Saturday, July 21, 2012

Kauai

I arrived in Kauai, feeling sore of throat and weak in the knees.  I must be losing my touch.  The trip from Honolulu took about 22 hours, but I could have arrived earlier if I wanted, I delayed a little to arrive in the daytime.
I had quite a lot of traffic.  Leaving Honolulu I had to dodge all sorts of boats, while commercial airplanes and fighter jets wove around overhead.  I saw 747s, an A380, DC10s as well as F-15, 16, 18, and F-22 fighters screaming past.  There is such a military presence in Honolulu that I even saw a Canadian Submarine!   At least it was a sub flying the canadian flag. 
There were tons of container ships and fuel ships and barges and tugs as well.  What a mess! 
I cleared Oahu and entered the channel as night fell.  Oahu has a very pretty western side, with cliffs and not a lot of people, it seems.  Right as the sun was setting I could see a Navy tug boat towing an old Navy ship to be shot at (probably) and sunk somewhere in the deep.  They were on a collision course with me, but I managed to make 7 knots at times and pull ahead, slowly.  Then another tug boat came at me later in the night and I turned around to delay my arrival in Kauai and to avoid the boat.  All boats at night seem to try to hit me.  As the new dawn was breaking I was able to witness the most beautiful sunrise, with beams of heaven gently touching down on the land and sea.

Numerous fishing boats also tried to brush against my prow, and I had to pick some flying fish off who were successful in collision.
So it was a long night.  But I got in all right, chased by a cruise ship, and then anchored in Nawiliwili harbor for two nights before heading on to Hanalei bay.  The trip north to Hanalei was the easiest windward side of an island trip I have done yet.  The windward side is usually a torrent of waves from all directions and the boat is super sluggish, but this time it was not so bad.   The wind came from the land and then when i cleared the island the trades came up, but not like they normally do.  There is a bubble of high pressure sitting over this spot and the winds are super light now. 
Kauai is super green and lush, so far as I have seen it.  If i make it over to the SW side the climate may change a bit however. 
For now, I will have to get used to the rain.

2 comments:

Velellavelella said...

Why is that that all boats seem to be heading right for us at night?!
I mean I know it's night time perception but they really do seem to be heading right towards the boat!
Maybe boats turn magnetic when the sun goes down.

Unknown said...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RIMPAC