Ko Olina Beachfront Penthouse

Starting July 5, 2009, Oahu islanders, including those in Honolulu and Ko Olina, will be able to see the International Space Station as it orbits the earth about 220 miles above.  There will be six passes over six days; so if you missed it the first night, you have other chances to view it.

According to Mike Shanahan, Bishop Museum education director and planetarium manager, the station will pass overhead at about 8:50 pm and will be extremely bright. He went on to share that the space station should move very slowly against a backdrop of stars and should be very easy to find.

Additionally, three of the passes will be before sunrise and Jupiter, Mars, and Venus will all be visible too; however, the space station will be brighter than Jupiter. NASA has said that many locations will have as much as five minutes to view the station as it flies overhead. Although the structure will be moving too fast for conventional telescopes, binoculars should improve the view, NASA said.

According to Space.com, “The International Space Station was finally launched on November 20, 1998 to begin its first 92-minute trip around the Earth. The first permanent crew of astronauts arrived on the International Space Station on November 2, 2000. Since then, there have always been at least two people on board. So far, the astronauts residing on the space station have been American or Russian.”

After a failed attempt in 2008 to win the crown, Ms. Raeceen Woolford, from Ko Olina, has won the 2009 Miss Honolulu crown. She is a former University of Honolulu volleyball player and beat out some tough competition in the runner’s up Jalee Kate Fuselier, Lauren Cheape, Tioni Tam Sing and Crystal Lee.

Raeceen will be traveling to Las Vegas in January 2010 to represent Hawaii at the annual Miss America competition. Ms. Woolford won a number of prizes; including a system-wide pass on Hawaiian airlines, jewelry from JYL Jewelry and Flora Lu Designs, professional services and a complete wardrobe from Honolulu’s local designers and providers.

Raeceen shares, “My plan to create awareness of this issue stems from my marketing strategy. The Keiki Ohana Program, with the support of the Miss America Program will work in partnership with other established programs like the Boys and Girls Club, Police Activities League (P.A.L), and the Girl Scouts of America. It will also work with parents to strengthen the familial unit as a whole. Every aspect of a child’s development and environment is evaluated as being healthy and nurturing or not. We can then send our representatives into the community, reaching out to children and their parents through after school programs. I was raised in a single parent home and subjected to years of verbal abuse. If it were not for the love of my grandparents and positive role models in my life, I would have low self-esteem and look for acceptance in the wrong places. I needed the love of those people to realize that I am better than what my childhood defined me as and I have the potential to be a revolutionary woman.”

Cheering you on from Ko Olina and Honolulu!!

A Hawaiian icon has gone the way of the sunset. TheBoat, which was a $2 ride, sailed its last voyage on June 30^th. This ends the golden age of water transport for Hawaii and moves the islands into more current modes of transport, cars and airplanes.  Currently, the only interisland passenger service is now by air.

Buses are being added to make up for the loss of the water commute but for the regular commuters who used the waterway around Oahu, which sailed out of the beautiful Aloha Tower Marketplace to Kalaeloa Harbor across from the Ko Olina resort on West Oahu. Many of the former passengers are not excited about going back to a bus service and will start driving instead of riding the bus, which could crowd the only major transportation corridor.

According to CNBC.com and the Associated Press, “Besides the spectacular shoreline vistas, the hour-long voyage on TheBoat offered amenities not found on Honolulu’s often-crowded bus system: a snack bar, free newspapers, tables for creating a traveling office, high-backed seats, wireless Internet and an attentive crew.”

Additionally, the article shares, “Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann said he still supports the idea of a city ferry and it could come back when it becomes more viable. A Web site has been set up for a grassroots campaign to “keep hope alive.”

“What I’ll always remember is the sense of peace I feel with the ocean breeze in my face — a perfect way to begin and end the day, a feeling no drive home or bus ride could ever match,” says the Webmaster, who identifies himself only as Mel, regular commuter and supporter of TheBoat.”