Day 2 of sailing

I am sorry for those of you who were waiting for the finish of my boat trip. I got distracted by Thailand. I will finish it now.

This is day 2 of the sail from Hawaii to California This next entry is taken directly from my journal. It was a little hard to read because I wrote it while we were under way and sailing through 20-25 foot waves.

‘We headed out early in the morning and set sail for LA. Once again we had big seas like yesterday. We were going 6 knots (MPHs) but between 11 and 1 we noticed we actually lost ground. We were stuck in a current that was moving faster than us. The wind and waves were coming from the northeast which is the exact direction that we need to be going in order to get to LA. We decided it best to change course and head to Molokai for the night. We would get another good night of rest and hopefully the weather would clear up for a smooth sail out of the Hawaiian waters tomorrow.’

Now that we are heading to Molokai we were getting excited for dinner. We have to cross over a submerged island (actually part of the Molokai island which never rose out of the water) where there is always an abundance of fish. As we are approaching the island about 15 miles out the seas pick up a bit. The swell is 20 ft with rouge 25 footers and we sail into a rain storm. I am at the helm of the boat and it is an exhausting job to keep a 40 ton boat on course in the type of weather we are dealing with. Already today we had buried the bow of the boat 2-3 times into the ocean. The 97 foot mass had almost been dipped into the water a handful of times as well. Needless to say every muscle in our bodies had been tensed for the last 10 hours. This made any movement more difficult to complete.

“FISH ON” yells the captain as a wave hits us from the side. I turn and see one of the fishing poles dipping into the water. Kevin reacts first and grabs the pole and starts to real in our dinner. Rocky runs over and unleashes the gaff. Twenty minutes later the fish was close by the side of the boat. It was a gorgeous Ahi (yellow fin tuna). I could almost taste its soft meat in my mouth. I took the gaff, handing the controls of the boat to the captain, and as the boat rolled left and down to the water I reached in and grabbed our dinner on the end of the hook and pulled it in. Rocky passed the rod to Kevin and finished off the fish once it was aboard. It was a gorgeous fish and we were all excited to slice it up and start feasting.

After bring in the Ahi the sky clears some and we have a gorgeous view of the approach to Molokai. Molokai has the world’s largest sea walls. They extend from the ocean straight up 4,000 feet into the sky. Only about 2,000 people live on the island and half of Molokai’s population has never stepped foot off of it. As we are getting close to land I start reeling in the fishing lines to prepare to dock up in the harbor. As I am reeling in the line the end of the pole dips down “FISH ON” I yell and start to bring in the fish. At about 40 yards out it surfaces. The fish is a long skinny fish and is riding on top of the water as I reel it in. Rocky has the gaff and pulls in our second catch of the day (we later found out it is a blue bone fish).

We sailed into Manalua Bay on Molokai surrounded by breaching humpbacks and giant sea turtles. As we pulled into the Harbor we see a group of locals standing around their pickup trucks listening to music and drinking Heinekens. Two stroll over and grab our ropes as we sail in. We tie up to the pier but due to the waves we need to tie off to a floating mooring ball. Being covered in sweat and salt water I quickly volunteer for the job. I climb on top of the boat with rope in hand and dive in. Swimming out to tie us up I marvel in how good the Hawaiian water feels. It is going to be one of the things I miss most about Hawaii.

We clean up the boat and the captain and Rocky start cleaning the fish. As the meat is sliced off the Ahi our fingers quickly slide it into our mouths. Ahi does not get fresher than that and it tasted marvelous. After a small snack of sashimi Rocky and I walk off to go body surfing at a nearby beach with the last rays of sunlight. We stroll back to the boat as the sun is melting into the ocean. The locals have started BBQing some Molokai venison from earlier in the week. 　They bring us over a plate and we trade fresh Ahi sashimi and sautéed blue bone fish. With a bottle of Spanish red we dined like kings.

After dinner we pulled up the weather report and it did not look too good. We had, at the least, one more day of 20 foot waves and 35 knot winds (40 knots is a gale force storm). The good news was that we were slowly making our way towards LA. By island hopping through Hawaii we were inching our way to our final destination. The next island over was Lanai’i and after that was Maui’i. All we needed from the weather was a window of 3-4 days so we could get away from the Hawaiian waters. That would be the toughest part of the journey and after that the ocean should calm down some and be more predictable. We decided to sail to Maui’i the following day at sunrise. It was going to be a 10-12 hour sail and would inch our way closer to LA. I was excited to see Maui’i but at the same time I was getting anxious to get to LA. I was going to be visiting my Uncle and a couple of good friends there. I was excited to see them all. My last trip to LA was only a 24 hour stay over near the Christmas holiday. It was a fun trip but I hoped to spend some more time there now. Also, after LA I was flying to Thailand for a few months. Another adventure I was excited for.

I was learning however that when you are living on a sail boat you leave all expectations for what is going to happen on land. Mother Nature has complete control over your destiny and all you can do is put your sail up and hope for the best. A good friend of mine had moved to Maui’i and I had not seen him for sometime. This visit would give me the chance to say hello to him before I sailed off.

As we got ready for bed we cut holes in paper plates and put them on the ropes from the boat to the dock. They were supposed to keep any unwanted creatures (rats) from entering the boat during the night. I grabbed a blanket and made my bed on the main deck under the Hawaiian sky. As I closed my eyes I could not think of any place on earth that I would rather be. Tomorrow we were headed to Maui’i. The roughest channel in the Hawaiian waters is the channel between Molokai and Maui’i (this is also the largest breeding ground in the world for humpback whales). After all we had already been through however I believed we were prepared for anything; with that thought I slipped into a deep sleep.