Oct. 14, 2014, Honolulu-  Hawai’i’s role in the life of the United States, and the world, became more complex with the entry of the Trojan horse that was the entry of outside commercial interests into its affairs.  The people of any given nation are far more polyglot now than they were even fifty years ago.  For the land now called the Aloha State, this has meant being a constant target, both domestically and from foreign interests.  A stark reminder of the last time this happened is the USS Missouri/ USS Arizona Memorial, in Pearl Harbor.  We sailed past this stirring sight, on the calm waters of Pearl Harbor, knowing that during our journey, there were no threatening forces between here and San Diego.  Our only challenge was building and maintaining a strong and unified sense of purpose during the six days of return from deployment.

As soon as we headed away from shore, a storm was seen over O’ahu.

As the clouds headed swiftly over the island’s central cordillera, Pai’Olu Olu Point was visible from the starboard side.

Also visible were two gulls  following us, in the off chance that food would be tossed out the galley portal.  No such luck, though.  The Navy is being more careful with what gets put into the ocean these days.

One brown gull hit the deck, and was momentarily stunned.  It took about ten minutes for the poor creature to get re-oriented and head off skyward again.

As the morning wore on, we caught a glimpse of Moloka’i, as we headed through the channel separating it from O’ahu.

The successful start to our cruise to San Diego was celebrated, with the first of several cakes.

The sea reminded us, every so often, of who was boss.  All in all, she would be a reasonable Madame.