Day 11: Banyan tree and Sunset sailing cruise

Good thing today will be more of a relaxing day. All that walking and climbing yesterday tweaked my knee a little so level ground is the order of the day. Tell you what though, Bob and I wore our hiking boots and were glad to have them. I would not have wanted to try climbing that cliff-side even in sneakers. We saw a lots of people at the blowhole trying to make it down and up wearing sandals or flip flops. Rookies or experts, we are not sure.

An additional update from yesterday is necessary. I must have been more tired than I thought because I neglected to say the show off our lanai was back in full force when we got home. We had two separate pods out towards Molokai to entertain us. The one I watched had a baby and two larger whales. They were all breaching repeatedly. Then one started doing the pectoral slap over and over. Bob's pod had one whale that was a tail slapper. Maybe they were all talking to each other. They seemed to be moving towards each other too. We were waiting for the two pods to get together for some synchronized swimming to this season's whale song but it didn't happen.

This morning we had a tail slapper. The difference was this one was slapping the top side down. How do we know that? Because the underside of the tail and body is lighter color. This is how hump backs are identified. The underside "design" is photographed and recorded in a database and movements are tracked. The hard part is getting the photo. Regulations do not allow boats to steer directly towards a whale so most try to get along side. These curious creatures frequently are watching the boats too. Consequently, any tail slaps are top side visible. So our visitor is either head down or on "his" back. Sadly, "he" was too far away for a picture because we could have uploaded it to a non-scientific website and checked if there were any prior sightings.

Too calm this morning for any surfers.
Look closely and you can see a faint rainbow. 

Pretty good picture of a whale breech.

We had a few errands to run in Lahaina and this morning was a good time to do them. We wanted to get in a swim before our sunset cruise. Easy to walk to a beach since it is right next to our condo resort. But when we got there we found most of the small beach taken by resting sea turtles. We saw five taking a nap. They need to rest after being tossed around in the surf like they are in a washing machine. No problem for us though because the walk goes through a park and right onto another beach.

We could tell that a short way into the water there was going to be a fairly nasty drop off. We scouted for a buoy about 50 feet from shore and waded in. The water was cool but not cold. For those who have been in the water (ocean or gulf) around Florida you would certainly be surprised by the intensity of the waves, coming in and going out. The sand melts away from under your feet while the next wave rocks you backwards. It's easy to loose your footing. We managed to make the drop off and it did. Way over my head (don't be mean) and Bob didn't get much further. We had to keep monitoring the buoy, the sea wall and our towels. First we were pushed up the beach and then down. It was a real roller coaster. Strong currents and high rolling waves were exhausting us sooner than we expected so after only 30 minutes I said we needed to get back on shore. We were both breathing hard by the time we reached the sand.

Click on photo for a panoramic view.
Look close and you can see Carol in the picture twice. 

World's largest banyan tree. 

This tree is a small city block.

Foreground is cannon salvaged from a sunken Russian vessel. Background is the first hotel on Maui.

I was asking this guy for directions, but he didn't say much. 

This is our Sunset Cruise sailing ship.

At the beginning, it seemed this would be smooth sailing. Champagne for me, Mai Tai for Bob, yummy appetizers and good views.   

Bob checking on the Captain. 

Looking back at Maui.

The farther we got from Maui the more interesting things started to be. The waves kicked up to swells and the misting spray became a drenching wash. Soaked through and through, except for our shoes safely stowed before get on board. We may be smiling but trust me, we are very damp. I was afraid we were going to wish we had some Dramamine but we weathered the rough seas. We had not seen much of any whales but as rough as it was  they were probably just hiding out waiting for things to calm down. As the sun slowly dipped toward Molokai, the swells grew less and less. A few water spouts and whale rolls, then some breaching and pectoral slaps. The show was back on. 

Calm seas and golden sunset.

Why don't sea captains dress like this anymore?