avionbianca   Blog for s/v Avion

We spent the first week of January in the port of Lahina to enjoy time with Megan’s sister and her family and their friends during their vacation in Maui.  We had a slip for eight days, so Avion was accessible and we were able to sail on short notice.

We took her family out for two sunset whale watching cruises.  We also enjoyed several visits to the vacation resort area of Kaanapali, as well as dinners in downtown Lahina. Here is a picture of Megan and Suzie.

Megan’s brother-in-law, Craig is a semi-professional photographer. He used a specialized Ricoh camera to take a fascinating 360 degree photograph of Avion with 9 people on board.

Link to 360 degree picture of Avion

We did see whales, but I did not catch any pictures of a whale, since you pretty much had to be looking in the right direction in order to spot one. Here is a picture of Ann pointing out a whale.

Megan and I sailed to the small island of Molokini on Tuesday afternoon. Molokini is the remant of a small volcanic crater, now popular for scuba diving.  We were on the water for  eight hours so we had time to see many whales, including an incredible tale slapping display that went on for about 5 minutes.  (Note:  See previous post for a 59 second video of the whale slapping his tale). According to some recent research, this is an attempt to communicate: https://www.hakaimagazine.com/article-short/why-whales-leap-air

We had fun discovering some deeper Lahina history.  In particular, we enjoyed the Old Prison Museum.  It had an original 30 foot whaling boat from which the real work of harpooning the whales was done, along with the all the gear.  The prisoners were free to go into the courtyard during the day, to eat, walk, smoke and play games together.  The diary of a young sailor from New Bedford indicated it was much easier than life on the whaling ships, as they were allowed to buy food, smoke, play games, accept visits from guests, wander around a courtyard and hang in the shade of big trees.  We also took our first surfing lessons (Megan stood up here first time; Tom needs another lesson).

The day this vacation was over, we sailed over to Lanai under the A-3, asymmetrical spinnaker. Craig got a good picture of Avion from the 11th floor of their hotel room, just before he checked out.

The moderate winds (10-14 knots) along the coast of Lanai were ideal for practicing our gybes (a turn while going downwind). We did five gybes successfully, but the last one one went wrong, so we just socked it and motored into Manele Bay.

We have been to Manele Bay several times, and know our way around.  We immediately went snorkeling and that night enjoyed sharing the coals of a nice hot barbecue while cooking our dinner.

After a two day rest, we sailed back to Oahu. The winds were too mild to sail (4 to 6 knots), so we motored the whole way back and let the autopilot drive.  As we were clearing the western tip of Lanai, we were joined by a bunch dolphins for about 15 minutes.

About two thirds of the way back, on the western side of Penguin Bank, we saw many whales diving and jumping.  Some were very close to Avion, and several appeared to be cutting in front of Avion’s bow, so Tom took the tiller and slowed down, in case of the need to avoid a collision. However, they seemed as aware of us as we were of them, as nothing happened.  We just enjoyed the show, including one whale jumping and spinning around in the air to get a good look at Avion.

Once we returned to Kewalo Harbor, we relaxed and took a long walk. We were very happy to have time with Megan’s family, and pleased to be back in Oahu, our home for the winter.

We are now talking about sailing to Kuaui, a trip of 100 miles.  We have a few repairs to make, but once completed, we will start watching the weather for a sailing window.  Stay tuned…