North Shore

I've been working my way around the north shore of Kauai, and I like it.  It rains every day, but that isn't much trouble, you just close up the hatches and wait for it to stop.  There are a lot of rivers that run down a steep slope and I've walked up two of them, to nice waterfalls.  There are a few lava tubes as well, I have been staying near a beach called "tunnels" the last few nights and it has a big tube that ends in the beach.  I ventured down a little bit of the Na Pali coast, which is the un-roaded part of this island, a "lost" coast...  But I found it all right, and there are lots of people that hike the trails, so it has been found many times over.  On the way i saw this "new" bird.

 Here's a shot from the beach in the middle of the Na Pali coast, where the winds run strong and full of thunder. 

 These waterfalls are neat, but sometimes they aren't the high point of the hike.  I like walking up the river, feeling the rocks slide underfoot and looking for crawdads.  It is nice to get into fresh water also.  This waterfall had a great big pool at its base, so I got to swim in that. 

 I stayed the night out on the roadstead anchorage next to this beach, and it wasn't too bad, but still windy and the waves rolled the boat nicely.  There are beautiful sunsets that will make you believe out here.  They come right at the end of the day, so you have to wait for them. 

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.

SPOT tracker thing

Here is the link to the tracking page...  I'll work on making a link that stays, otherwise bookmark this link so when it gets pushed down the page you don't lose it.


http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0ZI5dehz1OLghFSeVZjx0tbfTtjuS8TFu

Honolulu

I'm alive and in Honolulu.  Its quite crowded, so I haven't been ashore much, and therefore haven't had much internet time.  But here it is.
On the trip over, I was accompanied by some Pilot Whales.  I didn't get any video of them, because when I heard them singing alongside I ran up on deck and left the camera down below.  I spent 10 minutes out on the bow with them leaping and playing in the bow wake (I was doing 10 knots on the waves and 6 average, so it was big wake) and they would come right up to the front to look at me.  They are black, and have very stubby heads, with no beak.  But they look like big dolphins other than that.  So when I finally went to get the camera they left and didn't come back.  I will hang out on this island for a little longer and then go on to Kauai.  These inter-island passages are nice and fun, windy but not too rough.
I also made a video from a while ago, the arrival in Hilo and to Maui.

A farewell to Maui

I'm leaving Maui today.  I've enjoyed it here a lot.  Mom came to visit, then Dad, then my brother (and Katrina) and now I am back on my own.  I've explored this island more than any of the others with a car, and I like it.  The seasons change when you drive 10 minutes around somewhere and the water is fantastic.  I will go to Oahu and into the depths of Honolulu.  What will I find there?  From there I go to Kauai. 
This picture was from Katrina's camera.

Molokai pictures

 More pictures from Molokai (and Maui, still)...!

This picture (above) is the bridge where the highway crosses over the Seven Sacred Pools river, that is very famous...  Its a nice spot to go swim, but a long drive to get there.  

 Here is a mongoose picture, or the head of one.  Maybe Nagina or Nag got him this time...?  And then stuffed Rikki-Tikki-Tavi's little head...  Or maybe he is just so quick that light can't even capture him. 
I think I liked Mongooses more when I was reading about them in the Jungle Book than when I see them in real life.  I thought they would be bigger, but they are small and a little rat like.  And very hard to get a picture of.

 And finally, the cliffs on the north side of Molokai.  This is an expensive sight, since the only way to see it is by boat (and the charters are mucho dinero) or by helicopter. 

 It looks like the cliffs were cut straight through with God's trowel, and then left to the elements for a while.  The water makes these beautiful round canyons that have a narrow entrance and deep cliffs.  Abe says they have a "U" shape, but I don't think they've been touched by glaciers, ever. 

 Of course we swam with the dolphins.  Dolphins are the ambassadors for Cetacia and I was happy to meet one and talk about the interspecies relations.  Or wiggle and blow bubbles and slap the water about interspecies relations.  This is a spinner dolphin.

I

 There is a bamboo forest on Maui and Abe and I decided to crouch and hide amongst the dragons and tigers, so we had a high altitude treetop battle in the sticks.  It reminds me of when I was little and I would go up to a neighbors house who had bamboo, then climb a tree and jump into the bamboo with my arms spread wide.  I could catch enough and bend it over, and it would hold me up.  Then I would crawl along it. 

Molokai with Abe and Katrina

Whoa!  The last few weeks have been full of family!  I crossed a social desert, barren seascape with no people at all to come to an oasis of relatives here in Maui.  Abe and Katrina fly out tomorrow, and we had a nice trip together.  First, Dad was here so we went around the island together in a car for three days, and then we went off to see the waters.  Molokini thwarted us (like it thwarted dad) and we sailed over but didn't go near, since the wind was up.  So we headed north and went to this beautiful bay north of Lahaina, where we swam with dolphins and turtles.  Then we went along the north side of Molokai.  Molokai is spectacular.  It is a spectacle to witness, with great cliffs leaping out of the water all along the north side.  The cliffs are draped in green and so close to vertical a gecko would have trouble.  There are  waterfalls cutting small valleys in the cliffs and sharks in the water.  We saw two sharks while sailing along.  We stopped at a place where the river was clean an full of crawfish and Abe and I ran up the river in a rock-hopping race.  It was wonderful place. 
But sadly it was forbidden that we were there.  I didn't know at the time, but found out afterwards.  Then we headed over to Lanai and played in the beach there and now are back.  I made a little bit of a video as well.

Maui pictures

 
While my mother was here, we went for a car ride around the island, and saw many things.  This is a close relation to the Afghanistanian Death Pepper.  I believe the species is Afghani-Uzbekistaninian Death Pepper.  It should be noted that the ADP, while not actually native to Afghanistan is highly poisonous, even fatal, as the name suggests.  It grows wild in the high mountain slopes in the pacific northwest, and is known by sight to only me and my mother.  My brother thinks he knows it but does not.  Nuh-uhh!

We also saw some waterfalls, but only a little  bit of them...
 This next shot is looking down from up on Maui, looking at Molokini.  it is a little crater that sunk into the ocean, and has fantastic visibility.

 There are a few species of Cardinal, and here is a picture of one of them.  Pretty, right?  Alien as well...

 Someone said this was a California Pepper.  And this next thing is a Jackson.  Three little horns for fighting off the T-rex, and eyes that can go every direction at once. 

 There are nice sunsets in Lahaina.  Looking west (up) and east (down)

 And sometimes the big waves come in at sunset...

 This is the waterfall at the top of the seven sacred pools.  It is really cool up there.

 So With Dad we went along the east side of Lanai, where there are some nice high cliffs, and the flowers are from somewhere else.  Its dry on Lanai, so not much for flowers.  But Lanai has beautiful beach, (since there is only one.)  I surfed a really steep hollow scary left on that beach.  It breaks over coral and you can see the gnashing jaws of the reef coming to get you when the waves suck out and it gets shallow.  I had a lot of trouble with the hollow parts, since my board is wide and I am a chicken.  There was some large swell, so eventually I could catch the outside waves that were about head high or a little overhead.  It was fast and fun, but you have to get out before the beach or else you drop on the sand and it gets way overhead and then slams down.  I saw a broken board coming out of there and heard some ambulances later on. 
Before that, Dad and I were going to go to Molokini, but the winds came up and it was blowing over 50 knots at times, with a waterspout!  Dad was feeling sick from the plane ride, so I had the boat to myself, but Altair was performing wonderfully.  I put a reef in the main, ran the small jib up the front and was trucking along when the wind came up some more... Then I was heeling over like a sidehill gouger on the wrong slope, when the wind came up some more!  The angle of heel was so much that I couldn't really make headway, I could see my slick coming off the back of the boat at about 45 degrees, so I was pointed upwind but going sideways...  So I did something I have never done before.  I pulled down the jib, and ran up the storm jib.   When I pulled down the jib the boat behaved very nicely, that is the "heave-to" position, where you sit if you want to weather a storm without trying to go anywhere.   Except I wanted to go somewhere.  So with the storm jib up everything was hunky-dory, and I made good headway to where we anchored.  Except the wind soon died off and then came again in heaving gusts and it was frustrating to the point that my mainsail tore in half. 
I need to get a new one now.  I repaired it, but the shape is just so sad.  The winds came down a little a few days later and we headed over to Lanai, went to that beach, surfed a little, then went to a little place around the corner and dove for a few days and now have come back to Lahaina.  Tomorrow my brother arrives and we will drive around Maui some more, then we will sail some more after that. 

Maui stage one

I've been on Maui for about a week now, and it is nice.  I'm staying in Lahaina, near the Mala Wharf.  You can find it online.  There are quite a few other boats here, but sadly, few of them are in sailing condition.  The tourism industry here is very permeating, and everyone seems to drive a rental car.  I tried to hitch hike to get mom at the airport a week ago and was not picked up for nearly an hour.  It was a little irksome, but not too much, since there is a bus and I could have taken it.  The water is super clear.  Dad has now arrived, he will stay for 12 days and then Abe and Katrina are coming.  So I have a full docket here in Maui.  I've taken some pictures from some places, but they will have to wait for a better connection, I think.

Midnight in the Channel of Doom

The channel between the Big Island and Maui now lies behind me. I had heard monster stories about it from before I got here and all through the week while I was in Hilo. Captain James Cook had lost his masts here, after 4 circumnavigations and many more Cape Horn roundings. The Hawaiians then promptly ate him for the mistake. Because the islands sit in the middle of the trade winds, the wind blows around them more fiercely than out in normal seas. They block the wind in one part and then it is amplified as it goes around the corners. This channel is about 40 miles wide and the current can go any which way it likes, often strongly, and the wind is always up. So I was apprehensive about taking on the job, but I had to get to Maui, so I did it.
I left in the late afternoon in order to make the distance to the channel in the night and then at daybreak cross, but the first thing I noticed as I got out of the breakwater was that the waves were just about the worst I have ever seen. It wasn't as big as when I was coming in to Hilo, but this time I was trying to go against the waves and their rebound counterparts from the cliff shore, and the wind had also died down to nothing. I cranked on the “deathtrap” engine, but the waves kept my speed at very slow. Finally after a long time the wind gave me a boost to make the corner of Hilo Bay, and then I was in the trades again.

Everything was going well in the evening, except that as I approached midnight, the winds grew stronger, so I decided to roll in the Genoa and put up the little jib. Then I noticed that the Genoa was not about to be furled, as the furling line was caught around the bottom of the contraption, and I would have to go out to the end of the bowsprit to fix it. Now I had been feeling a bit old all day, since that morning I went surfing with a friend from here and landed on the reef. I had a big wound on my back and right next to my tailbone, making sitting up or working leaning over quite painful. In fact, everything was hurting. So I tied myself into a line and got my vise-grip pliers to hold up the sail while I worked under it, and swore quite a few times to the unsympathetic winds. The boat, of course was bucking around like an angry bear and I was getting thrown with it. Then the vise grips came off and when “plunk”, whereupon I learned some new words to yell.

When I was finally hoarse and the sail all tucked away, I took off the line and went to take a nap.

Its hard to sleep when the boat is underway and close to land, so I didn't get more than 10 winks in before the channel came alive with other boats all on collision course with me. That lasted until dawn and the winds were not awe inspiring, and the waves even were small. It was much worse just outside of Hilo. I was able to make good speed through the choke point of the channel. On approach to the corner of Maui the winds came up. The waves stayed nice and small, but the wind came up to 30, then 35 knots and might have hit 45 knots at the end. I had the nose of the boat nearly underwater with the force and I was flying along! Now I am in the “bay” of Maui and it is flat calm and nice. I'll go to Lahaina tomorrow.

So I wrote that  yesterday, and now I am in Lahaina.  It is very nice here, with calm seas and nice views of the hills and islands around.  This morning I went over to Molokini, a tiny island shaped like a crescent.  In that little bay is the clearest water I have ever seen.  I saw the bottom at 72 ft while on board, and I think the vis is something like 100 or more.  Super clear.  So I drove on in and looked for a place to anchor, but then looking at the other boats, I saw they were tieing to moorings that were under water.  So anchoring was probably "verboten".  I found a mooring, stopped the boat (mostly) and dove in to get down to it and attach a line, but a tourist boat came over and told me that someone was coming to take this one, I should leave.  I tried another, and then another boat came to shoo me away, and finally I got one over in the corner.  It is packed in there, with 20 tourism boats all over shouting at me.  I found out later that the custom is for private boats to go after 11am, and it was not that time.

Still, the water was beautiful, and I will have to go back.  In fact, I think I'll spend a night there. 

Because of the coral, there are a lot of off limits places here, I am trying to find out the rules, but it might take a little time.

Mauna Kea

I went up to the top of Mauna Kea yesterday. The air was very thin, since I was at 13,700 ft (about), and because my lungs have been adapted to not moving much at sea level, I could really feel it. Something was different, however, from the last time I was at that kind of height. Climbing Mt Shasta was more rewarding to feel the breath snatched from my nostrils, and the headache and pains were more earned, I felt. There is a road to Mauna Kea, so I caught a ride up to the top and it was quite easy, just step from the car and into the void. I did, of course, try to run about a bit, and noticed that the punishment ran faster than me. I felt loopy and dizzy and then headachy and tired. 

It is beautiful up there, but not quite as beautiful as Mt Shasta, since I worked for the view in California. The Telescopes are neat, and quite unguarded. We drove right up to them and parked alongside these very expensive machines. There wasn't anybody around, but I suppose they were all inside the domes sipping oxygen and snacking on light and numbers. We watched the sun set, dipping into the clouds like it dips into the sea, and then the full moon rose behind us. There is a weird squashing effect on the moon from high altitude. It was full but the bottom parts of it were squashed to make it look like it was a waning gibbous, the shape where it is more than half.

Back down at the 9,000 ft visitors center, they had telescopes set out to look at various stars and things, and I got a good look at Saturn. I had never seen Saturn's rings before, but there they are! Like two little ears listening in to the sun. We could also see the Southern Cross quite clearly as well as Polaris. Funny that you can see both at the same time, but the Southern Cross is not on the South Pole.

The climate changes on the way up were interesting to see. In Hilo it was raining and there is the typical wet lush palm trees and tropical things. A little higher the air was cooler and still very wet, like a cloud forest. There were these trees that I imagine as african savannah trees, where they spread out at the top and are flat. Soon those died away to the lava fields and scruby trees, short and twisted by the hellfire. Then as we moved up beyond the saddle and away from Mauna Loa, there wasn't any more lava flows but instead the cinder cones of Mauna Kea, and we were immersed in wide grasslands and some small copses of evergreens. I thought some were Douglas Fir because of the way the branches curved up, but I didn't get a close enough look to be sure.

 

 Above the grasslands there was less grass and more rock until it became all rock and pumice. Mauna Loa, I am sure, is not the same shifts because it is a shield volcano all the way up, so lava flows should cover all the slopes.

So now I am going to leave today and sail over to Maui.  I hope to arrive in two days or less, it is about 160 miles, but there is also a lot of wind shadows so I might not have a lot of speed.  This channel is also a challenging channel to navigate, so I am going to try to be as careful as I can. 

To Hawaii video

I made a video of the trip over.  its very long, I am sorry for that, but I couldn't help it.