Tag Archives: On The Coast

Firehose of lava

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

I’ve opted for a dip into the archives for this challenge. Two years ago, lava from Kilauea Volcano’s Pu’u O’o vent reached the ocean, tumbling down a cliff into the water. One day, the cliff collapsed, leaving the lava shooting out of a hole high up in the new cliff. This was called the firehose of lava because that’s what it looked like.

I first learned about it when I saw a video of the lava firehose on one of the news channels. What impressed me was that it was really hard to to see that it was a video. The flow was so strong and so consistent that it looked like a photograph. It was only by looking closely at the edges of the firehose that I could make out spatters of moving lava.

I headed down to the volcano, to take at look at this phenomenon, the day after I saw the video and was duly impressed by the dramatic scene. It was well worth the trip and well worth my quick visit. The following day another cliff collapse moved the firehose back and out of sight from the observation areas.

These are two photos from that visit. More photos can be seen in previous posts here, here, here, and here.

Windsurfer

For whatever reason, I don’t see a lot of windsurfers in the waters around the Big Island. This is a bit surprising as there’s lots of water and the wind blows with a good deal of enthusiasm. Perhaps it’s just that most people favor surfing or paddle boarding.

Whatever the reason, I thought I should get photos of this windsurfer working his way along the coast near Kawaihae, since it might be a while before I see the like again.

Posted in response to this week’s Friendly Friday challenge on the theme of ‘Moving.’ See more responses here.

Sailboat off the coast

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

Here are a couple of secretive glimpses of a sailboat heading north along the Kona coast. I used to sail for a good many years until I sold my last boat, a twelve-foot San Fransisco Bay Pelican. In that boat, I used to putter around the bay for the fun of it, but I also took it on longer journeys. Before that, I used to have a bigger sailboat and also crewed on the boats of others.

While I like bay sailing, what I really enjoyed was sailing somewhere, not just the activity, but the passage making – navigation, nights spent in the open ocean under the stars.

The boat in these photos could do that, though I’m not sure I could anymore – too used to my creature comforts these days.

Honoka’ope Bay

Honoka’ope Bay, located in Mauna Lani Resort, is also known as Black Sand Beach though, as this photo shows, the sand is not particularly black. It is, however, a protected bay with decent snorkeling much of the time. And regardless of the color of the sand, it’s a splendid spot to hang out and quietly broil in the sun.

Abstracts: Whirlpool

I watched this little whirlpool come and go in a tide pool, its state varying with the influx of water from the ocean. Sometimes it disappeared altogether, but usually returned.

What first drew my attention was not the whirlpool itself, but the shadow on the floor of the tide pool, which varied from fairly circular to heart-shaped.

Surfing

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

Surfing originated in Hawaii and is a quintessential Hawaiian activity. When the surf’s up, so is absenteeism at the workplace. For last week’s challenge, I posted a photo of surfers waiting for a wave.

This week, I’m posting photos of one of those surfers catching a wave. In the photos, the surfer cuts a curve down the face of a wave, zips along its base, and then climbs up the face again. At the top, he jumps off, no doubt to wait for the next wave he can catch.

And the alternative version? Wipeout! In the bottom photo an unoccupied surfboard heads to shore, still tethered to the ankle of the out-of-sight surfer who wiped out moments before.