We’re back at the Waikiki YC – weather in Hawaii doesn’t seem to be very yacht-friendly. It has been continuously windy, gusting up to 30 knots offshore, and now a south swell has arrived, byproduct of some winter storm south of New Zealand. The harbormaster phoned to tell us there was a chance the entrance to Ala Wai Yacht Harbor might be closed if the swell got too large, so we came back in before we were shut out. It’s good weather for the surfers, however. Also the wind isn’t so severe on land, as it is buffered by the mountains.
We spent Wednesday and Thursday nights anchored off a quiet beach near the very northwest tip of Oahu, called Makua Beach. The beach is encompassed by half of an old crater, very beautiful, but off-limits to hikers as it is a target bombing range for the military, complete with guard tower and off limit signs warning of unexploded ordinance. Needless to say, we weren’t tempted to trespass there.
Sorry – I didn’t take the dolphin picture above. It was part of a collection of stock photos we purchased on a commercial boating excursion here in Hawaii. However that is Makua in the background, the only photo I have of Makua Beach and bombing range.
Mike and I did take a long walk along the side of the highway, about 7 miles round-trip. Nearly the entire distance, the shore was populated with homeless encampments, or maybe not quite homeless as there were multitudes of tents, tarps and old cars, lots of junk as well. Maybe squatters would be a better term. En route we explored the Cave of the Shark God (old Hawaiian legend). After our walk it felt good to jump into the surf and swim out to Raven, maybe a quarter-mile swim.
We also put in a scuba dive and explored the reef a bit – not too exciting. We’ve been spoiled by the beautiful underwater scenery in Fiji and Tonga, and haven’t seen anything to compare since. However there are lots of sea turtles here. Even though an endangered species, they are protected in Hawaii and you would never guess there is a shortage of them. Yesterday while snorkeling we saw four of them underwater, leisurely swimming by and nibbling on the seaweed. I dived down to within five feet of one of them and he never showed any signs of alarm. In past locations, where they are hunted by the locals for food, the turtles are so shy that if someone spots one on the surface of the water, before the observer can even point it out the turtle has ducked under and disappeared. So this is a novel experience for us to get such a good look at them.
We’re still trying to get to an outlying island, and will make another try tomorrow to sail to Molokai. Today I guess we’ll just putter around – make another grocery store run and restock the veggies. The iMac is at the nearby Apple store being repaired. Hopefully we will get it back today.
We’re glad we’re missing the heat in Tucson. I hear 115 is forecast for Sunday. Yuck! I hope the monsoons are not far behind.
If we succeed in our attempt to reach Molokai, we’ll probably be out of tough again – but as before, sailmail and the Iridium sat phone will work.