O'ahu

And so we left the relative seclusion of Hale O Lono harbour on Moloka'i's south coast early on Valentine's day eve to make the short, 45 nm passage to O'ahu across the Kawai channel.  It is best to choose a calm weather day to cross these Hawai'ian channels as they mostly line up southwest to northeast and funnel the prevailing trade winds to be a good 10 knots faster than over the islands themselves.  It was a brisk, but not too exciting sail with O'ahu visible in the distance almost from the outset.  Within seven hours we were safely tucked into our destination at Kaneohe bay, on O'ahu's east coast.

Kaneohe bay is a large bay facing east, protected from the easterly swells by a 4 mile long reef across the mouth of the bay.  There are only two passes in the reef, and we chose the closest one, which took us through clear waters as shallow as 8ft before entering the lagoon itself.  Once inside, we set anchor just outside Coconut Island which was used in the opening sequences of the TV program Gilligan's Island.  Today the island is used as a marine research lab for the University of Hawai'i. We enjoyed this secluded, quiet spot for a couple of days - including Valentine's Day when we opened a bottle of our customary Rose champagne - until we learned that we needed to move to a larger and more populated mooring field close to the He'eia Kea small boat harbour, halfway up the bay.  We were in somewhat of a holding pattern, waiting and preparing for our planned boatyard haul-out in Honolulu about six weeks away.  There was a small chance of a cancellation and a call from the boatyard to come in early, so we wanted to be ready if that happened, although as the days passed and we enjoyed the convenience of taking the bus right outside the boat harbour to the nearby town of Kaneohe with all the usual amenities and a postal delivery service, we were content to just wait and use the time to be fully ready.

Gilligans Island!

In the southeast corner of the bay lies the Marine Air base of Kaneohe, and we were treated, day and night, to the seemingly non-stop comings and goings of various military helicopters and planes.  It made us realise how large the military presence is here, especially since this base is not even the largest on the island, that honour going to the joint base at Pearl Harbour, which we were yet to visit. At least we felt safe here..

We stayed here at Kaneohe for almost three weeks.  As I mentioned, the bus stopped right outside the harbour and it was an easy 10 minute ride to the town centre, and only a 40 minute ride for the seven mile trip across the mountain to Honolulu.  The island of O'ahu is full of rugged peaks in the interior, and a coast road encircling almost the whole island, and so we took the opportunity to rent a car, as we often do, to explore the island a little.  As expected, outside of the main conurbation of Honululu, with its population of almost 400,000, the towns are small and cosy, with a definite retro vibe of old town America and the surfing culture.  In particular on the north coast of the island, which is home to many of the iconic Hawai'i surfing beaches such as 'Pipeline', it is so laid back it is horizontal. During these times with little tourist traffic, one can easily imagine how it has been unchanged over the decades, just a lovely, relaxed pace of life.  Back in Honolulu, however, it's big city life as usual, and it was interesting to see the contrast of life in the two parts of the island just a few miles apart.  One of the most impressive geographical features of O'ahu is Diamond Head crater, an inactive volcanic cone just east of Waikiki.  It's possible to drive inside the crater through a man made tunnel in the crater wall, park and hike up to the summit of the rim.  Not a terribly difficult hike, but busy and hot - but the view was worth it.  One can see the whole of Honolulu in panorama, with all the beaches, surfing, high-rise buildings, and the open Pacific spread below like a carpet.

The steps up to Diamond Head summit

Top of the world!

We do love a museum, especially one that showcases the local culture and history, so we were not disappointed with the Bishop Museum in the Honolulu suburbs.  Unfortunately due to Covid the famous planetarium and some other smaller parts of the museum were closed, but we were able to enjoy a comprehensive and beautifully presented history of the Hawai'an islands, up to post second world war times.  Especially after learning the history of French Polynesia, this really 'closed the loop' for us in terms of understanding the migration and settlement of the Pacific peoples.  the Hawai'ian royalty is quite a story, and is still proudly remembered by statues, buildings, monuments and street names all over.  I liked that the United Kingdom Union Jack is featured as part of the Hawai'an flag, and we discovered that the islands enjoyed a close relationship with the UK, particularly during the reign of King Kamehameha I in the late 18th century.

Thats a real whale carcass in the Bishop Museum

We had mentioned before that Hawai'i is not particularly blessed with idyllic anchorages for cruising yachts, and O'ahu is no different, especially in Honolulu itself, and so when it came time to move the boat close to the boatyard for our looming haul-out date, we found ourselves taking a mooring ball in a large, impersonal mooring field close the airport and in a very industrial part of town. It wasn't pretty, but since we were only a few hundred yards from the haul-out slip itself, it was fit for purpose.  We spent the next weeks gathering supplies, and even starting some of the refit work ahead of the boatyard since the mooring was calm and protected.  One of the main pieces of mechanical work was to fit clutch upgrades to the two Yanmar saildrives, which involves removing the internals of the gearboxes and fitting new bearings to the clutches.  Friends on the catamaran Moorea, whom we had met in Panama had spent the last year in Hawai'i and were also keen to do this upgrade, so Johan and I shared the work and experience.  Many other smaller projects were ticked off the list while on the mooring ball, so we could minimise our time on the hard.  One particular task that looked a little intimidating was to repair our port salon window which had been parting company with the fibreglass frame, almost since we have owned the boat.  Expecting to remove and clean the whole huge window, then reseal it, I was pleasantly surprised to find the sealant to be in good shape except for the front seam, so I was able to make a local repair without too much difficulty.  One final task we managed to tick off the list was Covid vaccination!  Hawai'i was vaccinating fast, and the age eligibility was dropping fast. Thankfully we both managed to be fully vaccinated, me with Moderna and Dara with Pfizer, before we left the island.

Saildrive clutch in pieces!

One last must-do in O'ahu is Pearl Harbour.  We booked a visit online, as is necessary now, and spent a day between the Arizona exhibit and the museum which tell the story of the second world war attack and its aftermath.  We also visited the submarine Bowfin, and learnt all about the evolution and use of submarines in warfare.  It was a sobering trip on the short ferry ride over to the Arizona memorial.  The USS battleship Arizona lies on the seabed, clearly visible just under the surface, just as it sank on the morning of 7th December, 1941.  Interred in the wreck are the bodies of many US servicemen who died that day, and it remains a monument and reminder of the evil of war to this day.  Hawai'i was, and still is home to many thousands of Japanese migrants and it is testimony to the human ability to forgive that many of them walked alongside us that day, hoping mankind learns from his mistakes. 

Torpedo tubes ready!

On the ferry over to the Arizona memorial

The remains of a gun turret on the Arizona

the USS Bowfin

Eventually the day came for the haul-out - April 1st.  We motored the few yards down to the slip, which as it happens is only a few inches winder than india itself, so we relied on the expertise of the yard crew to gently guide the boat into place with dock lines, and secure the travel lift straps in place for the big lift.  An hour later, india was in place, on blocks in the yard, the hull pressure washed and ready for a good bottom scrub and touchup!  Our intention was to take around six to seven days to complete the list of work, and whilst on the hard we had booked a hotel in Waikiki so we could refresh ourselves each day in relative comfort.  Boat work is hard and dirty, and having a bath, comfortable bed and restaurants on hand is a necessity we could not manage without.  The work proceeded without too much drama, and we managed to sand and paint the bottom, change several through-hull fittings that were old and tired, refit rudder bearings, and some much needed welding and other work on Tuk-Tuk, our faithful (and essential) dinghy.

A tight fit for india!

15 tons....

One of the new through-hulls

Rudder bearings to be done..

Starting to look good

Starting to look great!

Like most of our boatyard experiences, whilst there we were lucky enough to make some new friends.  On one side of us was Don, who was having his small monohull Minggat painted prior to a passage to Fiji, and on the other side was Terry, an extremely interesting veteran who was repowering his SeaRay cruiser.  Don had a local PO box arrangement for shipping and was kind enough to allow us to direct a few Amazon packages his way, as well as giving us rides when we needed to shop for something.  Terry is the kindest man you could imagine, and we were honoured to be invited to his house for dinner on several occasions and he offered the loan of his car almost anytime we needed it.  This was particularly valuable and appreciated since Hawai'i was suffering the ubiquitous rental car shortage now that tourists were starting to come back, and rental cars, if they could be found, were $700 a day!!!  Uber is here in Hawai'i, but again, demand meant long wait times and expensive rides.  We became quite close to Terry and had made a plan for him to join us on our passage to Kauai, since he had family there and was eager to experience an overnight sail.  As he was finishing the work on his own boat, it looked as though the stars would align and he would be back in the water just in time from him to join us, but fate had other ideas, and a health episode that took Terry to hospital two days before departure, resulted in him being scheduled for a triple bypass and aortic valve replacement surgery just a few days later. We were so upset, and had really been looking forward to spending the time with him, but grateful his health was being attended to as a priority.  (Several days post-op as I write this and it seems the surgery was a complete success and Terry is doing great!!!). 

The lanai at Terry's house

Back in the water, and india still floats!  So our hull work was successful..we positioned back on the mooring ball as we planned our final passage in Hawai'i - to Kauai, and then the big passage to Fiji.  Final cleaning and minor projects are done, and india has never been in such good shape.  Everything works, all preventative maintenance is up to date, sails are repaired or new, we have full water and fuel - we are READY!!