Leg 4 – Hawaii to Marshall Islands 

Sunday, February 04^th, 2007 

            We needed to get going today as our 48 hours clearance time would be up at 3 pm.  We had plans of getting up, starting engines and leaving.  All we had left to do was get diesel.  However, as in life, the day had its own agenda.  The new sailboat that came in last night, Sugarcane, brought a skipper, Jerry who would also be heading for the Marshalls in a month.  He said, "Get Marlboro's. The Marshallese will make a signal for wanting smokes and they will trade for a bucket of lobster or prawns."  So, we decided one last walk through town would be good exercise and for the $4 cost of a pack of cigarettes the potential to get lobster and prawns was worth the trade.  Also being the first Sunday of the month there was the boaters exchange at the gas dock.  Now if we had kept to our plan about waking up early and heading over for our diesel, we probably would have made the gathering.  Instead we made the walk around before heading to town.  We arrived just in time to see the last of the for sale items being packed up.  Oh well, I think someone was telling us we had what we needed and we have spent enough money here.  We continued on our walk to town.  Jon decided he had to go by a pellet gun he had been looking at.  I was hoping he would look and then just shrug it off, but no such luck.  So before he got to the point of purchase I had to surprise him with the fact I had already bought the gun he had picked out earlier with Wade as his Valentine's gift.  The surprise was not as exciting considering Valentines was going to be celebrated halfway between Hawaii and Marshalls where I intended to surprise him.  A surprise all the same.  We got our smokes and headed back to the boat.  We made our goodbyes with all and hoped to see Chris, Eddie and now Jerry in the Marshall Islands soon.  Everyone helped us untie and leave the dock.  Andy was not around and he came over to the gas dock with Robbie to say goodbye.  We almost left with all of his movies he lent us, but no such luck.  I wish them all the best in their sailing adventures.  Two really nice guys.  We finally headed out the mouth of the harbour at about 2 pm.  The sky was blue but what worried us was the lack of wind.  We motored out and decided to keep motoring until we reached the edge of the land where we hoped wind would be found.  Unfortunately no such luck.  We bobbed on a glassy pond with a gentle swell all night.  Any distance we covered was by current taking us more towards Molokai than our destination at a rate of about 1 nautical mile an hour.  Not the first day out we hoped for.

Monday, February 05^th, 2007 

            I went off shift just past 4 am and was sensing a slight breeze.  Nothing accumulated until a few hours later.  The wind would push us a long slowly and then slow to a flapping sail and then again.  We were going 1 ½ knots at 8:30 and by 10 am we were going 3 knots.  If we could just reach 5 knots.  The sail is very comfortable.  Better than the bobbing, so can't complain.  But 5 knots would definitely make the journey go a little quicker.  As the day progressed unfortunately the wind did not.  We did not reach our 5 knots and in stead lost our wind once again and back to our bobbing.  We decided to celebrate with a roast lamb dinner on the barbeque, yum!  As we sat in the cockpit enjoying our dinner we watched the lights of Honolulu.  Yes, we were still just outside her territorial grounds if you would say.  A whole day plus of traveling and still only 20 some nautical miles covered.  By 1 am the scenario had not really changed.  The black clouds we were watching had come over head and we now had rain.  Jon did a long shift through the night from midnight to 5 am.  I still don't know how he does it.  I did not fair much better below though.  With the constant sway I could not sleep. 

Tuesday, February 06^th, 2007 

            Wind!  We think.  With more rain showers came more wind.  We thought it would be a short lived as the squalls as we have experienced over the past hours, but we kept gaining and now are enjoying 6-7 knots.  We had dolphins come to join us.  We saw baby dolphins for the first time.  That was pretty cool.  We are not quite on our rum line and heading a bit west than we would like, but west is better than the easting we were doing.  A beautiful day lounging and enjoying the scenery of sky and sea.  Still no fish!

We cruised along at 6 knots for most of the day.   A 'real' sailing day!  The sun was out and the boat sliced its way through the sea.  We all read books and relaxed the day away.  Jon spotted dolphins off our stern and soon we had them swimming with the boat.  They didn't get right up to the bow this time.  They had babies with them!  Maybe this is why?  Just before sunset we took down the Genoa and went on staysail alone.  As the sun set we had several birds show up and land on our bow.  One ended up nesting on the end of our boom.  Wade wandered why and questioned a weather change.  The weather ended up staying pretty constant through the night however and with beaks tucked into their feathers six birds slept the night on our boat.  They ended up leaving in the morning when we took out the Genoa but left enough bird crap behind.  Lovely!  The night watches had been uneventful but glorious all the same.  The sounds of the water rushing over the bow, the glow of the moon reflected in the surrounding clouds and the multitude of stars.  A scene I knew we were privileged to see. J

Wednesday, February 07^th, 2007 

The morning started with the rise of a round orange sun on the horizon.  Wade reeled in the fishing rod to check it and found a snake like fish on the end.  We had obviously been dragging it for a while.  Long, jagged sharp fangs.  To the best of our knowledge a barracuda?? But not really sure even after consulting the fish guide book.   Whatever it is, it became fish bait for something we could hopefully identify and eat.  However, still no fish yet!

            At 11:30 Jon called out, "Fish ON!"  Wade, without even his cape on, flew up the companion way like the superman he is.  Unfortunately the fish got off.  There is something about 11:30 though.  Each fish that we have caught had been around 11:30.  However, around 3:30 Wade went to check the lines again and brought in a small Tuna.  Nothing but a taste for each of us, but being our first for the trip, a taste it was! J Unfortunately for this guy he was not getting thrown back for being small.

            The day was full of drizzle.  The wind shifted off our nose and around to the North.  Although this helped with our speed, sails and gear were banged around in the meantime.  Frustrations were high again.  The grey day had set the mood.  More reading and attempts at napping.  With the rain and the boat swaying as she surfed with the wind, didn't allow for much else.  Making good time though and finally heading straight for the Marshall Islands.

Thursday, February 08^th, 2007 

            Last night was pretty quiet.  The boat continued its sway with each rising swell.  After my shift I couldn't fall asleep in the aft.  The sway of the boat was so great my body just kept rolling around.  By 4 am I got up in frustration and tiredly took Jon's spot on the couch.  I finally was able to sleep and Jon was on watch.  As night turned to day there were no great changes.  Everything has been pretty quiet.  No dolphins or fish.  Another bird slept on our boom though.  With the morning rain we saw a full rainbow.  All in all though a quiet day.  We all took turns napping and we all have heavy heads.

Friday, February, 09^th, 2007 

            Rained through most of the night.  This is not the kind of weather I was expecting on this leg.  We had to take down our tarp this morning.  We had put it up over the cockpit for sun protection.  Instead it has ripped in the rain and wind.  Not shortly after I took on watch this morning I got to yell, "Fish ON!"  I had heard a sound and could not figure out what it was and then I realized the sound was the fishing line.  Wade had just gone to bed, but must have been tired because he didn't here me.  Jon came up and together we brought in another mahi mahi.  What fun to start the day off.  The rest of the day was pretty low key.  We are all feeling a little run down.  I don't feel 100%: eye pressure, stomach not settled etc…  I have not been sea sick and this doesn't feel like sea sickness but I don't like the feeling all the same.  I keep catching myself clenching my teeth.  If this continues I just may go off the patch tomorrow just in case it is the cause.  I have not had nightmares or any other symptoms I was told about though and Jon has eye pressure as well??  Both guys have had headaches as well.  Maybe it is the weather.

            Around 3 pm out rang the phrase, "Fish ON!"  once again.  Unfortunately this one got off before we could even reach the fish.  However, around 4:30 "Fish ON."  This time it stayed on and we boarded another mahi mahi.  Wade was able to participate in this one.  We had fish for dinner of course!

Saturday, February 10^th, 2007 

            Some sunshine today!  A beautiful sun rise.  Squalls to the left of us and behind us showing off billions of clouds.  Awesome!  As the day continued we ended up in some of these squalls.  No worries.  This gave Wade the opportunity to shower.  Funny thing though.  He got all soaped up and then the rain stopped! J

Sunday, February 11^th, 2007 

            Last night we went through a few more squalls.  Strong winds!  Our mainsail backed (wind got on the back side of the sail).  I got up and helped Wade fix this.  We had a preventor line attached to the boom.  This is helpful in the case of a sail backing because it stops the boom from flying over.  This can be dangerous and do damage to the gear.  We were not able to correct the sail in time and the very taut preventor line snapped.  I think this is the third time in the last 24 hours.  Doing our best to correct this as we are doing down wind sailing surfing the waves.  I was soaked soon after going up as waves crashed over the boat.  I got on my wet skins jacket, life jacket and clipped on to our safety lines.  Always holding on to something I went to the bow and untied the preventor line and brought it back to retie to the boom.  We finally got it and Wade and I were able to get out of our wet clothes.  I went back to bed.  Wade still had a couple hours on watch.  I awoke and took watch at 8 am.  The skies are blue and the wind is still strong.  We have been pretty consistent all through the night averaging 6.5 knots.  We even reached 8 knots a couple of times!  Not far to Johnston's Atoll now.  Possibly by tomorrow morning.  We may see about stopping for a night.

Monday, February 12^th, 2007 

            Woke up to squalls all around us.  Big, dark clouds at our stern.  Jon and I scanned the horizon trying to decipher what the day's weather would be like.  Overall the weather was not too bad through the day.  We went through a few squalls of course and right after each one our wind would die for a moment.  This was the most aggravating part as our sails slopped.  Soon the wind would return and off we went again.  We were hoping to get a peak at Johnston's Atoll at the least today.  We discussed hailing someone on the radio to see if we could go in and anchor.  You are not allowed to approach within 3 miles of the atoll without permission.  Alas our wind wanted to take us to Majuro and at 10 miles off we would have to beat to windward for sometime to even get a peak.  We decided it wasn't worth it and continued on.  The rest of the day went by casually.  I am almost finished another book.  I made us a steak dinner with baked potatoes, carrots, onion rings and gravy.  Delish!  The guys stayed up and watched a movie and I went to bed.

Tuesday, February 13^th, 2007 

            Beautiful sunny day!  Sun up at 7:51 am Hawaii time.  We are noticing a change in time.  The sun is coming up later to Hawaii Time and is going down later.  A very warm day.  By 2 o'clock we found ourselves all in the cabin cooking – ourselves that is, not some delicious dinner.

Wednesday February 14^th, 2007 

            Happy Valentine's Day!  Another scorcher.  I guess we are going to have to get used to the heat.  On the boat though, there is really nowhere to hide from the heat.  You can get out of direct sunlight, but it is still hot!  No swimming to cool off!  Cheryl said it's not safe – sharks.  Too hot to be motivated to do much.  We read and lay about.

Thursday, February 15^th, 2007 

            Another quiet, sunny day.  I am sure that anyone back home would be wishing for this.  J We are still making good time and the bets are on.  I am guessing we will arrive in the Marshalls next Thursday.  Tuesday keeps popping into my mind though.  Wade says Wednesday.  Whichever day, this definitely has been a quicker passage.  The day was broken up with the excitement of hearing the words, "Fish ON!" again.  Jon brought another mahi mahi in.  He had him right up to the boat.  Wade went to gaff and missed.  The fish broke the hook right off and was gone before Wade had another chance to swing again.  Oh well.  Not too much longer and we got another mahi mahi.  This fish was landed but Wade dropped the gaff in the water.  We started engines and got the boat turned around.  We searched until the days light was gone but we never found it.  Accident I know but an irreplaceable piece. L  Tanya's husband had carved the stick and made the gaff.  He had used it for fishing himself.  She gave it to us as a gift.  I was very sad to say the least and hated the fact that there was nothing we could do.  The gaff was gone.  I tried to think of the gaff wanting to return to the sea and some needing fisherman would find it and Al's gaff would continue on.

Friday, February 16^th, 2007 

            Still making good time.  We are knocking off the miles.  The swaying of the boat is getting to us though.  This constant bracing is tiring.  I went to climb up the companion way and the boat swayed.  I hop slid across the floor, banged my hip into a grab rail and spilled hot chocolate all over my hand and the stairs.  Another bruise!  This one really hurts!  We are all ready for land and anticipate it eagerly.  Soon!

Saturday, February 17^th, 2007 

            The International Date Line is just ahead.  One minute it will be today and then the next minute it will be tomorrow.  Not like midnight and then one past midnight, but a whole day skipped.  From back home we will be a day ahead and about 3-4 hours difference.  For example, 3 pm Monday for us will be 6 pm Sunday for those at home.  Something like that anyway.  The time change is still confusing.  We still have a nice wind and continue to knock off the hours.  We have a bit of a confusing sea with two swells.  The sails are not staying full when we sway back and forth (which is often) so on top of the uncomfortable back and forth motion we have the flapping sails.  Sunny day and I am on to another book.  We are still hoping for tuna.

Sunday, February 18^th, 2007 - Monday, February 19^th, 2007 

            Well we did not cross the International Date Line yesterday, but we did today.  So I guess Sunday has become Monday for us.  Today was a mahi mahi day.  We caught one and brought the fish aboard with the gaff Jon made.  He used a broken drill bit and a piece of wood he picked up in the jungle on Kauai.  He even did a small carving on it.  In no way does this gaff replace the treasured gaff lost but the effort and thought Jon put forth was much appreciated all the same.  The next mahi mahi flicked and got off.  The next fish we are not sure what it was but it must have been big.  The line started going out and all the line was out before the guys could even get to the rod and then the line snapped at the end.  Off went the line, lure and fish!  We think it was a marlin and a big one at that.  The next mahi mahi was actually swimming with out boat.  Beautiful turquoise colour.  Big too!  It just went back and forth along the stern and then was gone.  A very hot day today.  Pretty much unbearable in or out of the boat.  A beautiful orange sunset.

Tuesday, February 20^th, 2007 

            I had been on watch for two hours and the sun was just beginning to brighten the day.  I grabbed my book and decided to read my book in the cockpit by the light of the day.  I propped myself or should I say wedged myself on one of the seats with two pillows behind me to cushion the constant rocking of the boat: fiberglass cockpit against spineL.  I had bruises to prove I was not winning.  Book open, I began to read.  Shortly I did one of my horizon scans to check for boats etc…  Just as I lifted my head I saw the wind brushing across the top of the sea then – WHAM!  The wind was behind the mainsail, the boom violently slammed to the other side of the boat as the preventor snapped in the instance of the movement.  I got up to respond as the two pillows behind me flew out to float upon the sea, whoosh, whoosh.  With autopilot off Jon and I were able to get the main sheeted in.  Whether it was the recent memory of losing the gaff or something else, Jon and I began to maneuver the boat for pillow rescue. J  After two attempts it was obvious I could not just lean over the side of the boat.  The swells made the distance to reach too great.  "Should I lower the stern ladder?" "Sure." Jon replied while turning the boat around for another go.  I had tried to get the reaching pole out but we had stowed it well, it would not budge from its spot.  I lowered the ladder and cautiously stepped down.  The first pillow with a sage covering done up by Jon's mom came easily as Jon lined the boat up along side it.  I was able to just reach out and grab the pillow.  The second one did not come so easily.  As Jon turned the boat around again and I bounced up and down on the stern ladder with each swell I began to question the sanity of what I was doing.  With my death grip on the back two stanchions I stood my post and spotted the pillow.  The swells were quite large and not allowing the boat to get close enough.  Just as I thought I might be able to grab it, a swell would splash the side of the boat and push the pillow away.  Jon decided to try and back up to the pillow.  Now the swells were directly behind us and me! As they drew near taking me under them up to my chest before going under the boat I looked at Jon, "What am I doing?"  He gave a shrug as to say he didn't get it either.  But there was the pillow right below me only with the swells it was ten feet below me!  I couldn't just lean down and grab it and then whoosh I was wet again as I melded with the swell.  As Jon pulled out and away, I had my chance and grabbed.  Our new boat pillow also made by Jon's mom was on the stern of the boat in one motion of my arm.  I risked my life to save these two pillows from drowning – a success!  I think I will leave the pillows below as we may not be so lucky next time.  It felt good to know we did it though because we wanted to know if it was one of us in the water we could do a rescue.  Later in the day I was craving potato chips but our small snack bags were long gone, so Jon made me homemade potato chips.  So thoughtful! J  The night was rocky and uncomfortable.

Wednesday, February 21^st, 2007 

            Big waves today!  A lot of white as waves crash: White caps and curling wave froth.  We were splashed a few times today tired and ready for land.  Jon has burned his back some from the sun and asked me to put Dream Cream on his back to help sooth and heal the burn.  Just after doing this he noticed some white "cream" on his shoulder and he said, "Did you miss some?"  "I don't think so?  I don't remember putting and on your shoulder?"  No sooner had I given my reply and Jon started to rub the "Cream" into is shoulder.  As he turned to go down the companion way I saw the cause.  Believe it or not a bird had flown by, quite a distance away and the wind had carried its "poop" Jon's way.

Yuck!  I got the remains on his back cleaned up and we re-wiped his shoulder. What are the chances!  Later on we went to do a sail change and right in the middle of our change we had a squall hit us.  We actually were lucky we had done the sail change because if we were going down wind we may have been in a bit of a pickle with the amount of sail up etc…  Instead we ended up with the swell on our beam/stern quarter – much better.  The swells got really big and crested at their tops.  The wind howled and the rain came down.  Now at the beginning of this trip I most likely would have been in the fetal position on the cabin soul hoping for land.  Not now! J  I was up with shampoo, washing my hair and taking pictures.  I was loving it! J

Thursday, February 22^nd, 2007 

            From the squall yesterday and lose rope went over and tangled around our prop.  Yikes!  We were lucky and were able to gently put the boat in reverse and untangle it off the prop.  (Note: When we got to Majuro we learned that there was still a lot of rope left on the prop shaft and got it off with a knife diving one day).  As I sat in the cockpit with Jon in the early morning, the sun still had not begun to lighten up our surroundings; we heard an exhalation next to the boat.  Spooked us a little.  Whale? Dolphin?  We don't know??  Once daylight came we noticed big big cumulus clouds everywhere.  We had squall after squall bringing and taking wind each time.  Ironic that during yesterdays squall with the high winds Jon had said, "Watch we will end up in doldrums tomorrow."  He was pretty much right.  We were not going anywhere fast today.  We ended up motoring for most of the day.  We were mad as we were so close to Majuro it sucked to have to use our diesel.

Friday, February 23^rd, 2007 

            As I got up to do my first look around on my shift it was pitch black out.  I scanned to my left and then to my right.  As I turned I noticed what looked like a light.  I focused my sight on it more and sure enough a light and two more.  Ship!  Could there be a ship so close to us?  And now moving very close to us!  The lights made the ship look like it was going to pass right by our stern or I hoped as the other thought was run right into us.  Then whoosh the lights came at me – birds! White birds that just happened to be in a good formation for my imagination to see a ship.  Scared me to death.  I don't like not seeing in the dark!  We still have squalls today.  We get some sun now and again.  It is hot though.  The last squall we had before spotting land, lasted almost an hour.  Wade took full advantage and washed up and then Jon and I thought maybe this was a good idea.  Little did we know this was a great idea.  No shower facilities in Majuro.  No water!  You are basically on your own for water: water makers, rain catchment… You can get some water and bottled water ashore but it is not cheap and Majuro, as we found out soon was in a bit of a drought situation.  They use 1 million gallons of water a day and there supply is down to 11 million gallons.  There has been little rain through January and February.  With only one water jug left full of water on our boat and our tanks empty the squall ended up being our only chance for a shower until we had a rainfall a few days later.  We spotted the passage into the atoll and followed the markers.  The wind was great for a perfect sail, so we took full advantage.  We hit another squall just before getting in to Uliga and where we would settle.  You could not see anything.  The community of sailors already settled were very helpful and got on the radio with us.  Jerry came out in his dinghy and got us tied up to a mooring pin.  We are in the low rent district of $1 a day.  We had choice to go to the high rent district of $3 a day, but we did not see a point in doing this.  Really no difference than the price.  Jerry told us not to worry about customs and deal with it on Monday.  We got sorted out and went to shore.  We checked out a market.  We were absolutely surprised by what you could by and the prices!  Overall the prices were pretty good.  We have been told to watch the dates on things and we did notice on some meat products.  The shelves though were neatly stacked with their cans etc... Everything was in its place!  I don't even see stores this organized back home.  We went out for dinner at the Tide Table restaurant.  The restaurant is very nice.  Good prices, great food! J  We had a bill of $40 for five beer, three coffee, and three entrees.  Not bad.  Oh it is good to be on land and relaxing again.  I am looking forward to a great nights sleep. J  Another leg a success and more so not being sea sick – not once !!! Yeah!!!

Farewells to Hawaii

Well, the clearance papers are in hand and we have 48 hours to "clear-out" so to speak or I guess it will be back to the customs office.  We have all we need and then some, but like any trip you forget something, bring something you don't need and make do anyways.  So we say goodbye to "Aloha" and say hello to "Yokwe."  Funny they both mean hello and goodbye.  Yokwe is Marshallese.  We hope for a speedy, safe and comfortable trip but no matter how the trip goes you will get to hear all about how we faired the open seas once more right here on the blog. Love to all family and friends and Happy Valentines to everyone!

Sue and Jeanette that the boys brought home!  Really nice girls!  I do hope that we all keep in touch.

Monday, January 29^th, 2007

Our trip has been delayed.  A big Kona Wind came in last night and gave us enough trouble tying back up to the Hawaii Yacht Club dock.  We were not going to attempt to leave the harbour.  A large sailboat here and her crew did decide to attempt the open sea and was quite a scene as people watched her pitch in the stormy sea at the entrance to the harbour.  Everyone thought they were nuts.  The guys spent the day with Boolie at his place in the North Shore.  He had a water maker for a price the guys could not refuse.  This should hopefully make having clean, drinkable water in the Marshall Islands much easier. I spent the day updating the blog, sending emails, and writing a couple articles for some sailing magazines.  When the guys returned with Boolie hours later they brought Jeanette and Sue from Chicago with them.  Two girls they met in a bar.  I didn't ask.  The two came aboard and we chatted about sailing life, their lives back in Chicago and whatever topic came up.  Two very nice people and I am glad I had the chance to meet them.  We exchanged emails and said we would keep in touch.  Pictures were taken and then they were gone.  We may meet up with them on Friday if the weather does not permit us to leave as Sue's brother will be playing at a tavern.  He plays the blues!  We will see.

 

The surf is up even though not easy to show in a picture

Winds are up!  A little easier to tell.

Not exactly sure what the sport is called.  There is a surf board and a parachute involved.  Para-surfing?  Looked like a thrill but I still don't think I would try it.  The winds were great fun for them.

Tuesday, January 30^th, 2007

            A laid back day.  We didn't do much really.  Jon and I went for a walk to go see the parasail surfers.  Supposedly you never see them on this side except in a Kona wind because the winds are just not strong enough otherwise.  They were even doing jumps off the breakwater wall!  An exciting sport none the less, but I don't think I would like surfing along water one minute and then up in the air the next.  Fun to watch though.  I worked on another article for a sailing magazine and we watched a movie or two.  Like I said just a laid back day.  We ended the day with a homemade French onion soup that Jon made and that was deeelicious.  Well done!

 

Wednesday, January 31^st, 2007

            Another Laid back day.  The winds do not seem all that bad today.  Hopefully we can leave soon.  Received an email from BigBuzzard.  George is hiding their boat behind Lanai right now.  He took up anchor in 40 plus winds in Lahaina off of Maui.  Supposedly they were hit pretty good by the Kona winds.  Jon and I walked to Waikiki Beach for a dip and cool down.  The weather has been really muggy.  The swim was very refreshing.  I think we both could have stayed in the water all day.  I worked on some articles for sailing magazines.  Try my hand at it anyways.  See what happens.  Wade spent the day practicing the guitar and taking lessons from a sailor friend here in the harbour.  The night brought worry from some canoers.  With the winds calming somewhat canoers and boaters alike took to the water and maybe a little too soon.  One of two canoes that set out for a paddle returned and worry set in for the missing boat and her paddlers.  Coast Guard was called and search began with three boats and two helicopters.  Jon, Wade and I set out to walk the breakwater to see if we could see boat of paddlers and assist if possible.  Luckily all four paddlers were found and were all safe.  The search was quick and successful.  We then settled in to watch Pearl Harbour on DVD and the bed it was.

Jon helping out some fellow cruisers with some engine trouble.

The guys in search of the lady in the black bikini.  Her skills with handling a mainsail with her legs is needed!

Robbie, Aaron, Andy...We will miss you guys! Stay real!

I thought this picture was interesting for the foreground and background content

Pizza and drinks over on Jessica Lynn with Chris and Eddie.

A little guy I met in my travels.  Boy can he move fast!

Thanks to the Hawaii Yacht Club!  Friendly faces, helpful people, warm showers, cold ice, good food, great beer prices, barbeque and theme nights....you made our stay in Honolulu fabulous!!  Highly recommend anyone who sails to visit this club!  Better yet, become a member.

Thursday, February 1^st, 2007

            February! Wow!  Time just keeps on passing.  Wade and I were back on computers this morning.  Spending a lot of time on the computer lately.  I guess soon enough I will not have the luxury.  I am assuming other than Majuro in the Marshall Islands I am not going to be able to just jump on the internet.  Emails, sailing articles and blog were the focus.  Jon went to Chris's boat, Jessica Lynn to help them with their diesel/engine issue.  All seems to be working now.  Yeah!  The day has begun and ended all very quickly.  Plan is to get our clearance papers tomorrow, re-pack the boat and hopefully head out Saturday.  The winds are switching today and should be to the North West tomorrow.

Friday, February 2^nd, 2007

            We were a bit slow to get going out of the boat today, but we did accomplish tasks towards our departure hopefully happening tomorrow.  Wade and I went off to Costco with Chris and Eddie.  They too are heading for the Marshall Islands and needed my membership to go shopping.  No first time day passes given out at this Costco.  Not a good idea though to take me back to a Costco.  There is always something we need right!  Oh boy!  There goes another $100 out of the tiny bank account.  Chris on the other hand found the experience stressful.  I promised him I would never take him back to another Costco again.  To much!  We bought one of Costco's famous chickens for dinner and just a few other things.  We had the chance to stop by the customs office as well and fill out our clearance papers.  With the car scrapping the pavement as we went over bumps (too much aboard) we stopped at Flags Flying to get our Marshall Islands flag.  I guess we are set.  We even enjoyed the Friday fireworks one more time.Kind of like a Honolulu farewell.Now we hope the weather will cooperate.  Don't worry we won't be stupid and put ourselves in danger.  We do need to get going though and the winds have turned around.  We should have a good broad reach which is wind on our stern quarter.  Maybe we will have a speedy trip.  Internet access in Marshall Islands will most likely only be in Majuro and most likely only at designated internet sites, so….. you will hear from us again but maybe just not as often.  I will update you as to how our trip goes across the open sea and what life is like on an atoll.  Yokwe! 

Saturday, February 3rd, 2007

OK.  We had all intentions of leaving today but we didn't.  We worked on putting everything away etc... until 1:30 pm and then decided that after we fueled up we would not have many hours of daylight left ahead of us for sailing, so.... We decided to relax for the rest of the day and leave first thing in the morning.  So we did....relax that is.....all day long...and then went to bed early....OK I did....The guys stayed up watching movies....They say they are preparing themselves for having to stay up in the night.  The weather is beautiful and the sail tomorrow shall be wanderful.  Bon Voyage!

Oahu Continued....

We are now back in Oahu after our Kauai trip.  Today, Monday, January 29th, was to be the day we were leaving for the Marshall Islands but we have a big Kona wind that just showed up last night.  We will be at the Hawaii Yacht Club waiting out the weather hopefully not too long - a day or so.  The journey is just under 2000 nautical miles and we travelled at 5 nautical miles on average.  Sometimes our speed is nill and other times we are lucky to be doing 7 or 8 knots. So do your math and we could be there in 16 days but with our luck of wind we could be looking at another 25 days.  I am hoping for the 16 day trip option.  Don't worry about us and remember to check the weather for our area to know what is up.  Weather back home is very different from what we are experiencing.  Calvary will only need to be sent out if we are over 30 days plus and you have heard the weather has been bad.  But really don't worry about us.  I only say after 30 days because I will want air resue to land! (Ha!)  Our boat is very sea worthy and beleive it or not we have even become more sea worthy ourselves.  We miss and love you all.  I will try and get out an email before we go, so you know when we will be leaving.

Oahu Continued

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Woke up this morning to see Tick and Gareth who had kayaked over to us to say hello.  A nice surprise!  Corbett and Cassie, their new crew members walked over as well and we all sat in the cockpit and had coffee.  The day was brightening up and getting warm.  I could not think of a nicer way to have woken up! Cheryl and Curtis came to take us out for brunch shortly after the Fantasia group left.  We went to a very nice restaurant known for their waffles and eggs Benedict.  The waitress turned out to be a friend of Cheryl's and we invited her to go sailing with us on Saturday as well.  She hoped to be able to make it.  We started off the breakfast with complimentary popovers and sweet butter, and chicken broth in cups.  Just what they do here I guess.  Jon and I both ordered the eggs Benedict and just as we were told, the meal was delicious.  Cheryl ordered mimosas for all of us: champagne and orange juice.  We followed breakfast with a walk through the mall since we were there and then Cheryl had to get going for work.  I took the opportunity before moving our boat to give mom and dad a call.  They are heading to Mexico for a couple of months.  Jim has made it home safely and will be joining my parents for dinner to chat about the trip.  I am going to try and get the blog updated in time so they can look at pictures.  We moved the boat to the yacht club as Tick and Gareth are leaving in a couple of days and the yacht club is not available for us to tie up to next weekend, so we decided to do our pampering time now as opposed to later.  We will later move back into the Ala Wai Marina where it is a little bit better in price although not near the same amenities.  I spent most of the rest of the day working on the blog.  Had computer glitches of course, but was able to get most of the pictures and journaling updated.  I will have to finish tomorrow.  We pulled out a roast and had dinner over on Fantasia.  Tick made Yorkshire pudding and we all had a grand time together once again.  We will surely miss them when they are gone.

Eddie and Chris - also heading for the Marshall Islands

Cassie and Corbett - new crew on Fantasia

Gareth and Tick

Gareth and Boolie (This is not Chris Farley but maybe related???)

Monday, January 22^nd, 2007

First thing this morning, I got up and walked to the Ala Wai Marina office to check about a slip to only realize they are not open until Tuesday.  Oh well, we will have to go back tomorrow.  I then began working on the blog again.  I achieved success!  We all went for a walk over to the marine store just to get out and see if they may have anything we need.  Not really, so the guys continued on to the mall and I went to the ABC store before heading back to the boat.  A pretty relaxing day.  We barbequed hotdogs and hamburgers with the Fantasia group since Monday night is barbeque night here at the yacht club.  We then went back to Fantasia for some more socializing and Chris and Eddie were making dark and stormies for everyone.  Yum!  If you do not know what a dark and stormy is and you are over the age of nineteen, well, you need to find out! J Eddie made his own special drink with vanilla soda and I am sorry Eddie I cannot remember what you called them but I will be making them again!!

A really cool fish eating off the bottom of the boat and....

fish in a tank in China town for sale to be eaten.

Tuesday, January 23^rd, 2007

Again off to the Ala Wai Marina.  I Filled out the paperwork and then was told that the harbour master was not in, come back in an hour.  I pushed the fact that I had made three previous calls and now was on my second trip to their office, could they not call the harbour master!?  With more persistence, she finally tried to reach the harbour master on the radio to no avail.  All I received in answer was the harbour master must be out of the marina maybe I could call back in an hour.  Fine!  In an hour I phoned to find out that the Harbour Master was now in a closed meeting.  Interesting, they did not know where the harbour master was an hour ago or when he would be back, but he is now in a closed meeting.  Does anyone speak to one another in this office?  Anyways, we were assigned a slip without water or electricity.  I had specifically had asked for both and to be near the washrooms.  I would have to call back.  I did and we were now assigned a slip with water and electricity but not near the washrooms.  We all decided to go down and see if we could talk to the harbour master.  All though I just got off the phone, the harbour master was once again, out of the office.  Aghh!  We discussed with the lady there our situation and that we also would be doing provisioning and the new slip we had been assigned was not very convenient for taking loads of stuff to and from a car.  We finally decided that the first slip without water and electricity was probably better as it was closer for provisioning.  So, I then asked if I could give my $50 deposit and have a washroom key.  We would not be moving our boat until later in the afternoon as we had plans for the day.  Believe it or not, without your boat in the slip they can not issue a permit and without a permit you cannot have a washroom key. Fine! Again.  We ended up deciding to stay at the yacht club one more night and do provisioning in morning as this would be easier and then hopefully we could get a washroom key.  We then walked on to McDonalds for a quick snack.  Jon orders a meal with supersize fries and a regular coke. "You can't have a regular drink with super sized fries."  "Really, we have been doing this for years!" I replied.  This day was just not going well.  I was feeling I should just go back to the boat all seems glum today and everything is getting under my skin.

Against better judgment I decide to press on.  Not soon after Jon and I get into an argument about buying a lighter.  Stupid stuff! I should stay but I go.  We end up deciding to go to china town first.  Not much from what we saw before even though much more is open. I bought a year of the boar t-shirt since this is my year and Jon and Wade each bought a t-shirt of choice. We were able to get a few groceries but no bread fruit.  Instead of getting on a bus we decide to walk towards the maritime museum although time is running short.  We stopped at a computer store to get DVD's for burning music and backing up files.  By the time we were anywhere near the maritime museum it was too late.  Not a good day.

Wednesday, January 24^th, 2007

            Happy birthday to Gareth!!  We took some Fantasia crew and headed to Costco for provisioning this morning.  Although we were able to all go together to Costco we had to split up and take two rides back.  Even at that, we were pretty low in the car as we seem to have no trouble picking out things at Costco.  We should be well stocked for the Marshalls now and at the worst we have some toilet paper and spam to use for trade! J  The rest of the day was pretty much eaten up with putting our supplies away.  With head bent over in the bilge attempting to find space for everything I was sweating up a bead.  Breaks were necessary and finally I just made a path through the supplies so we could get around.  The rest would have to wait.  We had dinner with the Fantasia group as their day too ended up being spent in getting everything stowed.  They were planning on leaving today but after a good nights sleep now with most tasks completed they can leave rested in the morning.  We enjoyed Lau Lau and chicken for dinner.  We have been here for what two months and this was our first try of Lau Lau.  Not bad!  Our Lau Lau had pork and white fish wrapped in taro leaves.  The leaves reminded me of beat tops or spinach.  Very filling!  We made it an early night, although we ended up watching a movie while I tried to do some back-up discs on the new DVD's I bought.  2:30 am in the morning and still not successful! L  Oh well!

A tall ship down by the Maritime Museum

Jon taking a moment to do a few Hawaiian moves with a local !

Has Wade found himself a girl ! :)

There were dipensers to feed the fish, but the birds were more fun to feed!

We finally make it to the Maritime Museum

The guys found the museum facinating.  A day may not have even been enough and the couple hours we had was definetly not enough time.

Thursday, January 25^th, 2007

            Again, feeling that I am falling behind on my journal and not taking many pictures.  The day started with saying goodbye to the Fantasia group.  We will miss them but glad they are finally able to get their journey moving in the right direction.  We hope our paths cross again, but not in the next day or two as this would mean things have gone wrong for them again.  Although, I did tell Gareth that if they did show up again the bright side was that they could go to the Marshall Islands with us!   After goodbyes, Jon, Wade and I headed off to get some last errands done and go to the Maritime Museum.  The guys were enjoying the museum so much we ended up with a rain check to be able to go back again tomorrow free of charge.  I enjoyed the exhibits but Jon especially was very much enthralled by the museum displays.  We got back to the boat all nibbled on a bite to eat and then kind off sat back to relax.  We were just plain tired from the day.

Today was about Pearl Harbour

The memorial building built over the sunk US Arizona

The main building with museum and gift shop

Submarine you can tour

Heading out to the memorial

The sunken Arizona

The wall of names

Two quarts of oil continues to spill out of the ship a day.

Some of the posters up in the mess hall where you could get a bite to eat

We checked out the displays around the submarine museum but did not go in to the museum

Inside the torpedo

I experimented and was able to put my camera up to the view finder and take some pictures through the periscope.

Off to the aviation museum.  You may or may not recognize this tower in the hollywood movie, "Pearl Harbour."

Jon attempting to fit in during the fun times or was he just keen on the girl too!

The attack routes

A full day very much enjoyed. 

Friday, January 26^th, 2007

            Friday morning!  How can this be?  This week has flown by.  We have reserved this day for going to Pearl Harbour.  The boys prepared me for the fact that this would be a full day.  We did not get as early a start as planned, but it was before noon! J First on the list was a walk around the gift shop where I had a gentleman give me quite a bit of history in explaining the various DVD's for sale.  He was very friendly and informative although I was just looking for a video that Jon might like.  I enjoyed listening and began to get into the spirit of the place.  We then walked through the museum.  Quite a lot of people so a bit crowded trying to move around.  We then started our tour.  First was a very informative and moving video before we were all transported by boat out to the memorial site that has been built over the sunken Arizona.  There was to be only whispers made while there: no talking or noise was to be made.  Over a 1000 men lie within the body of this ship beneath the sea: all who lost their lives on that terrible day, December 7rh, 1941.  There is a wall in the memorial where the names are listed.  We all thoroughly enjoyed this and were impressed that the tour, to us anyway, seemed to be about informing the public and paying respects to those who were apart of the day that would be remembered in infamy.  This all did not cost a penny!  Not even the parking!  We then headed across the parking lot to decide on a submarine tour, a tour on the Missouri ship or the new aviation museum.  We had a bite to eat and finally decided to go see the aviation museum.  We all found it quite interesting to be traveling on the ground where so much occurred years ago: actually 65 years.  Anniversary celebrations were held this year.  Even from the movie, Pearl Harbour you could remember the tower where the planes flew by as bullets took time and space to change lives for ever.  The aviation museum just opened up this December and has three more hangers yet to be established for museum purposes.  We spoke with a man who flew one of the planes.  We were then back on the bus back to our car.  We rested a while back at the boat before heading off to the movies.  We found another theatre that does $1 movies.  The popcorn is still expensive, but it worked out to about $5 a person total.  We saw Flags of our Fathers.  Unfortunately it was not as good as we thought it would be.  A day full of war history.

Cheryl and Brooke

A parasailor going by

Finally a picture of Cheryl and Curtis!

Saturday, January 27^th, 2007

            Woke up with the intention of getting more of our provisions put away so that we were ready for our sail and everything ended up on our bed instead.  Oh well.  There is always tomorrow.  Right! J  Cheryl and Curtis and our new found friend Brooke showed up shortly after 10 am.  We all sat around and chatted on board for a bit before turning the boat out to sea.  We went for a nice sail until just after lunch where the typical occurred: the wind died.  We started to do some bobbing which for us sea sick people this is not good.  However, I do have to say I was pretty proud of myself.  Curtis began to feel a little green and I went to his aid the best I could with my little stash of sea sickness remedies and ideas.  I had just made lunch for everyone as well and was now turning the boat around back to land as this became the request with Curtis not feeling well and I, oh how I wish I could write this in bigger print, oh wait I can… I WAS NOT SEA SICK !  Don't ask me why not, I don't know.  All I know was I was doing all these things and I was absolutely fine.  I am becoming one with the water.  Well, maybe that is pushing it, but maybe the idea of getting sea legs is not so far fetched.  I mean, we have been sailing now since September.  Most people are sea sick for max a couple of days, so is it far fetched that I after five months should fair better on the sea?  I think not!  Anyways, we had a lovely sail with everyone and really enjoyed getting to know everyone better.  We invited Brooke to join us on our last leg home.  Let's see if she takes us up on her offer.  She was tempted. J  After our sail of course there were more drinks back in the cockpit but unfortunately Brooke had to leave soon after.  Cheryl and Curtis stuck around and helped us move our boat before we all went out for dinner.  Cheryl, although has become somewhat of a stranger to sailing over the past ten years, docked our boat for us.  This was not her idea, but she did great under the tutelage of Jonathan Harris, the great and patient teacher.  Now I told her she could not use the line, "I have not been sailing for 10 years," anymore.  She just docked our boat!  Well done Cheryl.  We enjoyed the evening and hoped to meet up at least one more time tomorrow.  We would be in full swing preparing for our journey to the Marshall Islands but a visit would be a welcome break.  Back and the boat we were settling in for the night when we were very load booms.  Wade and I stuck our head out the companion way to watch an excellent display of fireworks.  I would say that the display of lights and sounds out does our Halloween display back home and they do this every Friday night.  Yes it is Saturday, right?  Well, Wade has not had the chance to see the display before, so they did them special for him tonight.  We can tell him that can't we? J

Sunday, January 28^th, 2007

            Oh the fun day!  Laundry, packing, putting things away, boat jobs….. Sorry no pictures....too busy!

Kauai

The mountains are the first beautiful thing we get to see. A cruise ship heads in just before us.

Sonadora tied up at the loading dock in Nawillywilly.

So many beautiful and interesting things to see!

Nawillywilly marina

Monday, January 15^th, 2007

            The sail to Kauai started off with a nice breeze and we were looking forward to a broad reach the whole way.  No such luck though.  The wind was a bit fickle off the point with gusts and then nothing.  We are getting used to this now as what we encounter as sailors.  We are glad we are not the sailors who encounter too much wind! J  The wind seemed to settle out to be a bit more consistent which was nice.  The swell though was eight to ten feet and made for quite a rolly trip.  Beautiful stars to watch though and a radio encounter with a cruise ship coming up behind us in the night made for an interesting evening.  Overall, Jim seemed to enjoy the experience and we sure enjoyed having the extra crew, not that it allowed Jon to sleep any more.  That boy needs to learn to take his turn at rest.  We were all tired though when we reached Nawillywilly Harbour just as the sun came up.  The cruise ship went in just before us and we tied up to the loading dock just before 8 am.  This is when we realized that we will not be talking to a Harbour Master today as it is Marten Luther King Day.  See we are on vacation every day, so we seem to e missing the idea that there are days when others have days off because of holidays or it being the weekend.  Oh well.  We were told by a friend who used to be a Harbour Master here in the Hawaiian islands, that you have a right to tie up to a loading dock and wait for contact from the Harbour Master.  So, this is just what we will do.  We were going to head up the river here for some exploration, but after napping for the rest of the morning, (I said we were all tired), and we decided we would take advantage of the cruise ship being in and take one of the free shuttles into town.  Once we reached the cruise ship we realized we all did not have ID so, so much for that idea. J  We walked on and found quite a little grouping of stores and restaurants down by the water.  This allowed us to go in and have a drink and do a little exploring.  We decided we would leave town for another day and just headed back to the boat.  We are settling in now with a steak dinner and a movie.  I think it will be an early night. J  The river will be our adventure tomorrow.

A tri-maran not finished obviously, but definetely built for speed.

Up the river we start!

We saw a rope swing and decided to stop.  Just up from the river we found a road and decided to walk a ways to see where we would end up.

I found a ladybug!

Jim found a fruit tree.  Jim and I thought it was a grapefruit.  Wade and Jon thought it was an orange.  Turns out we were all right.  Supposedly it is a pomplemouse (spelling?) that is a cross between a grapefruit and an orange.  Deeeelicious! and Juicy.

The three amigos and the girl!

Jim and Jon had to try out the rope swing before we carried on!

In attempts to find a waterfall we came out to some farmland, or as we liked to think of it, some dinosaur land.  Jurassic Park was filmed on Kauai.

Always something interesting to see.  I did not know what these are, but caught my eye all the same.

We are in the jungle now!

Jim walks on water!

We found some waterfalls

And yet some more farm land/dinosaur land as well!

If you look far in to the background you can see the lighthouse and esentially where we started our river tour today.  We are quite a ways up!

Jungle touring was great!  Jon wanted to have a native experience and went barefoot although by this point was asking to borrow our flip flops!

A very cool jumble of roots and branches.  Maybe Pet Cemetary was filmed here ! ? :)

Tuesday, January 16^th, 2007

            We all had a good sleep we needed after yesterdays channel crossing.  The only thing that interrupted sleep at times was the shifting of the boat.  We are side tied to the loading dock, but there is quite a surge that can be felt.  The boat lurches continuously with a shift here and there.  Wade watched the Coast Guard attempt to leave the harbour this morning.  I guess with no one usually tied to the loading dock they can just turn out from their dock and leave, but with us where we are, Wade said that they were having some difficulty maneuvering.  I guess the current and wind we felt yesterday trying to dock was an issue and Wade said they got pretty close to our boat taking close to 20 minutes to maneuver out.  I was able to get in touch with the harbour master in Port Allen this morning to find out that the harbour master for here is a way.  He signed us in for here as well as for two days in Port Allen.  We will move on to Port Allen tomorrow.  A very nice guy who is definitely underpaid for the job he does.  He is in charge of four haroburs I believe and does paper work to cleaning the washrooms for $12 an hour.  He was tempted when we offered to take him to the Marshall Islands with us.  He wants to go and has plans to go soon, but not yet.  We packed a lunch and headed up the river today. There is a tri-maran near the beginning of the river tied up that obviously is not complete, but quite a sight all the same – huge!  We are sure that she can go quite fast.  We also got to see where the local tie up their boat or better yet, let them sink and rest on the river bottom.  The scenery up the river was interesting.  The mountains are awesome.  We saw a rope swing about half way down the river and decided to stop.  The river water is pretty muddy and not that any of us wanted to go in swimming, but we wanted to check out the area.  We found a clay road that maybe a four wheeler would travel just up from the river.  We followed this for a while and realized we were on farm land.  Beautiful country!  We found a grapefruit/orange tree.  We are still undecided as a group as to what we found.  The fruit to me smelled like a grapefruit but we all thought it looked like an orange.  Very juicy and delicious.  We continued on up the river until we got to the end.  Here we were told we could follow a path and hike up to some falls.  Backpacks on we set out.  Our first path we followed took us along the river and eventually we came out on to another section of farm land.  No falls here, but we decided to stop and have lunch.  We had climbed up hill for some time to arrive here and we needed to refuel. J  The land reminds us of the scenes in the movie Jurassic Park where the dinosaurs roamed.  Cool!  We hiked back down the path.  At this point we believed the turned up soil we have been seeing is probably from wild boars, so we were now keeping a look out.  Well, I was looking for trees I would be able to climb quickly! J  We never did see any boars, but questioned whether we had heard one a couple of times.  We turned right across the creek this time and headed up the other side.  We were starting to see tiers of water falls this time.  We must be on the right path.  We climbed again quite a distance and after a large tier we climbed over we once again came out to farm land.  From here we could see the light house at the bay of the harbour.  We were quite a ways up!  One our way back down we picked out a few bamboo sticks from the forest of bamboo around us for fishing poles.  What an adventure and a great day.  Shortly after returning to the river a tour group came out of the bush.  We questioned how they were only a few minutes behind us, yet we never heard them?  Did we make it to the falls??  Oh, who knows.  We saw water falls and so much more!  To top off the trip, it was too tempting to go to the other side of the river where we could see banana trees and a sign that said no public access beyond this sign.  We were just going to have a peak.  And we did. J  We saw a man made rock bridge across the river and this mound of tree roots that we all had to take picture opportunities.  Back at the boat Jon couldn't believe the number of flower pictures I had.  "Were there really that many flowers around?"  There is a world of beauty around us and one cannot get bored if they open their eyes.  We all saw some pretty spectacular things today.  We all enjoyed the vine covered trees.  A real jungle walk. 

Macadamia nuts on the tree

Coming to Port Allen Harbour

Port Allen Marina

Wednesday, January 17^th, 2007

We woke up this morning, all a little tired from our river adventure yesterday.  We also had the light from the dock shinning in our eyes all night as we had moved the boat forward to plug in to hydro.  We all got our act together though and were able to pull out of the harbour just shortly after 10 am for our new destination of Port Allen.  I did have time to go and grab a bag full of macadamia nits from the trees by the Harbour Master's office though before going.  Who needs to pay for a bag in the store when you can pick them for free! J  The sail was great.  Although the day started out in grey clouds and a pretty swelly sea, the sail ended up being excellent and the sky turned blue.  A wonderful day to be out on the water.  We did 6 to 7 knots most of the way!    We arrived in Port Allen just shy of 3 pm.  Manny was waiting for us and the paper work went quite quickly.  The guys got the boat tied up while I signed the paper work and paid.  We were all hungry as we had not eaten all day, so decided to go explore and see if we could find something to eat.  We found some little shops just up the hill and further up a shopping complex with restaurants, Laundromat, post office, and grocery store.  We picked up a few groceries for dinner and stopped at subway for a bite to eat.  Back at the boat we all just sort of did our own thing.  Jon and I went and checked out the river to see about exploring it tomorrow.  James played a few tunes on the guitar and before long both Wade and I were on our computers.  We will need to rest up tonight as I am sure we will be off exploring again.

I never knew trees could grow birds.  These trees were loaded with white birds

A beautiful cacti

The swing bridge in Hanapepe

The town of Hanapepe

We found a thrift store.  Oh Oh!!

Walking to the salt ponds

The snorkeling was not all that great, but I was able to get a few pictures.

A sea curcumber

The salt ponds

Jon wandered if he was to lie down in the water would he cure his psoriasis, but we both thought maybe that would be frowned upon. :)

The beach

Doing a little laundry at the end of the day!

Thursday, January 18^th, 2007

            We are still slow to rise, but we had a bit of help from the roosters around.  I don't believe I have mentioned the roosters yet. They seem to be all over this island or they have been everywhere that we have been anyways.  They run wild.  No one owns them and a guy even told us that if you are hungry enough there is no reason why you could not have yourself a rooster dinner.  Now I question the Chinese restaurants here?? J  We packed up our snorkel gear and headed out – destination, the salt ponds and park.  We were able to get a ride up to the shopping center and then we began our walk down the hill to the historical town of Hanapepe.  There are several galleries here and a few shops, but we did not learn much about the historical side of this "biggest small town in Hawaii."  There is a swing bridge in the middle of the town that crosses over the river.  This narrow bridge held up by cables reminded me of the bridges you can find in children's playgrounds.  Wobbly.  I always had an eye on the cable and a place to grab just in case she decided not to hold us anymore.  I was looking for the sign that said two person maximum.  We were fine though.  We continued our walk and ended up stopping at a second hand store we found.  We can't let a good bargain pass by, so we had to look.  A guy kept telling me to check out the free bin. "There are some good deals in there."  So, I finally had a look and with a couple of skirts I bought and the bathing suit, and tops I found in the free bin, I was happy for the $10 I spent.  We finally made it to the salt ponds.  Unfortunately we could have done without our snorkel gear.  There was not much to see.  There was grey clay here though that was kind of interesting.  I did manage to get a few underwater pictures in.  The salt ponds were kind of cool.  Jon wandered about lying down in one to cure him of his psoriasis.  We did not know if they would frown on this.  We took a short cut home which left us with a fifty foot distance across a river where we had to swim if we wanted to make it back to the marina.  Jon put on his flippers before attempting to carry our stuff across.  We had attempted this once before on our honeymoon and when I passed Jon the backpack he promptly sunk. This time, the flippers seemed to do the trick.  We will be heading back to Honolulu tomorrow, so I made a mahi mahi meal for James tonight.  He will be flying home on Saturday night.  We have all enjoyed having James around.  The offshore trips have been nice having the fourth crew member.  I will miss having my bro around. 

Up the river at Port Allen we go.

Holy Coco-nuts!

I just love all of the plants and flowers here.  There are som many different shapes and colours....

Off we go back to Honolulu.  Jim has become one of the crew.

Friday, January 19^th, 2007

            Today was our last day here in Kauai.  Jim, Jon and I decided to get the dinghy in the water and go check out the river here at Port Allen.  We had to go around the break water of the marina and then through a narrow space leading from the ocean into the river.  The entrance is deep enough though and the breakers were not very big.  You will often see kids here though body surfing or boogie boarding.  We were able to go under two main road bridges and then the swing bridge we had been on yesterday.  We kept going and around the corner.  Unfortunately we did not get much further than this.  There was a cement walkway across the river that half had collapsed.  This must have happened a while ago, but all the same you would have to get out here.  So we did.  We had a look around and saw yet another farm in the jungle.  The river on the other side looked deep enough that we could carry the boat across and keep going but with little time left, we decided not to.  Besides we heard gunshots in the distance and decided whatever the reason for them, best we not be around.  We turned the boat around and headed back down the river.  The scenery was great and we saw a long slender fish that moved very quickly!  We also saw a platform up in a tree overhanging the river.  Probably a cool place for some kids to hang out.  We stopped at the swing bridge and got out.  We went up the embankment and into the town to go back to a store we had been at yesterday.  We bought a few souvenirs.  I won't mention what because there are people back home to receive some of these souvenirs and we don't want to spoil the surprise now do we. J  Once back in the boat we were pretty much getting out again.  We stopped at the next bridge to walk up the road to the second hand place we were at yesterday.  We bought a bar fridge for $10 and I found a couple more pairs of shorts.  We hope the bar fridge will come in handy to keep drinks cold and possibly some produce.  We are spending easily $1.50 here and there all the time to try and keep drinks cold in a cooler, so figured the $10 was worth it.  Well, we had to get back to the boat and prepare to leave.  With a quick hotdog lunch we were off.  The wind has been blowing the whole time we have been in Kauai, so we are expecting a nice sail.  Well, trends for us seem to be hard to break.  No Wind!  Can you believe it!  Well, we had to get Jim back to Oahu, so we started up engines.

Some great excitement on our way back to Honolulu!

Fish on!

To try and bring in this marlin Jim had the rod with a blanket between his legs to try and hold it still.  Jon grabbed the top of the rod to help with tension and I grabbed the bottom of the rod to help keep it steady while Jim reeled.  This took team effort.

seven foot plus marlin!  We had no idea how to get it aboard.

After the excitement of the marlin we had to take a moment to relax and soak up the sun!

Honolulu here we come! None to soon either - a 27 hour trip!

A turtle came to greet us as we arrived in the marina.  I spashed the water and he came right up!

Saying goodbye to James.  His trip has come to an end.  We will miss our crew member

Love you bro!

Saturday, January 20^th, 2007

            Into the morning and we still have not wind!  The engine has been running all through the night and with the boat heading right into the swell we question our ability to make it to Oahu in time for Jim to catch his plane.  We began to talk about heading in to Pokai and having him take a bus down.  We have been doing 2 ½ or 3 knots most of the night.  As daylight broke we were able to get the boat going a bit faster and made the decision to head for Honolulu.  Around 11:30 am we had a fish on!  I cannot believe in the two months we have been in Hawaii we have not caught any fish!  But here was one!  From a distance she looked like a marlin.  There was excitement on the boat now.  Jim took the rod.  The fish ran and soon out reel was out of line.  Jon got under the rod to help relieve some of the tension.  Jim was able to start slowly reeling in the fish.  With a blanket in between his legs to cushion the rod against his skin, Jon bent over holding the end of the rod and I running around trying to figure out what we could use to club it with.  At one point I had Jim's, Wade's and my camera in hand.  I finally said, "Why don't I take pictures with one camera and share."  The fish was finally up along the back of the boat.  This was not without a good fight.  The fish had dove and we had watched it a t a distance spring from the water.  Once the fish was up along the back of the boat we realized what we had seen at a distance was just the head!  This was no small fish!  We guessed the fish was at least 7 feet long if not longer.  How were we going to get such a big fish on board?  We were able to answer the question of what we would do with the fish.  The canner was as good as out, we would freeze some, eat some now, and give some to friends…. No problem with using up the fish as large as she was, but this was one big fish to be able to bring up on the boat.  She would not even fit on the back of our boat!  We were moving towards the idea of drowning it.  We throttled up a bit and…. Just like that, gone.  The hook ripped right out of its mouth.  We had not throttled up much, but obviously enough.  Our guess though is it would have happened anyways.  A good story to tell, but probably for the best that we were not able to get it up on the boat.  Even though we were good at coming up with ways of consuming the catch that would have been a lot of meet.  I do wish we could have gotten more pictures though.  If we could have just strung it from our boat for picture op. J  When we arrived back in Honolulu we were told that fish was probably worth $1000.  What!  Let's get back out there!  We saw a few pods of whales as well on our journey in to Honolulu.  The day was great!  Blue, blue sky.  Jim absorbed every ounce of sunshine he could.  His hours here in Hawaii were coming quickly to an end.  We arrived in Honolulu around 5:30 pm.  We tied up at the loading dock and then went down to see Gareth and Tick at the Yacht Club.  No, they had not left yet.  We had been wandering and happy to see that they were still here.  There was an event happening at the yacht club, so we not only got to sit and enjoy good company, but we had some pupus (appetizers) and drinks on the house.  I think this was a well spent last hour for Jim.  We all really hated to seem him go.  Not only have we enjoyed his company and exploring the Hawaiian Islands with him, but he was a great fourth crew member.  These past three weeks have been great!  I will miss having my bro around.  Love you Jim!   Thanks for everything.  Jim was in his cab by 7:30 pm and off to the airport.  We sat around for a bit more and then off to bed early.  Our 27 hour motor sail from Kauai was exhausting!

Friday, January 5^th, 2007

A couple of sea slugs at the marina....I think?...Beautiful even though the background is not.  They say not to go swimming in the marina due to the polution. :)

Surfs Up!  But actually this day it was not.

Jon blending in with the local....statues that is! :)

Jon and I took advantage of the car and went to West Marine with Tick and Gareth.  There always seems to be boat parts to buy. J  When we got back we met Jim and Jill out on Waikiki for some surfing.  I had never been surfing before or not that I can remember.  I have done some surfing in a kayak.  Jon and I went out to give it a try.  Even he has never surfed before.  He's been sailing, wind surfing and so much more, but not surfing.  I had trouble just balancing on the board to paddle out.  And let me tell you this, if you ever want to exercise your triceps, I have never found anything better.  Yeow! J  When we finally make it out near the surf, we see everybody sitting on their boards waiting for a wave.  Since we have never done this our learning was going to occur by watching and trial and error.  So, first, sit on our boards.  I can do that.  Not!  Wibble, wobble and I was in the water.  Somebody needs to work on their balance.  Maybe this is why I get so sea sick! J We never did catch any waves, but we did have fun.  Even on our way in, we passed some intructors.  One of the students was being instructed to paddle, paddle hard, so I copied.  I never gave up, but the student caught the wave and I didn't??  I found out later, our smaller boards made it harder to catch the waves we were in.  Oh well.  We headed back to the boat to have dinner with the Fantasia group again. After a nice dinner, Jim, Jill, Jon and I headed out for a night of dancing.  And boy did we dance!  We hopped from dance club to dance club.  We had a great time.

Saturday, January 6^th, 2007

We had a slow morning due to our late night last night.  About mid morning we decided to take the dinghy out and tow Jill and Jim's surf boards out to the surf in front of the marina as it is quite a paddle out.  The swells were pretty big, so Jill chose to sit in the dinghy with me. Jon figured he would give it a go.  Funny enough it did not take Jill and I long to not feel very good in the dinghy as it went up and down so we went to a nearby beach to wait out the surfers.  Jon did catch a wave, but did not stand up.  The coral was just below the surface and being new at the sport, no need cutting yourself all up.   Jim caught a few waves too.  Jill and I sped out and picked them up and brought them back to our boat.  A nap was in order at this point! J  I worked on the blog and did some emails.  For dinner we got together with Cheryl and Curtis.  We had dinner at the yacht club as a thank-you for Cheryl lending us her car.  We had a very nice evening.  I enjoyed getting to know the two of them and then to top off the night we were invited to join the table over from us.  Carlos Banduras-Lima, one of the world's best classical guitarists was celebrating 50 years of playing!  We had the pleasure of sitting and listening to him play.  I bought his cd afterwards and he signed it.  I only wish Jim had been there to here him.  His hands were like spiders: long flexible fingers.  I thought Jim would have enjoyed watching his techniques with the guitar.  Beautiful music.  Thank-you for including us!

A little lizzard we saw.  "Get the picture Cathy!"  Jill said. :)

A tree we saw.  These looked like seed pods??...Still have not found out what...?

At night there is a guy who blows a conch while this guy goes around a lights the torches.

A rare pearl in a shell! 

Jill had to leave... :(  We will miss you Jill BUT so glad you could come visit! 

Sunday, January 7^th, 2007

Again I started off the day with working on the blog.  I cannot believe how much there is to catch up on.  By early afternoon, we all headed off towards China town.  We soon learned that we were in for a longer walk than we wished, so we caught a bus.  When we arrived in China town, we were not quite sure where to go.  We walked up along a river channel for a bit.  We came to court yard.  There were a few stores and a door that said market above it.  However most everything was closed including the market.  We walked further up the channel and saw several men playing cards at tables.  We were not seeing much of what we thought we would see, so we asked.  We were told Sundays is not the best day to come to China town.  Most everything is closed.  Great.  That would have been nice to have known.  We walked in the direction of the markets etc… that were pointed out to us.  We found more of what we were looking for, but for what was open, the stores were closing in twenty minutes.  Oh well.  We decided to take a bus back to the main tourist area outside the marina and go for dinner.  Jill only had a few more hours left before she had to catch her plane home.  We found an all you can eat Japanese restaurant that we thought would have been great, but the price of $28.95 per person turned us away.  We finally found a Chinese all you can eat for $11.99: much better!  They had several seafood options as well.  To top of Jill's last moments in Honolulu, we went to a restaurant over looking the marina, where she and Jim had waited for us when we first got together.  She had been going on about the pina coladas, so we had to have one as a farewell.  Jon and I have thoroughly enjoyed having Jill and Jim visit us and we have enjoyed getting to know Jill better.  Jim will be sticking around for until the 20^th with us.  We have Gary showing up on Tuesday.

Jelly Fish - Cool!

Birthday party surprise!  A bit more for our barbeque night than we expected.

The birthday girl burn'n up the dance floor!  70!  Who could EVER guess!

Steve sang a few tunes as well.

Steve and Barbara

Monday, January 8^th, 2007

            Guess….I was back on the computer again today.  Adding programs etc...this time.  I wanted to head off to the International Market, but never made it.  A low key day.  We all worked on projects around the boat: just tidying up, laundry, and a clean-up.  We got together with the Fantasia group in the lower section of the Yacht club and barbequed burgers.  There were a few tables set-up with people all out to barbeque.  The rains came down for a bit and almost put out the big grill, but thankfully the rain did subside.  One yacht club member, Jenella was celebrating her 70^th birthday, not that you could tell.  We put together some Canadian trinkets as a gift and we all signed one of my cards.  Jim and Steve sang to her and played the guitar.  A very nice evening meeting new people and again enjoying music and friends.

Fantasia's double. Also used in the movies!

Tuesday, January 9^th, 2007

            Gary was expected today.  The guys went to a Military museum and I went to the International Market before Gary showed up.  The guys enjoyed the museum.  I bought 8 t-shirts for $20: a bargain.  I also picked up a couple more sarongs to go with my bikinis.  Not much more is needed because you otherwise get quite hot.    The International Market is not like I remember it.  There is maybe a block of shops left.  When I was here almost twenty years ago, the International Market was blocks long.  You literally got lost.  I guess the property taxes are so high now they just could not afford to keep so many shops open.  When Gary showed up, we sat around at the yacht club talking and then ordered sushi for Barbara's Birthday celebration.  Overall, a low key night.  Enjoying some of our last moments before we will have to say goodbye to the Fantasia group.

A trip downtown

A test in staying still!

Our friend Gary in front of the International Market entrance.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

            Today was about getting the boat ready for sea.  Jim and Gary headed off to go see Pearl Harbour while Jon and I worked on preparing the boat.  I did not think the job was too big and we could have things stowed in a couple of hours.  However, below decks was quite warm as we are still in muggy weather.  Your body begins to melt with the simplest of tasks.  We were able to get everything put away though, top up the water tanks, clean out a couple more bilges and tidy up the deck.  Unfortunately the job did take a good portion of the day and I felt exhausted when we were done.  You know when you start to trip over your own feet you are so tired.  Time to stop and have a cold drink.  Gary and Jim stopped off at Costco on their way back.  Gary wanted to "check-it out" and compare to Costco back home.  Gary bought us steaks, prawns and macaroni salad for dinner.  He also flipped the bill on some snacks and burgers.  Thanks Gary! J  The steaks were great!  The prawns – yum!  During the day's tasks, I had also made a couple of cards for our English friends on Fantasia, so before we lost our daylight, we went and sat with them for a moment to say how much we will miss them.  We do wish they would be able to come with us to the Marshall Islands.  We will consider a visit to France one day though.  After our dinner, we all needed a walk.  Gary really had not seen downtown either, so off we went.  We did a bit of a walk through the International Market, showed him the big aquarium on the side of the building and stopped at a bar for a drink.  When we got back to our boat we ended up back on Fantasia for a bit just having another good time with friends. 

We are off for a sail!

Jim takes the helm

Soaking up the sun!

Aloha!

Yeah!  We got to see turtles at Electric Beach.

Look really closelt in the bottom of the picture.  See the turtle... I tried to get a picture of Jim swimming with the turtle but we tend to like air and the turtles can go pretty deep... :)

So what else can we find??

A spotted eagle ray!

some fish...

Goodbye to Electric Beach for now...we would like to go back when things are not stirred up so much.

The sun really takes it out of you!!! :)  Check out the sun glass lines (HE!HE!) :)

Con Todo Mi Carino - With all my heart!

Beautiful Scenery and the evening light was awesome!

Fisherman out on the breakwater at sunset.

Off to find some night life!

We found an army base pub...with Karaoke and bingo!  Fun for all!