Maui - Oahu
Maui - Oahu in Google Maps (web browser) and in Google Earth (separate application)
I’m sailing along Molokai’s dramatic steep cliffs with dozens of waterfalls towards Oahu to meet my dad, who is arriving for a month of holidays.
Humpback whale breaching
Upon arriving in Honolulu I receive a tsunami-warning by e-mail, announcing a potential tsunami wave for noon the next day. A siren wakes me at 6 a.m. and the authorities announce the evacuation of Honolulu for the arrival of the tsunami wave. This leaves me plenty of time to inform family and friends and have breakfast before heading out at sea. It is a calm day and I am drifting and reading for a few hours before returning to land. At sea I am 100% safe, but the thought that Honolulu could in the meantime be completely destroyed is quite disturbing. Luckily, no significant tsunami wave arrives and I am going back to the marina to explore the city of Honolulu for two days before my dad arrives.
Blue Bie in Honolulu
Together we are installing the replacement refrigerator for which I have been waiting so long. It is fully compatible to its successor model even after 10 years, so that I can re-use the customized front. There is a benefit in slow progress, too.
SSN Bowfin
We are visiting in Pearl Harbor the (boring) Arizona memorial, a WWII submarine and the battleship Missouri, on which the WWII peace agreement was signed and which was recommissioned at huge cost in the late 80ies for the Iraq war.
SS Missouri
It is very touching to see how seasoned seamen were crying when their ship finally was decommissioned and with how much pride the former captain’s cook is leading tours through the ship today.
Bird in Pearl Harbor
Sailing around the islands of Hawaii is quite challenging with strong trade winds particularly towards spring and summer. There is no end in sight of the strong trade winds and we have to beat into 30kn of wind and steep waves on our way to Molokai.
Sailing in30kn of wind
Molokai is so quiet that we set sail after a night and reach Lahaina on Maui after another day with winds in excess of 30kn, where we take a mooring buoy courtesy of Lahaina Yacht Club. We are spending nearly two weeks in Lahaina to explore the many attractions of Maui.
Kaunakakai mainstreet
Lahaina is a touristy former whaling town on which I am learning also a lot by reading James Mitchener’s book ‘Hawaii’. Up to 600 whalers have annually moored in Lahaina in the 19th century; today there are less than 10 cruising yachts passing by. These numbers are more than made up by flocks of tourists from all countries of the world visiting lively Lahaina with its excursions, boutiques and restaurants.
Lahaina
Silver sword on Haleakala
On a whale watching tour we are following a competition pod – a group of males battling it out ferociously who is to mate with the female – if she is in the mood ;-) As much as one knows about these fascinating mammals, nobody has ever seen them mate! Another day we are driving up to the dormant or maybe extinct Haleakala volcano passing trough temperate, subalpine and alpine climate zones.
Road to Hana
After staying overnight in lush Huelo with Jan, an English sailor living on Maui, we are driving the famous road to Hana with its 365 turns through dense rainforests and along black sand beaches.
Black sand beach
We are visiting friends of Jan on Lanai, who rent a house on Lanai. Lanai is mostly a private island with two big resorts and a small village previously used for plantation workers and inhabited today mostly by hotel employees. Lanai’s hotels have been suffering badly in the recession and the island population has dropped from 3’200 to below 2’500.
Upcountry Maui
We are spending a day on the beach swimming with dolphins and a day exploring the highlands and the happy hour at the hotel’s huge lobby bar and fireplace with the local expats.
Noheas salto on the trampolin
Lanai might have been as quiet and uninteresting to visit as Molokai had we not had the opportunity to travel with locals and get a glimpse of the island life.
Upcountry Lanai
Snorkeling with spinner dolfins
After a few more days in Lahaina it is all too soon time to sail back to Honolulu and say good-bye to my dad.
Pa in Lahaina
As much as I enjoy sailing by myself I enjoy the company of another person to share the experiences and cruising life. But finding the right long-term partner while travelling is difficult and I am looking for crew for individual passages on www.findacrew.net, an internet portal for sailors. I am getting in contact with several people who would like to sail and explore with me.
Online in Hawaii
Laurence is taking a sabbatical year from her job in an advertisement agency in Paris and has been sailing on a few other yachts in the Caribbean before joining me in Honolulu. We are planning to cruise for a few weeks together before deciding whether we want to sail together to the South Pacific.
Waikiki at night
We are circumnavigating Oahu by bus to visit the botanical garden in the Waimea valley. Everything is growing on Oahu’s windward side and we are seeing tropical plants from all over the world and swim in a beautiful waterfall.
Honolulu sunset
A short hike brings us to the top of Diamond Head, Honolulu’s ‘house’ volcano, which is quite uninteresting with very dry vegetation, but sports an interesting access road leading through the volcano wall and offers a nice view over Honolulu.
Honolulu from Diamond Head
We are also getting Blue Bie ready for the passage, checking and servicing the rig, replacing the broken gas line of the oven and using the unlimited supply of fresh water to clean her in- and outside. We are spending the afternoons at the famous Waikiki Beach, enjoying the sun, the company, a good book and the broad range of people frequenting the beach. While I initially didn’t like the beach in front of the skyscrapers, I am more and more intrigued by its peaceful atmosphere.
Waikiki Beach
But it gets time to leave the surprisingly hospitable Honolulu for Kauai, the last Hawaiian island I am going to visit before returning to the South Pacific.
Happy in Honolulu
(C) 2011 - Alle Rechte vorbehalten