Day 15 (Friday, June 27) by Mike

Sailing with Dummies (Hawaii to Alaska Edition)

Our last day in Midway. We did our last exploring and finished up our last laundry. Then we ate our last cafeteria meal, downloaded the latest weather forecasts, headed to the boat with our junk, and four of us shoved off for Attu Island in Alaska. We abandoned Cathy to the hands of the locals.

The people at Midway are some of the nicest, most helpful people as a whole that I have ever been around. Matt greeted us at the boat when we arrived and gave us a nice orientation. It was a good talk, informative and he made us feel very welcome.

He mentioned that everyone on the island was nice and would be glad to help if we had questions or needs. I thought to myself that it sounded good, and I expected most of the people to be friendly and nice based on his example and his comment.

I was wrong. In the six days we spent on Midway 100% of the people were nicer and more helpful and more pleasant than I could have imagined. Thanks to all of you who read this.

This does not mean I agree with many of the rules that apply to visiting the monument, memorial, or whatever it is. Midway is an amazing place to visit because of the unique wildlife and the interesting history. It’s a pity that it is so tightly controlled that few people will ever see it.

I agree that nature and history should be preserved, but there is a point beyond reason where things become just plain stupid. And many of the rules are beyond sensible reason.

Most of the people on the island showed a passion for what they do and it was clear they care about the island and its future. But many of them voiced different levels of frustration with many of the rules. I’m sure they will follow them until when and if they are changed.

I personally hope that things loosen up so more people can experience what we did. The goonies, the white birds that often hover around in trios, the brown noddies guarding their eggs, the huge turtles, the seals, the old buildings, the roads, the history.

Daily Cuisine:

The stuffed peppers at the cafeteria were great. It was a good meal to say goodbye with. Pong and his staff made my pants fit tighter.

Fishing Report:

Fishing is still not allowed in this national monument. That’s a whole lot of thousands of square miles where there is no fishing allowed for no good reason. I still think this is a lousy rule.

Arts and Entertainment:

During the late morning several of the Thai workers came by to look at the Minnow. There were lots of cameras, lots of smiles, and lots of laughing. These are some happy people.