Even so, this is the "late-on-a-Friday-night-when-I-should-be-in-bed" version, so expect inspiration and humorous description to be in short supply.
This last full day in Polynesian paradise was to be snuba day, and Mark, Jake and I had to set the alarms early, to be downstairs by 6:00am for our pickup. Snuba was one of the highlights of the previous trip with Jordan, and Jake was very much looking forward to it. Since Jordan is no fan of sailing, he was opting out, and since Mark and I had had a great day alone with him the day before, it seemed fitting to have this be a special outing with just Jake.
We drove westward around the island by the Disney Aulani resort, surrounded by the expansive Ko'Olani resort, where the catamaran was docked. Upon check-in we were told that the boat maxes out at 50 guests, but there would be only 15 of us aboard. Of the other 12 guests, 6 were Japanese (a family of four and a honeymooning couple) and had a Japanese host on board just for them, 2 were a couple from France, and the four other Americans were a couple and a mother & daughter. The four other English speakers kept very much to themselves, so at times it felt like we had the boat to ourselves and everyone had plenty of space to themselves for lounging or sunbathing.
The weather was perfect, the wind was gentle, and the sea was a shade of sapphire unlike the color of California's Pacific waters. After the brief orientation when pulling out of dock, we settled onto the pads on the very top, next to the mast, with the sail giving our pale bodies a generous shroud of shade that didn't diminish in the least the subtle elation of feeling the wind in our faces, enjoying the vast expanse of ocean and feeling the rise and fall of the catamaran as we passed over small swells.
For the first hour of sailing, we looked for dolphins and whales, and not seeing any didn't disappoint us at all, since we we do get to see those at home and it was a glorious day on the water, with or without sea mammals. Mark and Jake were good sports about me having the camera in their faces and even posed a few times.
At the first anchor point, it was our turn for snuba, while everyone else snorkled. We all suited up and slipped into the water easily. Unfortunately, the regulator felt very different from the last one and the force with which I had to inhale and exhale made me feel like I was hyperventilating, even though I was perfectly calm. With Jake and I both going down for short periods and coming back up, our lines got pretty tangled, which had Jake mad at me for the rest of the day as he felt he couldn't just swim freely with my line entwined with his, and me not handling breathing with the regulator well. Mark, as usual, was off and swimming along the bottom, 20 feet down and having a blast. Just as I was settling into the regulator and ready to stay under for a while, our guide told us it was time to pull anchor and head to our second spot. Bummer.
After a brief sail to the next anchor spot, over a living reef, we got in the water again, to snorkle with everyone else this time.
After pulling anchor on the second spot, we settled in to enjoy the sail back to harbor. On the way, one of the Japanese toddlers got playful with Mark and decided that he wanted a wrestling match, language barrier be darned, and just climbed on and play-punched Mark until he engaged, and got half the boat laughing hysterically in the process.
The danger approaches from behind
The wind was stronger on the sail in and Jake had fun leaning into the wind.
Jake even got to drive the boat when the sails were down..
Overall, Jake felt like this about the day. We all did.
When we got back to the hotel room, we had planned to take Jake to the USS Missouri, the last major item on his must-do list, but we were pooped with a capital P. As relaxing as it felt while we were enjoying the sun, wind and water, I could do nothing but shower, change and collapse on the hotel bed. Thankfully, Jake had a bit more energy and joined Jordan, along with Brad, Nika and the girls playing and swimming down on Waikiki Beach. Brad and Jordan ventured out further than the others swimming and realized through the miracle of pink girl's swim goggles that what they had thought were rocks, was in fact coral. It was interesting and fun until an eel popped out of a hole at Jordan and displayed his menacing teeth. While Jordan got a faceful of eel, Brad found a sea turtle, which was much less alarming.
We once again all mustered for dinner and headed for the Chart House at the marina. Jan was very pleased with the location and all was well until I started feeling very dizzy and nauseous, probably a side effect of having hyperventilated and spent half the day rocking on a boat, so Mark accompanied me back to the hotel room while the others finished their meals.
I didn't feel well until the next morning, but awakened with Mark in time for sunrise and one last walk alone together.
And then it was time to head to the airport and go home.
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