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Friday April 25, 2008

Well it is Friday in Kona and we have been here one week today. Tomorrow we fly to Tahiti on a late afternoon flight out of Honolulu. We can’t wait to see Bella Donna; it has been a very long time since Tonga last October. Bella Donna had some extensive work done on her in Whangarei, New Zealand. Outfitted with several refinements; she spent most of the southern hemisphere summer (cyclone season) in a shed stripped of her mast. The passage from New Zealand to Rarotonga was not easy. The winds were up to 40 knots for days and the seas were 30 feet. Even worse the wind was off the nose making progress slow (sailing difficult to imposable), consuming quite a bit of fuel while abusing the crew as well as Bella Donna. The optimal schedule to leave Tahiti for Hawaii has been moved at least a week, thus this is why we spent the last week in Kona instead of traveling on to Tahiti as planned. Rarotonga, a brief fuel stop, Ant left on schedule to return to New Zealand to continue the next phase of his life. He was to leave from Tahiti. John and Deborah will sail Bella Donna, just the two of them, and meet us in Tahiti Monday after checking in with customs and immigration.

 

Kona is very pleasant even though there is a lot of work being done on the house here. There is also the daily vog (volcano fog) that lingers over the island because the usual east-west trade winds are absent leaving 10 to 15 knot variable winds to stir the gases from Kialuea over all the islands FBI (from big island) to Honolulu on Oahu. The mornings here are bright and sunny with blue sky; however, by sunset the skies are dark and gloomy; at least part of the day is beautiful. We are resurfacing the walks with natural stone and building beautiful wooden extension to the lava rock walls between us and our neighbors.  There is a lot of dust mixing with the vog.

 

I still do not know where Bella Donna will make landfall in Hawaii. We have talked to the harbor master here and we are too big for the small boat harbor that has limited space for large cats up to 65 feet; we are 73 feet and take more than 40 feet of beam when stern to on the dock. We can anchor in Kailua Bay near the house. The sea swell is unpredictable this time of year. Right now it is virtually flat, maybe 2 foot swell. However, the swell was much bigger last week. We have charts, maps and tide tables. We will have to wait and see sea!

 

God Bless Bella Donna.