A “quick” visit to the rainbow capital, Oahu??

Tuesday, October 25th, and yet another channel crossing; this time the Kaiwi Channel with destination Honolulu, Oahu. In an attempt to balance making some miles before the winds got too strong and having enough wind to mostly sail, we set the alarm for 0330. At 0500 with no winds and in complete darkness, we exited Lono Harbor utilizing the GPS track we had collected when entering. As it was the day prior to a completely New Moon, a tiny sliver of moon rose above the horizon heralding the waking sun soon after exiting the harbor. We motored until almost 0800 until we were nearly off Penguin Bank, a shallow area running SW off the edge of Moloka’i, when a slight breeze filled in. Over the next two hours we encountered light winds everywhere from WSW to NW, and rolling uncomfortable seas caused by opposing currents rushing along the shallow bank (see map below). Finally, just after 1000 a squall passed over head bringing comfortable winds from the expected E direction.

Another hour later we started to pull reefs in the mains’l and by noon, as we approached the western edge of the channel, the winds were up to 20 knots and we had lashed the entire main down. Having heard motors all morning only to discover time and again that they were planes, we finally spotted our first real traffic- a cargo ship speeding down the channel toward Honolulu. Why wasn’t it up on the AIS yet? This was a good reminder that there is no substitute for standing watch and using your eyes. As it turns out, we (Shawn) had mixed up the early morning cable connections which left us without actually receiving signals (oops!). Many thanks to the ocean gods for allowing us safe crossing, as traffic is one of the big concerns over the nearly 40-nm crossing. Once in the protection of Makapu’u Point (the easternmost point of Oahu), the sea state suddenly settled and sailing conditions became very SF Bay-like. We had a beautiful hour of sailing during which we watched first Koko Head and then Diamond Head Crater come into focus. It was Shawn’s first time to Oahu and she was amazed at the huge quantity of houses clinging to the foothills. Whereas on the Big Island there were fresh-looking lava flows, here on Oahu, it looked like there were flows of houses covering any surface flat enough. Then we rounded Diamond Head, and Waikiki and Honolulu’s skyscrapers came into view. It was quite a culture shock to have left Moloka'i, the least populous of the main Hawaiian Islands, and arrive in Honolulu the largest city on Oahu, the most densely populated island of the archipelago.

Immediately we picked out all the normal big-city-on-the-water things; parasailers, submarine glass bottom tours, tourist filled catamarans, cruise ships, etc… We were able to sail directly to the entrance of Kewalo Basin Harbor, one of the few spaces we’d been able to find in our attempts to call/e-mail from Lono Harbor. We are grateful that the Kewalo Basin harbormaster, Charles Barclay, welcomes cruisers in spite of our transient schedules. Once Yannie was cranked up, we pulled down the sails, and Shawn ran around like crazy attaching lines and fenders. Chris steered us into the harbor channel, and watched surfers carving up waves both to port and starboard. We pulled alongside a tire-lined temporary dock to check in. After some slow paperwork, we made our way into slip “107” whose owner is absent until mid-November. Our first “dock” tie-up since Mexico, we both realized that each harbor experience in Hawaii has been unique. Honolulu is its own universe. Originally serving the fishing fleet of Honolulu, Kewalo Basin is now open for commercial and private use. Despite the change in use, no upgrades have been made to the docks; therefore, the fixed dock that we were assigned is more appropriate for a 100-ft vessel with much more freeboard than Tao. Still, we’ve made it home, tying dock lines from all four corners of Tao and adding chafe gear where necessary. We are especially grateful to have found space just days prior to the beginning of APEC (Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation). This meeting of economic leaders from 21 Pacific Rim countries, including President Obama, will lock the city down with everyone on high alert and several maritime closures.

We hoped to accomplish only a few things while in Honolulu. At the top of the list was to visit Chris’ grandmother, Margie. Since here, we have been visiting her near daily at Arcadia, the retirement home that she and Chris’ grandfather moved to in 1997. As an added bonus, our surprise visit overlapped with Chris’ uncle Peter and his wife Andrea’s. We enjoyed visiting with them (tours of Punahou School, Manoa Valley, Lyon Arboretum, and the Outrigger Canoe Club), and with their help, we managed to get Grandma down to Kewalo Basin Harbor for a pleasant visit to Tao! Although we planned the visit for high tide, the distance from the dock to the boat and negotiating our life-lines required too much acrobatics for her 93-yr old body. Andrea cleverly found a 5-gal bucket for a seat on the thin dock finger and we supplied one of our Hilo-purchased umbrellas to ward off the alternatively beating sun and “liquid sunshine” that arrived in waves. Margie and John had been avid sailors over the years and it was very special to share the boat that we sailed across the Pacific to get here.

We also visited Chris’ grandfather a few times at the Punchbowl, a national cemetery and now the resting place for thousands that is an amazing memorial to the sacrifices of those who have served in the Pacific. In addition, family friend Lynden (Dave's best friend from Punahou School) and wife Jackie took us on a tour of some Honolulu sites including the windy and historically significant Nuuanu Pali (cliff) overlooking Kaneohe Bay on the north side of the island and out for a nice dinner. We have taken classes at all 3 recognized Bikram Yoga studios on the island of Oahu; Honolulu, Nimitz, and North Shore. The first two are about a half hour bus ride from our boat, though unfortunately neither of them honor Shawn’s teaching certification. Therefore, frequent yoga classes for both of us get quite expensive unless we’re here long enough to get on the teaching schedule. The third was a 2-hr bus ride through the center of the island to the North Shore, an area renowned for its legendary big-wave surfing. We also checked out SW Oahu by bus and Chris has only to hop to the other side of the Kewalo Basin Park to catch some surf.

Chris managed to catch a cold here in populated paradise and the trade wind pattern is conspiring to keep us here a bit longer- neither favorable for us to leave in a timely fashion as we had planned. Sometimes we wonder why we try to plan. Our island exploration and visiting activities halted for the past few days for Chris to get better and we are currently making new plans as we watch the weather. The strong trade wind activity is forecasted for at least the next week. APEC is here next week so Waikiki and Kahe Point (two of the three real anchorages on the south side of Oahu) are closed to vessel traffic. Although we had planned to make a “quick” trip to Oahu, we are a bit boxed in. We might attempt to brave our way around the E edge of Oahu and up to Kaneohe Bay, or alternatively spend a few more days here and then work our way along the protected SW edge of Oahu (a bit reminiscent of the Kona coast on the Big Island), or maybe just stay in this safe harbor until the weather is favorable for a comfortable eastward Kaiwi Channel crossing. We hope to at least round the island via the amazing bus system here, possibly teach some yoga, and definitely continue to visit Chris’ grandmother to name a few ideas. There is always plenty of interest to do, just don’t expect a straight or short answer when you ask us what our plans are.

(thanks for the nice photo Andrea!)

Magical Moloka'i and Big News

Having prepared the boat for passage and celebrated with homemade pizzas the evening before, we woke at 0200 on Tuesday October 18 ready to cross the Pailolo Channel. After organizing and firing up the GPS/AIS we were about to weigh anchor when we noted 2 tugs with tow entering the south end of the Pailolo heading our way. We waited about a half hour to allow them plenty of time to pass ahead of us, then pulled Rocky aboard and were underway with Yannie by 0330. Not sure how wet this passage would be, Chris disconnected the anchor from the chain and put our teak plug in the haus pipe as Shawn steered us away from Honolua under the star-filled sky and quarter moon. Up went the storm jib followed by the double reefed mains’l and we were again plowing along quietly under sail. Across the approximately 10-nm of the head of the Pailolo channel we saw ENE winds 10-15 knots and seas from the NE about 5-ft. Overall, the winds were lighter and seas were rougher than our passage across the Alenuihaha Channel, albeit much shorter.

A mere 3-hrs later, we passed a little island, Mokuho’oniki and promptly rounded Cape Halawa, the NE edge of Moloka’i. As the sun rose lighting the stark steep 2K-ft vertical green cliffs of windward Moloka’i, out of the misty clouds shrouding the 4K-ft inland peaks, Papalaua Falls appeared raging from the top of the cliffs for 1K-ft freefall. Reminding us where the water comes from, a squall down-poured on us, but quickly passed leaving amazing rainbows in its wake. Once out of the channel completely, winds relaxed and we put up the full main. We could have used more sail area forward, but didn’t want to rush, instead preferred slowly jibing our way along this magnificent sun-dappled coastline with the camera working overtime. With these steep cliffs on the rough windward side of the island, nearly continually being barraged with NE tradewinds and seas, anchorage possibilities were few and mostly rocky and steep-to (from too deep to too shallow). After about 11-nm of stunning coastline, we did pull in behind Pahu Point in hopes of finding a safe spot to drop the hook in this dramatic setting. Though beautiful, it was not quite safe enough for us in the current conditions to stay for the night, so we gaped, took pictures, and even spied a running waterfall tucked amongst the steep rocky slopes and continued on the last couple miles to our intended anchorage.

Just before noon 2-nm later, we past between Mokapu and Okala Islands, skirted behind Okala to the base of Waikolu drainage, and anchored behind steep cliffs in 25-ft of revered sand. Safely settled in this awe-inspiring, almost surreal place at the base of steep green cliffs reported to have been filmed in the opening scene of the movie “Jurrasic Park,” we sat back to observe the winds, seas, clouds, and sun as the day continued on. After a much needed nap we swam ashore to explore the floodplain and found guavas growing wild and a freshwater spring that had obviously been harnessed for human use at some point long past. We took a walk along what we dubbed as “the cliffs of insanity” as they seemed endless and overhung forming this rugged coast line. Magnificent!

The next morning, Wednesday October 19th, after a relaxing cup-o-tea surrounded by prehistoric-looking cliffs shrouded in misty clouds, we decided on our day’s adventure. We launched Fatty and loaded up with sailing rig, snorkel gear, and food and water for a journey a couple miles back east up the coast to the waterfall we had spotted on the previous day's sail. As the clouds menaced, Chris happily rowed us the arduous miles upwind and into the swell until we reached the waterfall. After watching the ocean crash into the shore, we chose to anchor Fatty off shore and swam through the surf onto the large cobble beach where a 40-ft freshwater falls, fringed with plants clinging to the cliffs, plunged into a pool and then ran over the boulders into the ocean.

We spent all day enjoying the jet of fresh water (not too much to get under, but close) shooting out of a nook in the rocks to fall into the small pool of cold fresh water. Birds were nested in the steep surrounding cliffs, tropical fish abounded just off shore, edible kukui nuts (from the Hawaiian state tree are viewed as a symbol of enlightenment, protection, and peace) similar to Brazil nuts were even deposited at the base of the falls. The sun poked through the clouds all day and we chased its rays across the beach as they fell sparingly through the slot canyon above. Just gorgeous! Alone with each other and nature, we felt very remote and moved by the spectacular scene; two ecosystems colliding, where fresh water mixes with salty sea. It was in this mystical and romantic place that Chris surprised Shawn when he pulled out a diamond ring and proposed... Yes, after 10-years, we are ENGAGED!!! Afterward, we had a rowdy downwind sail in Fatty home to Tao (with winds gusting 10-12 and 5-ft seas!), and we shared the news with Grizzly who seemed pretty ho-hum about it. We celebrated talking for hours over a bottle of Mexican white wine, watching the sun set and stars come out unhindered by any human lights, and still can’t think of a more perfect place to have spent this special time than in the isolation and beauty of the windward side of Moloka’i.

Time keeps marching on and we had to keep moving westward to stay ahead of the weather. After having spent two blissful nights at the Okala Island anchorage, we weighed anchor around noon on the 20th and enjoyed a quick sail in NE 15+ winds and 3-ft seas around the Kalaupapa Peninsula. After first anchoring in what turned out to be rocky sand, we implemented a new technique: Chris swimming until he found a good size sandy patch and Shawn motoring to it, then marking the point and dropping Rocky while Chris watched the anchor fall to the ground and finally dig in as Shawn reversed to set it. Works well in warmish clear water! We enjoyed the views from Tao since prior permission is required to set foot on the Kalaupapa Peninsula. This isolated community, which has access to the rest of the world only via an extremely steep mule trail or plane, has an extraordinary and tragic history as a former leper colony of which a few patients remain today. It is from this secluded anchorage that we sent out a shipboard e-mail to family announcing our engagement.

The next morning we weighed anchor around 0915 as the first few puffs of wind made it over the peninsula and we set our 80% jib for a downwind sail. No sooner had we gotten underway when an angry looking squall caught up, surrounded us in cloud, and dumped rain over us. We set Moni on the helm, buttoned up the boat and hid in the dry below decks while Tao got a freshwater rinse. An hour later the normal tradewinds filled in and it felt just like another day on the crossing- the only difference, the windward side of beautiful Moloka’i always within view to port. A little after 1300 we rounded the NW edge of Moloka’i and entered the Papohaku Roadstead behind ‘Ilio Point. This western edge is still quite remote with only one well hidden resort in the middle. We decided to stay N in the bay and anchored in a medium sized strip of sand off a little beach called Kawakiu Iki (“little spy place”). A late afternoon row to shore in Fatty and we found it to be a gorgeous coarse white sand beach lined with Kaiwi trees above waterline, lava edges along each side, and an exquisite reef with exposed tidal pools at the north end of the little bay. It was a speedy downwind trip back to Tao with a backdrop of beautiful cumulus clouds and sunset mostly hiding the form of Oahu a mere 30-nm across the Kaiwi Channel.

Saturday morning the 22nd, we reached a decision point. Are we going to make the extra Channel crossings to get Tao to Oahu or start our circle back eastward? A large NW swell was predicted, so pushing off the decision for a couple of days, we decided to make our way to Lono Harbor at the SW end of Moloka’i in the calm before the swell. A quick 2.5-hr motorboat ride over extremely clear waters (6-nm S along the west end then 3-nm E along the southern coast) with only a moment of discomfort rounding La’au Point over Penguin Bank, we found ourselves along in the wondrous safety of Hale-o-Lono Harbor. Originally created for barges to move sand and gravel from Molokai to Oahu, this practice was banned in 1975. Since then the harbor is more peaceful for cruisers, but has fallen into disrepair. It felt like the tiny isolated harbor, with two long breakwall fingers had been created just for us. As predicted, the next morning the NW swell rolled in and wrapped around the corner of Moloka’i to make the entrance to Lono Harbor a little bit scary. We spent 3-days here, relaxing, baking, fixing the dinged surfboard, hiking to try to find a spot of cell service, talking about how we were going to share our exciting news with all our far away friends, and overall preparing for another crossing, this time Oahu-bound.