Popoia Island

The last time I saw Stratton was when we kayaked to this island to scatter our Ba-Chan’s ashes in the pacific. To honor him and our grandmother, my boyfriend and I swam to the small seabird sanctuary of Popoia island to place a Stratton stone. Although it’s only .5miles each way, I’m not much of a swimmer, and I definitely remembered getting there a lot faster in a kayak (all thanks to Stratton, no doubt). The sun was setting by the time we got there, golden light was pouring over the Koolau range, illuminating the shallow water and indigenous coastal succulents. The shearwaters and petrels were taking off in droves for their evening rounds. Their eggs were nestled in the limestone cavities all around the island. We left a blue stone for him on the eastern tip of the island, near a rocky cove where I believe we laid Ba-Chan to rest as well. I unfortunately couldn’t take any photos on the island but here are some I took from shore, as well as some from our kayaking trip 10 years ago. Miss you Stratton and Ba-Chan, hope you are enjoying the view.