February 22, 2025
Welcome to Blog #93
Last week’s blog was skipped as I traveled to Oahu for the 48th annual Buffalo Big Board annual surfing meet held last Saturday.
My friend Jericho the first women’s professional surfer flew in from Long Beach and we spent two reminiscent days at the Moana Hotel. In the mid-fifties I have fond memories of when we lived on Royal Hawaiian Ave and my mother and I used to walk over there to visit a friend who stayed at the hotel to escape the Montana winters. I now have fond memories of our two fun filled days and nights there. By serendipity we met up with old surfing friends Yana and Joey Cabell passing through the piano bar and dancing area. They were heading to a friend’s apartment and invited us to join them for drinks and pups where we met three new couples. After that we returned to the Moana for conversation, music, and dancing-so fun!
Friday we headed out to Makaha where we were joined by twenty friends and new friends from Hana that camped in the yard. Five of them entered the contest so that was all exciting. The daybreak opening ceremony for the contest was over the top with chanting and pomp and circumstance like I have never seen before. They managed to get 90 year old Buff, healing from a femur break, on a jet ski and pushed him out through the six foot shore break. The Hokulea was out in the bay and after a visit they caught the first wave back to the beach with all the spectators cheering and clapping.
Some new friends from the Moana evening are the Pickerings who own the spectacular five hundred acre ranch Ohikilolo out past Makaha. On Saturday they took me out to the ranch for a ATV tour. The ranch is full of kiawe trees. The last picture shows an oven where kiawe wood was made into charcoal in the early 1900’s.
Back to the farm on Monday. After waiting over a year the plumbing is finally completed on the moved water tank and the back yard gutters attached to maximize water catchment.
We finalized a MEO Maui Economic Opportunity Grant for a tractor. It was a lot of work and rather complicated, but worth it hopefully. The farm logo was finally finished and I am now starting the web site.
Kira, my woofer from last year, returned on Wednesday and we are planning a lot of weeding and planting.
AND, my Kawasaki 4 by 4 farm vehicle mule arrived after many months of wanting. This will make a lot of jobs much easier.
Gotta run now-lots to do. Wishing everyone a great week.
Aloha Nui,
Vicky
Wave Woman: The Life and Struggles of a Surfing Pioneer by Vicky Durand 