"WHERE ARE THEY NOW?" BRANDON PALOMPO (Class of 2016)

Brandon Palompo was our scholarship recipient in 2016. Though he is from Hawaii originally and was living here in Honolulu, he had many family ties to the Bay area of California, which influenced his decision to attend Cal Maritime. When poised to graduate from CMA, he opted to seek employment there in the Bay area, where he has since remained with his family:

“ Within a month of graduating I started at a company called Interface Engineering based in San Francisco, CA. It is an MEP (Mechanical / Electrical / Plumbing) engineering consulting firm. At this company I worked as a mechanical designer and gradually worked my way up to a mechanical engineer position. The work I did at this company was both challenging and rewarding. I remained at this company for 4-1/2 years until last October when I made the move to a new company called Blokable based in Sacramento, CA. 

This company's focus is in modular housing construction for both affordable and market rate multi-family homes. The company aims to optimize efficiencies in a relatively inefficient construction industry by developing a product that is repeatable and manufacturable at scale. In this way we strive to reduce the cost of housing, reduce the construction time on projects by maximizing work done in a controlled factory environment, and provide a high quality product at an affordable price. This company is still relatively new, but the work is rewarding and the vision is something I am very excited to be a part of. 

I want to express my thanks to the Lyman Foundation and to you Captain Ed for providing the help needed to attend such an exceptional school. The skills and lessons learned, friendships made, and real world experience gained, all set me on the professional path I find myself on today.”

"WHERE ARE THEY NOW?" RYAN DUGAY (class of 2015)

Another update from the past. Here’s more info on what our scholarship recipients have been doing since they graduated from the California Maritime Academy. Here is Ryan Dugay, class of 2015. Ryan is from the Island of Lana’i and amazingly, has returned to stay there with his wife and kids and remains on Lana’i today working full time serving his community and neighbors:

“ All is well here on Lanai. Since graduating CMA in 2015 I have had some great life experiences. My family and I are truly grateful for the opportunities that have become available after completing the MET (Licensed Engineer) program. After graduation in 2015 my professional timeline has been as follows:
1) Seattle, Washington: Assistant Engineer on Kirby Offshore ATB fleet for 2 years (2015-2017). 

2) Big Island, Kona: Worked as a power plant operator for Hawaiian Electric Light Company at Keahole Power Plant (2017-2018). 

3) Lanai, Hawaii: Lineman apprentice for Maui Electric. Journey out next year (2018-current). 

4) To keep my maritime skills going I have been able to do some moonlighting at Manele harbor conducting boat maintenance on several small recreational fishing boats. 

My journey so far has been exciting to say the least. I have had the privilege to transport the fuel necessary for power plant electrical generation, burn that fuel at the power plant to provide power to the electrical grid, and currently work on our local electrical grid of Lanai to provide safe and reliable power to its residents and guests. I hope we may be able to keep the opportunity going with more Hawaii residents enrolling at CMA.”

What an admirable path he has taken since graduating. Furthering his career, as an engineer, he has been able to move ashore with his technical skills and work experience. On a daily basis his job plays a vital role in Lana’i island’s power infrastructure.

A LONG OVERDUE POST oR "CATCHING UP"

Almost a year since the last blog post, with the world gripped by COVID pandemic issues, there have been many distractions. But suffice to say, much has happened since last summer. And just as important, much did NOT happen and this has caused some issues for cadets at EVERY state maritime Academy. Not just at Cal Maritime.

In the summer of 2020, the owner of all Maritime Academy Training Ships ( MARAD ) instructed all Academies to NOT take the Training Ships out on a summer training cruise, due to concerns of the COVID spread. This created an issue for all cadets not being able to obtain enough ‘sea-time’ for the original license. There were some creative efforts to make up this lost time and even a modification of the rules. In the end, some cadets still needed to get more time training at sea before graduation.

Fast forward to this summer, 2021. The Cal Maritime Administration planned two cruises for the summer. Training Ship GOLDEN BEAR would conduct a routine cruise in June & July. Upon return to Vallejo, the first cohort disembarked and shortly after, cadets on the next training cruise from July thru August got ready to depart for Cruise #2.

The GOLDEN BEAR will arrive into Honolulu Harbor on Friday, August 6th at 0800. She will berth at Pier 10/11 at Aloha Tower. A Private function, the DAVE LYMAN MEMORIAL FUNDRAISING EVENT will be held onboard from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM. This is a “by invitation only” affair, as the State of Hawaii COVID Protocols for social gatherings remain in effect. Therefore, only 75 guests have been invited to a reception onboard.

We will post more information and updates tomorrow.

Captain Sam Pecota (left) with Pilot Ed Enos on departure from Honolulu, June 28, 2021

EULOGY FOR CAPT. DAVE "KAWIKA" LYMAN

As promised, here is the link to the Soundcloud site where the audio file is open for the public free of charge.

https://soundcloud.com/captedenos/david-lyman-eulogy-by-norman-piianaia

This is Capt. Norman Piianaia speaking, a long time friend of Kawika’s. This took place at the Central Union Church in Honolulu, Hawaii on Feb. 6th, 2006. During the Service, there were actually three eulogies given. The first person to speak representing the Lyman Family, was Dave’s daughter Danielle. She shared words with everyone that were heartfelt and warm, as I’m certain the entire Lyman family would have done had they had the emotional strength to do so in the wake of Kawika’s accident.

The next person to address the overflowing crowd that filled the church and spilled out onto the lawn outside, (an estimated 1,200+ people) was Capt. Ed Enos. Capt. Ed represented the Hawaii Pilots Association and was mentored by Capt. Dave who spent years grooming Enos to pursue a Pilot’s job in Hawaii. The eulogy provided by Capt. Enos can best be described as a “warm up act” to what would follow.

Capt. Norman Piianaia’s eulogy was truly an effort that everyone in attendance would cherish the rest of their lives. Given in the tradition of the “Eight Bells ceremony” where a mariner is relieved of his watch to the sounds of the bridge clock, the eight bells signifying he is finished, he can now lay below for a rest. In this case, it’s the last time.

Piianaia’s recollection of Kawika’s life was a wandering voyage that took everyone through some unique Hawaiian maritime history, shared hilarious sea-stories involving Kawika and his many waterfront friends, his life at California Maritime Academy, Kawika’s adventures while he “shipped out” on deep sea vessels, and of course his time working as a Harbor Pilot.

The 35 minute long MP3 file is tough to hear at times, with the audio dropping out once in awhile. It doesn’t even start until Piianaia had already been addressing the crowd for a few minutes. Its is grainy and requires focused listening to hear. But it is all worth it. This file was only recently discovered by Gordon Piianaia, Norman’s brother. With his permission we are sharing this so everyone can enjoy this event for what it truly was. An incredible celebration of Kawika’s life.

“ … and that was the last time I saw my friend …”

Orson Wells, as Father Mapple, addressing the Whalers from his pulpit, before they set out to sea.

From the movie MOBY DICK, 1956

A VERY SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

I will post something tomorrow, Sunday, August 16th, that I recently obtained in an audio format. 

It is the eulogy for Captain Dave “Kawika” Lyman as given by Master Mariner, Capt. Norman Piianaia, at Central Union Church, Monday, February 6th, 2006. A very special “MAHALO” to brother Gordon for his generous sharing.

If you were there, one of the 1,200+ people who attended this gathering and thought it was a once in a lifetime event, you were correct. If you were not there, you have an opportunity to hear it and enjoy it. A famously delivered effort, including Capt. Piianaia’s use of a small ship’s bell for added maritime color!

I had no idea anyone had recorded this. It is hard to hear at times, a grainy recording that drops out for a few seconds once in a while. It doesn’t even start until a few minutes into Capt. Piianaia’s effort, missing the very beginning. It is 35 minutes long. It is filled with many laughs, great short sea stories everyone will love. Piianaia does an excellent job weaving some little known history that ties our maritime community together, with personal relevance to Dave Lyman’s life, and much about the history of Hawaii.

While sitting in church listening to Piianaia, I had visions of the 1956 movie, MOBY DICK where Orson Wells delivers a sermon as Father Mapple in a small church in a New England Whaling town before the sailors all set out to sea. 

I will have it posted to my Soundcloud website account. I believe anyone can access it to listen for free. I attempted to post to Facebook but it seemed impossible (audio MP3 file) trying to figure it out. If any tech geek out there has a better idea or willing to place on a better platform, please contact me directly. Otherwise, I will share the link tomorrow morning. I plan to share a link on various social media platforms.

See you back here soon.

UPDATE : CADETS, CRUISE, & CORONAVIRUS

The current COVID-19 crisis that is impacting everyone around the world, is certainly having an effect on cadets at the California State University-Maritime (aka CalMaritime or CMA). The administration is doing its best to adjust their academic calendar and training requirements as both Federal and State of California requirements evolve, almost on a daily basis.

Those of you who would like more detailed answers to any questions you might have should visit their website. They have a specific web page with frequent updates on everything the school is currently doing and make an effort to communicate upcoming changes to events at CMA as they are known. Here is a link to that page: 

https://www.csum.edu/web/alert/covid-19

If you intend to start in the Fall of 2020, I would encourage you to frequently visit their website for updates. Currently, applications for new incoming students are being excepted for a limited number of openings that are still available for certain programs. However, Deck and Engine license programs are now closed.  Any questions should be directed to the Office of Admissions.

To all our industry supporters who have generously donated money to our scholarship fund and provided consideration by accepting students aboard your vessels as cadets, we want to say MAHALO for all that you’ve done in the past. We look forward to your continued support in the future.

At the present time, given the impact of travel restrictions and limits on large groups of people, we currently have no plans to host a LYMAN MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP fundraising event this year. Further, even as I write this, there are no definitive plans for the 2020 Training Cruise for the GOLDEN BEAR. The Administration is working closely with MARAD, as are all State Maritime Academies to determine, “what’s next” with regard to sea-going training.

Meanwhile, we thought you’d enjoy an update on how our cadets are doing at Cal Maritime. It was you and your support that helped these individuals get to where they are today. So we have included a short statement from each of the four cadets currently at Cal Maritime that are being supported by the DAVE LYMAN MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND.

DUKE QUITEVAS Class of 2020 

“Aloha everyone. My name is Duke Quitevis. I am the recipient of the Dave Lyman Scholarship for the class of 2020. I worked on the Manoa containership with Matson Navigation Company for my commercial cruise training in 2018. While onboard, I went to Seattle, San Francisco, and Honolulu. After studying at Cal Maritime, I want to return home and work on ships in Oahu. Thank you to Captain Peter Webster for training me onboard the Manoa that summer. I learned a multitude of knowledge about shiphandling and the shipping industry as a whole. I want to give a big mahalo to all the donators and institutions that donated to the Dave Lyman Scholarship. Without your continued support of the future selamoku on the waterfront, I would not have been able to perpetuate and pursue my passion as a navigator. From the bottom of my heart, mahalo.”

TRESSIE OSTERMILLER Class of 2020 

(Tressie surprised us by her academic strength and “transferred up” into this year’s senior class, skipping a whole year at Cal Maritime. She will graduate alongside Duke this spring.)

“My name is Tressie Ostermiller and I am the 2017 Dave Lyman Scholarship recipient! I am currently finishing up my last year at CMA and will be headed out on the 2020 Golden Bear Training Cruise after walking in graduation May of this yearI I’ll be completing my U.S. Coast Guard tests after cruise and I look forward to coming back home and shipping out of Honolulu. Every day I learn so much more about the industry and am so excited and blessed to have been given this opportunity. I want to thank all the donors and supporters of the Dave Lyman foundation! The financial help and all the maritime connections that continue to come with it have been immense. I appreciate you all so much and can’t thank you enough! Mahalo piha!”

 DAKOTA KELLY Class of 2022

“Hi my name is Dakota Kamanahanaunaokuuiwi Kelly and I’m a Marine Transportation student enrolled at Cal Maritime.  Currently I’m in the process of completing my sophomore year.  I want to say mahalo nui to everyone who has contributed to the Captain Dave Lyman Memorial Scholarship Fund.  I’ve benefitted greatly as a recipient, and It has truly helped me get to where I am in school today.  Nearly two years down and two more to go!”

GABRIELLE HARRINGTON  Class of 2023

“This is my first year at CMA and I absolutely love it. My major, Marine Transportation, has introduced some very interesting classes, such as small craft, marine survival, ship stability, and more. The amount of support I have from my family and friends has been so crucial getting used to this new experience. It has been an amazing journey thus far and I am so grateful to the Captain David Lyman Scholarship Ohana for helping me tremendously through it all. With their help, I can spend more time focusing on my classes and enjoying every moment of my maritime academy experience. I am excited to continue my schooling here and return home to Hawaii with my credentials and knowledge I gain from CMA.”

We remain very proud of our students and pleased at their performance while at Cal Maritime.  Duke and Tressie will enter the local maritime transportation industry this year. We hope you might support their endeavors, should you meet them at your office one day.

Dakota and Gabby will continue their studies in Vallejo, California and we look forward to seeing them here in Honolulu perhaps on the TS GOLDEN BEAR’s next training cruise, whenever that may be.

All of us at the DAVE LYMAN MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND want to say MAHALO for all your support and kokua. We look forward to your continued consideration and generosity

OUR ANNUAL MEMORIAL SAIL IN MEMORY OF KAWIKA

On Wednesday this week, family and friends of Dave “Kawika” Lyman gathered at the office of the HAWAII PILOTS ASSOCIATION at Pier 19 in Honolulu Harbor. As we usually do every year at this time, to celebrate Dave’s memory, we head out onto the water aboard the Pilot boat HONOLULU and visit the site where we scattered Dave’s ashes at sea back in 2006, near the Honolulu Harbor sea-buoy. In a tradition that memorializes what we know Dave would enjoy, we each scatter many Hawaiian flowers and pour several cans of cold beer into the water. We all have a few things to say and share, sometimes some great stories of some events involving Dave. Sometimes we don’t say too much. Sometimes there are some tears.

We have scattered the ashes of many mariners, family, and friends, at this same spot. So we know Dave is not alone out there. In fact, in my own mind, I have always imagined “heaven” as being a place where you spend time with some of your best friends and there isn’t a care in the world. This spot where we originally gathered back in 2006 was also marked by a large rock, a “pohaku”, which we put over the side with Dave’s ashes, a Hawaiian tradition. So each day as ships pass by the sea buoy entering or leaving Honolulu Harbor, Dave can enjoy seeing many of his seafaring friends and Pilots as if he were right there next to us.

Sometimes while piloting a ship through the harbor, I have felt the presence of Dave standing there on the bridge with me. It’s an interesting feeling.

Here are a few photos of our sail on Wednesday, January 29th, 2020.

(L to R) Kimo, Lori’s Aunty, Marion, Art, and Lori

Kimo Lyman, Dave’s brother, joined us as he was working nearby at the harbor aboard the HIKIANALIA voyaging canoe with Gary Brookins, who came along, too

Marion, Dave’s sister, looking out to sea. Most family and friends don’t get a chance to come out here onto the water. So it is always a treat to begin with. And this day, the weather was spectacular

Gathered on the dock after returning from our sail, from L to R: Capt. Ed, Lori, her Aunty, Art, Gary, Kimo, and Marion

UPDATE ON OUR 2019 FUNDRAISING EFFORT

Last month we solicited help from our waterfront community to raise money for our memorial scholarship fund. Matson Navigation was first to provide a check for funds that “kick-started” our fundraising drive. Soon we had heard from several other supporters and are very pleased to report on our success so far.

We have received very generous donations from:

Hawaii Stevedores

McCabe, Hamilton & Renny

Capt. Peter & Virginia McIssac Charitable Fund

Mr. Timothy Dick

International Organization of Masters, Mates, & Pilots

IES Retail, LLC

Honolulu Sailors Home Society

All donations received (so far) have totaled to over $22,000 !! This is an incredible amount of kokua and support. The organizations listed have been huge supporters through all the years we have had the DAVE LYMAN MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND in existence. We not only appreciate the generosity of those that give their financial support, but truly appreciate their continued effort to memorialize Kawika’s legacy.

We cannot provide tuition assistance to young local men and women of Hawaii that hope to attend the California Maritime Academy if we did not enjoy the ongoing support and generosity of local Hawaii business leaders. We have also received numerous individual donations from a variety of friends all around the country that support our effort. If any individual or other organization would like to make a donation at ANY time, it’s very easy to mail us a check or go online and use a credit card through PayPal. See our ‘support’ page.

On behalf of the entire Dave Lyman Ohana, friends, & Board Members, we say “Mahalo” for your donations and thank you for your continued support!

WHAT'S THE GOLDEN BEAR DOING IN HONOLULU HARBOR???

This Friday the 9th of August, you may see the Training Ship GOLDEN BEAR  arrive into Honolulu Harbor and berth at Aloha Tower Pier 10/11. She will depart on Tuesday the 13th, and will head back to Vallejo, California. The ship is presently manned with officers and staff from Texas Maritime Academy. All cadets on the ship are from Texas A&M as well. There are no cadets from California Maritime Academy onboard.

This is an awkward situation for all concerned. The arrangement was dictated by leadership at MARAD in Washington DC. Both schools were given no choice but to abide by this directive for the foreseeable future. Texas A&M has been without a suitable training ship for a few years. In the short term, they have ‘partnered’ with CMA and placed Texas cadets aboard the TSGB for training cruises in the past. But that didn’t work out this year. The decision by MARAD to let Texas A&M operate their own ship for their cruise was dictated by MARAD, as MARAD is the owner of all the training ships provided to all State Maritime Academies.

The GOLDEN BEAR has been a key component of our fundraising event in years past. This year’s training cruise ‘switch’ by MARAD has impacted our 2019 fundraising effort. The ship’s arrival into Honolulu Harbor, without any Cal Maritime “presence” further complicated our planning. We just learned of this arrangement recently. We knew that CMA would not be visiting Honolulu on their training cruise this year. But the ship’s arrival into Honolulu with Texas A&M cadets was something we just learned about and was a bit of a surprise.

But our financial needs continue. Our LYMAN SCHOLARSHIP FUND currently supports three cadets at Cal Maritime. This month our 2019 recipient, 25 year old Gabrielle Harrington from the island of Kauai, will start her four year education at CMA. We are very proud to have our second female recipient and the first scholarship award to an individual born and raised on Kauai Island.

Matson has generously donated $2,500 and initiated our 2019 fundraising drive. We are tremendously thankful for their continued support. We would like to invite all our other maritime ohana and friends to send any donation amount in to continue our mission to support Hawaii cadets attending the California Maritime Academy. We truly appreciate your continued kokua and support!

HONOLULU COLLEGE FAIR THIS WEEK

It's that time of year again! COLLEGE FAIR at the Hawaii Convention Center​ 

I'll be there representing California State University Maritime Academy - Cal Maritime​ again on Tuesday 23rd; two sessions-08:30 to 11:30 AM  and again at 5:00 to 8:00 PM

I encourage any students, parents, families to come on down and learn more about Cal Maritime, talk about our local maritime industry, a future career working at sea or ashore, and maybe meet some people working in the industry.

I also hope some of you out there might find time to stop by the booth and hang out with me; any Cal Maritime Alumni or even those of you who did NOT attend CMA but are working in the industry today, either ashore or out at sea. Kids (and their parents!) always have lots of questions and are curious to learn more. I'll be there both morning and evening. Anyone can stop by and support for as little or as long as you like, either morning or evening.

I'll need the most help between 1030 and 1130 AM when I have another meeting for work I must attend. So anyone who is able to kokua on Tuesday, can reach out to me. Mahalo!