Story and photos (except as noted) by Terry Shimabukuro
May 18, 2025
As I watched over seven kayaks waiting for their owners to return from the carpool to Pōkaʻī Bay I kept scanning the ocean for naiʻa, Hawaiian spinner dolphin, that frequent the leeward coast. I saw some splashes near the Kahe power plant discharge outlet and noticed that a tour boat stopped short of the outlet so I surmised that a pod might be there. I didn’t have my binoculars so I couldn’t confirm my sighting, but it gave me hope that they might cruise past us on our paddle.
With almost no shore break we all launched off the steep beach without incident. A light tailwind aided us as we began the journey up the coast. I paddled in close past Mermaid’s Cave to Kalanianaʻole Beach Park to show the group where we’d be launching from for the upcoming Summer Solstice Meet & Greet. A flotilla of six enjoyed peering into Nanakuli valley while stroking steadily through the calm water toward Puʻuʻohulu (Maʻili Point). The seventh kayaker, Norm, lagged behind a little as took the time to reel in a small uku (grey snapper).
There was no surf at Maʻili Point so we rounded it close enough to see hikers up at the pink pillbox on top of the ridge. We took a short break at the point and let Norm catch up with us. We began the second half of the paddle and soon rendezvoused with Paul and Victoria who launched their tandem from Pōkaʻī. About a mile or so from our destination the wind direction changed and we now paddled into a headwind. The wind strength picked up as we got closer to Pōkaʻī turning the last mile into a real slog.
The naiʻa never showed, but as we pulled into the bay a shark warning blasted over a loudspeaker. None of us saw the shark, but the ocean safety jet ski was zipping around the bay warning swimmers.
Norm pulled in last with a total of two uku and one omilu in his fish bag. He later told me that Ed Rhinelanderʻs spirit was with him on this paddle as he caught the fish on frozen oama that Ed had given him years ago.
We enjoyed a nice post-paddle picnic and congratulated Sandy on completing her circumnavigation of Oʻahu a few weeks earlier. Paul brought magnum of bubbly that he had been saving almost ten years waiting for someone to complete their holopuni. Unfortunately, there was no pop when uncorked and it was undrinkable. Luckily Sandy had her own bottle on ice and we properly toasted her accomplishment. Cheers!
