Sailing to Lana’i

Time to play “catch-up” again!  I’m already home (*sigh*) but want to tell about our last couple of days on Maui.  

Friday, we went on a sailing excursion to one of the smaller islands, Lana’i, which is off the west coast of Maui.  Before starting out on that venture, however, we first had to get a disposable camera to replace the NON-disposable and perfectly good camera that was in my pocket when I got hit by that nasty wave at the Olivine Pools.  Sadly, the lens didn’t like the sea salts used in its impromptu whirlpool spa bath and would no longer come out and play no matter how many times I tried to turn it on. *sigh*  I really didn’t want to spend the money on a new camera, so a disposable was a good option at least for the day until I could muster up the resignation that the now “old” camera would need to be replaced.

And I thought I was doing pretty good with not losing anything major, despite 4 near attempts!  I forgot the camera on the ferry to the Arizona Memorial the first day on Oahu but some nice woman (with what sounded like a British accent) that was sitting behind us noticed it and ran up to find me and return it.  Then I forgot my cell phone on the puddle-jumper airplane we took to Maui.  I also almost left my GPS on the handle bar of the bike I rode down from Haleakala Crater until the woman at the bike rental place noticed it.  And I think the 4th near miss was my sunglasses, but I don’t remember where I left them or who returned them.  Have I mentioned somewhere in my blogging yet that I’m getting old?  If I did, I’ve forgotten.

Anyway. . . back to Lana’i. . . I don’t have any digital photos to share of our sailing trip.  I took some with the disposable camera, but who knows what they look like!  Another unfortunate aspect of our Lanai trip is that due to the cuts & scrapes on my legs, thanks to that giant wave that attacked me and smashed me on the rocks, I decided not to go snorkeling, which was part of the excursion.  After doing some research online, I was afraid of getting a bad infection.  Some people said I’d be fine, but I didn’t want to risk it on our last couple of days 4,600 miles from home.

So, we rode on a 50′ sailboat to Lana’i.  We were fed fresh fruits and chicken and tuna wraps on the way there.  It was a nice ride, but they didn’t put the sails up on the way there and used engine power instead.  The “sailing” part was gonna be on the way back, but that only ended up being for a short time because it just wasn’t very windy enough at that time.

I haven’t been snorkeling since I was a teen and was disappointed not to be allowing myself to go since use of the snorkel gear was included in the price of the trip.  Oh well, something to look forward to doing next time!

So, we relaxed on the beach for a while, took a walk along a trail that led us to some beautiful coastal views, and then took a van tour of Lana’i City.   Lana’i is the smallest inhabited island of all the Hawaiian islands with a population of just over 3000.  Most of the people are descended from plantation workers from when Lanai was the world’s largest pineapple exporter.

It’s a very small community — one of those where everyone knows everyone — and it was interesting to learn about it from the tour guide who was a grandmother that was born and raised there and was living in the house she grew up in.  The old city “jail” was especially interesting.  It looked like a string of about 3 large outhouses with padlocks!

Later in the afternoon, we had a barbecue dinner  — chicken, lo mein noodles, and peas (he actually doesn’t like ANY of them).  On the trip back to Maui, they served ice cream sundaes.  It was a pleasant day, one that I was really looking forward to, but a bit anti-climactic since I didn’t get to go snorkeling.  The one time and place I did see some cool fish was just before that tidal wave almost washed me out to sea the day before!  Next time. . .

After using the disposable camera for a day, I decided I couldn’t finish my Hawaii vacation without a good camera.  So, we went shopping for a new one.  There aren’t a lot of places to shop where we were staying, but luckily there was an OfficeMax on the way back to the resort which happened to have the newer model of my “old” camera.  Bingo.  Sold!  This time, I bought the service plan that covers accidental damage including killer tsunamis.