The Last Dance

Ingrid Molitor
1 day ago
3 min read

Hazel is on her final voyage before she is put to rest in Ko Olina Marina on Oahu for the summer. She will finally receive some well deserved repairs and maintenance. The run from Hilo Bay on the Big Island to Honolulu is 225 nautical miles of open ocean sailing. For Hazel, that means a straight shot of about 36 hours.

What a sail it has been so far. We have averaged 6.4 knots over the last 155 miles. I am writing this during my last night watch of the season. We have 21 knots of wind and we are sailing close hauled with Hazel’s rail kissing the salt water. We could not have asked for a better final 36 hour run. It feels a bit like a golfer hitting a hole in one on the last round of the season. It fills you with energy and makes you want more.

Passing by all the main Hawaiian Islands, with the exception of Kauai, has been both a treat and an education. As a family, we visited Hawaii every year for fifteen years. It became one of our traditions with the kids, and I thought I knew the islands well. I must admit that the only way to truly understand and appreciate them is to sail the length of their shores. Only then do you grasp the scale and the beauty they hold.

If you have been following the blog, then you know about Koru, the Jeff Bezos mega yacht that seemed to shadow us from the Caribbean to Panama and Costa Rica. We just passed him again, this time near Larry Ellison’s island of Lanai. Larry bought the entire island for three hundred million. I cannot help but wonder what those two talk about.

In the photos you will see Kahoolawe. I never knew this island existed. It is part of the main island chain, yet it has no permanent residents. It is managed by the Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission as a cultural and environmental preserve. We had to stay two miles off the shoreline because it is now a marine reserve. Access is highly restricted due to remaining unexploded ordnance. During World War II, the United States used the island for bombing practice and artillery training. To this day, about a quarter of the island has not been cleared. Entry is allowed only for authorized Native Hawaiian cultural, spiritual, subsistence, educational, or restoration purposes. General tourism is not permitted. Volunteers focus on clearing ordnance, restoring native plants, controlling erosion, and reviving cultural practices.

Assuming this night sail ends well, we should arrive in Ko Olina around 07:00. Only then will Peter and I step off Hazel, and we will do so with heavy hearts. Hazel has given us something rare and meaningful. She has changed us. She has carried us safely across a very long stretch of ocean. She has forgiven our mistakes and offered us a sense of security. No matter what the sea threw at her, she handled it with grace and solid strength, even when her crew made her job far more difficult than it needed to be.

Hazel has been good to us. And this final sail feels like her way of saying goodbye.

Awesome sunrise to start the day, with our first viewing of Maui!