Our intention is to spend this final night making our cautious approach to the roadstead off of our landfall, then making our way in between Molokai and Oahu, in the light of day. We have secured initial moorage in the Ali Wai Yacht Basin right in downtown Honolulu. Once ashore we will assess if that is where the boat will lie for the next month or so, or we may move her to another location if necessary.
The Captain and crew are all in good spirits; who couldn't be with such outstanding companions, idyllic conditions and such a promising tropical landfall.
After lunch today we pulled off the highway's fast lane, hove to to stop the boat (as much as a slippery boat of 48 feet can be stopped in 20-25 kn of wind!) and had a swim party! One at a time, those hardy souls that so chose to commit themselves to the deep, jumped over the side with a bowline around their chest to revel in the deep blue sea. We had a safety line floating behind us for 100 feet or more, and no shortage of lifeguards. What a life memory! The boat looked so clean, and big from the
fish eye view, and the water so unbelievably clear and blue. Opening your eyes underwater you could see down and down and down... it was like gazing into liquid sapphire. If you hadn't had your daily recommended dose of NaCl, then you would have after swimming! Man was that water salty!
After an hour of splashing and laughing, and blowing raspberries at the imagined sharks, we brought the last of the prisoners aboard, dripping and blowing, and got the vessel underway again. By the by, in the 20 kn breeze, the GPS reported that we were making roughly 3 kn of leeway. No way could you swim that fast (Cress gave it his all, and could only make brief headway before falling behind to the end of his tether), so the first rule of sailing ("Don't fall over the side") was graphically underscored
for us all. Still, great fun was had. As we had coincidentally only just finished our first tank of fresh water (meaning we have slightly more than half left, plus reserves) we allowed ourselves a quick fresh water slosh off. An hour later, I still taste salt in my mouth; a pleasant reminder of today's adventure that is soon to be washed down by a jar of Johnny Walker's Liquid Tonic, Balm and Emulsifier.
Given that this will likely be our last night at sea, and that tomorrow we will be snug in a marina, this may well bring this blog to an end. It is difficult to send updates via the ham radio with all the surrounding masts, so this could be our last missive. If we don't write again, don't be afeared...we are safely ensconced in one of Honolulu's establishments, sipping fruit drinks and bouncing off the washroom stalls as we try to keep the walls from moving!
Thanks for following along with us. We've had a blast! Hope you have too, vicariously!
And now, a bit of doggerel in limerick form for those who don't know all 7 of us who made the voyage from San Francisco to Oahu, 2008:
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There was a ship named Conversations
On the Pacific Ocean she was gracin'
She sailed strong and true
With her gallant crew
Bound for Hawaii and subsequent nations.
Includin' a young man named Jordan
A teen version of Captain Morgan
He'd a glint in his eye
When e'er food went by
And his Cokes I swear he's been hoardin'.
Now next on the list comes Paul
Who tells stories both fanciful and tall
With simian grace
And a gorilla-like face
He scampers o'er foredeck and all.
Then there was a young girl from the Prairie
With an eye like a hawk for the unwary
Leona's her name
And culinary arts her fame
But it's her heart that is legendary.
Our resident wise man named Alfred
Is erudite, sagacious and well-read.
He possesses a mind
Chock full of rhyme
Need a lyric? It's in his head!
This brings us to Admiral Don,
The Old Man's Old Man takes the con
He rules the blue seas
With wisdom and "Please…
Yes another beer would be foregone".
Of especial note is Irena
A first mate you couldn't find keener
She's a chef, she's a sailor
A navigator, a tailor
But it's her vision that's oh so serena.
Now the last is Captain Cress
By whose presence we feel blessed
A finer man
A more abler hand
And a Skipper who ranks with the best.
-PC
08/07/08
Aloha!
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