Billfish tournament

A group of bridge players go out to dinner after bridge on Thursday.  Today we went to Shivalik Indian restaurant overlooking the Kailua pier where the boats come in for the Billfish tournament.  We had a birdseye view of the boats and the weighing of the fish.

This tournament started on Sunday, July 24th with a parade.   The tournament consists of 34 international teams of fishermen who will fish for five days.  You win by accumulating points for catching all sorts of things.  Most fish are catch and release.  Each team pays around $5,000 to enter, plus charter fees, etc.  This is not for amateurs.  They stop fishing at 4:00pm and the boat has to be back at the pier at 5:00pm.  

We had our dinner early, so we saw the arrival of all the boats from our second floor ocean view table.  If a boat had a fish on board, it ran a blue or red flag.  Out of about 30 boats, maybe half had flags.  Each boat came up to the pier to check in.  If they had a fish to weigh, it was strung up onto this tall platform which could suspend huge fish with very long bills, such as marlin or swordfish (or, as they say, billfish).   All the boats came up to the pier and discharged their team members who then went to this huge tent set up at the end of the pier looking like a place for cocktails, fish stories and dinner.

While we watched, only three fish were strung up this tower and weighed.  One was 540lbs, and one about 450.  I didn't get a chance to see a fish up close and get a photo, however.  We had to wait too long for our bill (so to speak).


This billfish winner photo is from the tournament website.  Doesn't it make you want to fish in this tournament?  You get your photo with an Hawaiian beauty!

Crazy chickens

Just now we were startled by a loud noise like something had hit the side of the house.  I thought it might be a coconut falling on the roof, but that couldn't be true.  First of all, the palm tree next to the house has no coconuts on it, and we have a corrugated tin roof so the noise would have been different.

I looked out the window on that side of the house and saw our three neighborhood dogs with a chicken in one of their mouths.  These dogs are very small.  The most vocal and fierce is a chihauha.  Amidst lots of barking, feathers flying and scrambling, they let the chicken go.  As I was processing what happened,  I contemplated how to dispose of a dead animal or whether or not we would have our first meal of free range Hawaiian chicken.

Just then, a rooster gathered up speed from the driveway and flew as fast as he could, hitting the side of the house!  The hen got up and limped away.  He didn't seem any the worse for wear and followed her.

All we can think is that the first chicken also hurled herself at the house.  Mystifying. 

Anyone know of a propensity for chickens to deliberately propel themselves against a house?

First Pick of coffee

Picking coffee

Sunday  and Monday July 24 & 25, several workers came to pick coffee.  Miguel was their leader.  His English is okay, but he tends to smile a lot and shake his head, which I later discovered was his way of saying “I have no idea what to say”.  He was the hardest worker, however, and the front man for the crew.

The first day the pickers started at the top of the farm (1,500 ft. elevation).  We saw them, children in tow, each picking into a waist high plastic container strapped to their shoulders.  There were several cars parked along the bare spots off the driveway.  Both days were very sunny, which has been unusual, actually.  It was very hot, or as the workers found sitting under a tree told David, muy caliente.

First night in shed

Miguel took 11 burlap bags for the workers to fill from the waist containers.  7 filled bags were stored in the work shed overnight.  Each worker had their own number on their bag.  Miguel ended up with two full bags, 210 lbs.  Sunday, the workers picked further down the hill closer to the farmhouse.  We heard lively talking amongst themselves, music, and children.  I imagine one of the kids made the stone cairn tower.  

Loading coffee bags

We learned the mill would close at 4:30pm.  The pickers finished about 1:00pm, loaded up all the bags into Miguel’s SUV, and off we went to follow him to Koa Farms mill house.  It is on Koa Rd, a narrow winding paved one lane road.  Paved means trucks can use the road.  We had to turn off to let a big truck come up the hill as we were going down.

Unloading at Koa Farms mill

Bags inside mill

Koa Farms has a big building with a loading dock where you drop off the coffee.  It is still very early to harvest coffee, so it was empty looking.  Our load of coffee was taken off the back of the truck.  Each individual bag was weighed in numerical order, calling out the total weight for each number, which means each separate picker.  The average amount per picker was about 75 pounds.  The pickers are paid $.45 per pound.  The mill bought this fresh picked coffee for $1.15 per pound.   We brought in 927 pounds.  They deduct one pound per bag.  I thought that was too high, until I carried the empty bags back to the car.

Calculations

Coffee weighing by picker

The first picking is usually not that good quality, for various reasons.  One, you have to pick because there are red cherries, but not very many per tree.  So in order for the workers to pick enough to make it worth their while, they pick orange and yellow cherries as well.  In other words, they are not so discriminating with their fingers.  Later, when the main part of the crop starts to ripen, there will be more red cherries per tree and thus more red will be picked.  So this first pick, the cherry was sold to the mill.  Later pickings, with a higher percentage of red, the coffee will be processed, not sold.

Coffee cherries in carts

After the weighing and calculations are finished, the cherries are poured out of the bags into wheelbarrow like carts.  We don’t know where they go after that.  Koa owns the coffee now.  But we were told that since it is less than 4,000 pounds, it will be processed differently than in a larger batch.

The mill will not buy or process coffee from our farm again for at least two weeks.  I’m not sure why that is, but it gives us two weeks of quiet during the day.

Avocado, Banana, Coffee: How to Grow Useful Exotic Plants for Fun

If you live with 100% humidity:

When you drop a pill on the floor it doesn’t roll.



When you need an envelope, it is already sealed shut.



If you are selling paper by the pound, you will get a lot more money.



Be sure the printer doesn’t feed more than one sheet at a time.



Scotch tape won't stick.  Duct tape works if you are lucky.



Always use a coaster. There is no question that the glass will drip.



Don’t leave anything sweet on any surface. It is a party invitation to ants.



Opening the refrigerator door brings billowing refreshing cold air which looks like ice fog to an Alaskan.



Anything steel will rust – within a week. Tools are normally brown.



Anything stainless steel - isn’t.



Anything painted so it won’t rust - will rust.



For furniture, consider that metal will rust.  Fabric will collect dust and keep it.   Wood will swell.  The best furniture therefore is plastic.



Door hinges, door handles - forget about it. They rust.



Not to worry about static cling.



Not to worry about ironing. Wrinkles will hang right out.

Home-made rice socks

They sell DampRid refillable moisture absorber hanging packages for the closet and DampRid containers for around the house.  It is sort of like trying to sop up a leaky faucet with Metamucil.  Probably not the best way to spend your money since they have to be replaced weekly and it is still damp.  The rice sock is another strategy.



The best all purpose cleaner is mold and mildew remover.



No dusting. The dust becomes part of the furniture.



When you want to clean a window you don’t need to dampen the cloth.



Don’t even think about putting dishes back in the cupboard with water droplets left on them. Better yet, wipe the dishes dry and then leave them in the dish drainer overnight.



It works better to use soy sauce or something else salty like olives and forget putting rice in the salt shaker.



Have a whole cupboard or two full of towels, there are never enough.



You need a heavy duty dryer.  Sheets, towels, bedspreads, comforters all need to be washed and dried at least weekly.  After a shower, spread the towel over a dining room chair to hopefully dry overnight.  Alternate the inside shower curtain and the outside one so they get a chance to dry.



To keep extra sheets and blankets, put them in a plastic lock top bin with a rice sock.



Find a hairstyle you can live with because no amount of straightener or shampoo for "body" will be effective; in fact, the shorter your hair the better.



No more hat hair. Take the hat off and your hair will lie limp in a minute.



You have to remember to drink water because you aren’t thirsty.



Always wear shoes if you don't want your feet wet or picking up dirt from the floor.



The stick-on price labels they put on plastic items? They peel right off. No more broken fingernails.



In fact, fingernails and hair grow faster.



And best of all, your skin will look and feel dewy fresh.

Kona Bridge

I played ACBL duplicate bridge today at the Kona bridge center within Hualalai Academy. Hawley and I did well enough to get some points, Everyone was very friendly and I had a great time. I am looking forward to more bridge in Kona. There are three games a week in the summer. Only 4.5 tables today. They miss their snow birds.

Kona bridge is interesting in that they have purchased their own facility. The Hualalai Academy donated land on their campus because they wanted a community center type building that can be used for a variety of events. They allowed the bridge club to build the building and obviously use it when they want. One of the members spouses work(ed) at the Academy and thus set this up. A call went out to members to see if money could be raised to build a building.

Kona bridge game

No one thought enough money could be raised - maybe in a few years at most. But the email was sent. "John" responded that he would match the highest donation pledged. Most everyone said they would donate from $100 to $500. "Dave" surprisingly pledged $250,000! That meant "Joe" had to match $250,000, which he did! Now they were talking real money and a real building. Several others pledged in the $25,000 to $50,000 range and the building was built and is in use today. It has a small stage, a kitchen area, a large open space that can be set up with tables and chairs, or as a theater or other event. It is a very versatile and useful, busy building. It is aptly named the "Bridge Building".  The bridge club has to set up the tables and chairs and bid boxes each game, but it is convenient and everyone pitches in; even the ones playing the last sit out stay to help.  The club has the electronic score machines, but we must shuffle every game.  It is $3.00 to play. The Board pays to make every game one of the special games you can pay an extra dollar to ACBL for, and get double points.  They have a “listserve” that allows you as a member to send out an email to everyone to ask for a partner.  Game results are posted on the website.  And the most interesting thing is that at the end of the month, the local paper, West Hawaii Today, publishes the month’s winners and other bridge club news!  They usually have a Sectional in the winter.

I have begun to meet some of the resident members. Mostly locals are playing this time of year. One of the most beautiful women I have ever seen with white hair plays often and was one of the group who goes out to dinner after the game on Thursdays. Someone told me she is in her late 80's. You could have knocked me over. I discovered that two other beautiful ladies with gray hair who are smart and spry as they come, are 93 and 94. One was also at the Thursday dinner. One very interesting lady was in television. I asked more about it. She said that you should never be too good at your job. She was a secretary at a network, but she couldn't really type or take shorthand, so they had to find her another job. She was promoted to an idea person.  She worked on “I’ve Got a Secret”.  At one time, she said, she had discovered ordinary people with the actual names of all the Presidents of the United States right there on Manhattan Island.  She would get calls from Abraham Lincoln or John F. Kennedy.  I guess some of these people “had a secret” on the show.

After the game you can buy 100% Kona coffee from Jim for $15.00 a pound, or a jar of Kona Golden Lava Sweet Hot Mustard from Shelley.  There are usually limes or oranges to take home for free.  I should bring some of our excess bananas to donate, but I suspect everyone there has too many as well.