Hawaii

On Wednesday we got an extra hour of sleep -- one advantage of sailing west. Three days before we got an extra hour too.  If I ever run for president, my platform will include turning the clocks back one hour every three days. I'll surely win.

Yesterday we saw land for the first time in almost a week. First we saw the lights on shore before the sunrise. Then I saw the shape of the Big Island of Hawaii -- solid and green in the misty morning. How welcome its form appeared! A pilot boat whizzed by my window to deliver the harbor pilot to bring us in. By 8:00 we were docked in Hilo.

Alas, we didn't get off until 10:00. That's because the U.S. Customs and Immigration service had to conduct face to face interviews with every person who wanted to disembark. We are a thorough government. 800 people later, we stepped foot on terra firma.

Seven years ago, a friend in Miami called to tell us about her friend, Shirin, who was coming to D.C.  Shirin was from Iran and was trying to get her papers to go back to her country to see her father. She didn't know how long it would take, and she didn't have a place to stay. She ended up staying with us for almost three months. In that time, Shirin became family.

So you can imagine our delight when Shirin, who lives in Hilo, met us at the dock in Hawaii with fragrant yellow leis and took us around the island for the day. We started at a black sand beach where we climbed on the volcanic rocks. Then we picked up the world's most delicious sandwiches and drove to Kilauea, the tallest volcano on earth.  From far off, we saw it smoking and belching sulfur gases. We ran through some steam vents and felt the moist heat, while getting an impromptu facial. 

After a quick trip to Target for provisions for our next 13 days crossing the Pacific, we visited a white sandy beach with lagoons and tidal pools. The kids were splashing in the cold water, spotting colorful fish, crabs, and turtles. Three giant green sea turtles swam right around their feet, munching on algae and even hissing at Charlie. They were magnificent, gentle creatures, and you can't blame them for hissing at Charlie. I probably would too if I were a turtle.

Then Charlie spotted what he thought was a snake. But as you know, there are no snakes in Hawaii. It was actually an eel! The kids named it Luigi, and  Austin shared some of his turkey sandwich with him. Luigi wasn't interested. Just then another eel named Mario, who was about 4 times bigger than Luigi, slithered out of another rock! We thought he would go for the sandwich, but instead he slid over to Luigi who darted into his rock . We never saw Luigi again.  We think this was a blatant, tragic case of eel cannibalism. As Kerry noted, "If you're an eel, another eel is the perfect meal. It just slides right down."

Finally it was time to say goodbye. We hugged Shirin, then made our way back to the ship, careful not to be late. For every 15 minutes you are late, you have to stay on the ship an extra two hours at disembarkation time in the next port. I'm told it can be quite a show watching people run back to the ship as dock time approaches.

Back to ship life until Japan...