Paddle Log #22: Kailua to Mokulua Islands

Ahhh, it's good to be back in port again after almost three weeks out at sea.  It was a very busy time with no days off and not much in the way of sleep, so it was nice to have this weekend off to rest.

So what did I do to relax? 

Went back out to sea, of course!  Well, this time under my own propulsion.

A friend of mine and I went to Kailua Sailboards and Kayaks and rented a tandem kayak to paddle out to the Mokulua Islands and back.  It was a beautiful morning on the water. 

Normally, the winds around here are from the northeast (hence why this is the "windward" side of the island).  More often than not, it will be cloudy on the windward side of the island with the clouds bunching up against the Ko Olau mountain range, and it will be bright and sunny on the south side where Waikiki and Pearl Harbor are. 

Not today.  Oddly enough, the winds were out of the south-southwest today, so it was cloudy on the south side of the island as I left the naval base, and it was gorgeous over on the (normally) windward side where we were planning to go kayaking.

Kailua Sailboards and Kayaks has kayak rental down to a science.  They have an incredibly smooth process for checking people in, moving you on to watch their safety video (which is very informative, funny, and entertaining), check out your gear, head down to the waterfront, and get paddling.  It is all very well orchestrated, and I was amazed at how many customers they were able to process in a very short period of time AND with friendly and professional service to boot.

 Standing on Flat Island, looking back toward Kailua in the background.

On our way, paddling from Flat Island to the Mokulua Islands.

The Mokulua Islands are a bird sanctuary, so you can't leave the beach.

Evidence

Sidenote about my Garmin:  I forgot to start my Garmin Forerunner before we got in the water.  Paddling out through the surf we took a good amount of splashing and wave slap.  The Forerunner uses a touch-screen, so when I tried to activate my Garmin on the way paddling out, the saltwater on the watch just drove the touch-screen nuts.  I locked it (pushing both side buttons at once locks or unlocks the touch-screen) and waited until we got over to Mokulua Island.  I rinsed it with fresh-water and let it dry out in the wind, then I unlocked it and activated it for the paddle back to Kailua, so that's why my Garmin Connect data isn't complete for this trip. 



Overall, we had an excellent morning getting some exercise in the fresh air with some saltwater splashed on us.  We wrapped it all up with a stop at the legendary Boots & Kimos for some banana pancakes with macadamia nut syrup.  Mmmmmm.  :-9

Stats for the paddle log:

• Date: 20 February 2011
• Time In: Approx 10:35 a.m.
  
• Time Out: 12:35 p.m.
  
• Elapsed:  About 2 hours
• Moving Time (GPS): unknown - technical difficulties with watch
• Stopped Time (GPS):  unknown - technical difficulties with watch
• Mileage (GPS): Approx 4 miles
  
• Sea State: 1
• Winds: 8-10 mph E observed in Kailua (Intellicast), but overall winds from SW made for a cloudy day on the south side of the island and a clear day here in Kailua.
• Air Temp:  77F
• Water Temp: Not sure.  Warm.  Bathwater.
• Current:  None.
• Gauge Height:  N/A.
• Avg Speed (GPS):  3.2 mph (at least for the second half paddling back to Kailua)
  
• Max Speed by (GPS):  5.0 mph (I'm pretty confident we didn't exceed this paddling out INTO the swells on the way out)
• Rapids?  None. 
• Hazards?  Waves breaking over reefs.
  
• Kit: Rental kayak (unknown model). NH ballcap, NRS paddling gloves, long sleeve shirt, swim trunks, Keen sandals.
• Configuration: Tandem.  I sat in back, S sat in front.
• Route:  Put-in at Kailua Sailboards & Kayak rental, headed out into surf and over to Flat Island.  After a brief stop at Flat Island, we paddled southeast parallel to shore and then out to the north Mokulua Island, paddling into 3 foot swells crashing into the bow.  Rested on the island for a bit.  Paddled back toward the shoreline, then northwest parallel to the shore back to Kailua.
• Other comments (such as wildlife spotted): None.

Bucket List: Climb Koko Head

One hike climb that was on my to-do list most of the time we lived in Hawaii in 2007-2008 was Koko Head.  (Check out the gorgeous aerial photo of the Koko head crater on wikipedia.)  I never did it while we lived here because it was above the level of difficulty for my two little boys (at the time anyway), and there were plenty of other hikes to do around the island that I could take the boys with me.

Now that I'm back on the island for a fairly brief period of time, I made a promise to myself that I would conquer Koko Head while I was here.

You may recall a couple of posts ago, there's a wonderful view into the Koko Head crater from the trail going up Makapu'u Ridge. 

This time I had a completely different perspective of Koko Head.  There is a set of railroad tracks that were used to take supplies up to an Army coastal observation post during WWII.

Warning:  If you go climb Koko Head, be advised there is a bridge you have to cross which is open between the railroad ties down into a ravine.  This might freak out someone who is afraid of heights or who has small children with them. 

This turned out to be quite the stairmaster-type workout.  The picture above was taken from a horizontal position to show you the slope of the tracks going up the hill.

On the way up, my heart was pounding so hard I thought it would leap out of my chest.  I couldn't believe there were people passing me - RUNNING both up and down the tracks.

The view at the top was worth it...

That's Makapu'u Ridge in the distance.  

In the foreground is the other side of the Koko Head crater.

Hanauma Bay

Diamond Head

I foolishly thought that going back down would be easier than going up.  Going down was like a thousand squats.  It's not like Makapu'u where you just walk down a flat, paved trail.  Coming down those railroad ties was one careful and deep step down at a time.

Did I mention it was 1,083 feet of elevation gain in just 0.8 miles?  It took me 50 minutes to get to the top and 35 minutes to come back down.  Here are the Garmin stats with the altitude profile.

Today my legs are a bit sore and my right knee hurts, but I'm happy to cross Koko Head off of my bucket list.

Paddle Log #21: Pearl Harbor

Deja vu.  Back where it all started.  Almost three years ago, my eldest son and I went kayaking together for the first time here at the Rainbow Marina on Pearl Harbor.

For exercise, I've been running almost every morning since I arrived here three weeks ago, but I have been taking Sundays off to do something different like the Makapu'u Ridge and Olomana hikes that I wrote about last week. 

This week I wanted to get out on the water.  I had originally intended to do a longer paddling excursion out of Kailua, but I had too much studying to do and a 3 hour test to take.  So this afternoon I just took a quick break, went down to the Rainbow Marina, and checked out a kayak to get some exercise and enjoy some time on the water. 

It was partly cloudy out, which was nice to give me some shade.  It was also pretty windy - 12 to 14 mph winds according to Intellicast.  That stirred up some chop on the water.  Of course, the marina is at the windward side of the harbor, so you have no choice but to go downwind first and then fight your way back against the wind coming back.  You can see it on my Garmin where my average speed was about 4.0 mph as I paddled down wind.  Then when I turned around and started paddling back, you see my average speed dropped to about 3.2 mph. 

It was a good workout paddling into the wind.  After I paddled back into the lee of McGrew Point, I just loitered in the basin there enjoying the sound of the waves lapping against the hull, watching the water and the feeling the wind. 

It was a short excursion, but it was a much needed break from studying.

Stats for the paddle log:

• Date: 23 January 2011
• Time In: 2:23 p.m.
  
• Time Out: 3:46 p.m.
  
• Elapsed:  1 hours 23 minutes
• Moving Time (GPS):  1 hrs 5 minutes 
• Stopped Time (GPS):  18 minutes
• Mileage (GPS): 3.6 miles
  
• Sea State: 1
• Winds: 12-14 mph NE (Intellicast)
• Air Temp:  79F
• Water Temp: Not sure.  Warm.  Bathwater.
• Current:  None.
• Gauge Height:  Not sure.  Seemed about average.
• Avg Speed (GPS):  3.3 mph
  
• Max Speed by (GPS):  5.3 mph
• Rapids?  None. 
• Hazards?  None.
  
• Kit: Wilderness rental kayak (unknown model). Flop hat, NRS paddling gloves, short sleeve shirt, swim trunks, water shoes.
• Configuration: Single seat.  Only me this time.
• Route:  Put-in at Rainbow Marina.  Examined the chart at the boat house and determined where the restricted areas were.  Paddled to the red buoy north of Ford Island that marked the edge of the restricted area.  Harbor security got nervous about me and sent a boat out to make sure I wasn't going to go past the red buoy.  I told them I knew the boundary and that I would not cross it.  Turned around at the red buoy and paddled back into the wind.  Did an extra lap in the basin next to the PACFLT boathouse.

• Other comments (such as wildlife spotted): A couple of local birds that I have not yet identified.

Olomana Hike

Aloha and Happy New Year everyone! 

I'm in Hawaii for some training courtesy of the U.S. Navy.  I don't get much sympathy for being separated from my family when that separation involves sunshine, shorts, t-shirts, and sandals while my family is bundled up and shoveling snow in Virginia. 

There isn't much free time in my schedule here, but I am getting out to do something adventurous each weekend.  Last weekend I took some of my classmates to hike Makapu'u Ridge at sunrise.

Sunrise over Molokai as seen from Makapu'u Ridge. 

We had a good glimpse of the Dragon's Nostrils, too.

 Self-portrait with KoKo Head in the background.

This weekend, three of my classmates led me on an excursion to hike Olomana. 

Did I say hike? 

I should have said climb.

1,600 feet of elevation gain up a narrow ridge with several hundred foot drop-offs on either side.  Check out the altitude profile from my Garmin.

The trail started off easy-enough, but then there were several spots with pretty steep rock-faces that required pulling ourselves up a rope.

 There are drop-offs of hundreds of feet on either side of this ridge.

There are actually a series of three peaks in Olomana.  The first peak is the highest, and that's as far as we went.  It is possible to continue hiking the ridge down from the first peak and back up to the second and then the third peak, but those are advanced and even dangerous to attempt.

That's the third peak.

The views from the top of Olomana were extraordinary...

 View Northwest to Kaneohe and up the Windward side of Oahu

 View Northeast toward Kailua

The trip back down the ridge was tricky, but we were careful and took it slow.

It rained a little bit on our way back down, and the trail toward the bottom got pretty slick and muddy.

I slipped.

I do NOT recommend climbing Olomana if it has rained recently or is expected to rain soon.

Overall, this was a most EXCELLENT adventure - great exercise with a great view.

Book Reviews

While I was up in Newport last summer, the President of the Naval War College, RADM Wisecup, recommended a couple of books.  Since then, I've read two of the books he recommended, and both were excellent.

The first book I read was World War Z.  The admiral himself admitted he felt odd recommending a fiction novel about a future zombie war.  Apparently the story was good enough that the movie rights were purchased, and Brad Pitt is going to star in it.

From the title, I was expecting something of a gruesome horror flick of zombies grumbling, "braaaaaains" and reaching out to grab unsuspecting victims.  However, it was actually a very thought-provoking story.  It explored the concepts of how to manage the spread of a global disease and massive refugee migrations.  It highlighted how the military is always trained and equipped to fight "the last war," and how that training and equipment would be useless in a global pandemic scenario like this.  It also explored how the human race might adapt to meet their basic needs of food and shelter after a major world conflict had destroyed the "normal" methods of consumerism (farming, production, distribution and shopping).  Overall an excellent book and a page-turner. 

The second book I read was Execute Against Japan: The U.S. Decision to Conduct Unrestricted Submarine Warfare.  The author, Joel Ira Holwitt is actually an active duty submarine officer who earned a PhD in History from Ohio State University.

It reads very much like an academic paper such as a PhD dissertation or a masters thesis with many quotes and endnotes.  Holwitt makes some bold statements about the U.S. submarine force's campaign against the Japanese in WWII.  He falls victim to some logical fallacies in his reasoning, and I don't necessarily agree with all of his conclusions.  He makes statements that guess at the motives and intentions of key players in the President's cabinet, the Navy, and the State Department, and then claims that because he can't find any evidence to refute this, then his guess must be right.  He also doesn't have any evidence that conclusively proves his assumptions.

For example, he presumes that the Navy never asked the State Department for their opinion on a strategy of unrestricted submarine warfare against Japan, "since the State Department's reaction would undoubtedly be negative..."  (p. 129).  The book is riddled with words or phrases such as perhaps, probably, undoubtedly, no one recollected, could have been because, seems highly improbable, and seems probable.  Don't get me wrong.  They're pretty good guesses and he's probably right, but his conclusions are based on the absence of evidence to refute his opening arguments and assumptions. 

All that being said, it was a very interesting read.  The thing I enjoyed most about reading this book was the description of the isolationist sentiment in America prior to December 7th, 1941, and the dialogue over what America's strategy should be in the event of war both internal and external to the Department of the Navy.  I was aware of the isolationist bent of the general public at the time, but this book provided many specific examples of those sentiments from the neutrality laws, speeches, and letters.

Holwitt surprised me with some of the pre-decisional type documents he was able to find in various archives to illustrate how the leaders of the age were formulating their plans. We tend to take for granted our 20/20 hindsight of how things turned out in history and lose the perspective of how we got to the end result.  That's a big reason why I enjoy historically based fiction books that bring to life the active debates, public sentiments and fears of the people leading up to major events before they knew the outcome. 

Well, I'm very thankful to RADM Wisecup for the book recommendations.  Both were very good books.

For anyone who might wonder why I picked World War Z over Execute Against Japan to read first, that simply boiled down to which one was available on my Kindle.  I downloaded World War Z and started reading it on my Kindle while I was still in Newport.  Execute Against Japan is only available in hard-copy, so I had to wait for that one to come in the mail.

Lest We Forget

Just recently, a very talented MSP shipmate of mine put together this video in memory of COB Higgins and STS2 Holtz.






The families and fellow shipmates of COB Higgins and STS2 Holtz are in my thoughts and prayers throughout the year, but they weigh heavily upon my heart today.

Sailors, Rest Your Oars.

National Museum of the Marine Corps

We've heard multiple friends rave about the National Museum of the Marine Corps, and it's been on my to-do list for a while.  Last weekend, my friend Bob and I took the boys down to Quantico to visit the museum.  We went with pretty high expectations, and we weren't disappointed.

The exterior invokes the image of the Marines raising the flag over Iwo Jima.

My youngest son under the F-4 Corsair

The museum is very well organized to take you through a chronological series of exhibits on everything from the Revolution through the War of 1812, the Mexian War, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I and II, the Korean War, Vietnam and the Cold War.

There was a LOT to see.  The exhibits were very high-tech, interactive multi-media type displays.

Then there was some goofy fun, too.

My youngest son (6 years old) brought his stuffed-animal dog, Waggy, and we have dozens of photos of Waggy from all over the museum.  My eldest son (9 years old) really liked the World War I exhibit since he's been doing a segment on World War I at school.

Amphibious landing craft used in the landings at Tarawa.

Bob and I especially enjoyed the World War II exhibit since we just finished watching The Pacific.  It was great to see some pictures of the real Marines who were portrayed in the HBO series, and videos of interviews with them, too. 

The first US flag flown over Mt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima.

In the Korean War section, we walked through a life-size diorama of the Chosin Reservoir with gunfire and mortars going off, tracers flying by, and they have the temperature in that room cranked down so you feel like you're freezing your butt off at the Chosin Reservoir.
 

The boys running down the ramp of the CH-46 into Vietnam.

You enter the Vietnam section through the fuselage of a CH-46 helicopter.  The inside of the helicopter really SMELLS like a military helicopter.  While in the helicopter, you listen to some radio dialogue between the pilot and the ground forces about landing in a hot LZ.  Then you run down the ramp into the diorama of Vietnam, and it's HOT and HUMID and there's a battle raging around you.

Harrier and helo

I was impressed to see so many Medals of Honor on display here.  Since it's illegal to reproduce or sell a Medal of Honor, you know the ones on display here in the museum are the real thing donated by the families of the brave Marines who earned them.

We arrived about 1 p.m., and they kicked us out at closing time at 5 p.m.  We had to drag the boys out against their will.  They were busy doing some interactive team problem-solving game when I had to drag them out because the museum was closing.  

Two peas in a pod.

The National Museum of the Marine Corps is essentially a museum of American History.  In every conflict our nation has ever fought, the Marines have been there and done that.  This was an extraordinarily good museum and a fun time for all of us.  

To top it all off, it's FREE!  And when I say free, I'm not saying Smithsonian it's-free-but-you've-gotta-pay-$14-to-park "free" (like the Udvar Hazy Center).  This is really no kidding FREE. 

Don't forget to check out the Lego Sculpture in the Gift Shop!