Sharks Cove night dive.......

[justleesa]

If it's Shark's Cove, getting a kitchen pass would be easier

What is a Kitchen pass?

 

[ch0ppersrule]

Just curious, what was your profile like at Lanai Lookout? Where'd you come in? Halona Cove? That's a pretty good distance to cover even if you caught the Express....I'm getting the heebie-jeebies just thinking about it.... (Oh to clarify, in my mind, the Express is a contrary current that tends to appear with Kona weather; otherwise, the normal current flows from Sandy's toward Haunama Bay.)

We dropped in on the ledge at Lanai after crossing the road and going through the tunnel. We came out just on the outer part of the mouth from the Blowhole. Surface kicked in which was starting to get pretty bumpy (which is also why we did just one dive). We hit 64 ft., but I didn't record my average (which I will say was about 35-40ft). We dropped in at 15:57 and out at 16:44. Oh- My average was 43ft and we did the dive Nov 12th (got it off my Sensus Pro). Thanks for the info on the Express- I truly thought it was something else. We dropped during high tide and yes, the current was going our way- just not a super strong one. We did play with a couple of octopus and seen some eels plus got to listen to the whales. I do remember I was tired after that dive.

Thanks
Melissa

 

[bluemagoo]

What is a Kitchen pass?

"kitchen pass" -- n. Permission from one's spouse to attend an event or go on an outing.

Started hearing this from some military guys, along with the term "booking" which I'm positive means "moving out smartly" and originated during the Vietnam War among Marines; to "book out" was to sign transport (or discharge?) papers back for home.

 

[bluemagoo]

We dropped in on the ledge at Lanai after crossing the road and going through the tunnel. We came out just on the outer part of the mouth from the Blowhole. Surface kicked in which was starting to get pretty bumpy (which is also why we did just one dive). We hit 64 ft., but I didn't record my average (which I will say was about 35-40ft). We dropped in at 15:57 and out at 16:44. Oh- My average was 43ft and we did the dive Nov 12th (got it off my Sensus Pro). Thanks for the info on the Express- I truly thought it was something else. We dropped during high tide and yes, the current was going our way- just not a super strong one. We did play with a couple of octopus and seen some eels plus got to listen to the whales. I do remember I was tired after that dive.

Thanks
Melissa

You've just made the "Iron Maiden" entry in my book. Awesome dive; not something I'm up to do anymore. Was the bottom around Halona/Bamboo Ridge still littered with tumbleweed tangles of fishing line? That stuff really bummed me; a turtle or anything could easily get entangled. We chopped up as much as we could but it was impossible to do a complete job.

 

[ch0ppersrule]

You've just made the "Iron Maiden" entry in my book. Awesome dive; not something I'm up to do anymore. Was the bottom around Halona/Bamboo Ridge still littered with tumbleweed tangles of fishing line? That stuff really bummed me; a turtle or anything could easily get entangled. We chopped up as much as we could but it was impossible to do a complete job.

From what I remember there was quite a bit of fishing line on the bottom. Too much for the 6 of us to try and bring up. When I remember to bring my bag I pick up bottles and trash as I go along. Most of the fishing line is, I am guessing, at Bamboo Ridge (the cove before the blowhole?). At the blowhole we found a white plastic chair, big metal bowl, ladle and empty beer bottles-- of course we set up at a rock and had a little underwater pretend party. I suppose I should take my bag every dive and get what I can.

 

[bluemagoo]

From what I remember there was quite a bit of fishing line on the bottom. Too much for the 6 of us to try and bring up. When I remember to bring my bag I pick up bottles and trash as I go along. Most of the fishing line is, I am guessing, at Bamboo Ridge (the cove before the blowhole?). At the blowhole we found a white plastic chair, big metal bowl, ladle and empty beer bottles-- of course we set up at a rock and had a little underwater pretend party. I suppose I should take my bag every dive and get what I can.

...just don't get hurt/drowned bagging stuff -- I nearly did.

Bamboo Ridge is the set of cliffs just on the other side of Halona Cove from the BlowHole lookout. It got the name from all the old-style bamboo fishing pole that sprouted along the cliffs there. Along the road, there's a little lookout with no parking lot; there's a Japanese-styled memorial to all the fishermen lost there; originally, there was a more traditional Japanese stone "jizo" figurine marker but that got stolen or tossed (I think it happened during WWII -- for obvious reasons). Bamboo Ridge is heavily used by a semi-resident club of fishermen; if you look, you'll see pipe-like pole holders and eye-bolts for tarps, cemented into the cliffs. They use heavy line, in the range of 60lb test or more along with wire leaders and 8-12oz lead anchors, and so can be a serious entanglement hazard. Most of the stuff we encountered was so old that we could break it with just our hands. But some of it was new and had to be hacked or snipped to death.

Just found this article on the area: http://starbulletin.com/2003/07/20/news/kokualine.html

 

[chepar]

http://starbulletin.com/2003/07/20/news/kokualine.html[/url]

Thanks for the article - very interesting.

My dad still talks very fondly of the days back when he was a kid and used to go torch fishing with his uncle - somewhere on the east side between Portlock and Maunalua Bay. He describes some sort of get up with a pole dangling a torch in front of you and wading in the water, chasing fish into a net.

 

[bluemagoo]

Thanks for the article - very interesting.

My dad still talks very fondly of the days back when he was a kid and used to go torch fishing with his uncle - somewhere on the east side between Portlock and Maunalua Bay. He describes some sort of get up with a pole dangling a torch in front of you and wading in the water, chasing fish into a net.

"Torching" is still very popular, particularly in the Kaneohe Bay area as well as the Kahala/Niu Valley/Kuliouou area. It's gotten a little more fancy with specially made harnesses to hold up the propane lanterns. The harness looks like the good 'ole Hawaiian backpack for scuba tanks; sort of an aluminum H-frame or backplate with two hook-like arms padded with a/c insulation tubing, draped over your shoulders. The lantern is suspended from a long overhead arching arm attached to the backpack. Oldtimers used to make their own with bolts and strips of steel or aluminum; some even used plywood for the backplate and steam-bent and glued thin strips of wood to make the shoulder hooks. I think Nanko's fishing supply store in Kaneohe might have them (corner of Kapuhipa and Alaloa I think -- anyway Nanko's on the opposite end of the block of the backside of Windward Mall).

BTW, did a new scuba shop open in Waimalu/Newtown? This past weekend, I noticed a sign "Coral Fish Scuba Shop" where the Coral Fish Hawaii aquarium store is, across from Waimalu Elementary School. It was after dinner and was dark, so I didn't stop to take a look.

 

[chepar]

"Torching" is still very popular, particularly in the Kaneohe Bay area as well as the Kahala/Niu Valley/Kuliouou area.

I better not pass on that little bit of information to my dad - he might decide to revisit his youth and rig up his own harness for a trip down memory lane. Then again, the engineer in him will probably take over and he'll be tinkering on the harness for the next 7 years, trying to get it "just right".

BTW, did a new scuba shop open in Waimalu/Newtown? This past weekend, I noticed a sign "Coral Fish Scuba Shop" where the Coral Fish Hawaii aquarium store is, across from Waimalu Elementary School. It was after dinner and was dark, so I didn't stop to take a look.

I hadn't noticed, but I'm always trying to get from point A to point B in as little time as possible - I'm more likely to be staring at the bumper right in front of me and wondering why the heck they're moving so slow. I'll have to check it out - it would be awesome if another dive shop opened so close to my house. I'm such a whiner, but I'm now painfully aware of just how great I had it when HSA was open.

 

[chepar]

Ok, update on the new dive shop in Waimalu (I just NEEDED to know, so I called the fish shop for info) - apparently this shop is called Coral Divers.

The guy I spoke to said they will be a full service dive shop with gear to sell/rent. He did say that they won't have tanks available for rent for a couple of weeks, though. Not sure what's going on with that.

He said they're having a grand opening this weekend on 7/02 and 7/03 and invited me to stop by to check it out. I'll try to make time to get over there and see what they've got set up.