After spending their vacation in Honolulu, Kaua‘i school teachers Miss Jasmine Sidlowski, Miss Thelma Gillen, and Miss Dorothy Ashe of Lihu‘e School, and Miss Kathryn Darcey and Miss Helen Johnston of Koloa School, had planned to return to Kaua‘i aboard the Inter-Island steamer “Mikahala” on Friday, Jan. 3rd or Saturday, Jan. 4th, 1919.
They all looked forward to promptly returning to their classes on Monday, the 6th.
But, upon arriving at Honolulu Harbor on Friday, they were informed that the “Mikahala” was being detained in port indefinitely due to bad weather and rough seas in the Kaieiewaho Channel.
Disappointed, they then tried to hire a Japanese sampan for the voyage, but no sampan captains were willing to risk it.
Finally, they applied to Young Brothers, where the stouthearted Hawaiian captain of the “Sea Scout,” a 40-foot gasoline launch, agreed to take them on, but forewarned them that the channel crossing to Kauai would no doubt be hazardous.
Undaunted, they embarked from Honolulu Harbor at 2:00 p.m. Saturday only to discover that the launch’s four cubbyhole cabins were unbearable due to the smell of gasoline and engine grease.
And, when they entered open seas, huge swells swept over the launch, drenching them.
It was also bitterly cold, with only two blankets on board to warm them.
When darkness came, the launch’s lights would not switch on, so they stayed put in darkness on deck, cold, wet, cramped and miserably seasick.
Although they were aware of the real danger of being capsized, none were alarmed.
They had simply become too sick and tired to care.
Toward daybreak they approached Kauai, but the captain somehow managed to miss sighting the Nawiliwili light.
And, when daylight came, they found themselves far down to leeward.
It was not until 1:00 p.m. Sunday, the 5th, that they at last reached Nawiliwili and disembarked on the wharf at Kalapaki.
They were physically and mentally exhausted after their twenty-one hour ordeal.
Not one would even wish to dream, let alone think, of another channel crossing for months to come.
But, they’d made it!
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Hank Soboleski has been a resident of Kauai since the 1960s. Hank’s love of the island and its history has inspired him, in conjunction with The Garden Island Newspaper, to share the island’s history weekly. The collection of these articles can be found here: https://bit.ly/2IfbxL9 and here https://bit.ly/2STw9gi Hank can be reached at hssgms@gmail.com
