Honokohau Harbor Splash 2012

Tao's on-the-hard view

Chris in Hawi with King
 Kamehameha Statue

After deliriously landing in Kona on Monday afternoon March 19, we picked up our reserved rental car, and with a quick stop to peek in on Tao, made our way to the Kona Seaside Hotel. Although we likely could have descended upon friends couches in Kona, it was a great decision to spend the extra money to have a space to transition and catch up on sleep. With one full day of car rental, the next morning we got organized for a road trip. First stop, Honokohau Harbor to check for transient slip space with DLNR. After walking the docks to check for space, we found one and started to pay for it on the spot, even though we were not yet in the water. Having a place to keep Tao in the safety of the harbor while readying her for our next passage is a huge relief! The road trip continued up to Hawi on the north end of the island, where family friends and fellow sailors, Toni and Tye, had graciously accepted several important packages that we had mailed to Hawaii over the past two months. Although the VOG from the active volcano has been quite thick creating hazy skies, views were still expansive and as we drove along the shore on the “low” road. We even saw several of the season's last whales breaching. Welcome back to Hawaii!

Kohala view

We had an enjoyable visit at Toni and Tye’s old North Kohala plantation ranch home, talking sailing and life over excellent cups of coffee. After collecting our packages (including items such as all of our standing rigging hardware and sail covers) we pushed off, via the “high” road through Waimea, with a bag full of fresh picked citrus to keep us going through the next few days. Around 1800 HST, we got back to Tao and spent 2-hrs prepping her for the next days move. After one more cozy night at the hotel and taking excessive showers to stock up, the next morning at 0730 we checked out and made our way to Tao. Kona’s Gentry Marine was right on time and brought the travel lift at 0830 to move Tao for a one day pitstop in the work yard. We had decided to do a quick bottom job- just one coat of paint over the still beautiful bottom job that we had Sergio do at Marina San Carlos a mere year and a half ago. Chris immediately started the light bottom sanding, while Shawn, to utilize the last few hours of our rented car,  ran to town to food provision for the next few weeks. Back at Tao, Chris finished prepping the bottom and talked Kona Marine Supply into letting us use their paint can shaker, while Shawn blue-taped the water line. We tag teamed the one-can-one-layer painting with Chris using the big roller and Shawn doing the detail spots, saving just a little paint for the final touches. At 0800 the next morning, the Gentry folks moved the jack stands supporting Tao so we could paint the squares underneath in time for them to dry before hitting the water. Finally, we inflated our fenders, dug out our dock lines, and Chris used the final spare moments to do some detailed reconditioning under our rudder zincs- so much easier when not under water!

seconds before splashing

At 1030, again right on time, the travel lift showed up to move us the final yards to the water. Half and hour later, SPLASH!!! We were finally floating again. Luckily, the dock was clear for the next few hours, which allowed us time to get Yannie back into service from the “on-the-hard” state (that included checking the oil, transmission fluid, and reinstalling the impeller with the added bonus of changing the impeller case’s gasket). At 1320 we motored off the dock, took a traffic-filled spin down the fairway only to turn around near the harbor entrance, so Tao was heading the other direction when we got back to where we’d been splashed, now lined up appropriately to back upwind in the general direction of our designated I-36 slip. With no float on the mooring, we got the stern lines to the dock, held on to a power boat next to us, and Chris swam to grab the chain. By 1340 we were again moored Mediterranean Style. We took a deep breath and celebrated with a nice cold Coke and some store bought poke before starting to chip away at getting Tao back to “sailing” condition. Since that point, our “short” To-Do list seems only to get longer...

Splash, Christmas, and Feliz Ano Nuevo!

We splashed on the 22nd and were quite happy that we managed to get back to the water before Christmas! It was nice to once again be floating on liquid. Splashing is such a crazy transitional time- the boat, out of it's element being wheeled backwards along a highway by a huge Caterpillar tractor is pushed to the ramp and after a steep entry, hopefully she floats... Of course Tao did brilliantly. Several people showed up to welcome us to the water; our new friends Paul and Cate Bishop of Coconut Express, Caleb from La Carencia, Chuck from Pura Vida (along with his dinghy/engine all ready to go that is Chris' Christmas present) were there, and before we pushed off the dock Jenny and Randy from Mystic showed up with an entire gallon ziplock full of yummy cookies. We love this San Carlos cruising community!

After a quick run on the hard to check her the evening previous, Yannie worked well in the water to get us out to the anchorage, which is good because we hadn't yet had time to bend the sails or get all of the rigging set- all of the above waterline work still awaited attention. So, a successful splash it was. Once the anchor was set the rest of the afternoon was spent reorganizing for life in a liquid world and creating a system (using the boom, a stainless steel extension out the end of the boom, the main halyard, boom topping lift, and our life sling 5:1 block and tackle) to haul up our (Chris') new 15-hp Yamaha dinghy motor (born in 1991 over 10 years younger than the rest of our engines).

Christmas Eve we joined the Bishop's in their beautiful home on the Caracol (called "the snail" for the winding roads around the peninsula at the east edge of Bahia San Carlos) for a shrimp feast put on by Jacqui whose brother Luke and friends Sean and Kim had arrived from the states and were pouring quite strong beverages making for a tasty and rowdy celebration. In turn, Christmas was a slow day for us, recovering from the craziness of splashing and celebrating.

We did manage to Skype many of our family members from the anchorage which was very special and then joined Chuck and Linda of Pura Vida and some of their friends for a gourmet Christmas celebration at their home (aka "the Rose cafe" which is the name of the restaurant they used to run together in Prescott, AZ), on the northwest side of the bahia. We brought mulled wine and decorated shortbread cookies and were treated to fun conversation and a culinary feast (starting with a tomato bisque and strawberry-pecan-spinach salad to a delicious Christmas ham along with sweet potatoes and garlic beans topped with a french apple crisp and ice cream). With our bellys full we ended our Christmas day with a mellow beach bonfire.

Although much still needed to happen on Tao, all work basically ground to a halt for the holidays. We opened presents on boxing day and set up our "Charlie Brown Christmas" tree (thanks Mum!) and sold our newly acquired dinghy (which came as a package deal with the engine) to Coconut Express, as Eeyore is just what we need aboard Tao (fully collapsible, 10-ft, high pressure inflatable floor perfect for short trips with the 2-hp Seahor and the new-to-us 15-hp for longer excursions to come). We continued the holiday by visiting with Jenny and Randy of Mystic the next day, catching up over tea and fruit, and hiking the cliffs along the west edge of the bahia after which our day was spent organizing a new "To-Do" list.

Back to work (except for the afternoon Shawn slipped away for an kiteboarding lesson from Jacqui)! It felt great to get our working sails (mains'l and 100% jib) attached and ready for use. Although there is still much to do before we'll be ready, not only did it make us feel closer to sailing, but created some much needed space in the V-berth for organization. Chris has been climbing the mast near daily and often more than once a day to run more lines (flag and spinnaker halyards, lazy jacks, reef lines), replace the mast head tricolor and wind indicator, remove the radar reflector from the backstay (to be moved to the mast head) and run a new flag halyard there for our US flag, and still more remains aloft. We have also tackled some maintenance and upgrades on Yannie- changed her oil, insulated all near engine galley hoses, re-tapped 1/8" NPT for a new oil pressure gauge and also a 3/8" NPT for a new temperature gauge and have started the never ending process of reorganizing and reprovisioning our food stores.

Some southerly flow brought swell into the bahia making the anchorage a bit uncomfortable (and mast work like riding a bucking bronco) so we've moved inside to our "secret" triangle of space that is more protected; enough for one small boat located between the mooring field and the fairway near the marina. So as the new year rolls in, we continue to chip away at projects to get all (or at least most) of the improvements that we've been plotting for the past several months underway if not fully functioning for this upcoming season of sailing. We are grateful to be together where we are as the year changes and hope you all are also taking steps toward your dreams for the amazing year to come!