Maui Nō Ka ʻOi Magazine - Fall 2024 - Preview by Maui Nō Ka ‘Oi Magazine

Epic Swim MAUI

26 EPIC SWIM MAUI

Dive deep into the world’s first expedition swim around the entire island of Maui and its connection to ocean health and research.

WHEN HORSES HEAL

Spirit Horse Ranch in Kula offers an alternative to traditional talk-therapy with equine-assisted interventions.

LINDBERGH’S LAST FLIGHT

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Charles Lindbergh’s last flight to Maui in 1974.

20 GUARDIANS OF THE BEACH

Local volunteers gather at Ka‘ehu Bay each month to clean up the beach and ocean one piece of trash at a time.

52 UNCLE’S MOVEMENT

Former surfing pro, Micah Nickens, launches an islandlifestyle brand to encourage his fellow Uncles to stay active.

56 KALO CONNECTION

Maui locals stay connected to their Hawaiian culture by making pōhaku ku‘i ‘ai and papa ku‘i ‘ai at Lo‘iloa in Pukalani.

Image courtesy of the Frank Mt. Pleasant Library of Special Collections & Archives, Leatherby Libraries at Chapman University.

Daniel Sullivan

Dayanidhi Das

contents departments

ON THE COVER Fifteen of the top open-water swimmers circumnavigated the island in Maui’s first swim expedition, raising awareness for the health of our oceans. Story begins on page 26.

Photo

by Dayanidhi Das

12 TALK STORY

Tales of the island fresh off the coconut wireless. Unko Bobby embodies aloha and po‘okela; island teacher pairs keiki with surf and skate equipment; and a designer upcycles thrifted textiles into custom bags.

38 ISLAND KITCHEN

At Aloha Mixed Plate in Lāhainā, Chef Kaluna Kaauwai brings simple twists to his flavorful plate lunch recipes.

42 DINING GUIDE

Everything you need to know about dining on Maui, from casual bites to luxury experiences.

60 A HUI HOU

A pallid ghost crab tries to scurry away from a wave’s salty sea foam on Big Beach.

62 IN THEIR OWN WORDS

The Ritz Carlton Maui, Kapalua's cultural advisor teaches what responsibility means to him and how aloha spreads around the world.

Chris Amundson

FALL 2024 VOL. 28, NO. 4

Maui Nō Ka ‘Oi is an internationally-distributed magazine dedicated to exploring the life and culture of Maui Nui. There’s a saying known in the islands: Maui nō ka ‘oi, Hawaiian for “Maui is the best.” We hope you think so, too.

Publisher & Executive Editor Chris Amundson

Associate Publisher Angela Amundson

PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS

Victoria Finlayson, Lauren Warring

DESIGN

Jennifer Stevens, Mark Del Rosario

John Anton Sisbreño, Tim Parks

SENIOR EDITOR

Tom Hess

ADVERTISING SALES

Maile Kekona, Marilyn Koponen

SUBSCRIBER SERVICES

Carol Butler, Janice Sudbeck

Call 1-844-808-6284, visit MauiMagazine.com or return a subscription card from this issue to subscribe: 1 year (6 issues) for $30 or 2 years (12 issues) for $52. Call or email subscriptions@mauimagazine.com for fundraising opportunities and bulk rates.

ADVERTISE

For rates and premier position availability, call (808) 242-8331 or email advertising@mauimagazine.com. Reservation deadlines are three months prior to publication dates.

CONTRIBUTE

Send queries, stories, photos and letters to the editor to editor@mauimagazine.com.

Maui Nō Ka ‘Oi Magazine

220 Imi Kala St, Unit 204 PO Box 1450

Wailuku, HI 96793 (808) 242-8331 MauiMagazine.com

Maui Nō Ka 'Oi Magazine is printed on acid- and chlorine-free paper from Sappi, an environmental leader whose paper products comply with the Forest Stewardship Council and Sustainable Forestry Initiative.

Unwavering Aloha

‘Unko’ Bobby Baraoidan

by Serene Gunnison

IN EARLY 2024, BOBBY Baraoidan celebrated 55 years of employment at Kā‘anapali Beach Hotel, now known as the OUTRIGGER Kā‘anapali Beach Resort. Known colloquially at the resort as “Unko” Bobby (“unko” is the local-style way of saying uncle, which is an endearing term for kūpuna, or elders, in Hawai‘i), his first day on the job was in February 1969 – a time when twin-engine Cessnas arriving from Honolulu deposited tidily dressed vacationers at a thin airstrip near Kahekili Beach. Drop-top Chevy Bel Airs and Cadillac DeVilles were the rental car status quo, and only three hotels, Royal Lāhainā Resort, Sheraton and Kā‘anapali Beach Hotel, stood

on Kā‘anapali’s now-famous shoreline. Through Kā‘anapali’s years of evolution, one thing has remained unchanged: Unko Bobby’s resolute Hawaiian hospitality. His steadfast aloha spirit and pono values have even helped mold the OUTRIGGER Kā‘anapali Beach Resort into what it is today.

In 1986, general manager Mike White and Dr. George Kanahele, an authority on Hawaiian culture, enlisted Unko Bobby’s help in creating the Kā‘anapali Beach Hotel’s mission statement, which emphasized Hawaiian heritage, local lifestyle, ho‘okipa (hospitality) and po‘okela (excellence). In the transition to the OUTRIGGER brand, the

resort’s mission and vision have continued to expand on these values.

“Just putting it together was hard,” said Unko Bobby. “But Dr. Kanehele was instrumental in having us do it. Whatever [Hawaiian values] we learned or used, we put it all together in the mission statement. And it’s still a cornerstone for some of our values here.”

Helping craft the original Kā‘anapali Beach Hotel’s time-honored mission statement is just one of Unko Bobby’s many accomplishments. When a retired Navy commander vacationed at the hotel in 2019, he was so impressed by Unko Bobby that he presented him with a medal. “He called me over one day and said, ‘Here, this is for you,’ ” Unko Bobby said. “He told me it’s something they don’t usually give out, and he told me to remember these two words: Bravo Zulu. That means you did a great job, or job well done.”

Through his position as a bell/valet attendant, Unko Bobby has met some wellknown people. “I’ve met football Hall of Famer Steve Young. I wore his Superbowl ring,” said Unko Bobby. “Also Charleston Heston and Wilt Chamberlain, the famous basketball star. Morgan Freeman, I met him, too.”

Despite the medals and celebrities, Unko Bobby says one of his favorite things about working at OUTRIGGER Kā‘anapali Beach Resort is interacting with guests and learning about their lifestyles. “You can learn a lot [from guests],” he said. “When you talk to them, it’s like you’re traveling to their hometown and living like they do. It’s quite an experience, but you gain a lot of knowledge.”

For those who work in Maui’s hospitality and tourism industry, showing aloha is a job requirement. But for Unko Bobby, it’s a way of life – and embodies all that he is. In addition to making an impression on countless guests over the years, Unko Bobby has donated over 100 hours of sick and vacation time to coworkers in need. “It’s giving from the heart,” he said.

Next time you stay at OUTRIGGER Kā‘anapali Beach Resort, throw Unko Bobby a shaka or stop by the bell/valet desk to say hello. His unwavering aloha might be the most valuable remembrance of your time in Kā‘anapali.

‘Unko’ Bobby Baraoidan throws shaka as he celebrates 55 years of employment as a bell/valet attendant at OUTRIGGER Kā‘anapali Beach Resort.

Jason Moore

Nonprofit gives Maui keiki ‘golden ticket’ to exercise

Access to surf and skate equipment key to relationships

by Savy Janssen

ONE OF THE ATTRACTIONS of living on Maui is the proximity to amazing yearround ocean sports.

When last August’s horrific wildfires left many families without their beloved surf equipment, Brit Oliphant did not wait around. The Kula Elementary School teacher and founder of the nonprofit, Boards 4 Buddies, rounded up hundreds of boards, clothing and other supplies from professional surfers and skateboarders, top-name brands, the island community and beyond.

It’s what she does.

Since founding Boards 4 Buddies – a 501(c)(3) organization that connects deserving youth with pre-loved surf and skate equipment and safety gear – in 2021, Oliphant and her B4B ‘ohana have distributed more than 600 boards to island keiki.

Her unique position as both teacher and passionate surfer-skater allows Oliphant to identify kids in need and pair them with

boards, beginning with one particular fourth-grader she bonded with over skateboarding. The student, clearly fascinated by the sport, did not own a skateboard nor could his family afford to purchase one, which deeply impacted Oliphant.

“Growing up, if I wanted to try a sport, I had the support of my parents who could afford to get me the gear,” she said. “The lack of access that I saw in the public school system was so surprising to me, and it immediately became something I wanted to help solve.”

She shared her thoughts with friend and professional skateboarder Zach Miller, who offered to get Oliphant’s student the necessary gear, and Boards 4 Buddies was born.

Today, Miller is a core part of the B4B team, along with board-shaper Nic Hibdige. Pros Matt Meola, Paige Alms, Shea Donavan, Ian Gentil, Jesse Richman, Albee Layer, Tony Hawk and Jimmy Wilkins

are additional “big buddies” of note joining the Boards 4 Buddies cause.

In addition to the obvious health benefits of outdoor activities, Oliphant cites other positives associated with board sports she’s observed while balancing fulltime teaching with running a nonprofit.

As a mode of transportation, a skateboard provides access to the wider skating community – which often gets a bad rap, Oliphant suggested. “But if you go to the parks, it’s 9- to 90-year-olds and the most supportive group.”

Surfing and skating are both essentially free, Oliphant further noted. “There are no lift tickets, no league fees – once you have the board, you have the golden ticket.”

Moving forward with Boards 4 Buddies, Oliphant hopes to create an Upcountry youth center – a safe space with a mentorship component where kids can hang and maybe even learn a thing or two about fixing or building boards. “By forging lasting relationships, we hope to eliminate the ‘Santa Claus’ effect,” she said.

Most of all, Oliphant loves watching the results. “To see a kid on a board we gave them is incredible,” she said. “That’s when we know that what we are doing is making a difference.”

Boards 4 Buddies founder, Brit Oliphant (left), shares her passion with island keiki. boards4buddies.org

Waterwoman plunges into design

After cliff-diving injuries sidelined her athletic career, Ashley Baxter finds a new purpose in upcycling thrifted finds

by Mona de Crinis

MOST OF ASHLEY BAXTER’S early memories took place on, under or near a massive patchwork table in the back of her parent’s Kahului store. It shielded her during spirited games of hide-and-seek with her brother, supported paper and pencil for homework assignments, and propped her up when she was sick, splayed out on its generous surface with blankets and a portable DVD player.

Now situated in the Baxter family home in Pukalani, where it eats up almost half of a three-car garage, the same table that comforted her as a child today holds Baxter’s adult dreams. It is both anchor and springboard as the 34-year-old former professional waterwoman grows her sustainable brand, Love Winslow, a collection of custom

clutches, totes and shoulder bags repurposed from landfill-bound scraps.

Named after her fearless grandmother, Love Winslow, who traveled the world authoring books on lighthouses, Baxter launched the brand in late 2022, six years after a fifth compounded blackout concussion while cliff diving thwarted the athletic career she never questioned.

Then everything changed. Diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome and restricted to 20 minutes of brain activity a day, Baxter plummeted into a soul-sucking abyss from which there seemed no escape. “I felt dead inside, just black,” she said, calling up the memory.

Always a “glass half-full” person drawn to the light who could find the silver lining

no matter the storm, Baxter struggled in the past to understand the depths of depression that drove friends to suicide. How could one willingly fall on their own sword?

She gets it now. “I didn’t know darkness could be so heavy,” she said.

Recovering for long stretches on the mainland, Baxter discovered thrift, secondhand and consignment stores. She luxuriated in the fabrics and hit the dressing rooms. She modeled designer hand-me-downs and tried on trendy graphic T-shirts, marveling at the weave as much as the fit.

Each time Baxter crossed the Pacific to return to Maui, she brought boxes of thrifted finds to upcycle. It’s in the blood. Her mother – an established industrial seamstress and accountant for an island interior design firm – has been saving discarded fabric samples and remnants for over a decade. And plastic bags were always washed and reused, Baxter said appreciatively, long before conserving was cool.

Back on island for good and at a

Ryan Siphers (Both)

crossroads, the young woman could either live with her parents and follow her true north or get some 9-to-5 job and likely still have a roommate. “That was a no-brainer,” Baxter said with a laugh. “Especially when that guiding star aligns with your own mother’s proven skills and experience.”

While sharing a home and workspace with your mom may not thread everyone’s needle, it’s been the gift Baxter didn’t even know she wanted. The months spent honing her craft and soaking up maternal wisdom (and a dash of chutzpah) handed down over generations wasn’t just a smart decision – it was the right decision.

Despite the economic fallout from the wildfires, Baxter sold more than 200 Winslow bags in her first year through monthly bag drops on social and custom orders, her current bread-and-butter and heart’s calling.

Working with clients in studio allows Baxter to create personalized works of luggable art from repurposed materials – denim from a vintage pair of Levi’s, a piece of curtain, an old car seat for the leather trim – of their choosing.

“One kid wanted a bag for his mother with ‘I love you, Mom’ embroidered on the inside,” said Baxter, her blue eyes misting as she sits cross-legged on the massive patchwork table where she will later spin straw into gold.

Ashley Baxter crafts Maui made custom bags and totes from thrifted textiles.

LINDBERGH’S LAST

Flight

by Ron J. Jackson, Jr.

CHARLES A. LINDBERGH stared at death on a mid-August afternoon in 1974. He did so just as he stared at the open ocean beneath him during his legendary, solo transatlantic flight from New York to Paris in 1927 – fearlessly.

Cancer had ravaged his 72-year-old body by then. He had been diagnosed with lymphoma the previous October, and in the ensuing months, doctors administered blood transfusions and chemotherapy. The radiation caused him to drop thirty pounds on his already lean frame, and as one biographer noted, “for the first time he looked his age.”

A 26-day stay at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York ended with one, sobering reality: Doctors could do no more. The famed aviator was dying.

Lindbergh turned to his beloved wife, Anne, and shocked her by saying, “I want to go home – to Maui.”

2024 marks the 50th anniversary of Charles Lindbergh’s last flight to Maui.

Four years earlier, Lindbergh built a rustic, A-frame home on a hundred acres of plush grassland near the remote village of Kīpahulu in southeast Maui. Lindbergh loved the people of Maui, as well as the solitude of the remote Hawaiian home, where the incoming dirt road often washed out after heavy rainstorms. He felt protected there, and the locals felt protective of him.

The house he christened “Argonauta” offered no electricity. He and Anne instead used propane to power the appliances and kerosene to fuel the lighting. This was Lindbergh’s paradise, and now he wanted to return there to die – and to be buried.

Doctors warned him he’d never survive the flight back to Hawaii. Lindbergh doggedly ignored their objections and arranged for a flight against their orders. “I love Maui so much,” Lindbergh said. “I would rather live one day in Maui than one month in New York.”

On Aug. 19, Lindbergh was secretly laid across a row of first-class seats on a United DC-8 behind a section curtained off from other passengers. He and Anne were joined by two of their three sons,

“… If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea ...”

– Charles A. Lindbergh’s epitaph Psalm 139:9-10

acres near a remote village of Kīpahulu in southeast Maui.

Jon and Scott. Land, their third son, would meet them in Hawaii. Reeve Lindbergh – the youngest of the five surviving Lindbergh children – acknowledged the journey felt “legendary” in her diary, “mythical even.” Reeve proudly added, “the three sons taking their father back to the homeland…”

Lindbergh, of course, survived the flight from New York to Honolulu and then a short, ambulance plane ride to Maui. Anne would later compare her husband’s last flight to his legendary solo flight of 1927, noting, “no one believed he could do either and survive.”

For the next several days, Lindbergh took ownership of his death, from arranging the construction of his traditional Hawaiian grave by local friend Tevi Joseph Kahaleuahi, Sr. to the design of his handhewn coffin to the biblical-inspired epitaph on his headstone. He even selected the humble clothes he would wear: a pair of worn, gray cotton pants and a khaki shirt with no belt or shoes. He even signed a book contract for his unpublished autobiography.

Lindbergh left no detail to chance.

“I had feared that frustration over the weakness in his body

would betray him into helpless anger and hopeless dependency, both unbearable for me to witness,” Reeve wrote later. “I should have known better.”

Reeve told her father that it was “wonderful for us, his children, to see how he faced this,” and he replied in a typical, testy fashion that it wasn’t a question of ‘facing’ anything. Lindbergh proved pragmatic and philosophical in the end, saying he viewed death as “no longer an ending, but an opening.”

Lindbergh drew his last breath on Aug. 26, 1974, with his wife by his side. He was buried in a traditional Hawaiian grave lined with lava rock on the grounds of the nearby Palapala Ho‘omau Church, which was first built in 1864 on a majestic cliff overlooking the ocean.

Lindbergh’s book – Autobiography of Values – was published posthumously in 1977. The last paragraph in the book fittingly reads: “I am form and I am formless. I am life and I am matter, mortal and immortal … the molecules of my being will return to the earth and the sky. They came from the stars.

“I am of the stars.”

Library of Congress (left page); Daniel Sullivan

The brave pilot who became the first to survive a solo flight across the Atlantic knew where in the Pacific he wanted to spend his last days: 100

GUARDIANS

by Serene Gunnison

On the fourth Sunday of each month, Cheryl King of SHARKastics hosts a community beach cleanup at Ka‘ehu Bay in Wailuku.

“What do I do with this metal?”

“I think that’s part of a golf ball.”

“I’ve got some linoleum.”

“Fiberglass, over here.”

It’s a Sunday morning, and two dozen volunteers are busy sorting through pounds of debris. Forty-four bins are spread out beneath a large canvas tent, each labeled to categorize every type of trash imaginable. The bins soon fill up with plastic lighters, derelict buoys, faded aluminum cans and hunks of styrofoam – all collected from the shoreline 100 meters beyond the tent. This scene unfolds regularly at Ka‘ehu and elsewhere on island as SHARKastics, an impact term King coined in 2003, works to clean up Maui beaches.

A combination of the words “shark” and “plastics,” SHARKastics is King’s educational organization and passion project that underscores the effects of marine pollution and debris ingestion by ocean wildlife. King, a dedicated Maui conservationist, founded SHARKastics in 2003 after observing marine debris riddled with bite marks. Taking action, she began hosting SHARKastics beach cleanups and awareness events and has been cleaning up Ka‘ehu monthly since 2012.

The Ka‘ehu event isn’t your average beach cleanup. Rather than tossing all the collected trash into the dumpster, King and her team of volunteers diligently sort and count every last piece of debris – a task King says “is like Groundhog Day.” Every month, she finds the same type of debris over and over, like lighters, toothbrushes, single-use plastic and derelict fishing gear. Everything gets weighed and the sorting begins, followed by a detailed accounting of each item by her knowledgeable team.

But before any of that can happen, King and her volunteers must scour the shoreline.

Twenty five volunteers spread out across Ka‘ehu’s 4,000-foot cobblestone shoreline, armed with gloves, plastic buckets and grain bags. Before setting out, King tells the group that the beach is “relatively clean.” Yet sifting through piles of driftwood revealed myriad marine debris: fishing nets, weed trimmer lines, a yellow chunk of plastic with faded Korean letters and, sure enough, a few toothbrushes and a handful of plastic lighters.

The deluge isn’t surprising. Ka‘ehu’s location makes it a magnet for marine debris. Tucked between the hamlets of Paukukalo and Waiehu, Ka‘ehu Bay faces northeast – directly exposed to the

BEACH OF THE

Chris Amundson

SHARKastics’ Cheryl King and her dog, Tauzer, lead monthly cleanups of marine debris at Ka‘ehu Bay. She founded the project in 2003 to examine the impact of plastics and other trash on ocean wildlife.

After the collected debris is sorted, some items are used for art projects or otherwise upcycled rather than adding to the landfill. Pieces with noticeable bite marks (bottom right) are stored for further research.

tradewinds that hammer Maui’s leeward sides. The fierce breezes push marine debris from near and far onto the Ka‘ehu shoreline.

To make matters worse, Ka’ehu is located between the Waiehu and Iao Streams, which can send land-based debris careening into the ocean, eventually washing up at Ka‘ehu. The entire stretch of Wailuku’s northeast-facing coastline is vulnerable to marine debris pollution, but it is especially painful at Ka‘ehu.

Centuries before plastic was even a glimmer in someone’s eye, Ka‘ehu was a playground for the ali‘i (royalty), revered for its surfing spots and freshwater spring, which was believed to have healing powers. Bountiful wetlands, taro patches and fishponds defined the landscape. Monk seals would haul onto Ka‘ehu’s warm, dark sands, and turtles would nest here frequently –and occasionally still do. Ancient cultural sites like shrines, agricultural terraces and habitation structures continue to be discovered in the area.

Ka‘ehu is now in the hands of a non-profit organization of the same name, which is working to restore the area’s natural resources and perpetuate traditional Hawaiian cultural activities – keeping the coastline free from plastic pollution is essential to that mission.

The Ka‘ehu cleanups attract a varied crowd, each with a different reason for being there. Twyla, a visitor from Canada, makes a point to attend a SHARKastics cleanup with her family each time she is on Maui. “[The cleanup] reminds us, as tourists, not to overuse plastic here,” she says. “It keeps us mindful. It really promotes community. Instead of coming and using, you give back to Maui.”

Wyatt from Wailuku and 10-year-old son, Koa, have particpated in several cleanups over the years. They fish and dive from the point with Koa’s cousin, who lives just up the street. “It’d be nice to try to clean up where we live,” said Koa.

As Twyla fills up two buckets’ worth of fishing line and other debris, Wyatt is on his hands and knees, unearthing a rusted truck axle from the sand. He and his son begin the arduous process of dragging the axle across the beach and up to the sorting zone.

After about an hour and a half of cleaning, sorting gets underway. It’s like a

Cheryl King (All)

Jason Moore; SHARKastics (left)

Cheryl King/Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve Commission

backward apocalyptic scavenger hunt as volunteers search for the appropriate bins for each piece of debris. There’s a category for just about everything, from PVC pipes to toys and grooming tools. But the most intriguing is the SHARKastics bin, reserved for plastic pieces with visible bite marks. Already, there are several pieces in the bin.

“We don’t know exactly what animals are eating [the plastic],” King says as she holds up a blue jug shredded with bite marks. “It’s a multitude – fish, turtles, birds, sharks.”

King says she started collecting biteridden pieces over 20 years ago to decipher which animals munch and what they’re mostly munching. So far, white seems to be the debris color of choice.

“I have this giant warehouse full of samples from each cleanup, thinking this is going to make a great research project someday. It’s kind of stupid,” she said with a laugh. “I haven’t had time to analyze it, so I keep collecting. I’m just waiting for some brilliant person to help with all this.”

In the meantime, King aims to raise awareness about marine debris pollution. In this endeavor, she has been wildly successful.

One helper named Bruce has been volunteering with SHARKastics since he moved to Maui from Los Angeles eight years ago. “I’ve grown so much to be aware of trash and avoid plastic, and that’s because of this,” he said, gesturing to the sorting party bustling around him.

Next month, the shoreline will likely be littered again with marine debris, and the process will begin again.

Since 2013, the SHARKastics team has removed more than 33 tons of debris from Maui Nui coastlines with no plans to stop.

While some may consider plastic pollution an unremitting global crisis – a lost cause – King and her volunteer army remain committed to making Maui, our neighbor islands and the ocean healthier for all living things – one piece of trash at a time.

SHARKastics volunteers gather and sort trash collected at Makamaka‘ole for analysis. A massive biannual cleanup of West Maui’s Makamaka‘ole requires helicopter assistance to remove the debris. A mountain of trash (opposite page, top) was cleared during King’s first cleanup at Kaho‘olawe. | sharkastics.org

Cheryl King