Maui Nō Ka ʻOi Magazine - Winter 2024

Night

Paddle

Navigate by stars like ancient voyagers

Josh Bogle defies the odds and hits the waves

Sacred Garden

Walk the labyrinths of Maliko

Surfable +

Swimming with sharks taught Uncle Kimokeo the lesson of listening p 58

20

SACRED GARDEN

A story of hope and healing, sacred spaces, divine intervention, and walking the labyrinths of Maliko at an Upcountry sanctuary for all.

24 JOSH BOGLE

After losing his limbs and nearly his life, this extreme sports athlete turned to the ocean for a second chance.

32 SHAKA LIST

With the new year upon us, we celebrate the people, places and things that make Maui “nō ka ‘i” (the best).

46 NIGHT PADDLE

Under a dark sky or full moon, paddlers learn the ways of ancient Polynesian voyagers at the Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe Voyaging Society.

2024 SHAKA LIST / OLOWALU REEF | TRAVIS MORRIN JOSH BOGLE | BRYAN McDONALD

THE SACRED GARDEN | RYAN SIPHERS

Immerse yourself in the magic of Maui's marine life. Create memories that last a lifetime through authentic cultural experiences, animal encounters & interactive education.

shop | @mauioceantreasures tickets | mauioceancenter.com

dine | @seascapemaui

ON THE COVER

We give a big shaka shoutout to the honu at South Maui's Turtle Town (Maluaka Beach), one of 17 island treasures that make Maui "no kā ‘oi" in 2024. (Story begins on page 32.)

12 Publisher's Letter

Stories and lessons from life on Maui by Chris Amundson.

14 Talk Story

Tales of the island, fresh off the coconut wireless.

42

60 Island Kitchen

Taverna Chef Roger Stettler shares the essential of good Italian cooking.

52 Calendar of Events

Spring fun is around the corner! Find out what’s happening on island.

56 Photo Contest

The fluke that almost wasn’t. Learn how you can be published.

58 In Their Own Words

Now a respected kupuna, Kimokeo Kapahulehua shares a pivotal story from his childhood that taught him to listen to his elders.

Photo by Dan Cesere

ISLAND KITCHEN / TAVERNA | RYAN SIPHERS

The Mā‘alaea Voyagers

TWELVE OF US WERE sitting peacefully in Mā‘alaea Bay as the waves pattered against the hulls of our canoes.

Like a slow dimmer switch, the last glow of the setting sun faded under the island of Lāna‘i.

The moon was nowhere in sight, but Maui’s fishhook would soon rise over Haleakalā and pull the Milky Way candelabra into our sky.

Chris Amundson Publisher & Exec. Editor chris@mauimagazine.net

Out in the bay — far from land — it seemed the sky turned dark in an instant. Here we were, just the dozen of us, on the ocean, with steersman Kimokeo Kapahulehua providing a deep baritone drumbeat: “Go left, go left, go right, go right ... imua, imua.” And with imua, we paddle forward in unison.

We settle into the synchronicity of our paddles and the gentle sound of our canoes cutting through the waves, attentive for further instructions from our steersman.

“Lawa. Lawa. Lawaaa ... ”

As Kimokeo’s voice trails off, we lift our paddles. Our canoes coast to a standstill. We begin to bob with the tide.

A green laser, wielded by our guide ‘Ānela Gutierrez, pierces the southern horizon near Molokini Crater — drawing our eyes to a distant point beyond the open ocean.

“Look, the first star of the Southern Cross,” she says, continuing a lesson she had begun on the beach.

It was clear that the main show had started — and we had front-row seats.

“Keep paddling to the Southern Cross,” she tells our group, “and we’ll reach Tahiti.”

One wise guy shouts, “I didn’t pack a breakfast.”

“No need,” she replies, “we’ll fish.”

Half-joking, half-serious, ‘Ānela tells our group just how we would get to Tahiti, nearly 2,700 miles away. At night, we would use star lines that track across the sky from east to west. Constellations like the Southern Cross would take us to Tahiti; the star Hōkūle‘a would bring us back to Hawai‘i. We would look to the moon and count our days with its phases. We would watch the sun, and use

its arc to count the hours of our days. We would read the wind, the tide, the ocean currents and the clouds. We would observe the animals in the sea and the birds in the sky — no compass or GPS needed when you know how to read the map of your world. Imua, we could get there, here or anywhere by canoe.

‘Ānela is our teacher for the night, but she sits as a pupil at the feet of a line of Hawaiian seafaring voyagers at the Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe Voyaging Society, based at Kīhei’s Sugar Beach. Kimokeo, our steersman, is among the most senior and respected of those voyaging elders. He has dedicated his life to passing on voyaging knowledge to ‘Ānela and anyone with an interest.

His uncle, Kawika Kapahulehua, helped bring ancient Hawaiian voyaging back from myth and folklore. In 1976, he was the kāpena (captain) on the Hōkūle‘a voyaging canoe’s maiden trip from Hawai‘i to Tahiti. That trip helped prove the ancient Polynesian voyaging ways did exist and are still practical; and Hōkūle‘a became a guiding light for the resurgence of Hawaiian canoe culture and language.

Before his death, Kawika charged Kimokeo to do something extraordinary and necessary: to paddle a canoe to every island in the Hawaiian archipelago — from Hawai‘i Island to Kure Atoll, a distance of 1,750 miles.

This was no dare or stunt for pride or fame, rather for a deep, ancestral desire to connect the Hawaiian Islands — from newest to oldest — like a lei. Half a lifetime after his charge, Kimokeo completed his voyage with the help of about a dozen paddlers over six years (watch Family of the Wa‘a on YouTube). Now, Kimokeo travels the world teaching Hawaiian canoe culture — from Taiwan to Saudi Arabia and back to Maui’s Mā‘alaea Bay.

Kimokeo shouted one last time, “Imua, imua, lawa, lawa, lawa,” as we paddled hard through the waves breaking on Sugar Beach. Each six-person crew worked together to stow their wa‘a (canoe) safely on land. Hōkūle‘a shone above us. The Southern Cross twinkled on the horizon. And Maui’s fishhook pulled Haleakelā from the sea. For one night, the 12 of us were Mā‘alaea voyagers.

WINTER 2024

VOL. 28, NO. 1

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

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Angela Amundson

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TALK

STORY

Fresh off the coconut wireless

story by Chris Amundson

A Farm for the Future

Former sugar plantation now producing limes, lemons, oranges ... and avocados

IT HAS BEEN FIVE YEARS

in the making. Where sugarcane fields once covered Central Maui, now row after row of limes, lemons, oranges and tangerines blanket thousands of acres of fertile volcanic soil.

Those orchards are finally beginning to bear fruit, and their sweet produce is showing up in stores on island: Costco, Target, Tamura’s, ABC Stores, Pukalani Superette, Takamiya Market and Down to Earth.

Sugar helped build modern Maui, but that era came to an end in 2016 when Alexander & Baldwin Co. closed its last plantation in Hawai‘i — Maui’s Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co., citing high operating costs and the decline in sugar prices.

What would become of vast swaths of Maui after the collapse of the sugar

plantation? For two years, Maui waited and wondered until news broke in 2018 that a newly formed company, Mahi Pono, purchased 41,000 acres of former plantation land. Mahi Pono is a join venture between California agriculture company, Pomona Farming, LLC, and Public Sector Pension Investment Board, a Canadian pension investment manager.

In contrast to the sugar production, Mahi Pono aims to transform agriculture on Maui by building a sustainable and diversified farming system that includes fruits and vegetables. Last year, Mahi Pono delivered more than 6,000 watermelons and 2,000 pounds of onions to market under the Maui Harvest brand. Recently, limes, lemons, oranges and other fruit began appearing in stores across the Valley Isle and on neighbor islands. Mahi Pono is ramping up fast and plans to produce more than 35 million pounds of crops this year, said Shan Tsutsui, chief operating officer.

True to its mission of diversified agriculture, coming soon to market will be kale, coffee beans, macadamia nuts and avocados. Tsutsui said Maui’s soil and climate are ideal for growing avocados, which are “always in demand.” A recent test plot in the farm’s “upper fields” shows promising results for avocados. This has encouraged the company to plant 150 acres of avocados this year, with produce expected to be ready for market by 2028.

Mahi Pono’s shift to diversified agriculture is helping diversify Maui’s economy. When the sugar industry collapsed, an

estimated 675 sugar mill jobs evaporated with it. That trend is beginning to turn, as Mahi Pono directly employs 350 people on Maui with plans to increase its workforce to 1,000 by 2027.

At the heart of this agricultural transformation is a desire to reduce Hawai‘ i’s dependency on imported goods, which make up 85 percent of total consumables used in the islands. With more than 2,500 miles of North Pacific separating Hawai‘i from the mainland, a prolonged disruption to shipping routes could be catastrophic for Hawai‘i. Fortunately, with every crop planted, grown and harvested, the islands become more self-sufficient and resilient.

Who knew a few rows of limes and lemons could have such a profound effect?

Mahi Pono employees plant lime trees on land that once grew sugar cane, now resulting in produce destined for local supermarkets.

MAHI PONO (ALL)

‘Earth to Sky’ Takes Root

Will Smith Imua Discovery Garden hosts

Hawai‘i’s largest art installation

by Mona de Crinis

SOME REACH TOWARD the heavens, others challenge conventional cosmology, and a few seem to eschew the very laws of physics themselves. Fashioned from metals, found materials and the extraordinary mind of internationally renowned artist Steve Tobin — creator of the 18-foot bronze, The Trinity Root, memorializing 9/11 — a sculptural wonderland invites contemplative exploration at Imua Discovery Garden.

Earth to Sky opened to the public earlier this year drawing worldwide recognition for content, cause and collaboration. On loan throughout 2024 to Imua Family Services, a Maui nonprofit agency providing child developmental services, the exhibit represents the largest individual traveling art installation in state history

and the collective manifestation of good. In addition to raising vital funds for the nonprofit, this enterprising undertaking promises to cement the Wailuku Historic District in the annals of Pacific Rim public art experiences.

“I can’t imagine a better place or more perfect fit than Imua Discovery Garden where nature is revered and celebrated,” Tobin said of the groundbreaking installation.

While there was brief discussion of postponing the installation in wake of the devastating wildfires, Imua Executive Director Dean Wong emphatically disagreed. “We need you now more than ever,” he told the sculptor.

Tobin’s works are forged through a mysterious alchemy fusing science, industry,

language and pantheism. Although each piece is unique in structure, material and meaning, they are threaded together with singular purpose: to reawaken us to the planet’s ever-pulsing energy — both seen and unseen.

“We’ve become immune to our surroundings. You see a tree, and you dismiss it so you can function, rather than just stand gazing at the tree in awe,” Tobin said.

Like “little windows into the environment,” Tobin’s work amplifies our ecosystem through intentional geometry designed to activate organic elements. “I find patterns in nature, and I try to visually represent essential elements so people can see the way I see,” he said.

Occupying only 5 percent of available space, his pieces appear woven into the mosaic of manicured lawns and stately monkeypod trees, enlivening rather than eclipsing Imua Discovery Garden’s pastoral setting — an enigmatic quality Wong deeply values.

RYAN SIPHERS (BOTH)

Saving Hawai‘i’s False Killer Whale

Watch for these whales, which are really dolphins, while whale watching

by Mona de Crinis

IT’S WHALE SEASON — the happiest time of the year in Maui Nui waters. Vessels of all kinds, from commercial tour boats to single-person kayaks, are exploring ‘Au‘au Channel in search of Maui’s most celebrated sighting: the beloved humpback whale.

While you’re enjoying that whale-watch excursion keep your eyes peeled for another, more elusive marine mammal: the false killer whale.

Scientifically named Pseudorca crassidens and sometimes referred to as “blackfish,” false killer whales aren’t whales at all but rather a large species of dolphin so named because of teeth and skull similarities to killer whales.

Highly social mammals, false killer whales form strong bonds within clusters, or pods, that travel and forage together, hunting cooperatively and sharing prey with the group. Adult females reach 16 feet; males reach 20 feet and can weigh up to 3,000 pounds. Like most dolphin species, these marine mammals are intelligent, sentient

ocean dwellers with a life span of approximately 60 years. Except time may run out for Hawai‘i’s enigmatic blackfish.

Federally listed as endangered in 2012, the main Hawaiian Islands insular false killer whale population was in rapid decline in the early 2000s, possibly due to environmental contaminants, competition with fisheries for food and unintentional hooking.

Today, researchers believe fewer than 170 individuals remain. While exact historic population numbers are unknown, large aggregations, or clusters, in the hundreds were observed in the 1980s.

Fortunately, organizations and agencies dedicated to the protection of false killer whales work to mitigate threats and increase the likelihood of survival.

“Through our collaborative efforts and proactive measures, we strive to safeguard the future of these magnificent creatures and the delicate marine ecosystem they inhabit,” said Jens Currie, chief scientist at Pacific Whale Foundation.

The Maui-based ocean conservation nonprofit recently collaborated with the

University of Hawai‘i Marine Mammal Research Program to successfully deploy a suction-cup CATS video tag on a false killer whale — a research first — allowing data collection of the elusive cetacean’s movements, behaviors and social interactions over time.

One campaign that has proven invaluable is enlisting the public as community scientists to help gather vital data on this often hard-to-spot marine mammal. Engaging the community means more eyes and ears on the water, Currie said, which conversely leads to an enhanced understanding of false killer whales and effective recovery management.

So, the next time you’re out on a boat scanning the horizon for pec slaps and peduncle throws, look a little harder. If that black shape in the distance materializes into a false killer whale, call the NOAA False Killer Whale Hotline immediately at 888256-9840, option 5.

Make that upcoming whale watch a research expedition as a newly minted Maui community scientist and contribute to the recovery of this endangered species.

ROBIN W. BIARD/CASCADIA RESEARCH

Report false killer whale sightings while on the water and help researchers collect vital data on these elusive endangered mammals.

It’s

Hope&Healing

Walk the labyrinths of Maliko and find your spiritual center at The Sacred Garden

AAt the entrance of an 11-circuit labyrinth where The Sacred Garden edges toward wild Maliko Gulch, an engraved rock suggests “Begin Again.” Step forward, follow the path to the center, follow the path out, repeat as needed.

Begin again.

For Eve Hogan, the inspired mind behind the 10,000-square-foot spiritual wonderland folded into the kukui trees of Upcountry, those two words — four simple syllables — today hold great meaning. They are both a guiding mantra and private joke shared with the universe.

As founder, owner and operator of The Sacred Garden, Hogan selects and orders the “word rocks” from a list of options. For years, she skipped over “Begin Again” because she admittedly didn’t get it.

Then the labyrinth washed away during the torrential flood of 2013, forcing Hogan to rebuild from scratch — to begin again.

“I ordered the ‘Begin Again’ rock,” she said with a laugh. “And I can’t tell you how many ‘begin agains’ there have been: Covid happens, and we begin again. Cancer happens, and we begin again.” Hogan paused. “Fire happens, and we begin again.”

A certified labyrinth facilitator with a master’s degree in education, Hogan and her husband purchased the 4-acre Makawao property in 2005, partly because she knew the tree-ringed natural clearing behind an

inherited decaying greenhouse was perfect for a labyrinth.

What Hogan couldn’t have known, however, was that this seedling of an idea would turn an abandoned orchid farm into a onestop shop for personal growth and collective enlightenment. She couldn’t have known that the “Begin Again” labyrinth would guide her through challenges she had yet to navigate — nor could have imagined — including a breast cancer diagnosis at the height of Covid.

Fighting for her life as the pandemic raged, Hogan came out one night, baldheaded and desperate for answers, to walk the labyrinth under the full moon. It had become an important coping tool during the shutdown. But trees and clouds obscured the moonlight just as she entered the labyrinth.

“Suddenly, I could not see the path,” she said. Metaphorically, it was exactly where Hogan was in her life, her fate yet uncertain. “I just took a deep breath, looked down and said, ‘But I can see the next step.’ ”

That message, that awareness illumed by the labyrinth, helped Hogan push through chemo and Covid one foot forward at a time.

Gesturing toward the 28 switchbacks coiling toward the labyrinth’s center, Hogan opined on the transformative power of the 180-degree turn. For example, each turn can

Story by Mona de Crinis Photographs by Ryan Siphers

THE SACRED GARDEN

Eve Hogan, founder of The Sacred Garden, stands in the center of the 11-circuit labyrinth that led her back to health.

The Sacred Garden houses hundreds of living beings, including two cats, one dog, turtles, guppies, koi, ducks, wild chickens and a parrot, that require constant care by Hogan and her staff of “angels.”

represent a major life event or challenge — an opportunity to pause and reflect on your beliefs and values at the time — using the stretches in between to consider lessons learned and blessings gained. In the center, practice mindfulness, acceptance and being fully in the moment.

As you exit the labyrinth, imagine you are walking into the future fully aware and spiritually fortified for those 180-degree turns still to come.

It’s potent geometry, Hogan suggests. The Sacred Garden itself sits at the apex of a sharp 180-degree jag where Kaluanui Road carves around the gulch — an energy vortex feeding both good and bad intent, some longtime Maliko folk believe. And bad had long been at the table when Hogan took ownership.

A massive eyesore as Hogan recalled, the greenhouse roof and shade cloth were in tatters; the once-prized orchids rotting row by row. “All the plants were dead, except for the weeds,” Hogan said. “It really gave me the creeps to come down here.”

Leasing the monstrosity to a nursery owner tempered the darkness with the return of live plants, but the business didn’t survive. Hogan muddled on what to do with this seemingly snake-bit albatross — start a

hui, find a business partner, divvy it up for commercial use?

Then she heard it. Call it what you will — divine guidance, higher self, soul voice — the message was loud and clear: “Your name is Eve, get in the garden.”

The vision of a peace garden soon formed, where sacred spaces encouraged introspection, meditation and exploration of inner selves and spiritual connections. Hogan began at the beginning: the labyrinth-shaped clearing embraced by kukui trees that first caught her eye.

Building an 11-circuit labyrinth from the ground up is no easy task, however. Patterned after the famous Chartres Cathedral labyrinth in France, the complexities in design required repositioning large rocks and raking towering piles of gravel.

Realizing she couldn’t shoulder the physical demands alone, Hogan appealed to God: “If there’s supposed to be a labyrinth here, I’m gonna need help!” she cried out amid a flurry of foot-stomping.

That very day, two men walked into the

greenhouse and asked if Hogan had any “divine landscaping” work.

“I kid you not,” she said. “Divine landscaping. Literally hours after I had that tizzy fit.” The 11-circuit labyrinth was completed within a week.

In another case of unexplained serendipity, the heart of the garden — a stunning 5-foot Balinese Buddha — also seemed to materialize from the whisper of thought.

“You know what I need?” Hogan said casually to her sister, visiting while the garden was in its infancy. “I need a big Buddha for the greenhouse.” Then she laughed, because the chances of finding a giant Buddha store on Maui were pretty slim.

Ducking into a random furniture store to wait out some passing rain, Hogan turned to discover a magnificent wooden Buddha just inside the door.

The Buddha in its rightful place, Hogan continued recalibrating the space with elements of light and love. She brought in succulents and tropical plants, dish and water gardens, ornamentals and sylphish

guppies, and with her team of “sacred gardeners,” created communal areas for quiet contemplation and creative socialization.

Little by slow, the vortex was righted.

Hogan later founded the Divine Nature

Alliance nonprofit with a mission to educate, rejuvenate and inspire personal growth by providing tools and opportunity at little or no cost, such the second, smaller 7-circuit labyrinth erected under cover of the greenhouse for use during inclement weather.

“The labyrinth will mirror what you need to see or are being invited to see, if you are observant and look for the metaphors,” Hogan said.

How one responds to or interacts with the labyrinth can reveal much, she explained, such as the codependent’s overarching need for approval (Am I doing this right?); a perfectionist’s limiting inflexibility (I’m not doing this if I can’t do it right); or the fault-finding controller’s weary pessimism (Rocks are askew — this isn’t right).

It might be that lone stranger walking the labyrinth with you that triggers someone or something long forgotten. Or the child who skips his way to the center, unencumbered by a lifetime of baggage.

And you think: What would happen if I just let go? If I just “begin again.”

A 5-foot Balinese Buddha fosters peaceful contemplation, or visitors can peruse rows of unique, whimsical statuary and accessories (below) to create their own sacred garden at home.

SURFABLE

Adaptive surfer Josh Bogle finds his true north

Josh Bogle carves out a new life in the waters of the island that healed him.

Story by Lisa Schell

BRYAN McDONALD

OONE SPRING morning 11 years ago, a nurse entered a room in the ICU ward of Maui Memorial Medical Center. She drew back the curtains. Haleakalā towered in the distance as she queued up Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds.”

Don’t worry about a thing

’Cause every little thing, gonna be all right

She knew her patient, Josh Bogle, loved reggae music. The former competitive snowboarder, who had been in a medically induced coma for more than a week, tried to sing along with the reggae classic despite the breathing tube in his throat.

“There was this little spark, this moment when I knew I had a choice. I could stay where I was, or I could wake up,” said Bogle, who found his way to Maui after his parents purchased a small farm in Hai‘kū nearly 30 years ago. “The Hawaiian word for breath and life is ‘ha.’ I was given my ha back, and I knew everything was going to be all right.”

Ten days after being hospitalized in septic shock from a MRSA (the potentially deadly staph bacteria) infection, Bogle emerged from the blackness with a single breath. Ha.

It was a miracle — a new beginning. But before Maui’s healing waters would bless him with the rich, gratitude-filled life he now enjoys as an adaptive surfer, Bogle had challenges to overcome.

There’s something extraordinary about Bogle, the subject of Finding True North , a documentary produced by Maui resident Matty Schweitzer. Maybe it’s his infectious enthusiasm or his dedication to what he calls “radical optimism.” Although he and his Jack Russell-Chihuahua mix, Maya, are today fixtures of the island’s tight-knit surf community, living Maui wasn’t his original plan.

Bogle grew up in Wyoming, where he was naturally drawn to mountain activities and the outdoors. In the early 2000s, he gained recognition as a competitive backcountry snowboarder just as extreme sports captured the nation’s imagination. While competing in Jackson Hole, he landed “a little bit wrong” off a 40-foot cliff, tweaking his L4 and L5 vertebrae.

Bogle, who was in his 20s and stoked to advance to the next round of competition,

Once near the brink of death, Josh Bogle embraces each day as an opportunity to share his journey with others.

didn’t seek treatment. “I just drank the pain away,” he said.

A missed landing on another jump in the finals sent Bogle flying end over end down the slope. It would also send him down the dark hole of opiate addiction sparked by prescription pain medications Percocet and Vicodin.

Bogle thought he could continue competing if he could only manage the pain. He was wrong. On his way to participate in ESPN’s “X Games” in Aspen, Colorado, in 2005, Bogle lost control and rolled his car four times, severely injured his cervical spine and shoulder. That accident would change his life, kicking off a series of health crises that took Bogle to the edge and back again.

He was prescribed Oxycontin, a new, highly touted form of pain management. Bogle took the high-powered opiate as prescribed but soon became dependent. Over the next five years, his dosage increased until he was taking the maximum allowed.

He was addicted. And he knew it. “I started bargaining with God, promising to get healthy if he would just let me live,” Bogle said.

Within six months, Bogle had cut his daily dosage by a third. His progress was short-lived, however, after a routine dental procedure led to a staph infection and endocarditis — a potentially fatal inflammation of the heart valves’ inner lining.

Bogle needed open heart surgery. But his system first had to be free of narcotics, muscle relaxers, sedatives and other medications. He underwent rapid withdrawal in the cardiac unit and suffered a supraventricular

Bogle’s beloved pup and constant companion, Maya, watches her human do what most humans would find impossible.

tachycardia (SVT) attack, which stopped his heart for 30 full seconds. Maya, his rescue dog from Hāna, was with him at the time and detected the SVT.

After Bogle recovered from the 17-hour surgery, he and Maya — who was now a certified medical assistance dog — returned to Maui in 2012. While whale watching with his mom, he stepped on a fishhook and ended up back in the hospital when the cut became infected with the treatmentresistant staph bacteria MRSA. It had only

been four months since Bogle had undergone open-heart surgery.

At Maui Memorial Medical Center, Bogle was placed in a medically induced coma. While it kept him alive, it also limited the flow of oxygenated blood to his limbs. His legs, one hand and several fingers on the other hand would have to be amputated.

Bogle returned to the mainland for

RYAN SIPHERS

amputation surgery with Maya by his side, curled up on the hospital bed where his legs once were. “For three days, she wouldn’t let anyone even think of moving her,” he said.

THE AMPUTATIONS did not end Bogle’s struggles, unfortunately. The physiological toll from past medical procedures, infections, organ failure, long-term narcotic dependency and other traumas caused the earlier replaced valve to malfunction. Specialists around the country concurred that without another heart surgery, Bogle likely had only a few months left or, at best, would live out the remainder of his years in a care facility.

Bogle’s parents refused to give up and did all they could to buy him time. They returned to Maui with their 97-pound athlete son, who needed a wheelchair and oxygen just to survive.

“I came back to the Valley Isle expecting to die,” Bogle said. Friends came to say their goodbyes, visiting with him for the last time — or so he thought.

Guilt-ridden over needing 24-hour care and weary of asking for help with even the smallest of tasks, Bogle considered suicide. “I began thinking of ways to make it look like an accident,” he said. “But if I failed, then what?”

Despite his depression, Bogle found solace in nature. He listened to the birds, felt the wind on his face and soaked up the tropical sunshine. He drank raw coconut

water, ate fresh fruit from his family’s land and enjoyed fresh fish from his neighbor, a local sushi chef.

The island was healing him. Bogle’s body started to rebound, and he grew stronger. Soon he was stable enough to withstand a second successful heart surgery. It was time to think about his athletic career and the next stage of life, which would end up radically different than what Bogle expected.

Bogle, yet unable to acknowledge the role addiction played in his story, rationalized his brush with death as the cascading effects of an infection. He could simply leave out the Oxycontin part. And he did, for a while.

Bogle’s suicide plan forced him to look within, and he realized he hadn’t been honest with himself. He began working with a collection of healers and physical therapists who would challenge him to be, as he puts it, “radically 100 percent honest.” They inspired him to continue healing without medication and rethink his self-image. Bogle knew he had to let go of his snowboarding lifestyle and the dream of making it big in that arena.

He started going to Baldwin Beach, where Bogle would watch sea turtles in the shore break. “I realized I kind of resembled a sea turtle at that point,” he said. “I would take off my legs, get in the water, and let the waves tumble me around.”

Then Bogle was invited to try surfing, which he considered rehab and part of his recovery. It would never be “his thing,” he said.

The first wave hooked Bogle. No longer “just therapy,” surfing became his passion. He bought a Wavestorm soft top from Costco, watched endless surf movies, and honed his

skills at Ho‘okipa, a North Shore surf break popular with locals. In 2018, he entered his first para-surfing competition, Duke’s Ocean Fest, at Waikīkī on O‘ahu.

The more he got into surfing, the more Bogle felt the ocean was helping him reclaim both his life and his soul. It was his kuleana (responsibility) to protect it and keep it healthy. Beach cleanups made sense.

Inspired by pro surfer, standup paddler and foiler Zane Schweitzer’s “Pocket full of Plastic” campaign, which encourages beachgoers to fill their pockets with plastic found along the island’s coastlines, Bogle connected with local nonprofits working to rid Maui Nui of marine debris. That, in turn, connected him to the Schweitzer family.

Bogle would join Zane and his brother Matty, a filmmaker and fellow surfer, on marine debris cleanups in areas only accessible by boat or jet ski. He learned to make art and outdoor furniture from abandoned fishing gear, known as “ghost nets.”

“Watching Josh surf and working to clean up our beaches — he inspired me,” Matty said. “He has this great energy and smile, yet you can tell he’s been somewhere spiritually that most of us haven’t.”

Despite lingering anxiety and depression, Bogle reconnects with that spirituality and his radical optimism whenever he’s in the water.

“Every time I paddle out, it is a gift,” Bogle said. “When I’m in the ocean, I find myself in a meditative state where there is peace and abundance. Sometimes, all the gratitude I feel makes me cry.”

BRYAN McDONALD

Keeping Maui’s waters clean and ocean wildlife safe are among the many ways Bogle gives back.

SIERRA BERTINI

A Story about Spirit, Surfing and the Will to Survive

TAKE A NEWLY MINTED adaptive surfer with a calling to give back to the ocean. Add a world-class waterman reputed for his environmental ethics. Toss in the waterman’s filmmaker brother with a little time courtesy of the pandemic. And wait. If timing is anything, Josh Bogle was destined to cross paths with Zane and Matty Schweitzer.

Bogle first met the Schweitzer brothers at a beach cleanup on Maui’s West Side not long after Bogle began surfing competitively in 2018. Although Bogle has long been inspired by Zane Schweitzer’s ocean-protection efforts, it was seeing Bogle in action that impressed the Schweitzers.

Amazed by Bogle’s overall athleticism, in addition to his surfing skills, Matty Schweitzer approached him to tell Bogle’s story on film.

“When I saw him on a snowboard, it was like, ‘Oh my gosh!’ ” Schweitzer said of Bogle’s still-considerable mountain skills. “Somebody standing on ‘stilts’ on a snowboard — that fast and that good — you know this guy is an athlete.”

Schweitzer soon had enough footage for a teaser reel. He began fundraising online through Indigogo, but the project still lacked direction. He spent two months staying up into the early morning, going through all of Josh’s texts and writing down notes to fully comprehend what his subject needed to share — a deep-felt heart and soul connection to the ocean.

THEN ONE NIGHT, it all came together. Working until 4 a.m., Schweitzer wrote the entire script. He tapped into Bogle’s authenticity, a quality that defines the adaptive surfer upon first introduction.

“You can tell he’s not putting anything on,” Schweitzer explained, adding that some people seem to try too hard to be spiritual. “That’s not Josh.”

Bogle concurred that the script indeed uncovered the “true north” of his story, how he found himself through surfing and learned to live in unconditional love. “And that is my life,” he said. “Although I feel it, I can’t articulate it. But [Schweitzer] is helping me tell the story in a way I like.”

Finding True North is not just another surf film, Schweitzer assured; its relatability reaches far beyond epic swells at Ho‘okipa or Jaws. It’s a story about perseverance empowered by honest self-appraisal and a willingness to accept help.

Bogle admitted that asking for help and figuring out the logistics of the competitive adaptive surfing world has been one of the most complex aspects of the last five years. It also helped him realize how hard it can be

for others to ask him for help.

Bogle and Schweitzer hope this film will touch people struggling with anxiety and depression and those struggling with addiction from overprescribed pain medication. And, ultimately, encourage them to reach out for help.

Schweitzer believes anyone can learn from Josh’s experiences and be inspired to live their best lives. For Bogle, he hopes there’ll be a little bit of healing in the film.

“Even though I hit death’s door a few times, I consciously chose to live through the pain and not die. There are still times when I have to cry, rub my heart and thank my body for not quitting,” he said. “If I can help save just one life because of what’s happened to me, I wouldn’t change any of it.”

Schweitzer is currently raising funds to market Finding True North and plans to enter it in film festivals this year.

Brothers Matty (left) and Zane Schweitzer continue to be inspired by Bogle’s courage, athleticism and care of the ocean.

2024 ShakaList

1 Turtle Town

For snorkelers who want to stay close to land, Turtle Town at South Maui’s Nahuna Point is a favored option. Located off the Wailea-Mākena coast, the reef-rich area (also known as Five Caves, Five Graves and Mākena Landing) is rife with Hawaiian green sea turtles (honu), Hawai‘i’s only remaining indigenous reptile. Honu often are revered as symbols of longevity and the mana, or spiritual energy, of earth and sea united. Enjoying these gentle giants with eyes only and from a distance is not only pono; it’s following the law.

DAN CESERE

As we collectively look forward to a new year full of hope and possibility, we’re throwing da shakas for 2024. In no strategic order or preference, we say “mahalo” to (and for) these quintessential places, people and things that make Maui the best, or nō ka ‘oi, day after day.

2 Nakalele Blowhole

Just past mile marker 38 where Highway 30 snakes along Maui’s remote northern tip, Nakalele Blowhole unleashes briny fury through a hole in the lava shelf. Shooting geysers upwards of 100 feet when tides are high and seas heavy, the blowhole’s volatile temperament and feral surrounds caution of Maui’s wilder nature. As deaths have occurred, danger warnings accompany signage, parking and the usual food truck at the trailhead where the curious can access the blowhole 1,200 feet down a defined path past rugged tide pools and rock formations. Mahalo for reminding us of nature’s unmatchable power.

JOSHUA HARDIN

3 Hawaiian Language Immersion Program

For quality education rooted in tradition, place and purpose, the Department of Education’s Hawaiian Language Immersion program, Kula Kaiapuni, provides K-12 curriculum enriched by Hawaiian language, culture, mo‘olelo (stories) and practice.

On Maui, Kula Kaiapuni is administered on seven campuses to all grade levels, fostering identity and kuleana (responsibility) as kānaka maoli (Native Hawaiians). Seven shakas and counting. E ola ka ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i — the Hawaiian language shall live.

4 Hale Ho‘ike‘ike

Want to immerse yourself in all things Maui? Head over to Hale Hō‘ike‘ike in Wailuku, home to Maui Historical Society, where history seekers and culture chasers delve into the island’s storied past. In addition to archiving thousands of pre-contact artifacts and 10,000-plus photos, maps and genealogy records, the museum hosts events that celebrate Hawaiian music and traditional arts such as lei making. For locally crafted souvenirs and mementos, visit the gift shop and have your tote ready.

5 The Nene

High on Crater Road, past blooming jacarandas and Cook pines where the treeline yields to Haleakalā’s basaltic rise, signs warn motorists to watch for nēnē (pictured right) — the only remaining species of geese endemic to Hawai‘i. Dark brown or sepia with black faces and crowns, nēnē mate for life and nest in “bowls” shaped from volcanic scree, usually hidden under shrubs.

Federally listed as threatened, the nēnē was named Hawai‘i’s state bird in 1957. On Maui, nēnē populations are found at higher elevations of Haleakalā (5,500-8,000 feet) and the West Maui Mountains (3,000-4,000 feet). The Adopt-A-Nēnē Program, in partnership with Friends of Haleakalā National Park, promotes awareness and collects funds for nēnē recovery efforts.

6 Food Trucks

From offering chef-inspired dishes such as Geste Shrimp’s Hawaiian Scampi and local faves like spam musubi to keeping us safely fed during the pandemic, island food trucks form the bedrock of Maui’s culinary landscape. Wherever you go, from Hāna to Kā‘anapali or even

HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAM (ABOVE) | UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘I MAUI COLLEGE / THE NĒNĒ (BELOW) | KIM AND FOREST STARR

remote Nakalele Point, you’ll likely find a food truck or two attracting hungry visitors and kama‘āina in the know. With at least six established food-truck parks around the island, plus miscellaneous pop-up food trucks and trucks on the prowl (think Maui Cookie Lab that magically appears wherever you are), delicious dining and the sampling of regional cuisine at affordable prices have never been easier — and more appreciated. Shakas all around.

7Ambassadors of the Environment Program

At The Ritz-Carlton Maui, Kapalua, guests (pictured above left) are encouraged to learn about the island’s natural wonders and cultural traditions through Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ambassadors of the Environment program. Guided excursions from coastal hikes to coralreef observation with Cousteau-trained naturalists transform Maui into a living classroom as visiting keiki and adults explore our unique environment and leave with a better understanding of our biodiverse world.

8 Ocean Protectors

A double-time, double shaka to all the individuals, nonprofit organizations, state and governmental agencies, and volunteer groups working to protect the ocean and its inhabitants — from monk seals and honu (Hawaiian green sea turtles) to humpback whales and the humuhumunukunukuāpua‘a (reef trigger fish). Mahalo to the Surfrider Foundation Maui (pictured right), Pacific Whale Foundation, Maui Ocean Center’s Marine Institute, Whale Trust, Maui Nui Marine Resource Council, SHARKtastic, and many others keeping our shores, waters and marine life as healthy as possible.

9 Wai‘anapanapa State Park

Wai‘ānapanapa, which means “glistening waters,” is known for its jet-black shoreline composed of volcanic sediment, which offers a stunning contrast to the crystal blue waves and lush jungles of East Maui. Three miles

north of Hāna Town, Wai‘ānapanapa State Park boasts two freshwater caves accessible by hiking trail. According to Hawaiian legend, it was there Chief Ka‘akea brutally killed his wife, Princess Pōpō‘alaea, and her attendant.

10 Maui Friends of the Library Bookstore

Take a break from Insta and put the kibosh on Tiktok at the Maui Friends of the Library Bookstore. Upon entering, the musty bouquet of new, used and out-of-print volumes — including Hawaiiana and works by Maui authors — tickles the neurons as eyes flitter across shelves stacked wide and tall. By accepting old books, CDs and DVDs and reselling them at reasonable prices, the all-volunteer nonprofit benefits both environment and community. Whether visiting the Kahului location in Queen Ka‘ahumanu Center, their new Kīhei location on Līpoa Street or the original, tin-roofed Pu‘unēnē warehouse, bibliophiles shop freely knowing that 100 percent of net receipts support Maui County libraries and associated programs.

KULA LODGE

THE RITZ-CARLTON MAUI, KAPALUA AMBASSADORS OF THE ENVIRONMENT

11 Mick Fleetwood

Shaka to legendary drummer and founder of iconic classic rock band Fleetwood Mac for investing his time, talent, money and, most importantly, his heart in Maui Nui. Fleetwood (pictured above right) was on the mainland when his restaurant and retail store, Fleetwood’s on Front Street and Mick’s House of Fleetwood, burned to the ground during the Maui wildfires. At the first opportunity, he flew home on a plane stuffed with every supply he could collect. He also donated his mad skills to projects benefiting fire victims, including contributing to the Doobie Brothers’ “Lahaina” tribute song released last November, and continues to support the musical aspirations of Hawaiʻi’s keiki through his “Don’t Stop Living the Dream” foundation.

12 Kula Lodge

On any given morning, you’ll find an engaging cast of characters enjoying breakfast (pictured above center) at Kula Lodge. Cyclists, many of whom have just careened down Crater Road, join

Upcountry regulars, workers grabbing coffee and a bite, and, of course, the quintessential tourist with zinc-tipped nose and guidebook in hand. Perched on the flank of Haleakalā at a 3,200-foot elevation, the former private home attracted the likes of Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Frank Sinatra and other A-list celebrities of the time. Converted into a lodge and restaurant in the early 1950s, the historic restaurant with cinematic views was briefly rumored to have burned during the Kula fire. Fortunately, you can still get delicious fare with a tropical flare for brunch, dinner and happy hour, courtesy of the Vojdani family, who bring the magic of their award-winning 5 Palms restaurant (previously in South Maui’s Mana Kai Resort) Upcountry.

13 Love for Lahaina

Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea gets a heartfelt shaka for its Love for Lāhainā. The series of culinary pop-up events featured signature dishes from Lāhainā’s most celebrated chefs, such as Papa‘aina’s Chef Lee Anne Wong, Māla Ocean Tavern’s Chef Kalei Ducheneau, Duckine’s Chef Alvin Savella and others. Created to support

MICK FLEETWOOD

14 Olowalu Reef

First there was ko‘a, the coral polyp — the source for all island life, according to Hawaiian creation chant, the Kumulipo. In Maui Nui, our mother reef embraces West Maui’s leeward coast from Olowalu to Pāpalaua. The 939acre Olowalu Reef feeds neighboring reefs, providing larvae for nearby coral communities off Lāna‘i and Moloka‘i. Declared a Mission Blue Hope Spot critical to ocean health, Olowalu Reef nurtures life as we know it on Maui. An extra shaka to those individuals and organizations dedicated to her continued care and protection.

TRAVIS MORRIN

a struggling hospitality industry, family farms, ranches and other local providers impacted by last year’s devastating wildfires, Love for Lāhainā popped up Sundays for eight weeks, culminating with an oceanfront Grand Tasting in December. All proceeds directly benefited displaced victims.

15 Ag Tours & Farm Days

The sugarcane fields of Maui’s agricultural past today yield a more diversified, gentler approach to feeding the island. Family ranches, regenerative farms and responsibly scaled ag projects raise everything from coffee, herbs, flowers and fruit to grains, vegetables and livestock. Island providers that invite the public into their hale (house) via ag tours and open farm days are shaka standouts for sure. Maui Ku‘ia Estate Chocolate (pictured above), O‘o Farms, Maui Tropical Plantation, Kula Country Farms, Maui Gold Pineapple, Ono Organic Farms, Maui Dragon Fruit Farm are only a few among many.

16 Moloka‘i Hot Bread

A creamy-sweet treat (pictured right) so singularly delicious that it and its creator, Kanemitsu Bakery, were spotlighted on Anthony Bordain’s

Parts Unknown website, Moloka‘i hot bread is pure pillowy, preservative-free goodness. Choose your favorite gooey, fruity, fabulous cream cheese filling and be glad you made the trip across the Pailolo Channel to our sister island where Kanemitsu Bakery has been serving up its famous hot bread since 1935.

On Maui, pick up these tasty loaves before they sell out at Queen Ka‘ahumanu Center’s weekly farmer’s market, Maika‘i Market in Kahului Saturday mornings and Maui Sunday Market. Check Moloka’i Hot Bread Maui Facebook page for location updates.

17Maui Food Innovation Center

Katie Cook and Justin Orr turned a backyard hobby into the thriving HI SPICE tropical-flavored hot sauce company after attending Maui Food Innovation Center at University of Hawai‘i Maui College in 2017. We can’t wait to see what — or who — the newly renovated MFIC inspires next, as the multi-milliondollar, state-of-the-art facility kicks off its first full year encouraging sustainable, economically viable agribusiness and culinary entrepreneurship.

MAUI KU‘IA ESTATE CHOCOLATE (ABOVE) / MOLOKA‘I HOT BREAD (BELOW) | CHRIS AMUNDSON

Certified 100% Sustainable Dining

at maui ocean center

Taverna Chef Roger Stettler shares the essentials of Mediterranean cooking Simply Italian

Story by Mona de Crinis

AS A YOUNG BOY, Roger Stettler loved hanging out in the kitchen while his Italian grandmother made marinara. Standing over the simmering pot with a spoon and a chunk of day-old bread for dipping, she would alternate between stirring and sampling, allowing the bubbling potion time to fully absorb the rich Mediterranean flavors.

“It was a ritual, almost to the point where she would kind of hover over the stove and protect the sauce,” said Stettler, who credits his Nonna and mother with inspiring the cosmopolitan journey that led the award-winning chef to open an Italian

restaurant on Maui. “I can still see her in the kitchen, where life happened. Food brings everyone together.”

Those early memories lie at the heart of Taverna, West Maui’s hub for “Urban Drinks + Italian Eats.” Ringed by majestic Cook pines and the flowing greens of Kapalua Golf’s Bay Course, Taverna has been delighting residents and visitors with its extensive menu, craft cocktails and selection of Italian wines since 2016.

A native of Bern, Switzerland, Stettler’s impressive qualifications include the title of master chef bestowed by the Swiss

government and former executive chef of the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea. He received his culinary-arts training at the renowned Arosa Kulm Hotel in Arosa, Switzerland, then honed his skills at fivestar resorts around the world — St. Thomas Virgin Islands, Singapore, Thailand and Korea — before settling on Maui almost 20 years ago to share his culinary vision.

In Taverna, Stettler recreates the feeling of family — blood or chosen — gathered in the kitchen during mealtime, talking story and luxuriating in the aroma of savory goodness. From rafter to exposed beam, intimate bar

| Photographs by Ryan Siphers | Recipes from Taverna Executive Chef Roger Stettler

Taverna managing partner and awardwinning chef Roger Stettler elevates Italian cuisine with his farm-to-table interpretations of classic favorites.

to expansive lanai, the restaurant embodies first-water simplicity — the brick-and-mortar extension of a cuisine philosophy squarely centered on house-made comfort food crafted with fresh, locally sourced products.

According to Stettler, Italian cuisine is simple cuisine. It showcases the flavors of the ingredients themselves without overdoing it. He advises home cooks to concentrate on quality for the best results, opting for organic, farm-sourced or gourmet products whenever possible. “There’s garlic, and then there’s garlic, right?” he said of commercially produced versus home-grown garlic.

When cooking an Italian meal or trying new recipes, such as the chef favorites included here, Stettler offers three basic rules: Keep it simple. Use quality ingredients. Let the natural flavors shine.

The featured marinara recipe, for example, can be completed in a few easy steps with little or no prep work. Using crushed tomato puree eliminates peeling, deseeding and cooking fresh tomatoes, which can vary greatly and lack the concentrated potency of a quality canned product. Stettler prefers San Marzano tomatoes from Italy’s Campania region. Grown in ideal conditions and canned at peak season, this Roma relative has thick flesh, few seeds and a strong, sweet flavor.

As a world-renowned chef, Stettler is an admitted stickler for specific products — using only Maui Ku‘ia Estate Dark Chocolate for his Torta di Cioccolato, for instance. While substitutions are inevitable in the homekitchen realm, find quality equivalents available in your area and don’t stray, he advises.

For those ambitious amateur chefs attempting this signature Taverna dining experience at home, Stettler suggests starting with the marinara. Let it simmer over low-medium heat, stirring occasionally, giving it space for the richness of all those nuanced ingredients to harmonize. Forget that it only takes 15 minutes to heat up store-bought pasta sauce, there’s no rushing when it comes to authentic home-cooked Italian food.

“You cannot force a marinara,” Stettler said. So, sit back, sip an Italian wine and let flavor happen.

Chef Roger’s Marinara

It all starts with a great marinara bubbling on the stove, the rich tomatoes and classic Italian seasonings allowed to slowly harmonize into a chorus of Mediterranean goodness.

4 cans (28 oz) crushed San Marzano tomatoes in puree (preferred). May substitute with Contadina or S&W. 8 loves of garlic, peeled and chopped

10 medium-large basil leaves torn into pieces

¾ cup extra virgin olive oil

2 heaping tsp granulated sugar Salt and pepper to taste

Pour oil into medium stock pot and place over medium heat. Add garlic and basil. Sweat for one minute. Carefully add the crushed tomatoes. Rinse can with about 2 cups of water and add to the pot. Bring to a boil over mediumhigh heat while stirring occasionally, then simmer at low heat. Add sugar and continue simmering 60-90 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper.

Makes 3.5 quarts

Chef tip: Make marinara in big batches and freeze for future use.

This hearty pasta sauce satisfies with tender chunks of meat slowly braised in homemade marinara crafted with patience and love.

Pappardelle Bolognese

1½ lbs ground pork

1½ lbs ground beef

1½ qts marinara

1½ cups water

Salt and pepper to taste

Sauté beef and pork over medium-high heat until 70 percent done, breaking down larger chunks with a wooden spatula. Drain and discard meat liquid and grease. Add marinara (see recipe) and water. Braise over medium-low heat until tender (approximately 45 minutes) while

stirring occasionally. When the meat is tender and liquid slightly reduced, lightly season with salt and pepper. Remove and place in ice bath until cooled. Refrigerate until needed. Serve over pappardelle or other medium-to-long pasta such as spaghetti, fettuccine, linguine or ziti.

Serves 4-6

Wine pairing: Tasmorcan Barbera D’Asti Piedmont Italy or Chianti Classico, Volpaia, DOCG, Tuscany, Italy

Dense and intense, this flourless cake made with Maui Ku‘ia Estate Dark Chocolate promises to delight when served afloat Chef Roger’s Tahitian vanilla sauce and garnished with a sprinkle of caramelized hazelnuts.

Torta di Cioccolato

1/3 cup sugar #1

5.6 oz (approximately 5 eggs)

egg whites

2 Tbsp sugar #2

1/3 cup egg yolks

5 oz Maui Ku‘ia Estate 60% Dark Chocolate (or similar)

8 Tbsp unsalted butter

½ tsp vanilla extract

2 Tbsp cornstarch

2 Tbsp salt

1 sheet parchment

Preheat oven to 320˚. Prepare 8-inch round cake pans. Place sheet of parchment over an 8-inch round cake pan and press down in the center, line the bottom and fold the excess paper around the edges. Set aside. In a small 8-quart mixer, use the whip attachment to combine egg yolks, sugar #2 and vanilla extract. Whip until fluffy and doubled in volume. Melt butter in a saucepan on low heat or microwave. Don’t let butter separate. Set aside. Slowly begin melting dark chocolate in a bowl over a low-heat double boiler, stirring occasionally with a rubber

spatula. When the chocolate is about 80 percent melted, make French meringue by combining egg whites and sugar #1 with a whisk attachment or a hand mixer on low speed until sugar has dissolved. Increase to medium-high speed until mixture stiffens into peaks (do not overbeat). Set aside in refrigerator.

Once chocolate is completely melted, remove from heat. Combine cornstarch and egg yolk mixture beginning on low speed, gradually increasing speed until fully mixed. Quickly add to the melted chocolate. With a rubber spatula, quickly (and carefully) fold the egg yolk mixture into the chocolate until fully combined. Using a whisk, add melted butter into the chocolate yolk mixture from the center of the bowl out to the edges. With the rubber spatula, fold in two batches of meringue until no egg white is visible. Pour batter into a cake pan and bake for 18 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool at room temperature and freeze overnight. Serve on a splash of Tahitian vanilla sauce with caramelized walnuts (see accompanying recipes). Keeps seven days refrigerated.

Serves 8

Chef tips: To serve, dip knife in container of hot water, wiping dry between slices. If you don’t have two mixers, make French meringue first, transfer to a bowl and keep in refrigerator until needed. As egg yolks can mix for a long time without breaking, mix yolks until chocolate melts completely. Whip egg whites at room temperature.

Wine pairings : Moscato D’Asti, Michele Chiarlo Nivole Italy or Gaja Grappa

Tahitian Vanilla Sauce (Crème Anglaise)

¾ cup whole milk

1½ cups heavy cream

1/4 cup sugar

½ cup egg yolks

½ tsp vanilla paste

Fill a large container with ice and water to prepare ice bath. In a small sauce pot, combine milk, cream and vanilla paste. Whisk egg yolks and sugar together quickly in separate bowl, then whisk egg and milk mixtures together in sauce pot. Gradually heat to 185˚ while continuously whisking to keep eggs from cooking. Once mixture has reached the proper temperature, remove from heat immediately and place in ice bath to cool. Whisk with rubber spatula if skin forms on the surface. Transfer to serving bowl and enjoy. Keeps seven days refrigerated.

Makes ½ qt

Caramelized Hazelnuts

1 cup hazelnuts

1 cup sugar

2 Tbsp water

Lightly toast hazelnuts on a sheet pan and keep warm. Prepare Silpat or silicone baking sheet and place on a table. Combine sugar and water in a pot at high heat, bringing sugar temperature to “thread stage.” Add hazelnuts to sugar mixture and crystallize. With a spatula, occasionally mix the nuts and cook until sugar crystals are no longer visible. When mixture is a dark caramel color with a glossy sheen, quickly pour nuts on Silpat and separate with a spatula.

Once cooled, crush the nuts using the bottom of a small pot and keep in an airtight container with moisture packet until ready for use. Keeps for one month if sealed.

NightPaddle

Learning the ways of the Hawaiian voyagers

Story by Lisa Schell Photographs by Chris Amundson

Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe Voyaging Society paddlers head toward Mā‘alaea as the sun sets and the moon rises.

Prior to paddling, Society Executive Director ‘Ānela Gutierrez explains the Hawaiian star chart guiding early voyagers.

The deafening winds of Mā‘alaea Bay

drown out the rhythmic “shwish, shwish, shwish” of outrigger canoe paddles slicing the ocean’s surface. Waves crash into the side of the wa‘a, dousing paddlers with stinging salt spray. Despite the rough conditions, the canoe’s progress is steady and strong. In the clear night sky, stars that guided the early Hawaiians shine brightly above.

The canoe steerswoman begins a chant, and just as their paddles reach into the water and pull together, so do the paddlers’ voices as they join in response.

Ia waʻa nui

Ia waʻa kioloa

Ia waʻa peleleu

A lele mamala

A manu a uka

A manu a kai

ʻIʻiwi pōlena

A kau ka hōkū

A kau i ka malama

A pae i kula

ua noa

That large canoe

That long [shapely] canoe

That broad canoe

Let chips fly

The bird of the upland (mountain)

The bird of the lowland (sea)

The red honeycreeper

The stars hang above

The daylight arrives

Bring [the canoe] ashore

ʻAmama — the kapu [taboo] is lifted

At least twice a month — on the evenings of the new and full moons — members of the Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe Voyaging Society and their guests launch from Sugar Beach in North Kīhei to learn how the early voyagers used the stars, planets, moon, and even ocean currents to navigate vast distances throughout Polynesia and the Hawaiian Islands. At a time when most beachgoers at the nearby resorts are heading in for the night, the adventure is just beginning on the beach at the Society’s canoe hale (house).

“How many of you have ever paddled before?” Executive Director ‘Ānela Gutierrez asks the group gathered around a six-man outrigger. A few brave souls raise their hands. With patience, she shares a brief Canoe 101 lesson that includes how to board quickly without losing one’s paddle in the ocean.

Before a wa‘a enters the water, Gutierrez also

Paddlers prepare to launch a double-hull canoe from the Society’s canoe hale at Sugar Beach in North Kīhei.

explains how to read a celestial map depicting “star lines” ancient voyagers would have followed. Once at sea, this night’s paddlers will have the knowledge and skills to identify the star line over Hawai‘i.

Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe Voyaging Society is a Maui-based nonprofit that shares Hawaiian canoe culture, especially relating voyaging long distances. In 2006, some of its members, including board president Kimokeo Kapahulehua, completed a seminal six-year, 2,000-mile paddle to every island in the Hawaiian chain.

In 2019, as part of its educational efforts, the Society began hosting full-moon night paddles on Mā‘alaea Bay. A few years later,

it added a new moon paddle under the dark sky when instructors like Gutierrez teach how to navigate using the stars, constellations and planets.

AT LAST AUGUST’S blue super moon paddle, two canoes pushed off from Sugar Beach and paddled along the North Kīhei coastline, then beached under the full moon near the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Visitor Center.

Gathering on the sand, not far from where sea turtles nest for the night, Gutierrez explained how Hawaiians used the constellations to navigate north and south — Hawai‘i to Tahiti and back.

“You see the Bigger Dipper? It points to the North Star,” she told her paddlers.

“Then the next star you’ll see is that bright one right above us,” she said. “That is Hōkūle‘a — our zenith star that sets and rises directly above Hawai‘i. If you’re voyaging back from Tahiti, you watch for Hōkūle‘a, and the more it appears directly overhead, the closer you are to Hawai‘i.”

Gutierrez directed paddlers’ gaze to the southeast, where Maui’s Fishhook, also known as Scorpius, sparkled against the silhouette of the dormant Haleakalā volcano. Barely visible, the Milky Way hung like a fish on the end of Maui’s hook.

“When Maui’s Fishhook is there, we know

it’s not the time to be making big voyages,” Gutierrez said. “It’s hurricane season.”

With the massive mahina (moon) now fully overhead, tracking star-line constellations was nearly impossible — that is a task for a dark, new moon night.

It was time to head back. The paddlers pushed the canoes into the water for the return trip to Sugar Beach. Waves crashing on the reef beyond the fishpond caused some first-time paddlers to gasp as the bow pitched over white-crested swells.

Although paddling during a full moon is magical, it can also be challenging. As the moon climbs higher in the sky, ocean currents often rise, making the water rough and

paddling a challenge. That’s when the steersman or woman might begin a chant to calm nerves and synchronize paddlers.

The full moon also can confuse some marine life, and it’s not uncommon for flying fish to end up in the canoe. The craziest thing, however, was when a humpback whale breached next to the canoe during whale season “just to let us know it was there,” Gutierrez said.

The Hawaiian calendar has 12 moon cycles, each with 30 moon phases, beginning with the first sliver of hilo, growing to a full moon at hoku and ending with the completely dark muku — the new moon phase. With no moonlight during muku, the stars and planets appear bright and easy to see, making muku a perfect time for stargazing.

Muku means “to cut” or “sever.” In Hawaiian ways, when the muku moon appears, this is the time to let go of what has weighed you down the previous month, which Gutierrez wholeheartedly encourages.

On her muku paddles, she gives guests a moment to let go of anything that did not serve them over the last 30 days. She adds that the hilo moon promises new beginnings. “Make your intentions and think about what you might want to work on for the next month,” she said.

A pre-launch participant studies her handout of the Hawaiian star chart. Opposite, paddlers cut through Mā‘alaea Bay along North Kīhei’s coastline toward the setting sun and a dark, muku moon night.

As the paddle comes to its end, the steersman or woman guides the canoe close enough into shore so that the massiveness of the Haleakalā volcano provides welcome shelter from the wind. The ocean is calm here.

Novice night paddlers breathe a sigh of relief or smile, thinking about all they have seen and maybe imagining voyagers of long ago coming home after the long journey across the Pacific.

The canoe makes a graceful arc, so its bow faces out to sea.

“Back paddle! Back paddle!” cries the steersman, at just the right time so that the reverse motion lands the canoe on the beach between the incoming waves of the shore break.

On the steersman’s command, the paddlers jump out of the canoe, and in unison, push it up the sand and out of the reach of the tide.

Landing the canoe is the last adventurous flourish of the evening. Yet, it’s hard to believe the experience is over, so some paddlers on the beach, staring back out to sea and at the night sky, hope for one last glimpse of Hawai‘i’s Hōkūle‘a star, which they now know always points the way back to Maui.

Visit wearevoyagers.com for information about star navigation and full moon paddles.

Whale Tales Returns to Ritz-Carlton

Feb. 16-18 • The Ritz-Carlton Maui, Kapalua

The annual Whale Trust event serving as an information bridge between marine mammal science, research and the public returns to The Ritz-Carlton Maui, Kapalua Feb. 16-18. Drawing global whale enthusiasts, marine science experts and leaders in ocean conservation, Whale Tales examines current whale-protection efforts and explores new technologies and initiatives.

Presented by Maui-based Whale Trust, a nonprofit organization dedicated to whale research and ocean education, last year’s conference initiated a three-year collaborative study on whale songs.

Established in 2007 as a platform for the scientific community to share knowledge and raise funds for whale research, Whale Tales has evolved into a greater community event, noted co-founder and Whale Trust Executive Director Dr. Meagan Jones.

“Bringing together scientists, artists, photographers, filmmakers and the general public allows us to celebrate our shared appreciation for our natural world and our commitment to preserve it,” she said.

Whale Trust has studied whales' natural behavior patterns and songs for over two decades; Whale Tales has been a vital part of that mission for most of those years, raising more than $1 million to assist whale research across the North Pacific.

The 18th annual Whale Tales sets the bar even higher with groundbreaking presentations, expert-led whale watches,

community expo, Mauka to Makai Science Center, silent auction and an impressive slate of speakers that includes renowned underwater photographer and Whale Trust co-founder Flip Nicklin and Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Natural Resource Specialist Ed Lyman, a leading authority on largewhale entanglements.

Among featured presenters are Dr. Brenna Frasier, a biologist and molecular ecologist focused on DNA analysis to examine species history and conservation; Dr. Rachel Cartwright, former whale-watch naturalist who acquired her PhD after being inspired by the Keiki Koholā Project, which works to protect humpback mothers and calves while in Hawaiian waters; and Beth Goodwin of The Jupiter Research Foundation, who will speak on a collaborative whale-song study with Whale Trust and screen a special National Geographic Channel episode of “Incredible Animal Journeys" alonside special guest Jean-Michel Cousteau.

In addition to supporting continued marine mammal research in Hawai‘i, Whale Tales proceeds benefit select organizations and students through the Whale Tales Beneficiaries Program with this year's lens focused on Lāhainā,

Attend in person at The Ritz-Carlton Maui, Kapalua’s expansive 54-acre property or live-stream presentations. | whaletales.org.

BRYAN BERKOWITZ/WHALE TRUST

Retreats Celebrate a Higher Love

February • Various locations

With each new year, health and personal growth are top of mind. Boasting near-perfect weather, innate tropical splendor and storied healing properties, the island regularly attracts spiritual gatherings and yoga groups.

The month of love kicks off the retreat season with the Yoga & Sound Healing Retreat, Feb. 12–17, at Black Swan Temple on Maui’s lush North Shore. This five-day immersive experience promises to rejuvenate body, mind and soul through movement, sound healing, breath work, Earth altar rituals, personal improvement sessions and more in a serene, bohmenian setting featuring gardens, spa and a 10-foot copper meditation pyramid (black swantemple.org).

From Feb. 15–20, the Maui Women’s Empowerment Retreat invites gathering “in a sacred circle to ground and amplify collective heart wisdom” at Upcountry’s renowned educational retreat center, Lumeria Maui, for five days of relaxation, healing and inner transformation, Complete with spa cuisine, daily yoga, chanting and sound healing with seasoned practitioners (lumeriamaui.com/yoga-retreat-hawaii/upcoming-retreats).

Here's to being our best selves in 2024.

Art Affair 2024

Feb. 24 • Hui No‘eau Visual Arts Center

The Hui’s two-week signature fundraising event, Art Affair 202, offers myriad ways to support the visual-arts education nonprofit, beginning with the Art Affair In-Person Kick-Off Gala at the historic Kaluanui Estate Upcountry. Keep the positive vibes flowing or jump into the action late at the Art Affair After Dark After-Party (10 p.m.-1 a.m., 21 and older) at Casanova’s Restaurant in Makawao. Bid on artwork, gift certificates, unique Maui experiences and more online or in person Feb. 26 through March 8. | huinoeau.com

Great Whale Count

Feb. 14, March 30 • Island-wide

The Great Whale Count, a collaborative partnership between the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary and Maui ocean conservation nonprofit Pacific Whale Foundation, enlists volunteers annually on the last Saturday of January, February and March to count humpback whales from shore as part of a long-range survey of whales migrating to Hawai‘i. Volunteer registration required. | pacificwhale.org

Maui 5K

March 3 • Wailuku

Walk one mile or run 5 kilometers to benefit Maui County schools. Run For Fitness helps provide funds that promote student health through increased participation in youth sports and recreation programs. All event proceeds are donated to the Maui school designated during online registration. findarace.com/us/events/maui-5k

Valley to the Sea race

March 16 • 'Īao Valley

Enjoy spectacular views during the 15th annual Valley to the Sea 5K, 10K and halfmarathon race from ‘Īao Valley to beautiful Kalepolepo Beach Park in Kīhei. Celebrate this Maui running community milestone with new medals, shirts, swag and awards for age divisions. | runnersparadiseinc.com

Solo Artist Exhibition 2024

March 22 • Hui No‘eau Visual Arts Center

Maui-based artists Sachelle Dae and Zenobia Lakdawalla present two concurrent solo exhibits in the Hui's adjoining gallery spaces as part of the Hui’s 2024 Solo Artist Exhibition. The series provides artists with experience in all facets of

exhibition planning and installation while challenging them to produce and exhibit a cohesive body of work in a professional gallery setting. | huinoeau.com

Slack Key Show

Wednesdays • Nāpili Kai Beach Resort

Each Wednesday, Hawaiian music masters assemble under one roof for the George Kahumoku Jr. Slack Key Show: Masters of Hawaiian Music. Hosted by Grammy Award winner George Kahumoku Jr., the show features different Hawaiian artists each week, from falsetto legends to mesmerizing ‘ukulele players. 6:30 p.m. | slackkeyshow.com

Celebration of the Arts

March 29-30 • The Ritz-Carlton

The Celebration of the Arts returns for the 32nd year to The Ritz-Carlton Maui, Kapalua. The festival explores all facets of Hawaiian culture, connecting guests with the state's most renowned Hawaiian artisans, educators, musicians and cultural practitioners. The schdule is packed with demonstrations, workshops, panelist Q&As, films, music and hula that runs late into the night. For detailed event information, visit kapaluacelebrationof thearts.com.

BLACK SWAN TEMPLE Yoga & Sound Healing Retreat

The Fluke That Almost Wasn’t

Photograph by SELKET KAUFMAN

CANON R5, 1/800 SEC, F10 ISO 500, EF100-400MM LENS, 300MM

SELKET KAUFMAN knew she had the money shot without even looking. “It’s just a feeling you get as a photographer,” she said, still recalling that “happy adrenaline” rush of being in the right place at the right time.

Like most established wildlife photographers, Kaufman lives for that quintessential moment. It’s what drives her to the sea almost daily during whale season.

“There are so many factors out of your control — weather, lighting, boat position, preparation, anticipation — you have to be out as much as possible to get the good stuff,” she said.

It was late afternoon in February 2022, the last whale watch of the day. Kaufman was tired. She and her perennial tribe of whale photogs, Greg Taylor, Rob Owen and the like, had been on the water for eons, or so it seemed.

It had been mostly quiet that trip. Patience and opportunity were waning, but the light was stellar. It was a Maui sunset, after all. They waited. Nothing.

Just as the boat was turning back to the harbor, a humpback mother and calf spotted earlier reappeared with playful enthusiasm and a flurry of pec slaps and peduncle throws.

Noting the silhouette of water streaming from the adult’s tale, or fluke, each time she slapped the surface, Kaufman hunkered down at the bow, telephoto lens at the ready with Lāna‘i in the background, and hedged her bets. Jackpot.

Get published! Submit your favorite and best Maui Nui RAINBOW pics to photos@mauimagazine.net by Feb. 27 for consideration in the March/April 2024 A Hui Hou photo contest.

Kimokeo Kapahulehua

Kimokeo Foundation president and founder, waterman and voyaging outrigger canoe paddler

“ CAPTURING THE ‘IKE, the knowledge, of the kūpuna is important. Many of us, we’re getting up there in age. I’m 76 years old. Others are older, 80-something years now.

We were young at one time, but we never know where we’re going to be, these guys.

Seriously, considering this, I just wake up every day to educate, preserve and perpetuate our culture — what was given to me by my dad, my mom, my grandma, my grandpa, my uncles, my auntie.

AMUNDSON

“I just wake up every day to educate, preserve and perpetuate our culture."

At the time, being a young child, you just go with them. They tell you what to do and you do it. Today I reflect on that lesson. It’s a basic lesson we all teach: e ho‘olohe, to listen; maka e nānā, to observe; ho‘opili, do exactly as they say; pa‘a ka waha, always keep quiet. You can learn more if you keep quiet.

I took a trip to Ni‘ihau once to visit my uncle. It was a real experience. He was the educator for the one school there. It was held in an old church. They taught everybody in that church, from kindergarten all the way up to eighth grade.

I’m a diver and a fisherman, so my uncle was going to take me fishing. It took us all day to get there with a horse. When my dad dropped me off, my uncle introduced me to a really big gentleman with three stomachs.

I spent four days with him, and the only thing he said to me was ‘eh, eh, eh.’ That first night, he had a bowl of poi, ate dry fish and went to sleep. And I fed my own self.

The next day we went fishing. I thought he was going to give me goggles and a fin, a spear gun and a spear. But that was not so. He fished, and he fed the sharks, which scared me. I swam alongside with no equipment, and he just kept feeding them.

When he had many fish on his line, he turned around and came back. We ended up with six sharks following. He went on the rocks and fed them, and they walked on the rocks with him, like puppies. Then he would push their nose, and back out to sea they go.

He put the fish down, went up to the house and did his thing. He never said anything else. I guess he left the fish for me to clean, so I cleaned it and hung it up. He cooked the fish, ate it and went to sleep again. Four days later, when my dad returned with the horse, I was like a green frog. I leapt onto my saddle; I was ready to leave town.

I look back on that time, and it was a lesson for Kimokeo. No one needs to tell you what to do. You just need to do what you think you should do and follow the kūpuna. Ke ala kahi a‘u mau kūpuna — the pathway of our ancestors — follow it for fishing or whatever, and you will never really be taken into harm’s way.

My grandpa and my father and my uncles didn’t fish every day. They knew there was a time to fish and time not to fish; when the fish gave eggs and when to let the fish get bigger. Kuleana. Be a responsible fisherman, like your kūpuna, then pass your knowledge on to the next.

I have a son, a grandson and a great grandson. I have a daughter, a granddaughter and a great granddaughter. I have four generations with me, and each needs to carry on the gift of responsibility, of kuleana.

We’re planning a voyage in a single-hull canoe over open water during a time of climate change. Traditional weather patterns probably will not prevail. We’re going to feel the change. You notice it when you’re in the ocean.

Once you leave land, you go from the known to the unknown. You have to look forward with positive thoughts, positive feeling and positive action. Life evolves every day, and everyone has their own journey. And those challenges we face are opportunities.

We have many cultures today, and we’re all in the same thing. He wa‘a he moku, he moku he wa‘a — there’s an island in the canoe and a canoe on the island — we’re all in the same canoe.”

CHRIS

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