Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
We were able to look down at Kilapapa, where the old leper colony had been started by
the now famous Father Damien. We continued our tour and had a good laugh at the rock
that looked surprisingly like a male penis. By the late afternoon we had meandered our way
around the points of interest on Molokai: the big ranch, the kite factory, and the one hotel,
where we had a cocktail. We finally made our way back to Déjà vu for an early dinner and
bed, as we wanted an early start to Kauai the following morning.
Murphy yowled joyfully at our return and paced up and down the deck as we approached
the boat. One would think we had abandoned him for a week. We made a fuss over him,
and Susanne opened a tin of sardines as a treat, which he devoured hungrily. He sat on deck
and washed his whiskers, forgiving us our transgressions, but we knew he was thrilled to
see us.
Our journey to Kauai was plain sailing. Sunshine, trades, and sweet company made all the
difference compared to when I sailed alone. It was such a treat to have a lovely young lady
on-board. I could finally share my thoughts and experiences with a fellow human being. I
knew it couldn't last forever but dared not think about the time when she would have to fly
away to her work world in a week.
Kauai was spotted two days out from Molokai. She rose out of the blue sea surrounded by
a pile of puffy clouds. Indeed, it was hard to tell that there was an island there at all. I knew
that it was her though; my navigation was fairly accurate these days, and I could tell the
“eyebrow” type line clouds that hovered over the island. The heat given off from such a
landmass caused the clouds to rise. The main body of clouds was tinged with a greenish
hue, and there was a lot of bird activity.
As the hours washed by, her outline grew with details of tall, jagged mountaintops, wa-
terfalls spiraling down her valleys like silver webs, and tall coconut trees waving their
greeting. We approached her from the northwest and headed for Hanalei Bay. Would you
believe dolphins cavorted alongside Déjà vu, some even leaping out the purple ocean with
diamond water drops flying off every which way?
In the bay, sailboats, motorboats, surfers, and canoe paddlers were everywhere. It was the
weekend, and there were a lot of people about. We sailed as far as we dared and then
dropped sails and motored along the reef towards the anchorage below the famous and fa-
miliar Bali Hai mountain peak. This was the bay of the well known song, “Puff the Magic
Dragon.” It was glorious, straight out of a fairytale book. The whole bay was surrounded
by the tall and imposing Bali Hai, whose wild, razorback profile cut a dramatic backdrop
to one of the world's most remarkably beautiful and popular destinations.
We dropped anchor away from the mass of sailboats and weekend motor cruises. I gunned
the engine astern, digging in the Danforth anchor. I made a mental note to lay out another
