An Ocean Sunrise

In the mid 90's I paddled with Hawaiian Canoe Club of Kahului, Maui in the Senior Mens's Division. We always did the Queen Liliokalani Long distance off of Kona as well as the Molokai Hoe.

I went with the Luuwai family out of Maalaea Harbor on Maui the night before this one race. We were using their boat as the escort boat for our canoe. We were going to go fishing early that morning at the buoy off of Lana'i and then rendezvous with the race off of Molokai.

At dawn I woke and this is what I saw. I decked out on the back of boat in the open cabin. We were traveling south west. The sun light was just rising out of the ocean between Molokai and Maui directly behind us. The open ocean swells where rising and falling trailing in our wake. As the larger swells rose up and before they fell away the sun shone through them. I layed there and watched this spectacular play of reflected light in the waves, silhouetted through the waves and ocean and sky and mountains and clouds. It was a moment frozen in time like a treasured picture I carry with me. I watched this in my minds eye all that day like a dream as we keep a candance of rythmatic strokes paddling across the channel from Molokai to Waikiki on Oahu that day.

Now I have the opportunity to share it with you.