Report from South Kona

Feeling all punky , Chris has a little cold coming on . All stuffed up . He may just have to stay home tomorrow . Quiet night over all not much action , just over cast skies and a gray sunset .

Drawn in last night by this movie on Canadian National Film Boards web site. Showing a Cedar canoe being made all by hand from scratch . Really something to see , the film was made in 1971 , from the cutting of the tree to the finish and the canoe going out on the lake . One of the great things about it , there is no dialog just the guy going along doing all the steps . With several kids helping a bit but mostly playing with a dog and fighting with sticks . A fine example of a lost art , I would have loved to have the finished canoe .

The waves have dropped down and we have had a hazy over cast day . Whales are still spouting at night , their sounds coming up from the sea .

Just Floating Around , Steve

www.nfb.ca/film/Cesars_Bark_Canoe

One forlorn kid was all that was at the bus stop this morning . The bus was missed by just a couple of seconds or so . The good part , it got me on the road early since I piled them in and dropped them off . LOL Getting to town so so early I was finished by 2 o’clock and down at the surf . A new swell came in today and the waves had come up , Two or three large waves or pretty good size ones any way , came in about every 15 to 20 minutes . Since it has been a low tide in the afternoons , the shallow water had them closing out in a long wall .

Several new plants have come up in the garden , some new lemon basil , a few Butternut squash and some Jimica that I am trying out . ( Hold on I,m roasting some peppers for salsa , I need to check them ) ok now they are steaming in a bag . Since I have the grill on maybe I,ll find something to throw on .

It’s getting time for a road Adventure , we haven’t been down to the Volcano in a while . There are some sand dunes that we haven’t hiked out to , where there are some foot prints that were left from a group of Hawaiians that were caught in a ash eruption long ago . They are pretty neat to see along with the dunes . Even though now there is some controversy about how old they are . It’s a neat walk semi prehistoric in the surroundings , meandering along a trail over lava fields dotted with Ohia trees . Before they boys were born was the last time that I walked out there over 13 years .

Enjoying the Water , Steve

A little holiday , did go and work for a bit . Then spent some of the afternoon out surfing again down at Kahaluu . Waves were about the same as Saturday , small with a nice little group of set waves breaking . Arrived just as lull in the crowd came about . Paddled my Slick out again , getting a few fun little waves . It was a bit over cast but the water has warmed up a bit , with a low tide running the reef shallow . Slipped into a couple lefts and rode quite a few rights coasting in thru the inner roll up . Feels good to ride home all salty from the water .

Drifting around the Sea , Steve

Saturday , nice mellow afternoon riding some small waves down in town . Just small ones out in the bright sunshine , just a hand full of people out . had the surfboard out instead of my body board that I have been riding mostly since the fracture last summer . It works good jumping up , something I was worried about not being able to do . Spent the time riding some small fun right slides that walled up a little then coasted in to the inside roll ups .

Just hanging around in the evening and darkness making some Chicken on the grill . Spending some time out on the Picnic table under the lantern light .

Sunday , fixed the pipes under the house that have been a little funky for a while . Generally hung out , messed with the garden a little . Had bought some seeds for Brussell sprouts and something else , oh Artichokes that was it . The bag they were in went floating out the back of my truck when I drove down to the beach . lol Maybe I will spot it and get them back next time .

Blah Blah Blah , Steve

Lots of Whales sounding down on the moon like sea , late in the night . Slapping and blowing , noise of water and air blasting out , a fountain on the ocean . They will be leaving soon with their new calves and traveling back to the plankton rich waters of the north . I left the camera out running on night and may have got some of the sounds . They are hard to predict , sounding loud , then nothing for long minutes . Back ground noise of the rustling of the plants may have made it hard to record .

Plenty of rain on and off the last few days . Thunder from up the slopes , lightning flashing here and there on and off . Large drops of rain soaking down and just down the same street dry and not a drop . Big thunder storms drifting around white and fluffy on top black and reaching for the ground with rain drops on the bottom .

Surf has been on a little roller coaster ride , increasing in the middle of the week and suddenly dropping down to nothing and then the next day rising for a bit . Over all I haven’t been able to surf much . Getting back to the afternoon surfing again after having a weird couple of weeks , got out of the swing and groove .

Vapors and Smiles , Steve