SSV Makani Olu

I was on my way to work one morning when I noticed the sailboat in the top image. The array of white sails caught the early morning sun and stood out against the deep blue water. I pulled over, took this photo and headed on in to work.

I saw later that the boat had anchored in Kawaihae harbor, so on my way home I stopped by to check it out. The SSV Makani Olu is a three-masted staysail schooner (SSV stands for Sailing School Vessel), and is used as a training vessel for various programs run by Marimed Foundation. The boat is based at Kaneohe Bay, on the east coast of Oahu.

In the photo to the right, the boat appears to be four-masted, but that’s just because the mast of the boat behind it lined up perfectly.

For more information about SSV Makani Olu and Marimed Foundation, go to marimed.org.

Green anole

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Green Macro or Close-Up.’ See more offerings here.

Here’s a green anole (Anolis carolinensis) perched on a green ti leaf so that I could take its photo (possibly). Light greens in the sun, dark greens in the shadow. With all this, I can forgive the anole its powder blue eye-shadow.

Long John Mantis

This week’s Friendly Friday challenge theme is ‘Rails.’ See more responses here.

Here’s a praying mantis on a railing. Typically, I line up photos where horizons are horizontal and strong vertical lines are vertical. This photo’s an exception. I think the off-kilter lines complement the off-kilter appearance of the mantis, especially since this mantis had lost an eye and a leg, hence the title of this post.

Goats butting heads

A herd of goats mill about on a trail in South Kona. In any sizable gathering of goats I usually see younger ones butting heads as they tussle with each other. This is practice for when they’re older and the jousts become a more serious contest for position within the group.

Scrawled filefish in the wars

I noticed this scrawled filefish because it was catching the sunlight, as they sometimes do, and the blue scribbles on its side were beautifully illuminated.

The photo on the left is the first sighting I had of the fish, and as it dove I noticed something trailing it. This can just be seen below the tail. It looked like fishing line. So I followed it and got the top photo where I could clearly see that the fish was trying to dislodge a hook and line from its mouth. Not only that, but it had a good-sized slash in its side.

I had visions of trying to grab the line and remove the hook, but the fish kept going down, away from me and out of my reach. It disappeared from view and I was left only with the photos and the rather sad image of the struggling fish.

Unloading a barge

Containers are unloaded from one of the inter-island barges at Kawaihae harbor. It’s not a forklift doing the work, more of a grip-n-raise, though I doubt that’s its official name. No prizes for guessing that the shipping company is Matson, but I like the repetition of their name in the images.

Cattle and turbines

I grew up on a dairy farm so I have a soft spot for cattle (as opposed to some who may have grown up on a dairy farm and have a virulent dislike of cattle).

Sometimes, when I walk by on the dirt road bordering their pasture, the cattle run away. Other times they run towards me. These six lined up and just watched me, which was probably the right response. I’m not that exciting.