Sailing Vessel Beruta Ship's Log
Hilo - Honokohau
Sunday, 26 January 2025
On Friday, I explored the area around Hilo. I was particularly impressed by Liliuokalani Park, located between Reed's Bay and the mouth of the Wailoa River. Check out the photo album. I rode my bike to Rainbow Falls and swam in one of the natural pools there. I also rode along the coast in both directions from the river mouth. I stocked up on groceries at Walmart.
On Saturday, despite the rainy weather, I went to Akaka Falls, about 25 km northwest with an elevation gain of approximately 350 meters. I got lost twice, adding about 5 extra kilometers to my trip.
The surroundings are beautiful and peaceful. The vibe is very similar to the Azores. Of course, the Azores have more pastures, amazing cheese, and port wine. But here, there are incredible jungles, surfing, and volcanoes. It would have been quite difficult to reach them on my folding bike, so I'll need to rent a car. I'll take care of that in Honokohau.
Since Monica from DOBOR had already arranged my mooring in Honokohau starting Monday, I needed to leave on Sunday. The distance to Honokohau is 102 nautical miles if you go around the island from the north. Going from the south would add about 40 miles.
So, I got up at sunrise at 7 a.m., did some exercises and yoga, had a leisurely breakfast, and weighed anchor at 10 a.m. The clumps of mud on the anchor confirmed the type of seabed at the anchorage. I never got around to diving to check how the anchor was set. The water is murky — even with a mask, visibility is no more than a meter — and cold.
I initially raised the mainsail with two reefs because a small squall was passing as I exited the breakwater. Later, I shook out all the reefs, but there was no wind, so I had to put all three reefs back in to prevent the sail from flapping too much in the swell.
After about three hours of motoring, a favorable wind picked up. I shook out all the reefs again and turned off the engine. However, over the next couple of hours, the wind strengthened to about 25 knots apparent, even though the forecast had predicted 20 knots true. So, I had to put the reefs back in one by one.
The northeastern coast of the Big Island is steep, with many waterfalls and lush tropical vegetation. In some places, there are areas farther from the ocean that have been cleared, likely for pastures. This part of the coast is sparsely populated.
I fished until the first and only bite. All that remained was the fishing line, a carabiner, and a piece of wire. The wire wasn't bitten off — it just snapped after a tug!
I rounded Cape Upolu at 10:30 p.m. The wind remained northeasterly for a while, but it didn't last long. For the rest of the night, I had to motor against 5-20 knot headwind.
Monday, January 27, 2025
I barely got any sleep. Being close to shore comes with all the associated dangers. At dawn, near the entrance to Honokohau Bay, I saw a whale and some dolphins. I took down the mainsail, hung the fenders, tied the mooring lines, and prepared the boat hook to grab the mooring buoy.
The marina was busy. I initially thought it was because of the weekend, but no — it was mostly tourists. Several dive boats fully loaded with divers were leaving the marina, along with fishing and pleasure boats. The slips aren't labeled. I had reserved B-11. If Monica hadn't printed me a map and marked my spot, I would never have found it. I asked people on passing boats, but no one knew. Apparently, they only use the boat ramp and don't stay in the marina. So, I had to circle around in the pouring rain. Thankfully, there was almost no wind inside the bay.
My spot was between two large power boats. I squeezed in, tied the bow, and then backed in to hook the stern mooring.
At the office, I was told that a safety inspection of the yacht was required! If they had told me earlier, I might have reconsidered coming to the marina. I was quite surprised by this. I've never encountered this before in the States — not in Florida, Puerto Rico, or Samoa. Maybe it's a new rule or something specific to Hawaii. There's no mention of it on noonsite.com. This is likely the requirement of the state marina. The inspection costs $40. A week's mooring is $77. The amenities include only fuel dock, a public restroom in the parking lot, trash bins, municipal water at the dock, and paid filtered water near the restroom at $1.50 for 5 gallons.
My fire extinguisher was almost empty. I've been meaning to replace it with a CO2 one but couldn't find one anywhere. My signal flares are expired. The Coast Guard also requires placards stating that discharging oil and fuel into U.S. waters is illegal, as well as a similar placard about what and where you can dump trash overboard. All of this cost me $188 at the store. But now I'll have a yacht safety certificate valid for two years, which will be useful at other marinas in the Hawaiian Islands.
All pictures from Big Island are on Google Photos.