Kona

Tues

The was the first day of the instructor class.  We did some weird drills in the pool that probably only freediver could do well.  I actually have homework now, so I'll have less time.

Mon

In the ocean, worked out some bugs in my technique, then did 43m pulldown.  The tide was exceptionally high at Place of Refuge (Pu'uhonau o Honaunau in Hawaiian) when we were there.. Ben and I estimated the bottom at 46-47m, which would have been a record for me.  I was about to go for it, but we ran out of time, which is fine, since I still need to work on my 40-42m technique rather than just going for 46m.

Sun

Think I did a couple of 41m dives today, but the days are beginning to run together in my mind.

Kona

I have to put in some culinary content here, so below is a picture of Lava Java, which is in the main plaza in the center of Kailua, Coconut Grove. It has excellent food, from coffee and pastries to full-on dinner. Our group eats there all the time -- Performance Freediving should try to get a deal or commission from them, but the company is way too busy with its core-mission to have time for things like that.

Saturday
I finally got my act together to do a max breathhold in the pool. If you don't get a consistent procedure down, then it's hard to do a max breath hold, you experience a lot of discomfort, and if you're lik me, you wind up quitting early. That's why, e.g., I only did 5 min yesterday. Today felt pretty good, so I was going for 6:30. I planned to "wake up" at around 6 mins (conserve energy for the first part, then wake up at the end to monitor whether you are going unconscious/hypoxic). However, I started to go hypoxic at 5:40, so came up at 5:45 with what we call a loss of motor control. Instructors said it was probably beccause I did a lot of deep diving yesterday. Hypoxia from one day does not generally carry over to the next day, at least not in a major way, but I guess it does in a minor way, and this incident is an example of that, as 5:45 breath hold shows a diminshment in oxygen capacity, but a minor one. However, since oxygen deficit does affect the rest of the day, because of my incident, I would not be allowed to dive the rest of this day.

The rest of my time in Kona is going to be spent on safety drills and learning instruction, so I might not get a crack at 50m or even 45m. That's OK because it's actually more important for me to perfect my technique to 40-42m than to just force it down to 50m. I may get to squeeze in a few of those between drills. I also will be able to practice some 40-42m if I teach for them in coming months.

Friday

Did an easy 5 min breathold in the pool (Ben did 6:30 yesterday). Went to the ocean and did two 41m pulldown dives fairly smooth, but not perfect with the equalization. I have never had been able to get beyond 40m with at least some pause for equalization, but I'm getting better. Also I did not feel tired at all after doing 41m dives, so my tolerance for depth is getting better.

More Kona

Thursday
Went to the ocean in the afternoon and did 2 41m pulldown dives.

Wednesday
Today the advanced class started. Went to the ocean in the afternoon, had some problems with my equalization procedure, only got to 37m.

Tuesday

On Tuesday morning I accompanied the class to Place of Refuge.  I helped quite a bit more this time, helping set up, working with the two people with ear problems, and doing some safetys and practice rescues.  I also squeezed in a 37m dive, which came quite easily.  So that counts as my warmup for the advanced class starting tomorrow.  Most of the students in the class were able to do 30-40m.  No dolphins today.  Now I have the afternoon off.

Oh, here is my application for the Great Barrier Reef job that has been making the rounds on the Internet.

Kona Out of Time

So my friend Ben just posted video of my last trip to Kona, November 2008, so please don't be confused just because I am here now.

Here are two videos, which I won't bother embedding here, I'll just provide the links.  The first is my dive to 44meters.  On the way down I had to pause to deal with pressure equalization issues (I seem to have this problem more than most freedivers).  On the way up I took a few initial arm pulls as a little safety margin, as it was my deepest dive to date.  In fact, I would be inclined not to post this video, except the bonus, DOLPHINS!

Look at the end of the dive and you can see a dolphin behind me.  Dolphins in Kona are rather ho hum, though.  After the dive is some more dolphin action.

The second video is a more textbook dive to the same depth.  Julie is a member of the Canadian national team, and her dive is a lot smoother.  She is also using a top-of-the-line monofin and freediving suit (low-friction smooth skin).  It was also her personal best.

Robert's video 

Julie's video 

More Kona

Monday

Went to Place of Refuge in the afternoon with PFI.  I was somewhat useful this time, as two people had trouble equalizing pressure even at a few meters, so I worked with them directly.  Mandy and Kirk said I could also get in a few dives since I would have a small three-person safety rotation with them.  I had plenty of time to do this, but events conspired against me again, as another diver forgot his depth gauge, so I had to lend him mine, and the lens in my mask came loose, causing it to leak and making it hard to do deep dives.  Still a good day.  I think I left my shoes at Place of Refuge yesterday and of course they were gone today, but even I know that's not a big deal (probably got them at Big 5 for $25).

Sunday

In the morning, Bill gave me a ride down to Place of Refuge to join their regular Sunday diving group.  These people are quite serious, and train almost every week, so many of them are over 70m.  I made a somewhat poor decision today.  I started following them out to the deep 75m buoy but lost track of them.  I thought I had an idea where the buoy was, problem visiting it a few years ago, but I was wrong.  So I swam around for a couple of hours looking for them.  I went out way too far, and so it took my a while to get back.  The group was mildly concerned until I showed up.  It wasn't a very much of a poor decision considering this is a sport with a high mortality rate.

As soon as I got lost, I should have swam back to shore too see if I could spot them.  If I had done this I might have been only 30 mins late.  Also, if I wasn't going to be able to see them from shore, I certainly wouldn't have been able to see them bobbing in the ocean.

I had been hoping to start my trip off this day with a 35meter dive as a start.  Oh well, again, another day in paradise.  The two positives are that I got a hell of a workout swimming around (a few miles at least) and I ran into a five-foot reeftip shark.  I was swimming around and I kicked something solid.  I heard something thrash and I saw the shark swimming off.  I don't think they attack people, but they could definitely deliver a nasty bite.

After I came ashore and checked in with the group, I went out with the PFD group doing their first ocean session.  Again their wasn't much for me to do, but it's always fun out there.  I had a spinach salad for dinner, then the butter avocado.  I love avocado but that a little too much.  It weighed almost a pound, albeit with a large pit.

Sat

Performance Freediving started their Intermediate clinic today.  I joined them in the afternoon and did a 4 minute breathhold in the pool with them, along with some rescues.  Their are twelve people in the class for three instructors, which are perfect numbers, so I'm kind of a third wheel.  If there had been an odd number and/or a few too many people in the class, I could have paired up with someone and had more to do.  But I can't complain, it's another day in paradise.

Kona, Fri February 13

So why did I take the time to muse and write about the above decision rather than just looking to the right (in terms of decision theory) and just get right out and enjoy Kona?  I think that bears some discussion. For one, I have been to Kailua Kona almost a dozen times so it is more of a second home to me than truly exotic. Also, admittedly, I am more of a thinker and a described than a doer. In the past, the problem was that my thinking would be so abstracted from experience that it was irrelevant. I think I have managed to fix that, now I make sure to experience things enough to make my commentary meaningful, but that I am still by nature more a thinker than a doer.

For instance, I am probably not going to be the guy that freedives to 100m (the current world record is 113m). I am the guy that may dive 60m and does a physiology study on the 100m guy, or writes an article about the sport for Outside Magazine.

In any case, I did get out of the condo and took a quick walk to the farmer's market, where I scored a butter avocado, three sherwil avocados, and a pound of rambutans.  It's the dead of winter in Kona, so the temperature is like 75F.  Traffic in town is crazy due to the long weekend! I saw a Model T Ford in the streets.  The surf is pretty pounding in Kailua.  However, we dive at Place of Refuge, which is generally safe from swell.

The condo  is right next to Jack's Diving Locker, and while the building is a little worn, the condo itself is quite nice, 1 BD 2 bath, quite a deal for $99/night plus tax I think. Since the condos are individually owned, they may vary in quality. This one is Kona Alii #209.

Now I am off to do my pranayama yoga (life force/breath practice) which I learned from Elle in LA. I'm thinking maybe eventually I can learn to control my heart beat.

*****

My loose goals for this trip, in order of importance are:

(1) become a certified instructor with Performance Freediving

(2) take a 15 second rest in the sand at the shallow buoy (45m/147 feet)

(3) do a 50m dive (167 feet) at the deep buoy (about 80m)

(4) complete a 100m underwater swim (no fins)

I just had dinner with Mandy, Kirk and Craig.  The local rental agency didn't have any cars, but Kirk was able to get a 12 seat minibus at the last minute from Thrifty, but not cheap.

Economic Decision Making

Yesterday, Thursday Feb 12

I was at SFO waiting for my NWA afternoon flight to Honolulu.  The flight was overbooked, so they offered $300 credit for bumping to the next day.

I told the counter that I would do it for $500 (in my mind to a rough approximation, that would have clearly been worth it) but they said they couldn't go that high.  So I declined the $300 and took the flight.  Now I am here in Kona, Friday Feb 13, and I think I made the wrong decision (not a horrible decision mind you, just the slightly less optimal one). 

I have in the past had the Phineas Gage problem where I am paralyzed by small decisions, and even today, I still spend too much time on $5 decisions.  This was a decision in the low hundreds of dollars, however, so I think I should have sat down and thought out all the factors, at least for ten minutes.  It was taking a while to load the flight, so I had time.

Here are the facts:

The offer:

$300 NWA credit

Hotel and meals for the night in SFO

Standby for first-class

Considerations:

$300 credit is not cash.  I would value it at $150, since it might not get used.

I didn't need to be in Kona by Thursday night.  I have really nothing going on today, Fri.  But I had packed and was at the airport, so I was emotionally ready to go.  In fact, if you had told me on Wed that I could delay going to Kona by a day for $0, I probably would have said yes.

I night in SFO staying at a decent at hotel and getting a workout in would not have been unwelcome.

I am not earning any money now, so my time is worth very little, though I do have plenty of savings.  If for some reason I am not working two years from now, I'm sure I would be all over a $3oo offer (my marginal time would be worth the same, about $0, I would just be feeling a lot poorer by then).

I could theoretically save $110 by pushing back my condo in Kona a night (I would say $50% I could do this).

The NWA flight was leaving an hour late.  Thus I was probably going to miss my connection to Kona, and likely to have to pay $30 in Honolulu to change it, since I booked it on Hawaiian, not NWA.

This is the key question I did not ask NWA.  If I bump to Fri, can you book me all the way to Kona?  This would have saved me the change fee described above, plus about another $30 in baggage fees (I don't pay baggage fees on NWA because I have elite status).  If I had sat and meditated for 10 minutes this might have occured out at me.

Turns out, when I got to HNL, I had to pay $100, not $30 to change and upgrade to first-class since coach was sold out.  The real "disaster" would have been if I had to spend the night in HNL.

Another thing going on at this time was that I was having an email conversation with Mandy.  She and Kirk had not been able to rent a car in Kona for the class, this was a little problematic for them.  I told them that Annabel told me about a  local place that has cars on a first-come, first-served basis that closes 4:30 Fri (after they get in).  She called and they said they might have a pickup truck for rent.  I offered to pick it up for them and pick them up at the airport.  She said that would be great, but if not, no big deal, they would try on Sat.  So I felt a little invested in doing this for them, but certainly not obligated.

To run the numbers again

$300 credit on NWA (value it as $150 cash)

50% probability of saving $110 at the condo

50% probability of saving $50-$100 going to Kona by having NWA book me straight through

So, not a huge value.  On the other hand, I think I mis-assessed the value of being in Kona on time, instead of a day late.  The value of that really was about zero, but emotionally I was invested to go, I had packed up and taken the BART to SFO.

Thoughts?  Should I try to make a better decision about the same circumstance in the future?  Or is this not even worth thinking about?  Clearly I am thinking about it now, so I guess I do wish I had thought about it yesterday.

Most people would not take the $300 because their schedules are far less fluid than mine.  This is an example of how many more options I have with my time than most people because of lack of regular job and wife and kids.  Ultimately, they did get the required two people to accept the $300 to skip the flight, but it took a while.

I realize this has nothing to do with food.  Yes, I know this shows how scatter-brained I am.  I think may be it is my destiny to be forever unfocused, but at least I make it work somewhat well (earn a six-figure living in most years).

Korean Fried Chicken

I had been reading about Korean-style fried chicken so decided to go try it in Koreatown with my brother's friend Ed.

NYT Article

It is quite unique and worth trying. This is the place we went:

Kyochon Chicken