Coffee chat in the ocean

Today's plan: I want to swim out to the Kona Coffee Boat (about 400 meters from the Kona Pier). I still haven't found a swimming partner, but as I discovered during our encounter with Frodeno the day before yesterday, there are so many people swimming early in the morning that I feel quite safe.

But first, the alarm clock rings at 5:50 am - pretty early. But I have a little adventure ahead of me, and with this knowledge in mind, getting up is much easier. After a quick breakfast, I head down to Kona, park the car, and then take a short walk to the pier. As expected, there's already a lot of hustle and bustle here, so I quickly put on my swim cap, goggles, and dive into the waves. Unfortunately, there's no spectacular sunrise over the ocean today, thick clouds adorn the horizon, which has the advantage that I won't be blinded while swimming. So I start, initially surrounded by a few athletes, but eventually I make my own way, surrounded only by small schools of fish - so even the 'journey to the coffee boat' is unforgettable.

Finally, 'I dock' and of course I'm rewarded with a mini Starbucks coffee cup. There are athletes everywhere around the boat, there are even small 'islands' where you can sit and take a short break, but they are densely populated, so I enjoy the view from the water. It's amazing what's being done here and all the volunteers are really nice, someone even takes a photo of me from the boat - because I took my phone with me in a waterproof case. After enjoying enough, I make my way back to the 'shore', this time a bit wavier, but I forge my own path.

Back on land, I'm greeted by Mom with the words 'Frodeno is back' - I expected many things, but not that. It seems he went into the water just a few minutes after me - so who knows how close I may have swum past him. Well, if bathing in the holy Frodeno water didn't mark the beginning of my successful triathlon career... :)

Although we don't know how long 'our star' will swim today, one thing is clear, we will stay here until he is back on land. And this time he even comes out of the water earlier than expected - unexpectedly he appears on the shore, and believe it or not, he seems to remember our encounter from two days ago and greets me with a casual 'Hey'. I really expected anything, but not this, so I'm just speechless! Honestly, I haven't really grasped it yet, but I can say one thing - Jan Frodeno is a super likable person, despite his success he doesn't seem 'arrogant' in any way, and I would sincerely wish him a victory!

Is it possible to have experienced so much before 8:00 am - apparently, if you're in Hawai'i!

Afterwards, Frodeno slips away unnoticed from the crowd, while all the other vacationers are busy celebrating a run of the triathletes in their underwear along Ali'i Drive, he sneaks away from the small town.

During another round of swimming at the gym, I start processing the experience, but that will probably take a while. We spend the rest of the morning comfortably at home - because it's raining in Kona for a change...

In the afternoon, we go back down to the hustle and bustle, because we know from last year that on the Thursday before the big race, the official staircase for the athletes' entry into the ocean is set up. And so it is this time, when we arrive there, the work to build the staircase is in full swing. But following the Hawaiian motto 'Hang Loose', they progress rather slowly and it takes over an hour to assemble the staircase for the first time. But before it is finally lowered into the water, there is another break for the workers - we take a stroll through Kona. We come back just in time for the 'sanctuary' to be lowered into the water with a forklift, an experience that cannot be described in words. All of this is watched live by the turtle guarding the pier, incredible.

Actually, this unforgettable day should end with a dreamy sunset, but somehow the weather is not cooperating today. So we are on time at Kahalu'u Beach, where we have already witnessed many beautiful sunsets this vacation, but today the sun disappears behind clouds early, so we decide to head home and end the evening properly here...

P.S. Here's the video of my first encounter with Frodo...

https://vimeo.com/365461123