Saturday, 4PM. At anchor in Nishimura Bay, North Kona coast.
It got a bit bumpier as the southwest swell picked up during the night, but we spent a pleasant evening on the mooring in Kealakekua Bay. Early yesterday morning we dropped the ball and powered north to Honokahau Harbor, arriving about 10AM.
Our first stop was the fuel dock where we topped up our diesel and water. From there we moved to the innermost end of the harbor and located our assigned slip. We found Lei, the nice gal that runs the Harbor Master's office, in an air conditioned oasis close by. We threatened to stay there with her all afternoon. She typed rapidly for about 15 minutes to get us checked in. It felt like we were applying for a mortgage. When she was done she said, "That will be $26 please." What a deal! The typing effort alone was worth $50!
Greg Gillette, who lives in the hills above Kona, came down and picked us up at 1PM. He was kind enough to invite us along on an excursion to his beach house in Puako, 20 miles up the coast.
Greg and I raced many miles together in the Atlantic and Pacific in the '70s and '80s. Good times, and it was fun to reminisce and share the stories with Michael. Greg's Puako home was beautiful, and we washed down the ocean view and sea stories with cold beer.
This morning we departed Honokahau at first light and headed north. The wind filled in from the south off of Kiholo Bay, and we had a lovely sail up to Nishimura Bay.
This part of the coast can get interesting. Sometimes the trade winds make it over the gaps between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, and between Mauna Kea and the Kohala Mountains. One minute you are sailing along in a nice onshore thermal breeze, and the next you are getting blasted by wicked strong trade winds.
Up by Nishimura Bay it seems the trades like to fill in just before 2PM. Today, right on schedule, they hit. We were only about a mile from our anchorage at the time. I saw them coming, and we got all of our sails down before we were blasted by 25+ knots. We powered in and anchored in 34 feet of water over sand. We are staying out where it is deep because the swell is supposed to come up again tonight.
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