For reasons that made total sense when we were in the UK today we have booked on a sailing trip that will include a Barbeque and snorkel for those that want to take part, when we got up at 5.30 and it was still dark and looked like it had been raining we doubted the wisdom of this trip but all the same we set off to meet up with the boat. We arrived just as check in opened and got handed a boarding pass and pointed in the direction of coffee – they could obviously tell we needed it! About 7:30 we were gathered into groups and walked down to the boat, it is a bare foot sail so we had to leave our shoes in a rack on the dock then it was all aboard for the safety briefing then we set sail. Our captain had a great sense of humour and made the briefing quite entertaining and all the way out he provided information either on the coastline itself or on the Hawaiian legends associated with the land. At one point he told us the boat in front had lost someone overboard and we were going to slow down to help look, this again was him kidding around as it was a large pod of dolphins. They swam around the boat although they didn’t swim alongside us when we set off again. Further up the coast is the Army base where they test missile launches, this is a massive area and had a wonderful sandy beach. It was completely closed off after 9-11 but recently they have re-opened it to locals that apply for a permit which it seems a number are doing not just because of the beach but also because it is quite good surfing along this coast. After about an hour when we were just beginning to wonder how much longer it would be and just as a number of the guests were starting to show distinctive signs of seasickness we finally saw a waterfall. The problem with this kind of coastline is that everything is so vast even waterfalls that drop 100 feet look tiny from where we were. All the same the scenery suddenly became very spectacular although quite scarred either from volcanic activity or because when the land was used for sugar plantation they diverted all the fresh water to the towns, villages and mills which stopped them falling into the sea. Now they plantations have closed they did talk about reverting the water but have decided against it as coral is starting to grow where the waterfalls used to land in the water and if they allowed them to flow again this would stop as coral can’t grow where there is fresh water. All too soon we were at the end of the Napali coast and it was time to turn round. We did put the sail up for a little while but we weren’t making enough way so the engine came on again/ When we were about an hour and a half from the mooring we picked up a buoy so that those that wanted to could go for a snorkel. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to but in the end decided that we are only going to be here once so I might as well. We had a briefing about how to use the equipment then it was time to don the flippers and mask and jump in the water. It was really cold, but you soon adjusted to it and we were swimming around with the fish. The mask was a lot better than the ones we had used previously and I didn’t end up with it being full of water, it was really strange to see the rays of sunshine through the water and we saw a few different varieties of fish, the larger ones were very close to the surface, while the smaller stripy ones were quite a long way down. There was some coral to look at but it wasn’t very colourful, but very nice all the same. We stayed in the water for quite a long time and it was fantastic, I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would despite Chris trying to get me to swim through the school of fish! We were probably in the water for about an hour then it was back onto the boat for the barbecue burger and chicken we had ordered and they had cooked off the back of the boat, then a quick motor back to the pier and it was time to to get off the boat. It was almost 2pm when we got back to the car so we decided to go and get something to eat as lunch had been at about 11:00 then we went back to the room to do a bit of laundry and look at the video Chris had taken underwater with the go-pro. We then had a nice relaxing evening after two quite early mornings!
