Where the Wind Blows
Wind is more than a force that shapes the waves along our shores. It is our teacher, whispering through palms, bending the upland grasses and carrying the ocean’s perfume inland. Invisible yet undeniable, it guides both Maui and those of us who call the island home.
From our home in the hills above Wailuku, beneath Mauna Kahalawai, I can see the North Shore shimmer in the distance – sails and kites tracing bright arcs across the water as riders harness the trades. Makani – the Hawaiian word for wind – isn’t just weather; it’s life itself, powering work, play and spirit alike.
Here on the Valley Isle, the makani defines daily rhythm, a steady force that makes Maui the wind and water sports capital of the world. Trade winds blow nearly 80 percent of the year, accelerating through the valley between Haleakalā and Mauna Kahalawai to create world-class conditions for windsurfing, kitesurfing and foiling.
Those steady trades also temper the island’s heat, clear volcanic haze and feed the rain cycle that sustains Maui’s valleys and farms. At Ho‘okipa Beach Park, the same gusts that shape the ocean’s edge draw athletes from across the globe, filling the horizon with color and motion that mirrors Maui’s own restless beauty.
We feel that pulse in “Winds of Change,” where Robby Naish’s life has been defined by the trades of Ho‘okipa. For decades he chased them, raced them and built a global business around them – until returning to simply move with the wind brought freedom again. Those same trades that lift his sail are the same that cool our days, bring rain to our valleys and carry the scent of plumeria through the air.
The land teaches resilience, patience and care. In Peʻahi, U.S. Poet Laureate W.S. Merwin planted a forest that listens to the wind, the trades bringing the moisture and renewal that turned barren fields into living forest. Over four decades, he and his wife Paula planted more than 3,000 palms across 19 acres, transforming dry soil into one of the world’s most diverse palm collections. “The Poet and The Forest” shares how his life turned wind and rain into a second growth of both land and spirit.
In Hawaiian tradition, wind and fire move together. “Pele: Fire, Myth and the Fountains of Today” reminds us that before she settled on Hawaiʻi Island, Pele shaped Maui’s volcanic peaks and the flows that reached the ocean. The same breath that feeds her fires rides the trades, carrying destruction and creation hand in hand.
Those lessons continue in the work of Sissy Lake-Farm, whose kuleana, the responsibility we inherit, flows like the wind through language, chant and community. She reminds us that to speak or sing in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi is to let the island breathe through us.
As the trade winds rise along our shores and the island breathes beneath them, may we all find guidance, inspiration and balance in this breath between seasons.
With Aloha,
Chris Amundson
Publisher & Editor
chris@mauimagazine.net
