Okoe Bay

Thursday.  2PM.  Motor sailing north along the Kona Coast.

We caught a nice ten pound aku yesterday just after I posted the blog.  Those lures Randy Reed gave us before Moku pe'a's 2014 trip south are still working!

Moku pe'a arrived at Okoe Bay at 630PM Wednesday while the sun was still up, and we anchored in 30 feet of water just off the beach.  Michael made a fantastic spaghetti bolognaise dinner, and we both slept like babies.

I was disappointed to awake to an empty anchorage.  In all of my previous visits to Okoe we have been surrounded by spinner dolphin at sunrise.  At least we were buzzed by a pod of them twenty miles offshore the day before.

After breakfast we launched the dinghy and went ashore for a hike.  The abandoned Hawaiian villages along this coast are spectacular.  Smooth stone paved walking paths in the A'a lava, house foundations, brackish water wells, even an old rock slide all appear like their ancient residents walked away yesterday.  We returned to the boat from our hike about noon.

A big south swell is forecast to arrive tonight.  I have consulted with local experts Greg Gillette and Clay Hutchinson, and have learned that the Kona coast is not where you want to be in a big south swell.  We are slowly moseying north, and plan to pick up the Fairwind's mooring in Kealakekua Bay after they depart for the day at 430PM.  We think we'll be ok there tonight when the swell comes up.  If it's too uncomfortable, we'll ditch the mooring and lay offshore.   We've organized a slip for tomorrow night in Honokahau Harbor north of Kailua Kona.

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Kealakekua Bay

Friday.  11AM.  In a slip in Honokahau Harbor, Kailua Kona.

We picked up the Fairwinds' mooring in Kealakekua Bay at 5PM after they left for the day yesterday.  We were relaxing, and Michael was below creating a culinary masterpiece when a two story tour boat complete with water slide came around the point and into the bay at 6PM.

We quickly dropped the mooring and powered out into the bay assuming they were coming in to pick up the ball.  Keep in mind we had no right to be on the mooring.  I just like to use it when its owners are gone.  It is the only legitimate mooring in Kealakekua Bay, and you are not allowed to anchor there.

It turned out to be a sunset dinner cruise, and they had no intention of picking up the mooring.  We stood off anyway, and watched them as the skipper described Captain Cook's demise directly ashore.  When he was done with his talk, he invited his 50 guests to have dinner at the buffet on the lower deck.  It was a feeding frenzy of epic proportions, rows of fat tourists shoveling food onto their plates and into their mouths. We haven't yet seen schooling fish in a frenzy like this so far, but at least we've seen the human equivalent.  They left after about an hour, we picked up the mooring again, and had a pleasant evening.

We played our first two games of cribbage after dinner.  I will say no more than Michael is now out for revenge.

Michael is the ultimate shipmate.  I discovered this when we were sailing together on Van Diemen in 2017.  His enthusiasm and positive attitude are boundless, and he is an excellent seaman.  He has assumed control of the galley and provisions, which is fine with me.  He is creative, organized, and fast.  We have been eating like kings.  I am lucky to have him aboard, and glad to share the experience with him.

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Kona Landfall

Wednesday.  Powering in to Okoe Bay, Kona Coast, Big Island.  ETA 8PM

Moku pe'a departed Electric Beach at 6AM on Tuesday morning and headed south past Barbers Point.  The trade winds filled in as forecast, and with single reefed main and jib we close reached out into the Molokai Channel.  Surprisingly, the wind died off in the lee of Molokai just after noon, and we motor sailed until we entered the Alenuihaha Channel at midnight.

We saw half a dozen bright orange twenty foot long sailing drones spread out over Penguin Banks west of Molokai.  Does anybody know what they are doing out there?

The Alenuihaha Channel lived up to its reputation.  We had 25 knots of wind but soldiered through with double reefed main and jib.  A couple of waves made it under the dodger and down our shirts, but it wasn't as rough as I've seen it in the past.

At 6AM this morning we sailed out of the channel and into the notorious Kona flats where the engine came on and has been on ever since.  This is one area we knew we'd be powering.

At 9AM I looked up and saw a FAD buoy directly ahead of us 200 yards off.  We had to alter course to miss it.  Good thing I looked.  We were more than 30 miles off shore and didn't expect to have to avoid anything out here.  I had a fishing line out as we passed the buoy and we could see fish feeding on the surface, but nothing took the bait.

We are racing to get into Okoe before dark tonight, but no worries if we don't.  Matt Dyer and I anchored in Okoe in pitch blackness when we arrived there from Tahiti on Moku pe'a in 2011.  We can do it again if we need to.

Sorry I didn't provide details on the boom repair earlier.  Mike Malone built a 20" long custom aluminum sleeve that fit snugly inside the boom and overlapped 10" on each side of the break.  Then he put the boom back together and welded it at the break.  It looks great, and appears to be stronger than the original.  

I'm a little bit worried about Michael.  He has grown extremely fond of his "Dutch Wife", a four foot long pillow, that shares his bunk.  This morning he asked me, as the ship's captain, to officially marry the two of them.  I haven't heard him whispering sweet nothings to her/it yet, but I expect that will come with time.

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Detour to Oahu

Monday/Tuesday.  I've never seen it calm south of Niihau in my ten prior trips past there.  This time was different.  The wind never filled in, and Moku pe'a continued to motor sail toward the Big Island until late Sunday afternoon when we reassessed the situation.

We had been under power since the boom broke off of Kalalau.  That's approximately 22 hours of powering, and nearly half our fuel was gone.  The weather forecast called for continuing calm for at least another day, and we knew we might need at least 15 hours of fuel to get through the lee of Kona.  The numbers didn't add up, so we altered course 20 degrees to port and headed for Koolina on Oahu to refuel.

Good thing we did.  We had four hours of blissfully quiet sailing, but otherwise powered the entire way to Koolina arriving just before 5PM Tuesday.  We even had to empty the emergency 5 gallon jerry jug of diesel into the tank to ensure we'd make it.  Amazing.  We didn't use this much fuel on any leg in either of Moku pe'a's South Pacific voyages.

I had a great time last summer on my powerboat adventures in the Pacific Northwest.  Perhaps this was King Neptune's way of getting back at me for my dalliance on the dark side of the force.  "You say you like powerboats?  Hah!  Try this!"

I called the Koolina office when we got within cell phone range.  Their self service fuel dock was open 24/7, but we couldn't get a slip without 2 day's advance notice.  We pulled in, filled fuel and water, and departed at 5:30.  Moku pe'a anchored for the night off Electric Beach two miles to the north.

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Heading for the Big Island

Sunday.  Moku pe'a got underway for the Big Island just after first light, motor sailing along Niihau's long northwest coast.  

I sailed right along this tranquil coast in each of the seven "Round the State" races I participated in back in the '70s and '80s, and saw then what great a great cruising ground it could be.

I haven't been disappointed in the four times I've returned to explore.  Niihau is off the map for most, so you always have it to yourself as long as you are careful to avoid the island's residents, who aren't particularly friendly.

Quite a few birds were working the surface, so we put out a handline and caught two large Kahala, which we threw back since I'm not familiar with the ciguatera situation in the area.

We expected to be blasted by trade winds as we cleared Niihau's southeastern point, but found flat seas and six knot winds which made it necessary to motor sail.  That was surprising.  Hopefully it won't be too long before the breeze fills in.

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Niihau

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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Na Pali

930AM.   Off Polihale Beach, Kauai

Moku pe'a motor sailed down the Na Pali coast this morning in the calmest clearest weather I've ever seen there.  It was tempting to stop and go ashore in Kalalau and Nualolo, but we are a bit behind schedule so we carried on.  Spinner dolphin and a few turtles welcomed Moku pe'a along the way.

We are now crossing the channel to Niihau where we will spend the night before heading off to the Big Island tomorrow. I'm a bit concerned about a small northwest swell that is forecast to come up tonight. My planned anchorage under Pu'ukole Point is only about 12 feet deep and is open to the northwest. We will probably go in there this afternoon, do some exploring, and find a deeper anchorage for the night. 

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