Catching Up and Adjusting to 'Island Time'

It's really hard to believe that 5 days have come and gone since I landed in Maui. Here's a brief overview of events leading up to today, Sunday, February 10th.

As mentioned in the previous post, right after successfully retrieving my small bag from the airline we headed over to Costco to do some initial provisioning. To my surprise even though the parking lot was a nightmare and the aisles teaming with shoppers, we were in and out of there within an hour with the hope of making it over to Kannapalli Beach in time for sunset. We made it!

Right about sunset my body was telling me that it was about 11pm. I was quite exhausted from 12+ hours of air travel, but knew if I went to bed now, I'd be wide awake at 3am. So we hung out on the lanai and solved the world's problems while Mr. Mount Gay and Ms. Absolut came along to keep us company. I finally gave up and hit the rack about 10pm Maui time, 3am body time...I had been awake for about 23 hours!
Wednesday was a very casual, get acclimated day. Meals revolved around what was in the fridge as I compiled a detailed list of what was yet needed from the store before the rest of the family arrived.

I decided to rent a high-end road bike while on this trip. The guys at West Maui Cycles hooked me up with a brand new Specialized Roubaix. Lots of hills here and I hope to grab a few KOMs during my time. Wednesday morning we picked up the bike, came back and I immediately went for a ride. Holy hills Hannah! I was a bit bummed that my Garmin kept crapping out, so my data is incomplete for that initial ride. If you are interested in my rides, check me out on Strava.

*note the La Colombe cycling hat!

I power-shopped my way through Safeway in Lahaina and back to the condo for a cooking marathon of sorts. I actually have a structured plan this year (see Honey, it is possible!). I'm making lots of stuff ahead of time as this group is very 'in and out'. I'm hoping that this healthy, portable food will give them the energy and nutrients needed for a day of surfing, SUP, sailing and the like.

Thursday was more cooking and cycling, and preparations for new guests arriving late tonight. Looks like Friday will be a beach day for them, I'm ready with a fridge-full of food!

Friday night I got a welcome surprise, I night off! The clients' fave 'lounge act' was performing at The Hard Rock Cafe so I was invited for drinks and appys. Great time chillin' oceanside with a cold beer and some good music. Thanks Evan!

Saturday. BOAT DAY!
Very excited to get out on the water, especially here with the whales, dolphins and spectacular views. I packed the cooled and huffed my way down the beach to the dingy for the short ride out to the boat. The Lagoon 500 is a 50' catamaran, very comfortable with 4 staterooms and 4 heads. Check out my blog from 2011 for a tour of the boat.

We started the day whale watching and had great luck spotting many humpbacks. They seem to like the hull shape and color of the boat. We hugged the eastern shore of Lanai looking for a place to snorkel, but were unsuccessful as the winds were growing, making anchoring a challenge in the coral waters. One last attempt near the Four Seasons Resort was again a bust, so we turned and headed back home.
Along the way we had an escort of what seemed to be at least 300 dolphins! Enjoy the videos:

Watch for the 'spinners' in the above video.

Wave jumping dolphins!

Sunday was pretty casual, I got a ride in, climbing up to the coffee plantation (see above photo). The view was awesome and the decent was fast with a wicked cross wind. A new experience in a featherweight bike. Dinner was grilled chicken and steak fajitas with refried beans and three-chili rice, and of course MARGARITAS! Boy, did we plow through a lot of limes! Dessert was the old standby...ice cream and chocolate sauce-sprinkled with cinnamon to give it a little mexi-touch. I of course had to add some cayenne to mine! Early to bed.

Hope that wasn't too boring of a read. It's Monday morning as I write. Doorbell sprung to action at 7am, well before the 'allowed' time of 8am, so my morning routine has been thrown off. Speaking of thrown off, what I thought would be a land day has turned into another boat day. So I am rushing out the door to the market with a half written list to provision for the day. The next post is sure to be ripe with interest!

Mahalo for reading and following, tell your friends!

Theo

aka: The Nautical Chef