Day 4 in Kona.

Humuhumunukunukuapua'a

We touched the southernmost part of the entire Unites States. Not being the most creative with place names, it is called South Point. The wind is constant and the deterioration of windturbines seems to be the same. Three rows of dead windmills, with one row of new ones cranking out constant power.

Renewables.

Kurt is an awesome photographer/freediver from O'ahu that took some pictures of me fly fishing. When he finishes editing I hope to show them off.

Day 3 in Kona.

We hit up Waipi'o Valley which presented me with a couple of interesting fishing options. One was casting from shore with overhead surf. A small river dumps out into the ocean, but the fish didn't seem to want to battle the waves to eat my flies.

Waipi'o shorebreak.

The other option in Waipi'o was to fish in the river. There were a few baitfish scattering from my footsteps, but a boat would have been very helpful here. Again, no fish wanted to eat what I offered.

Waipi'o River.

The drive into the valley can be a bit sketchy.

On the way home we stopped by Kawaihae Harbor. We watched whales as we drove. I found this pencil urchin tangled in fishing line.

There was a lot of driving this day, but it was awesome. The weather was cold(ish), windy and rainy in Kona so this was a great mini vacation from our vacation!

Day 2 of Kona.

Between fishing spots.

Another great day in paradise. I think that I am getting better at my distance casts. I had better be with my 1,000 of casts today. My hands are blistered and I am sunburned. It was a great day of fishing. The only thing that I caught was a Clearfin Lizardfish. It wasn't an epic battle, but it was cool to see an aggressive saltwater fish hit a fly about half its size.

Honokohau without hanapa'a.

This was the last spot of the day. We started at Mahai'ula where the wind was howling, but as we arrived to the beach, there was a guy fly fishing! He was hucking deceivers with a 10wt. I was amazed. I had to go back to the car to get my rod as I wasn't thinking of fishing in this wind! We walked up and down the beach looking at what looked like good spots, but didn't hook up with anything. 

After a quick lunch we headed to Honokohau harbor. Fishing the south side was pretty, but useless. so we switched to the north side of the harbor where we met... another fly fisherman! Two other fly anglers in one day! All this in a spot that isn't supposed to have any fly fishing. Either fly fishing is becoming way too popular or people think that its easy to catch fish here.

The north side of the harbor looked better, but again produced nothing. Looks like the wind will die down tomorrow. If this sunburn goes away soon, I will be back out there tomorrow. either way, we will be in paradise!

First day in Kona.

After a crazy long day of traveling (which could be and will be worse on the way back) we arrived last night. Tossing and turning, missing my dogs, I finally got up this morning excited to be home. A lazy morning ensued with a new smoothie recipe courtesy of pops. Then we hit up a super secret area to get proper footwear for the week. The first fishing spot is the old airport. As usual, it was filled with hooligans and people that I try not to associate with. The two kinds of people that were ok there was the van full of people that had been dragged to their mandatory 12 step program and the tourists that had no idea that their valuable were being watched like an eagle watching a rodent thinking about leaving it's hole.

I tied on a clouser, watched my step for the constant threat of wana, and carefully picked my way out into the surf. I tried to cast downwind as much as possible. I only clipped myself with a fly once and luckily the hook didn't find it's way into the wrong animal.

At least the weather is nice!

I saw lots of fish getting out of my way, but that was the closest I came to catching anything. After a much missed plate lunch, we grabbed some stand up paddleboards and wore ourselves out in Kailua Bay. I had considered bringing a rod, but with a little surf and some wind, I was happy just to stay dry. A rod would have been a waste.

SUP!

Tomorrow is another chance for some fishing!

Heading to Kona.

This is a work in progress for Blood Knot Magazine.

I hit up my local creek this week and caught a few dumb trout on #20 BWO. Believe me, it was satisfying as I have been seeking out larget trout all winter only to leave cold, hungry, dissapointed, angry, and defintely fishless. The latest excursion had me driving 5 hours only to scowl in the wind for 3 hours of “fishing”. It was about that time that I made up my mind to get into some saltwater. Now, I have no idea what to do when I have something larger than a 5 weight in my hand (ask my girlfriend) but the idea of wearing shorts worrying about applying enough sunscreen was appealing to me. The girlfriend has no problem going on these trips either.

So we booked tickets. Cheap tickets that make you travel for 24 hours for a 5 hour flight. That is when I started panicking. I spent an evening on the Google trying to find fly fishing in Kona Hawai’i. Nope. There isn’t any. There is a budding bonefish guiding industry on O’ahu. That is on a different island. The island of Hawai’i, also called the Big Island, not to be confused with the state, Hawai’i is much younger than O’ahu (where Waikiki and Honolulu are) and hasn’t developed flat areas off shore. In fact the southern most point of the U.S. and the Big Island (appropriatley named South Point) have water so deep that it is possible to catch large game fish like Wahoo (Ono) Tuna (Ahi) and even Marlin (A’u) from shore.

Time for me to scrunch my face at the Google again. What gear do I bring for an unknown fishery? I settled on a 9 weight rod for a few reasons. I don’t want to buy a 12 or 15 weight and go after marlin from shore. What would I do if I caught one?! Land it? I also don’t own a rod that size and really don’t think that I need to buy one living in Colorado.

I also don’t own any saltwater flies. I remembered that Jay Zimmerman had some advice on the life cycle of tubers and he might have some tips on how to catch fish somewhere unexplored. He, nor anyone else in the shop, had heard of fly fishing in Kona. I think they asked if I was bringing my passport.

Saltwater in CO.

Where do I start when I have no idea where to start? The beginning I guess.

There was a huge selection of flies, but I couldn’t tell the guys at the shop about the terrain, the fish, or the weather (other than it’s always perfect) so I bought a few clousers and deceivers. I had the genius idea that I could make some of these myself and I would enjoy it.

He has no idea...

These size 4 hooks are easy to work with compared to the #22 parachute adams I am used to making.

It looks like I will be walking the shore hucking these monster flies at random rock outcroppings and looking for the shallowest water that I can find. I have a stand up paddle board that I can use, but they are hard to balance on in a lake with no wind. I am hoping to borrow a kayak or one of those bicycles with the huge plastic wheels so I can explore more territory without paying for a boat.

Marlins eat chickens?

After the first round of clousers and deceivers, I headed to a craft store to pick up some colorful feathers, craft fur, and storgae containers. I hope these Kona fish will eat any sort of neon early 90’s looking club dancer that isn’t too far away from shore!

Out of here!

Tickets are booked to Kona for the first week in March. The new fly rod will be making its debut. Then it is off to Bali in April. Hopefully the weather will be better when these trips are over. I am ready for spring.

IM '09.

About 9 at night as we were walking to get something to eat people were sitting at Lava Java writing emails, posting blogs, updating friends and family, all as participants were still running the marathon. So this post is probably a bit late. A bunch of us volunteered for water patrol and were in town at 5 am. The athletes were already nervous, pacing, eating, and getting body marked. We paddled out into the calm before the storm and waited for the mayhem to begin.

Macca stopped by.

Macca wanted to see how I was doing. I told him just to relax and have a good race. I was worried about mechanical failures as you never know what can happen out on the Queen K!

Check out the wake!

He swam off quickly, but I think that Erica was smitten. We tried to keep the swimmers on course, but they didn't like listening. Only a few people didn't make the swim cutoff and the day was already emotionally charged right from the beginning.

 

Our view. 

After the swim we were able to go home, eat, shower, and return to the middle of it all. We sat in the heat for a while and waited for the pros to come by. It looked to be a good race with most of the major players coming in around the same time.

Chris Lieto coming in first.

Then we saw everyone take off running. After about 10 miles, they come back to the same place. It was great to watch the race unfold.

Andreas leading Craig up Palani.

Faris in his typical outfit.

CW.

Chrissie is the absolute queen of this sport. Not only is she an amazing athlete, but on of the friendliest women I have ever met. Always with a smile on her face. She gritted her teeth at the bottom of this hill, but all the way to the top people were going crazy screaming her name and cheering for her. She feeds off the energy and smiles all day long. She is fantastic.

Andy Potts.

I was impressed with Jon Flanagan and Andy Potts in the water. They blew everyone away. Next year, Marky V will have a huge gap on all of them.

You want impressive? Try coming close to setting a new record. Do it by being a woman beating all of the men. That is impressive to me. Here is Erica cheering on some FAST athletes!

Still enthusiastic!

We went to the press conference to hear what the pros had to say about the day. Everyone showed up but Macca while we were there. They all agreed that it was hot! We went and cheered in all of the athletes until the midnight cutoff arrived. Chrissie was there to congratulate the participants. She has great sportsmanship. We went home to crash. This morning, I feel like I raced. My body feels beat up. I am exhausted. This watching stuff is hard!

Race excitement.

The antibiotics have begun and none to soon. I signed up for SOMA today. I can't wait. The best part is that I will have some good training in Kona while we are there in October. It will be a wonderful time to swim, bike, and run my heart out. The folks at Red Rock Company put on some really fun events. Check out their PBR Urban Dirt Tri. It looks like a lot of fun as well.
I am still waiting for my passport to arrive before taking off to Canada. I made cookies today and Moj is making some sort of banana meringue pie. That probably isn't conducive to fast race times, but I think that it is well worth it. I guess I could take up aqua jogging like Courtenay...

BI

What do we do on the Big Island?

 

Eat fruit. (Lilikoi/passionfruit)

 

Go to the beach.

Stand up paddleboard. (No surf.)
 

Chase fish.

We also got to hang out with my good friend Kurt. His website FreeDivePhoto.com is under construction, but it is still worth checking out. He nevers uses any scuba gear. He dove to 70 meters the day that we saw him. And he wins speafishing tournaments.

Almost over.

I leave for Hawai'i in two days. I can't believe it. I can't believe that I have been in New Zealand for 3 1/2 months. I can't believe that I have done so much here.

Another amazing day.

I can't believe that I got a job. Everyting in the news is about how bad the economy is. Everyone is being laid off. People can't keep their homes. Obama is having trouble getting his economic stimulus package passed. I am having a great time. I have had an endless summer since... February 2008 when I was in South America. Looks like that will continue until November 2009.

 I no longer have to beg for rides with strangers.

I have learned lots of Kiwi slang. I have tested my outdoor gear in all kinds of conditions. I can survive with the gear on my back for about a week. I want very little and need even less. That being said, I love coffee shops that offer free wireless internet. I enjoy Starbucks, but not as much as Rachel. I found a new passion, fly fishing. I have amazing friends all over the world. I enjoy reading other people's blogs. The more I think that I know, the more I realize that I know nothing.

 I had a lot of fun learning about NZ wines.

My life is great when I eat a lot. Traveling has made me appreciate good food. If you can't laugh at yourself, life will be miserable.

 

Good food and good friends.

I have been traveling for over a year, but I don't feel like it is coming to an end. I have learned that I love the beach and the ocean. It is difficult to swim with seals, but easy to outrun them on land. Going home to Kona will be my first vacation in a while. I watched "Into the Wild" and "Slumdog Millionaire" recently. I liked them both. SM imressed me more, but one thing that I remember from ITW:

HAPPINESS IS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED.

Hodges

A few years ago, my friend Ryan was the youngest competitor at the Ironman World Championships in Kona. The following year a few of us went over to cheer everyone on. These are pictures from that year. Ryan is a student-athlete and all around good guy. He recently completed Ironman Lanzarote, here is his race report:

Lets start with the swim...It was badass. I swam smart; slow at the start, maneuvered around packs of people and then hauled ass for the last 3/4 of the swim and ended the swim with a quick time. The bike course lived up to its name as being the hardest in the world. It was extremely gusty, very cold in the mountains, then very hot at sea level, with hills adding up to about 9000 ft in elevation.
The highlight of the race began when I had 8 miles left to go on the 112 mile bike ride...I got a flat tire. What did I do? I did everything I could to fix it. Nothing I had with me on the ride did what it was suppose to do. So, I was given the choice to quit the race, or run the last 8 miles of the bike course with my bike, barefoot, on the asphalt. So, I thought what the hell, I´ll run it. I sacrificed way too much to come here. I was first in my age group when I had the flat, but my goal from that point on was to just finish the race, doing well never mattered any more from that point on.
So, the day ended well. I finished. I had a great swim, and an unforgettable bike ride. Unfortunately, I ran a total of 34 miles- 8 more than I should have. I´m just glad to call myself an Ironman once again...Praise the LORD!
Thank you everyone for the prayers and for supporting me along the way. Thinking about all of you really helped me through the run.

Great job Ryan!

Green is the standard.

This is not my picture. I had to steal it. This is Mark. He is a local bad ass triathlete. We got to sit down for a couple hours yesterday and talk about triathlons. It was nice to meet someone that has a genuine love for Hawai'i. He is the kind of person that locals want to go to Hawai'i. He is a haole with Aloha. We got to talk about our futures (look for him dominating Kona this October) and the future of the sport of triathlon. It is also nice to find people that like to eat organically and care about the environment. This article poses the question, should triathlons and/or triathletes be more environmentally responsible. I think that anyone that enjoys going outside is responsible. There are lots of movements such as Save our Seas, Surfrider Foundation, and Save our Snow, so why not a green triathlon foundation?
Luckily, some people are taking matters into their own hands. I was extremely pleased to find out that 5430 Sports puts on environmentally friendly triathlons, in Boulder of course! This article show the awards that they have gotten. Also, Chris Lieto is doing what he can to spread the idea of environmental consciousness.