Hawai'i Ways
Pali winds rip out car's top with a 'swish'

By Charles Woodard

The year was 1938. We lived in Honolulu. Dad was a Navy doctor stationed at Pearl Harbor.

I was 16 years old. Dad said I could have a car if I bought it with my own money. I sold Polar Bars, saved and bought a 1926 Buick touring car.

What a fabulous car! It was open from windshield to the rear of the back seat, superb for the Hawaiian paradise. The cool trade winds blew through as we piled six or eight fellows in for a trip to the Windward side of the island.

We drove to the Pali, the mountain ridge that divides the island of O'ahu. Here is a cliff with a drop of several hundred feet. King Kamehameha forced the warriors of the island over this precipice to bring peace to the islands years ago. It is a favorite tourist point, but one must hold to the rock railing to stand against the prevailing wind.

The old narrow two-lane road ran by this point and turned sharply to the right around a section of mountain jutting upward.

As we made this turn, the full force of the wind hit us! The top of my beautiful car disappeared with a "swish."

The boys gasped and looked at me.

I said, "Who needs a top on such a sunny day?"

We all laughed and proceeded to our favorite beach to swim.

Although this happened more than 57 years ago, the memory of a "swish" and a disappearing top remains.

Charles Woodard died Oct. 19. His widow, Mary C. Woodard, found this "Hawai'i Ways" entry in his desk, and sent it in. Mrs. Woodard is having his other written work bound for posterity.