Repair Completed!

2PM.  At anchor in Hanalei Bay.

Just got word that the repaired boom is on its way back to us and should be here in Hanalei by 3PM this afternoon!

We will have a busy afternoon re-rigging the boom, fishing in the outhaul and reef lines, putting the mainsail back on, and getting ready for sea.  Hopefully we can depart for points west first thing tomorrow morning.

We will likely skip Nualolo and go directly to Niihau.  If we spend one night there instead of the planned three, we will be back on schedule.  The wind forecast supports this timing and it looks like the 3 day passage from Niihau to the Big Island will be in light to moderate trades.

I may have connectivity and be able to blog tomorrow between Kauai and Niihau, but will be off the grid from then until we make landfall on the Big Island four or five days from now.

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Relaxing in Hanalei, Again

Last evening Michael saw his first green flash as the sun set over the ocean to the west of Hanalei.  I saw it clearly too, a half second emerald pulse of light just as the sun disappeared.  This morning we asked the crew of the ketch anchored just outside of us if they saw it.  Nope, and one crew on their passing dinghy said, "I don't believe that it's real."  It can't be real if you don't look.....

It got dark, Michael got out his IPhone, and turned on his "star finder" app.  With it for guidance I saw Mercury for the first time ever and using binoculars saw three of the moons orbiting Jupiter.  I know what you are thinking, but I was completely sober.

It was a crystal clear evening and after the moon set we could see the loom of flashing lights over Kauai's mountains to the south.  A look at the NOAA radar confirmed that it was lightning flashes from a storm seventy miles away.  A very enjoyable evening.

This morning an Open 60, Dogbark, entered the anchorage and dropped the hook right next to us.  Dogbark used to belong to my old Coast Guard Academy sailing teammate Al Hughes, who we ran into in Canada's Gulf Islands late last summer when I was aboard Thankful.  Dogbark now belongs to Al's shipmate for their R2AK victory a few years ago, Graeme, who is now cruising the Pacific with his wife and two daughters.  I dinghied over to say hello, and was pleased to learn that he is using my cruising guide, Noodle's Notes, for his Hawaiian Islands adventures.

We spent the day fixing chafed lines caused by the jagged aluminum boom and readying the boat to receive the repaired spar.  No word yet on when we are likely to see it.  Michael did some fantastic baking;  I'm not going to be losing weight this trip like I usually do.

As I write this there is a pod of spinner dolphins frolicking in the anchorage behind us.  Gals in string bikinis are SUPing by every few minutes.  There are worse places to be stuck for a few days.

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Repairs in Hanalei

Yesterday at 4PM Moku pe'a was sitting serenely at anchor in the keyhole at Haena.  It is one of the loveliest spots in Hawaii.  I was below typing the day's blog post when we heard someone yell from the water.  A guy on a surfboard paddled out to tell us that the Governor and the Head of DLNR would be there inspecting damage repairs from last years' flooding early the next morning.  He suggested that we not be there if we didn't want to get cited by DLNR.

It is my normal practice to spend one night in Haena before proceeding down the Na Pali coast to Nualolo at its western end.  Day anchoring in Haena is allowed, but overnight anchoring is not.  I know the rules, but always figured that a single overnight was no big deal if I departed first thing in the morning.  DLNR was casing the place though to make sure everything was just right for the Governor's visit.  I likely would have been busted for sure, so we had to leave.

Hmmm.  Which way to go.  An hour to windward back to Haena, or rush 10 miles down the coast to Nualolo before the sun got too low?  We opted for Nualolo, quickly got underway, and hoisted a full mainsail to get us quickly down the coast.

The wind swirls close under the Na Pali cliffs much like it does on the north shore of Molokai.  We wanted to stay close for the scenery though.  Just as we approached Kalalalau we got a particularly large gust accompanied by a forty degree wind shift.  I was driving, saw the shift as it hit, but couldn't turn the boat quickly enough to prevent the mainsail from jybing.

In a jybe the wind catches the mainsail on the other side from behind.  The mainsail and boom flew across the boat gaining speed and momentum until the mainsheet stopped it suddenly (it's not called "boom" for nothing).  The sudden stop placed a bigger bending moment on the aluminum boom than it could handle, and it broke cleanly in two just aft of the mid-boom mainsheet block attachment.

This kind of accidental jybe happens occasionally, and usually doesn't cause any damage.  This time we were not so fortunate.

A "preventer", a line that holds the boom out so it can't fly across the boat during an accidental jybe, would likely have kept us out of trouble.  In my haste to depart Nualolo I failed to rig the preventers as I normally do, and did for our crossing from Oahu.

We started the engine, put the boat head to wind, got the mainsail down and pieces of the boom secured, and assessed our situation.

We couldn't use the mainsail without the boom and couldn't repair the boom by ourselves.  It was not prudent to proceed further from civilization without a mainsail, so we powered back up the coast to Hanalei arriving back in the anchorage in a driving rainstorm just as it got dark.

On the way back I called Mitch Haynie on the phone.  Michael and I had spent the previous evening at Mitch and Jenna's enjoying a fabulous dinner and great conversation.  Did Mitch know of anybody on Kauai who might be able to help us fix the boom?

No, he didn't, but Mitch has a close friend, Mel Wills, who would.  Mel is the operations manager for Holo Holo Charters which runs tour boats out of Hanalei and Port Allen.   Mitch called Mel, and Mel said he knows just the right guy, Mike Malone of M&S Marine.

This morning Mel called Mike, and Mike said he could help.  At 8AM we dinghied ashore with the broken boom, borrowed Mitch's truck, and drove to Kekaha on the other side of the island where we met with Mel and Mike.

Besides running Holo Holo Charters, Mel is a seasoned sailor.  He's done nine Transpac races, some of which I competed in.  We have a lot of mutual friends.  It's surprising that we haven't met before.  I could tell he knew what he was doing when the first question he asked me after I told him the circumstances of breaking the boom was, "Were you using a preventer?"  Ouch.

Mike took a quick look at the boom, indicated that it should be fixable, and disappeared with it back into his shop.  He said it should be ready in a couple of days.

This is a work in progress, but it is looking like the mighty Moku pe'a may be back on her feet pretty quickly.  This timely and relatively painless recovery wouldn't be possible without the generosity of good people like Mitch, Mel, and Mike, and we are very grateful for their help.

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These Things Happen....

Sorry no blog yesterday.  We were in Haena yesterday and circumstances forced us to depart early and head for Nualolo.  We were sailing under full mainsail only, experienced a swirly gust on the Na Pali coast, accidentally jybed, and broke the boom right in the middle.

We powered back to Hanalei arriving just as it got dark last night.  Moku pe'a is safely anchored right where she was a day ago.

Mitch Haynie is connecting us with the aluminum fabrication experts here on Kauai and we are working to get the boom fixed as quickly as we can.

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Hanalei Bay

3PM.  At anchor in 22 feet, sand bottom, Hanalei Bay. There's not much better than a lazy day relaxing in Hanalei Bay. This is a beautiful spot, and we have had a very pleasant day and a half at anchor here. Moku pe'a's dinghy engine had been acting up when we ran it on the new dinghy a week ago, so I was nervous about getting David ashore in all of the wind yesterday afternoon.  Both the weather and dinghy cooperated though.  The breeze backed off and the engine ran like a clock.   We got David ashore to meet Charles at 5PM, and they were off to dinner.  David spent the night at Charles' condo and the two of them played golf this morning before David's flight back to Honolulu.  David and I have been getting in trouble together since the first grade.  It is always fun to spend time with him. It was grilled rack of lamb and a salad aboard the good ship Moku pe'a last night.  A full tummy and calm anchorage made for relaxed sleeping, and the crew awoke this morning with renewed vigor. After breakfast we dinghied ashore and hiked into downtown Hanalei to do some shopping.  Michael decided it was a pizza baking day and he needed some specialty ingredients. We did some boat chores after lunch and Michael was cooking pizza when we heard someone knocking on the hull.  It was Mitch Haynie, Lori's Punahou classmate who lives here in Hanalei, out for a swim with Eric, a parapalegic Mitch is teaching to surf.  We had a quick visit before they swam back to shore.   Lori and I had a great day sail and dinner with Mitch and his wife Jenna in Moorea when we were there on Moku pe'a in 2014.  Mitch and Jenna have invited Michael and I over for dinner at their home tonight and we are looking forward to it.

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Crossing to Kauai

3PM.  At anchor in 22 feet, sand bottom, Hanalei Bay.

Lori wasn't able to find a parking spot in busy Waimea Bay Beach Park, so she couldn't swim out to join us.  Kara finished skunking me at cribbage and then swam in to catch a ride home with Lori.

We pulled the hook, hoisted the mainsail, and drifted out of the bay at 6PM.  The wind filled in as we worked our way offshore, and with double reefed mainsail and single reefed jib, Moku pe'a sped along on a broad reach at about six knots.

At 9PM when we were about ten miles north of Oahu's Kaena Point the boys woke me from a nap to deal with some strange approaching lights from the south west.  It looked like a tug and barge, but we couldn't see any red and green side lights on the tug.  We were on a converging course, and when nothing changed after a few minutes we called him on the VHF radio.

No, he hadn't seen us.  We described our position and heading, shined lights on the sails, and he then saw us.  The tug "Navajo", with tow behind, altered course and passed just behind Moku pe'a.  It was a pretty close call in a normally deserted channel.  I suppose he was on his way to Seattle.

The wind in the channel wasn't much more than twenty knots, and reefed down Moku pe'a charged right along without overtaxing the autopilot.  There were swells from the north, northeast, and east which caused us to rock and roll and occasionally deposited some water on deck, but I've seen worse.  At least we were broad reaching, and at sunrise we poled out the jib for the run down Kauai's north shore to Hanalei.  We anchored at 9AM, had some breakfast, and all took naps.

The trade winds have really filled in as the day has progressed.  It is well over twenty knots in the gusts, and a boat behind us dragged his anchor forcing another cruiser to move.  The offender has since reanchored, and then continued to drag.  Looks like he needs to invest in some proper ground tackle.

I am a bit concerned about our ability to ferry David in to shore to meet a buddy, Charles Regan, this evening in all this wind.  I'm not sure our little dinghy and outboard are up to the task.  Charles took this photo of us from his Princeville condo as we sailed into the bay this morning.

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The Adventure Begins!

230PM.  At anchor in Waimea Bay 21-38.5N 158-03.9W.

It was a great relief to finally get away on this trip.  For some reason the planning phase and anticipation was more difficult for me than previous voyages, including those to the South Pacific.  Perhaps it was due to the fact that Moku pe'a hasn't been on a long journey since 2014, and I'm out of practice on being in charge of preparations for this kind of adventure.  My fear is that it is old age creeping up, and I don't like it.

In any case we are on our way!  Michael and David both flew in on Thursday.  David went to his apartment in Waikiki and Michael came to stay at the brewery.  Michael, Lori and I provisioned on Friday and then we all went to Waikiki for a lovely dinner with David and his wife Josephine at the Outrigger Canoe Club.  We brought David home with us last night.  Kara walked over to the house this morning, and Lori prepared an excellent pre-voyage breakfast for the crew.

Moku pe'a got underway at 9AM, with a single reef in the main and full jib.  We sailed out the Kaneohe Bay Sampan Channel and turned left to head for Kahuku.  The wind increased, as expected, and by the time we got abeam of the Polynesian Cultural Center we had two reefs in the mainsail and a single reefed jib.

It was a bit bumpy rounding Kahuku, but we jybed without incident, screamed down past Sunset Beach, and entered Waimea accompanied by a school of spinner dolphin.

The hook went down at 2PM over a sandy spot at the east end of the bay, and we are now happily enjoying this peaceful anchorage.  The rest of the crew is swimming around the boat as I write this.

Lori will be here about 430PM and swim out to the boat for a visit before she ferries Kara home.    Michael, David, and I plan to pull the hook and depart for Kauai just before sunset.  The distance to Hanalei Bay is about ninety miles, more than Moku pe'a can sail in daylight hours.  An overnight sail is necessary to ensure we arrive there when the sun is high in the sky.

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