Only 48 hours before the first NW swell of Maui's winter season, the Blue ‘Aina team partnered with Hula Grill and Surfrider Maui to clean up Honolua Bay.

Loading directly from Ka‘anapali Beach in front of Hula Grill, the group managed an entire bag of trash before the trip even got under way.

Surfrider Maui was one of the founding partners of Trilogy's Blue ‘Aina program, and as an organization that continues to do beach cleanups and encourage a reduction in plastic, it's always an honor to help them raise funds towards the cause of protecting our shoreline.

Stepping up to host the sail was Hula Grill Ka‘anapali, who not only made a generous donation of $1,000 to Surfrider, but also provided enough food to treat everyone on board to lunch. The money was donated as part of the company's Legacy of Aloha program, which allocates shares of revenue for charitable causes that benefit the local community.

Tying to a mooring in Honolua Bay, some lingering runoff from recent rains caused a decrease in visibility. Despite the cloudy ocean conditions, some Blue ‘Aina team members returned to the boat with debris pulled from the shoreline, and all were happy to cool off from the summer's record setting heat.

Even though the reef was encouragingly free of debris, one of the main benefits of the sail was continuing to raise awareness about the harms of ocean plastification.

As more data becomes available from within the tropical gyres, the issue of keeping plastic out of our oceans is greater than it's ever been.

Robi Campbell, Surfrider Maui's beach cleanup coordinator, offered some easy ways to reduce the amount of plastics we use in our daily lives. Carrying a re-usable water bottle, for example, is a simple means of reducing waste that will also help keep you hydrated. She even carries her own cutlery made from washable bamboo in order to reduce the number of plastic utensils needed when eating on the run. One of the great things about the Blue ‘Aina cleanups is that even on sails with minimal trash, there is still a gathering of like-minded stewards with the goal of protecting our oceans.

A big mahalo to Hula Grill Ka‘anapali for making this day such a success, and there are still seats available on this Saturday's cleanup, where Akamai Pumping will be donating $1,000 to West Maui Kumuwai (with food by Maui Brewing Company!)

Mahalo nui loa for your continued support, and how blessed we are as an island community to have this ocean as our healing playground. Aloha.