Luau!

We spend a quiet day exploring and relaxing. Yesterday morning there was a rainbow in the ocean, right off our balcony. It was beautiful. The trade winds are howling.

There is a luau at the bride and groom's hotel. I'm dragging Munro because I want to go to a luau in Hawaii and see the real thing. Plus we'll have many tables as most of the wedding guests will be there. One of our friends is ill and taking it easy so he can come to the wedding, so we're "escorting" his lovely other half.

Hula Dancing and Scenery

Maui is nice. It's not too humid, but it's eeriely reminscent of where we lived in Ventura. I swear I could be on the road from our old apartment on the ocean heading to Ojai and it would look the same. It's very dry here. We're planning on going to Hana and hopefully the 7 sacred pools so we'll get some lush tropical vegetation later.

The bride and groom have been amazingly generous and open. Wednesday evening they hosted a happy hour with appetizers and drinks at the outdoor bar in their hotel. Later, we all trooped upstairs to the "pre-bridal suite" for more champagne and laughs. Pretty much everyone attending the wedding was there and it gave us a chance to get to meet and greet.

The bride lived in Maui and is an accomplished hula dancer - something we didn't know before. She's had just enough to drink that she offers to dance for us. We watch and listen and are in awe at her grace, beauty, and the passion of her dance. There is only one jarring note - one of the audience is the badly behaved offspring of a couple who are there. She chatters almost non-stop and her parents don't tell her to shut up. Now before anyone says anything, I have children. As does everyone in that room (except the bride). None of our children would have been so rude.

However, the impact of the dance and the bride's generous offering of something she holds so private and close to her heart is so strong that we are left with the glow of her gift. I've seen hula before, but never with such passion and grace.

Our hotel is about an hour away from this one, so we head back. Tomorrow we explore our part of the island and then... luau!

Maui Wowee?

I've never been to Hawaii. Munro has been to Kauai and Maui a couple of times. Everyone says they don't want to raise my expectations, but that I will love it. Hawaii, or any of one the islands that comprise the archipelago, has never held much interest for me. But friends are getting married and we haven't had a real holiday in years, not since Panama. So we're grabbing the excuse with both hands and ... off we go.

Our flight left at the crack of dawn and we flew to SFO to catch our plane to Maui. I'm seated on the right side of the plane, so I have an excellent view of not only the sunrise but the wildfires devastating Southern California.

I see the mountains, which are clearly outlined against the beginning rays of sun. The Santa Ana winds have blown all the smog out to sea. As I look below, I see glimmers of red and gold along the hillsides, reminiscent of the way windows along Sunset Cliffs look at.... sunset (d'oh!). Then I realize the colors I see aren't the sunrise's rays on buildings but fires. Long, glimmering, twisting lines of fire with wind-whipped mares tails of smoke heading out over the land for miles, blocking views of the land and the beaches.

It's a scene from hell. LAX is completely obscured. So is much of Northern San Diego County, Orange County, and northwards. The smoke cover is so thick that I'm reminded of the cloud cover over New Zealand. Except this cloud cover is more deadly.

I'm thankful that we moved our flights to change planes in SFO and my heart goes out to everyone left behind.

It's an uneventful flight (the best kind, as Dad always says). We land in Maui with our final approach over pineapple plantations and surf breaks on the North shore. Munro is pretty happy.

Luggage, check. Boogie board, check. Car at rental place, check. Now for lunch at Mama's Fish House (recommended by the guard at the rental gate).

It's windy here as we wend our way through Pa'ia to the infamous Fish House. We are a bit cranky (well, he is, I'm ready for a Mai Tai and some fish).

Mama's is on the beach in a lovely setting and decorated with "found" objects. Now everyone will tell you to go here. Be prepared - we spent over $120 for lunch and had:
1 mai tai (me)
1 rum punch (Munro)
1 hearts of palm salad (teeny tiny bits of palm, and expensive)
1 main course (not even the most expensive at $36)
1 glass of wine (mediocre sauvignon blanc, shared).

The food was decent. Not outrageousely good, but decent. It's an easy $100 plus per head. Now I'm no cheapskate where fine dining is concerned, but I expect value. West steak house in Carlsbad delivers amazing value for the buck (and you pay mucho bucks there, but I'd move in - it's that wonderful). West, worth it. Mama's, not so much.

We leave and head out to do some basic grocery shopping. We're staying at a condo-hotel so we can pack picnics and make our own breakfasts. Our hotel is nice and we upgrade to a 9th floor room with sweeping views of the bottom half of the island and Molokini across the water. We're both a bit shattered from the flight and not much sleep the night before, so it's an early night.

Getting Out Of Dodge

We are to leave for Maui in the morning. It's hard to feel festive and in the mood for a vacation when hundreds of thousands of people are out of their homes. When the sun and sky look like something out of an Apocolypse movie set, I get the heebie jeebies.

As of now our friends are safe. Some have lost homes, others are cleaning up smoke damage. The fires are raging and converging.

The airline we're taking is allowing passengers from San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and surrounding affected airports to make changes to itineraries due to the flames. I'm not the best of travelers, so I call and convince the agent at the other end of the line that I need to fly from San Diego to San Francisco in order to actually get out of town tomorrow. My husband agrees and lets me manage this.

I'm worried for our friends and the others affected and not happy about leaving town. Then again, I'm having a hard time breathing, so leaving town is my only option.

Our prayers will be with everyone back here.

San Diego Wildfires

I get anxiety attacks. Usually with good reason. Last night I was up most of the night and prowled around the apartment. The air was dry and I was sneezing, which I blame on the Santa Ana winds howling around the balcony. It's an eerie night as the sky looks funny.

I go back to bed and get up (again) very early. I turn on the news and find that San Diego, heck all of Southern California from Santa Barbara to the border of Mexico - is in flames. And it's getting worse.

Friends are evacuating. Others are packed and waiting it out. The smoke at the beach isn't as bad as it was during the Cedar Fires, but bad enough to kick in my asthma and make me close all the windows.

We are to leave for Maui on Tuesday. I'm wondering if we should.

Big Boat Series Practices..

Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday were practice days. We saw great wind (20-30k) and worked our butts off. Crew work is coming along nicely and I have goose bumps from sailing around Alcatraz and short-tacking up the San Francisco City Front. I do Pit with other gals - our shirts say "Nothing goes Up without the Pit Gals!" Nice.

Today is a "rest day" but how much rest can you get if you go to West Marine 6 times?

Racing starts tomorrow. A few new folks will be joining the crew and there will be some shuffling around as we have more than the allotted 22 people for crew. We are the party whenever we walk in anywhere. And we've been doing a lot of partying.

C'est Arrive in San Francisco - It Begins

We arrived safely in Point Richmond to stay on "The Slab" to stay with wonderful new friends. On Thursday night we drove to Temecula, met up with our Viking Skipper, spouse, his 85 year old Danish Dad, and another couple to begin the nighttime drive to Northern California.

Driving Mobile Homes ain't like driving Miss Daisy. They sway.

"Squirrely little bugger." said Munro through clenched teeth as he took the wheel at 4 AM.

Viking Skipper and Mainly Dave (because he trims Main) had already done their driving duty (note: as on sailboats, men drive... sigh...). Now there is a lot to be said for driving up in the middle of the night - no rush hour, being one of them. The downside is semis. Lots and lots of semis. Like you read about. Miles of trucks creating HUGE slipstreams which rock our overloaded and badly load-balanced little mobile home swayed and slipped and rode the air "wakes" pretty badly.

We arrived in time for breakfast, coffee, and a short nap before heading out to the boat to start working to get it ready for 4 days of practice for 4 days of racing. Others will show up for practice and sailing.

There was a party that night at Richmond Yacht Club. Excellent margaritas and you grill your own steak. HUGE salad bar. I'm going to like it here!