Post Christmas Update

Sorry it’s been a while between drinks but with the festive season upon us and the New Year well, there were other things to be done like, for example, eating Hula Pie! Whoever created this concoction should be congratulated! As an ice cream connoisseur of some renown, this desert, which I believe originates from here in Hawaii, is truly a classic!

The Great Hula Pie!

Fellow Aussies, who now live in San Francisco, Peter and Lisa being introduced to Hula Pie!

Peter enjoying a Hula pie for his birthday!

Hawaii Yacht Club donning a few Christmas Lights.

While celebrations continued and visitors came and went I was able to manage a quick preventative maintenance item which was to upgrade my old Trace inverters with a couple of new Outback inverters. With Mickey Smith on hand to help the job was done in no time at all. Outback Power provide a range of off grid inverters and charges to suit just about every requirement known to man and I know that PAE, the makers of Nordhavn, are using Outback more and more with new boat builds and I now understand why. I’ve even heard a rumour that one particular Nordhavn owner has seven of these inverters installed in his boat – but no names!

Outback Power Vented VFX Series Inverter/Chargers

Just as an aside, if you already have the Outbacks installed then it may be worth looking at the new Mate 3 control board. Comes with more features, more intuitive menu structure and more to see on a single screen, rather than the endless button pushing required with the Mate 2. I am currently looking at getting a Mate 3 as I believe the increased on-screen information would be of value.

New Outback Mate 3 display

The lovely Adam and Eve, former owners of N47 Eden swung past for a visit which was really fun.

A lovely rainbow, oh, make that two lovely rainbows!

After Christmas a few of Claire’s friends from Australia came over for a visit which was really nice for all of us, but in particular for Claire.  (L-R) Leanne, Claire and Julie.

Branden and his lovely ‘friend’ Lauren, on the mighty Dusty Cash swung past for pic!

For those who may have missed Branden’s interview the link is HERE.

Don & Sharry’s MV STARR anchored off Waikiki beach. I was out and about with Claire showing our Australian visitors the huge turtles that live offshore here in Waikiki, in our tender, when we all spotted MV Starr at anchor.

Don and Sharry are truly lovely people and were recently interviewed for Pendanablog their interview can be found HERE.

Watching the sun set.  What a lovely way to close off the day

Speaking of Don & Sharry, they were kind enough to bring back a little something from their last trip to Seattle. The truly amazing Copper River Sockeye Salmon from Seabear Wild Salmon. Wow, there are simply no words to describe how good the salmon was. Needless to say we are all looking forward to making it to the Pacific North West (“PNW”) so we can have some more salmon! Interestingly this salmon can be ordered online and shipped anywhere in the world. So if you feel like something really special why not treat yourself today? You won’t be disappointed!

Smoked Salmon

Speaking of the PNW, there are only a mere 139 days left in Hawaii before we depart for Kodiak Alaska. Yipeeeeeee! It’s not that we don’t like Hawaii, we do, we in fact love the place, but we have been a long time tied to the dock and the feeling like we need to make way is gaining momentum.

A few folks have asked why so long in Hawaii, well it all has to do with the weather. When we arrived in Hilo in June 22nd 2015 we had a choice, keep going or relax a while and after our trip from Christmas Island which was a real shocker, we decided that we all deserved a well-earned break. Also, Abi and Bianca were both starting school so it was important that they settled into their respective routines. Overall the decision was the right one but now the focus is, on the 2,200 nautical miles that lay ahead to Kodiak, Alaska!

View from Diamond Head which we climbed with Adam & Eve, and while this view looks pretty special, so does the below picture of Alaska!

Alaska Nordhavn Pendana

A totally random sunset shot for absolutely no reason whatsoever!

Speaking of being tied to the dock for too long, we finally had time to slip out for a few hours and give Pendana a well-deserved run. That being said, however, it did mean waking up at 6:00am and departing at 6:45am as Abi needed to be back onshore for an appointment. There is always something! It was really nice to spend some time away from the marina and while the departure from the dock and return went without a hitch, I/we certainly felt a little more on edge than usual. I guess five months with only a few basic berth changes will do that to the best of folks!

A bit of southerly swell building as we departed our safe haven.

Pendana stretching her legs with Honolulu fading in the distance.

I have forgotten how nice it is to be out at sea and as the ever increasing swell caressed Pendana’s hull as if to welcome her back, Fifi, our tiny little rescue cat promptly threw up, as is custom. One can become marina bound easier than one thinks and both Claire and I were resolute, making sure we went to sea even if it was only a few hours. We are now planning a visit to our friends on Infinity at Ko Olina Marina in the not too distant future as well as, doing a few more day / overnight trips to help gets us all back into the swing of things.

Honolulu Skyline from afar.

As we turned for home it was obvious the swell had picked up but not in this photo.

Claire getting Pendana perfectly lined up for our approach.

Southerly and south westerly swells in a channel with zero tolerance either side makes the approach into Waikiki Yacht Club and the Ala Wai Basin, a challenge. Claire was at the helm and doing a superb job as we approached the outer markers, I had expected her to say, “James, you can take over now”, but to her credit she didn’t and what’s more, she kept Pendana on course, centre channel all the way in and, in fact, probably did a better job than I could have done in the same situation. She was certainly cool calm and collected as Pendana’s stern was lifted by the oncoming swell as she (Pendana) attempted to surf down the face of the swell, badly.

Red arrows highlight swell direction.  Swell height 6-8ft.

Stock image of channel from other direction

Claire’s approach showing markers and of course boat traffic departing.

It may sound like I am being a big girl but only a few months earlier a large motorboat 100ft got turned sideways in this very same channel in similar circumstances and came incredibly close to hitting the coral that lay close outside its borders.





The video to the pic above gives a reasonable idea of swell ripping into the channel this morning and while it was not as bad as this video, it does give some sense what was happening. The surfers on the south break this morning were riding some pretty big waves as we were coming in that’s, for sure.

Once inside the marina precinct Claire handed the helm over to me so that I could bring Pendana back safely back to the dock.

Pendana safely back home.

Just a final word, fellow Nordhavn owners James and Jennifer Hamilton are embarking on a nonstop run of some 3,650nms from St. Helena to Barbados. If you are not following their blog and you are into world cruising then you should be. There blog can be found HERE.

Stay safe

James