Coconuts and Windsurfers

Monday March 3 was a windy day. It made it difficult to predict where coconuts would land. Any comment to the climber was answered with, "You better not stand under me!"

We came back to finish this job on Friday before I took the plane back home. I forgot to bring my camera to the dump. Let me try to describe it. It was blasted out of the volcanic rock with 40 or 50 foot (15 m) walls. The thin layer of soil above the rock was visible in which all those pineapples and sugar cane had been planted over the last century. Coursen had a rope under the load of coconut fronds on his flatbed truck. When we reached the drop point, he signaled to the driver of the D9 endloader to pause. Then he tied a bowline to endloader, which then backed up to drop the entire load in one pull. It was amazingly efficient.

At first I thought it was a crime to put green wasted into a landfill. Shouldn't we be making ethanol out of all this green waste? Then I noticed a truck driving off with mulch, so it appears that the dump is being put to good use.

The experience would not have been complete without a draft of fresh coconut juice - just the thing to revitalize a thirsty worker.

And yet, while some men toil, other men play. I thought the windsurfers made a neat contrast. I did dive in to the surf and go for a swim. This was a vacation, after all.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• maui
• coconuts
• windsurfing

[Epsta1]

rookies!!!