Once in a while a naval training (sailing) vessel would stop at Lahaina (this is back in the late 1970's) & it would seem as if there were sailors everywhere, so a fleet would absolutely overwhelm the place and it's hot, translated Lahaina means mercyless sun the town above Lahaina is name Luna Lahaina, or "Above the mecryless sun", a great place for a fleet of drunken whalers. The town was small even back then (1970's) so go back 100 yrs & it had to be tiny. I read somewhere that one could come close to crossing the channel hopping from deck to deck with the amount of ships at anchor there. The water traffic had to be a sight as there in no inner or outer harbors, only what's called a roadstead & nothing in the way of shelter, the depth for anchorage once off the island shelf is quite deep with strong currents in the channels & the wind barreling down the island slopes. In the winter of 1979 while I was there 26 boats dragged anchor & the following week 29 boats were caught in a second storm anchored off the Lahaina Roadstead, only one out of those survived in tack.

Barry