Proper Ocean Safety

Aloha kakahiaka e na hoaloha a pau,

As we enter another great weekend on Maui we want everyone to truly enjoy their time outdoors, with family and friends, and without injury or harm.

For many of us, exploring our new home on Maui means getting out and discovering the wonders of our beaches and our uplands. 

A short word of safety:

Our beaches are gorgeous, majestic, and deadly if you aren’t careful.  Locals and visitors alike can succumb to the ocean’s power and care must be taken when enjoying the beach.

Here is a link to some great safety advice regarding the ocean, http://oceansafety.soest.hawaii.edu/safety/ , there is a lot of information in there so let me sum it up for you.

There is one safe place…on the beach out of the reach of the highest waves.  When arriving on a beach take a couple minutes to observe (employe that “L” and “E” from LEAD the way…LOOK and EVALUATE) before deciding where to put your things.  Watch for where the waves crash and how high up the beach they go.

Waves come in sets followed by lulls where the ocean will look calm and pleasant.

  Do not be lulled into a false sense of security, there are more waves coming.

If you want to “hangout” in the water the safest location is PAST the breaking waves in deeper water.  Entering and exiting the ocean should be done calmly, with a sense of urgency, and most importantly…never turn your back on the ocean! 

The MOST dangerous place is where the ocean meets the sand and the waves are breaking.  Waves carry massive force and will hurt you if you aren’t careful.

8-10 people break or fracture their necks or backs at Oneloa (Makena-Big Beach) a month!

Beware of rip currents, places along a shoreline where the wave action creates a current that will drag you away from the shore and out into deep water.

Do not fight a rip current by trying to swing directly in to shore, instead remain calm and let it carry you out while treading water and swimming diagonally or parallel to the shoreline.

Above all, remember the lifeguard favorite saying…When In Doubt, Don’t Go Out! 

And, don’t be afraid to ask a lifeguard or a local for pointers about entering the water.  Each beach is different and has unknown hazards like underwater rocks, ledges and shelfs, undercurrents, rips, and reef.

A note on bodysurfing: bodysurfers (and surfers) travel parallel to the wave, turning either left or right to slide along the face of the wave, and do not face directly in towards the shore.  Be aware of people bodysurfing near you and follow common etiquette.  If there is someone “behind” you on the wave, meaning closer to the “peak” of the wave where it first begins to break they have the “right of way”.  If you take off in front of them, they will run you over.  This is akin to cutting someone off in traffic who is travelling at a higher rate of speed by cutting into their lane.  Many people can be on the same wave if spaced appropriately and bodysurfing can be one of the most enjoyable and accessible ocean sports when done correctly..but you don’t learn in a day.

Next episode, I’ll talk about accessing our uplands and general safety tips for hiking, waterfalls, and things like that.

My love and aloha to each and every one of you.  Our Hawaiian proverb, Aloha Aku, Aloha Mai—Aloha given, aloha returned applies not only to people but to our ocean and mountains as well.  Show the ocean respect and she in turn will give you many beautiful and exhilarating days.

Me ke aloha,

Kainoa Horcajo

Hawaiian Cultural Director

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A morsel for you

In Hawai’i, the people made many advancements in life that aided an easy lifestyle and prosperous and healthy families.  Traditionally, native Hawaiians were a decidedly agricultural society, having an innate understanding of the natural processes and life cycles of the plants and animals they used for sustenance.  Traditional “kapu”--edicts passed from the gods through the Kahuna (priestly class) and Ali’i (chiefly class)--managed the behavior of the people and the times and ways in which they harvested their foodstuffs.

Hawaiians not only farmed the land (producing food crops like kalo (taro), ‘uala (sweet potato), mai’a (banana), ulu (breadfruit), and ko (sugarcane)), they also “farmed” the ocean.  One way in which they did this was by paying careful observation to where animals prospered the most and often moving animals closer to the source of this abundance—like moving ha’uke’uke (a type of sea urchin) closer to stream mouths. 

But, the most famous and ingenious way of farming the ocean was the construction of loko i’a, fishponds, something done nowhere else in all of Polynesia.  This passage from “Na Mea Makamae” succinctly explains the use of fishponds and their importance to our people,

“On all islands, fishponds are still visible today, where Hawaiians raised fish by providing a safe habitat for the young fish to grow, separate from predators.  Creating such ponds was hard work, as it involved enclosing a portion of the coast to prevent larger fish from entering the ponds.  The ponds were stocked by means of a gate system that would allow smaller fish to enter.  In addition, people would catch the small fry and put them in the ponds to grow.  Patrick Kirch lists the total of recorded fishponds for each island….Maui, 16.  This fish farming was done nowhere else in the Pacific”.

There are two fishponds within proximity to our property, one of them being worked on and revitalized to one day provide food for our community once again.  Ko’ie’ie fishpond, in the ahupua’a of Kaonoulu, is actively being restored by daily workers and the help of the community on volunteer workdays. 

This fishpond rests approximately 6 miles `Akau of our property and is about 3 acres large in its current state.  Many different ali’i have participated in the construction and re-construction of this fishpond since the 16^th century and should you have the chance to help rebuild this important part of our past, you will have the chance to carry the same pohaku carried by high chiefs and commoners alike from hundreds and thousands of years ago.  Most recently, upon his conquest of the island of Maui, Kamehameha enlisted people from around the island to help rebuild the pond and participated in the work himself. 

For a further point of connection, one of our Valet Captains, Vene Chun, is the Konohiki or the manager of the fishpond and can be found there many a weekend passing stones hand over hand and slowly rebuilding this amazing connection to our past…and hope for our future.  Last year Vene spoke about the fishpond and the work being done in a short web video segment called Making Over Maui, http://youtu.be/HKN9sn824YM .  Volunteer workdays are usually on the 2^nd and Last Saturday of  the month,  additional information can be found at  their website, www.mauifishpond.com.

E hopu keia la!

Kainoa Horcajo

Hawaiian Cultural Director

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