Freshly Lei'd!!!!
16 February 2010 | Ala Wai Harbor, O'ahu
Sally
Yikes! Sorry to let so much time go by again - between getting to O'ahu with a West Marine (lots of parts for fixes!), getting ready for company, and now enjoying our company, it has been hard to find time to sit and write. Let's see, where did we end off.... Malacha'i was a nice change of pace from the hustle and bustle of Lahaina on Maui. We happened to arrive for the weekend of their yearly Makahiki Festival. It is an Olympics-esque competition of ancient Hawaiian sports. Moloka'i is the only island that continues this traditional ceremony, so we hit it just right. We arrived at the games just in time to see first graders compete in a fun tug of war - it was funny how it felt like I should be out there helping! Throughout the day, it looked like most of the island participated - a true community event. Three Coast Guard vessels came in to the harbor and offered tours of their boats, while some of their personnel competed against locals at some of the games. A good time was had by all!
The town of Kaunakakai is the main hub of the island, but small enough we were able to check the whole thing out in just a few hours. I was overjoyed there was a laundry mat within walking distance of the harbor, so we gathered everything up and spent a few quality hours with real Maytags! While waiting for cycles to process, we started chatting with another man that had come in, and would you believe another small world story?!! He and Glen were in boot camp in San Diego at exactly the same time! They were in different units, but amazing they were there at the same time.
We moved from Kaunakakai to another anchorage on the north side of the island, the Papohaku Roadstead. The island was pretty and we look forward to scooting down the east side when we head back to Maui. The Kalaupapa area is supposed to be incredibly beautiful with some of the highest sea cliffs in the world. This was the part of the island where lepers were once forced to go. We were amazed to learn that this practice continued all the way up to 1969! There are some people still living at the colony, however it is now by choice and they are considered to have Hanson's disease instead of leprosy. Father Damien, the priest that was just cannonized last year, did his work there. He is still very much loved on the island and many things are named in his honor. Anyhow, we should have a wonderful view of the area and cliffs when we sail by.
We left Moloka'i at about 3:30 in the morning to get across the Ka'iwi channel to O'ahu. We were so glad we listened to the weather reports because the winds did just what was forecasted - they picked up quite a bit later in the morning and by early afternoon, they were howling. We made it across the channel with no problems, but getting into our little spot in the Ala Wai harbor was a bit challenging. Instead of slips like marinas have in San Diego, this one has a mooring ball you try to grab the line from while pulling bow into a dock. I was able to hook the mooring line, but we kept getting blown sideways and Glen finally had to back out to keep from getting too close to the next boat. Somehow in the process, we got the line wrapped around the prop and rudder! I should mention that it was also pouring rain! After several attempts, a couple of guys from other boats came to help out and one got into his dinghy to help pull a line to another mooring ball. When all was finished and we had the helpers onboard for some hot coffee and big thank you's, we were able to laugh that this was one of the most difficult maneuvers we've had to try the entire trip! We feel very lucky to have gotten a spot in the harbor - not many come up and it was definitely a matter of being in the right place at the right time again. To get off the boat, we have to crawl up and over the bow pulpit, using the anchor as a step down to the dock, but it's not too bad. Even Gladys is getting to where she can do it without cringing!
The bus system here is pretty good, although we really liked the free ones on Hawaii - these cost $2.25 each way! We made several trips to West Marine, then to the airport on the 6th. Gladys and Dan had a good flight from SeaTac, although both were suffering from pretty bad colds. We greeted them with leis, then headed back to the boat in a taxi. We felt like royalty as the taxi was a beautiful Cadillac Escalade - a huge step up from standing on the bus! :)
Gladys and Dan rented a car and we have been exploring all the wonderful spots on O'ahu. We've been to the North Shore to marvel at the huge waves, visited the Dole Plantation for pineapple ice cream (YUM!!!), snorkeled at Hanau'ma Bay (We're so proud of Gladys, she really did it!), enjoyed seeing lots of new plants at a botanical garden, and lots of other fun adventures. The picture for this entry was taken at the Polynesian Cultural Center - they treated us to a fun day exploring villages set up to represent 7 different island countries (all of which we had been to!). It was great to see all the fales, demonstrations of local crafts, and dancers representing all the countries - it brought back such fantastic memories! The afternoon ended with a yummy luau complete with a pig roasted in an imu, then a great show called "Ha, the Breath of Life." It was a wonderful day!
The weather has been great - nice and sunny with very few sprinkles. We were going to leave tomorrow (Wednesday) for our sail back to Maui, but the winds are predicted to pick back up with high seas in the channel, so we will postpone until it calms. Until then, we'll just have to keep having fun on O'ahu! Every day has certainly been A.S.D.I.P.!