 |
| New financial strategy- run to the end of rainbows and mug leprechauns |
On L'ORIENT we celebrated the fact that 2020 is half over and reminisced about our plans as they stood on the eve of this year. "Plan" has actually found its way on the L'ORIENT banned word list, along with statements like "the boat's running perfectly", "the weather looks great", and "the stock market is up". This year has taught us that nothing stays planned and flexibility is important.
 |
Jaw dropping beauty on NW coast of Kaua'i
|
So how do the NW Central Pacific's most important life-style blogging cruisers cope, you ask ? We've taken a page from nature actually........the humble ostrich. Kirstin and I now boycott almost all news. Information now comes to us from books. Our stress levels? Down 50%. Coronavirus cases exploding all throughout the US ? Not on L'ORIENT. Kirstin is learning French online and I'm reading Wodehouse. Try it.......it works.
 |
| Hanalei Bay- last sailor to see it this empty was Magellan |
We're beginning our third week in Hanalei Bay, Kaua'i. This is perhaps the most beautiful island we've ever encountered. And no tourists..........Hawaii stubbornly (and probably prudently) has extended their 2 week quarantine requirement so tourists are staying away. While this has resulted in 20-30% unemployment for the locals, we have beaches, the towns, and the bay virtually to ourselves.
 |
How long is the wait? Hanalei Mexican restaurant with social distancing
|
 |
| Old Man River adventure |
 |
| Mouth of the river- some nice homesteads |
 |
| Hanalei Beach at mid-day......so empty it's almost spooky |
Our days here have a rhythm.......kayaking, walks on the 2 mile beach, lunch, boat work, communication with family, happy hour, dinner, sleep, repeat. We came here expecting to like it but pretty sure 10 days would be sufficient..........we've already paid for a month (it's actually not cheap.......$30 daily just to anchor here)...........and we're struggling to find a good reason to return to our marina in Oahu.
 |
Kirstin's dream Hanalei house - keep dreaming!
|
Our isolation.......both being yachties and being anchored in Hawaii (a state without many cases) has allowed us to live a relatively normal life here, free from the media bombardment and crass politics that we get glimpses of during update calls with family. When we talk to locals, they find it amusing that we've been in Hawaii more than three months and haven't seen the traffic and overwhelming numbers of tourists that they usually experience. "Our Hawaii" is kind of empty.
 |
| A 5 bedroom house on this beach sets you back $25 million..... |
 |
A first in nine years of living on L'ORIENT - a wedding next door
|
We anchored along the NW coast of Kaua'i outside a national park (which was good) that was also a missile test range for the military (a later discovery). Why you would co-locate campers with missile-firing fighter jets is beyond us, but the beach in front of our boat was approximately 3 miles long with less than 50 people on it. We took our kayak and paddle board ashore and experienced a surprisingly rough landing.........big waves are the rule here and even on the leeward coast the ocean is rough.
 |
| Sand dunes at Polihale Kaua'i |
This post is intended as a pictorial essay so we'll get right to it. The Na Pali Coast is featured here and is stunning because of its sheer cliffs and weird volcanic formations. Enjoy.
 |
The rugged NW Kaua'i coast- nobody for miles and not even half a cell phone reception bar
|
 |
| Nice beach backdrop |
 |
| More of the volcanic Na Pali coastline |
 |
| Mountains obscured by cloud cover (even on clear days) |
