Back in Maui

[Kyle]We had a nice, normal, boring, slow sail from Manele (on Lanai) to Lahaina (on Maui). It’s nice to have day without too much adventure. To keep it that way, once we were safely moored we stayed aboard for the remainder of the day doing minor maintenance and internet chores. The view of Lahaina backed by the West Maui hills was amazing, though. I still can’t believe we are actually here.

We went ashore the next morning to pay our fees with the harbormaster and check in with the Lahaina Yacht Club, who was kind enough to supply a handful free moorings for visiting yachts. It was good to not have to deal with the whole anchor kerfuffle for once.

Lahaina harbor and dinghy dock

With those chores done, we had a walk around the tourist part of town, which consists of about a ten by two block stretch along the water. We poked into shop after shop of every conceivable item plastered with ‘Lahaina’, ‘Maui’, or ’Hawai’i’. These were interspersed with more yummy looking restaurants than it was possible to visit, all thronged with other tourists.

Ahh... A very relaxing place pictures show scenes from Front Street, including the giant Banyan tree (possibly USA's largest, covering over an acre of land) and views from the Yacht club

We had found a place that would rent us a car for cheap, so once we'd collected the car in the late afternoon, we of course did the first thing on our list of things to do in Maui: drove into the main city of Kahului and stocked up at Costco. I know, I know, but it was our last chance to go to a decent store for a while and we needed a five gallon bucket of soy sauce to replace the one we used last week.

Traditional polynesian boat building (and racing), and a few sunset views around town

[Maryanne]Originally our plan had us skipping Lahaina, but I pushed and prompted and eventually persuaded Kyle that it was a place that we should not miss, and ah, I'm so glad; it is a beautiful and historic town that retains a very quaint charm of yesteryear. It also has plenty of restaurants, museums, and a beautiful beach front main street scattered with fantastic ocean and sunset views.