“Da Boat, Da Boat”

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“Da Boat, Da Boat” was Originally Posted on November 19, 2011 by

To borrow a line from ‘Fantasy Island’, “da boat, da boat”. As you remember (ouch, we were remembering just a few blog-hours ago), anyway, Tattoo from the show would say “da plane, da plane”. Parts of the original series of Fantasy Island were filmed here in Hawaii.

That should come as no surprise, because Hawaii has many ties to TV shows and movies. Jurassic Park, Outbreak, Donovans Reef, had major scenes filmed here, Throw Momma From the Train, Honeymoon in Vegas and many others involved stops here. Lost, Hawaiian Eye, Hawaii-50 (both new and classic) and Mannix come to mind. There are lots more.

Boats are a big deal here and boats and Hawaii have also made it to TV and news. The opening scenes of Gilligans Island were filmed in Honolulu and part of the pilot was filmed in the state. Trivia is that the flag in the opening scene in the harbor is at half-mast. The opening was filmed just after President Kennedy was killed.

There was a young teen named Robin Lee Graham, who, starting at age 16, took a 5 year journey around the world by sailboat. The last boat he used ended up in Hawaii to be refitted.

Then there is the story resurfacing in the news about the late Natalie Wood, who died abord the boat Splendour in California. That boat is now in the island also and a recent photo shows it in Honolulu (not far from the Gilligans Island starting point.

I’m sure there are many other boat-related stories involving Hawaii, but this gives you a start.

Finally, in 1878 a telephone line was being installed in the White House. Over on Maui, they were already running teklephone lines as the King here had met Alexander Graham Bell and decided Hawaii needed telephones. If Bell had his way, we would not be answering the telephone by saying “hello”. He suggested (wait for it…) “Ahoy!”, yes, Bell wanted us to answer the phone by saying ahoy.

Here in the island, the closest we get to that is the Hawaiian phrase which could be used to hang up, that is “a hui hou”, pronounced “ah who E ho” and means “goodbye” and “until we meet again”.

Maybe that is what Bell meant :-)