SVSoulsticeAdventures: Hanalei Bay still....

So... have you ever made smores with Giardelli squares? Game changer!

6/11/22

I have been so studious with my blogging lately which may just reflect my downtime - ha! Stephen and I had prepared to leave for AK prior to coming to Hanalei Bay so there are not too many chores. We have just been recovering from COVID and enjoying our time in the bay. It has been glorious weather but the rain started today and we knew it was coming.

The trade winds are reinforced this week and with that weather brings the rain. This is due to orographic lifting and moisture from the mountains on the windward side. In Ko Olina, we were in the lee and so it stayed sunny and dry mostly but now we are on the windward side of an island and the windward sides have more peaks. We decided to put up our full Iverson enclosure which is a tight fit. It requires a strategy to get all the zippers attached and then carefully starting a side a bit so the other side can attach and meet up. Lots of patience so Stephen does it:) plus my RA hands do not like those kinds of activities.

Since I last made an entry, SV Jeannanne, sailed to Hanalei Bay, Kauai, and returned back to Oahu as well as some other friends from a marina in Honolulu. Chelsea, Steve and Mandy on Jeananne and Shad, his wife and 2 kids on their Beneteau. Shad’s wife and kids are from Salt Lake City and he is a Hawaiin pilot who commutes back and forth. He put his boat up for sale on Craigslist but was not super serious. It was seen by the 1st person and an offer was made. He was surprised and so now the family was doing a final week on the boat before it sold. They have intentions of buying a more seaworthy boat for bigger passages.

It was a short visit but fun! We actually did not hang out with them until the end of their visit because of our COVID isolation. We spent 2 nights doing a beach fire and making some smores. SV Jeananne will return back to Ko Olina and Shad and family will have a few more days to enjoy the boat before their return back to SLC.

Our lifestyles do have us saying a lot of goodbyes and hellos. I remember before the age of the internet and social media, it was only phone calls via landline and letters to keep folks connected. These days, even though far away, you can feel quite connected due to our technology. It is never a replacement for spending time with a person though.

We have made a navigation decision during the last few days as well. We are aborting our plans to go to Kodiak Island. We decided to head straight for Sitka. We feel that since this is a La Nina year, and only the 2nd time since 1950 has it gone into a 3rd season, that the N. Pacific High will still struggle to form because of the colder sea surface temps. This puts our crossing the Gulf of Alaska after reaching Kodiak Island in precarious conditions. We do not want to get stuck waiting out the weather up there or get stuck in a gale, which can come as early as August. We want to get somewhere more protected, relax, and cruise. Going to Sitka affords the ability to get on the inside of multiple little inlets and still have an amazing cruising season. Dave, our friend who had his boat up in Juneau for 4 seasons, said "it is not a consolation prize" that the scenery up there is phenomenal and you could spend a lifetime exploring.

Again, cruising plans are tentative and as I have said in the past, they are intentions but not plans. Another cruiser shared that with us because all the cruisers know that cruising plans are truly written in sand. But we are committed to this passage and feel our 1st weather window is this upcoming week. We plan to leave on 6/14 and it will be a Supermoon/Strawberry Moon. This means that as the moon is waxing it is on the perigee meaning closest to the Earth and so appears larger than normal. Sailing at night with a full moon enhances the passage-making always and somehow gives a false sense of security at night by having that extra light to illuminate the way forward!

Leaving the anchorage we will have good wind but possibly more on a close haul/close reach because the trades have more of a North East component than just due East. Soulstice does point fairly well but we hope the sea state is forgiving to make it more comfortable. Our friend, Ron, on SV Mar de Luz, did say it well… the boat will be fine and you will be fine but it all boils down to how comfortable you will be and how comfortable you want to be - HA! Word!