Story by Sandy Johnson
July 28, 2024
Four of us (Steve, Terry, Roger and I) arrived to a beautiful calm, sunny day at Pōkaʻī Bay for the July 28th paddle. As we ventured out of the bay the wind seemed to be guiding us along and all was well in the world. I noticed rain beginning over the mountains but other than a welcome cloud cover we never got more than a sprinkle on us.
The wind, however, decided to change direction not far into the paddle, making it more of a challenge but still not too hard. Most of the way was fairly uneventful so we simply enjoyed the iconic Hawaiian scenery. The dolphins failed to escort us, or even show up, but we did see some honu.
And then my paddle brought up some colorful string, like someone’s rainbow sweater had come unraveled in the ocean (thank you for that image, Roger). I began to pull one part, then the other, and got to the last of it in one direction while the other seemed endless. It seemed to take forever and I was starting to get bored, but I didn’t want to leave it floating in the ocean for any sealife to become entangled in it. Indeed, I heard an exhale behind me and turned to see a large honu checking us out. I like to think she was thanking us for clearing up the mess.
Terry suggested tying the line onto his fishing reel to speed up the process and I welcomed that idea. It filled up his reel to overflowing and there was still more! He eventually arrived at a floating plastic jug far from shore and worked at gathering up the rest of the mess before joining us to finish the trip. Steve had already removed a snarl of line further back. Typical do-gooders, saving the ocean one string at a time.
After paddling about 7.5 miles we landed at Mākua Beach, dodging swimmers and smallish waves, feeling pretty good about it all.
