Spectacular

We only had one activity planned for today and that was a whale watching tour.  But that was not until 1:30pm.  Therefore it was a lazy morning which included sleeping in and a leisurely breakfast on the lanai.  The rain was off and on all morning but that did not stop the surfers or me from BBQing hot dogs for lunch.

We packed up all of our gear and headed over to the Longs Drugs parking lot.  Because the August 8 fire destroyed Lahaina Harbor, the boat tour companies have had to find alternate places to sail from.  Ultimate Whale Watch was able to secure some space near the Mala Boat Ramp.  We walked over from the parking and got checked in for our two hour tour ($77 USD / person).

While we were waiting for the other people to arrive, we listened to one of the other people on the tour tell us about his experience with the fire.  He is one of the boat captain’s on the Lanai ferry who also had a diving expedition business.  We learned that he lost two boats and the only reason he did not lose the third one was that that day of the fire, he took the boat to Napili instead of back to Lahaina.  Very sad.

Finally the rest of the people arrived and then the eighteen of us walked over to boat launch.  We were introduced to Emma our captain and Sarah our marine naturalist guide.  The boat we were taking today was called Wiki Wahine which means fast woman.  Before we got on aboard, Emma told us about the safety features of the boat and whale watching etiquette.  The last thing she talked about was the fire.  She explained that she lost her home and that Sarah helped rescue people.  All that she asked was that we not take pictures of the destruction.

Once we all got onboard and settled into our seats, Captain Emma took us out of the harbor very slowly.  Then all of a sudden, she cranks us the speed and we are on our way.  It was not even five minutes and we spotted our first whale, a female.  She was spouting and pec slapping and breaching.  She was putting on quite the show.  Even Emma and Sarah were excited with what we were seeing.  Eventually three males started following her.

It was time to leave this spot and head to another.  After about a fifteen minute ride, we came upon a momma and a baby.  Sara thought that the baby was about four weeks old.  It was so cute seeing the baby humpback trying its hand at breaching.

While on the ride back to the harbor, you could clearly see the results of the fire.  All I could think about was how these people lost their homes, their business and in some cases their lives.  It is going to take a long time to bring Lahaina back.

Once we got back to dry land, we headed over to Whaler’s Village to do some shopping.  It took us a long while before we could get a parking spot.  We later learned from one of the shop keepers that demonstrators are taking up the parking spots.  They are demanding long term housing for the survivors of the fire.

On the way back to the condo, we picked up dinner from The Fish Market.  We spent the rest of the night doing the usual … going through photos and enjoying an ice cream float.