BUT OPEN FOR BUSINESS - AND NEEDS IT
By Bob Van Leer

   (AT SEA OFF KAUAI, HAWAII, MARCH 1, 1993) - Sept. 11, 1992 , is a date engraved in everyone's memory on Kauai. This is the date Hurricane Iniki savaged the island with winds of up to 200 miles per hour.

  The island is now recovering but signs of the damage are visible almost everywhere. For weeks after the hurricane hit, the island was closed to visitors. But it is now open for tourists and the locals wish more of the tourists would come back.

   One local businessman said the tour ships such as the one we were on were providing the only cash flow on the island. Many hotels were closed but the ship brings it own bedrooms.

  Accommodations are now available and a bus driver said their big problem now is convincing travel agents.

  Our ship, S.S. Constitution, entered Nawiliwili harbor at 7 a.m. Entering and leaving port is limited to daylight hours and, after watching our ship enter port, we could see why.

  The water area in the whole port is probably not as large as Rogue River Bay although it is all deep. Immediately after crossing the entrance the ship has to make a 90 degree left turn and then a 90 degree right turn. All this for a ship 798 feet long with a displacement of 30 thousand tons. A crew member told me that Nawiliwili is rated as one of the 10 most dangerous ports in the world.

  The six of us, Betty, myself, and my two sisters and their husbands, took a bus tour to Waimea Canyon which took us around the south and west sides of the island and provided a good look at much of the island. It is the fourth largest of the eight main Hawaiian islands. It's about 32 miles in diameter and roughly circular. Nawiliwili harbor is on the southeast side of the island.

  We drove through several small towns on the way and all over are signs of hurricane damage. Much is now repaired and a lot of repair work is underway. But chunks are missing here and there and many roofs are still covered with sheets of plastic. Most buildings that were completely destroyed have been removed.

  In this tropical climate, vegetation is rapidly healing and covering the damage. Trees still show signs of the blow. There is a lot of blow-down that hasn't been cleaned up yet. The trees here are not normally deciduous. But he hurricane blew the leaves off the trees and they are now growing a new crop. Coffee plants and macadamia nut trees have been extensively damaged.

  Kauai is known, for good reason, as the Garden Island. Bougainvillea and other flowers dress up much of the island.

  There are a couple of small towns still off limits because of storm damage. One lingering problem after the hurricane is insurance. We were told that some companies are pulling out of writing insurance on Kauai entirely. All the towns are small. Lihue, the county seat, located adjacent to the harbor, is only 15,000 population and the whole island has about 51,000 population.

  Sugar cane, the main crop of the island, did not appear to be damaged at all. Our guide told us pineapples used to be the main crop but the last pineapple plant closed in 1963. The Hawaiian industry couldn't compete with pineapple from the Philippines and Thailand.

  Sugar cane is a crop harvested in 18-24 months. Three crops can be harvested from a plant before it has to be replaced. Irrigation is a must on Kauai for growing cane. The crop is partly processed on Kauai and shipped to California for final refining. Tourism is the main business of the island now.

  We climbed up to 3400 feet elevation for a look at Waimea Canyon, the Grand Canyon of Hawaii. It is impressive - it's a 2857 feet deep hole in the ground with near vertical sides. It is about three-fourths mile wide and 10 miles long.

  In the canyon and around the island there is hunting for feral goats and pigs - and deer introduced from Oregon in 1961. One unusual hunt is for wild boar using dogs but with only a dagger as a weapon to kill the boar.

  Rainbow trout, also from Oregon are an addition to the local streams.

  Waialeale Mountain at 5148 feet high is almost the highest point on the island. It has the distinction of being the wettest spot on earth with an average annual rainfall of 485 inches. Our guide said 622 inches were recorded there in 1948. By comparison, Curry county with 80-85 inches of rainfall seems almost dry.

  I noticed signs on gasoline stations - regular unleaded, $1.577 per gallon.

  We arrived back at the ship too late for any further exploring. The ship left the harbor at 4 p.m. Tomorrow morning we will arrive at Maui where we will spend two days.

  In the evenings there is always entertainment. Tonight was a act by two brothers of comedy and music followed by music from Oklahoma. That was enough for us but still on the schedule for the evening was Dixieland music followed by a Fifties Sock Hop.

  Tomorrow we will take a tour of Mauai.