We arose early and headed out to the town of Lahaina where our sailing boat "Trilogy" was docked.
We arrived an hour early so we could fortify ourselves with coffee--then splurged and ate a delicious breakfast of over easy eggs, pepper bacon and home fried potatoes with a dab of their special hot sauce. (purr-fection)
Breakfast finished, we turned our trip vouchers in to a Trilogy crew member in the parking lot and headed towards the docks. It wasn't hard to find--we just followed the mass of plump white tourists carrying day bags filled with sunscreen and towels.
They divided our group into two tours and we climbed onto the boat assigned to us and set sail.
Unfortunately, there was no wind for them to be able to use their sails and we ended up motoring the entire way to Lana'i Island. The trip was gorgeous though and any time I am lucky enough to be on the water I am thrilled!!
Once there the group headed out to the beach to snorkel but Lord V and I and a group of 4 women traveling together (who were hilarious) climbed onto a RIB boat (reinforced inflatable boat) and zoomed off for another adventure.
O.M.G! They two guys manning the RIB boat zoomed us around the rim of the Island at break neck speeds!! I was yelling the entire time with WHO-HOO's!!! and ARGH MY SPLEEN!! as we slammed up and down on waves zooming across the emerald colored water.
It was the best...EVER!!!
I didn't take Chanda on this trip for fear she would get water damaged. I regret not taking another cheaper digital camera though, for the 3 waterproof disposable cameras I did take took horrible pictures of the most fantastic views of emerald surf smashing against massive Island cliff faces I've ever seen.
We made it back to beach and staggered off the boat. We waved goodbye to the crew and headed to the pack of tourists who were busy getting ready to snorkel.
Our guide warned us of the ominous surf that was slamming onto the beach that day. The waves were the largest I had ever seen crash onto the shoreline! He explained that the waves came in groups of 10. We would have to have our mask and mouth piece on, clutch our fins in our hands and run into the surf when he told us to GO! There would be no time for delay or panic. We had to run or drown.
I was a little alarmed at that but determined to press on with our snorkeling plans.
Lord V and I donned our snorkel gear, clutched our fins and stood at the top of the beach waiting for the GO! signal.
The waves rolled in and threw themselves at our feet in an angry tantrum. I kept my eyes on our guide and waited for the signal.
GO! GO! GO! He screamed. We took off running into the surf. Once neck deep in the water I struggled to pull on my fins but labored as they had insisted we wear waist flotation devices and it kept flipping me onto my face when I lifted my foot up to tug the fin on!
"GET YOUR FINS ON!" A crew member yelled at me bobbing on a surfboard beside me.
"I'm TRYING!" I yelled back but kept struggling.
"HANG ON TO THE BOARD!" He yelled back.
I gripped the surfboard and managed to tug my fins on just as a giant wave came hurling towards me.
"DIVE! DIVE! DIVE!" He screamed.
I turned my body and dove into the wave.
It swirled me around and I broke through gasping and looked frantically over to see how Lord V was doing.
He got hit full on with the wave and was coughing and gagging on ocean water having not been fortunate enough to have a surfboard to cling to to help him put his fins on.
He waved me on and headed back to shore.
I struggled for a bit then made it past the row of waves and got out far enough to calmer waters.
I snorkeled for awhile snapping pictures of angel fish and brilliant blue colored fish.
I got to swim with a school of tiger striped fish then headed back to shore as the current was so strong it was exhausting me.
Once back at the shore I flopped down on my beach mat with my towel and rested for a bit, thoroughly exhausted.
I felt bad that Lord V didn't get to snorkel but he said it was OK because he had gotten a little sea sick from the pounding we took on the RIB boat and trying to snorkel in the rough waters just made it worse.
I had just enough time to catch my breath and slow my pounding heart when the crew called out that there was a van tour heading out to see the Island of Lana'i.
I gathered myself up, wrapped myself in my beach towel and headed with Lord V into the air conditioned interior of the van.
The trip was optional--but I was determined to see the most I could on our trip!
It was a very pleasant tour. Our tour guide was a local and she drove us slowly around telling us about the town and the history of the Island. It was currently owned by David Murdock...but he was losing money and they hoped that the next person who bought the Island would be Bill Gates so they could get some computer jobs out of the deal :)
After the tour we headed to the pavilion on the beach where the Trilogy crew was busy cooking us dinner.
Roast chicken, Oriental stir fry noodles, Peas, Salad, dinner rolls, Iced tea and Guava juice.
It tasted very good after our ocean experiences!
Our boat had broken down so we all piled on the remaining sailing boat. I was able to snap up a front seat right on the tip of the sailboat and resting my head on my arms on the rail I sighed and watched the waters fly by us as we sailed back to Lahaina.
They managed to catch a few minutes of wind and put up the sails. It was a beautiful sight. White canvas stretching and catching the wind--but for most of the time we used the ship motor to get us back to the main Island.
It was a fantastic day and the best birthday I have ever had!
xoxo to my Lord V.
