Pure water is a hallmark of these Pacific waters so far from major industrial blight. After an afternoon in the surf at Polihale Beach, the male surfers among us left the water and limped awkwardly toward the beach showers, our swimming suit pockets bulging to the point of breaking with impossibly weighty wads of water-rammed sand. The hydraulic power of the Ocean as it reshapes the world is not often appeciated quite so graphically and in such a personal fashion.