Hawaii - 2008

I am no longer the last Alaskan to visit Hawaii. For 10 days, Bryant and I sailed, surfed, hiked, snorkeled, and drove our way around the islands of Oahu and Hawaii. We arrived into Honolulu, Oahu late Friday evening. After renting our car, we criss-crossed our way through the city to find our 4 night accommodations on Waikiki Beach, The Beachside Hostel. Figuring we were young at heart and not wanting to spend excessive amounts on hotel rooms, the semi-private room with kitchen facilities, shared bathroom, and $5.00 a night parking seemed to be a good choice 2,500 miles away. And I've come to think that the only reason it did work was because we didn't spend much time in our room, or in the kitchen either for that matter because that turned out to be the bedroom of our "roommates." In my preplanning research, I was sure to ask if our room was separate and locked, and I was assured, "Yes, it is a semi-private room." Needless to say, it never crossed my mind to question whether or not I'd need to ask a friendly tall English student to curl his feet up before leaving the room each morning on my way to sailing lessons.

Oahu is busy, but friendly, and more than once, we were appreciative of the patient drivers who allowed us to cut into the heavy traffic. Our reason for being on Oahu for 4 days was tied into the sailing lessons. Last August, we bought a 26' MacGregor sailboat and after trying to sail a few times, with mixed success it became apparent that a little "expert" advice might point us in the right direction. With the trip to Hawaii already booked and The Honolulu Sailing Company offering the American Sailing Association Basic Keelboat Sailing and Basic Coastal Cruising Courses, we decided going to school was a good way to spend our vacation.

At sailing school, I figured if I could master the vocabulary, the sailing would be a breeze. I may be seeing rope everywhere, but it is no longer called rope and nor should it ever be referred to as rope. If what looks like rope is holding the boat to the dock it is a line, an anchor it is rode, or if it is at all near a sail, it can be a halyard, a sheet, a downhaul, or an outhaul. Words like left, right, front, and back are replaced with the proper boating terminology like port, starboard, bow, and stern. The wire supporting the mast is a stay. However to confuse the common land lubber, the one up near the bow isn't a bow stay, but a forestay and the one in the stern is a backstay, and the two on the sides aren't stays at all but shrouds. Step inside the sailboat and the kitchen magically turns into a galley and the toilet a head. Under sail, the boat can tack or jibe. The direction it moves (or points of sail) is always in relationship to the wind and gets called fancy terms such as a close haul, close reach, beam reach, broad reach, or running with the wind. The sails themselves are no longer the big, small, and pretty one. They get names like the main, jib, genoa, and the spinnaker. Oh yeah, and one more thing, if you're heaving when sailing hopefully you're heaving to and it isn't happening in the head.

On our last day of sailing school and the day before our departure to Hawaii, the Big Island, we were aloha'd by Aloha Airlines as they declared bankruptcy and planned to discontinue passenger service.



To be continued as time permits . . . .

For more pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/jillcaho/Hawaii2008