"It started when we tried to find a place for our boat here. There are not a lot of marinas, and the private ones did not even bother to respond after we told them that we wanted to live aboard. The public ones, which is the vast majority, had only one response: first come first serve. When we arrived and asked whether someone could take our lines, the answer was that for liability purposes that was not possible. And finally, despite the fact that we had just sailed more than 2,000 miles from Nuku Hiva, they made us do the buoy run around the buoy number one to prove that our boat actually could move. Welcome to America!
Once we had arrived we enjoyed our time there tremendously. But we seldom went anywhere by boat, and instead went by rental car and one time even by plane to see the islands.
So we kept the boat most of the time in the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor right in Waikiki. A marina that is central to everything happening: Waikiki Beach, hundreds of restaurants, huge shopping malls, all within easy walking distance. To go to the supermarket we used our little folding bikes. And we enjoyed the trappings of civilization to the fullest: Cable internet at the dock, fast deliveries of anything we needed right to the boat, fireworks every Friday, a yacht club with live music on weekends. And we got more and more boat neighbours whom we already knew from French Polynesia, because quite a few had decided to skirt El Nino and go to Hawaii. At one time we had quite a lively group there, interspersed by locals who always were a great source for information.
And then April came around, and you could see more and more crews getting their boats ready - including ourselves. Some departed for the US West Coast, others, like us, went South again. While I write this we have already arrived in Fiji, and we love it! But more about that later..."
Boat: Fat Cat, Lagoon 470
Who: Oliver
Where: Honolulu, Hawaii, Pacific ocean
