Tabuaeran II: Bigger and Better

August 11th, 2009
Well it's been a few days since we arrived back to Hawaii and everything is almost back to normal, though the excitement doesn't seem to end. This past Sunday we were forced to sail Rosinante to Oahu due to the incoming tropical storm. This wouldn't have been so bad if Ginger, Riley, and I hadn't gone out to celebrate our return to Maui the night before, thinking we'd be free to sleep for days on nice comfortable, stable, and dry beds. But at 3:30am, we received a wake-up call from the captain and an hour later we were back on Rosinante sailing to the safety of Ko'olina harbor on the west side of Oahu. The sail was perfect and not a single one of us was unhappy to be out on the ocean again, though we might need a couple more days at home before another rough ocean crossing like the one we had.
With the boat safe and secure in the harbor, everyone back on Maui, and the trip officially ended, life is good as always. We've talked a little about a trip next year but until we begin the planning and execution of another sailing adventure we are happy to remember and enjoy all the things that made Fanning 2009 so great...diving, surfing, sailing, and most importantly everyone that helped create such a great experience and gave what they could to help the people of Fanning. Big aloha to Lowes on Maui for donating building materials to help with the construction of the new and only health clinic on Fanning Island. Hopefully the clinic will be done in the next year and the island we'll be able to have a full time doctor on-call...right now rinsing an injury in the salt water is the recommended cure. Big aloha to Biocence for donating their product in an effort to fight infections and disease down in Fanning. Thank you to Janet Davis Music for hooking the people of Fanning up with plenty of guitar strings that we'll keep them jamming for a long time. Many Korapas to all the people in Fanning that we met along the way and who helped us out...Jerry, Tairone, Scott, Karatha, Bruno and Magale, Chuck, Borau, and everyone else that made us feel welcome.
My final thanks go to the master and commander, Capt. Rand or "Dad" as I call him and Pam aka "Mom"...which one is the master and which one is the commander no one knows, but both did everything they could to provide the greatest experience they could for their family. Mom, thanks for letting us go and trusting that we'd be okay out on the Open Ocean, and thanks for all the food preparation...we were never hungry. Dad thanks for working harder than anyone to keep us safe and show us how much the world has to offer; you always steered us in the right direction (figuratively and literally) and your "puli before we huli" method will be passed on for generations...now, let's go back.
Oh almost forgot, thanks to everyone for reading the blogs and leaving all the great comments. It's always nice to know that there are so many people joining us on our adventure wishing us safe travels and good thoughts. Biggest Alohas till next time - dc