When I first got onboard I was informed of one of the most important duties for a cadet: When in port in Honolulu, get the hell off the boat and enjoy yourself. I did my best on this first week in Hawai'i.
Week 1--14JUN
Got to the pier in the morning around 7:30 AM, after a good 40 minutes of driving around trying to find out how the hell to get into the terminal. First thought that struck me upon boarding: Wow, they have nice ladders. Typical on a lakeboat is just a standard rung ladder (with slightly wider rungs than a home extension ladder) and a handrail. The gangway on the Lurline is quite a bit more solid, and I didn't have to tie a rope around my sea bag to haul it up, I just carried it up with me. Being as my sea bag is 57 pounds (discovered earlier at the airport) that wasn't exactly easy, but still a nice perk.
Just a note that I'll be putting up weekly sailing logs, but they may not show up real time as I've got spotty Internet. So check back occasionally for updates.
So went to see Sleepytime Gorilla Museum live for the first time last night and it was opressively awesome. There's not really a good way to describe this band except to say that if you like music and aren't afraid of musical complexity, weirdness, or metal you really need to go see this show. While there is definitely an avant-garde instinct to their music (which is to say lots of experimental attempts and breaks with convention) as a band they are incredibly down to earth and really only see themselves as performers and put on a *great* show.
Here is a link to a live show from NYC's Bowery, but small grainy video doesn't quite do justice to the live experience, check it out anyway. They'll be touring and back in the Motown area in August, when I will be sailing, but that shouldn't stop you from going.
One more note. I had several boats I could have ended up on with Matson sailing out of Seattle and Long Beach where I could have caught up with friends on their new home turf, which was really exciting, but I ended up on the Lurline out of Oakland. Which is still cool since Shawn lives there and it would be fun to hang out with him over the summer, except he just got a job in Berlin and will be moving around the time I get there. So that's what you get for making plans. Ah well, I suppose I'll manage to endure my time on the beach at Waikiki.
