Airlines; Hawaiian has the best food and service.

Anchoring; Two anchors forward will get tangled when the wind and current change. One strong one should do, but if you are close to shore, put out a second hook off the stern, with a bell tied to it, to wake you up when the boat starts to swing. White anchors are easier to find than black or galvanized ones. Try not to drop your anchor on live coral.

Archaeology; A destructive science by definition, it is the best way to get to the bottom of things.

Artifacts; They need to be preserved by a conservation specialist, before display. Different materials require different preservation techniques.

Astronomy; The stars are very, very predictable. Satellites are not.

Aviation; Airplanes are fun to fly, but deadly to crash.
Pay attention to who is flying.

Backing; Single screw vessels back better to port.

Ballast; More forward slows you down. More aft makes a bigger wake. More high is unstable. Everything in the center is too. Distribute the heavy weight in five places; Forward, Aft, both sides Abeam and Amidships low.

Boats; It is a good idea to keep a small boat on a big boat, even if it is just a surfboard.

Boy Scouts; Like anything else, the troop is only as good as the leadership.
If you have a boy, be a leader.

Buoyancy; Carry plenty. When you run out, you sink.

Burials; We can learn a lot from the dead.

Caves; !/3 of the air in. 1/3 of the air out, 1/3 of the air in case you loose the line and get lost. Carry two lights.

Chaffing gear; A good idea, but I just use a larger mooring line.

Chain; You need enough to pull the shank of the anchor down and keep the line out of the coral.

Cleating; Put one wrap around first, then figure 8, then a half hitch.

Clouds; They mark the place where temperature and dew point meet.
In many ways, the sky mirrors the sea beneath it; flat clouds, flat water / rough clouds, rough water.

Computers; The longer you wait, the cheaper and better they get.

Crewmembers; Take good care of them and they will take good care of the boat.

Diet; Eat fat, get fat.

Diving; Do not come up faster than your bubbles.
Sometimes, diving with a buddy is more dangerous than diving alone.
Do not exceed the capabilities of your buddy.

Docking; Secure the spring line first.

Dolphins; Are not as smart as people.

Dutch; Sailors deserted here in 1599.

Exercise; Sweat or get wet every day.

Explosives; Work quite well underwater, but kill a lot of fish.

Farming; Husbandry requires more of a commitment than fishing. At least you can walk away from the boat for a while, when you need a break.

Fire; Water will not extinguish electrical or chemical fires.

Firearms; Never let anybody know that you are armed.
Always let them think you are.

Fireworks; Some call it a cultural thing, but we all know that it is simply fun to play with explosives.

First aid; (1) Survey the scene of the accident. (2) Call for help.
(3) Stop the bleeding. No tourniquet!
(4) Make sure the victim is breathing.
(5) Now, take a moment to figure out what to do next.

Flags; They mean things. Do not run a banner up the pole unless you know what other people will think it means.

Fluoride; Makes good rat poison. Why drink it?

Geography; Things change. Look at old maps to figure out where things are buried now.

Geology; Rocks can tell you what happened a long time ago.

Hammocks; They work well on boats, but make sure the lines are good.

Harbors; The State of Hawaii has good harbors, but not enough of them.
I hope they never privatize.

Hawaiian Sovereignty; Hawaiians have more political freedom now than they did before the end of the Monarchy. Their taxes will go up with another layer of government. Nobody will get free land.

Horses; are very good for troubled teens, especially girls.

Hula; Hawaiian hula is different from other Polynesian dance.

Hurricanes; Bad for boats. Stay in port, use heavier mooring lines and hope everybody else does as well. Watch out for flying sheet metal.

Kids; They will emulate their role models. Be a good role model.

Knots; You will eventually need to know more than a bowline and square knot. Bends join two lines together at a knot. Hitches tie lines to posts or rails. Slices weave the strands together.

Lakes; The largest lake in the State, Lake Wilson, is polluted. Do not eat the fish. The same must still be said for the largest inland waterway, Pearl Harbor.

Log books; Always keep one. You will need to refer to it later, guaranteed.

Maintenance; Engine Man Stew's Free Advice here..

McDonalds; Corporate crooks, they defy the laws of Hawaii and destroy historic buildings. The food is bad for you. The clown is evil.

Navigation; The shortest distance between two points is downwind.

Night; Sometimes the wind dies down, making travel smoother, but you can't troll. Bottom fishing is better for nocturnal creatures. Diving is more interesting.

Opinions; Like underwear; everybody has some, they all stink (except mine) and you should change them every so often.

Ordnance; Unexploded ordnance is lying all around the Pacific. Leave it alone!

Paint; Expensive marine paint is cheaper than cheap paint, in the long run.

Parachutes; Good for slowing a drift while fishing, or disabled, they can be purchased cheap, surplus or at the drop-zone.

Petroglyphs; Rock carvings, pohaku ki'i, seem to have spread across the Hawaiian Islands from east to west.

Photography; Cheap cameras can produce expensive looking photographs. High ASA film works better underwater. Heat damages film. Water ruins photos and slides and cameras. Waterlogged film can still be processed. Just keep in wet.

Pirates; Bad guys still operate on the high and low seas.
They are still heavily armed.

Politics; Liberal in adolescence, Libertarian at heart, Republican for now.

Racism; The State of Hawaii classifies her citizens by race, and offers land, programs and services based on racial blood quantum.

Religion; No preaching, please. Whatever works for you is OK with me. The Hawaiians embraced the new religions, looking for the power source. They saw no conflicts in the different viewpoints. Nor do I.

Rivers; The strongest current is in the middle of the stream.
Goodies pile up on the outside of the bends.

Rope; Cotton is used for lead lines, log lines and signal halyards.
Dacron is a trade name registered to DuPont. They use it for sails too. Hemp is hard to find now. It is invariably tarred and used only for small stuff.
Manila is soft and pliable, but will rot if left wet.
Nylon stretches. Past 40% extension, it may part.
Polypropylene floats, but gets brittle after long exposure to the sun.

Do; Store ropes coiled and dry.
Keep nylon away from chemicals and heat.
Use the proper rope for the job.
Cut the bad parts out and splice it
Whip the frayed ends.
Inspect and lubricate your blocks.
Do not; Lubricate the lines.
Put a strain on a kinked line.
Pair nylon with manila line for boat falls or other parallel uses. Drag the line and get it full of sand and grit.
Allow wear to become localized in one spot on the line.
Allow a weak or damaged spot ruin the whole line.
Let line get caught up in machinery or gears.
Put sudden strains on the lines.- Surge slowly.
Tighten up wet lines.- Slack them off until dry.
Stand in the direct line of a heavy pull.

Rules of the Road; Sailboats do not always have the right of way.
Read the rules.

Sailing; Cheaper to operate, quieter, and more stable than powerboats of similar size, Sailboats tend to be much slower.

Salvage; The goodies do not necessarily belong to the first one on the scene, even if it is centuries after the loss.

Sea sickness; Bad or greasy food, tobacco and exhaust fumes, rough uneven water and hangovers make it a lot worse.

Sex; Male fish seem to be more colorful than female fish.
The same can be said for birds and lizards.

Sharks; Only a few Hawaiian sharks eat people. If you see one that is bigger than you, get out of the water. That's one of them.

Shipwrecks; They are all over the place, but the Pacific Ocean grinds them up rather quickly. You sometimes need to look carefully to find any trace of once large ships.

Skydiving; A sport to die for.

Snakes; Offer a $10 pr. head bounty on green tree snakes in Guam; and
Hawaii will never have the problem.

Spanish; Discovered the Hawaiian Islands as early as 1542, probably earlier.

Space Travel; The great distances of the Universe will require generations to cover. Those people will not be able to return to earth.
By then, they won't want to.

Surf; The waves get bigger when a storm passes off-shore.

Surfing; Being the most enjoyable exercise possible, it is easy to exceed your limitations. Remember that the waves break because the water is getting shallower.

Tipping; In many cases, it may prove more cost effective to over-tip than under. Don't be a deadbeat.

Towing; The center of pull should be centered, and above or forward of the rudder. Use the other guy's line, lest you be held liable for his sinking.

Treasure; Not easy to find, the goodies are right where someone put them, long ago. Do your homework.

Tsunamis; Get to high ground, or get the boat out to sea.
Dangerous waves can come in 6 hours after the big one.

Unions; I never liked unions, until I had to join one.
Now, I thank them every payday.

V.D.; The disease was here before Captain Cook discovered the Sandwich Islands.

Viet Nam; We won the battles in Indochina. We lost the war in Berkley,
Hollywood and Washington.
The only disgrace is that we deserted our steadfast allies in the battle against Communism and abandoned our P.O.W.s.

Volcanoes; They can date ancient lava flows.
You need to pay to visit the park, unless it is for religious purposes.

Voyaging Canoes; They probably traveled to the mainland, as well as trans-Polynesia.

Waves; At sea, waves get bigger as the wind blows longer and harder. On the reef, the waves get bigger as low pressure systems (storms) pass by, to sea. Keep the pointy end of the boat into the waves as much as possible.

Waikiki; It is still a nice place, but they have the ugliest stoplights in the Pacific.

Wind; It flows from high to low pressure then wraps around and over mountains, getting stronger between them and in the channels.

Wire rope; Use gloves.

Zoology; Cats do better than dogs, on boats.

Personal consultation can be made available through
E-mail to Captain Rick himself.

© 2007. Pilialoha Publishing. All rights reserved.