Ohana Means Family - Part 3

Did you read Part 2?  Catch up here.

Although we were slowly adjusting to the time change, we still woke up pretty early the next morning (a Monday), and we made breakfast and coffee to enjoy on our lanai while the world started to stir.  As we were planning our trip, I'd signed myself up for the Honolulu Groupon/TravelZoo/Living Social email lists, and I'd snagged a good price on a spa day voucher at the spot in the hotel next to ours, the LATHER facility at the Modern.  Since Dad and the crew still weren't expected to get in until Tuesday, we'd booked 10am massages for ourselves, figuring we'd hang around the Modern's fancy pool, lounging, eating, and drinking; if the Onde Amo sailed in early, we'd be right next door to the marina, so we could quickly clean up, run down to the pier, and welcome them in.

First thing first - time for a toe check-in!

Pretty purply this morning!

After we finished breakfast, we still had a few hours before our appointments, so we wandered down to Waikiki proper and window-shopped, returning via the beach.  Toe enjoyed frolicking in the surf:

This is probably the picture of the toe

at its worst.

Look at how puffy and purple it is!

And check  out the band of gray bruising

across the top of the foot!

Poor little toe!

We took quick showers after our stroll to rinse off the sand, and then it was down the elevators and across the short walkway between the Ilikai and the Modern.  Our massages were both awesome (Chris said his therapist put his toe in her hands and was like, "oooh, poor thing!", which is outstanding), and after spending some time in the spa's fancy-a$$ shower room using their fancy-a$$ shower products, it was time to douse ourselves in sunscreen and hit the pool.  The Modern has two pools, but spa guests could use the adults-only pool, which was a flight of stairs above the main pool; it was a shallow pool (used for lounging, not swimming), and most of the chaise lounges were placed inside the pool itself.  Although it was overcast, we still enjoyed hanging out at the almost empty facility, reading, napping, and eating lunch there as well.

Part of our lunch at the Modern -

chips and guac and the hummus plate

(the hummus plate was really great - 

it came with roasted tomatoes and garlic,

pickled cucumbers and red onions,

and feta cheese !)

While we were lounging poolside, I was keeping an eye on my phone, and unfortunately, I ran across this update from Risa:

For those of you who might not be familiar with the workings of a sailboat, here's a handy picture:

See the big piece at the back marked "rudder?"

The rudder is used for steering the boat, so without a functioning rudder, the boat just goes in circles, if it goes anywhere at all.  In talking to Dad later, the team figured a bolt sheared off from the rudder housing, and once it was free (since it's a remarkably heavy piece of business), it probably sank to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.  As noted in Risa's post, above, they were able to install their backup rudder, but they would have to use the power of their motor to get them to Oahu, and that would disqualify them from the TransPAC race.  While it was a bummer to see their racing hopes end this way, as Risa mentioned, the most important thing was getting everyone to Honolulu safe and sound.

In catching up with everyone in the next few days and reading the updates from other teams on Facebook, this turned out to be a really rough TransPAC year.  The winds were high and steady for days on end, which makes for fast racing, but it also makes for really destructive racing, as sails are taxed to their limits.  Dad's spinnaker got caught up on the front line and was so wound up in itself that the crew couldn't get it undone; they took to calling it "the sausage," since that's what it ended up resembling:

The sausage

One team's sails strained so much, the wind pulled their normally round grommets into ovals.

Grommets: normally circular

Another team ended up with a broken mast; they were able to rig things up to make it work, and they finished, but here's what things looked like once they were in port:

Masts don't normally look like that

The scariest story of them all, however, happened to the crew of the OEX, one of the boats that started their sailing a few days after Dad and his crew.  Just a day out of Long Beach, their rudder malfunctioned, and as often happens when rudders go bad, it didn't just fall off; instead, it torqued its way into the stern of the boat, peeling it open like a can of sardines.  One crew member was trapped in the stern of the boat when it happened, but thankfully, they were able to get him free, and the entire boatload of folks was picked up by their competitors on the Pyewacket, one of two teams that immediately responded to OEX's distress call.  The OEX sank (if you want read more about it, click here), and in the closing awards ceremony in Honolulu, there wasn't a dry eye in the crowd as the Pyewacket crew was awarded US Sailing's Rescue Medal for their bravery in rescuing their fellow sailors.

Anywhoo, back to the pool!  We finished up our outside lounging and decided it was time for showers and yet more relaxing, but inside in our room.  We grabbed some naps, and when we awoke, we saw that yet another protest was in progress; this time, it was right outside our lanai!

The folks in red shirts on the left of the shot

are members of a local union for hospitality workers.

As it turned out, the Modern was in the process

of being converted from a regular hotel to a time-share,

and this recently resulted in the laying off of a lot of staff.

We learned more about local politics on this trip

than any I can recently remember...

and we just visited France!

After watching the protesters for a bit, we put on real clothes and headed out for the evening.  We wandered back to the area of Waikiki we'd visited that morning, and we did some shopping before visiting the local location of Maui Brewing.  We also took a lot of pictures of toe in various spots around our area, adding them to a special album on Chris' phone he took to calling the "Port-toe-lio."

Striking a pose outside the Hilton Village

Toe in some shrubs - 

as it turned out, this was a great day for spa/pool time.

Since the pool was so shallow, 

and our chairs were right there in it,

Chris was easily able to chill his toe/foot

from the comfort of his chaise lounge.

As you can see, it was waaaay better looking

at this point than earlier.

Toe with tree

Toe in road

Me, from across the road:

"DUDE!  Quit standing in the road!"

Toe at the Army Museum

Everybody likes to take pictures with helicopters

More at the Army Museum

After some tasters and fun mock-tails at Maui Brewing (it was a kick to learn it was right next to the Beachcomber, which was where we stayed 10+ years ago on our first trip to Oahu together - thanks, people who failed to sell us a timeshare!), we headed across the road to our dinner destination, the Waikiki Yokocho.  Yokochos are areas in Japan where food vendors of all sorts set up shop and sell their wares, and we had a great time wandering through this one, figuring out where and what we wanted to eat.  We picked a spot that predominantly served sushi but also had some great looking cooked options too (we had a really good cold beef tenderloin over noodles appetizer).

At the entrance to the Yokocho

Noms!

After a delicious dinner, it was back to Maui Brewing for dessert; while we'd been sitting at their bar, I noticed a skillet cookie option on the menu.  We do love a good warm chocolate chip cookie/ice cream option, but this one was different enough that it caught my eye - it was a lemon raspberry sugar cookie - and it was delicious!

Well past the reasonable boundaries of being full, we stumbled back home to the Ilikai and crashed for the night.

Later!

Amy