The Week in Review

My brother once told me, after living in L.A. for two years, that he became so accustom to the nice weather there that he almost welcomed the rare rainy day.  I never really understood what he was talking about until Sunday when we had an unusually gray and rainy day.  We’d had so many straight days of solid wind and sun that having a forced day off was perfect timing at least for me.  Somehow taking a day off when its 85 and sunny and there are hundreds of people around you sailing, biking, running or enjoying the weather in some non-slothlike way makes you feel guilty but Sunday turned out to be a well needed day of hanging around the house playing Scrabble, reading, just chilling out and then heading into Kahului to catch Adam Sandler’s latest, “Mr. Deeds” which I have to say was not up to par with some of his previous masterpieces.  The day off was welcome but the rest of the week we got our normal share of 85 degree sun and plenty of recreation. 

On Monday afternoon, Kris departed the water early to pick up his fiancée Tara who arrived from Boston for a couple weeks of what I like to call “recrelaxation” on Maui and so Doug, Eric and I were left on the water for another great session.  Around six, the wind started to mellow so Doug and I came in leaving Eric out on the water with some of our neighbors as he was still hopeful that there would be a few more gusts as the sun set.  His decision turned out to be wise as the wind did come back for some more runs out to the waves and while launching off one particular wave he heard a loud snap from another sailor right near by.  It turned out to be the sound of a mast breaking in half from one of our new neighbors, Bernie, who recently arrived from San Francisco.  Eric, being neighborly, and realizing what had happened sailed over to make sure he was all right and help him get back to the shore safely.  They de-rigged Bernie’s gear in the waves and Eric then windsurfed back to the beach towing Bernie and all his gear while he clung to Eric’s foot-strap.  Bernie probably could have paddled in from the waves but it’s always good to show camaraderie on the water as you never know when your mast will be next. 

Tuesday night with Tara now in town and Pat and Tina heading home the following day we all headed to Paia for a big group dinner at Café Des Amis which serves fantastic curry for cheap.  We had many laughs recapping their time here although Pat was looking somber about getting on that plane while we were all still here.  Pat does leave here hitting a good percentage of jibes, and sailing better than ever on short boards and ripping through and over the waves.  His biggest accomplishment of the trip may have been that this is the first of eight annual trips that he did not do any major damage to his gear which is good news for me as he sailed my freestyle board for most of his visit.  He did dent a boom and put some dings in a rental board but normally Pat would have ripped at least one fin off his board heading through the reef or snap a board right in half as he’s done in years passed.  Tina was sticking her water starts consistently by her departure and is fired up to head to the Cape, Ninnegret State park in Rhode Island and I even heard her mention a possible fall trip to Hatteras, North Carolina.  Perhaps Pat’s biggest accomplishment is getting Tina bitten by the windsurfing bug and can now transfer some dollars out of the wedding fund and into that new short board he’s been eyeing.

Wednesday morning, Kris, Eric and I ventured into completely uncharted territory taking a kite surfing lesson with Craig.  We’ve seen lots of folks “kiting” here and it looks like tons of fun as a kite allows you to sail in lighter winds and get huge air without requiring big waves as these things have tons of power.  It is frightening to feel the pull when a gust hits your kite but also exhilarating.  We’ve heard from many former windsurfers who have converted to kiting and never windsurfed again so we drove down to the lesson a little scared that all the hard work and money we’ve put into windsurfing might soon be shelved for a new passion.  We were reminded of our first snowboarding trip years back as we all grew up skiing and thought we’d never convert.  I think my skies are in a storage bin somewhere with several inches of dust as they haven’t been used since.  In any case with all the hooplah about kiting we decided we had to give it a shot while here on Maui and as Craig has been teaching it for several years we lined him up for a Wednesday morning clinic.  We spent most of the morning going over safety issues and working with a trainer kite on the beach to get used to controlling the kite before heading out onto the water.  I only nose-dived the kite into the parking lot six times before starting to get the hang of it.  Kris, being the most fearless of the three (read that he is a nut job), went out first with the larger kite to have it drag him through the water.  He was actually able to power up the kite and drag him a ways out before the wind died and he had to swim it in.  Eric and I were now excited to give it a shot but with the wind down we had to pack it up but will be heading back to the water soon to get our turn swallowing large amounts of salt water while being dragged by a kite.

On Wednesday night I actually departed the north shore for a couple nights as my friend Caroline arrived and I thought it would be fun to get away from grand central for a little while so we stayed down in Wailea, at the Maui Prince, a gorgeous resort all the way at the end of South Maui.  This hotel must see a lot of honeymooners as when we rolled in they put a Lei around my neck and said “welcome Mr. Finegold” and before I could react they put one around Caroline and said “welcome Mrs. Finegold.”  As I stood there in a small panic, she looked right at the guy and said “I’m not Mrs. Finegold, I just met this guy on the plane” at which point we both laughed and headed toward the door.  I’m not sure he knew what to make of her comment so he backpedaled quickly without giving himself even the slight chance of getting a tip.  While we relaxed in south Maui, the rest of the group were back up on the north shore windsurfing and spent Thursday morning hiking through the bamboo forest and up to the now famous waterfalls.  Fortunately Eric and I did not have major separation anxiety during my stay in Wailea on our first day apart since we arrived here on May 1.  We did talk on the phone once though just to check in and make sure things were all good.

Friday morning we all arose at the crack of dawn and grouped at La Peruse Bay for a similar kayak and snorkel trip as the one we did with my brother Mike.  This time, though, since we had eight people, they took us out on a private tour and so we were on the water not long after six before any other groups headed out.  As we pushed off shore our guide, Frank, noticed a school of dolphins not far out so we paddled over to watch these incredible creatures jumping out of the water and with the clear morning visibility could also see them swimming well below the surface.  There must have been thirty of them and this was clearly one of the highlights of the day as these animals are beautiful to watch in their natural habitat.  After the dolphin show, we paddled back to the snorkeling spot known as the aquarium for some more incredible underwater viewing.  The water was clear and we had the place to ourselves for about an hour before any other boats rolled in.  As the wind strengthened and the swells grew we headed further up the bay and this time had a wild adventure on the kayaks trying to keep the gale force winds from blowing us out to sea.  We stopped again to hike through a lava field, do a little more snorkeling and scarf down some lunch before kayaking the last couple miles through the swells and back to our cars.  Frank was a superb guide, taking us on some tough but great kayaking and filling our brains with Hawaiian trivia. 

Saturday brought another sad moment as Doug and Laura boarded a Bowing 777 back to Boston.  They brought us many laughs over their weeks here with the highlight still being Douggy’s beach landing which you all saw on video and we relive frequently.  Laura, dressed in her wet suit that has her looking strikingly similar to Batman, made incredible progress on the water.  She, along with her sidekick Gena (aka Spider women with her new wet suit) are both water starting with ease and getting the batboard up to good speeds with windsurfing smiles that will be hard to top.  Laura even canceled her trip to Hana after a particularly epic session on the water so she could get more time sailing at which point I turned to Douggy and proclaimed “she’s a keeper.”  Of course they have been dating for six years, living together for nearly three and co-own a house together so I think Douggy figured that out a while back.  While Laura’s windsurfing progress was astounding her greatest accomplishment came at the Stone Cold Creamery, a local ice cream shop that makes some tasty treats.  Laura is an ice cream addict like no other and was able to get her bye nine get one free card filled in over a seven day span and the place is a thirty minute drive.  Congratulations Laura, you certainly earned the ice cream out on the water and that Doug, he’s a keeper too.

Another fantastic week here on Maui with our friends although we will surely miss having Doug, Pat, Laura and Tina around.  Hope you all had safe journeys home - Maui is not the same without you, although it is still 85 degrees and blowing 30 knots. 

Comments from last week:

Brian, Charlotte, NC

“…it sounds like you are having a truly amazing trip and I am really happy for you.  Your timing could not have been better.  Every day here things get stranger and stranger.  Poor economy, tech stocks that are just get pummeled (Oracle closed at $9.47), massive layoffs (Peregrine Systems laid of 1,200 of their 2,500 employees a week ago), one
accounting scandal after the other, and constant vague warnings from our government
that there may be some terrorists out there and that they are mean people and aim to do you harm - this weekend Colin Powell advised all Americans to
be "vigilant" over the 4th of July weekend.  What the fuck does that
mean? I planned on downing a 12 pack at my neighbors backyard BBQ and then
setting off an arsenal of illegal fireworks on the golf course.  Does that pass for "vigilant"?”