Occasionally I take a break from our weekly boating adventures to blue water buoys for a casual kayak trip from shore. Being that my 48′th Birthday was the following day and the ocean was as flat as a pancake, I decided to take a paddle out to my favorite spot directly in front of my house. After paddling through the crystal clear in-shore waters, I was a little disappointed to find murk had replaced clear water at the 120′ drop-off. Upon arrival at “the spot” , I double-check my marks and begin gearing-up. After every trip, my experience dictates what the new procedure will be and I recall the trip when I hung my flasher set-up over the side and was disappointed when I slipped into the water and scared away a dozen onos that had been drawn to it. So now the flashers come in with me! However, I did score two onos and a nice 35lb shibi that day, so maybe that was the right order, not that I am superstitious. Well today the flashers are coming in with me. I wish that I had brought a bang head purchased from Hanapa’a with me being that I am out 2 miles from shore and I would like to open gifts tomorrow. I make a mental note for the next trip’s checklist and slip into the water.

 The ocean was dead flat due to no wind, however the spot is a quarter mile from the mouth of Pearl Harbor and therefore the water is often dirty. Instead of 150′ of visibility only 40′ today. I am pulling my kayak along, trying to make out the ledge, when a large turtle appears thirty feet directly in front of me. Alarmed a little by the sight of the turtle but more so by the fact that I didn’t see it until he was 30 feet from me, I knew I would have to keep a keen eye out for the Tax men in the gray suits. Wouldn’t you know, an eight foot gray shark comes screaming under me attracted by my fish flashers. Keeping my eye on where he last was, anticipating where his next pass would come from, I was unaware of his buddy passing directly underneath me and disappearing in the opposite direction. I’m now thinking this may not be such a great idea and that I should probably head to cleaner water if I’m going to open presents tomorrow.  I pop my head out of the water to locate the direction of my kayak,( in case I have to bail ),and then start to scan underneath me to see why these sharks are swimming so erratically. As I’m scanning, the last shark has U-turned and is now coming directly towards me to investigate and I decide to charge the shark which often sends them away. They are not used to being hunted and normally will flee. As I charged the shark, I noticed thirty feet lower there was a large school of what appears to be ahi but the fish were more slender for their length. I decided to shoot, even thou I knew I would probably have to wrestle it from the sharks if there was a struggle with the fish. Luckily the shot went from the top of the fish, through the spine and out the belly, stoning it. It turned over and now  I could see that it was a huge Ulua and the shaft has exited the bottom of the fish and it is dead weight on the end of my shooting line. I’m still going to need  the Lord’s help getting the fish to the top and into the kayak before the eaters decide to feast on the fish. I was able to pull it to me, bear-hug it and started to head for the kayak scanning to see where my toothy friends were. I had one gray reef shark pass 10 feet from me as I swam back to my kayak and that adrenaline boost is what I needed to lift it onto to the kayak. I climbed on top of the fish, sat on it’s head and used my legs as outriggers to stabilize the kayak until I could get the shaft out and store the fish in the forward hatch.

I watched for a few minutes to see if I was going to lose a fin and then marveled at the size of the fish, wondering if he will fit into the fish bag. Although the fish wasn’t moving, I decided to brain the fish with my knife so that he doesn’t “wake up” and buck me out of my kayak. After dispatching the fish, I’m now faced with removing the shaft and contemplating wether to try for another. I looked at my watch and only twelve minutes had passed but it could have been a life time. With the fish slime on my gloves and the Alexander slip tip receiver too hard to remove I decided it was now time to head to cleaner water. Since I couldn’t get the spear out of the fish, I took that as a sign to definitely vacate the area.

The only other excitement was returning to shore. The boat had so much weight in the front that when a wave lifted the aft end, I pearled right in front of my house to the amusement of my neighbors that were fishing from shore. After they had a good laugh, they were quick to get their cameras to snap some photos off the catch.  What a catch and more importantly what a nice scar on the brain! You can’t forget things like this. Thanks to Jesus for watching over me and to my wife Jennifer for watching over my kids and allowing me the time to dive and to Steve Alexander for making great parts for spear guns and for you guys at Hanapa’a and Hawaii skin diver for allowing me to share my experience with others. Also thanks to my neighbor Bill Newton for taking the Photo. Aloha Parris

Words from Parris Ernst, Photo by Bill Newton

The turn of a key, the touch of a button, and POOF! I was on my way to the rugged Sonoma coast in an instant. What did my eagerness stem from? What had overcome me? I had never felt it before.

It’s just that – in my ten years of diving, I’ve never heard the words “flat” and “calm” used in the same sentence to describe Northern California’s water.

So began my one thousand mile trek for three shells. That’s right. Not even enough to count one for each finger on both hands, let alone one.
THREE shells. That’s all we’re allowed to have in possession – or risk Jail time.

Thoughts wandered through my head as the staccatos of the music blaring from the car stereo music deafened as I tried to tune out unwilling thoughts while I cruised up the I-5. It was just a few years ago that famous diver Randy Fry was horrifically decapitated diving for Abalone on the Norcal coast.

Three Abalones (underwater snails, really) that people gristle and gripe and groan, grind and steal and hurt and kill for.

What was the big deal?

I had to find out…

I left Saturday morning after meeting a friend in Hollywood for a quick breakfast. Then on my way to grocery shop, pack dinner and lunch for the next day, a stove, a tent, my dive gear, and nothing else in search of three big Abs…
arriving to the campsite to set up and hear the bellows of the sea lions as I forced myself to sleep unwilling to think of the sealions as bait…

The next morning in search of a remote location I was greeted rudely by the pessimistic ocean. Even after a 45 minute hike with over 50 pounds of gear strapped to my back, and despite the calmness that resembled more a lake than the Pacific, my high hopes were popped as the milky green water said its first hellos. Plankton bloom. Everywhere. L I knew it would be near impossible to see past the stretch of one’s arm, a far cry from the endless visibility I was expecting due to the nonexistent swell.

Regardless, my brow was now sweaty after traversing rocks, boulders, and slippery seaweed that near caused my early departure from this Earth…Hips sore, shoulders tired, my drenched-laden body couldn’t wait to douse itself in the chilly forty-eight degree water…
Anyway, here’s the pictures…

It was a great time…and who knows,

Maybe I’ll gristle and gripe and groan and…Wait Hold on…while I ‘git me a taste of some fresh abalone.

Monday, January 19th, 2009

Words: Kimi Werner

On January 1, 2008 my good friends and I gathered at Sandy Beach to watch the first sunrise of the New Year. That morning, we each chose an individual word/goal to focus on throughout the year to come. My word was “champion” and though I felt a little shy to say it out loud in front of my friends, I knew it was truly what I wanted.

Since I started diving in 2005, I daydreamed about one day competing in U.S. National Championships and winning. This year, I suddenly felt ready and able to give it a try.  So after saying it out loud that morning, it was time to get to work.

My first job was to find a partner, and it sure wasn’t easy. I asked around to my fellow dive partners and friends, and most of them not only turned me down, but also urged me to wait for another year. Being that the 2008 Nationals was to be held in Newport, Rhode Island, it would be far away from home, very expensive, and completely different from diving in Hawai‘i.

The more I was told to wait for another year, the more discouraged I became.  However, when telling my friend Andy Tamasese the advice I had been receiving, he dismissed it immediately and said “Kimi, who cares?  Sure that’s all true but it doesn’t matter!  If you feel the drive now, then that’s the important part. You have to act on it now!”

Hearing him say that re-sparked my motivation as I jumped at the opportunity and eagerly said, “Great!  Wanna be my partner?” He apologized and explained that he couldn’t because he had a trip to Alaska planned during that time, but that he wished me the best of luck.

Though I was disappointed, his simple words of encouragement gave me so much hope and made me all the more determined to reach my goal. I sent Andy emails every once in a while showing him what a good job the Massachusetts freediving club was doing in organizing the event. I also forwarded him videos that showed how fun and exciting it was to shoot striped bass, and most importantly, I spoke to his lovely fiancé, Lianne, about my dream to do nationals, and she responded with complete support and a plan to help convince Andy to join me.

Within a few weeks I received a phone call from Andy saying that he decided to cancel his trip to Alaska and that I had myself a partner!  I’ll honestly never forget how stoked I was when I hung up the phone with him that day. I did a little victory dance and knew it was time to start training my hardest. It was such an honor to know that Andy would be my partner. Aside from being a great friend to me, he is one of the most talented divers I know. Andy consistently places in all tournaments that he enters, he’s speared everything, from marlins to mus, and he even competed in the World Championships in Portugal as a member of team USA.  I told myself that day, that I would work my very hardest so that he never regrets changing his mind and taking a chance with me.

Being that Andy and I live on different islands, my next step was to find people to train with and also to find ways of raising the money to get me to Rhode Island. Along with selling my oil paintings and fundraising t-shirts, I also set up an online donation page and was so pleased that people were willing to make contributions. Many of the donations I received also included messages of support and inspiration. Every time someone told me that they believed in me, I got more motivation and strength to train even harder.

I was lucky to have the help of past national competitors Rick Imamoto, Wayde Hayashi, Shaun Fujimoto, Jason Hijirida and Travis Kashiwa. They all heard that I was in need of some training and each of them stepped up to the plate and helped me immensely.

The months went by so quickly and before I knew it, it was time for Andy and me, along with the Hawaii Men’s team, Lance Otsubo, Wesley Calvan, and Dayne Fujiwara to fly off to the east coast.

We had six days to scout the grounds of Newport. Rather than renting a boat for scouting, we stuck with our kayaks figuring that we’d save money and get much better exercise. We put in full days of scouting everyday, determined to cover as much ground as possible. It felt great to wake up in the morning, dive all day, and come home with just enough energy to rinse our gear, make dinner and get ready to do it all over again.

As the days went by and I started developing my plan for the tournament, I got really nervous. My plan was to begin diving at a spot that was about 2 miles away from the start. I knew I wouldn’t be diving that area alone because each time I scouted that spot, there were many other divers in the area. I was so afraid of not being able to paddle fast enough; I really didn’t want to be the last one to the spot because that could easily throw off my confidence and affect my diving. Each time I got nervous, Andy or one of the boys would reassure that me that I had nothing to worry about and that I was prepared.  I honestly can’t express how lucky I was to have Andy, Lance, Dayne and Wes there with me each time my nerves got to me. Being so far away from home, they became my family and a few simple words from them was all I needed to calm down and focus on the plan.

On the day of the tournament, everyone lined up in their kayaks at the starting line. As I waited for the air horn to blow, I just became overwhelmed with happiness and excitement.  I realized that I had never been more prepared for a moment in my whole life. I’m a girl who likes to wing things and this was probably the first time I had ever put so much planning and preparation into a single event. As I looked around at the fellow competitors I realized that the day that I had been waiting for had finally arrived and that win or lose, here I was in Rhode Island, ready to face my dreams head on. I felt so grateful for such an opportunity and even more grateful for all the people who helped me get there. It was an amazing feeling and I knew it was the just the start of an amazing day to come.

The air horn blew. I paddled my heart out and within seconds I looked up to see that I had pulled ahead of the main pack. In front of me were Wes and Andy, and it just felt so great to see them there. I was smiling with each stroke I took as I tried my best to make the most of the travel time. I had practiced this paddle for the past few days and knew that it would take me about half an hour to get to my spot. I pulled up to my destination in 28 minutes and took about 4 minutes to suit up and get all my gear on. I was so elated to be the first one there.

I jumped in and found the tautogs I was looking for. I took a drop and waited until the school came in and then shot the largest one.  I poked my head up to see a few kayaks pull up and drop anchor. I quickly swam to another area where I had seen some stripers in the days before. I took a drop and waited at the bottom but instead of seeing stripers, I saw a huge tautog slowly making his way towards me. He was much bigger than any of the big tautogs I had seen while scouting. I waited until he was in range and then shot. I was so stoked to have a fish of that size.

As I went up for air, I saw the other divers slipping into the water. I quickly secured my second tautog and started to reload my gun. I was submerged underwater as I finished loading the 2nd band and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a very big fish. I knew that I had no time to go back to the surface to breathe up. It was a huge striper and it was already swimming away from me. Knowing that this would be my only chance I extended my 90cm gun out as far as I could and with a couple of strong kicks, I launched on the huge fish. As soon as I thought I was in range, I pulled the trigger and saw my shaft go all the way through the bass.

He tried to take off but I held the line and forced him in. Usually I let my fish run and allow them to tire out before fighting them. Not this time. I wanted that fish in my hands right then and there, so I just forced him in and tried to grab his tail so that I could slide my other hand into his gills.

He was going crazy and was really strong.  Grabbing his tail was hard and I was being flopped around like a rag doll. I told myself to “knock it off, and get the damn fish!” I decided to forget about his tail and instead just jabbed my hand straight into his gills and squeezed tightly. I need air so I kicked up to the surface and both our heads broke the water at the same time. The fish freaked out and bashed his head back and forth, making huge splashes. I let go of his gills with one hand so that I could reach for my knife; he then slammed his head right into my face and I felt my cheek start to sting with pain. I finally brained him and repeated the process about three times, just to make sure he wouldn’t be surprising me and coming back to life.

Only as I swam the striped bass back to my kayak, did I realize that this was one heck of a fish to land during a tournament. I looked at my watch and it was 10:30am. Only an hour into the tournament, and I had two tautogs and a big striper. I tried not to celebrate too soon, but did feel very happy with the start of my day.

I spent the rest of the day looking for my second striper, which I was able to land around 1pm.  After picking up my third tautog, I headed to spots where I hoped to find some legal scups or triggers. Unfortunately I had no luck with that, so I headed in.

I overcompensated and crossed the finish line about 15 minutes early since I was paranoid about being late and getting dq’d. Andy soon arrived with a loaded stringer of tautog, scup, bluefish, black bass, and a striper. He was disappointed because he had lost his second striper, but all I could do was stare at his catch in amazement. The rest of the Hawai‘i boys came in—all with impressive catches.  Dayne had found the some triggers and picked up some nice taugtog. Wes had a huge striper, some scup and tautogs, and Lance had just about everything you could possibly imagine.

Andy and I took first place for the mixed team division and my striped bass weighed in at 33lbs and won the award for largest fish in the women’s division. Individually I took first place for the women’s division and placed 19th overall out of the 65 divers.

The Hawaii men’s team ended up coming in eighth out of 19 teams. In the men’s division, Dayne came in 33rd, Wes was 20th, Andy came in 10th and Lance came in 7th.

I felt honored to learn that although women have been competing in nationals since 1962, I was the first woman from Hawai‘i to win the title of individual National Champion.

Reaching that goal and receiving the trophies did feel great, but it was kindness from the Hawai‘i men’s team, the generosity from those who supported me, and the good sportsmanship of the other competitors that truly brought me to tears. Needless to say, the event was a dream come true and is something that I will forever be grateful for. PAU

Kimi Werner is a rising star. In my opinion, Kimi Werner is the best thing that happened to spearfishing in Hawai‘i. Kimi’s National Championship victory has gotten more local press than anything I remember. We send out press releases whenever Hawai‘i divers make an impact on the National stage. But, media outlets rarely pick them up. Things changed when Kimi came on the scene. Here is just some of the coverage she received:

Cover story on Midweek

Article in the Maui News

News stories on KHON and KGMB

J-Wave radio interview (Japan)

Live appearance on the KITV Morning Show

Kimi has also been offered a modeling contract and is scheduled to appear in other publications and TV shows. But to Kimi it is the personal interactions that are the most significant. “Most of all… tons of emails. Very touching emails, from adults who say that I’ve inspired them to try again for their lost dreams, and from kids who say that I’m their inspiration when they go diving.  From guys who just want to give me props or ask for tips and from so many females who say that they are now pursuing diving.  I’ve gotten emails from all over the country, as well as Europe, Australia, and Asia.” Most surprisingly Kimi adds, “An artist from Korea named “Saver” sent me all kinds of portraits he did of me and now wants to turn me into a cartoon.”

HSD would like to congratulate Kimi Werner for her continued success. -—Sterling Kaya

View the video HERE

Wednesday, January 14th, 2009

Words: Erin Mendelson
Photography: Sterling Kaya

I fall off the port side of the boat into the Pacific Ocean. Unorthodox to some free divers, I place a regulator between my lips and breathe in compressed air. The purge on the buoyancy control device (BCD) releases; the descent down begins.  As I reach a plateau, at about 55 feet, I check my gauges and feel an unexpected tug on my leg. Hanalei Adric, my boyfriend, has followed me down on one breath and looks me in the eyes, calmly waves and smiles. Thus begins a seven day hiatus from Pier 37 on O‘ahu to the seas around Ni‘ihau.

After 23 grueling hours on a long line fishing boat, our first dives in majestic waters near the crescent-shape island, Lehua, relieves us from sea sickness. Sterling Kaya, the bold photographer and videographer, and Hanalei take to the water before Captain Dick Hansen of the Sea Spray shuts off its engine. Soon, seven scuba divers, including me, kick towards the keyhole as well. The ledge dips down to 120 feet and offers nooks to squeeze into and potential cracks for lobsters.

Back on the boat, Hanalei returns with a 12 to13 pound yellow-spot ulua, a rainbow runner and some moana kali. A whale-shark bids us a brief visit, but a friendly monk seal decides to stick around. Playfully, the Hawaiian monk seal dives under the boat and exhales deeply at the surface to alert us of its presence. A few times another monk seal tries to check out the excitement, but is chased away by our territorial and barking friend. During some dives, the monk seals follow us and appear quizzical.  Hanalei obviously appreciates their company and urges Sterling to take pictures of him lying down on the ocean floor, next to this endemic and endangered mammal. Sterling gladly obliges and captures the two face to face.

Situated .7 miles north of Ni‘ihau, Lehua feels isolated and tranquil. During any down-time, the fishing poles are baited and busy.  The pleased fishermen, Glin Nelson, Andrew Burge, Adam Knox and Scott Oberg, bottom-fish and catch a variety of species between dives and into the night. Glin reels in an uku (6 to 7 pounder). Andrew hooks a good-size mu (3 – 4 lbs.) and many menpachi. Every one pulls up blue-stripped snappers or taape to fry later. In the evening, the most common hauls are small white and black tip sharks.

After a couple of days at Lehua, a lost anchor, and then a successful salvaged anchor, Mike Webster, a firefighter from Waianae and natural-born seaman, confirms the decision to head overnight to Kaula Rock, about 22 miles southwest of Ni‘ihau. Kaula emerges from the waters and is part of an eroded shield volcano.  The reef system at Kaula Rock is intact and magnificent; the sharks are infamous.

Mid-morning, Hanalei convinces me to dive without a tank, near the boat at the uninhabited Kaula Rock. He wants to hand me his speargun and attempt to shoot a 20 or 30 pound ulua (I have never used a spear gun before, but schools of ulua have been spotted). As we swim towards the rock and turn around, a huge white ulua faces us and turns. Hanalei keeps his spear gun and glides down to about fifteen feet and pulls the trigger. Hit, the fish circles, rushes downwards and takes the line on the reel and pulls Hanalei towards the celadon abyss. Dragged and nearly entangled, Hanalei methodically, hand over hand, pulls the fish back towards him. Now in Hanalei’s tight grip, the 80 pound ulua has seen its last fandango and is brained by a three-prong. Sterling captures Hana’s graceful journey back with the carcass. Hana shoves his hands in its rough gills and, showing no signs of fatigue from the thirty minute battle, swims a victory length to the Sea Spray.

The seabird populations are vast and varied: terns, shearwaters, boobies, petrels and frigate birds.Flocks of birds fly in interlaced patterns. Sadly, the ground nests are precariously at odds with a rat population and target practice by the U.S. Department of Navy. Kaula has been a bomb target by the Navy since 1952. We felt jeopardized too; a fighter plane buzzed us and sent Megan Oberg and I lying on the deck in fear of an attack. Although not part of the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge, the critical habitat at Kaula holds many treasures of the Northwestern Chain.

The trip wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the pinnacle somewhere three miles-off.  After some maneuvering to find this pinnacle, Sterling and Hana launch the skiff. We watch as Sterling and Hanalei motor up current, jump in and drift past. Next, the scuba divers load up and hang onto the anchor line to venture down. With the full moon, the current is ripping! In order to stay on the pinnacle, I have to constantly kick and hold on. My head keeps hitting my tank.

During our surface time before our second dive, the anchor slips. The Sea Spray drifts for thirty minutes until Glin realizes the mistake and notifies the captain. Hanalei and Sterling are no where in sight. I grab the radios, but only hear a faint voice and then no further signal. The worst thoughts fly threw my head. The Sea Spray in full-throttle and the crew search for the lost men. Finally, Mike spots their red float. Happily, Hanalei and Sterling recount their magnificent time while we were in a panic. Supposedly the best part of the trip in Hana and Sterling’s eyes happened when Hanalei shot a rainbow runner over the pinnacle: a 50 pound barracuda rapt it. Hana pulled the feeding frenzy closer to himself to give Sterling a close-up. Starving for some action, two six-foot grey reef sharks rush in and amongst the bubbles attack Hana. He kicks and shoves them away from between his legs. Sterling told me, “I didn’t want to film the sharks eating Hanalei, plus they were rushing me.” Sterling was convinced Hana had been bitten. Once the sharks head off, Hana looks at Sterling and then scans his fingers and legs and fins and finds no missing pieces. Back on the boat, in retrospect, Sterling says, “Aw, I wish I caught more of it on film.”

The next day the winds pick up and seal the deal. The Sea Spray begins the long journey towards O‘ahu. This was a superb trip. Thank you! We would do it all over again! PAU

View the video HERE

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

Words: Lance Uchida
Photographs: John Johnson + Dane Nakama + VOICE

One week before a scheduled “Fundive” and the surf starts turning sour. A couple of months earlier, a bunch of guys from the Hawaii Skin Diver Online Forum agreed to help out in planning a get together as a gesture of thanks from HSD to the users of the newly launched, redesigned website. Spearfactor, Seals, Biologist, Stody and me, Shallowman, settled on a Sunday date the weekend of the Fourth of July holiday for the event.

Seems that whenever we plan one of these things, the weather and surf conspire to do us in, and this one is no different. I offer this online prayer on the forum—this chant usually carries us through. Sure enough, the surf settles down and the weather is great—Shallowman saves the day again.

The great thing about “Fundives” is that you get to put the faces to the names. All year, we peruse the forums, posting back and forth, sharing our diving know-hows, our wise-cracks and our opinions. Jmack, Manini Huntah, Khanzye, Sushiman, Just Lucky, Ulua08… We’ve been talking like we’re brothers for months and we don’t even know what each other looks like. Heck, what if my brother turns out to be a sister?!?!

It always amazes me, how the guys on the forum are so willing to help each other out—the Fundive begins that same way. ‘Ol Dirty Diver agreed to give a short talk on techniques that he’s learned on breath holds and, as advertised, he’s an oxygen depleted encyclopedia of knowledge when it comes to this subject… I’ve been diving for what, 40 years? This guy started just 5 years ago or so, and already he’s doing it deeper and dirtier than me. I must say though, I’ve learned more about diving on the forums, these past 5 years that I’ve been on, than the 35 years that I’ve been diving before that and it’s because of guys like ODD who are so willing to share what they know.

After the talk, everyone’s ready to get in the water. We chose Makapu‘u because it offered diving conditions for guys of all skill levels. Beginners can hug the shore, mid-level divers can venture outside and the hardcore guys can take their yaks all the way out and dive Rabbit Island—and the real hardcore guys can swim to Rabbit Island. It was neat to see guys pairing up, finding partners that they never knew before, checking out each other’s equipment… ahem, that would be dive partners and spearing equipment.

Everyone was eager to see what the divers are hauling in. Just Lucky has a bunch of tako on his kui. Johnny bags a couple of nice uluas. Others come up with uhu, somebody bagged a big table boss—a nice assortment. We always push for divers to dive smart, just take what you need, and that’s just how they did it. Groups of divers are getting together, sharing stories, talking smack. It’s funny watching them out of earshot. You can’t hear what they’re saying but you can almost tell what their conversation is about by watching their hand motions and body language.

With the majority of the guys back, we gather around for some fun. Our webmaster, Stody* is challenged by HSD covergirl, Kimi Werner to a cookoff. Both were told to come ready to prepare 2 dishes within a 45 minute time limit, using fish donated from the dive**. Man, I can’t even bake that frozen lasagna from Costco in 45 minutes. Amazingly, both came up with two awesome dishes each… Me and Biologist were pegged to do the honors and be the judges ala Iron Chef, and let me tell you, not only do the dishes taste good, but the presentation—they sure look good too. In the end, Kimi edges Stody out, but don’t feel bad for him. We find out that Kimi has a culinary arts degree (a ringer) and had not one post on the HSD forum***. We’re considering if those were grounds for a DQ.

The committee also came up with the idea of having a beach cleanup with the winning teams receiving prizes. As I scour the beach for trash with my latex gloves and handy bottle of hand sanitizer, Gummybeah808 and Fisherboy25 are coming back to the tent with rugs, car batteries and the kitchen sink. I give up but am amazed at the amount of trash we’ve gathered. In the end, everyone goes home with a full belly, a raffle prize and a fun experience.

If you made it, it was great meeting you. If you didn’t make it, we’ll be doing it again, but in the mean time, come check us out on the forum. You’ll get lots of good advice, make a lot of good friends, have a lot of fun—and waste a lot of time. PAU

* Since this writing Sean “Stody” Stodelle has been battling “glioblastoma multiforme, Stage IV,” an aggressive form of brain cancer.  For ways to help and keep up with his progress go to: www.savestodysbrain.com

** Recipe’s are posted in the HSD forums at www.hawaiiskindiver.com
As Sean would so politely put it “Use the search function” Stody’s Tropical Rice // Kimi’s Firecracker Papio.

*** Kimi Werner now has 27 posts as of 11/08 : )

View the video HERE