avionbianca   Blog for s/v Avion

We enjoy being in Hawaii for many reasons.  The obvious reasons include the incredible location, weather, the welcoming people, and being able to sail a lot. One of the more subtle reasons include the role Hawaii is playing in the daily political psychodrama of the Trump Era.  The reason that the Hawaii Attorney General led the effort to block Trump’s travel ban was not just the minor impact on tourism (75% Japanese), but the historical experience of being attacked at Pearl Harbor, and the subsequent internment of the many generations of Japanese-Americans living in Hawaii into camps.  Hawaiians know that a travel ban based on religion or national-origin is not legal.  But after an Hawaiian judge issued an order to “ban the ban,” Attorney General Sessions complained about a “judge from an island in the Pacific” overriding Trumps’s Executive Order, Hawaiians were rightfully defensive and angry.  Sessions knows Hawaii is a state, and even voted to appoint the judge who issued the injunction.  He chose to negate both the state and the judge, following the lead of Trump when a judge does something he does not like.

We are currently in Honolulu.  Today is May 1st, and we are actively planning for the return trip to SFBay. The single most important, critical-path task is repairing the rudder. This motivated a trip in mid-April, to test and monitor the condition of the rudder.  I had discovered two parallel cracks in the rudder, during normal monthly cleaning of the bottom. I wanted to see if the cracks got worse during an easy trip with low stress, with in sight of land. We got a slip in Lahina for a week, and then went to Lanai before returning to Kewalo.

We sailed to Maui around Lanai.  This is a more southerly route, and somewhat longer, but provides a better heading into the prevailing trade winds. We had a slip reserved in Lahina for a one week, and we wanted to get there in one day.  We left at 7:40 AM and arrived at 8:30 PM, in the dark.  I would not recommend sailing into Lahina in the dark unless you had done it before; the mooring field is rather large and one must avoid boats that are swinging around with no lights.

Time is subjective.  The one week on Lahina flew by, mainly because we decided to practice surfing.  We borrowed a surf board from a boat-neighbor in Kewalo, and brought it along with us. There is a regular wave pattern south of the Lahina harbor breakwater, that we could paddle to in 10 minutes.  We had taken surf lessons there and wanted to try it on our own.  We also took long walks and in the evenings, I, Tom went to the big, historical Banyan tree, behind the courthouse, and did some tai-chi with the tree.

Megan went out on the surf board first.  She caught one good wave, and came back after an hour rather excited about her progress.  The next day, she went out again, but at some point, a big wave rolled her, and the board hit her in the lower lip.  She came back and gave me the board.

My big insight was that in order to surf a wave, one must first catch a wave. Toward this tactical objective, I was assisted by a fellow surfer. He said, “We are all beginners,” and offered some practical  advice.  He said, “Push the board forward when it is about to catch  the wave, and then pull yourself forward, back to the middle of the board; then just hang on.”  I tried this andf immediately felt how the surf board is sucked into the face of the wave, and becomes stable.  I studied this for several waves, then tried the technique of pushing the board forward, pulling myself back up to the middle. It suddenly worked. I caught a wave and rode it, on my stomach. Forget standing up, I just steered the board to avoid hitting other surfers as I blew by them, all the way into the little beach.  I  repeated this about 10 times. Mission accomplished. I had been out an hour and a half, and thought I would try to catch one more wave. For a long time, there were no waves, the then a series of big waves were visible in the distance.  When they got to me, they were bigger and stronger, and I was rolled deeply into the water.  My glasses were knocked off my face.  When I surfaced, I knew my surfing was over for the day.

After the week in Lahina, we motored over to Lanai, because there was no wind. We discovered a friend of ours from Kewalo, on a boat in the slip next to us.  He is a professional Captain for a high-end charter company, in Lanai for several days. He was always friendly. One day, he was supposed to go fishing, but had to work. His fishing friends had a successful day without him, and gave him several big slabs of Ahi and Mahi.  He gave us what he could not eat. We BBQ’d and savored the fresh fish.

We stayed active snorkeling, reading books, and monitored the weather forecasts daily.  There was no wind expected for several days, so we just waited.  When the GRIB files finally  showed a moderate wind, we decided to make the run back to Oahu.  The day started with light winds from the south.  After noontime, the wind died, so we started the motor. After an  hour, the wind shifted and filled-in from the north.  We tacked and I turned off the autopilot to drive. Suddenly, the wind gusted to 16 knots and we were going fast enough to shut off the motor.  The rest of the day, the winds held steady at 18 to 24 knots, and we made 7 to 8 knots of boat speed. Overall, it was a perfect opportunity to test the rudder; moderately strong winds within sight of land.

After returning to Kewalo Harbor, I dove and took pictures of the cracks in the rudder. They both seemed larger. I called the designer of the rudder, and he gave me the name of a guy to work with on the repair in Honolulu, Jim Maynard of PDF. Jim was very responsive.. He came over to the boat to evaluate if we could drop the rudder while the boat was in the water.  We determined that the rudder structure extends above the water line, so we made arrangements to have two guys come to pull the rudder on Thursday.  By noon, in two hours, the rudder was out and in a truck on the way to PDF.

Jim invited us to crew on his boat, Wasabi, in the Friday Night Beer Can race.  We both went and had a great time.  Wasabi is a fast boat, sailed by a bunch of competent sailors. We shot out the channel, and then headed east for the Diamond Head bouy to windward. On the way back, we popped an asymmetrical spinnaker.   A squall came from off-shore, with a blast of wind;  we caught it and shot ahead in the mix of light rain and wind. Coming back into the channel to the finish line, we caught a full downpour. In Hawaii, rain is warm, and we did not really care.  We did care about crossing the finish line and hearing, “Wasabi, three pitchers.” We went right over to the Hawaii Yacht Club, tied up, and someone went to the bar to collect our prize.  We then headed back to the Waikiki Yacht Club, where the crew proceeded to put up a canvas roof.  We then celebrated our victory.

We are now focusing on returning to CA in late May.  Just in the past few days, we have heard about 3 boats making return trips or “deliveries,” to California, so we were wise to wait for May.  Meanwhile, life here in Kewalo Harbor is entertaining.  For example, the fleet of commercial fishing boats is starting to catch larger fish.  I stopped to watch how one large tuna was cut open and prepared.  I am ready to catch our next tuna.

The rudder will  be finished this week, and might even be installed by Friday. The repairs are done and being glassed.  It was a good thing I found these cracks, as they went deep.

Once the rudder is installed, and a few other minor projects completed, we will head over to Kaneohe Yacht Club for a test run. More to come…