Once in awhile, when you travel, everything comes together and you are able to do something that rarely ever happens, to anyone. My guest blogger describes below a great experience because of our friend serendipity that occured in January.
Lie
down on your stomach, and breathe!
I
have just given you the instructions on how to snorkel, something which I began
doing years ago, and have found each time to be a new adventure. If you
feel timid, you can wear a life jacket or float belt to assure you that you
won’t sink. You can just lie still and use almost no energy, so you won’t
get tired. Or you can move around a wide area to see all sorts of
underwater terrain. Mostly, I have seen gorgeous vividly colored
small fish. In the Sea of Cortez, I opted to keep a distance from
the curious sea lions unlike some of my fellow snorkelers, because I am a
wimp. I find it a very pleasant way to see something new, to relax, and
get as much or as little exercise as I choose. My daughter first
snorkeled at age 5. That’s how easy it is.
But
occasionally there may be an opportunity to see something extraordinary. My guest blogger, Lindsey Johnson, had an
incredible snorkeling trip off of Maui. ( I have snorkeled from Maui and
saw….beautiful fish. She saw something completely different.)
Take
it away, Lindsey.
I never tire of peacefully floating through tropical
waters while colorful fish gracefully swim below for my viewing pleasure.
In fact, you could say I am a snorkeling fanatic. I have even
attempted to snorkel in the lake near my home in Seattle, (something I
would not recommend unless you are a connoisseur of old tires.)
Although I make sure to partake in snorkeling whenever I am on a vacation that
allows, my adventures have all been about seeing beautiful fish and sometimes,
if I am lucky, one turtle.
So when, on a recent trip to Maui, the stars (and mostly
the weather,) aligned and allowed our snorkel cruise boat to snorkel in an area
that is rarely if ever a safe stop, I knew I had hit the snorkel jackpot: the Liberty Shipwreck, an oil tanker from World War II that now rests about
1,500 feet off a beautiful deserted beach on Lanai, a short boat ride from
Maui.
The full day snorkel adventure promised lots of beautiful
fish, some fun and laughter, and hopefully turtles, dolphins and whales.
The trip took us around the island of Lanai, a typical yet always fun touristy
snorkel trip. Our guide also promised us a view of Shipwreck beach, a
famous ‘wrecked’ ship, and a drive by Dragon cove. Again, all very
typical and done daily on these tours. With the sun shining, and more
importantly the wind quiet, the trip over to Lanai was filled with a few great
whale sightings.
As we approached the giant ship our Captain got on the
speakers and began to announce in a very excited voice that we might have just
hit the jackpot on the weather and if the wind was still nonexistent as we got
closer, we would be able to do something only 6 tours ever in the 10 years he
had been doing these daily trips has been able to do: snorkel around the
ship. Typically the winds from the North East that get funneled through
the channel between Lanai and Maui are very strong and it is dangerous for both
boats and especially snorkelers to get too close to the giant Liberty
ship.
We, however, lucked out. Our Captain guided us
within 15 feet of the giant ship while he told us the story of the famed
Liberty Ships. Giant and very inexpensive to build, these cargo ships
became a symbol of the huge American war industrial output. However when
three of the hulking, concrete enforced ships inexplicably broke in half, flags
were raised. It turns out the steel that was used could not handle
the extreme cold weather of the water in the North Atlantic and would crack and
fracture. Many were retired or sold to other countries, but one ended up
in Hawaii. I was relieved to find out this was not shipwreck that may be
home to old sailors bones, but was actually placed in that location as the
most economical way to dispose of the giant, hulking concrete ship.
We finally jumped into the water on the side of the ship
that was shadowed from the sun. The water was warm, but without sun there
was little life. We managed to see a few fish and while my boyfriend hung
back, I swam close to the ship and was treated to all sorts of creepy crawlies
moving along the side. Also being so close to the ship you could peer
into several holes and appreciate the sheer size of this hulking beast, which
the US managed to build in less than 50 days at the peak of production.
Truly a symbol of the US’s industrial prowess and mastery- arguably the biggest
reason our side won the war. It was a memory I knew I would not forget.
As we slowly made the turn around the back of the ship into
sunshine it was like swimming into the underwater Garden of Eden. The
sunny side teemed with life, as we saw butterfly fish, tangs, pennant fish,
trumpet fish, and the ever classic Moorish Idol. I had never seen so many
fish while snorkeling. Rocks and coral of all sizes littered the ground,
so close in many places I could reach down with my hand and touch the plant
life that covered the outside. As we lazily floated through the
underwater rainbow we came upon my absolute favorite animal- turtles! One
sleepily floated so close once I finally noticed him I could have reached out
and patted him on the head. There were several, none at all distracted or
disturbed by the sight of several humans swimming nearby so we were lucky enough
to enjoy them for almost the entire time we were in the sunshine.
As I climbed aboard the snorkeling boat for some lunch
and we zoomed off to our next, more typical snorkeling destination, I looked
back at the wreck and knew how lucky I was to get so close to a piece of
history. If I close my eyes I can still see the schools of colorful fish
stream by, the lazy turtles floating past, and the giant hull covered in years
of rust and now home to all sorts of underwater creatures.
Thank you Lindsey. I hope that someday I am lucky enough to have a great experience like that.
Now for the commercial: Are you a Notre Dame supporter? Or did you serve in the Navy? I have a nifty package to Ireland for the football game between these two teams, with some touring of the Emerald Isle as well, this fall. It would be a fun trip without the game, but maybe you fans should go so that you can explain the game to all of those Irishmen and women you will run into! I adore Ireland and especially it's people. Now if the University of Washington were to play there I'd be the first in line for tickets.
