Looking Over the Horizon

At anchor aboard Moku pe’a in the lee of Coconut Island, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii

Late yesterday afternoon Lori and I decided to exercise Moku pe’a one last time before I head back to Fiji on Saturday night to rejoin Van Diemen.  The trade winds were strong so after sailing around Kaneohe Bay a bit we dropped the hook for the night behind Coconut Island, one of our favorite protected anchorages.  After getting the boat secured we sat back to enjoy a cocktail and watch the KYC Happy Hour Race fleet round the leeward mark nearby as the sun set over the Koolau mountains.  After the mark rounding action died down I checked my phone and found that two emails had come in, one from Rob in Fiji and another from my buddy Matt Dyer in Washington.

Van Diemen had just competed in the annual Musket Cove regatta in Fiji.  Rob was pleased with her performance in the long distance race where they finished third behind a Santa Cruz 52 and an Oyster 82.  The Santa Cruz 52 got away from them (no surprise there) and they traded places with the Oyster a few times before the larger boat pulled ahead on the long beat.

Matt was emailing to firm up plans for Lori and I to join him and his wife Vicki next summer aboard their trawler for a month of cruising in southern Alaska.  Nearly all of my previous cruising has been aboard sailing vessels in the tropics, so the Pacific Northwest on a powerboat will be a new experience for me.  Matt and I double handed a couple of passages together aboard Moku pe’a, Tahiti to Hawaii in 2011 and Tonga to Tahiti in 2014.  He is a great shipmate.  An Alaskan commercial fisherman, Matt knows both power boats and this part of the world well.  We will be in good hands and we are really looking forward to next summer’s cruise. 

As we sipped our cocktails and read the emails Lori said, “Isn’t it amazing that we can be anchored here in Hawaii communicating simultaneously with friends in Fiji and Washington planning cruises to Tasmania and Alaska?”  It is amazing, and we are very lucky to have these opportunities.  

Watching the fleet round the leeward mark