The Intoxicators playing Saturday night in the Molokai bar.

Khan Tiki Mon and Sophista-tiki (Dawn Frasier). Dawn made the shirt I'm wearing and designed the fabric. I got a lot of comments on the shirt. I was like a walking billboard for Sophista-tiki. I told everyone to make sure and tell Dawn that I sent them when ordering their own custom shirt. "You won't get a discount but maybe I will". I am so funny.

Ding Dong Devils playing in the Molokai Bar.

Hula Girls playing in the Molokai bar.

Jeff "Beachbum" Berry symposium.

Jeff "Beachbum" Berry and Khan Tiki Mon after the symposium.

Hawaiian shirt symposium.

Crazy Al crashed the mermaid swim.

Swim on Saturday.

Hula Girls performing Friday night.

Hula Girls performing Friday night.

King Kukulele was once again the Master of Ceremonies. Here introducing the Hula Girls.

Tales of the Yankee Clipper.

Nani Maka was one of the first Mystery Drink girls at the Mai Kai and was a featured dancer at the Yankee Clipper in the Polynesian Room for many years.

Bre-elle Ishtar swim.

Hunting the Urban Primitive; symposium offered by Paul Roe.

For the first time at the Hukilau Marina and her pod of mermaids did a night swim; after midnight at the Wreck Bar.

Scenes from Thursday nights kick-off party.

My Derby Daiquiri - Thursday night at the Mai Kai in the Molokai bar.

Tiki Diablo and Khan Tiki Mon. Tiki Diablo is responsible for the awesome event mug this year.

John Mulder (Eekum Bookum) and his wife Janet [photo borrowed from Tiki Tower - Robert Jiminez].

Tiki Treasures Bazaar. All kinds of cool Tiki stuff to be had.

Some of the amazing art work on display. An amazing sculpt by Tiki 65 and a Sophista-tiki (Dawn Frasier) original.

Gold Dust Lounge performing in the ballroom Thursday night.

Entrance to the Tiki Treasures Bazaar in the Yankee Clipper ballroom.

The view from my room at the Yankee Clipper; the Fort Lauderdale beach. Actually my room was in the Marina Tower which is attached to the old Yankee Clipper.

2013/06/09 20:00 I called it quits at about seven tonight. Hukilau 2013 is over for me. I had a great time. Today was pretty mellow. I just headed on over to the Mai Kai around three o'clock or so. There was a screening of the documentary "Plastic Paradise". The documentary was commissioned by PBS and will air on the Miami affiliate in the Fall. It should then air on other PBS stations in 2014. The showing today was the world premiere. The filmmakers said they had the opportunity to premiere the film at Cannes but Cannes doesn't have Rum Barrels so they opted for the Mai Kai instead. Super delicious rum cocktails win out. The documentary centers on the Hukilau and the Mai Kai. I thought it was very well done and I can't wait until I can get a DVD copy. After the screening I had some appetizers in the Molokai bar while tasting the three 'lost cocktails'. These were drinks that were on the original menu from 1956 but that haven't been served in a long while. The Demerara Float was my favorite. I enjoyed the Mai Kai gardens for a while and then headed back here to my motel room. I have an early flight tomorrow.

A storm is a coming.

Adison sent me a text and she asked how Andrea was treating me. I had been kind of oblivious I guess. I hadn't been paying attention to the weather news. I asked her who's Andrea? She explained that was the name of the hurricane or tropical storm that was causing all the bad weather. I explained to her that the crew I was with didn't run from hurricanes but rather drank them. The storm forced the Friday night party inside. It would have been nicer poolside but the staff did a wonderful job moving everything inside at the last minute. Earlier on Friday I made a second pass through the Tiki Treasures Bazaar. I met some really awesome people. A few weeks before the Hukilau I had ordered some tin signs from Robert Jimenez (TikiTower.com). I already had some of his prints and the signs are a wonderful addition to the outside of my Tiki lounge. I got to meet Robert and we had a nice chat. I met John Mulder (Eekum Bookum) and got to see some of his wonderful work. I already had on order the mug Kai Ku Diver. It is sure to be one of my new favorite mugs. I met Tiki 65 after being blown away by his sculpt in the gallery display. Tiki Diablo.made the event mug and I bought a scrimshaw flask from him. About noon Bre-elle braved the weather and did a mermaid swim in the Wreck Bar pool. At my first Hukilau five years ago Bre-elle appeared with Marina at the Weeki Wachee symposium. The weather was just getting worse and worse. At one point the storm caused the airport in Fort Lauderdale to close. The most serious problems in the area that were a result of the tropical storm were flash flooding. A couple of times I was near a TV and each time I saw a PSA (public service announcement) about how to get out of a car caught in a flash flood. I went to the Paul Roe symposium “Hunting the Urban Primitive”. Next up was Tiki Tom D and “Tales of the Yankee Clipper”. Unfortunately the Yankee Clipper symposium got cut short because the room was needed for the unexpected set-up of the bands for the Friday night party.

2013/06/08 11:00 When I touched down in Florida on Thursday it was 88 degrees and sunny. I hadn’t checked the forecasts before I left. I just wasn’t that concerned with the weather. When I am at the Hukilau I spend most of my time at the Mai Kai in the Molokai bar or at the Yankee Clipper in the Wreck Bar. That, along with the super delicious rum cocktails, and I just don’t care that much what the weather is doing. The first named storm of the annual hurricane season was named Andrea and she was born on June 5th. She made landfall in Florida on June 6th dumping a crap load of rain on Fort Lauderdale.

2013/06/07 10:00 The Hukilau kicked off yesterday and last night. Last night the band Gold Dust Lounge performed in the ballroom. After the band finished playing and the kick-off party ended I headed over to the Mai Kai for the after-party and some most delicious rum drinks. One of the drinks I had was the Derby Daiquiri. Drinking a little bit of history there. Check out my Mai Kai Tribute Page 2 where I will have more on the Derby Daiquiri. After I left the Mai Kai it was back to the Yankee Clipper where Marina and her Aquaticats were performing a late night swim. The pictures of the night swim are a bit murky – it was night. Awesome first day.

2013/06/06 12:30 I am writing this on the plane from Newark, New Jersey bound for Fort Lauderdale, Florida. My 2013 Hukilau is about to get underway. So far the trip is progressing without incident. I had a really creepy dream last night but that is starting to fade from memory. I got to the airport in Syracuse early; two hours before the flight. I breezed right through security and was waiting patiently for my plane to load. The people sitting around me were talking about their travel problems. The plane at the gate I was supposed to leave from had been delayed and it seemed everyone on that flight was going to miss their connections. Their flight to Washington D.C. was blocking my flight to Newark. The plane for Washington was in the gate and there was nowhere for the plane to Newark to fit. They ended up having us walk out to the runway to get on the plane. It was raining pretty hard and it was about a two hundred yard walk to the plane. People were complaining about the walk in the rain but I said we’re lucky to have the flight leave on time. We landed in Newark and I changed planes. There was a family getting on the plane to Fort Lauderdale and they had a baby with the biggest stroller I have ever seen. I think if you put an engine on it the thing would be street legal. The mother also had a giant purse and all I could think of was the E*Trade baby talking about the “giant mom bag”.

2012/04/20 09:30 Save the date. For 2013 the Hukilau is moving back to June.

Khan Tiki Mon to attend his fifth Hukilau in 2013. 

HUKILAU 2013

Woo Hoo! Enjoying the Mai Kai gardens on Sunday.

Relaxing Sunday at the Mai Kai. Hanging out with some of the Ding Dong Devils and John-O. Chilling.

Last cocktail at the Mai Kai for Hukilau 2013. From the "Lost Cocktails" menu this is the Demerara Float.

Spent Saturday night in the Molokai bar. Listened to The Hula Girls, The Ding Dong Devils, and The Intoxicators. Consumed a few rum cocktails. Bryan and I closed the place.

Maima is the most famous of the recent Molokai Maidens. I say that because she is in a lot of the promotional photos for the Mai Kai. She is in the soon to be iconic photo where she's offering a Mai Kai rum barrel. We were trying to recreate that classic photo but with me photo-bombing it. Kind of a 'beauty and the beast' kind of thing. Maima had us reshoot the photo when she realized that her hand had been covering the Mai Kai logo; she is the consummate professional. Sweet girl and she helped make Saturday night special.

Ding Dong Devils playing in the Molokai bar.

Crazy Al sat in with The Hula Girls; playing the coconuts.

The ceiling in the Wreck Bar.

In the Wreck Bar at The Yankee Clipper.