When The Simple Life is Not so Simple

It’s 3:40pm. I just finished setting up my laptop at Starbuck’s and was writing an article to start my blog when I receive a call from Lloyd. He had posted a meet-up for diving 5 Caves 5 Graves probably 2 days ago on meetup.com, for tomorrow morning at 8:00am.

He was calling to discuss details on getting me to the dive, since I have no vehicle and no means of getting myself and my gear (let alone a tank or two!) to the dive site. He quickly informs me that if I can get to Kihei, he can pick me up in the morning and has a couple tanks I can use. I am totally stoked! I desperately need dives to increase my dive count to continue my dive training on to Rescue Diver. Checking out the bus schedule he discovers it does not run early enough to get me to Kihei in the morning. He suggests the possibility of getting a ride from another member who is currently working at a dive shop not far from me. She happens to be working at the dive shop where I did my dive certifications and I remember meeting her once before. It’s now 4:00pm. Realizing I’m running tight on time, I quickly pack up my laptop and head out the door to Maui Diving down the street.

It takes about fifteen minutes to pack up my stuff and walk to the dive shop. I start counting every minute. As soon as I get there, I see a group of people in front of the desk...they had just gotten swamped! Frantically, I start checking the bus schedule for plan B while waiting for them to take care of their customers. If I can take the bus to Kihei tonight, I can get a ride from Lloyd in the morning to the dive site. Just then, I hear my name being called. The owner of the shop is trying to get my attention, the other customers had left. I was completely focused on figuring out the bus schedule. I talk to Kathy, getting a ride was not going to work out, so I move on to plan B. Quickly, I head out the door and on my way to storage to collect my gear. It’s now almost 4:40pm.

Immediately I begin calculating times in my head. I start jogging while trying to operate my phone in the blazing sun, making my screen almost impossible to read while trying to figure out the bus schedule. Run in the sun, walk in the shade, run in the sun, walk in the shade. I’m now completely drenched in sweat. From my calculations, in order to catch the bus in Kihei and get to the closest bus stop to the dive site, the last time I can catch that bus is 7:50pm. That means I have to catch the Lahaina bus at Cannery Mall by 5:42pm. An hour until 5:42pm when the bus leaves, twenty minutes to get to storage and I know previously it has taken almost forty minutes to pack up my gear. That gives me two minutes to get from storage to the bus stop. I jog faster.

I’m now at storage, it’s hot and sweat is dripping on the concrete floor. It’s 4:54pm. Frantically, I begin collecting my SCUBA gear, transferring what I need from my day backpack and tossing it into my BCD pockets and dry backpack. Just as I close and lock the storage door, I stop. I have that feeling I’m forgetting something! I unlock and open the storage door, scan around, and notice I forgot my regulator! Quickly I grab it and pack it in the bag, close the door and lock it again. It feels as though twenty minutes has passed, and at this point every second counts. I put on my BCD vest, putting the dry backpack over top the BCD and clipping my hammock and hammock straps to the D-rings on my BCD. I’m set. It’s now 5:08pm. Not bad, but I still have to make it to Cannery Mall by 5:42. Walking briskly with all my gear, I manage to make it, with about twenty minutes to spare. Not sure I have enough time to re-arrange the gear in my bag, I decide to hold off and wait for the bus.

After transferring buses twice, almost an hour and half later, I end up having time to re-arrange my bag before the next bus. I finally arrive at the final stop and it is almost 8:30pm. I look around near the bus stop and there does not appear to be an ideal place to setup the hammock. There are a lot of lights, traffic, buildings, people and resorts. As I no longer have to deal with the heat of the day I decide to push on, walking from here to the dive site. According to Google Maps it should take me about an hour. Not bad.

Eventually the street lights end, the traffic lightens and when no vehicles are on the road it’s almost completely dark. I am the only one around. I look up and notice how clear and beautiful the sky is. I can see so many stars! It’s incredible. I find myself occasionally stopping to glance up at the night sky. It’s now 9:18pm and I have walked one and three-quarter miles when I come to a clearing, Poolenalena Park. Considering putting up the hammock here, I glance around and notice a parked van and in the short distance several lights bouncing and flailing around; campers are setting up using headlamps. It appears too crowded for my taste. Checking Google Maps I realize I’m halfway there, so I press on. 20/20 hind sight, I now realize that would have been the better place to put up for the night.

I’m relieved when I finally arrive at the park. It’s now 9:48pm, I just walked three miles carrying all of my gear and it’s been a fairly long day. I can’t wait to setup the hammock and fall asleep. I don’t really care at this point that there is a good group of people already setting up their spots in the park for the holiday tomorrow and the park is fairly lit blocking out the beautiful sky. I find a decent spot fairly close to shore between a couple trees. Unfortunately, after I get everything set, I realize that one of the trees is so thick that it takes up the entire length of my strap and the hammock won’t fit. So I find another spot and it’s perfect. After setting up the hammock a second time, I throw my bag and gear into the hammock, fall in and take my shoes off. It’s 10:35pm and I’m exhausted, it takes no time at all before I am sound asleep.

Something wakes me up…I realize I’m getting wet. At first I think it’s a light rain and I’ll just ride it out, without setting up the rain cover. Within seconds I realize I’m getting soaked…I look over the side and realize I placed the hammock directly in front of the park sprinklers, which were now spraying at 2:00am, constantly and directly at the hammock. Immediately I hop out and begin removing my bag and gear, tear down the hammock and think to myself, “now what?” Looking around, there is no place close by to hang the hammock, and it’s soaking wet anyways. Assuming the sprinklers will be on for about 20-30 minutes, I set my stuff to the side, hold the hammock by the ends and beginning flailing it back and forth for the duration the sprinklers are running. Even at this time of night others are still awake, looking around with their lights and preparing their spots. I wonder what they must be thinking as I rotate back and forth flailing this giant bubble of fabric. Hopefully I can air dry it by the time the sprinklers finish. No such luck, it is a little dryer, but not much. Improvising, I set the hammock back up and put the rain cover on the inside of the hammock, assuming it will keep me from getting wet and also prevent me from getting cold. Just as I am about to get in, I realize my sunglasses have fallen off the collar of my shirt. They are cheap sunglasses I purchased at the local drug store, however, cheap sunglasses here are still twenty dollars and I am extremely tight on funds. I can’t afford to lose them. About fifteen minutes pass by searching in the dark using the light from my cell phone, then I lay back in the hammock. I get comfy again, which was not easy with the rain cover on the inside, and go to put on my ear phones as ear plugs to block the music the others in the park are playing. Where are they? I had them running underneath my shirt; surely they must be in the hammock? It was not easy looking for a thin black cord at night with a large, messy and wrinkled up rain cover inside the hammock. Not finding anything, I decide to get out again and search the ground with my phone. Luckily I find them close by, but not before another fifteen minutes pass by. It’s almost 2:45 in the morning. I manage to finally fall asleep again, only to wake up about three hours later at 6:00am.

Time to pack up and get ready to dive! I suit up and place everything else in my dry backpack, storing it in Lloyd’s van while we dive. We started with drift diving 5 Caves 5 Graves, followed by a second adventure dive to try and find Marty’s Reef. For the second dive we entered at 5 Caves 5 Graves, surface swam a good distance out from shore and descended when we reached what we thought was a depth of 60ft. The current below was strong, drifting us back to Makena Landing Park. It’s another long surface swim back to shore. By the time we make our exit and get to the van I am completely wiped. During the past two days I have drank a 32oz. glass of Iced Green Tea from Starbuck’s, two packages of cookies (16 cookies) and eight handfuls of Planter’s Honey Roasted Peanuts. I was ready to call it a day, and I still hand to rinse off my gear, ride the bus back to Lahaina, thoroughly rinse off my gear again and then walk back to storage to put it all away.

Lloyd provided a ride to the closest bus stop in Kihei, the same one from which I had walked to the park the night before. We stopped in a parking lot so I could quickly toss some of my gear, which was hanging in the van to drip dry, in my dry backpack so I could quickly jump out at the bus stop without the worry of forgetting something. At 2:32pm I’m finally on the bus, the moderately cushioned seats and cool air conditioned environment nearly put me to sleep. Hungry, I look for my trusty bag of honey roasted peanuts, and of course, I had left the bag in the front seat of the van. When I arrive at the stop to transfer buses with forty minutes to spare, I grudgingly unpack all my gear, hang my wetsuit on the bus stop to dry a little and repack everything proper. When I finish, I look around and see an ABC general store right next to me...one thing comes to mind, WATER! I am incredibly thirsty; in the panic to pack I had forgotten to swap my hydration pack from my day backpack. I had only a few slurps of water from the park restroom faucet before, in-between and after our dives. With all my gear loaded, I weasel my way through the store isles, pick up a bottle of water and a giant Icee. It tastes sooo good.

I relax at the bus stop, slurping down the Icee fast enough to give myself a splitting brain freeze. It was worth it. Fifteen more minutes and the bus arrives, I hop on and again I nearly fall asleep in the cushy seat and cool air. Two buses and an hour later I’m back at the Lahaina Cannery Mall.

I stop by the Safeway grocery store to pick up a healthy meal before I continue walking to the park to thoroughly rinse off my gear. I end up eating three bananas, an orange, kiwi, tomato and an apple, leaving me with 2 avocados which I end up eating the next day. It’s now 5:38pm.

I walk 3/4 of a mile to the park where I use the available hose faucet to rinse off my gear and then meet my Vietnam vet friend Stan who resides where the sidewalk ends.Time to relax; I enjoy some good conversation with a beautiful sunset backdrop, followed by Lahaina’s fireworks display. Shortly after the fireworks I setup the hammock and fall fast asleep. It was good day. At 8:30 in the morning, I pack up the hammock and begin the mile and a half walk back to storage, where I hang my gear and end the adventure with a smile. I’m ready to start another good day.