Category Archives: beach vacation

Not Your Everyday Sand Castle

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Sand Castles or Sand Sculpting

Abstract sculpture showing 2 enrgies

Don’t come to see sand castles at Revere Beach, Massachusetts. These sand artists traded plastic buckets and toy shovels for coal shovels and palette knives. Each artist gets 12 tons of sand and an 18’ x 18’ exhibit area in which to mount their own sculptures. This year, 15 artists from the United States, Canada, Russia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, and Italy competed.

14 Years and countingFood Truck Line the street next to the beach

This is the 14th year for this competition. More than a contest, this is a festival with live music, food trucks and carnival rides. A DJ keeps the action pumping as the beat goes on. All around the sculptors beach goers swim and splash. The artists have from Friday at 10 am until Saturday at 2 pm to  create their masterpiece. That’s a great time to get action photos of these sand magicians. This year there are no teams, no duos. It’s all solo sculpting.

The Team EffortRats and Mice on barrels

The centerpiece sculpture is a team effort. All of the competitors worked together to create the main attraction, a twenty-foot-wide recreation of the U.S.S. Constitution. It even has cannons that fire. They are only water cannons but that just adds to the fun. Unsuspecting visitors get a good soaking when they linger in the “splash zone”.

 Sand Sculpting the USS constitution

Making a Statement

Just about all of the sculptors use the venue to make a statement. Some are more clear than others. Some make you think others may make you sad, or angry but like any good art, they all move you.

Mystical Griffin meets human boy

I think my favorite was this one titled “Who are you?”.  A griffin makes the acquaintance of a little human boy. Whimsical and provocative. It made me smile and feel warm all over.

dead mother elephant and dying babiesOne known  simply  as “Save the Elephants” was very powerful. It disturbed me. I admired the workmanship and agree with the message, but I can’t say that I liked it. The image was sad and depressing. I guess it made it’s point.baby elephant

And the winner is…Soul Evolution

David Like scupture representing the evolution of the human soul

The winning sculptor was from Russia. Like all of the sculptures it was thought provoking. I thought it was a beautiful piece of art.  It reminded me of the great Greek sculptures. What a shame they don’t last long. Here today and gone tomorrow, water is a part of each sculpture at the start  as well as part of the end. With a good rain it all dissolves away.

D.T. Fleming Beach Park

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The sun came back out after that pretty amazing rain storm. Wind and torrential rains and five minutes later, sunshine. Wow!

Since the day looked to be a good one, I took off north on Rt 30. I wanted to see if any surfers were out. If there were rip tides it would probably be quiet but it was worth taking a look.

I wasn’t sure I’d remember the exact turn off so when I spotted a left I took it. Immediately I knew this wasn’t the one. This was a paved road. The one I was looking for is a pretty rugged dirt road.

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I decided to see where this road went before I turned around. The sign said D.T. Fleming Beach Park, voted best beach in 2006. There was a rest room and maybe a bath house for changing???Also a life guard stand.

The beach seemed pretty popular. More and more people were coming while I was there. I suppose once the weather lifted everyone headed for the beach. You could see the weather was still very unsettled as rain squalls passed in the distance.

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I was surprised that so many children were there. Don’t they have school?

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The beach was certainly a pretty little beach. I found myself thinking that if these kids could handle the surf  here maybe I could too.

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I’ll have to think about it after I get my whale picture.

Not In Vegas

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All of my co workers are off in Las Vegas for the annual company meeting so it is very quiet here at work. This is the first time I’ve skipped the annual meeting and everyone wants to know why.

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 Originally I had planned to go but the company would only fly me out for 2 days, all work meetings and then I’d be jetting back. I didn’t feel the jet lag was worth it. I considered using some vacation time and staying in Vegas at my time share, Polo Towers.

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Its right on the strip and I could have used the time to do some more exploring. Vegas is a fun place even if you don’t gamble. But in the end I decided my vacation time was better spent going back to Hawaii. That trip is only a few weeks away, my birthday present to myself.

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I’ve booked one excursion which is a combo whale watch and snorkel trip. I’m looking forward to that. I’m still on the fence about trying a “Snuba” dive. Snuba is a cross between snorkeling and scuba. The mouthpiece or regulator that you use with snuba is connected to an air tank that is on the water’s surface either in the dive boat or on a raft with an air hose connected. You get to breathe through your regulator just like with scuba but you don’t have any clumsy tanks attached to your back. On the downside you are limited to the length of your air hose. On the plus side you don’t need to be certified for snuba. That’s important to me as I foolishly let my scuba certification lapse. I tried to get it reinstated but NAUI couldn’t find my records so to scuba dive means getting certified all over again. Not an inexpensive endeavor especially since I’d probably only go diving if I was on a tropical vacation.

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The excursion I booked is with one of the many tour companies on Maui but I also want to go out with the Pacific Whale Foundation. I follow their posts on FaceBook . They are a non-profit organization that was founded to help save the whales from extinction. Everything I’ve heard of this organization is positive and since 1980 they have been leaders in educational wildlife watching and eco-tourism. I’m just waiting until I get to Maui to book anymore tours. I can probably get a discount at the concierge desk at my time share. pacific-whale-foundation

Speaking of the Pacific Whale Foundation, they present a Festival on Maui on February.  That’s World Whale Day, a celebration of all things humpback. The annual celebration is used to raise awareness and inspire action to protect the whales and their ocean habitat. It’s on the Saturday before President’s day each year but sadly I will not be there that day. I’ll have to keep that date in mind for next year.

Close to the Boat

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In addition to my quest for the perfect breaching whale photo, I was hoping to be able to see the Iao Valley and the Iao Needle but it was closed due to rain and flood damage when we were there in November.

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  I keep checking the official web site for updates on when the area may be re-opening but so far it is still closed. Since February’s the rainy season in Hawaii they probably won’t have made enough progress to re-open but I’ll keep checking.

Lanai

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Its time for my solo adventure. Kathy backed out and Sandy said Nope, No Way. But I really, really wanted to get in the water. Snorkeling in Hanauma Bay was a high point in my trip to Oahu. So I was determined to try snorkeling here on Maui. Shark or no shark I was ready.

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I left Sandy and Kathy at the resort and took the car to Lahaina Harbor to meet up with my snorkeling tour.

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It was the small tour. Our boat was a pontoon boat similar to a Zodiac. There were only 35 of us on the trip. Today’s trip was to Lanai across the channel from Maui.

I’d heard lots of stories about how difficult the crossing from Maui to Lanai could be but the channel was relatively calm as we started out.

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Once we reached the Lanai coast it was a different story. The first place we stopped was too rough for snorkeling but we interrupted a pod of spinner dolphins that were sleeping near the surface.

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We traveled along the coastline to another bay which the captain pronounced safe for snorkeling. I admit I was nervous, especially when he announced that we all had to “buddy” up. I was the sole solo person on board. One of the couples said I could Buddy with them so it was set. In we went.

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The water was warm and very clear. It wasn’t long before we were caught up in watching a school of reef fish seemingly pour over the coral. It was fascinating to watch.

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The school seemed to pick up more and more members as it flowed along.

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Next thing I knew I felt a strong current tugging at me. I looked for my buddies and they were being slowly pulled closer and closer to the rocky shoreline. Wimp that I am I bailed and swam back to the boat. A few minutes later my Buddies joined me. They admitted they had gotten so engrossed in watching the school of fish that they forgot to watch their surroundings.

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After that the dive master told me I could snorkel on my own as long as I didn’t stray too far. Once everyone was back on board we were served turkey wraps and chips while we motored to our next stop. The 2nd stop was really nice. I had a great time wandering around after the many reef fish. One of the other snorkelers said he saw a sea turtle. He was on the opposite side of the bay from me. Another one saw an eel. Nothing so exotic for me but I still had a great time.

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Back on the boat we ran into the pod of dolphins again. This time they were more awake and were splashing all around us. All too soon it was time to head back.

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The return crossing to Maui was not the smooth sailing we had in the morning. We were hanging on with both hands as we flew from one wave crest to the next. Sometimes we missed the timing and you could actually count the seconds as we dropped into the trough only to be showered as the wave broke over the bow. Wild!

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I’m not sure what the best part of the trip was, the snorkeling, the dolphins or the wild return trip! I’d do it all over again given the chance.