Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
a wild, rough, sun filled sail, and we tore up the miles. Fortunately, the wind slackened off
towards nightfall, and while it was still a very rough sea, we made good time and never felt
endangered. Rather, it was an exhilarating sail, and we were on our toes most of the long
night.
At one point we received a terrible fright as a commercial jet flew low overhead coming
in to land at Oahu's international airport. The sudden noise and bright spotlights suddenly
appearing from nowhere out of the dark, night sky took us quite by surprise. “Jesus Christ!
What is that?” said Gavin, reflecting my fearful thoughts as well. It flew very low, and the
lights lit up the ocean around us, the noise deafening. It was just a taste of what was await-
ing us.
We crashed and rolled on throughout the starry night, gulping copious quantities of hot,
sweet, instant coffee, eating chocolate bars, and smoking Marlboro cigarettes. Not exactly
a healthy diet, but they helped to keep us awake. I was frantically rushing up and down the
companionway steps checking my navigation. There was so much going on after being out
at sea for so long where there was no danger of any reefs, lighthouses, red lighted aerials,
foreign weather buoys, fishing trawlers, tugs and barges, other sailboats, little land masses,
etc. It was exciting, and we were thrilled to be here. Hawaii! Land of the hula skirt, ukulele,
Honolulu, Waikiki, Elvis Presley, all the films that Hollywood made about Hawaii, surfing,
and all the hoopla which we were soon to experience first-hand. We were two simple lads
from South Africa sailing in on a home-made boat.
Oahu, in Hawaiian, means “meeting place” and is the capital of the Hawaiian Islands. It
is the seat of the local government. The main business center and the main tourist attrac-
tions are Honolulu and Waikiki, respectively. It is the home of some one and a half million
people. It is a true melting pot of several nationalities but is predominantly dark haired,
dark skinned Asian inhabitants.
It is also the United States' fiftieth state. A grand possession and a love-hate relationship if
ever there was one. Tourism was the mainstay on these islands, mainly in Oahu, but there
was a healthy tourist trade throughout the other islands on all but Ni'ihau where foreign
tourists were not allowed. This island was once privately owned by the wealthy Robinson
family, missionary people, and it was felt by the owners that outside influence would des-
troy the Hawaiian culture, hence it was off-limits. Even the inhabitants were encouraged
not to leave and would do so at the risk of not being allowed back in. A Peter Pan syn-
drome.
We had all but crossed the Alinuhihaha channel, lured on by the large, bright light loom
from downtown Honolulu and Waikiki. The sun broke the horizon with a bright, golden
wash and bathed all in its path with a very beautiful, yellow glow highlighting the large
