I often have  a few shots that don’t quite fit the narrative.  So, I’ve posted new pictures of the Papeete to Hawaii passage and here are a few that didn’t fit in.

Ahh, one of the best parts of a long passage - the Champagne celebrating the completion.

What's a squall look like? Oh, here's one!

How the radar views a squall. The red patches are heavy rain.

The rainbow on the "back side" of the squall.

Our sleeping quarters when it's too hot in the quarter berth. Note the little fan above my head.

Shaking out the reefs due to light air in the morning...

Ahh, that's much better!

Red sails in the sunset.

After a long voyage from Fiji via Samoa and Christmas Island Orcinius has arrived in Ko Olina Marina. The cr was of Charisma and Orcinius are back in action! So fun!
(I am posting this so our Orcinius followers know they are safe!)
Aloha!

Waiting for Orcinius out by the seawall.

Coming into the marina from Fiji by way of Samoa, Christmas Island, Hawaii and Maui.

Once settled in, a little champagne for Lisa, John and crew Moses and Malo.

Our last night on the big ocean was beautiful! A sliver of a new moon welcomed a galaxy of stars that were so bright that visibilty was great. Very important as we rounded Molokai toward Oahu where we could expect traffic. It was a huge treat given the very squally night before.
Our timing arriving at Oahu was perfect…morning light on Diamond Head and Waikiki…the best view!

Landfall Diamond Head!

After 22 days at sea, we're happy to see land!

Ann doesn't waste a minute before going into "polishing the stainless" mode, so Charisma will look great when we get in!

We arrived at the fuel dock at Ko Olina just after 1 pm and waits for US Customs and crew

to arrive. They come from the airport so it took a while. In fact enough time to fold and cover the sails, wash the salt off of Charisma and straighten up the main cabin. Even had time to strip the bed and get the laundry ready to go. Customs required that we empty and wipe down the fridge and the entire galley with ant-bacterial wipes that they provided so I even got the galley cleaned before they left!
So we are here, walked to dinner last night and slept well, in the same berth! Bob is still asleep at 11 am and I am doing laundry.
Aloha…so glad to be here!

Position: 21 degrees, 25 minutes north; 156 degrees, 39 minutes west 120 nm day

Sooo close. We’re about 15 miles off the west tip of Molokai. We just sighted it below the clouds after dinner. We’re going into evening (it’s 1930 local time) here. We’ll spend the night running down the north side of Molokai, across the channel and then gybe on the other side to go down the channel a ways, gybe again, probably around daybreak and we should be able to see Diamond Head.

Pretty exciting stuff that after six weeks sailing time from NZ that we’re here! The weather’s gotten more reasonable. South toward the equator we were dripping with perspiration all day long. The weather here and now is almost cool. We’re still just in shorts and short sleeve shirts even at night, but there’s not the oppressive heat as further south.

Well, a long night ahead. I’m assuming there’s going to be some boat traffic as we approach Oahu, so no doubt there will be radar drills to determine course/distance and sleep with be hit and miss, but as long as weather holds, etc, we should be tied up at the dock end of day waiting for customs to come and clear us.

Two happy campers with Diamond Head in the background.

That’s all for now.

Position: 20 degrees, 31 minutes north; 154 degrees, 48 minutes west 125 nm day

We SAW land, but haven’t stopped yet. We sighted the big island of Hawaii – the southern most in the island chain – at daybreak, but now we still have almost 200 miles to go to get to Honolulu. For Charisma that translates into a Saturday arrival, so two more nights! For now we’re staying about 40 or so miles off to stay in the trade winds. After Hawaii, we have Maui, then Molokai, then down the channel and past the iconic Diamond Head to arrive in the Honolulu area. We’re actually going about 20 miles further east to Barber’s Point and a place called Ko-Olina. With the Transpac boats due to arrive in Honolulu area any day now, staying at Ala Wai at Waikiki would be too crowded and crazy. We’ll opt for peace and serenity. 😉

Position: 18 degrees 45 minutes north; 153 degrees, 40 minutes west 125 nm day

288,342. That is roughly the number of waves that have passed beneath Charisma these past five sailing weeks since leaving New Zealand.

Not one the same.

Some have been little – like right now – maybe three or four feet high, suggesting that weather ahead is going to stay calm. We can look forward to another warm, smooth day. Others have been the size of an apartment building, looming gigantic and sometimes menacingly out of the dark night. The only way you know it’s coming is suddenly the stars behind you disappear, you hear the huge mass of water build, and Charisma tips forward (sometimes alarmingly so) just as you slide down the mountain. Above you now, sharp white teeth of the breaking wave-top glistens in the starlight.

The waves match, or perhaps make, the mood of the day. On a cloudy day the waves are a melancholy grey. Waves at sunset sometimes flash the colors of the rainbow as they challenge the twilight sky as to which can be more beautiful.

And the sound. It’s always there so sometimes you stop consciously noticing it. But it’s never far and it ranges from the storm force deafening roar of a huge black iron steam locomotive hissing and shrieking away, a cacophony of grindiing metal bearing down on you to the gentle sound of smaller waves as delicate as the trickling of a mountain stream.

My favorite wave appears on the 20 knot wind, cloudless sky day. That wave embodies the perfection of the color we might call “blue”. This wave’s blue is unmatched in beauty anywhere else in nature. It’s a blue made powerful as it channels tens of thousands of feet from the depths of the ocean, yet at the same time so fragile its crests shatter with the wind into shimmering perfection of exquisitely transparent crystal droplets.

I never get tired of watching the waves.

Position: 16 degrees, 59 minutes north; 152 degrees, 34 minutes west 132 nm day

No much to report today. Same as yesterday I suppose. Nice weather, very warm. Fewer morning squalls and we hope fewer tonight.

We’re closing on the Big Island which is the southern most of the group. We’re 200 miles off the east side of Hawaii. It’s about another 200 or so miles from there NNW up the island group past Maui and Molokai to Oahu. We’re thinking maybe Saturday if the weather holds, but there’s a reasonable chance of very light winds as we get off the islands so who knows at this point.

We’re still within 39 miles of the J-120 we’re been pacing since leaving Papeete almost three weeks ago. We have a radio sked with them every day at 1700 local, so we’re keeping tabs on each other. Also Orcinius just reported that they have left Christmas Island where they stopped for fuel, (coming from Samoa and Fiji). They have some interesting stories from Christmas Island we’re eager to hear. Turns out a Benetau-47 sailboat dragged anchor or broke loose – not sure of the story yet – and went up on the reef. It’s now a salvage project and John, Lisa and their crew went aboard and salvaged some stuff they needed for Orcinius. Can’t wait to hear, but at the same time these stories give us the willies because we all know it’s a fine line sometimes between riding out a blow and ending on the beach and it could happen to any of us.

So, that’s it for today.