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EDWARD JACOBS

Author: Ed Jacobs

  • Monday, February 3

    Hilo, day 9

    Pattie and I both slept late but, as our dive was at a more reasonable hour (9:30am) than usual, it was still an easily-paced morning.  We got to the boat slip by 9:15, happy to find that it was just us on this trip (plus divemaster Phillip and captain Kimo).  Nice folks, we found, and they proved easy-going, and a pleasant pair to be with for the morning.   

    We left Hilo’s harbor for a 30’ ride to our dive spot, which was basically the same spots we were last week with Bill—but further out from shore.  There were healthy swells of about 6’, but not anything unpleasant, thanks to my pre-boat sea-sickness medication regimen these days. On the way out of the harbor, we caught this clear view of Mauna Kea, snow-capped peak easily visible. “Most of the volcano is underwater, and when measured from its underwater base, Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in the world, measuring over 10,000 m in height.”

    a view of Mauna Kea from our boat in Hilo Harbor

    The visibility wasn’t super, but we were constantly finding turtles hanging out in nooks/crannies between rocks.

    We also saw a few just freely swimming around.

    It’s just so captivating to seem these big animals moving so easily and gracefully through the water.  We also so a good number of needle fish, both transparent and yellow ones, as well as the usual wrasse varieties, and more.

    After a surface interval of about an hour, we moved to another spot and did a very similar dive, but the water was decidedly colder.  After about 35’, we surfaced b/c we were getting pretty chilled.

    These were good dives, despite the visibility, in large part because we both are feeling growing competence and confidence in our buoyancy control. We are advancing, and it makes an enormous difference in our experience of a dive.

    A lunch at the Hilo Bay Café was very nice, indeed, followed by a Walmart stop, a stop to mail things home, and a stop into the Hilo Ocean Adv’s dive store to see if we could find anything to take advantage of the 15% off coupon they’d given us (we didn’t).

  • Tuesday, February 4

    Hilo, day 10

    An absolutely gorgeous, cloudless sparkling day here.  We were both feeling a bit under the weather, though, so took the day inside and slow.  We did succeed in making some plans, though, for our first week in Ireland.  While Pattie was taking the lead on that plan, I was working a bit on planning something that we and Joe/Cristin are interested in doing while on Maui. 

    A bit of writing, too, led to the first draft of the ending of “Let Them Not Say.”  I’ll still need to work on some lines in the middle, but the ending was becoming clear and I had to get that down.  It’s essentially continuing the “it burned” texture, but subduing it a bit and adding the final lines over it.  That is the “it burned” continues from its first appearance through to the end, shifting from the foreground to the background as the penultimate phrase is heard…”it burned” the final words, as well.

    [A kerosene beauty.
    It burned.

    Let them say we warmed ourselves by it,
    read by its light, praised,
    and it burned.]     exc. from “Let Them Not Say,” by Jane Hirshfield

  • Sunday, February 2

    Hilo, day 8

    Spending time organizing a package home; getting together some things we bought yesterday which we’ll not need with us, and also sending home clothes and other things we’ve been carrying around but just not using.  Probably losing 10-15 lbs, and making space for the yoga mat I bought in Kona, which will be nice to have along the way.

    Did some planning ahead, as well; booked dives for Molokai the last week of February, and narrowed down some plans for Kaua’I diving the two weeks following that.

    Also now getting more serious about our Europe travels beginning April 14.  Have a useful list of places we want to visit; planning our first week which will have the treat of a visit from Christine & Stephen.  We’ll spend that week exploring an area b/t Dublin and County Clare, I think…nice to look ahead. And even looking ahead to a December trip.

    Tomorrow, a 2-tank dive with another dive shop in town, this a boat dive (vs the shore dives of last week with Bill).  Looking forward to it!

  • Saturday, February 1

    Saturday, February 1

    Hilo, day 7

    Not much sleeping last night.  Yesterday’s rain seems to have kept things nice and comfortable here, and the night was certainly pleasant.  The sleep I had was good, there just wasn’t much of it.  Up since 2:30, finally out of bed at 4 wide awake, ready for coffee, and eager to write.

    Finishing up the “It burned” line, and creating a morph into “Let them say we warmed ourselves by it,” the turn into the poem’s last lines.  This won’t be my end of writing the piece, but it will be the piece’s end.  I’m hearing it well and want to get it done, then will get back to the middle section.

    After writing, Pattie wanted to get some gifts at the big Saturday farmer’s market; I got a head-shave; we splurged on massages.  Pattie had a bit more shopping in mind, we stopped into lots of little shops, and we stopped into Pineapples for a beer and snack.

    A wonderful day, both getting writing done, and just plain walking with Pattie and relaxing together.

  • Friday, January 31

    Hilo, day 6

    A day of resting recovery and writing.  And also…planning for some future dives—Monday here in Hilo, a few others in Maui with Joe/Cristin; getting some gear; catching up on correspondence…

    Eventually headed out for a stroll along Kamehameha Dr. along the water.  Shops, galleries, etc., but a completely different vibe than Kona’s waterfront.  Very low-key, unpolished, but a few of the shops having just gorgeous fabrics and wood (Koa) pieces.  We stopped into Tina’s Garden Gourmet Café and, my, so very delicious.

    The writing is going well, as in I like the sounds coming out.  I am afraid I’m pushing this group’s limits, but I’m hoping the difficulty is being a bit alleviated by using some repetitive patterns to build the more complex textures.  Moving ahead, fingers crossed…

  • Thursday, January 30

    Hilo, day 5

    The 5th and final dive of our advanced open water certification, again at Lele’iwi beach, and another great day. Perhaps the visibility not quite as good as Wednesday, but still great.

    Much of what made this final dive so enjoyable was our increased confidence in maintaining our buoyancy. Pattie and I each felt a significant difference in our skills-growth, and Bill, our instructor, was very ready to talk about our improvement.

    The quiet perspective at 30′
    A lesson in taking one’s time, going with the flow

    The turtles on this dive were just exquisite. At one point we were just in awe watching a few of them all together. Below, one of the turtles we encountered was clearly tuckered out, sleeping with his head on a rock/pillow.

    sometimes you’re just too tired to move a muscle

    On our way out Bill noticed this, covered by sand, resting on the ocean floor, likely ~15-20′. Then another example of showing us how to look at things a bit more carefully…

    knowing what to look for.
    In this case, a helmet

    The final dive over, with our certification in hand, we took Bill out to lunch at a favorite spot of his (and brought back lunch for Masako, too!). The post-class pix prove we worked with Bill!

    The famous Bill De Rooy, happy to be with Pattie

  • Wednesday, January 29

    Hilo, day 4

    A great day of diving.  Back to the same spot—Leleiwi—and the conditions even better than the prior day.  According to Bill, these the best conditions in months.

    The first dive navigation, the second dive identifying fish.  Clear water, likely ~60’ visibility, so many beautiful colors and fish varieties, a few turtles gliding around.  And our skills were perceptibly improved over the first day; the effect on fatigue and air consumption obvious, and a real sense that we’re improving our skill set.

    Am absolutely bringing the GoPro tomorrow, and hope its use will be ok, as is it’s anything like today, it’s got to be shared.

    After our class, we saw that the farmer’s market next door was enormous compared to other days.  Evidently Wednesday and Saturday are the biggest days.  We probably spent an hour or more strolling through, appreciating some inventive graphics on fabric—whether mumus, bathing suits, t-shirts, or mountable art—and also grabbing some fresh fruit for snacks.

    Then we drove east a bit, just to explore a popular beach site (Richardson’s) that we’ve been hearing about, just a tad further than the area we’ve been diving (Lele’iwi). Walking around the black sand beach, the little ‘islands’ in the water, the protected cove for easy snorkeling…it’s easy to see why this is the spot to go here.

    A phone call from the local p.o. alerted us that the GoPro replacement parts ordered a few weeks ago had been located, so we headed out to pick them up.  Another example of the people here, in this case the p.o., being wonderful to work with.

  • Tuesday, January 28

    Hilo, day 3

    Up early to get downtown for the first day of our scuba class.  Advanced Open Water isn’t ‘advanced,’ as much as a step towards advancing skills a bit.  Just Pattie and me are working with Bill at Nautilus Dive Center here in Hilo.  Bill’s done this for a while—certified in ’71, teaching since ’84.  “Deliberate” is a good description for his pace; and he wasn’t immediately terrifically sociable.   He’s got a definite way of doing things, and has very helpful hints along the way, for sure. 

    We went to Leleiwi, about 15 minutes/5 miles east of downtown, driving in Bill’s truck with him.  Got him talking with a few simple questions about his past; born in Holland during WWII, raised in Chicago, served army time in Vietnam, then pursued scuba trained by military UDT, underwater demolition team, i.e., precursor to SEALS, as they’re the only people doing scuba training back then.  Moved to HI in ’81, teaching since ’84.  He told us about how things have changed just in the past few years, after months of volcanic eruption in 2017.  That eruption destroyed subdivisions under 20’ of lava, cracked roads and properties and, of course, made many scuba shore-entry points unusable.

    Shore dives today (and likely the next few days).  Bill was very careful to take us to the area where we’d enter—without all our gear on—which he clearly knows like the back of his hand, and shows us exactly where and how to step in, watch for lulls in the tide, etc.

    The first dive’s entry, Pattie and I were a little unsure about things, but made it in just fine.  No more than 30’ out from shore, just past rocks, at a depth of probably no more than 10’, the visibility went from oddly murky to crystal clear.  Slowly but surely we made our way down to a depth of about 70’ (this was our ‘deep dive’), enjoying a lot of fish and, delightfully, turtles.  Some sleeping/resting, a few moving around a bit, it’s great seeing these slow-moving, graceful giants moving about at their own pace.  [I should have brought the GoPro for pix, but thought that not appropriate for this sort of class.]

    Pattie did very well on this dive, very comfortable with her buoyancy; I struggled a bit.  Nothing dire, just not a good demonstration of buoyancy, for sure.

    We made our way back up, again a little tenuous in getting out over the rocks, but just fine.  A review of some of what we saw, but also of buoyancy skills.  He explained the goal of our next dive, to hover 2-3’ above the bottom in a lying down “L” posture, legs crossed, arms folded. 

    Getting in at the shore was much easier this time, as we knew what to expect.  Focusing on making smaller and smaller adjustments to our b.c.d., and ultimately just using breaths to adjust, this sounded much easier than it turned out to be.  In the course of this exercise, which probably lasted about 20 minutes, I finally got a glimpse of what neutral buoyancy feels like.  Perhaps the last 5 minutes I was there, able to hover using only my breath to adjust and maintain depth.  Bill was working with Pattie on breaking a habit of sculling her hands, rather than staying still, and that was a challenge for her.

    Getting back to shore was much easier this time, too, no surprise.  Again a review of things while we took apart our gear; Pattie feeling a bit discouraged, but hopefully she heard Bill telling her how well she did while swimming, just needing a few adjustments.

    Bill makes the breakdown of gear, sorting, rinsing, etc., all a part of the gig, it seems, so back at the shop it was a few minutes before we got on our way.  Off to the Farmer’s Market, just a few steps away, and then to Consciousness Café for a little bite.  The rest of the afternoon and evening was r & r and writing, welcome after a bit of a strenuous morning.

    Tomorrow, I believe, will focus on navigation/compass skills, and more….

  • Monday, January 27

    Hilo, day 2

    The last few days in Kona, many conversations with Marc (our AirBnB host in Kona), with several shopkeepers who located in Hawai’I from the mainland (curiously, many from Idaho), meeting and getting acquainted with more folks here in Hilo, I’m taken with the lifestyle of

    A day of writing.  Eager to jump into the texture of “it burned,” so got going on that in the morning and stayed with it all day.  I like what I’ve got, but am afraid of its difficulty in execution. 

    Pattie relaxed here all day, reading and catching up on correspondence and phone calls.  The pacing of this trip is really such that we needn’t feel pressed to ‘do’ every day.  Plenty of time to relax and live, write, etc.  Took a few minutes to try to trace down the missing items from GoPro, sent here via USPS and now sent back…

    End of the day looking forward to the AOW class, a bit unsure of how it’ll all go, but knowing how much I feel I have to learn and eager to improve skills.  The word on the web is that this shop/teacher will be great, and we’re hoping for a good experience, of course.  The e-learning’s complete, now the five dives and associated lessons.

    Before bed, more listening through to the day’s writing, and still satisfied.  Hoping to get that ‘it burned’ section towards 45” or so.

  • Sunday, January 26

    The day started with the pleasure of being cool with the windows open here in Hilo.  Coffee, writing, birds, slowly dawn…doesn’t get any better.

    As the day got going, we headed to the farmer’s market downtown—open seven days a week—and got some fabulous fruit and veggies.  With a full kitchen here, we’re looking forward to making a proper dinner this week.  We brought our goodies back to the apt and headed out to Akaka Falls.

    As the falls is only ten miles from town, we took every scenic route option; the first a four-mile road towards the Onomea Trail, which lead to botanical gardens.  Gorgeous views of a lush waterfront, now the green vegetation along with the black lava rock.

    A stroll down a short trail to the rocky shore—the water so clear, but churning.

    Back on the short ride to Akaka Falls, then on to the half-mile, pleasant walk around the falls.  So, so lush, and rich with bamboo.

    These falls, twice the height of Niagara—but nowhere near the width and water volume—highlight an entrancing, moss covered cliffside framing the narrow falls and its shallow landing.

    We drove back to Hilo, going further than our downtown, along the waterfront to a series of parks filled with people enjoying the day picnicking and on the water.  As we made our way back into town, the reviews of Pineapples Island Fresh Cuisine proved irresistible…and, as we found out, the reviews were right on.