Anchored in Hanalei

2016-06-24 11:15PM UTC, 19°47'N 155°02'W # sailing
2016-06-25 5:22AM UTC, 20°21'N 155°09'W
2016-06-25 2:28PM UTC, 21°02'N 155°41'W
2016-06-26 12:37AM UTC, 21°27'N 156°35'W
2016-06-26 8:24AM UTC, 21°49'N 157°24'W
2016-06-26 4:00PM UTC, 22°10'N 158°16'W
2016-06-26 10:00PM UTC, 22°20'N 158°55'W
2016-06-27 2:45AM UTC, 22°25.44'N 159°25.23'W
2016-06-27 5:15AM UTC, 22°12.68'N 159°30.15'W # anchored

I just moved from Radio Bay, Hilo to Hanalei, Kauai. This was my final boat movement while in Hawaii, the next time I leave anchor will be at the start of my passage to Neah Bay.

The passage from Radio Bay to Hanalei was very nice - downwind for all of it once I had sailed far enough north of the big island to have a clear run toward Kauai. The winds were moderate throughout, although stronger toward the middle and end than at the beginning.

I left Radio Bay at noon on Friday and arrived at 7pm on Sunday, making the trip 2 days and 7 hours long. The distance was around 330nm, making an average speed of 6 knots - pretty quick.

I hesitate calling this trip a passage after my previous one, but it meets my criteria. I consider any trip that spans a single night an 'overnight sail'. I call any trip that is two nights or more a passage, which this was. When sailing an overnight trip, you can behave differently than on a multiple night journey. You can almost stay awake for the entire trip if its a single overnight, when there are multiple nights involved you need to get into a sleep pattern - two nights is long enough to fall into the passage category. I know others who call a single overnight trip a passage as well. I don't know if there is an official definition of what is and isn't.

Leaving the name of this last trip behind - Hanalei is as beautiful as I remembered. The anchorage is more rolly than I recall, and that seems to be the way my memory works - good points are accentuated and any bad points are slowly forgotten. There were times during my previous passage where I swore to myself that 'this is the last time!', that once I returned to the Pacific Northwest I would only coastal cruise from there on. Now, having had several good nights of sleep and a little time to mellow out those memories, I'm already starting to wonder when I leave for my next blue water cruise. But that may be getting ahead of myself - I'm looking forward to my next passage which will return me to the Pacific Northwest, and I'm also looking forward to a few years of coastal cruising while I explore that area.