'll have to figure out plan B another day. Meanwhile I found a shirt, which was good for getting the parking validated, and I walked a long way on the beachwalk to look at the possibilities, so I had to go get something at the Hula Grill to revive.

Then I drove further up the coast, where I saw this:



I thought it would be a good time to figure out how the auto-timer on my camera worked, so I pulled over, propped the camera up on the hood of the car on top of the camera bag, set the timer, and then tried to get back into the picture without falling over the cliff.



Luckily, an nice couple came along and I offered to take their picture together with their camera if they'd take one of me, so it worked out OK:


I uploaded pictures to flickr that aren't included here.

To Lana'i

Today I left at dawn on a sailing catamaran to Lana'i.

In the picture below, you are looking at the full moon getting ready to set, not the rising sun::



The crew was young and enthusiastic. Here is Jill describing something or other:



This is Capt. Ben. To me he looks like he's about 17, but I think he's been working with theo company for quite a while.


There were lots of whales going and coming. Here is the morning shift.




It was a beautiful morning as the sun came up. Here are the flags flying from one of the stays:



Here's the harbor in Lanai.


These guys had spent 9 hours overnight kayaking from Maui to Lana'i.



On Lana'i, there is a fair amount of work going on. It looks like the guy here isn't wearing safety gear, but he is union. The whole island is owned by 1 guy, David Murdock (no relation to Rupert, they said. It's a union island though.



Here's the beach we had to snorkel at, pretty miserable, right?


Next to the sandy beach was a lava flow out into the water, and there was coral all along the bottom which made for good snorkeling.






On the way back to Lahaina, there was a whale almost too far out to photograph, that was slapping its tail, meaning that about every 30 seconds it would lift its tail up out of the water and then smack it down with a big splash. It did that for maybe 5 minutes.



oh, ok, i'll put in one more whale tail I took:



Wait, I think this is a mom and baby whale hanging out. It sort of felt like there were whales lurking all around us. One is spouting, one is flipping its tail.