S/V L'ORIENT

Sunset on our own personal river With Hurricane Douglas off upsetting whales and sea-birds (or whatever these things do when they can't find land or ships to destroy) we set about figuring out what should be next. This being the year 2020, fate again intervened. Throughout the Coronavirus pandemic, Hawaii had largely escaped due to its isolation and quick lock-down by Governor Ige (which I believe stands for I 'm G etting E lected). But with an economy dependent on tourism, they couldn't stay locked down forever. The government's solution was a phased opening..........first of restaurants, beaches, bars, and certain businesses; and if/when that worked, the end of the 14 day quarantine for arrivals from the mainland. Tourism would flourish and businesses would be saved. If you miss mowing your lawn one week, this is what happens in Kauai Prior to a title defense fight, a reporter told Mike Tyson that his opponent had a plan to beat him. Without missing a beat,...

Every rope and fender we own is deployed; now we wait and  hope The only people who understand that reference are readers from Western New York who live and (mostly) die with the fortunes of their beloved Buffalo Bills (see 1991 Super Bowl's last play). Anyway, I'll explain why it's apt. Hawaii is the most remote population center in the world. 1.5 million people live thousands of miles from the nearest land. In short, a small and remote target for a hurricane. Only two hurricanes have made a Hawaiian landfall in the past 50 years. But this being the year 2020, Hurricane Douglas came across the Pacific like a heat seeking missile, tracking directly towards Oahu. In fact, one weather model had the eye of the hurricane passing right over our marina! Gulp. At the time this came to our attention we were in Kaua'i, roughly 90 miles to the northwest of Oahu. Hanalei Bay is completely exposed and winter swells produce 40 ft. waves just outside the bay. We didn't t...