Ryan's Chang: Kahoolawe 2013

I was/am blessed with a wonderful girl friend and opportunities to do the things I love to do. I recently got invited to go to Kahoolawe with my girl friend. She asked if I wanted to go and I said "Absolutely, would love to go." Not many people get to set foot on this island, for the only way getting on the island is through two organizations. We went with K.I.R.C. (Kahoolawe Island Reserve Commision).

We flew into Kahalui airport on Maui early Tuesday morning. The KIRC staff picked us up and dropped us off at the Kihei boat ramp. From there we boarded and set sail for Kahoolawe. For me I didn't know how I was going to react on a boat because I've only really been on a boat once. Luckily the seas were calm. If it were rough it would proceed the name, 'Alalakeiki which means "crying baby". It took us roughly an hour to cross the channel. On the way there we saw the northern side of the island and also the other organizations camp, Protect Kahoolawe Ohana.

We disembarked on a sandy beach near our base camp. The first thing that came to my mind was are there going to be any waves on this trip? I asked Mike the executive director of KIRC, he said if a straight south comes in the whole bay closes out... It must be a sight to see. This time around we had ankle snappers, if that. We formed a line and off loaded all of our baggage and cargo we needed for the four days we were staying there. The luggage got loaded into a car and driven up to our huts. We walked down the beach and to our huts, the first thing that caught my eye was gigantic opihi! Sadly those were not for eating. Everything from fishing to shelling was kapu on the island.

We got to our cabins ate some lunch and headed out to the top of Kahoolawe. This day was our tour day and they showed us around in 4 wheel drive cars. There are no roads there... just roads with dirt and rocks on them. We got to the top and they showed us where we would be working for the next few day. The ahupuaa we would be working in was Hakioawa. We had to plant some plants, lay some irrigation piping, build a bridge and move loads of materials. On the way there we also had to repair some of the road because some got washed away with the last heavy rain. We had our work cut out for us for the next four days.

We came back down the mountain which is almost an hour drive back to base camp. The KIRC staff allowed us to swim. I was excited to take some wave shot even though it was so small. We played around in the water till sunset. The best thing on the trip was the food! I've only heard rumors of the food being good but actually being there and eating the food is a whole different story. We had home cook meals every day from our chef Gerard. The first night we had fried chicken, ribs, rice, potatoes, artichoke salad, toss salad, and brownies. I can only tell you how good the food was but just like hiking you have to be there to understand!

That evening we talked story and we planned our next days manual labor. After that Cory, Christian and I headed out to check out the night time sky. With minimal light pollution it was prime! We headed down towards the beach at first but clouds hampered our view of the milky way so we headed north a little above the cabins to take some star trail shots. After an hour of shooting we decided to call it a night.

Breakfast every morning was at 6 am sharp. So that mean to get ready at least half an hour before then. We woke up and did our morning routine, running water and electricity was nice even though I didn't think we were going to have electricity in our cabins. All my gear was charged up and ready to go. Our group congregated in the dining hall and breakfast was awesome. Blueberry pancakes, bacon, sausage, eggs, rice, and orange juice was on the menu. After breakfast we each had a duty of cleaning up some part of the kitchen or dining room, while other had to pack for lunch. I opted to wipe down tables this time.

After lunch was made we all hopped in the vehicles. I hopped in with Cory, shotgun in a dually. We were the supply truck, while other hopped in the bed as passenger transport. The KIRC staff jumped in an off roading golf cart. We headed up the road and packed some bags with gravel. A full bed of gravel in mine and Cory's dually made for a bumpy ride up the mountain. We repaired part of the road on the way up with the gravel we loaded. When we got to the top we started to lay 500 ft irrigation piping down connecting almost 2000 ft in irrigation from the water catchment they had. Off the main line we laid some sub lines to go to the plants that we planted the day before. This took almost all day.

When we were done we headed to one of the most sacred places on the island. Pu'u Moaulaiki is where a bell stone is kept with a lele on the side of it for offerings of Hookupu. Mike also talked about the navigators chair just below the peak, in ancient Hawaii this is where you would take your navigator because there was a seat that pointed directly to the north star. We also learned that Hokuleia will return and embark from this island for Kahoolawe is the belly button of the Hawaiian islands.

After a long day of work we returned to base camp. For free time they allowed us to snorkel where we landed the boat on the first day. Crystal clear water greeted us when we entered the water. I dove for shells and there was an abundance of them all on the ocean floor. Let me say again that it was Kapu to take shells from the island so people before us couldn't take, that's why there were so many. A group of us ventured out onto a reef on the left side of the bay. The bay is name Hanakanai'a (Bay of the dolphins). Unfortunately for our stay there we didn't get to see any dolphins. What we saw was equally impressive, pristine reefs, giant schools of fish, a few papio here and there and a grey reef shark.

Dinner was served a little after 6 pm. After dinner we had a special presentation on sea shells. After the presentation we took advantage of the clear skies once again. Cory and I shot up near where we shot last time. We stayed up to watch the moon rise.

The next morning we set out again doing some of the same work. Laying pipe and building a bridge was part of the activities today. Building a bridge was a lot of fun. After that we had to move material from the top of the mountain down a little ways.

On our way back to base camp we stopped at where operation sailor hat took place. It was a test site for a bomb, the navy wanted to know the affects of the blast on radars on ships. It was a really really big hole in the ground.

When we got back to base camp Jen one of the KIRC staff took us on a beach walk and a guided snorkel tour. We went to the point where the Hokuleia gets launched. At that point it's almost a direct shot to Tahiti.

On our last night we had another amazing dinner. Some kalbi with bbq chicken.

The next morning we packed up and left Kahoolawe. As we were leaving another group was coming. A new shift of KIRC staff was going to facilitate this group. On our way back to Maui we made a stop at Molokini island for a short snorkel session.

Stay tuned for our adventures on West Maui.