Dallon's Blog: ♪"For a three hour tour, A three hour tour..."♪

One of the many...We see spotted, spinner, and bottlenose.

Yesterday, I was lifeguarding at a place called Mala Wharf. It is one of the snorkel spots we go to on our cruise. We'd only been there a few minutes when my co-worker Raquel starts screaming gleefully at me that there are...wait for it...dolphins! Right behind me! They were a couple hundred yards away, so a bit too far to send all the snorkelers out there, but we had an extra crew on board to help lifeguard so I paddled my board out to sea to swim with the dolphins! There must have been hundreds of them and I was right in the middle of them! There were three dolphins in particular that took notice to me, after all the others had swam away these three would swim right up to me, just a few feet away then swim away, circle around a bit then come back in close for a good luck at me. I am not sure who was more giddy, me or them?! It was only when I felt too guilty for ditching everyone back by the boat that I climbed back on the surfboard and paddled back to the boat. The whole thing though was one of the most amazing experiences EVER! We see dolphins all the time on our snorkel and cocktail trips, and once before I've been in the water with them, but that time I just got a quick glimpse as they quickly swam by. This time, I could have reached out and touched them and it lasted about ten minutes. It was awesome...and this is my job!

working hard, saving lives.

Speaking of my job...I think I am going to stay a bit longer this year than I did last year so that I can work the whale watching tours. Whale season officially starts December 15, but they have been known to show up as early as mid November. Whales and dolphins! Yippee! Also...I get really good health insurance through my job, and I'm still super stoked on surfing. Don't worry though, the Utah powpow will pull me back. I miss my beanies and jackets!

I have to show the passengers how to do it safely first!

Cindy with Honu.

It is now cruise ship season here in Lahaina. This means that on any given day there 1-2 ginormous cruise ships moored in the channel. Since I work in the harbor these days get quite crazy. The tenders are back and forth all day between the loading dock and the ships, but there are only three loading dock spaces and it's pretty busy already. We have to wear special IDs and the dock is just like an international terminal at an airport. Security guards everywhere. The average age of all people in Lahaina probably goes up about 50% as the population triples on these days. The cruise ship passengers always come out on our snorkel trips and it's a lot different from normal due to the elderly average age, the diversity of languages, and the (unfortunate) decline in the amount of fabric worn by the portly gentleman on board. But everyone so far has been very nice and they seem a little easier to please than our normal crowds.

Under the boat.

Did I mention I work on a boat? And swim with dolphins and turtles and bikinis every day? Well I do, and it's the golly darn coolest!

"Would you like a cookie?"

I taught him everything I know...LDS bartenders, that's a laugh ya?!

Know what else is cool? Northern swells on Maui! Seasons in Maui are measured by where and how big the swells are. Today, there was a massive north swell and the Bay, Shitty's, S turns, were all going off! I am not quite ready for overhead waves at the bay but i went down there anyway. It was a full on party, people lined the the ridge above the bay in beach chairs with video cameras galore. I'm pretty sure I saw Dusty Payne too...I WILL surf the bay this year, just gotta wait for a training day before I go out on a day like today. Honolua Bay...look it up, it's a spot on the women's pro tour. I did go out on my longboard today though, caught some of the best waves of my life!