3. Molokai'i Island

Molokai'i Island.

Molokai'i.
Leaving Maui we could see, in the distance, Molokai'i. The seas don't look at all rough but we now knew from experience that we would be experiencing at least 40 knots of wind out there. We put two reefs in the sail. The short crossing went easily enough and, we had to motor down the lee side of the island, because there was now no wind at all. David started to let the main down and got a slight shock when he realised that somehow we had done it again. Yes there it was, a huge tear in the sail. Drat more tedious sewing to be done.What had happened was the reefing line had got loose and so the pressure was on the ties and it was too much for them and one gave away, tearing huge hole.

Kommakaka'i Harbour.

The anchorage was shallow and the water very dirty brown. At low tide we barely had any water under us. The view from the boat of the island wasn't very welcoming...dry and dusty. Anchoring in this harbour cost US$4 a day. Anchoring should be free, use of the dinghy dock and refuse dump can be charged for, which is what happens in most places around the world. The cost is usually about US$1 a day for this.  It has been said that anchoring can be charged for if there are amenities such as docks, showers, refuse bins and then they should be free of charge.

Low tide, the water is really shallow.

We went ashore and experienced the few shops that were there, and did our interneting at the public library. In Hawai'i if you join a library on one island you are atomatically a member on all the others which, we thought, was pretty cool. Molokai is the last all Hawaian island. They have not allowed any 'American' development there, so it's farmed and is largly open tracts of land. A local to the island told us that the East side was beautiful and green.

Wonderful Sunset! Lots of VOG in the atmosphere, from Big Island.

We had lunch at an open air resturant where chickens pecked at the dust around our feet and the dog and cats were lying in the sun having a great day. The food was good, plentiful and reasonably priced. Then we came back to Puddytat and set about repairing the main. We decided to use sail tape. It's a very strong tape and it's extremely sticky. So after all the repair didn't take as long as our previous one.

Huge hole in the main....

After a good nights sleep we decided to get going. Weighed our anchor and sailed for Ohau Island.

See you there :-D