This bench, located on the shoreline just below the lighthouse between Mahukona and Lapakahi, is a memorial to Malcolm Davis. Malcolm was a North Kohala man who disappeared while freediving off this part of the coast in 2020. He was 20 years old and was never found.
It’s a lovely spot, with a view up and down the coast and across to Maui, a place to sit and watch the waves, a place for contemplation.
The boat hoist at Mahukona has featured in a few of my posts, most notably here and here. Over the years, it’s taken a lot of punishment and that has finally caught up with it. When I went for a swim a couple of weeks ago, this was all that remained of it. I rather liked the jaunty hat on the piece at the left. When I went down there again a few days ago, the last of the metal had gone.
I’ve heard it might be replaced, but the wharf would probably need fixing first. Next door at the beach park – though there is no beach – the old pavilion is cordoned off awaiting demolition and replacement. That process started several years ago and the old building is still standing. Everything will happen in its own good Hawaii time!
These concrete pilings are the remains of the old pier at my usual snorkeling spot. Someone has tagged some of them and I couldn’t resist the title!
At my local snorkeling spot, a lot of trees on the shoreline have suddenly sported fall colors. I’m sure this has nothing to do with the season. Rather, I think a series of large swells has battered the trees with more salt spray than they’re used to and this is the result. Hopefully, they will bounce back when things settle down again, although swells in Hawaii were large enough last weekend for The Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational surf competition to be held for the first time since 2016.
This sign and accompanying tube appeared at two local parks a couple of months ago. It’s part of a nationwide program to recycle discarded and snagged fishing line, which can be extremely harmful to marine life. The program has been going since the 1990s, but this is the first time it’s been available locally.
This is where I often get in the water to go snorkeling and this photo illustrates why it’s a good idea to pay attention when getting in or out. The water looks pretty calm, but the whitewater near the top is an indicator of swells coming ashore. When those swells reach the ladder where swimmers get in and out, they can be steep and dangerous.
It’s easy to judge swells before getting in the water, but getting out is more tricky. Trying to gauge what’s happening from water level, it’s easy to misjudge the size and strength of an incoming swell. I wouldn’t have wanted to be getting out when this one rolled in!
This boat hoist, on the North Kohala coast, is used to launch small boats off trailers and into the water. I’ve featured it before (here), being engulfed by towering waves. All that salt water has undermined the integrity of the structure, but despite some large holes in the very rusty metal structure, people still launch boats here. All I can say is, I hope those boats are insured.
A view of the light between Mahukona State Park and Lapakahi State Historical Park on the North Kohala coast.
Graham's Island 