He has been staying at the Hawaii Yacht Club near Waikiki for the last several weeks since his arrival. It is a pretty nice location right next to Waikiki and the folks here are all pretty laid back and very friendly.
Hawaii Yacht Club
Seattle Sailors
Th local 4th of July fireworks are launch from the entrance to the harbor which is only a couple hundred yards across the water from our location here. It afforded a pretty much perfect view and it was quite spectacular. A great way to celebrate.
Pretty great view
Nice of them to celebrate my arrival
Friday afternoon and Saturday I spent checking out the boat and going over all the gear to identify what would need to be done to get underway. The list wasn't too bad but it would keep me busy for a couple days. I needed to replace the radio antenna to get it working, a small rigging replacement, cleaning (head issue), rig a headsail, fix chafed lines on the wind vane controls, fuel up, purchase and stow provisions and a few other odds and ends. Mike was still in cruising vacation mode so it took a bit to get some momentum going for the work projects.
I was surprised at the lack of basic boat services at the large marinas (fuel, haul outs, etc.). It definitely made some of the chores into larger projects than they should have been. To fuel up the boat, we ended up having to go several miles up the coast to another harbor for fuel. Even then, we were only able to get it because a local fellow from the yacht club here had an account there and came with us. It is not open to the general public. I have no idea where other folks go for fuel.
Weather planning has been a daily activity. There has been some instability in the weather pattern over the last week or so but it seems to be stabilizing and should be okay by the time we leave. Provisioning is always an interesting experience as you fid different things different places and widely variable prices. If you like SPAM (I do not), this is definitely the place for you. There is a crazy selection of all sorts of different flavors, some of which I am sure are only available here (I can't imagine anyone else eating them).
Really??
Some things are really inexpensive here (like the papaya I have for lunch) but authors are crazy expensive. Rainier cherries (a favorite of mine) were just starting to come in season back home and I had some before I left. I am glad that I did because I definitely won't be buying them here.
Holy crap!!! They aren't even gold plated.
Our third crew member (Matt) arrived yesterday and we got a few things done but he was fresh from a music festival with no sleep so most of his day was spent napping.
Last night was the weekly Monday night BYOB (Bring Your Own Barbecue) at the yacht club. It was a fun time socializing with folks around a big communal grill. A big part of the fun was seeing what everyone else was cooking and wishing that I had thought to bring some of them (grilled pineapple, peaches, spinach). We had some nice grilled vegetables and some super tasty Opa which is also really inexpensive here compared to the mainland.
Fun communal spirit around the grill
Mmmm…wish I had thought of that
The daily weather here has been very consistent. BY that I do not mean that it has always been warm and sunny (it has) but that the weather has been exactly the same for days. The breeze starts at the same time everyday, the light drizzle comes around the same time and lasts for about 15 minutes (bring great rainbows), the wind shifts around the same time every evening. Funny to experience. Another bonus on the list of consistent things have been the great sunsets every evening, quite a show.
Nothing to complain about here.
Hopefully we can overcome the dock inertia that has set into our boat's owner and get out of here tomorrow.
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