Yesterday, while most of you were asleep, I went snorkeling in the waters off Gab Gab Beach. I biked over, a relatively easy bike ride but long. The road to Gab Gab runs along the high ground and offers some beautiful views of Apra Harbor. Apra is a working harbor so you have big ships moving in and out and moored along docks.

When you get to Gab Gab you have to come down off the high ground and you do it all of a sudden on a winding road with a 90 degree turn at the bottom. If you fail to make that turn you are into the sand and then the water.

My first stop was all the way at the far end of the road where they have picnic pavilions and tables set up. I just sat and enjoyed the view and the breeze for a while. Then I put on my reef walking boots and waded into the water. The water was as clear as glass and warmer than the air! I got way out from shore and never got in deeper than my knees. The bottom was sandy but studded with groups of rocks. This was definitely not snorkeling territory. There was nothing of real interest.

I waded ashore and moved to the other end of the beach. There is a swimming hole set up there, built to look like a swimming pool with three sides. The fourth side is the open ocean. There were stairs leading down into the water. Entry was easy and the view was terrific. I swam out over a mostly sand bottom in about ten or twelve feet of water. There were fish all around. I saw a little pink parrot fish and a small fish with vertical black stripes and a green head. At one point I swam through a cloud of tiny fish.

But it wasn't all good. It has been decades since I spent any time in the water and I can't remember when I was last in salt water. I seem to have gained some, uh, er, "positive buoyancy" since then. I couldn't stay on the bottom without a lot of effort. And I couldn't get my ears to clear so I had some pain from the pressure. And my mask kept filling up with water leaking in around my moustache.

But I had a good time and will go back as often as I can. The struggle back to some form of fitness is a long and difficult road.