avionbianca   Blog for s/v Avion

We sailed Avion to Kewalo Harbor in Honalulu last Friday.  We left Kaneohe Bay at 6:00 AM and had an easy day sail around the south side of the island.  We have a slip here for two months in this commercial-boat harbor.   We are actively considering staying longer, although redevelopment plans for Kewalo Harbor are pending so we may have to change marinas. From here, we can explore  longer-term options in the area.

Each day we go out in discovery mode to find the things and services we need now that we are here in Hawaii.  We have found places to buy things like goggles with prescription lenses, snorkels with two tubes, flippers, swimming suits that will dry (quickly), flip-flops, short pants, rash-guard tee-shirts, kickboards, and other equipment so we can play in the water.  We have found places to buy food and ice, fill prescriptions, and send mail. After these exploratory trips mid-day, we go to the beach at Ala Mona Park to swim in the late afternoon.

On Wednesday, we spent most of the day at the beach.   We went to the beach at 11:00am in the morning, to catch the high tide.  Once we were all geared-up, I realized we have may have invented a new mode of playing in the water:  snorkel-surfing.  I swam out beyond the reef to where the surfers were catching the breaking waves in my snorkel gear and kickboard.  The surfers ignored me while I hung with them and watched the waves form and surge by us.  By stretching out with the kickboard and kicking with the fins, I was able to ride some waves for a short distance.  But with my new goggles and snorkel, I found that looking down at the fish was more interesting.  I saw much larger, more colorful fish, swimming in schools.  I just hung around and watched the fish.

Eventually, I realized that Megan had not followed me out, that I was alone, and the wind was blowing me side-ways to the beach. I wondered if I might be exposed to a rip-tide.  I took a minute to catch my breath, found a bearing (a new high-rise building), and started swimming up-wind, against the tide. I swam out and around the surfers, into a section of heavy waves, and slowly made progress toward an area with heavier waves.  Eventually I got into the larger waves letting them carry me back over the reef and into shore. I followed my bearing back to Megan, who was waiting for me on the beach.

We will go snorkel-surfing again to take another look at the big fish on the outside of the reef. This time we will go together, staying together.

The new picture at the top of the blog is from our launch-spot, on Ala Mona beach.  Megan took it, using panorama-mode on an Apple-device.  It is just 5 minutes from the boat.