Jesus saves… I am a witness

 

All over Maui there were T-shirts and bumper stickers that read “Eddie would go”.  Eddie Aikau is remembered because he lost his life paddling to get help after the canoe he was in capsized off the islands of Molokai and Lanai, everyone else was saved but Eddie who had set off to get help was lost at sea.

We left our “BikeHotel” early setting off toward cleaner beaches.  The first place we stopped was beautiful but too much money for us, the second was cheap but not nice enough for us, the third, fourth and fifth places were perfect but wouldn’t take dogs!  Finally we found a cute little Hostal/Hotel in El Tunco (The Tunco Lodge) that would take us and our dogs AND more importantly had a pool!  The pool was mandatory for me as swimming in the Ocean was a no go due to the huge waves and treacherous currents.  Walking through the town of El Tunco we were told that at least 6 people had died in the month of April (ok so we heard different numbers from 5 to 11 so we are going with 6), some were surfers and others swimmers caught in rips and towed out to sea or smashed on the rocks that dot the ocean. 

It was hot and we were hot so we spent most of the afternoon splashing in the pool trying to cool off while the dogs slept in air conditioned bliss. Around 4 in the afternoon we were all sufficiently cooled down enough to check out the beach.  The waves were incredible, toward the west side of the beach (it is a south facing break) there is a place that breaks right in an almost straight line.  The surfers can catch a wave and ride it for ages but never move further down just in.  The waves start about a mile out so the paddle is long and hard.  In the center of the beach is a large rock and the currents around it swirl and twist, it is not a place I would want to swim and on that day I wouldn’t have even waded in the ocean. 

We walked down the beach to watch the few surfers brave (or dumb) enough to go out that afternoon.  Right in front of a group of three surfers (2 guys and girl) went in and started paddling the mile to the break.  As we watched I really wondered if they were going to make it, one of the guys took off and quickly made it out, the other guy and the girl seemed to be having a harder time, and eventually the girl started to paddle in and the guy took off to the break.  After 15 or so minutes the girl had not gotten any closer to shore but was being pulled closer and closer to the rock.  I couldn’t believe what I was seeing this poor girl was in serious trouble, a few minutes later another surfer entered the water dangerously close to the rock, he quickly paddled out to the girl and got her to turn around and paddle with the current around the rock, within 10 minutes they were both safely on the beach. 

I asked a local who the guy was, was he a local lifeguard, I wanted to know.  It turns out he is a waiter at a local restaurant and when people saw she was in trouble they ran to get him.  After he saved her he went back to the restaurant, showered changed clothes and went back to work.  His name is Jesus, and when I spoke to him he said it was no big deal that he does it all the time.   

The next morning the waves and currents had settled down, the ocean was full of surfers and swimmers.  We saw Jesus paddle out to catch some waves, besides being the unofficial life guard he was one of the best surfers in the water that day.