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Crazy to say, but the season is definitely changing.  Winter is giving way to spring providing an occasional taste of how predictably glorious summer boating will be in Hawaii.  Debbie and I have been busy with guests and some travel commitments, but are now ready to get back at it.  Our goal is to explore the whole state, land and sea.  After spending some time cruising around this island, I’m convinced Eliana is perfectly suited for Hawaiian waters and anchorages.  I’m working through a couple modifications to our routine which I’ll report on later.  In the meantime, I hope you’ll enjoy a few of our day trips on land!  Remember to click on photos you want to enlarge.  Several are hard to see the detail unless you do.

Meet Hale’iwa.  I named her after the town, pronounced “Holly Eva”, or just Holly for short.  She has been a welcome, permanent addition to Eliana’s bridge.  I’ve noticed she is happily agreeable to everything I say!

The small town of Nanakuli in the distance.

Hale’iwa
Wintertime on the North Shore is beautiful and spectacular.  Winter waves can be gargantuan.  It’s a surfer’s paradise unless the wind is also blowing hard, then it gets too dangerous.  A narrow two lane highway follows the pristine coastline all the way around.  Other than a couple of isolated developments, the North Shore is still rural and beautiful.

As we drove northeast up state route 99, Kamehameha Highway, we crossed the fertile O’ahu central plateau.  Then as we crested a slight rise from high elevation, a view emerged of blue sea to infinity and what appears to be a frothing white band separating water from land.   Soon we arrived in historic Hale’iwa.  “Hale” means house in the Hawaiian language and “iwa means Frigatebird.  Don’t ask, it’s a long story.  

Hale’iwa is nestled at the intersection of Anahulu River and Waialua Bay.  The original hotel is long gone, but the town is quaint with B & B’s, restaurants and a few friendly residents.  The landmark to look for is the Rainbow Bridge which crosses the Anahulu River.

Hale’iwa Joe’s is situated right at the small harbor and serves some of the best fish around.

The famous double arch “Rainbow Bridge” crossing the Anahulu River.

Some big waves, too messy to surf or swim due to wind.

The beaches were closed.

Diamond Head
Overlooking Waikiki is Diamond Head mountain.  We love to hike, and Diamond Head boasts the most visitors each year due to it’s proximity to the tourist district.  We went up just to say we did it and came away more impressed than we expected.  We arrived by car through a tunnel leading to the volcano’s crater where the hike begins.  

Diamond Head was the last active volcano of O’ahu, most think about 100,000 years ago.  It’s only about a mile up the trail, with the summit at 761’ over the ocean and Waikiki.  

The bonus for me was the artillery batteries built into the volcano rim.  Apparently these were put in about 1910 for defense of Honolulu Harbor.  There are a total of 5 bunker levels making up the total fire control station.  They are almost invisible when viewed from the ground, but artillery would have excellent range.  You have to hike through a 225’ tunnel, then up 99 steps before entering the service tunnel on the lowest of the five bunkers.  Very interesting.

The view of Honolulu from the rim of Diamond Head.

Artillery bunkers were almost invisible from a distance, but offered a clear shot across the leeward shore of O’ahu.

Diamond Head lighthouse is the main navigational aid approaching Honolulu.  Just beyond the reef we saw Humpback whales cavorting in the water.

Manoa Falls
I may have already mentioned O’ahu’s annual rainfall ranges from less than 10” / year on the Southwest side of the island, up to 280” / year in the Ko’olau mountain range on the eastern side.  It’s no surprise that just north of the desert like Diamond Head is the lush Manoa Valley.  Within 10 minutes of driving, we were amazed at the change in climate from arid to rainforest.  

Centered in the beautiful Manoa valley is the University of Hawaii’s flagship Manoa campus.  The town is also well known for its marketplace and farmers market since much of it is richly vegetated and has a history of sugar cane, coffee and produce of all kinds.  

The head of the valley is defined by Manoa Stream which begins at the 160’ Manoa Falls.  I thought it would be interesting to hike up the trail to the falls, maybe a mile and a half in.  Wow, the rainforest was beautiful and appropriately was raining the whole time.  I got back with muddy shoes, but invigorated.

U of H, Manoa Campus.

The trailhead going up to Manoa Falls.

The trail is very muddy from rain.

The 160′ Manoa Falls at the head of the valley.

Aloha Stadium Swap Meet
Every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, Aloha Stadium puts on a swap meet completely encircling the stadium.  It’s unbelievable, really.  Venders line two sides of a track that seems to go on forever.  These are the best deals in Hawaii on everything from Ukelele’s to Kava Root.  The facility works perfectly because it has all the stadium parking adjacent, and restrooms just inside the stadium doors.  Weather’s almost always nice!

Beautiful Aloha Stadium

Prospect trying out a Ukelele.

Woven wind chimes hand made entirely of shells.  They were pretty neat.

Hawaiian fabrics.  Debbie liked this one to make a table cloth.

Before Signing Off
We would like to thank you for following our blog.  If you have questions or comments, I encourage you to follow the links below directly to our web site to post.  I try to answer all questions and appreciate having your comments permanently attached.

Rick Heiniger
N7617 Eliana
Lying: Ko Olina Marina, Kapolei, HI
Mileage:  11,198 Nautical Miles

Crazy to say, but the season is definitely changing.  Winter is giving way to spring providing an occasional taste of how predictably glorious summer boating will be in Hawaii.  Debbie and I have been busy with guests and some travel commitme…

One of Oahu’s modern myths is that Waikiki and Oahu are synonymous.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Oahu is mostly rural and a land of contrast, densely packed with interesting choices.  Little by little, we hope to begin pe…

One of Oahu’s modern myths is that Waikiki and Oahu are synonymous.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Oahu is mostly rural and a land of contrast, densely packed with interesting choices.  Little by little, we hope to begin peeling the onion.  We’ve got our work cut out for us!  But then, sparkling on the southern shore with the island landscape as a backdrop is Waikiki tucked neatly at the foot of Diamond Head.  There, within Ala Wai Harbor lies the Waikiki Yacht Club.  

We decided to spend a weekend at the club docks with Eliana and our friends from Kansas, Jeff and Tonya Poe.  One of the best things about Hawaii cruising is one can move from place to place quickly, even in a boat!  The trip from Ko Olina to Waikiki was under 3 hours.  Even with winter swell coming in from the north, the trip was comfortable.

Fortunately, Don and Sharry Stabbert were already berthed at the WYC with their beautiful 75’ Northern Marine, STARR.  So the combination of good folks and good boats in a beautiful place made for a very special time.

Waikiki Yacht Club was founded in 1944.  Imagine that.  Just three years after Pearl Harbor, the war in the Pacific was drawing to a close.  A small group of sailors decided to begin refurbishing older boats and once again take advantage of the wonderful Hawaiian waters to promote yacht racing.  Still active today, WYC views itself as the premier yacht club of the Pacific.

Ala Wai Harbor, Waikiki

An early photo of the same spot.

Debbie and Tonya enroute

Eliana berthed at Waikiki Yacht Club

STARR next door.

Blessing Of The Fleet
Every year, the club sets aside a day in February for the annual Blessing of the Fleet!  The celebration is an all day affair with dozens of boats dressed up in all their colors.  At noon the lines are thrown off and a procession forms to go out to sea where the Chaplain blesses each boat as it passes.

Eliana’s crew decided to join Stabberts on their boat.  It was, as usual, a gorgeous day.  STARR was blessed along with the rest of the fleet.  The formality of the blessing was indeed moving and meaningful.  I made a short movie of the procession out and the return back.  Unfortunately, with the excitement during the actual blessing I missed the most important part.  Oh well.

Pearl Harbor
Being in Hawaii, it’s easy to get caught up in World War II history, especially the Pacific front.  There is a lot to do in that regard, but the USS Arizona Memorial is absolutely a must.  The visitors center contains a wonderful museum you can visit with or without the audio tour headphones.  Then prior to boarding the boat across the harbor, they show a movie reliving December 7, 1941 as historically accurate as possible.  The trip out and visit of the actual Memorial is well done and touching.  I have already visited three times and still look forward to going again.

An amazing map of the Pacific painted on the concrete at the visitors center.

Looking out over the east loch of Pearl Harbor toward Ford Island.  You can see the USS Missouri and the USS Arizona Memorial through the trees.

The boats that take you over to the memorial are operated by the US Navy.

USS Missouri open to the public to tour.

The Arizona Memorial

Shoptalk
It seems as though we’re always learning something new.  For this entry, I thought back just in the past few days and came up with three revelations.  My more experienced colleagues already know this stuff, but for me it’s a victory each time some nagging problem is solved.  Here’s a picture summary…

OK, here’s where I have to retract an earlier statement.  I had reported that in waxing the easiest method we found was to apply and remove the wax by hand.  Well, I was wrong.  I decided to reevaluate the orbital buffer and found that using it to apply the wax at least DOUBLED the speed of the job and probably increases the quality of the work.  Use a soft sponge pad and set the speed dial to “3”.  Always route the cord from above rather than below.  Apply the wax in two directions overlapping 50% at all times.  This system takes ALL the work out of buffing.  No more elbow grease just to scrub off the excess wax.

The engine room bilge has seawater in it at all times due to the dripping of the shaft packing.  This isn’t normally a problem, but the water was developing an odor and turning black after only a week or two.  I had to scrub and clean the bilge with bilge soap all the time.  I found an easy solution.  By putting a couple tablespoons of household hydrogen peroxide in the water after cleaning, the water stays perfectly clear and without odor. 

In Closing
I can’t say it enough.  Hawaii promises to be much more than we ever expected from a cruising standpoint.  It’s a rich environment with dozens of diverse destinations not far away.  The weather is beautiful year around.  The water is warm enough to swim.  Abundant sea life.  So much to do, we’ll never do it all and probably won’t try.  

Surprisingly, Hawaii is ranked 48th out of 50 states for number of boats per capita.  That’s right, even Kansas has more boats per person.  That means the island waters are pristine and uncrowded.  We’re now absolutely certain we’ve got the right boat in the right place to keep us busy for awhile.

And most of all thanks to our faithful readers.

Rick Heiniger
N7617 Eliana
Lying:  Ko Olina Marina, Kapolei, HI
Mileage:  11,174 Miles

One of Oahu’s modern myths is that Waikiki and Oahu are synonymous.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Oahu is mostly rural and a land of contrast, densely packed with interesting choices.  Little by little, we hope to begin pe…

First impressions are often predictably accurate.  Tell tale clues, one at a time until suddenly a conclusive thought emerges.  As Debbie and I visited recently, it hit me… “People here are generally happy.”  Probably not much to analyze .  Smiles and neighborliness.  A climate conducive to living outdoors and a front porch mentality.  Maybe when we’re happy, we imagine everyone else is too.

The Waianae mountain range parallels the coast.  It blesses the whole area with calm, clear ocean waters coupled with a near perfect, 80 degree climate year around. For centuries, this stretch of coast was reserved for Hawaii’s royal families for vacationing.  It has always been rural but with abundant produce, great fishing, and plenty of room for goats, pigs and chickens.  Originally, the territory from Pearl Harbor all the way along the coast to the summit of Mount Ka’ala was called Ko Olina.  Not surprisingly, Ko Olina from the Hawaiian language means “Place Of Joy”.

Today, Ko Olina is the name of the development that contains our marina.  It’s an easy drive from Honolulu, east up the H1 until just after the freeway ends.  Nearby is the non-touristy Kapolei, a clean town with almost anything one might need without going into the city.

Ko Olina itself is built around four spectacular lagoons connected by a continuous walking path and park environment.  Each lagoon is unique in some way, but all similarly have massive beach areas with zero entry swimming.  Immediately behind the beaches are zoysia grass and trees.  Spotted along the way are public use bathrooms, beach showers and water fountains.  I would say, round trip on the path is 3 – 4 miles.  

Immediately inland from the lagoons are a series of properties including Marriott’s beautiful Ihilani hotel and Disney’s brand new resort, Aulani.  These are backdropped with a gorgeous golf course.  It may sound crowded, but it’s not.  The design is relaxed with amenities enjoyed by locals as well as visitors.

One interesting attraction of Ko Olina are the weddings.  We’ve heard on average there is a wedding every 15 minutes.  Chapels dot the way along the water front.  Photographers and white limousines everywhere. I’ll admit, this would be a sweet place to have a wedding.  Having seen a few, this way of doing it seems relaxed and everyone seems to be having a good time.

Sunset on Lagoon #4

Lagoon #3

Girls playing.

Walking path

Sunday Afternoon

New Year’s Fireworks.  Absolutely spectacular display shot simultaneously from all four lagoons.  This photo was taken from Eliana.

Mother and daughter.

Lagoons protected by breakwater rocks.

One of several wedding chapels.

Ho hum.  Another sunset.

Ko Olina Marina
That brings us to Eliana’s berth at the marina which is situated just behind lagoon #4.  Chuck and Suzanne Krause team up to co-manage the facility keeping it in top notch condition.  The surroundings are garden like.  As Suzanne says, we wake up to the sound of birds singing rather than horns honking.  Speaking of birds, we are shocked there are no gulls, herons or pelicans in the marina.  The only birds around are land based species.  The docks stay super clean.

Speaking of neighborhoods, there are approximately 25 live-aboard locals in the marina.  Our dock neighbors have been awesome.  Slowly, we’re learning the local ways and means on about any topic.  Most of all, we’re getting more local knowledge about Hawaiian cruising than you’ll get in 100 cruise guides. 

Home Sweet Home

Chuck and Suzanne, harbormaster team.

Harbor Setting

Friend, dock-mate, long time resident Michael Cornell

One of hundreds of species of beautiful birds.  I think this one is a red crested Cardinal.

Before Signing Off
Eliana is in excellent condition.  No problems I can think of to report. 
It’s wax time again, so we’re enjoying the project as a good excuse tospend more time outside.  Debbie is really enjoying the local farmer’s market in
Kapolei early each Sunday morning.  Nothing else exciting.

We love Hawaii so far.  While here, we plan to visit each island over the next year or so.  We’ll use Ko Olina as our home base in between.  As we discover new things, we’ll do our best to keep you posted.

Rick Heiniger
N7617 Eliana
Lying:  Ko Olina, Hawaii
Mileage:  11,127 Miles

First impressions are often predictably accurate.  Tell tale clues, one at a time until suddenly a conclusive thought emerges.  As Debbie and I visited recently, it hit me… “People here are generally happy.”  Probably not much to analy…

Land Ho!  Oh, what a feeling.  The shape of Molokai is forming beyond a cloud just beside the setting sun.  Suddenly, the few tiny spots on the chart are now real land, lighthouses blinking, the sky glow of Oahu back lights a perfect out…