Hemisphere Dancer

Just another Saturday morning on Oahu.. there were giant pancakes again and some exploring at the beach. Henry found an old lady slipper on the jetty and was entirely too excited about it. Sky collected mermaid food (ulva, turbinaria, and sargassum, if my memory serves) and I caught her trying to eat the sea lettuce. 

At noon on Friday I realized I was about to hit 60 hours for the work week. So I hid my giant bag in my sweater (it's 40 degrees in my office) and went to the restroom.. and never came back. The benefit of the Friday run-commute is not having to sneak my bike out with me when I ditch. So what if I was limping a little and wearing compression socks with my heels? Katherine and I hit the beach. The water was an incredible color. It was one of the top five most gorgeous ocean-days I've seen in my life. But I had no cap or goggles. Then we remembered the paddleboards. It's kind of like paddling a hollow, super-long surfboard with a rounded bottom:

We looked just like these guys, only tippy. (Not tipsy - that was later - lemon drop martinis!) Off we went, into the deep stuff. We could see straight down to the coral heads through the turquoise water and kept stopping to marvel at the colors - and the pain. Seems that if your shoulders haven't been swimming, your shoulders aren't fit for paddling.  We paddled all the way across Waikiki in 20 minutes, about twice as fast as we can swim it. Then we beached ourselves at the Royal Hawaiian for a bit:

turned around and headed back. A turtle popped up to check us out, and I failed miserably at trying to paddle on my knees the way the cool guys who win Molokai do... The added bonus? A sore core, lats and shoulders today. I have found swimming.. without the swimming! I even got to wear a Splish. 

On the way back from the Royal Hawaiian we passed a boat named Hemisphere Dancer. Guess who is coming to town on Feb. 28th? I am so excited!

Me and the man himself, after a long brick a few weeks before Kona. Well, he didn't do the brick. Yes, I look like a total dork. But please note that Jimmy Buffett & I have the same sunglasses.