Continental

 After much stress and perfect conditions for racing down the Johnstone Strait, (where I was able to make 10 kts at times, because of currents) I got to Campbell River and called customs up, and they promptly cleared me over the phone.  So in my mind, I feel like I didn't really need to be here, since they didn't do anything in person.  What a nice welcome back present.
Despite these setbacks, I am feeling bright and chipper and very happy to be landed.  The trip down the island was nice, superbly pretty, and I had some dolphin visitors!
But first, the trip report:

When I left Hanalei Bay, I had a nice trade wind running from about due East, so I was able to point upwind a little (and I was going as high into the wind as I could).   This isn't the most comfortable sailing, so I was trying not to be down below that much.  After a few days of this, though I was making good progress, I could see the boat falling apart slowly from the bashing and beating against the waves.  I had tried to seal it up, but on this trip as well I was taking on water the whole way, and had to bail quite often.  There is a rail (a rub rail) that goes around the boat and it is this plastic thing that covers the "hull-deck join" which is the spot that the deck and the hull were attached together when they made the boat.  That rub rail was torn from the bow (by the waves) and then broke and I lost about 1/3 of the port side plastic thing, even though I tried to tie it back on.  So I had about 15 little quarter inch holes that would get pushed under water when going through a big wave, and that made everything wet in the front, and filled the bilge.  I am currently working on fixing that.
After four days the winds became light and though that was welcome because the seas dropped, so it was almost as calm as being on a lake, I wasn't able to make the progress, and I couldn't point as high, so I was going North and NW, instead of NE.  Still, out in that calm patch (this patch is about the size of the USA) there were lots of interesting garbage pieces, and fish under them.  I hooked into a few Mahi Mahi while puttering along.  I was using the motor on and off to keep moving for the next 11 days, and then ran out of fuel, so I made very slow progress for about 2 days until I was able to pick up a light westerly!  The winds blow in a circle around the North Pacific High, from the East in the trades and from the west above.  I thought I was saved, but the winds dropped and I had calms and winds on and off for the whole rest of the trip, and lots of dense fog making it very cold.
There was one "storm" that came through near the end, and I could see the swell growing bigger and bigger, then the wind came up and I was flying along.  I hit 13 knots down a wave before pulling in sail.

My AIS receiver worked like a charm, and I was able to see all the container ships as they passed, and then call them on the radio to ask if they could spot me.  Most of them could not.  I think that if I do this kind of trip again I will try to get AIS broadcast ability, and then they can see me as a dot on their screens, complete with boat name, speed and direction and everything, so I cannot be missed.  Radar is not necessary until you get close to land and have small boat traffic.
As I was about 400 miles from Port Hardy, I heard on the radio a small boat named "Zulu" calling.  I had met Zulu first in Mexico (or I had seen them there, but not spoken with the crew) and then in Hawaii, and we crossed paths within 10 miles out in the middle of the blue!  They had left 4 days before me, so I was pleased by my progress.

I ate a lot more than the other trip, so I ran out of food that I wanted to eat, and have been dreaming about things lately... 

Arrival (almost)

I arrived* in Canada today, after 30 days and 1 hour sailing.  The last few days were slow and hectic, since there is a lot of traffic that comes past the area up here, and then there are rocks.  So I finally made it past Cape Scott (the north end of Vancouver Island) and into the channel, and to Port Hardy!  Yay! 
But then when I got to the office and called canadian customs to tell them I arrived, well, I have made an error.  Port Hardy is not a "Port of Entry", so I cannot arrive here.  Therefore, I must un-arrive and go to Campbell River to enter Canada with all due haste.  But the Canadians are watching me, so I have to keep to a schedule, so I hope the weather is nice for me for the next few days so I can make it.
They were kind enough to allow me to stay the night here and get food, so that is the scoop right now.
I guess I'll write more about the trip in the future.

Departing thoughts

I'm finishing up here.  My work is nearly complete.  After more than three weeks on this island, I like it a lot.  There are so many waterfalls to visit, many beautiful bays to sail around in and anchor at, and a wonderful south and west side that I haven't explored hardly at all.  Its hard to chose my favorite island in Hawaii, but this might be it, except for the traffic.  Since there is only one road, and it doesn't go full circle, the traffic is always bad.  There is also the problem that erosion has made many cliffs and things that the road must go over and it gets narrow there, with lots of construction.  So this island is best with a motor scooter!
It seems that the tourist population use the guide books, because the "real gems" that I found were all crowded, but some of the less shiny gems were completely empty.  I walked up a few streams with nobody on them, while another waterfall was overrun with humans.  Still, I like people, and can get along with that species just fine.  I am most impressed with the many harbors.  On the north side there are so many little places to hide a boat it is fantastic!  All other islands (to my limited knowledge) were more dangerous and rougher conditions on their north sides, and lacked such a curvacious coast. 
 There are a lot of cool buildings in Hanalei, like this church, and many friendly boats as well.  This is Laysan, who I met in Lanai with Dad and then in Honolulu (their home) and now here. 
I went on a short trip to the south-west side, where the Waimea Canyon is.  It was very hot and dry there, feeling like another place alltogether.  This island has the spot of most rain on the planet, but this isn't it.
There are goats all over the island, but you wouldn't know it on the wet sides, since they hide carefully in the foliage and stay atop the cliffs (where you can't go).  On the dry side they stand out more.  Little billy goats gruffs romping around the erosive edges, scampering the slopes.  They are small goats, but I guess I don't really know the normal size.  I haven't seen any wild boar, but I think they are here and have seen some torn up soil that looks like a wallowing spot.  

So, on to the future!

I will be leaving tomorrow at noon, Hawaii time, and then tracking my positions with the SPOT tracker, which you can find the page for it HERE.   I'll be posting the position at 12:00am  and 12:00pm for the trip, but don't worry too much if I am unable to get it to work out properly, and you have to wait for a while to post a position, because there are a number of things that could go wrong with it, including it falling in the water, or getting wet and rusting up, or the batteries going dead.  I do have other emergency beacons (two of them) that I can use in the event of an emergency, so don't panic if the spot thing doesn't show.  But hopefully it will work out well.  
I will also try and talk to boats that I see and see if they are willing to post a comment on my location on this blog. 
I've got food and water for many many days at sea, probably about 100 days if I am careful with the water, or can catch some rain, so don't worry if I don't show up right away.  I am assuming that this trip might take about 26 days, but the winds up near the North Pacific High can be light for days at a time and then I would be stuck waiting. 
I will be awarding a fantastic prize to anyone who posts on a comment the most accurate time and day of landfall.  I am not sure exactly where I will go, but it might be the north end of Vancouver island, or it might be the tip of Washington state.  both are about 2250 nautical miles away, and I did the 3200 nm trip from PV to Hilo in 29 days 20 hours.  The weather conditions will be different.  I will define landfall as the time when I drop anchor, either in Neah Bay or in Port Hardy or nearby there.  Entry must be completed by August 20th for the prize.

Hanalei Bay Video

This is not just Hanalei Bay, but a little of the Na Pali Coast as well.

Further adventures in Hanalei Bay

I am discovering that I like it very much here in Kauai.  There is a ultimate frisbee game not far from the boat, the water is the calmest I have seen in all of Hawaii so far (excepting the inside of a breakwater), and the backdrop is a fantastic waterfall-strewn mountain that is glossed with green. 
The people have been friendly as well.  Today I went out for a little trip to another anchoring spot, upwind a little ways to the northernmost point, near Kiluea.  Its called "secret beach" so I can't tell you the exact location, that is classified. 
The water was nice there, and after a little dip and paddle around I sailed back, and did the unthinkable.  I caught a fish!  This is the first fish I have captured in all the Hawaiian islands!  It was a bluefin trevally, but since it speaks in a hawaiian language it is Ulua.  A sexy little bugger it was.  But I didn't eat it, since it was small and I had one before long ago in Costa Rica, and they aren't the best tasting fish. 
Life goes on, on the water.  I have about a week and a half before I head north, so today was a little bit of a trial run to see how I can do going to weather, and I believe if the sea stays as calm as it was today it will be all just fine.  I'm nervous about the trip, but I expect that to get worse in a week, and I'll be sad to leave the islands. 

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.