Last Minute Projects

Tao's nearly ready to push off

This whole month has been filled with tasks as we have slowly worked toward setting sail south. It started with ear appointments, sewing machine repairs, standing rigging replacement, bending sails, Kona visit with Dave, Toni and Ty and even a quick Honolulu visit with Grandma. It continued with Morning Star solar charge controller installation, sewing and installing a new galley strap and above fridge pocket, restringing our food hammock, searching for seeds to sprout underway (you can’t have them mailed from the mainland), and a large amount of time has gone into wedding planning up to launching our wedding website and sending out invitations. We found new favorite mediums and spent days shaping foam and attaching industrial strength Velcro: to cover Sunny’s corners atop the dodger, to hang Chris’ soda charger along the cabin wall for easy access and storage, and to create plugs for inconveniently placed spaces where our dodger attaches to our cabin top. Then came the last minute shipping frenzy when first our back up camera died (it might have had something to do with a drink getting spilled on it) and soon after the local propane store would not fill our two severely rusted 2.5-gal propane tanks (and of course no one on the island carries that size tank). Ebay with 2-day shipping came to the rescue. Shawn’s continual provisioning at every store in town led to requirement of creative storage, including finding a secret bilge space area just the right size for an entire case of bottled Kona brewery beer, adding two new hanging bins in the V-berth, and three new plastic bins (created by cutting the top off of collapsible 5-gal water jugs for bomber flexible storage containers) filled with cans. We thought we had filled every space as we left Berkeley and then again as we left Mexico. Still, with reorganization, we found more space under the navigation station, below the galley sink, below the new refrigerator, in the V-berth after moving water jugs aft to the quarter berth, in Grizzly's food area, and even Grizzly's shelf became available space for storage.

Chris and his first engine mount (the original?!)

While Shawn toured CostCo and each grocery in town, Chris had some solid Yannie time. Favorite project medium switched to using Lanocote and WD-40 while hanging upside-down in the lazarette. Chris replaced the engine zincs, then attacked a lingering project by replacing the aft engine motor mounts, which went well enough that he chose to replace the forward two as well (holding the engine up with our 5:1 pulley). This success was followed by engine alignment, and finally engine governor idle control lubrication as Yannie recently does not want to turn off. While in the lazarette he decided to repack the shaft packing nut in preparation for motor time. While awaiting our new propane tanks, one of the fishermen that we see nearly daily, Randy, offered a propane tank for the interim and practically forced us to take some beautiful ahi tuna fish as he had too many. So much aloha, mahalo! Nearly ready to go, we celebrated Chris’ birthday with a “Matrix Marathon” at BY Kona director, Mark’s pad (we only made it through the first 2 of the three but also had wonderful food and even some hot tub time in there as well). Tying up loose ends, we threw together two boxes full of gear that didn’t have to be aboard, but we weren’t ready to give/throw away, and mailed them back to mainland along with a cleaned organized and filled backup hard drive and even squeezed in attending the BY Kona annual potluck between final runs to the post office and stores.

And now we are playing the weather game. Safe in harbor, we check the weather forecasts and try to decide on the right moment to untie from the dock and get underway. One more “channel” to cross, we carefully watch the forecasts for the South Point of the Big Island, looking (in vain?) for a weather window. South Point is infamous for being rough, with winds and seas running into land in the middle of the ocean, creating swirling washing machine along with a constant promontory effect. The later days of each forecast tends to look a little milder and then intensify as they get closer. It is like pushing off from the raft put in and running the biggest rapid right off the bat. We are trying to set ourselves up for success to time our crossing of the intense 50 or so miles off of South Point. Another sail boat, Scotch Power, has pushed off for the same destination a day before us and hopefully we'll get fills regarding their conditions along the way. Until then, we continue to run final checks retying everything down, testing the HF radio connection, downloading gribs, adding e-mail addresses to our white list, updating the blog, and checking the weather yet again. So we wait, and sleep, and cook, and prepare, and maybe we’ll push off later today.

Mum's Visit: Around the Big Island by Land

 Maps of the Big Island of Hawai'i’s 9 districts and 5 volcanoes for orientation of our recent adventures 

2012 came roaring in and January got busy quickly when Judy, Shawn’s Mum, landed in Kona on January 5th for a week-long visit. It was her first trip to Hawaii and it was very special for us that she made the journey half way around the world. While she was here, we packed in a ton of visiting and touring in order to catch up and introduce her to the Big Island. We greeted her at the airport with a real flower lei (Shawn had polled the few people she could find that knew about their Hawaiian meaning and the one she had chosen meant “good luck”) as Hawaiian welcome, picked up her rental car, and got her settled into a recently renovated room at the Kona Islander Inn. The Inn was great but had a lack of parking so for the week we became a 2-car family, and Shawn the rental car chauffer. We started off slowly the next morning going out to brunch and then back to Tao to determine if Judy’s new hip would allow her to climb aboard while Med-tied. After finding that she had little problem clambering aboard, we hiked to the nearby Kaloko-Honokohau State Park in search of turtles and petroglyphs and what we found was our first Nene, the worlds rarest goose (sorry no pictures).

Saturday morning we went out for a bittersweet sail; it was Tao’s first outing of 2012, the first time Judy had been out on Tao and the last time for all of us before our January 19th planned haul-out, and possibly Grizzly’s last sail on Tao. It was a typical day on the Kona coast, light breeze under 10-knots and sunny with haze covering most of Hualalai Volcano, towering above Kona but usually hidden in vog from faraway Kilauea. The sail was mellow and idyllic; Mum chased the spots of sun around the cockpit as we changed points of sail, and we had a smooth entry back into the dock just in time to catch a beautiful vog-induced red sunset. Sunday morning Shawn taught a double at Bikram Yoga Kona, so Judy explored the bustling market on her own. That afternoon we all three drove down to the South Kona District to Hookena Beach- our first time via land. Though we were hoping that it might be mellow and were imagining swimming and snorkeling, it turned out to be one of the busy days- the last day of  Holiday break before kids headed back to school. So instead, we enjoyed people watching as families swarmed the beach and skim-boarding youth covered the waves crashing onto the shore. After enjoying lunch in the sun and stopping by to say hello to our friends at Hale Kai, we continued back toward Kona, stopping at Honaunau, a national park known historically as a “place of refuge.” With no patch of sand large enough for Tao to anchor in its bay, this was a site that we had not previously explored and once there, it was easy to imagine the area filled with bustling life of the Ancient Hawaiians.

Monday was a big day of touring and the weather held beautifully. We started early to drive around the south point of the island, and spent all morning in the southeastern Ka'u District. First we stopped in Na’alehu for breakfast at a diner called Hana Hou and found great food in the middle of nowhere- we highly recommend the Dragon’s Brew coffee and a stop here for some local flavor. Next stop was the Punalu’u Black Sand Beach, one of the few truly black sand beaches around and though the water looked cold and uninviting for a swim, it was filled with not-so-elusive green sea turtles. We continued on to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and first, watched Kilauea from the Jaggar Museum overlook, then, took a hike through Thurston Lava Tube which culminated with views of the Kilauea Iki Crater, and finally, we stopped at the Volcano Art Museum. Onward still, we continued north along the eastern side of the island to Lava Tree State Park in the Puna District of the island where we saw very obvious vertical hollow lava tubes, the remnants of a fast moving lava flow that had covered a stand of wet 'Ohi'a trees (its red lehua blossoms are the official flower of the Big Island). From here we were quite close to Kalapana, the town the Chain of Craters road connected to before being covered with lava in the early 1980's. To quench our interest, we visited Kalapana, the other side of the “recent” lava field where several structures had been spared by previous flows, and others were not so lucky… Finally, we made it to Hilo, but sunset was drawing near and we hoped to get back to Kona via the infamous Saddle Road. Therefore, we didn’t have time to see much more than the amazing trees along Banyan Drive and Rainbow Falls. It was worth hurrying, however, because the weather was so clear going over the Saddle Road, that we were able to see the summits of both Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa as we crested the saddle at sunset. On our way back down the other side, after breaking through a nerve wracking half hour of fog, we were back in Kona and tired but happy after a very full day of sight-seeing.

On Tuesday we relaxed by enjoying the busy beaches near Kona, swimming in the Pacific Ocean, consuming a delicious dinner at Jackie Rey’s, and sharing a soak in the Islander Inn jacuzzi. Wednesday we motivated for another big car tour, this time covering the north end of the island through the Hamakua, Kohala and North Kona Districts. We took hwy-190, the “high road” to Waimea, gaping at its impressive views of the Kawaihae Bay, Kohala Coast, and across the channel to Maui along the way. From Waimea, we continued on to the Hamakua District and the southern overlook of Waipio Valley, where we happened upon a group of students chanting in Hawaiian while overlooking this amazing area. Listening to their rhythmic sounds was a surreal welcome to the location of the valley that housed the early Hawaiian royalty. After winding our way along the “old highway” back to Waimea, we drove up and over the Kohala Mountains, taking a very nice unplanned coffee stop at Toni and Ty’s old sugar plantation home. We continued on to view Waipio Valley again, this time from the northern overlook just outside of the little town of Hawi. After visiting several artsy stores in the North Kohala District, we drove to the tiny Upolu Airport at the northernmost tip of the island and head of the Alenuihaha Channel (we always listen for NOAA weather data from here). While overlooking the channel toward Maui, we were lucky to spot humpback whale tails flapping far below. Farther south we stopped at Nishimura Bay/Mahukona, then Kawaihae Harbor, and finally Anaehoomalu Bay (called A-Bay even by locals) to watch yet another beautiful sunset.

 

 

Overall, we drove more than 650-miles through all 9 districts of the Big Island and enjoyed beautiful sunny conditions for viewing all sorts of natural wonders including each of the 5 volcanoes in their differing geologic stages. It was a lot of car time, but it was fun to have Chris in the back seat playing tour guide by reading interesting information aloud from our “Big Island Revealed” book and we got to share a lot of time together in the beautiful Big Island setting. The next afternoon we saw Mum off on a tiny Go Mukelele! flight that afforded her amazing vistas of the north end of the Big Island and the windward side of Maui (her next destination) from the air, and we reset for the next busy week to come before hauling out.

Fall 2010 on the East Coast

September 10-19. After a month and a half apart, we met in the Bangor airport in Maine on September 10th. Happily reunited, we made our way east to Little Deer Isle. It was a busy but fun week savoring the end of summer in Penobscot Bay watching the tides from the Atlantic rise and fall with Dave and Anette. We had group dinners, several day sails with Dave in his 31-ft DuFour, Mouette, and even got a little boat excitement on the way to haul out.

On a roaring downwind run we were tempted to continue past our destination just a little further at which point it was decided to turn on the engine, drop the genoa, and motor back. Amidst the howling wind, pounding waves, purring engine, and flapping sails, the port sheet found its way securely... yes, into the propeller. Rapidly drifting downwind, after 20 minutes of wrestling with the line from the dinghy, his body half submerged, Chris wrenched it free. We crossed our fingers, started the engine and went on our merry way checking the stuffing box for appropriate drip rate. Of course, every true sailing adventure does not end without mishap. As it happens, another item on Dave’s list during Mouette's spring recommissioning will be to check/repair the cutlass bearing…

We also took a trip to Baxter State Park to hike Mount Katahdin, the highest point in Maine, with Dave and family friend Zip, just turned 60. Chris had last hiked it post Occidental in 1997 and Dave in 2002 when he turned 60. It was a picture perfect sunny end-of-summer-Saturday as we hiked up the Saddle route to join what must have been nearly 100 others that had also reached the summit at the end of the Appalachian Trail, and then looped down along the knife-edge on the Helon-Taylor route. A fairly arduous hike, our legs screamed at us as we cooked up some quick hot food and went to bed early with the sun in our reserved state park lean-to. On our way back from Katahdin we checked out some great boating spots on the West Branch of the Penobscot River and picked up a one day one way car rental from the Bangor airport for the next mornings trip south to Cape Cod.

September 20-October 5. We were welcomed to the cape by Jane and Abe in a flurry of activity. The next morning we headed back to Boston, to Harvard, to hear Jane give a well attended seminar on gender equity in Latin America. It was the first time either of us had heard her speak and was very special, particularly for Chris. Early that evening the four of us had a nice dinner in the city with Chris’ step-brother Michael’s partner Scott and his step-sister Linda and her partner Chris before hurrying off to Fenway and Shawn’s first Red Sox game ever! Over the next week we had nice dinners, watched the Red Sox final games of the season, and found there is a new Bikram Yoga studio just over a mile away from the house in West Barnstable. While visiting the cape, we managed a quick stop in Quincy to see Shawn’s teacher training friend Melissa Bell who also has sailing dreams, a brunch in Somerville to see Chris' friend from high school Brian Garrison, as well as a day at the beach celebrating our 9-year anniversary!

October 6-19. Another one day one way car rental and we drove to Ithaca through heavy rains with brilliant moments of sun shining on the changing leaves. The next day we were there for Mum’s 4th chemotherapy infusion and through our stay we had many great dinners and were able to help with a few things while her house is daily being overrun by contractors building an addition onto the kitchen. It was very special that she felt well enough to have a Canadian Thanksgiving celebration. Chuck, Maura and the kids came down to Ithaca, Mum’s good friends Janet and Jackie came over and we all celebrated the harvest season together with lots of food and a beautiful sunny day at the peak of leaf color changes. While in Ithaca, we also visited Leah and Gretchen and their twins on their momentous 4-month shot day and fit in near daily 6:45 am yoga classes.

Another one way (though this time a week long) car rental and we headed north. First stop: Syracuse for an evening with Chuck, Maura and the kids. Liam had just turned four and the girls 18-months. The next morning, Chris got to take the rambunctious puppy for a walk and then watch Saturday morning cartoons with Liam while Shawn and Maura took Campbell and Ainsley respectively to their swim lesson- it is amazing how different identical twins actually are! Then it was off to Canada for a quick trip to “the river” to visit Shawn’s dad at the family cottage on the St. Lawrence. We indulged in time on the river, helped with several closing tasks, watched the sun set each night with dad, and even briefly visited Aunt Barbie. Although the weather was cold, transitioning to fall, it was beautiful with clear sunny days and the colors changing on the islands were stunning.

October 20-Nov 6. Things got a bit crazy when within one week, Chris’ grandfather (92, Dave’s father) was diagnosed with lung cancer metastasized to the brain, his step-uncle (67, Abe’s sister’s husband) just diagnosed two weeks previously with lung cancer suddenly fell into a coma and passed away, and his sister Sarah gave birth to healthy Hazel Jane after two days of labor. Reeling from all of this, we drove back to Cape Cod and up to Boston to Chris’ step-aunt Judy's to pay our respects to Neil by making a shiva call (a very educational experience for us non-Jewish). Then back to the Cape awaiting news from Alaska about the new baby, the first grandchild in the Jaquette-Ray families. Skype is an amazing thing, after they got home from the first three days of recovery in the hospital, we were able to see Sarah, Jimmy, and baby Hazel all together in a video call! Congratulations Uncle Chris!

We are now appreciating a week of solitude on the Cape while Jane and Abe are vacationing in Europe. We are enjoying warmth from the wood stove, ocean views as trees shed their final leaves, the yoga studio down the road, and time alone to organize things for heading back to the boat and Mexico at the beginning of December. Still a month of adventuring stateside until then, we’ll keep you posted!