Saturday. Moku pe'a motor sailed most of the way to Niihau with only about an hour sailing thrown in. The chart isn't detailed enough to show if there is deep water between Niihau and Lehua Rock, but Wayne Reis told me that he has been through there with his boat. We gave it a try and found a wide pass with never less than 60 feet of water.
My favored anchorage under Niihau's Pu'ukole Point looked calm, so we dropped the sails and powered in, anchoring in fourteen feet of water about 200 yards off of the beach at 3PM.
Michael and I were cleaning up the sails right after the engine went off and both saw two four foot long white tip reef sharks dart under Moku pe'a. I guess we're not doing a lot of swimming here....
We launched the dinghy and powered in to shore landing on a clear stretch of beach that had the largest monk seal I have ever seen ashore about 50 yards away. He didn't even budge as we came ashore.
We were on a quest for glass balls, and first walked along the shore to Niihau's windward side where the pickings should be better. No balls, but Michael did spot three healthy looking pigs rooting in the bushes by the beach. He also found a human tibia among the rubbish along the shore. He would know. He is a physician.
Moku pe'a's determined crew searched for nearly two hours and didn't find any glass balls. I've visited Niihau three times before, and always found at least one. The balls are fewer and searchers more plentiful now so it's not surprising. We still had a great time beachcombing.
Back aboard Moku pe'a we could see that the northwest swell was starting to increase as forecast. Our anchorage was open to the northwest and was pretty shallow, so we opted to depart and find a deeper anchorage for the night.
We anchored in 25' off of Keawanui Beach about 3 miles further down the coast just before sunset. I had anchored here twice before and knew we'd be fine there if the swell came up.
The next morning there was a sizable swell running and about three foot waves breaking on the beach. Moving was the right decision.
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