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Thread: In Hanalei Bay

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
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    Default In Hanalei Bay

    Although none of us are there yet, it is good to know that s/v Pamela is standing by, awaiting our arrival. And if anyone doubts the attraction of arriving in Hanalei Bay on a sailboat, look no further than this photo, taken yesterday, from one of my favorite sailing wastrels, Dennis Maggard.

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    Last edited by BobJ; 07-04-2021 at 09:49 AM.

  2. #2
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    Jul 2018
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    Palo Alto
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  3. #3
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    Jan 2010
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    This from Sailor Dennis
    Now Jackie, which one of these is THE Tree?

    **Update from Hanalei:**the canoe club that was here in 2018 has moved their big canoes away from the spot, and typically the only folks under the big Australian pine are the small contingent of homeless haole’s, one of whom is Kokapelli Steve who claims to have followed the arrival of the SHTP fleet since the very early days.

    On week days the place is empty (because of the restricted auto access), while on Sundays there will be 500 pasty-white sunbathers just in from Dayton. And me drinking hard kombucha, waiting for your arrival.

  4. #4
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    Jan 2010
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    A photo from Hanalei today

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  5. #5
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    Jan 2010
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    We're here. Yesterday Greg Ashby and I arrived at Control Central via the bus from the Lihue airport. We had our blue wristbands and were prepared upon arrival, so they let us leave the airport. Kind of them. Very nice bus to Princeville, small bus: $2 /each. We were crammed in there with a buncha other people. It was air conditioned and I chatted for 45 minutes with Mary, a high school teacher.

    The bus took us to Princeville where I found Christine Weaver in aisle 3 of the grocery store. Jonathan was waiting in their rental car in the shade. Thank you, Christine and Jonathan, for the ride to the condo. The cost of their car? $900/2 weeks.

    Yes, we bought provisions while we were there: We are ready for anything now

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    Brian's flight last night was delayed, he arrived late sans blue wristband, so they were reluctant to let him out of the airport. He had to wait an additional 45 minutes. But then? There was a car waiting for him at the rental counter. Go figure. If you have a rental car here? You are golden.

    Early this morning we were up before dawn, Brian had hooked up the radio and taped a piece of red duct tape to the deck table. The line of sight from the red tape to the radio is lat/lon to the finish line. Very scientific. In 2018 the line of sight was from the small twig in the sand; in 2008 Synthia said she had purchased a badminton net for the same purpose. Bring what ya got. Use that high technology at your fingertips. That's the SSS.

    Here are Brian and Greg celebrating the accomplishment

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    Then Greg helped us access the wi fi: Turned the modem off then on again. Yeah. Now we were in business! Rested for awhile to celebrate

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    Then we were off to collect The Queen of the Sea Squirrel from the airport. Collected her, went to the Poke bar for lunch.

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    This running a race is hard work.

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    More later
    Last edited by Philpott; 07-01-2021 at 01:17 AM.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    San Diego
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    Definitely hard work. Patty and I left home 5:30am from San Diego, waited on the tarmac in Lihue for 45 minutes, got our rental car at Enterprise, had lunch in Kapaa, got stopped just before Hanalei because of the mudslide work about 2:30 and waited till 5:30 to be able to pass on to Hanalei and finally got to the Hanalei Inn around 6pm. Patty is already crashed on the bunk but who comes riding up on their bikes but Chris and Johnathon in the room right next to us. In fact, as I recall their's is the same room that Jackie had in 2018. Anyway, the road from Princeville to Hanalei is closed from 11:30am to 5:30pm so we are really going to miss the Yellow House. On the other hand, after over 12 hours of travel, here we are and it's pretty easy to get into the Aloha spirit. Hope to see you at the big tree tomorrow.

    Bill
    sv Dolfin

  7. #7
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    9:13 pm on June 30 from John Wilkerson

    Hi Jacky

    Your file seems to be too big. Thanks for sending regardless. I'm feeling better because we are ripping along tonight and I think I now appreciate that the wind builds through the day. That said I tied my spinnaker in a knot and dropped my jib over the side today. Oy!

  8. #8
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    Jan 2010
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    6:52 pm 063021 from Kyle on Aloha via his brother, Brian:


    Brian Vanderspek
    6:52 PM (3 hours ago)
    to Racereporting

    Aloha Day 12 Report

    Another eventful evening last night has given way to a very, very mellow day.

    For dinner last night I enjoyed Mountain House Mexican Rice and Chicken which for anyone who has been onboard for dinner knows the elevated levels of flatulence to follow. Fortunately this issue is dramatically reduced when one happens to be sailing alone.

    Sometime around dinner, after I had written my last update about the blind rumble strip driver that was the autopilot, I decided to throw in the towel on that head unit for the pelagic and try out the spare one that I had brought in case the original one died. The spare one is borrowed off of Elliot James's boat Bloom County and is programmed to face a different direction. Because of this I had to basically duct tape it to the outboard back rest on the port side of the cockpit back rest. However with the "install" complete, I plugged it in and put it to use and it drove (and continues to) drive straight as an arrow! Such a relief to be able to relax knowing the boat will continue on its same course without constant attention from yours truly.

    This unfortunately backfired on me some time around midnight as a minor wind shift that I didn’t feel let the spinnaker collapse and wrap itself about a dozen times tightly around the forestay. It couldn't have been wrapped/wrapping for more than a minute but the damage had been done and it required lowering, disconnecting and an extensive headlamp-lit struggle on the bow in the dark to get it unwrapped.

    Eventually after getting it unwrapped and totally doused, then re-packed and re-set, we continued on our merry way with speeds likely never dipping below six or so knots thanks to the continued push by the main and staysail.

    I have learned my lesson to avoid sailing deeper angles when attention is not fully on the sails. I can also now say I have totally changed my opinion of spinnaker nets which many shorthanded sailors employ to specifically prevent this issue. I have seen two very tight wraps in my time on other boats that end up back at the dock still sporting a spinnaker wrapped on the forestay, and I must say that I sympathize with them and hope dearly that I don't find myself in that situation ever and especially not while single handing.

    At around 5am Hawaii time I decided to gybe back onto port tack, heading me back in a direction which more closely represents final approach towards Hanalei. I gybed a bit early as you might note if tracking closely, with the intention being that with wind accelerating as we approach the islands it will also shift to a direction more out of the due east and I will get turned a bit down towards Hanalei rather than the course towards more or less Kahului (Maui) that I am currently heading.

    To add to the Spanish affair of the night before, I chose the MH Spicy Southwest Hash for breakfast, a nice spicy changeup from the blueberry and oats of days past. In the early morning around the time of the gybe, I ticked past 600 miles and still had decent breeze of the evening which would gradually give way to light air most of the day. Coupled with overcast skies, waves and wind chop that matched up with much windier conditions, it made for a very frustrating morning and early afternoon of painful progress at an angle that I was not quite hoping for.

    That being said, it is my hope that while i may be suffering in the lighter air in the morning, I rather hope to not be alone in the struggles with other boats hopefully facing similar conditions that I am.

    To pass some time this morning in the lighter air, I finally straightened up the boat a little to film a quick tour of the inside of Aloha. I should emphasize its brevity because there really is not a whole lot to see. After that, having finished the two books I brought, I opened up a book on my kindle app that I have already read, i must say times are getting desperate to pass time in the light stuff and I would so much more enjoy some serious breeze on sailing.

    Inside of Aloha has gotten a bit warm and muggy, and gone are the nights of getting warm inside a sleeping bag, but now trying to rest during the heat of the day so I can take advantage of the cool and wind at night.

    Lunch was a standard affair PB&J with a cliff bar and a water bottle. The last of the apples bid farewell over the side to hopefully be enjoyed by some happy apple eating fishies out there. Speaking of fish, during the early morning gybe I came across a dead squid up on the bow, and when moving the sail stack a few small flying fish had met their demise when washed up under the sails. Just when settling into the new gybe in the wee hours of the morning i heard something flying in and vibrating really hard and loud - scared the hell out of me before it bounced back into the bucket i have back under the tiller - a quick look down and i realized aloha had passed in the flight path of this unfortunate flying fish who was now flopping around in the bucket. I quickly threw him back, both to maybe keep him alive and but also prevent the whole cockpit from smelling too fishy. I'm not sure I was all that successful in either of those endeavors.

    Dinner is yet to be determined for the night but I think I might tap into another freeze dried dessert to cap off the evening - I’m thinking either crème brulee or perhaps the dark chocolate cheesecake, only time will tell.

    As for now, the wind has built a little in the afternoon hours and we are moving along at an acceptable pace. Winds are forecasted to improve the entire way into Hanalei so I am very much looking forward to that with not many miles left to get some good trade wind sailing in. Here's hoping for a good night and next couple days with good wind, wave, and and sunshine. Aloha out.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    3,688

    Default What's it Like?

    Here's part of Ronnie's post from the 2010 Log:

    It's over. I'm in Kauai after completing my first Singlehanded Transpac. Was it worth it? Yes. Was it everything I thought it would be? No. it was more. Was crossing the line in Kauai the best single moment in my life? It's a distinct possibility. Finishing this race, in that very moment, was the realization of a dream. Two years ago, this goal of singlehanding to Hawaii nearly killed me and it took everything I owned, stranding me in a foreign land with nothing. Except for the dream. And again this year, this goal of going solo across an ocean took a year out of my life, threw my life for a loop, depleted my checking account and actually started adding grey hairs to my 25 year old head. But now that I've done it, it seems like the time, money and effort involved in every facet of achieving this dream were all great investments.

    My last night at sea was arguably my most enjoyable of the trip. The breeze went light, which was the only thing stressing me out. I needed 146 miles in 24 hours to make it in by next radio check and in before dark, which is something I was very concerned about. I stayed awake the entire night, drinking coffee and eating fig newtons, while listening to my iPod. I spotted a bunch of squalls right around dark, which has seemed to be the case while I was sailing in the race. After dark, the squalls seemed to play themselves out and I rarely saw squalls late at night. I watched all of the squalls closely; as they went behind me, in front of me, to port and to starboard. But none hit me. One was getting very close and looked inevitable though, so I dropped the kite. It missed me, but I poled out a jib anyways. I stood there in the companionway, watching the miles slip past my transom as I savored my last night of SHTP. I tried to sleep, but I was buzzing with anticipation and instant coffee-induced caffeine. No, I was not sleeping tonight. This was my last night as an ocean crossing virgin. Tomorrow I was making landfall.

    Sun came up before our radio check, so I ran my spinnaker guy and spinnaker sheet, put up the wrap preventer, dropped the jib and got the kite on deck. All I had to do was raise the pole and hoist the kite. I went down below to give my coordinates at 9 AM radio check. I was 70 miles out, having made 76 miles throughout a building night time breeze. Immediately after check in, I hoisted the kite. It had never gone up so fast. I was so stoked for that kite hoist! I had one last kite run before hitting Hawaii. In 15 knots of breeze, I was making 9 knots over the ground. Very solid progress. The breeze started building, as did my boat speed. I called my girlfriend (who was with RJ) when I was 40 miles out. I told her I was 5 to 7 hours out, as I figured it would realistically take me that long. My boat speeds were staying very solid as the breeze started building more and more. In 25 knots true, I was blaring Rage Against the Machine and Tool on my iPod while hand steering the masthead kite towards Kauai. This was quickly turning in to the best kite run and best sailing of my 2.5 year old sailing career. I had turned on the handheld GPS and brought it into the cockpit. I was keeping the boat on a straight line to Hanalei while actively trimming and steering. We were flying. And then it happened. I spotted a line in the clouds. I knew I would see it eventually, and for me, it came at about 31 miles. It was Kauai's north shore on the east side, rising from the water and turning into a volcano. The clouds shifted and I couldn't see it again, but I knew it was there. At 28 miles it became visible again and then increasingly became larger and greener. Land ho!

    We were extremely powered up with that much breeze and the masthead kite. Powered up enough to reach my highest boat speed ever in Warrior's Wish. I had seen 14 knots on 2 or 3 occasions, but when we started planing. And planing. And planing. And planing off of a very large wave, I knew we were going fast. Fortunately the handheld GPS was there to show that I was traveling at more than 13 knots for what honestly felt like about 30 seconds, indicating a highest speed of 15.2 knots. I was soooooooooo stoked to see 15 knots. I have seen 20 in a sportboat and 25.6 on a catamaran, but to reach 15 while solo on a tradewind swell in a 30 foot keel boat is a whole different ball game. That particular surf will go down as maybe my best pure sailing moment ever to this point. It was turning into a very good day.

    I called Rob Tryon from my cell phone at 25 out. Then mom. Then Kat and RJ. Then various sailing friends. "Dude, I'm surfing to Kauai in cell phone range. Bye!" was my normal conversation. My friends all knew I was excited. We continued ripping to Kauai in grand fashion, with the island becoming larger and larger, closer and closer. Finally at 8 miles out, I got Jim Kellam on the VHF. That was a good feeling, being within VHF range. Still under full kite, I crossed the line at 8 knots. "Congratulations Warrior's Wish, you have just finished the Singlehanded Transpac. Welcome to Hanalei". The moment had been played over and over a million times in my head prior to it happening, but it still set me back. "It's over. This is it. I did it." I choked back tears and just said "thanks."

  10. #10
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    Jan 2010
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    That's a really nice reminder, Bob. Thanks.

    We are still happy here in the ocean viewed condo. No sailors yet. Oh, too bad! More time to hike the trail along the water down to the River where Lee is collecting us for a sail aboard Morning Star to the Napali Coast. Really? Yes, really.

    Hello, I love ya, ba bye!

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