It was one of those dazzling October days in Maui filled with cloud-sprinkled blue skies and sun-drenched rainbows. I was taking a ferry from historic Lahaina to the island of Lanai on a photo shoot. It was breezy as we pulled out of the harbor and set direction for crossing the strong channel to Lanai. Waves were gaining height and we braced ourselves for perhaps some seasickness. As I sought the horizon with my eyes hoping to allay any motion sickness I was thrilled to see there were rainbows on all sides of the boat. I began photographing the rainbows in every direction…one floating on the ocean in front of the island of Kaho’olawe, one cascading onto the historic Pioneer Inn, one pouring onto the old whaling vessel Carthiginian moored in the harbor, and several folding into the crevices and valleys of green mountains of western Maui – it was a rainbow fest!

I was happy. I felt like I’d hit the ultimate island photography jackpot. I knew most everyone loves rainbows and here I was lucky enough to be getting a huge folio of the prismatic images. But soon I found out that I would be lucky enough to capture a very different type of island image – one that is truly rare!

As we pulled more deeply into the channel, I turned my lens back towards Lahaina to get some nice shots from an ocean perspective. Out of nowhere, a dark funnel shaped twister formed in the old sugar cane and pineapple fields above the town.

It grew bigger and changed shape as it gathered the fields dust that defined its whirling shape. I kept snapping photographs as it was grew in size, gaining speed, and migrating erratically. The pictures were awesome. This was an unusual sight for the islands.

A distant tinge of fear struck me for just a moment as the funnel continued to quickly grow. I knew it was a dust devil, not a tornado, but for a second I thought about Dorothy….

Perhaps it would keep growing into a massive tornado, and I would be carried away in the sea ferry over a real rainbow in Maui to a destination unknown…with dolphins, surfers, Polynesian dancers, ukuleles and coconut palms flying by the windows. Well, if that happens, I thought I could take lots of amazing pictures with my Canon for sure!

It is rare for there to be a dust devil funnel of this size churning over the land in Hawaii I am told. Sometimes they get waterspout funnels out over the water, but they tend to evaporate once they hit land.

I started out the day to go take pictures of Lanai. Leave it to Hawaii, to give me a big atmospheric show of rainbows and dust devils before I even set foot on Lanai!


© Susan Benay. 2007. Image and Text. All Rights Reserved.