Jamie and the rest of the crew tied together anything that would float, attached whatever supplies they could use in case they made it to land, and finally, lifelines for themselves. A lot goes through your head when you’re contemplating jumping overboard, as Jamie later confessed. Happily, it didn’t come to that. With only yards between them and certain doom, the men heard the sound of a plane circling high overhead, and a voice crackling over the radio. The New Zealand Air Force had received their emergency beacon. A barge was on the way.
So was the Royal Tongan Navy. . . .
Just about now, Jamie’s plane is landing in Nuku‘alofa again. No shivers this time. But as we wrap up this environmental issue, I can’t help recalling that misadventure, and be struck by the similarities of their crisis to the challenges that face our own small island.
We, too, are surrounded by water, and we, too, have precious and finite supplies.
Hawaiians understood this, and in fact considered canoes metaphors for islands. Survival on an ocean canoe depends on the limited provisions that can be taken aboard, just as the survival of an island people depends on the careful management of their resources. Earth itself is an island, afloat in a sea of space. Survival of her passengers — from the smallest microorganism to, well, us — depends on our ability to care for and manage our resources.
This issue of Maui No Ka ‘Oi celebrates the men and women who work tirelessly every day to keep us all afloat. Hopefully, that includes a small boat on its way to Telekivava‘u.
Mahalo to the New Zealand Air Force and Captain Holo Kaukau of the Royal Tongan Navy. Drop in anytime.
