Economy | Page 186 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

The Ironman Triathlon World Championship is the initial and ultimate Swim – Bike – Run event.

This type of race (tri-sport) was stated in Hawai‘i and was essentially created for bragging rights by combining the 2.4-mile Waikiki Roughwater Swim, 112-miles of the Around-Oahu Bike Race, followed by the 26.2-mile run of the Honolulu Marathon.

It started on O‘ahu, but its home is now in West Hawai‘i on the Big Island.

For 13-years, I was its Director of Aid Stations (1990-2002.) We had about 4,000 volunteers and over 30 bike and run aid stations for the 1,200 contestants. We also had a cadre of coordinators to help oversee the operations.

Each year, I made a point of trying to add another coordinator to my list. It was more of a challenge and game to think up new ideas for “coordinators.”

This was not only to help spread out the work load, but, more importantly, it was a way to get some of the race swag to more people (coordinators received a special race shirt, had full access to all areas of the race and were invited to special parties.)

Speaking of parties, in the early years it was like pulling teeth to get coordinators to a race planning meeting.

Then, I finally got it.

I started to have wine tasting as a part of the planning meeting. Not only did everyone show up (early,) they all asked when the next party, errr … meeting was.

This led to my attempt to get a wine person listed as a coordinator for the race (adding coordinators was a big deal to the race (given cost, etc,) so nothing was taken for granted.)

After extensive explanation of the importance of proper hydration in the race, etc, etc, etc, ultimately, the race director agreed to add a “Liquids Coordinator” to the Aid Stations roster.

However, little did they know that these “liquids” were meant for us, not the contestants. We had a perfect person for the job, Jack Squires, who lives in Napa Valley and managed a cork company.

However, in offering Jack the job, little did he know I had devised an elaborate practical joke for his initiation.

I worked with the race Medical Director, Bob Laird, on “including” Jack into a series of medical meetings Bob has with his medical crew prior to the race. They had some seminars dealing with medical concerns related to hydration, etc.

Bob agreed to sign a letter I wrote inviting Jack to the seminars – we also included reams of medical reports and other paperwork for Jack to review prior to the meetings.

Little did Jack know that I arranged all this with Bob.

Jack diligently reviewed the paperwork prior to getting to Kona. I recall several phone conversations with Jack after the invitation, where he questioned whether he wanted to participate, or not.

When Jack arrived, we let him in on the joke and told him there were no seminars to attend and he really had only two rules to follow in the Aid Stations Operating Manual, (1) make sure there is plenty of wine for the Aid Stations Coordinators and (2) never forget rule #1.

Of course, we snuck in our own wine into various race parties (some were “alcohol-free.”) Carbo-loading party is Thursday night of race week – it also was the beginning of our major Aid Stations party.

We’d pre-party at Carbo; then, leave early to go to the Liquids Coordinator’s Party. Jack did waaay good with those – lots of Napa’s finest.

As a payback to the early prank I played on Jack, over the years those parties also turned into a series of gag-gifts giving to me.

I have to admit, I was particularly fond of the blow-up doll and shark hat given to me at those parties (I still have the hat, but ditched the doll.)

I had a call from Jack a few weeks ago. He is now vacationing on Moloka‘i. He returns home today and I will be meeting him at the Honolulu Airport, during a long layover on his return flight.

There are discussions and proposed legislation on ‘Iliahi in the legislature this year. Here is a summary of some of the reasons on how we got to where we are with Sandalwood.

Sandalwood (ʻiliahi) has been highly prized and in great demand through the ages; its use for incense is part of the ritual of Buddhism. Chinese used the fragrant heart wood for incense, medicinal purposes, for architectural details and carved objects.

Sandalwood was first recognized as a commercial product in Hawai‘i in 1791 by Captain Kendrick of the Lady Washington, when he instructed sailors to collect cargo of sandalwood. From that point on, it became a source of wealth in the islands, until it’s supply was ultimately exhausted.

Trade in Hawaiian sandalwood began as early as the 1790s; by 1805 it had become an important export item.

Sandalwood trade was a turning point in Hawai‘i, especially related to its economic structure. It moved Hawai‘i from a self-sufficient economy to a commercial economy. This started a series of other economic and export activities across the islands.

In 1811, an agreement between Boston ship captains and Kamehameha I established a monopoly on sandalwood exports, with Kamehameha receiving 25% of the profits. As trade and shipping brought Hawaiʻi into contact with a wider world, it also enabled the acquisition of Western goods, including arms and ammunition.

Kamehameha used Western cannons and guns to great advantage in his unification of the Islands and also acquired Western-style ships, buying the brig Columbia for a price of two ship loads of sandalwood in 1817.

Between about 1810 and 1820, the major item of Hawaiian trade was sandalwood. Kamehameha I rigidly maintained control of the trade until his death in 1819, at which time his son, Liholiho, took over control.

When Kamehameha I died, although Liholiho (his son and successor) should have inherited all of Kamehameha’s lands, the chiefs also wanted the revenue from the sandalwood.

Chiefs persuaded the king to give them an in on the royal sandalwood monopoly; trade continued at an accelerated rate, following Kamehameha’s death.

In America, the Panic of 1819 (the first financial crisis in the United States) made it difficult for traders to obtain sandalwood for the China trade.

However, because the Hawaiian chiefs had become enamored of items of foreign manufacture, the islands provided an open market for goods like rum, clothing, cloth, furnishings and a host of other things. Foreign traders shipped these goods to the islands, exchanging them for sandalwood, which continued to be in demand in China.

It was Hawaii’s first source of revenue and major debt. Credit secured by payment in sandalwood saddled the Hawaiian Chiefs and the Islands’ struggling economy.

In 1826, the kingdom of Hawaiʻi enacted its first written law – a sandalwood tax. Every man was ordered to deliver to the government 66 pounds of sandalwood, or pay four Spanish dollars, by September 1, 1827. Every woman older than 13 was obligated to make a 12-by-6-foot kapa cloth. The taxes were collected to reduce the staggering debt.

The common people were displaced from their agricultural and fishing duties and all labor was diverted to harvesting sandalwood. This period saw two major famines as ʻiliahi was over-harvested to the point of commercial extinction in Hawaiʻi forests.

Unfortunately, the harvesting of the trees was not sustainably managed (they cut whatever they could, they didn’t replant) and over-harvesting of ‘iliahi took place.

By 1830, the trade in sandalwood had completely collapsed. Hawaiian forests were exhausted and sandalwood from India and other areas in the Pacific drove down the price in China and made the Hawaiian trade unprofitable.

Once reported as growing on landscape scales, today, there are only remnant patches of ‘iliahi. Two places where it can still be relatively easily seen are on ‘Aiea Loop Trail in O‘ahu and an exclosure adjacent to the Kula State Forest access road on the way to Polipoli State Park.

It would be great if areas in Hawai‘i could be restored in sandalwood forests, to return this important legacy.