Macho Diving Spectacular!!!

Following that shark post, I thought I'd share more vintage artwork showing the manly sport of SCUBA diving and its many dangers!

OO7 and a few close friends take on SPECTRE

Hand-to-tentacle combat!

Slaughtering Commies SCUBA-style!

Carnivorous clams and Murderous Mantas!

So be careful out there everybody!!!

SCUBA in Men's Literature

When I was a wee lad, my Dad would take me to Chandu's Barber Shop to get my regulation  "flattop" haircut. This usually involved a bit of a wait in an environment fairly devoid of things of interest to a small boy. But I liked to read and Chandu kept a wealth of reading material of the variety politely referred to as "men's adventure magazines". These tomes had names like Stag, Argosy, and Saga and contained fantastically absurd stories of macho derring-do in situations of combat, survival against the elements, and the newly popular secret agent genre. They were luridly illustrated with scenes of rugged, often scarred, heroes battling evil-doers (Nazis & Reds usually) while a gorgeous well-endowed woman stood by trying in vain not to spill out of her underwear/bikini/lingerie. It was in these pages that I learned that WWII was essentially won by half-naked women.

But, I digress...

Often these testosterone tales would revolve around SCUBA diving and provided me with something interesting to think about aside from the obvious. Here is some artwork from these thrilling stories of yesteryear. Enjoy!

Beautiful, blonde, nude SCUBA women. Happens every day

The Buddy System: You fight the two bad guys. I'll rescue the babe.

No kidding. This actually happened!

A Visit to Where the Lava Meets the Sea

This weekend was our 23rd wedding anniversary. To celebrate, we decided to travel to the other side of the island to do a little lava viewing. We chartered a boat to take us close to the lava where we could see it flowing into the sea.

Photo Copyright 2013 by Barry Fackler

Due to "technical difficulties" with the boat, our sunset charter didn't start until after sundown. We also had a bit of rain on the trip. Nevertheless, these small hardships were worth enduring as our boat got really close to the lava entry. The glowing magma, the billowing steam, and the hissing and popping sounds were all very spectacular and astonishing. We've seen lava flowing in the past, but seeing it enter the sea from the vantage point of a 
boat was really special.

Photo Copyright 2013 by Barry Fackler

If you visit the Big Island, this is something you really need to put on your "must do" list. We had a great great time and will remember this short trip forever.

Photo Copyright 2013 by Barry Fackler

A lava entry into the sea is one of those things that could end at any instant and possibly not recur in a lifetime. Also, there may come a time when authorities shut down trips like this due to the multiple hazards involved. We felt very fortunate to have had this great experience. 

All the way back, we were treated to the sight of marine bioluminescence flying in the prop wash behind our boat. A bonus for having started late. We then went back to our room at Volcano House, a hotel that sits on the rim of the active Kilauea caldera called Halemaumau. Our stay there will be the subject of a future post!

I Went Zip-Lining!

Back in September my brother, Chuck and sister-in-law, Jeanette came to visit us here on the Big Island. They had planned many adventures during their stay including snorkeling, parasailing and zip-lining.

I drove them up north to Kohala Ziplines and they paid to have me go along with them! It was awesome! This wasn't my first time zip-lining on the Big Island. A couple years ago I went with some visiting friends and we used another company. The experience was not nearly as good as it was with Kohala Ziplines.

Anyway, the last zipline of the day was a tandem set-up and one of our guides, Tammy, offered to video me from her line as I used the other line. She did an awesome job! See for yourself.