Honolulu

I prescheduled this posting. We are currently at sea and am not able to make such elaborate, photo heavy posts. I figured I would break up the string of passage related posts with some of our Hawaii memories.

What an unexpected treat our time in Honolulu was! Initially neither Tor nor I were interested in going there, but when we learned that friends of ours from Seattle on S/V Celestial, as well as two other boats we met in Hilo and wanted to catch up with, S/V Anna Caroline and S/V Terrwyn were there, we decided to give it a try. Unfortunately we just missed Terrwyn as they had already left for their passage back home to Victoria, but we got to catch up with and bid Scott, Donna and Celeste from Celestial farewell as they departed for the passage to Sitka. And happily we got to spend more time with and better get to know Janneke and Wietze from Anna Caroline. We met them in Hilo and were very excited to catch up with them again. Janneke gave each boy a big bear hug as soon as she saw them and I assure you, the feeling is mutual!

Our time in Honolulu was spent provisioning (always with growing boys, goodness!), doing boat projects, hanging out at the most friendly and welcoming Hawaii yacht club, watching the Friday night fireworks at the lagoon between the marina and Waikiki beach, spending a day at the most impressive Bishop museum, and participating in the most amazing public event Tor and I have ever been to. Lantern Floating Hawaii was on Memorial Day at Ala Moana park next to the marina (walking distance, convenient!). Lantern Floating Hawaii is organized and put on by the Shinnyo-en Buddhist temple in Honolulu, and it is a beautiful ceremony to honor the memories of lost loved ones, as well as those who served our country. 6000 lanterns are distributed and something like 50,000 people come to write their remembrances on the lanterns and float them out to sea.  Not only was it incredibly moving to participate in, but the organization was incredible. Both Janneke and I were able to get lanterns for our families, we spent the afternoon at the beach together and floated our lanterns together. It was an intimate and collective experience all wrapped up in one, simply amazing and we are so grateful we were able to experience and fully participate in it.

We stopped at Molokai enroute from Maui to Honolulu.
Kaunakakai was a neat town to visit.

We bought this giant grapefruit relative from a farmer on
Molokai. We forgot what it was called, but
 it had pink firm flesh and was delicious!

We had a fun evening socializing with other cruisers
 on Molokai. The boys even got a ukelele lesson!

The famous Diamond Head of Honolulu from the water.

Odin helping on the bowsprit

Little boat, big city. The marina's location downtown is
primo.

We were only there for 6 nights, but that was long enough
for a bird to make a nest in our radar reflector. We tried
 to respectfully relocate it, but I'm afraid it wasn't
 successful :(. 

Tor up the rig adding chafe protection to the serving on our
shrouds for the upcoming passage.

Our friends Janneke and Wietze

Lars decorating our lantern

So many people!

Our lantern ready to go

Waiting for the signal to begin floating the lanterns

The floating begins with volunteers floating lanterns for
people unable to get to the water to float their own.

Our lantern out to join the others

A stunning sight

At the Bishop museum, they have a hot lava demonstration
where they melt cinders in a 2000 degree furnace making
 lava. Incredibly cool!

In the Science Adventure building at the Bishop Museum

We may have been playing a bit hard...Lars fell asleep on
my lap on the bus!

Day 2 to Alaska--We have sea legs! Oops I guess not

Noon position 6/16/16 25 59.6968N 161 49.8419 W
Noon to noon distance travelled: 139 nm
Total distance travelled: 262 nm
Distance to Sitka (straight line): 2189 nm

Why do they call it sea legs? Shouldn't it be called sea stomach? Whatever it is, we don't have it. I was pretty sure I was going to be able to report that the boys had their sea legs, because they had some yogurt and held it down for quite a long time, then I gave them more and that appears to have been a mistake. Yogurt throw up is terrible. We've had lots of philosophical discussions about what foods and liquids are good for throwing up, yogurt is on the bad list. Odin is back to feeling really lousy. Lars is doing better, but still sequestered in our berth, now eating saltines. I'm ready for this phase of the passage to be over! Tor is feeling okay, but certainly not in top form. He's on deck getting as much fresh air is possible. My three poor dudes!

In other news, well there isn't any. Briefly we were sailing to Japan, but we got back on course. That's about it.

I did have one thought for my Facebook friends: while out at sea, I can't see Facebook, or blogger at all. I post to the blog by sending an email (that takes several minutes to send, especially if it has a photo), and then the post is automatically shared to FB. So, if you post comments to Facebook, I can't see them, but if you post them to the blog, they come to me in email form and I can actually see them, though I can't respond. Not that I'm fishing for comments, just so you know why I'm not responding.

Day 1 to Alaska--sloppy conditions and sea sickness

Noon position: 24 05.8552N 160 26.9289W
Miles travelled since departure 6/15/16 at 14:45 local time: 123 nm

No easing into it for this trip! As soon as we got out of Hanalei bay conditions were lumpy and windy making for fast, sloppy and wet sailing. So we are getting somewhere quickly, but it's not comfortable. As has always happened in the past, the three guys are seasick and feeling lousy. The boys are sequestered in our berth and Tor is on deck which helps with his seasickness, but unfortunately with the conditions, it is really wet for him. At least the water is warm...

We've had 3 large splashes come down the companionway and get the computer wet. That's never happened before. I'm glad I had the foresight to put a plastic bag over the keyboard, so far it seems to be working. Knock on wood.

Fortunately I am not feeling sick, just tired, so I can take care of everyone else. The boat is taking care of herself. I'm already seeing signs in the boys that they are starting to get their sea legs. The sun is shining and we are making good progress, so things are good!

And We're Off!

The food is all stowed, sail covers are off and emotionally we think we are ready for the passage to Alaska! Must be time to go. We expect the passage to Sitka will take 3-4 weeks and I plan to post to the blog daily like I did on the last long passage. For my Facebook friends, I think I figured out a way to automatically post my blog posts to Facebook, so hopefully it will work.

A reminder to all of you...the blog posting is manual and relies on electronic things working as expected. If I goof and miss a day, or our satellite phone dies, a post may not come when you may be expecting. That does not mean we are in trouble, I repeat it does not mean we are in trouble. We have an EPIRB if we need help, it calls the Coast Guard directly if we need it. 

Now for the last task before we go, giving an offering of rum to Neptune. Love to all of you!

Maui with Friends

In Maui we reconnected with our dear friends on Asunto (we originally met them in Mexico and they have the same sailing plans as us, Mexico to Hawaii to Alaska and for them back to Vancouver BC, all in the same time frame as us) and finally got to meet their new crew member, baby Bowen. We had a wonderful time with them, renting an eight passenger van to get us all on the road Hana, up to the top of Haleakala and to help with chores like provisioning and laundry. Travelling with a brand new infant, Bowen was about 4 weeks old at the time, brought it all back for Tor and me (blissfully with none of the responsibility ;)). I’m amazed at Kristine and Kolby’s teamwork, resilience and ability to roll with the punches to make their trip work. It’s hard to do this kind of travelling with two six year olds, but a much different thing to do with a 2 ½ year old and an infant.

Not only did we travel by car with them, but we buddy boated together and snorkeled at Molokini, played at beaches, swam from the boats, enjoyed meals together, celebrated Lars and Odin’s birthday together, and in general just enjoyed our time together. The boys and Fynn their 2 ½ year old became fast friends. All together we did Maui right.

Walking around Lahaina, Lars got a ride from Fynn
( the 2 1/2 year old!)

Sea cave on the road to Hana

Seven Sacred Pools, high water due to all the rain so no
swimming. Bummer!

In Maui Odin 'got' snorkeling. When we anchored off Black Rock
 at Kaanapali all the skills came together and he became our turtle
spotter. So cool!

At Makena Beach anchorage, Odin decided he wanted to swim
 to Asunto which was probably 150 ft away from Yare!
He did it no problem! See that speck in the water? He
was swimming toward Asunto's stern. It was amazing!
Not bad for a kid who couldn't swim when we left on our
trip 8 months before!

Lars recently decided he really liked barrels. So a barrel birthday
cake was requested and achieved!

Happy Barrel boy!

Odin the artist decided he wanted to draw the pirate ship on his cake.

Nice job Odin!

Yare at the dock in Lahaina, tight quarters, no?

Friendly Hilo

Our time in Hilo was terrific. Not only were we reveling in the accomplishment of sailing the 2900 miles to get there, but the warmth, hospitality and friendliness of everyone we met there was amazing.  Hilo is a lovely town, not overrun with tourists, and the local people were exceedingly friendly. From friendly people on the bus, to generous people at the paddle club where we pulled our dinghy up offering us breakfast. When the boys and I got caught in a rain squall on our way to the bus one day, and a man even pulled over in his car and insisted I take his umbrella, when I declined and told him we were from Seattle so knew that rain wouldn't make us melt, he insisted that Hilo rain was nothing like Seattle rain. Thank you to that kind man, the umbrella has come in handy!

We also ended up having a most delightful meeting of the boating kind. One night we were cooking dinner and a shadow passed the port lights. Tor popped his head out to investigate and low and behold there was a traditional Hawaiian sailing catamaran right next to us. The man at the helm (actually steering oar), Kiko, recognized our boat from where we tie it up in Seattle, so he stopped by on his evening sail to visit. He owns a boat in Seattle and had seen our boat tied up in Lake Union, and had been curious about it because as a boat builder himself, he had the plans for the same boat and had wondered about building it. The last time he was in Seattle he'd noticed our boat was gone, and low and behold we turned up in his back yard! He quickly invited us for an evening sail with himself and his friend visiting from Germany and Tor and Kiko talked boats the whole time, I think both enjoyed it. I loved sailing on his sailing canoe, it was so different than anything I'd ever sailed on, and the boys were in hog heaven too.

A couple of days later Kiko showed up in his paddling outrigger canoe with two friends from work because he wanted to go over the charts with us and give us good local knowledge about anchorages on the Big Island. Then he invited us to go paddling for the evening with them. We grabbed oars and the boys paddled with half kayak paddles and had a blast. His friends were a delight to spend time with and the evening couldn't have been better, though when we showed up at a restaurant later with our paddles and lifejackets, the restaurant staff was a little confused!

We tied up in Radio Bay which is behind the breakwater in the port of Hilo and also right next to the shipping terminal and cruise ship dock. There was zero swell, and we all really enjoyed being still again. It was a bit of a hassle to be tied up by the shipping terminal due to post 9/11 security rules that necessitated us walking all the way around the port instead of the shortcut through it, but it offered endless entertainment for the boys watching he loading and unloading of countless containers. Perfect place for our kids!

We rented a car for a few days and in addition to provisioning both food (Costco) and books (there is a terrific used book store in Kona) we did some sightseeing and made it back to Volcano national park. All in all, we had a wonderful time on the Big Island and it was hard to leave, but we did so we could rendezvous with our friends on Asunto on Maui!



Radio Bay. Breakwater and canoe club where we rowed our
dinghy ashore.

Med moored to a container terminal!

In Volcano National Park, we drove to the end of Chain
 of Craters road to walk to where the lava covered a park
road in a fairy recent flow. Lars remembered the "Road
Closed" sign from when we were there in 2014 and
wanted to see it again. Things had changed...a new road
 had been built and we think this is what remains of the sign.

This is what it looked like in the summer of 2014.

Wait, what is this road?! It turns out it was built over the lava
 flow in quite a hurry as an evacuation route for people
who live on the other side. In recent flow activity the only road
out was almost cut off by lava, so the residents needed an
evacuation road in case the main road did get cut off.

Thurston Lava tube didn't disappoint!

Neither did seeing the red glow of the lava in the evening from
 Jagger Museum.

Super cute kids super excited by geology!

Dramatic at night, no?

Lars is ready for snorkeling!

Going sailing with Captain Kiko!

Paddling with Kiko!

Hamming it up at the Banyan tree.

Last Month in Mexico

Trying to catch up a little on the blog, I realized I never posted anything about our last month in Mexico. So I'm now going back in time. The last month in Mexico was wonderful, filled with friends, social opportunities and continuing to enjoy Mexico. Frankly I miss it, Hawaii is great, but Mexico holds a very special place in my heart. We spent the last month in Banderas Bay, mostly in the town of La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, but also a little time in Nuevo Vallarta and Puerto Vallarta with a short trip out of the bay to Punta de Mita and Chacala, as well a day trip to Tres Mariettas islands aboard our friends’ boat Asunto. However, it wasn’t all fun and games, we had a long to do list to complete before our big passage to Hawaii. Being in the Puerto Vallarta area made it much easier to get projects and provisioning done than it had been in the Sea of Cortez. So, between friends and projects, our time was filled!

La Cruz is the center of cruiser life in Banderas Bay. I heard a fellow boat parent say that La Cruz has its own gravity, and I can completely agree. It was so tough to leave. La Cruz is kid boat heaven. It attracts kid boats for many reasons; the community of other kid boats, and community events like a kids VHF radio net, crazy science Fridays, and fundraisers for local charities, all done by and for kids. Not to mention a pool, it’s not big, but it doesn’t seem to bother the kids! It’s a great place for adults too. We met so many great people there. Walking down the dock was difficult to do in a timely fashion since there were so many people to chat with, up and down the whole dock! The town itself is wonderful too, there are certainly tourists there, but mostly they are cruisers and as a tourist you don’t have to deal with the same sort of tourism madness found in Puerto Vallarta.

I will let pictures tell the rest of the story.

  

La Cruz cruising family potluck. All the kids getting
 ready for a scavenger hunt.   

Zippy dinghy ride with Asunto to check out Islas Tres
Mariettas in Banderas Bay. Beautiful! 

Islas Tres Mariettas

Lars and Fynn always working on something together!

Provisioning made easy, a lovely friend of the cruising fleet
 in La Cruz offered a ride to the Costco in Puerto
Vallarta in her giant Suburban. It made provisioning for
 the passage to Hawaii SO easy!  

Lars was my stowing partner for all the food. A great helper!

These pictures show just a portion of the food we crammed
on this boat. No going hungry here!

The La Cruz Kids club put on a fundraiser for the orphanage in the
nearby town of Bucerias. They made smoothies for people
 to buy at the cruisers swap meet. successful and delicious!

Odin and Neli made a great team! 

Michelada! Bucerias had the best ones by far, see
those prawns on top? That is probably only 1/3 of them left.
Amazing!

Marina La Cruz sunset.

Buddy Boating with Riki Tiki Tavi and Caramba to Chacala.
Some seriously good beach playing time!

Odin LOVED boogie boarding!

Lars always does things his own way :)

The Easter Bunny came!

For our last week in Mexico we left La Cruz for Puerto
Vallarta. Partly because we wanted to see a different
 place, but also because we found we were having so
much fun in La Cruz that we weren't getting much
done. Riki Tiki Tavi generously made the trip over
 for a couple of days to see us off. Poor Liam got really
 sick, but it didn't deter Neli, Lars and Odin from getting some
serious playmobil playing in!