"Maui Impressions"
by Spennie    9/29/07

   Debi & I finally took our first trip to Maui a few weeks ago (August 11-25, 2007), possibly the last 2 windsurfers in Southern California to do so. We scheduled 2 weeks because we wanted to do it right & have plenty of time to see all the touristy stuff, as well as do some killer sailing. Alas, Debi crashed her mountain bike a few weeks before the trip and cracked her hip, rendering her unable to sail. How's that for some unbelievably bad luck? We couldn't cancel without losing a fortune, so Debi became a beach-bound photographer, taking billions of photos of everyone sailing, being a tourist, and just generally having a very good attitude about the whole thing. That is one amazing woman!

   By "everyone sailing" I'm referring to our friend Larry Caulkett, who stayed with us in our condo for the first 11 days, and several groups of friends who had all planned their trips at around the same time. Most of us stayed at the Village by the Sea condominiums in Kihei, a pretty nice place with central air, ocean view, pool, jacuzzi, etc. etc..

   When we first got off the plane, my first thought was oooo, HOT! Sure, I expected it to be warm, but it was much warmer than that, around 88 if you weren't on the beach, and of course humid. Well, we know how to fix THAT little problem, don't we?! A quick call to Al's Maui Windsurf Vans, and we're being picked up right at the airport and taken to our van, fully equipped with board racks, ice chest, & umbrella; Usually you get chairs, too, but they had run out.

   Next stop, Second Wind, where we rented all our equipment, including a great selection of Sailworks sails and RRD & Mistral boards. The folks at Second Wind were great, helpful and friendly, and eager to make you happy. Up to Safeway to grab a sandwich & some drinks, then down to Kanaha Beach Park. My friends weren't kidding, you can sail the same day you leave, and it's not even a rush!

   The sailing was, of course, amazing. Since I'm 6'4" and about 205 lbs., I don't see sails under 6 meters all that often; On Maui I used a 4.8 most days, a 4.2 a couple times, and a 5.4 the rest. The water is warm (78) and clear, and small waves peel off the shallow spots on the reef offshore a ways, making for some fun, non-intimidating wave sailing and some truly spectacular ramps for jumping. The only downside was the legendary Kanaha chop, which will beat the crap out of you after a while, and the fact that the reefs were out a ways made it difficult for Debi to photograph us out there, as all she could see was specks on the horizon. "You guys keep sailing out so far!" "Well, that's where the fun is!"

   After sailing, we'd go back to the condo and hit the jacuzzi & pool, then either make dinner or go out. We found a great little Vietnamese restaurant called, surprisingly enough, "Vietnamese Cuisine" just a few blocks south of the condo. Deliciously different, if you haven't had Vietnamese food you've got to try it, and very reasonable as well.

   After wasting a few mornings, we discovered snorkeling, something fun that Debi can actually do with us. I confess that I had had a bad attitude about snorkeling before we got there, thinking it was just something stupid to do as a tourist, probably won't see any fish at all. SURPRISE! It's frigging amazing! You can jump in just about anywhere, and there's zillions of beautiful fish swimming around an arm's length away. We tried hard to be good snorkelers and not touch the reefs or feed the fish.







After Larry left, Debi & I visited the Maui Ocean Center, which was also pretty cool, as Debi finally got to see the turtles we were always seeing offshore, and they have one of those glass tunnels so you can walk through a giant tank full of sharks & rays & other fish.

   We wanted to bicycle down the Haleakala volcano, but not as a part of one of those tour groups. Someone had warned me about the groups, saying that it was lame because they make you all go really slow, and stop a bunch of times. Whoever that was, thank you very much (Kay M.?) , because we avoided that by renting a couple of bikes and having Debi drive us up in the

van. On the way up we saw a few of those groups, toodling along at 15 mph with a "Border Collie" (tourguide) front & back, keeping all the sheep together -- one of the groups we saw were all wearing matching blue jumpsuits, yikes! We got to the top and admired the view of the crater and the rest of the island, then Larry & I donned our helmets and hauled ass for more than an hour, almost no pedaling OR braking, nearly 10,000 vertical feet of smooth curvey road, fun fun fun!

   On the second Wednesday we were there we had to drop Larry off at the airport early, so Debi & I had planned to go snorkeling afterwards. A small swell had come in overnight and made the water murky at our favorite snorkel spot, so on the way back we were passing the Maui Dive Shop and saw a bunch of Jeep Wranglers out front with "Rent Me" signs on the windshields. "Hey, let's drive to Hana in a convertible Jeep!" I say to Debi, and she readily agrees. We pulled in and for $65. + gas got a Jeep for the day. I put the top down, and off we went!

   The road to Hana isn't the gnarly nightmare we had been told to expect, the whole thing had been widened and re-paved in the late 90's, so the only parts that were very narrow were the bridges (one lane), and some small sections of the road past Hana.

   This drive was one of the highlights of our trip: When you think of Hawaii, you usually think of lush tropical forests and abundant greenery everywhere you go, but that's not really how it is.

   Much of the island could be in California, and a lot of the greenery is planted there to create a tropical feeling. Not so on the road to Hana!

   Thick tropical rainforest rises up thousands of feet above you, sometimes making a tunnel over

the road, giant bromeliads(?) climb up trees hundreds of feet tall, while small waterfalls are everywhere. This is what I think of as the true Hawaii; So much of what you see everywhere else is fake, created just for the tourists, but on this side of the island there's less of that, there's real working ranches, and small houses tucked into the forest, real Hawaiians living their lives despite the stream of tourists in their midst, not because of them.

   Besides, the road to Hana is for sissies! If you want an exciting drive, try going around the other mountain, on the North side, the road between Lahaina & Kahului.

   Much of this road is not much more than a goat path with asphalt (patches) on it: one curve was so tight I literally stuck my head out the window and yelled so someone coming the other way wouldn't round the curve and cream us. If the guys at Al's windsurf vans only knew where we were going, they'd have had a cow! Of course, if WE had known where we were going, we probably wouldn't have gone there, at least not in a full-size van.

   Thursday night we had dinner at Mama's Fish house, which fully lived up to it's reputation, both for the food and the prices. Dinner for two, including appetizers, wine, and tip (no dessert), came to $319., an all time record for us. We'll go again next trip, however, as it was definitely the finest dining experience we've ever had, except for the poi, which was as disgusting as expected.

   I do have a couple of complaints about Maui, the first being the crowds. Everywhere you go, it's crowded. We'd get up early to go snokeling and by the time we got out of the water there'd be 20 people snorkeling with us. We were going to see "Twin Falls" on the North shore, but when we pulled up there were about 60 cars parked along the road there, forget it! Traffic is terrible almost everywhere, and most of the stores are just tourist traps, selling "genuine" Hawaiian stuff made in China. It's hard to find anything that seems genuine, it seems like everything there was made just for tourists to gawk at.

   However prices weren't nearly as bad as I expected for everyday stuff, like groceries. We were getting freshly made deli sandwiches at the Safeway in Kahului for $4.49, and they were good! What's expensive are the restaurants, and any tourist-specific activity. Helicopter rides? $240. per person. Fake Luau? $90.+ per person. Boats to go snorkeling, parasailing trips, all of it was way high, we passed on it.

   Overall though, we had a great time, and will be going back in 2 years. Next year will be our first Gorge trip, since we haven't been there, either, and we're going to help out in the Sailworks booth during Windfest.

   Finally, while we were there, Larry Caulkett invented a drink we named the "Downwinder"; great to wind down with; try one and see for yourself:

1 part Tanqueray gin

2 parts tonic

1/2 part Pama pomegranate liqueur

Enjoy!



Aloha, Spennie