Position: 21 degrees 17.5 minutes north, 157 degrees 51.4 degrees west, at a dock slip in Kewalo Basin, Honolulu
After leaving Maui, we headed for the island of Lanai, where we had planned to stay at the small boat harbor at Manele Bay. Luckily, a charter boat saw us heading for the entrance to the marina and called us on the VHF to warn us that they weren’t sure of the depths, since the harbor hadn’t been cleaned out of all the debris since the tsunami in March. They also informed us that the harbormaster doesn’t work on Mondays, so we weren’t sure there was a slip available for us. Given this, we headed around the island to a remote anchorage Kalama Nui, where we ended up spending two nights. Tim spotted our first Hawaiian monk seal, and swam ashore to check out the rocky beach.
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| Hawaian Monk seal hauled out on the rocks at Lanai -- first he swam right up to the boat while Tim was pulling up the anchor! |
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| Cliffs of Lanai, as we rounded the point towards Molokai |
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| Approaching Waikiki and Diamond Head! |
We then stopped one night at Lono Harbor in Molokai, enroute to Oahu. We arrived in Oahu on June 30, just a few days before the big 4th of July celebrations. We pulled into the *Aloha Dock* at the Hawaii Yacht Club, and were warmly greeted by the manager, many of the members, and of course, finally, we had reached the island where Tim’s brother Kevin lives, so he came down to welcome us! Here is the scene at the Hawaii Yacht Club.
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| Dolphins greeting us off of Waikiki |
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| Tim and Kevin - mini Callahan reunion! |
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| Midnight Blue at the *Aloha Dock* |
We stayed at the Hawaii Yacht Club Aloha dock through the 4th of July, as it was the best spot to view the fireworks – right in the Ali Wai marina, and right across the channel from Magic Island where the fireworks are launched. Unfortunately, I didn’t get photos of the fireworks, but suffice it to say they were some of the best I’ve ever seen! Earlier in the day, we headed out to the anchorage off of Waikiki, where our friend Skip was anchored. He had called to inform us his boat had been surrounded by quite a few revelers, including a barge with a live band, and numerous folks on surfboards and all other floating means. I chose a surfboard, so that I could mingle better with the crowds, while Tim dinghied around and took a few photos. It was definitely reminiscent of what we imagine the *spring break* scene is like (not that we’d know about that!).
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| Everyone in the water - it's the 4th! |
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| And this was after half the folks and the band were gone... |
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| Ohhh -- be careful!!! |
We couldn’t afford to stay at Hawaii yacht club long – plus they had boats coming in from LA doing the Transpac race, so we had to move to Kewalo Basin, just a bit down the way, where we are right across the street from numerous surf breaks! It used to be a commercial boat harbor, but the state recently hired a private company (Alamar) to manage it and now liveaboards and cruising boats are welcome here. We’ve been busy with boat projects, visiting Kevin up on the north shore, surfing and seeing the sights.
It’s strange to be living on the boat right in a big city. The marina is right near a big beach park and across from a big shopping mall – both the park and mall are called Ala Moana. The park is great for swimming laps, for those days I don’t get out in the surf. We’ve caught a few waves, and there have been surfable waves every day, but it’s pretty crowded and windy lots of the time. I’ve managed to find an ultimate Frisbee pickup game in the park once a week, so that’s helping me get some exercise too! And then there’s the 16 theatre cinema across the street… we’ve been to two movies – the very entertaining ‘Horrible Bosses’ and the first part of the Harry Potter movie (which they showed earlier in the evening before part two opened at midnight… It was quite a scene all the Potter fans lined up 5 hours early to get in to the theatre! The theatre had a radio station DJ out front to keep the crowd lively, and the new trucks were there too…)
Last weekend we did a hike with Kevin and his new puppy Primo out to Ka’ena Point, the northwestern point of the island… beautiful scenery… but watching the sailboat tacking around the point reminded us that we’re getting spoiled sitting in the marina, flat and calm. We’re gearing up to head out again in early August… current plan is to head for Fanning Island, which is part of the Line Islands, about 1200 miles south of here. We’ll plan to spend a few months there, and then maybe head back here to Hawaii… Because of hurricane season in the southern hemisphere, we don’t think we’ll make it further south this year…so we may not even rush to get to Fanning that quick. We’ll see. For now, my best friend from forever Meta, her husband Sean and their girls Maggie and Kate will be here for the next 10 days, so I'm looking forward to lots of good visiting and beach time!
Here’s photos of the views and the endangered Laysan Albatross we saw out at Kaena point – we also saw three more endangered monk seals (not photogenic seals this time).
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| Tim, Kevin & Primo, the springer spaniel puppy with tons of energy! |
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| Layasan Albatross at Ka'ena Point |
