The Week In Review

After ten straight days of epic sailing, the trade winds departed late Monday and did not return for the rest of the week. We probably would have panicked had this happened in week 1 but given that weÕd had so many incredible days on the water we took the opportunity to explore more of the island and even venture into a couple new activities. Probably good news for our readers who IÕm sure are tiring of the weekly biking, yoga and windsurfing recap. Fortunately for your amusement, while branching out to these new activities, Eric and I took a few pages out of the bonehead playbook, a book weÕve put into action many times over the years. The week started as normal, Monday morning yoga and then on the water for what looked to be another day of 25-30 mph winds. We had Craig come up for a lesson as weÕd spent the last week just enjoying our sailing in the nukinÕ winds and occasionally working on the homework heÕd given us so we decided to get back to work so to speak. Eric went out with Craig last and at that point the wind had become a little fluky but not enough to shy Eric away from sailing out on a small board and sail. Not long after the lesson the wind shut off leaving Eric about a mile offshore with not enough sail to get powered up. Eric, being an experienced windsurfer, used some difficult light wind techniques which had him slowly making his way to shore but quickly draining his energy. Having not seen him for a while and knowing he was out on small gear with little wind, I cracked out a pair of binoculars and spotted him pretty far downwind. Using the same philosophy that has a kid throwing a ball into a tree to try and knock another ball down he or she had just gotten stuck, I decided to sail way downwind to see if Eric was OK. I did have a little bit bigger sail but sure enough we were now both downwind and underpowered for the long trek back. Fear not, with the wind and current we would not have drifted out to sea but rather to a sewage treatment plant just downwind of Kanaha. We did return home safely on the few gusts that were still coming through, my journey being much easier on the larger sail which gave me time to rest on the beach watching Eric fight the long uphill battle back towards Camp One. Eric was completely exhausted after his fight with the wind but fortunately weÕd been invited to our neighbors, an English couple Peter and Nicola, for a curry dinner they had put together so we had a chance to refuel on some great chow and best of all didnÕt have to lift a finger. We were joined by two Canadian couples who were on their last night of a week long stay and we had some great laughs as the Americans were outnumbered when the jokes started flying. Our Canadian and English friends were most puzzled by supermarkets in the U.S. pointing out that there are 37 brands of ÔI canÕt believe its not butterÕ but found it nearly impossible to find real butter anywhere. The debate later turned to more important topics like fast food and the age old debate of McDonalds vs. Burger King and Taco Bell vs. KFC. Leave it to the English to try and make fun of our food. They were not prepared for the wealth of knowledge Eric and I have on this topic and home court advantage prevailed in the end. This group was actually unaware that there are now combination KFC / Taco Bell restaurants rendering one debate obsoleteÉand they frown on our education system? Tuesday with no wind in the forecast we headed down to South Maui to do a little snorkeling. We were told the visibility was phenomenal, a benefit of the light wind, so we rented some fins and masks and grabbed a map from a local dive shop. We headed south to Ahihi bay, a marine reserve that is about as far south as you can drive on Maui and well known for its clear water and colorful sea life. We pulled over at a spot that the map indicated to be a good snorkeling launch although we should have been clued in when absolutely no one was around. In any case, we strapped on our fins and masks and grabbed the video camera in its water proof case and headed towards the water. As we got closer we noticed the entry was on lava rock with waves crashing down pretty hardÉÔthe sea was angry that day my friends.Õ We waddled in to the water with our fins holding closely to the camera and trying to maintain our balance on the slippery lava stone with the waves slamming down. As we continued in, the water was not getting deep enough to swim and the waves seemed to be building until one came in large and Eric froze, like a deer in headlights, taking the wave straight on getting thrown back into a large piece of lava stone. The camera was OK but EricÕs back took a beating at which point we retreated back to the car a little dumbfounded that we can take on huge waves on the north shore with our sailboards but somehow managed to get hurt snorkeling. We cracked the map back out and found another launch up the road that indicated sandy beaches and a good launch for novices, called Ulua beach. This place was ideal and coincidentally had several snorkelers and SCUBA divers in the water, a good sign to us. Alua is a stunning sandy beach, with no shore break, clear visibility and an easy swim out to a reef that had lots of coral, fish and even a huge turtle that we spotted hiding under a piece of the reef. Despite the welt in EricÕs back it was well worth it to check out some of the marine life here on Maui and we will surely head back again, although probably next time with SCUBA tanks and a guide who can show us around safely. Wednesday morning after yoga we checked out the wind situation and were disappointed again so we decided the get the bikes out. It was hot, about 90, but we thought it would be good to do an exploratory ride and maybe find a new loop to throw into the mix. We headed towards the center of Maui on the Haleakala highway. As we set out we noticed we were laboring pretty hard and crawling along at a pretty slow pace. We carried on like this for about 40 minutes and finally pulled over panting and dripping sweat. It felt like we were riding on quicksand and we even checked our bikes to make sure the brake pads werenÕt rubbing. With no clue we turned around to head home figuring at least we were getting a good workout. As soon as we turned our speed picked up quickly and the ride became easy and we immediately realized that we were cruising down a pretty steep hill. Turns out when we looked back up that somehow with the deceptive terrain, we had never noticed that we had been climbing a steep hill up towards the summit of the dormant Haleakala volcano. Upon reviewing the map we noted that it would have been a 10,000 foot climb had we made it all the way Ð clearly, weÕre not quite ready for that. Still somewhat frustrated about our hill ride we got up early the next morning and did our normal Kihie loop just to insure we hadnÕt lost our minds and fortunately we finished the ride in our usual time. Of course we couldnÕt get an exact reading as EricÕs new trip computer on his bike was not reading. Ready to take it in to the local bike shop he realized that he had put is front wheel on backwards which had the sensor facing the wrong way Ð add another to the list. It was a good ride and with the wind still down we decided to do an outdoor Yoga session with an instructor who had subbed for Nadia a few weeks back and teaches private Yoga classes to many visiting windsurfers. The weather was fantastic and we had a 90 minute private class out on our lawn and were able to focus more closely on our alignment and getting some extra torque in our stretchesÉwell needed. We finished out the week by renting some large freestyle windsurf boards that we took out to work on some light wind tricks. Not nearly as fun as high speed windsurfing but we thought it would help keep those muscles in shape during the lull and it is supposed to help with your technique to practice moves at low speed. We didnÕt last long with the freestyle as neither of us know too many tricks but it did get us out on the water and as luck would have it we spotted some huge humpback whales jumping a couple miles off our beach which is very unusual for this time of year. It was pretty cool to see the whales although I kept wondering what I would do if I was farther out and saw one of these beasts close up. I guess its good that there is a sewage treatment plant downwind just in case. Well we had another fantastic week in Maui, enjoying the island lifestyle and trying some new things. If the wind stays down weÕve got some new adventures on the list and may try regular surfing this week which will certainly lead to some good tales for next weekÕs issue. In addition to the outdoor activities weÕve also been trying other things like cooking, something neither of us ever do back home and have had some success there and reading, another activity that doesnÕt get enough attention back home. We also decided not to watch any TV on the trip although if the Celtics go to the big dance we might modify that rule to include the championship series and crown us fully with our fair weather fan status. We do allow for the occasional movie rental and this week threw in ÔDumb and DumberÕ which strangely neither of us had ever seen despite its high praise from many friends. I have to say I wouldnÕt rank it that highly on my list but perhaps because it hits a little too close to home. This weekÕs best responses: Muriel Ð Boston, MA (JonÕs mom) ÒGreat issue and terrific video clip. Are mothers allowed to correct spelling? Choir is a choral group; quire is a measure of paper and also an archaic form of choir. So I really don't know whether to correct your spelling or to be incredibly impressed at your esoteric knowledge of old English. I think I'll be impressed.Ó Ð Mom, I hate to have you go to the archives and pull out my verbal SAT scoreÉI even had to look up esoteric. Dan Ð Boston, MA (JonÕs older and clearly wiser brother) ÒNice spelling of ÔchoirÕ you idiotÓ Ð He also referred to me as a doorknob in the same e-mail. Anonymous Ð Melrose, MA (near the Wakefield border) ÒHas Josh Stone filed a restraining order on you guys for stalking yet?Ó And I hate to do this but once again the best came in from Florida Ð below is only a small snippet from a long and hilarious e-mail from Rusty. ÒDanny and I could get stranded on a desert island and have more fun than you guys Ð have you drank a beer, talked to a girlÉIÕve seen more compelling vacation pieces on PBS.Ó

Keeping fit and flexible is essential here on Maui. We usually practice at Maui Yoga up in Paia, but today we had a private session on our lawn. Great for fine tuning our form and getting that extra stretch. EricÕs niece Sarah paid us a ÒvirtualÓ visit this week. She has good taste in hats, but is a bit over dressed for the hot Maui sun. After we figured out how to get in the water without killing ourselves, the snorkeling was a great time. Eric feels a bit like a fish out of water, under water. A group photo after a great curry dinner cooked by Peter (2^nd from the left). A model of world peace with Canada, England and the US all sailing and eating together. Everyone was getting tired, so Eric didnÕt set up the tripod and join the group photo. The four on the right are not the first troubling thing to come out of CanadaÉ.Let us not forget Bryan Adams. Eric couldnÕt help but throw this in. He found it after spending much of the week working on video editing. Mom and Gena, yes IÕm wearing a helmet. This is just a sampling of the typical menu here at The Tradewind Beach House. Jon and I have been cooking quite a bit. Shown here is the steak and potatoes with mixed vegetables. Dessert was a couple of Pop Tarts (not shown in this picture) and some excellent PeetÕs coffee courtesy of a care package from G$. A couple of chicken kabobs before snorkeling certainly arenÕt going to kill anyone. Our gracious chef to the left was not thrilled about taking a photo. We still canÕt understand why. Congratulations to Tina and Pat from Connecticut on their engagement. Pat popped the question out on the lake on Saturday and Tina surprisingly said, ÒYesÓ. Tina, the Lay is a nice touch and I couldnÕt help notice Pat is wearing his Columbia River Gorge windsurfing shirt. Great stuff guys and canÕt wait to see you out here soon. In addition, a special congratulations to Moe Finegold (JonÕs Dad and long time sponsor of this Jew), who on Friday learned that he won the FREY (sp?) award for excellence in art and religion, awarded for the many incredible synagogues designed under his leadership. His work can be viewed at http://www.faainc.com

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