Safari Boats, Exploring the Liberty Shipwreck on Lanai - Tom Barefoot's Tours
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Safari Boats, Exploring the Liberty Shipwreck on Lanai - Tom Barefoot's Tours
I've been going on these sorts of excursions with my Dad since I was a small child and exploring the liberty ship that is grounded at shipwreck beach on Lanai has always been a fantasy that I've had, that has never materialized into reality until today. Before I go into an account of the day I want to go over what factors contribute to this being such a special experience, mainly the wind and the surf conditions. The first thing that made today possible was the wind. The winds we have in Hawaii that we refer to as the trade winds are some of the strongest, most consistent winds in the world that blow about three hundred of the three hundred and sixty-five days of the year. These winds come out of the North East and get funneled through the channel between Molokai and Maui then accelerate westward to the low lying island of Lanai where they issue beatings to the North and Eastern coastline of Lanai on an almost daily basis. These winds were absent today so the water conditions resembled a swimming pool instead of the normal choppy conditions with heavy onshore winds. We were also a flat period between our large winter swells so the wave size was very small which is also rare this time of year. So anyway the point I am trying to make is this was a one in a million Lanai day.
Now about the journey around the shipwreck. When my friend Bill and I got in the water at the shipwreck we were immediately greeted by a medium sized sea Turtle. I followed the turtle around for a while and then swam to the backside of the boat where the Captain had told me about some under water ledges underneath the wreck that had some nocturnal fish congregate in during the daytime. I found those and then took a moment to observe the side of the wreck when I noticed a knotted rope that was dangling down from the top of the wreckage. I figured that this was my opportunity to fulfill my childhood fantasy of exploring the huge liberty ship so gave my fins to Bill to hold on to and started climbing.
Once I got about half way up the rope I began to realize how decomposed the wreckage was and how dangerous this adventure was turning out but I threw caution to the wind and kept on climbing. Once I got to the top of the boat I was able to observe the top deck which was remarkably intact considering that the boat has been weathering on the reef for over fifty years. I cautiously tip toed around the top being very careful to test each step before putting all of my weight down. Even with my careful steps I still managed to cut my shin enough to draw some blood. I explored the wreckage for about fifteen minutes then jumped off back into the water, I don't know if I would ever do it again because it was extremely dangerous but luckily in this instance curiosity did not kill the cat and I was able to check out the wreckage of the Liberty ship on Shipwreck Beach, Lanai. What an amazing experience! -Jake Barefoot
