TOUR OF ARIZONA MEMORIAL LAST EVENT OF CRUISE
By Bob Van Leer

   (AT SEA OFF KONA, HAWAII, MARCH 5, 1993) - Today was our last full day on our cruise ship, S. S. Constitution. Our ship anchored off Kona this morning after a short cruise from Hilo, on the other side of the island of Hawaii.

  Although on the same island, the climates are radically different. Hilo's rainfall is over a hundred inches but Kona is much dryer, and much warmer. The temperature today was in the 80s, the first really warm day we have had.

   There is no port on Kona large enough to accommodate the Constitution so the ship anchored offshore and we were ferried onto the island by a smaller vessel. Kona is an area, the west side of Hawaii, not a place. We were taken in to the town of Kailua. The dock is right at the King Kamehameha, the hotel Betty and I stayed at the only other time were on Kona 16 years ago.

  I had some rolls of film developed and, as I had expected, my camera had malfunctioned. Up to the luau, the camera functioned properly but everything after that was blank film. This included pictures taken from the air of a boiling volcano. And the camera is less than three months old.

  After lunch we took a tour on the Nautilus II, referred to as a semi-submersible. Below the water line is a viewing chamber and we were taken out to explore Kona's coral reefs. The reefs were alive with many kinds of tropical fish, mostly small, but some parrot fish that kept circling the ship were in the 5 - 10 pound range.

  Some of the prettiest fish are quite small but made up for it in color. The yellow tang is a bright, lemon-yellow fish almost circular in shape. Others had names such as clown butterfly, orange-shoulder tang, pink-lipped parrot fish and pink-tail triggerfish

  Along the waterfront street there were numerous real estate offices. One kind of real estate that doesn't seem to be doing well is time-share condominiums. One office advertised time-share resales, 30-50% off.

  Real estate prices on Hawaii are considerably lower than on Oahu. In Hilo our guide said it was possible to get a modest house away from the coast for as little as $80,000. A story in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin of March 4 said the median price for existing single-family homes in Oahu in February was $340,000. The median price for condos was $198,000.

Water All Around?

  Some tourist have difficulty grasping the significance of the ocean and ships. Our guide on the Nautilus said one tourist left her speechless when she asked, "Does the water go all around the island?"

  The comedian who entertained in the lounge last night has spent some time on cruise ships and told us a couple of favorite questions he has been asked. "Does the crew sleep on the ship?" His reply was, "No, they swim ashore every night". A second was, "Does this ship generate its own electricity?" He replied, "No, it has a very long extension cord".

  This was our last dinner aboard. Betty and I and my sisters and husbands, Bud and June Pallardy and Lou and Ruth Chiodini, all agreed this was a very enjoyable cruise and we may plan another one in a year or two. A cruise through the Panama Canal was mentioned..

  Tonight we have to pack up and have our bags in the corridor by midnight. We have been spreading out for a week acquiring things as we went from island to island. Now they all have to fit in suitcases.

  Tonight we are steaming north back to Honolulu where we will dock in the morning. None of us has early flights so all six of us will take a tour of the Pearl Harbor/Arizona memorial where 1176 servicemen died including 18 sailors and two marines from Oregon. A total of 900 men are still entombed in the battleship Arizona, sunk by Japanese planes on Pearl Harbor Day, December 7, 1941.

  The boat that took us out to the memorial had five Freeman Marine hatch covers on its deck.

  We split up here and Betty and I will fly back to Arcata via San Francisco. Unfortunately, we have a night flight back, leaving Honolulu at 10:50 p.m. After that flight, we will be more than happy to get home.