Aloha From Maui!

     Jeff and I have been in Hawai'i for the past four days working on a project that Jeff was hired as a consultant on.  When he asked me if I wanted to come with him last week I didn't think I'd be able to do it, but flights were dirt cheap and I couldn't say no.  At this point I can't really discuss the project in public due to an NDA but hopefully sometime in the future I'll be able to go into it further because it is incredibly cool.

     At any rate we arrived in Honolulu on the 15th and met one of our gracious hosts and Jeff's business partner, Harry Donenfeld.  Harry is an awesome guy and we had a blast hanging out with him during our stay in Hawai'i.  Not only did he put us up in his home on Maui and go to great lengths to share his favourite parts of Hawai'i with us but he's just a fantastic, high energy personality and a lot of fun to dive and hang out with.  We spent our first night on the North Shore of O'ahu with one of Jeff's former students, Nick.  Nick is a really nice guy and interesting character and I could probably write an entire bog entry or two on him alone.  He's definitely got a taste for adventure and is an avid helicopter pilot, kite boarder, big wave surfer, rebreather diver and amateur film maker among other things.  It would be an understatement to say that our accommodations were 'plush' and we had a very nice dinner that night at the Turtle Bay Resort with Harry and Katie Laing, the 1993 Rolex Scholar.

     The next morning Harry Jeff and I set off for Maui where we would be meeting up with Jeff's client and working with a local dive operation, North Shore Explorers.  Todd, Liz, Chris and the rest of the gang at North Shore Explorers have a sweet operation running, and took care of all of our diving needs during our stay.  The jewel in the crown of NSE is the Pailolo, a converted US Navy rigid hull inflatable powered by two 300 horsepower diesel jet drives. Although one of the engines was having maintenance issues during our visit the Pailolo is apparently a beast when she's up and running and this allows NSE to run trips to spots and under conditions that would usually be impossible for run-of-the-mill cattle boat operators to handle.

     The four days we spent in Maui were absolutely jam packed with amazing diving, people, food and exploration.  Harry, Todd, Chris, Liz, John and everyone else made sure that we kept busy and had an awesome time.  It was also a privilege (and a lot of fun) to get to help Jeff out with his work (we did do a little...).  After a quick last minute dive with some turtles on the leeward side of the island Jeff and I set off for O'ahu, where Jeff will be catching a flight back to California but I'll have a few more days to hang out and explore with Katie Laing.