Cruising the Hawaiian Islands Bill Leary
The sailing adventure doesn’t have to end when you arrive at Kaneohe Yacht Club after finishing the Pacific Cup. You’ll be making landfall in one of the most rewarding cruising grounds in the Pacific, and after sailing 2500 miles to get there, it would be a shame not to take advantage of the opportunity.
You’ve probably heard rumors that Hawaii is a challenging place to cruise. It’s true. The trade winds can be strong, particularly during the summer months when the North Pacific High is deep and stable. These strong trade winds and the seas they build are amplified as they funnel through narrow channels between the islands and can make channel crossings, particularly those in the easterly or upwind direction, bumpy and wet. Protected small boat harbors are scarce, dilapidated, and there’s little room available for visitors. That’s the downside.
The upside is having spectacular and unspoiled anchorages all to yourself. North swells plague Hawaiian waters during the fall, winter, and spring and limit cruising sailors to a few all-weather protected anchorages. But the north swell disappears from June through August and opens up the best anchorages throughout the island chain. That makes those months Hawaii’s “cruising season”, the same time you’ll be in Hawaii after the Pacific Cup.
Kaneohe Bay, home of Pacific Cup host Kaneohe Yacht Club, is one of the few fully protected bodies of water in Hawaii. Great anchorages in the seven mile long bay include the famous “Sandbar”, Hakipu’u at the westernmost end of the bay, and the leeward side of Coconut Island where you can find shelter from strong trade winds. Other protected summer anchorages on Oahu include Pokai Bay on the island’s western shore and Waimea Bay on the north shore. We’ve all seen video of surfers riding thirty foot waves in Waimea Bay during the winter. That same bay provides a calm, safe, and beautiful cruising anchorage during summer months.
Kauai lies in the general direction of the sailing route back to the US west coast, so many Transpac and Pacific Cup boats stop for a visit there on the way home. Hanalei Bay is a fabulous summer anchorage on Kauai’s north shore. West of Hanalei lies the Na Pali coast, nine miles of some of the most awe inspiring and photogenic coastline you’ll ever see. Sailing along the coast you will often see hikers on the Kalalau Trail hundreds of feet above you. Those hikers can take two days to reach Kalalau Valley, while the sail down the coast takes just a couple of hours. At the western end of the Na Pali coast is Nualolo, a protected anchorage in the lee of a reef where you’ll find the best snorkeling in the state. Directly ashore lies Nualolo State Park, an abandoned ancient Hawaiian village that can only be reached by boat. The remoteness of this park has kept the ruins intact, and it looks as if the ancient Hawaiians only recently departed.
The forbidden island of Niihau is a short day sail to the northwest, and there are many protected anchorages on the island’s west coast. Niihau is a privately owned island, but like all of the Hawaiian Islands the offshore waters and beaches up to the vegetation line are considered public property and are accessible to all. Niihau is seldom visited making for great beachcombing. The author once collected sixty Japanese glass balls (fishing floats) on the beach there in a little over an hour. Endangered Hawaiian monk seals are also frequent visitors to Niihau and it is not unusual to see them basking on the beach or stopping by the boat to check you out.
Where to from Niihau? You could depart for the US west coast or slog back to windward to Kauai or Oahu. Another option is the 300 mile close reach to the Big Island of Hawaii. It takes a couple of days to get there, but is far easier than beating back to Oahu because sheets are eased and you are far enough to leeward of the islands to avoid the strong winds and heavy seas found in the channels between the islands. Once you reach the Big Island, it is downhill all the way back to Oahu!
14,000 foot Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea shelter the forty mile long Kona coast of the Big Island from the trade winds. Thermal conditions are the norm on the Kona coast with gentle sea breezes during the day and land breezes at night making for truly tranquil cruising. Okoe Bay at the remote southern end of the coast is a favorite anchorage. It is common to awake there in the morning to find the boat surrounded by schools of spinner dolphins that have rested for the night in the bay. Snorkeling is outstanding and hiking ashore along the old “Kings Highway” and through the ruins of ancient Hawaiian villages is exhilarating. You can still clearly see the debris that accumulated at the high water mark twenty feet above sea level during the 2011 tsunami. Great anchorages to the north of Okoe Bay include Honomalino, Kealakekua Bay where Captain Cook was killed by the Hawaiians, Kua Bay, and Nishimura Bay.
Crossing the forty mile wide Alinuihaha Channel in the westerly direction is an easy broad reaching day sail. There are good anchorages at La Perouse Bay at the South end of Maui or at Honolua Bay at the north end of the island. Lahaina is out as a cruising stop after last year’s devastating fires, at least for now, but provisions can still be picked up from the stores close to Mala Wharf a few miles to the north.
Molokai’s north shore has 3000 foot sea cliffs, the highest on planet earth. This coastline was featured as the last bit of dry land in Kevin Costner’s “Waterworld”. Nestled in among the valleys along these cliffs are two great anchorages, Keawanui and Waikolu. Adjacent to the Keawanui anchorage are sea caves to explore by dinghy and a 100 foot waterfall that empties onto the beach. Keep in mind that the north shore of Molokai is a mere fifty miles away from Kaneohe Yacht Club. It’s almost dead to windward from Oahu, not a pleasant trip in heavy trades, but it’s a reasonable sail if the winds back off or shift from their normal easterly direction. It’s also a convenient stop when heading back to Oahu from Maui.
So keep a Hawaiian cruise in mind when you are planning your post-Pacific Cup itinerary in Hawaii. It could be the highlight of your trip. How do you get more information? That’s the easy part. A free on-line cruising guide to the Hawaiian Islands, “Noodle’s Notes”, is available for download at noodlesnotes.com. Updated at least annually, “Noodle’s Notes” contains all the information you’ll need to cruise safely and enjoyably in Hawaii. Hardcopies are available for $7.76 at Amazon.com, or at the Kaneohe Yacht Club Deckhand’s Locker.
