Join the the crew of Hokule’a, Kailua Canoe Club and ELRA for one last mangrove cleanup this Thursday morning
You’ll get to work with the crew of Hokule’a when you help with the mangrove cleanup this Thursday, June 21.
We’ll meet at the Kailua Beach Halau at 8:30 am, and paddle, or ride in my barge, up to the Kaawakea Bridge on Kawainui Stream. If you’re late, just meet us at the bridge. We’ll cut and place the mangrove onto our barges & transport to the bridge to load into pickup trucks for disposal (as personal yard waste) at the Kapaa transfer station.
We’re getting a bit thin on tools. I’ve only got a few hand saws, ten hook-kinves, about a dozen loppers and dozen pairs of boots left. (how come I ended up with more left than right boots is beyond me). So if you can bring a pair of loppers and your own boots or tabis that will help.
Aloha – Bob Bourke (256-2057)
Hokule’a Visits Kailua Bay on FridayHokule’a will sail from Honolulu to Kailua on Friday June 22. They plan to arrive between 2-4 pm on Friday and welcome community members that wish to visit once the anchors are set. Hokule’a will anchor overnight and depart on Saturday morning by 8 am to make her way to the Waikalua Loko and on to Hakipu’u.Mangrove Cleanup Project Almost Over
Thursday will mark the 21st and last official work day of this project by the Kailua Canoe Club and Enchanted Lake Residents Association since the beginning of our efforts a year ago. Over the course of this project almost 257 volunteer days were contributed to remove an estimated 115 cubic yards of mangrove green waste. This marks the first time in many decades that the lower estuary and Kaelepulu Pond are free of this alien invasive plant.
This project was LOTS of work and had terrific input by the sponsors NOAA, Hawaii Community Foundation, H.K. Castle Foundation, and the City and County DFM. More importantly, community members stepped up to the plate to offer assistance including:
Dan O`Brian Landscaping who volunteered the use of his back-hoe to offload our barges
Oceanit Labs for supplying water quality meters and truck support
Kailua’s Hardware Hawaii who donated tools and supplies
Unitek Hawaii who donated the use of 20-yard dumpsters and hauling out to Campbell Industrial Park for disposal
Mahalo most of all to those few, mostly old-timers, who came out time-after-time with smiles on their faces. At times it seemed a never-ending task, and in hind-sight it probably is. When one youngster (on his second day of volunteering!) recently asked “When is this project ever going to end!?”, I heard one of the old-timers turn around and say “This project is over for you when your kids come out and take over.”
The Enchanted Lake Residents Association (ELRA) is a non-profit organization that holds title to and manages a 79.471 acre portion of Kaelepulu Pond, also known as Enchanted Lake.
The board of the ELRA has taken a pro-active role in the management of the pond, with the ultimate goal of restoring Kaelepulu to support diverse fisheries resources and recreational activities in clean water.
