Just before 7 a.m. yesterday, Kauai nurses reluctantly started a walk — the short distance from their strike headquarters to the picket line fronting Wilcox Memorial Hospital.

While the first day was peaceful and orderly, both sides say they hope the strike will get the other side back to the bargaining table.

Even so, the hospital’s administration and the Hawaii Nurses’ Association are preparing for perhaps months of nurses picketing in front of the hospital instead of caring for patients.

Just one 15-minute competitive surfing heat with six riders vying for position to capture the two best waves is physically and mentally draining. Anticipation tension, pressure, and performance all come into play.

When you consider what Nathan Rex did this past three-day weekend, you have to give the kid an ocean full of credit.

He qualified and surfed in the two most competitive divisions for Hawai‘i’s State Championships. He also managed to progress thru each division surfing countless 15-minute heats while taking down Hawai‘i’s best riders from Hilo to Hanalei.

Their boat went down four miles off Diamond Head and for four hours, two brothers ended up treading water. Then, as the sun went down, their prayers were finally answered.

The ordeal began about 3 o’clock on June 6th, when the brothers were fishing and their 14-foot boat sank four miles off shore. The young men grabbed a life jacket and a surfboard and began swimming toward the coast.

Nearly four hours later, a passing tugboat crew spotted them 1.5 miles off Diamond Head. But the tugboat was towing a ship, so the crew called on the Navatek I, in the middle of it’s dinner cruise.