Vote for Captain Bobby....AGAIN...for 2016

ALOHA!

Yes, it's been another year and time for a new calendar for the Waikiki Aquarium. 1st of all, thank you all who supported me and voted last year! Mahalo! "Kona Manta" was picked and is now proudly part of the 2015 calendar. Yup, Captain Bobby is Mr. October, Baby! :)

This past year has been a struggle for me as 7 months of it was taken up by major surgery and rehab. While I wasn't able to get in and under the water as much as I wanted, I did manage to make one trip and got the pleasure to spend some time with many Humpback whales and a few undersea creatures in Maui.

From the hundreds of photos I have to choose from, I decided to enter these three for special reasons. Yes, three different photos so make sure to vote for a ALL THREE! :)

#1

Baby Gotta Escort
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On the way out of Lahaina Harbor in Maui, we spotted a baby humpback whale being escorted by, and seemingly playing with, a couple of bottlenose dolphins. It was absolutely wonderful to watch.  The threesome seemed to be having a great time.

The above two images also appealed to me and showed how much fun the baby was having. I liked when he/she spied me as I was taking photos. It was almost as if he/she wanted to make sure I was still there and still photographing the show she was putting on.

#2

Baby Humpback
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This one I especially like, because it shows a pure expression of joy and fun that this baby seemed to be having. Consistently and gleefully leaping out of the water, he/she was have a blast and I bet it just felt good too. WooHoo!

#3

Hitchin' A Ride
ˆˆˆˆˆ CLICK HERE TO VOTE ˆˆˆˆˆ

From undersea I chose this one because it has special meaning for me. As a child, I always had a saltwater aquarium and dove extensively throughout the waters of Oahu. One of my favorite sea creatures as I was growing up was the hermit crab and I was always excited when it attached a sea anemone on it's back. A pure symbiotic relationship and always looked cool. Styling', Baby!

Ya gotta keep the crib looking' good, brah! Oh, and the colors of this hermit...WOW!

Here's the link you can select to go to the Aquarium's page and vote:

CLICK TO "VOTE FOR CAPTAIN BOBBY"

Facebook Fans, please remember that you have to "like" the Waikiki Aquarium's homepage first in order to be able to vote. You can always 'unlike' it later after the contest ends, if you're so inclined.  But, seriously, why would you be?

Voting this year is only form 11 July to 17 July, just one week, so please vote often and help me get the word out too. Share the link with your friends post it on your Facebook Page so the word gets out there.

Please remember to vote again and again and again and every day. They allow you to vote once every 24 hour period.

Mahalo for your support and let's get together to help Captain Bobby, me, make it a twofer and get in the aquarium's calendar again for 2016! 

Ohana, brah! ღ ☮ ツ

Mahalo for voting for Captain Bobby Mitchel

Maui ~ Above and Below

Well, I just returned from a fabulous trip back home to the islands and am hard at work downloading hundreds of photos and hours of video from both above and below the surface. 

Patience is a virtue, so please check back for updates and some great photos of Humpback Whales, Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles (Honu), fish, sunsets, etc. 

Mahalo for Diving and Whale Watching with Captain Bobby Mitchel

Sunset Honu

Ahhhhh, sunset on Maui…can anything be more peaceful and beautiful? Wind gently blowing through the coconut trees, small waves breaking on the shore, a gentle breeze blowing by, soft sand beginning to cool between the toes, and the sky turning a brilliant orange as the sun begins to set over the distant shoreline of Lanai.

Yes, in the calm, blue, beautiful, and warm waters of the Pacific Ocean, up pops a Honu (Hawaiian Sea Turtle) to take a breath and snap, I get 'em, brah!

Perfect timing! The little guy was cruzin' along the shoreline and I guess wanted to check out the sunset too and grab a quick breath of fresh air. Now, if I can just get these tourists to scatter and quit screeching it would be nice ~ Talk about ruining a moment! Jeez!


Mahalo for Sunsetting with Captain Bobby Mitchel



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Honu Free Diving

So there we were, hanging on the beach in Maui just chillaxin and unwinding. My dive buddy was down for the count as she's growing a human in her belly so it was just chill time for the 2 ½ of us. We had Mai Tai's (for me, that is) on the beach, music playing, and many whales in the distance. I took the opportunity to do a little free diving and testing of my new Go Pro Hero 3 camera too.

While out in the crystal clear blue waters, I came across a very large Honu (Hawaiian Sea Turtle) just cruzin' along so I decided to cruz along with her. She did not care one bit and for like a ¼ mile or more I hung just behind her and took videos, pictures, went back up for air, went back down, and hung with her some more. It was awesome! She just cruz'd along at a nice pace and didn't dart off or pick up the pace. I could have stopped off for a Zip Pac or Shave Ice for the two of us and come back down for shares, if I wanted. (Some of you, or most of you, may not have got that reference, so check the link).

I was behind her, moved from one side to the other and she didn't mind one bit. It was like we were formation flying for awhile, except I had to go up for air a lot more often than she did!

Here she is:

No tank required and no navigation, etc. It was such a delight just to once again, hang with my Honu friends and enjoy. They are such peaceful and beautiful creatures of the ocean, gracefully flying along with their soulful eyes.

I'll update this later with more photos and videos of her once I get caught up. I just wanted to share her with you now.  When I was finally done, I just stopped in the water and literally said and waved goodbye. I was kind of bummed… A hui ho, my friend

Mahalo for Free Diving with Captain Bobby Mitchel

Paradise Found

Mahalo for diving with Captain Bobby Mitchel

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Perspective...

Mahalo for Reflecting with Captain Bobby Mitchel

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Symbiotic Hunting

The Tortoise and the Hare? Not so much…How about the Moray Eel and the Ulua?

Visualize this, if you will. It' SCUBA time and you're chillaxin' in the beautiful, warm Hawaiian waters. There you are cruising along the reef just off Molokini Crater in the crystal clear waters of Kehei, Maui when you come across a huge spotted Moray Eel swimming along the bottom. What the?!?! Usually, when you come across eels, they are tucked away in their holes with their heads pointed out slowly breathing and looking like a guarding dragon in front of its lair.

But wait, just behind this free swimming serpent is a huge Ulua, or more commonly known as a Trevally in the Jack family, alongside and within feet, if not inches, of the gliding, erratically moving eel. So, thoughts come to my mind. Who's gonna eat whom? Who's chasing whom? Are they both running from something bigger that I haven't seen yet? Why am I not filming this? I quickly switch from taking still photos to firing up the video to capture this event that one does not get to witness too often. I mean it's not often you see a free swimming eel just a few feet away from you and with this huge Ulua in tow?! WOW!

So, after looking around to make sure something bigger is not after these two buggas, I begin to follow and film them. Now, I'm the bigger thing behind them in tow! Oh, they are not after each other, nor is one trying to eat the other. The are actually in a symbiotic hunting relationship. Yes, a relationship without dating, flowers, diamonds, drama, "benefits", or rules. This is purely a food thing and here's what happens. The eel moves about the reef in search of food and as he/she moves in and out of the coral, fish and small critters scatter about which then become quick yummy morsels for the escorting Ulua.

Are you ready to see the footage? Well, here is is:

And here is a link directly to the You Tube site just in case you can't view the video above.

Symbiotic Hunting (You Tube)

You may be wondering just where exactly was this video taken? I was diving with Captain Charley Neal and the gang at Scuba Shack in Kehei, Maui. With the fastest dive boat in the Islands, Charley gets you out to Molokini Crater in no time and both inside the crater and the back wall drift dive support some of the best diving in the Islands. Check 'em out next time you're in Maui!

Well, I hope you enjoyed the photo, video, and little instruction on symbiotic hunting. Next time you're cruising along the reef and see you're with a free swimming Moray Eel or an Ulua, look around, because it's symbiotic hunting buddy may nearby as well. And, if all the creatures on the reef are fleeing in the same direction, really look good behind you for you may be on the menu too. :)

Mahalo for Diving with Captain Bobby Mitchel

Hidden Fears

Mahalo for Diving with Captain Bobby Mitchel

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Let's Talk BBQ Chicken, Can we?

Okay, Memorial Day has passed and Summer is upon us. With it comes beaches, sun, SCUBA, surf, sand, family picnics, baseball, biking, hiking, and everything else outdoors that we luv to do when the weather is beautiful. And what did I leave off the list? Yes, Bar-B-Cue! Good 'ole BBQ.

For those of you, and you know who you are, that can't start a good, 'ole fashioned, BBQ fire to save your life, they invented the gas BBQ so everyone can enjoy cooking outdoors. From fish, to steaks, to ribs and yes, good 'ole BBQ chicken. Like this...

And yes, you're going to have to endure a little story and background before we get to the recipe. I mean, come on, it's free and you get to read a great story, learn a bit of background on it, and look at some onolicious pictures to boot! ('cept for the stealer mongoose, of course)

Ah, yes, BBQ chicken, is the staple to any good picnic or BBQ event. And probably the easiest to cook, provided you can start a fire :) All you need is some chicken parts, a bottle of good BBQ sauce, and you're in, right? Yeah, not so much and not so fast there, my 'lil speedy, stealer mongoose!

Yup, that little rascal took off with a Zippy's fried chicken bone on a recent Maui picnic we stopped for at a waterfall on a day hike. Anyway, back to our BBQ'd chicken. I've always searched for the best bottle of BBQ sauce over the years from the quintessential, mass produced staple to the favorites, like Sweet Baby Ray's, or Tony Roma's. We've even branched out and tried the local brand or the unknown person's who was able to produce some and get it on the local market shelves. 

It wasn't until watching one of my favorite Chefs, Tyler Florence, that I realized, "What the heck am I buying sauce in a bottle for?" I mean, really, you can easily make a great sauce with fresh ingredients, to your own liking and it will be amazingly better than that stuff you have in the back of the refrigerator that's half empty and you need the pliers to get the lid off. You know what I'm talking about, don't you? And then you realize you don't have enough, so you 'hele' (That's local kine speaks for hustle or go) on down to the local store to find they don't have the same kind that you already have so you get a different one and mix 'em up brah! Am I right? Yeah, and now you have more leftover sauce from your BBQ day and you put what you have left into one of the empty bottles, after you made sure the lid was washed and cleaned, and back into the far reaches of the fridge it goes to be used when? Next year? Ha! I know you. Okay, enough of that! Don't do that anymore, okay?

So, recently my lovely cooking and life partner, Dawn, dove into making some homemade BBQ sauce for chicken that we were to make on Memorial Day weekend. My job was the homemade coleslaw from scratch, which you can see ended up on the side. Oh, my scratch coleslaw with carrots and fresh pear is yummy, but it's not the star of this show. We also carved up a fresh seedless watermelon and opened a can of Bushes Grillin' Beans, which I've mentioned in an earlier recipe that I posted. They are great beans, I must say, and you can see here, that we added a little Redondo's sausage, a Hawaiian staple, like Spam, to spice them up a little.

She started from scratch and put together this BBQ sauce that is, believe me, out of this world, fantastic! It is sweet, yet spicy, and has a great little kick in the end. She put this together on her own and I can honestly say it is by far, the BEST BBQ sauce I have ever had. It's one for the books, Baby! And here it is for you to try for yourself: 

BAR-B-CUE CHICKEN AND SAUCE

Let chicken pieces soak at least several hours in mixture of buttermilk with a splash of Tapatio hot sauce (our favorite), black pepper, salt, and lemon juice. 

After soaking, let chicken rest and dry on a rack before BBQing.  Use skin on or off, bone in or boned, whatever's your favorite. This sauce will make it transcend the usual and become memorable.

Halfway through grilling, slather prepared, scrumptious BBQ Sauce all over the chicken

The Sauce:

Over low heat in saucepan mix:
1 cup ketchup
2 TBS Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp Tapatio or other hot sauce
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 bunch of fresh thyme - leaves off stem

Stir dry ingredients together before adding to sauce:
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 TBS paprika
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp chili powder

Let all ingredients incorporate into a rich flavorful sauce. It's sticky finger lickin good.

Now, how does that look? Onolicious, eh, brah? Go ahead, feel free to drool at any time, and please remember to wipe the screen to. :)

So, on this Memorial Day, we had a nice Bar-B-Cue with Dawn's sauce and, my beans (not so hard to make, yeah), coleslaw, and fresh cut, seedless watermelon. Pretty dang Memorial Day weekend kind of BBQ, huh? Also, from our garden, we pulled some beets, red onions, and tomatoes.

We would have harvested the mozzarella, but they weren't ready. :) I boiled the beats in water for about 30 minutes and let them cool in the refrigerator. Then we sliced them and added the red onion and tomatoes. We finished it off with a nice balsamic vinegar dressing and it was….awesome! Take a look. 

So, tomorrow is the last day of May and it's also Aloha Friday.  A nice beginning of June weekend is upon us, so why not start it off easy with some onolicious Bar-B-Cue chicken? How does it go? Reach down between your legs n' ease the seat back, put on some Friday afternoon driving music, and stop off at your local market and pick-up some supplies for an awesome beginning to the Summer BBQ season.

Ladies n' Gentlemen, start your Bar-B-Cues! Have a great weekend, and let me know what you think of Dawn's BBQ sauce. TGI 'Aloha' F, Baby!

Mahalo for cooking with Captain Bobby Mitchel

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Changes & Challenges

Mahalo for diving with Captain Bobby Mitchel

Alone in the Deep Blue

Mahalo for diving with Captain Bobby Mitchel

Hanging With The Honu While The Humpbacks Serenade

Oh, the love of diving...slowly sinking beneath the surface to another world below.

I began as a young boy in 1972 at the young age of 11 and was immediately addicted to SCUBA diving, although I missed out on many years of it, traversing the world on other adventures and finding myself.

From a kid, lying on the bottom of our swimming pool in Hawaii Kai as did Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate, escaping the world above, to 'being with' the beautiful creatures of our undersea world as I watched Jacques Cousteau do so every Sunday evening on the color TV (with the round knob channel changer that only went to 13) while I was growing up, diving has for so long been a love of mine.

So, back on point now...Here's a sampling of what I mean. Here in the beautiful Hawaiian waters off Maui, I came upon this beautiful Hawaiian Sea Turtle (Honu), just grazing in the grasses on the bottom while the Humpback Whales sang off in the distance. It was whale season in Maui and the humpbacks, large and small, were everywhere. The Honu let me slowly come up right to her and just hang out. It was absolutely amazing!

Enjoy...

I suspect there are two types of people that watch this video. The one that goes, "Oh, cool, look at the turtle," and moves on. And then there's the other that 'gets it' and watches the video while concentrating and listening to the beautiful sounds of the Humpbacks in the distance and/or looks into the soulful eyes of the Honu as she feeds. Which are you? If you were number one, did you go back?


Either way, thank you for taking the time to hang out here.


“From birth, man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free.”  ~~ Jacques Cousteau


~~ Life is good

Mahalo for diving with Captain Bobby Mitchel

Sometimes Ya Just Gotta Go All Out Beef!

We're often asked, "What's the deal with 'Happy Hippie Sunday' and you guys?" Well, that's the subject of a 'soon to come' post but I will briefly touch on it here as it relates to this story, and the recipe that follows.

One of our rituals associated with this special day that we call 'Hippie Sunday' is to share coffee or tea on our lanai with Kona and Malu, while enjoying an array of fresh fruit and maybe a muffin, bagel or steel cut oatmeal. We also put on the music. Or sometimes, we do our Hippie Sunday Brunch watching CBS Sunday Morning because it's full of happy, peaceful, interesting, entertaining, and educational stories. It's not the dreadful CNN or FOX News drama and media-hyped, attention-getting stories of death and destruction. Ya see, even writing that was kind of a buzz kill. We no like drama; we like happy and peace. More later on HHS.

Yesterday was Sunday and life is good! ツ

So, it was another relaxing day of resting, swimming, being together, being outdoors, good eats [as Alton Brown would call it], and great wine, BUT.....Yes, there was fresh fruit for breakfast and some nuts and veggie snacks during the day, but yesterday was one of those....beef days!

Sometimes ya just gotta go all out beef! And if you're going to do it, you must do it right. We have many friends and relatives who are Vegetarian or Vegan and I certainly salute you folks. But, you better look away now, because this won't be pretty for you.

This Sunday, yesterday, I made a recipe from my book. Well, it was 3 recipes, made into a perfect Sunday meal.

Bacon Wrapped Filet Mignon with Béarnaise Sauce

 Grilled Balsamic Artichoke with Lemon Garlic Aioli
Onolicious Baked Stuffed Potato 

Served with a Bold Cabernet

Here you go!...Bliss on a plate, brah

Look good? So, how was it? Amazing, I believe. It rocked! Hey, but I'm a little biased, though. Dawn took charge of the sauces and quik-steaming and cleaning out the artichokes and I did the grilling. We purchase our meat from a local butcher called the Roseville Meat Company. Our great friends Jeff and Suzie turned us on to them. A couple of months ago I began talking with the owner about their meats, and especially their 'secret' Maui Marinaded chicken and ribs. Well, the owner and his family are originally from Maui and it's his Grandfather's own 'secret' recipe', handed down. You gotta love those things in life! And small world syndrome too struck once again. Having your own local butcher on the corner is kind of like having your own...well...you know what I mean. You trust them and you know where their stuff comes from and it's good. Yeah, Foodland, Safeway, or whateva..they're not meat stores, if you get my drift.

Moving right along now, tonight we sat down to this meal and watched the premiere to Amazing Race. By the way, the filet on this plate cost $11.28. Definitely better than going out, huh? I elected to not show pre-cooked or sliced open pictures. Why? I don't know. Yup, they will be in the book, though.

The Grilled Artichoke recipe I've posted before and the 'perfect' baked potato is one of mine too. Yeah, I know an artichoke or baked potato may not seem hard or even special, but these are worthy enough to add. I'm sure everyone has his or her own recipe, but this is mine. Most of the creations I have are complex, but these two in particular are simple and always good to have on hand. More importantly, if you don't cook them right, they're not worth cooking at all.

So, what about the bacon wrapped filet recipe? Well, that you're going to have to get from the book, or contact me personally. Cooking the 'perfect' filet is an art, to say the least. It takes a lot of practice, experience, timing, etc. to get it just right. But when you do, it is worth every penny.

To properly sear and grill a filet in not just temperature and timing. It about those in addition to touch, pushback, resting, timing, thickness, open or closed BBQ, placement, and flipping. I mean, how many times have you heard Gordon Ramsay yell, "Shut it down!" after his so-called chefs on Hell's Kitchen waste filet after filet after filet? It's not easy. So, if you'd like to try one, let me know and I'd be glad to throw a filet on the barbie for ya.

One last look and a little closer this time.

Mmmmm...Grill marks too....Now that is onolicious, brah! Cheers to you and yours this and every Sunday!

Mahalo for cooking with Captain Bobby Mitchel

Mama and Baby Humpback Having Fun in Maui

Just a little something to make you say "Wow!" at the end of your day today. Enjoy ツ

So, did it work?

Mahalo for flying with Captain Bobby Mitchel