The second leg of my adventure has a few unique challenges. First, I'll have paddled 25 miles in about six or seven hours the day before. Then I'll have to face the part of the coast I have the least experience with, Ala Moana to Ko'Olina. Its also the only water leg that has a lot of boat and ship traffic (going in and out of Honolulu Harbor and Pearl Harbor.) The other issue here is sharks. A few months back my son was watching a show on the Discovery Channel, "The Ten Most Dangerous Sharks," and when they got to #3 my son called me to come watch. These shark experts considered the Tiger shark the third most dangerous (Great White#2 and Bull#1.) They wanted to tag a few to learn more about the range of these ominous predators and figured the best place to catch a few was a mile or so off Honolulu Harbor. I wish I hadn't seen that. My second day 35 mile paddleboard ride (7 to 8 hours)will take me right through this area and past the fishing boats that are cleaning fish and throwing guts overboard. I'll have to remember to look tough so the Tiger sharks don't mess with me.
4 comments:
I want some shark stories and I know you got some.
Dale
I don't want to hear any shark stories. I spend too much time in the ocean and I am afraid of them. You seem almost too casual about them. I looked at the Tiger Shark website you have linked and you will cross the path of ALL the sharks they tagged and probably hundreds(?) more. Put aside all the macho stuff and tell me what you're really feeling and how you deal with it. I would like to hear from Bill about his swim from Molokai. Five or six hours in the dark? I would have died of fear. I would like to hear from him too.
Lin
Lin,
Good questions. First, I am a guy and the macho stuff is part of how I deal with it. I remind myself often that I am higher on the food chain than they are. Other than that, I really don't think about them. I've spent my whole life in the ocean and whatever Dale may tell you, I have had only a few encounters with sharks. Yes, those encounters were very scary but then so are car accidents and most people take driving very casually. I've spent more time in the ocean than I have in a car so I'm very much at home there.
Bill is preparing for a vacation but will put his comments in soon but here are some thoughts of mine on his swim. For months before the swim, I wanted to talk to him about sharks. I was beside these guys for safety and just wanted to have a plan. They never wanted to talk about it because they never wanted to think about it. Macho or practical? Even where they were swimming, the chance of an aggressive shark encounter was very small. The real danger is the fear caused by constantly thinking about it. I did finally corner them at the airport while waiting for our flight to Molokai and asked them directly, "What do you guys want me to do if I see a shark.?" They both in unison said, "Nothing."
Koz
Do you know if anyone on a paddleboard has ever been attacked by a shark around here?
KP
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