The anchorage for yachts at Hilo is in a basin, inside the harbor, where there is room to anchor or tie up to a wall Mediterranean style (drop anchor, back up and tie stern to the wall). The Coast Guard has a dock inside the basin, but at present no ship is stationed at Hilo. In order to reach the road into town one must pass through the container yard. The harbor is under strict security imposed by Homeland Security and unless you have a TWIC (security clearance) card it is necessary to be escorted from the boat to the entrance gate. So we'd have to call the gate (luckily there was a pay phone on the dock) every time we wanted to go to town and someone would have to come in a car to take us to the gate, a distance of only a hundred yards or so. The word from port officials is that they will most likely soon close the port to yachts. No alternate facilities are planned.
We arrived at Hilo, Hawaii direct from La Paz, Mexico on May 7th after 2,860 nautical miles sailed in 23 days, averaging 5+ knots. In talking with crews of other boats that arrived from Mexico after us, we had stronger and more consistent winds on our passage.
Twice a week a cruise ship comes into Hilo, arriving at 7:00 am and leaving by 6:00 pm. We found it amazing that the favorite place for the passengers to visit was the local Walmart! We saw the same phenomena in Puerto Vallarta. Passengers spend very little time or money in the town, as all needs are met on the ship, and many local merchants question the dicta that the numerous ships are essential to the local economy.
The Island of Hawaii offers free bus service over the entire island, though the times make it difficult to get around the whole island in one day from the Hilo side. One of the buses stops just outside the port, making getting into town for shopping and Internet services quite easy. But to see the whole island we rented a car for three days, and visited the volcano, Kona, the north Kohala coast and the many waterfalls along the east side.
Our initial intent was to stay a week to ten days, but we ended staying three weeks, partly due to waiting for good weather to continue on to Molokai. Being on the windward side, wet weather was to be expected, but even the locals were complaining of the amount of rain they were having at the time. Nancy wanted to go horseback riding but it rained almost every day we were there making it difficult to make plans. The one nice thing about Hilo is that because it rains more, all the tourist establishments are on the leeward (Kona) side.
During our second week in Hilo, the Merrie Monarch Festival, originally established in an attempt to preserve the historical knowledge of the hula, was in full swing. The week is full of various activities, but the main events are the hula competitions, ancient and modern styles, that take place in the evenings. Tickets are sold out a year in advance, but luckily the events are broadcast on the local TV, and we have a TV on board.
The first two weeks we were alone in the basin craving some social interaction. But the last week three other boats came in, two from Mexico and one from the Galapagos, and we enjoyed evenings getting to know our new neighbors.
We left Hilo on Sunday the 26th of April and went directly to Molokai, an overnight trip of 156 nm. The coastline on the east side of Hawaii is quite spectacular as one waterfall after the other can be viewed. The passage was quite uneventful and we anchored in the small area allowed in the Kaunakakai Harbor.
As the town and port are on the leeward side of the island we've had beautiful sunny days. Nancy was last in Molokai in 1986 and it's changed very little since, at least as compared to the other islands. Unfortunately, the islands have relied very heavily on tourism and Molokai's lack of it puts a strain on the economy.
Our stay here will be determined by when we can get into the marina at Honolulu, sometime between the 10th and the 15th of May we hope. However facilities for yachts are very limited in Hawaii, and nothing is assured.
There is a local bus that covers most of the island of Molokai so we've been able to get around. Budget and Dollar car rentals have lost their contract on the island and are leaving; Alamo has the new contract. But the old rental companies' contract ended April 30th and the new contract with Alamo starts June 1st. So during the month of May there are no car rentals, except for those who booked months in advance. Some reservations have been canceled due to the lack of car rental, adding to the economic woes.
The island does, however, have exceptionally fine outdoor sports facilities. As a consequence they host regional school baseball, softball, soccer, field hockey and other events. So for our local entertainment we'll attend a few of these games. A colorfully clad team arrived this morning on the inter island boat that docks fifty yards from our anchorage---local color quite literally!
Labels: Hawaii, Hilo, Molokai
