Oahu waypoints

It's hard to believe it's been four and a half months since I last wrote a blog, but time passes quickly even when we're not cruising. John insists we're still in cruising mode. I on the other hand, look at it as simply living aboard in the U.S., even if the State we're in happens to be as exotic as Hawaii.

In January we celebrated John's 50th birthday with the help of many friends. In February I flew to Portland and John did a weekend haulout at Keehi boat yard with Chris from Privateer as his hired help. I returned to Honolulu at the end of the month where John had Nakia tied up at the Kaneohe Yacht Club, a very beautiful and welcoming facility.

We rented a Smart car for three days and covered Oahu from coast to coast.

We returned the rental car and departed the yacht club dock on February 23 to anchor in 42' at the "sand spit" in Kaneohe Bay. All the tour boats take Sunday off and the spit was crowded with locals enjoying the sun and shallow water. It reminded us very much of the California Delta scene with a backdrop reminiscent of the Marquesas!

{GMST}21|27.510|N|157|48.304|W|Kaneohe Bay|Sand Spit{GEND}

After two nights on the spit we motored a few miles to the far northern end of the bay, to the "secret beach" anchorage off of Kualoa Beach Park. On our way into the channel (leave the markers - topped by decoy owls - to the west to stay off the reef) we saw five turtles before dropping the hook in about 15 feet.

{GMST}21|30.080|N|157|50.710|W|Kaneohe Bay|Secret Beach{GEND}

From the park we rode our bicycles north past the Polynesian Cultural Center to the Hukilau Cafe for some ono loco moco and Teriyaki beef.

On March 3 we departed Oahu for a long day trip to Molokai. We motored all morning and saw red-footed boobies, an albatross (I swear!), and whales showing off everywhere. We made a three night stop in Molokai where we did laundry and another bike ride out to Mile 16 (me) and beyond to the end of the road (John). One night we had dinner at Paddler's and stayed in town late enough to get "hot bread" from the Kanemitsu Bakery. This is an interesting, if not particularly gourmet, experience that I can now check off my list.

We departed Molokai for the overnight passage to Hilo on March 6.