Flying Fish

When I worked as a second grade teacher, I had to come up with many positive ways to motivate my students. Among these were a couple of silly daily and weekly awards. For example, I gave the "bracelet" award for good behavior... two stretchy wrist bracelets that I wore prior to first recess in beads of our school colors. I gave one of them off each wrist to the boy and girl who exhibited the best behavior for the morning to wear during recess. It was my way of keeping those seven year old minds focused on what I was teaching early in the morning. I still marvel at how or why it was so highly coveted, but as any elementary school teacher will tell you, when something works, you go with it. 

One day I decided I needed to give another award on a weekly basis to identify a student who had achieved academic excellence. Because I love the ocean, and my classroom was decked out as if you were there, I decided the award should also have an ocean theme. Hence the creation of the "flying fish award." It all began as a ploy to motivate my students to do better with their research and weekly writing assignment. The students bought into it like fish to water (pun intended). Meanwhile, what became the Flying Fish Award evolved into a beautifully laminated, brief article about the flying fish, which my students helped to create, and was also highly coveted when they won it. 

I like to believe I was motivating them to to read appropriate and interesting non-fiction about a subject to which they (or I) knew little. The year I created the award, I learned a lot about flying fish. There are over 60 different species, and they are often found in the tropical waters of Barbados. In my wildest dreams, I never thought I would ever SEE one, but I can attest that not only did I see one, I saw many of them off the coast of Maui. The flying fish I saw were predominantly off the coast of Wailea, and they flew/swam in small schools in and out of the water as we sailed by. What surprised me the most was the noise they make. They sound like a humming bird and the flapping of a homing pigeon at the same time. The effect is jaw dropping. 

Wishing to learn even more about this spectacular fish this morning, I found an excellent video that captures their magic. Try as I might, I was not able to snap a good photo of them. Shout out to David Attenborough, who (based on my recollection) sounds like the person who performs the narration. Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/SKNjUQgQHPI

Setting Sail

It was a hot, humid, sunny day on Maui when we met up with a few sailors at the Lahaina Harbor for a sail in a 30' Olsen. What a beauty she was, newer and sleeker than the 29 footer we sail in Santa Cruz with the community boating club. She was clean, her sails were crisp, and she was obviously well taken care of. 

I fell immediately in love with the beautiful cerulean blue of the ocean, and although it was hot and humid, I felt comfortable in my dive shirt and bike shorts. In the beginning we were all quiet as we maneuvered her the hull of the sailboat through the warm water, watching the sights and sounds of Lahaina town pass behind us. As we got further out, several schools of flying fish would evade our advances. Molokini loomed farther out than we would like to travel. It felt like we were participants in a magical dream watching our boat pass through an ocean so blue it looked like someone had poured blue paint in it, along with the lush green fauna on the land nearby.

By the time we returned to the slip, we were chatting jovially and we all decided to head to the Yacht Club for a bite to eat. A great time was had by all, and I snapped a picture of the gorgeous view. Once again, the aloha spirit and the island life on Maui warmed my soul. 

The Cove

I was sitting on a Boeing airplane heading due west to our annual tropical vacation destination, and the excitement was almost tangible. I put down my book, Bird of Another Heaven, by James Houston, and pondered why I love to visit the Hawaiian islands every year. It has a lot to do with the place we stay, which just might be one of the most beautiful places on earth, but it's more than that. It's the music, the colors of the ocean, the temperate climate, the snorkeling and the general aloha spirit that brings us back again and again. This place is our own private paradise in the Hawaiian islands.

When we are here, everything just seems to fall into place. After our plane gently touched down, we leisurely walked to the rental car area, passing the line of tourists that stand in line for the deals at Dollar and Alamo car rental, having spent too much time during prior years in their long lines, and on to our Enterprise shuttle that awaited our arrival. I barely had enough time to visit the ladies room, and we were in our rental car on our way to the cove. 

We decided to stop on our way to pick up a few groceries, rent our snorkel gear, and then we made our way to the condo we frequent each year. We were in for a lovely welcome from the woman who has been working at the reception area for over 15 years, and I noticed that it feels like we are visiting ohana (family), when we say our alohas. When we finally opened the door to our unit, what lies before us is the incredible view, and we know that we have arrived. 

The sun isn't yet moving towards the horizon, so we decided to get in the warm ocean water and swim with the turtles. They are there, just like always, hiding in the coral reefs, slowly coming up for air. We are the only ones in the cove and they come out and lead us around as if to welcome us back. When we are done, we relax on the grassy ocean edge and bask in the warm sunshine. That's when I pull put the camera and snap this photo. All I can think is, Maui no ka hoi, which when translated means Maui is the best.

The Fisher King

I just finished watching The Fisher King, currently available on Netflix, and I really liked it.  I've been missing Robin Williams, and doing a lot of soul searching lately because of his death.  I guess that's why this movie drew me in.  Even though it was a tear jerker, I laughed a lot in the middle of it.  I completely lost it when Parry's demons were explained.  I could directly identify with him because of what happened to Hardy and me.  The movie will only be available until Sept. 1st, so get in there and watch. 

The Fisher King is about a New York shock jock (Jeff Bridges) who is racked with guilt after inspiring a killing spree. He eventually finds redemption through his acquaintance with Parry (Robin Williams), a homeless man who was inadvertently involved in the rampage. 

The Skinny on Trans Fat

We've all heard that trans fat is not good got you, but today I got into researching why.  I am NOT any sort of expert, but I just spent a couple of hours reading about this, so I have a little bit of a handle on what it is, and what it isn't for that matter. The most surprising thing I learned is what trans fat isn't! The term trans fat doesn't ever refer to a saturated fat, like butter or any other animal fat. The term trans fat only refers to fats that are unsaturated. 

In addition to having the unsaturated component, trans fat also poses a basic problem in the human body. This is in regard to cholesterol. We have two types of cholesterol in our bodies, HDL (good/heathy) and LDL (bad/unhealthy). My understanding is that trans fat lowers BOTH types of cholesterol, and we don't want to do that. Obviously, when we give a blood sample, we want a high number for HDLs and low number for LDLs. Further, the unsaturated fats that are NOT classified as trans fats help to raise the HDL number and LOWER the LDL. That means we need to consume an unsaturated fat that works with us, and trans fats ultimately work against us. 

Another thing about those lovely fats is they contain Omegas either 3, 6, or 9. Forget about Omega 9, because our body can create that one on its own. Even though our bodies can't produce Omega 6, most people eat plenty of it, so we probably don't have to worry about that one either. Omega 3 is the one we need to think about, because it is the only one that fights inflammation. Fortunately Omega 3 is in some great foods (salmon, spinach, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale, flax seeds, and eggs for instance), so it's easy to fit into our daily intake. 

What oil should I use?

Oils are a tricky subject. They are fat. Period. I saw a lot of opinion and controversy over the best cooking oils, but it's probably safe to use those unsaturated fats we are told are good for us, like olive, avocado, canola, or flaxseed. These oils have the correct Omegas and zero trans fats too. If at all possible, fats should come from food, and if using a butter type spread, look for something on the package that says no trans fat. In fact, a good rule would be to look for labels with zero trans fat.

Points of Sail 101

I just read an article about Points of Sail that was so good, I felt motivated to blog about it. It has sailing terms explained succinctly so rather than paraphrase, here is the link. Thank you to whoever is at the helm at the Princton Sailing Team site. Any more information and racing secrets would be given away. 

Sailors should copy, paste, and save this link for occasional reference...

http://www.princeton.edu/~sailing/PrincetonSailing/Sailing_Tips.html

Man Overboard

I was really nervous last night because I knew all weekend that I was going to have to do a figure eight, man overboard drill during sailing class. I wasn't feeling it, and I honestly didn't think I could do it. I practically meditated all weekend on mastering the task. In my mind, I had a picture of how to do it... I had to fall off the wind, travel a safe distance away from the victim, then turn upwind and complete the maneuver by tacking into a broad reach, turning towards the person, and finally luffing the sails so as to slow down to pick up the "dummy" that fell in the water.

Yup. I could describe it, and I could see it in my mind's eye. But up until last night, I had never actually done it. Moreover, since I don't have a sailboat, I could not practice the drill until the actual class. I felt like this was the part of the course that separated the women from the girls. Suffice it to say, I watched a ton of YouTube videos beforehand, and I visualized what to do in my mind's eye. This helped to stave off the anxiety, but doing it would have to wait until class.

Until today, I felt like a wanna be sailor. I was in a place mentally that kept me from feeling like I knew how to sail. While it is true that I have been consistently sailing during race night for about 6 years, I didn't feel like I knew how to sail. For example, I could not drive the boat - without a motor, and I didn't know how to trim the main sail. But today? Today I can say with confidence, that I can, and more than that, knowing that  I can do this particular drill, is what got me there. Because I successfully did the figure eight. 3 times!

I personally take issue with the fact that the figure eight method is the best for retrieving a victim in the super cold Monterey Bay. I think it's too time consuming for a person overboard to wait in that water. Not to mention how it would feel to watch the boat go about 6 boat lengths away before heading back again for pick up. I don't even want to talk about hypothermia. The experts say the figure eight is best because there won't be any jibing going on.  

Today I see the merit of learning the figure eight drill. It requires the use of so many of your sailing skills, not to mention knowledge of the wind, and navigation, that once mastered, it feels like like you've passed some sort of skills test. As an educator, with roughly 10 years experience, that's where the drill becomes invaluable. It makes you prove to yourself, and everyone else, that you can not only sail, but also possibly save someone's life by performing a figure eight in the ocean. But more than that, for me it was the aha moment I'd been waiting for. 

I have come full circle. The first instruction I ever received, in regard to sailing, was on this very topic. It was given to me by my good friend, Robert, over 6 years ago. When I asked him what I could do to assist the crew that day, he said, "Your job is to stay onboard. Just don't fall into the water." He said it simply and mater of factly. And it was good instruction. As sailors, we never want to perform the man overboard drill. But today I realize it's important to learn that if we have to, we can. 

*****

Two great links to videos that show how it's done...

Man overboard drill by Olympic Circle Sailing Club (OCSC) Berkeley:  http://youtu.be/CEdFkbIYGno

How it looks boat animation by PsychoSnail Sailing:  http://youtu.be/VXDIdszPWoY