Capturing the Moment

        The blog has been quiet this last week because I have been out at sea sailing around the islands of Oahu, Moloka'i, Lana'i, Koho'olawe, and Maui aboard the tallship Makani Olu. The Makani Olu (Gracious Wind) is owned and operated by Marimed Foundation , a non-profit organization involved with sail training since 1988. The 96-foot, three-masted staysail schooner, retrofitted for sail training in Hawaiian waters, is the central component of a model experiential education and treatment program for at-risk adolescents built around ocean voyaging.        The Makani Olu is a 96', three masted schooner. Different groups ranging from elder hostel to private parties can set sail aboard the Makani Olu. This trip was a bit different. Marimed runs a house for troubled boys and occasionally brings them out aboard the Makani Olu as a character and team building endeavor. These boys, 14 through 17, face difficult emotional and educational c...

Exploring the Coastline of Kauai     My C watch had the first shift as we left the mooring at Lehua Rock for the big channel crossing over to Kauai. The winds were way down, but enough to fill our sails, but the waves were still high and coming from two different directions. We headed straight into the east swell but every time a north swell came through the boat lurched over. The north swells were hitting us right on our beam which created pretty rocky conditions. I actually had one wave hit the side of the boat and splash up into the wheelhouse where I was, until then, perfectly dry. After being relieved by Emma and her A watch I went down below to get some sleep, knowing I would be back on deck at 6am. The rocking was pretty intense down below in my bunk but I finally drifted off, wondering what sights I would wake to in the morning. Cliffs and Watefalls on the Na Pali Coast Sun and Mist: Na Pali Coast   When I came on deck I found that we were hove t...

Sailing to the "Forbidden Island" of Ni'ihau on the SSV Makani Olu Coming into the Forbidden Isle, Ni'ihau   The adventure gets real as we leave the protection of Haleiwa and set sail across the Kauai Channel towards Ka'ula Rock. I was pretty excited for a couple of reasons. This would be the first time I would be in charge of my own watch and the whole tall ship while on deck, the winds and waves were supposed to be strong and big but at our backs, and I had never even heard of our destination.    Ka'ula rock is located 23 miles (37 km) west-southwest of Kawaihoa Point on Ni ʻ ihau, and about 150 nautical miles (280 km) west of Honolulu. The island is actually the very top of a volcanic tuff cone that rests on top of a larger, submerged shield volcano. At its highest point, the island reaches a height of 548 feet (167 m). The ocean has carved large sea cliffs on the sides of the island. There is a large cave on the northwest side of the island ...

  Adventure week has come and a grand adventure has been undertaken. I have been signed on as second mate aboard the 96ft 3 masted tall ship Makani Olu for the first week of April. I am just coming off an amazing week of scuba diving, underwater photography, and exploration with Heidi on Maui and already excited to head back out for adventure.   I wasn't quite sure about sleeping arrangements, watch schedules, or even the sail plan but at 8am Monday morning I was ready with my sleeping bag, camera, and foul weather gear. The crew consisted of Captain Emma, 1st Mate Kalei, 2nd Mate Dai Mar, and 13 student crew. We separated in three watches on a modified Swedish watch system. 2 six hour watches during the day, and 3 four hour watches at night. With no steward on board whatever watch was on duty leading up to a meal would be in charge of cooking and setting out that meal.   The sail plan was bold, and we soon found out that to do everything on the plan would be a ...

The ghostly visage of the tallship Carthaginian Heidi, Mary and I planned an adventure almost too big for one car, to kayak out from the shore with all of our scuba and camera gear and dive the wreck of the Carthaginian. The Carthaginian is an old tall ship that I've written about a couple of times on this blog. Feel free to search for the other post/dives done here using the search feature on the website. Located about 90ft down on a sandy bottom this ship is mostly visited by tourists remaining dry aboard the local submarine which zooms around the wreck and nearby waters. I expected to see the sub at some point on this dive and it showed up out of the blue right when we descended to deck level on the wreck.     While the submarine is quite loud with its electronic propellers it still took Heidi a while to figure out it was right behind her. She was much too determined to find the elusive frogfish rumored to be hiding out on the wreck to look for a huge underwater s...