Just a note that the channels between the Hawaiian Islands are the worst in the world and great care and planning is necessary for a safe sail. The stationary Pacific high sits NE over Hawaii and makes the tradewinds constant. Wind is funneled by the islands making the weather and seas in the channels severe. Picking the right time and route is crucial. Making easterly passage between the islands of Lanai, Molokai, Maui, and Kahoolawe can be an impossible task and extremely unsafe if not done properly. It is often best to circle around some of the islands rather than take the direct path and night travel is highly recommended. Traveling along the shore is often best in places where you can take advantage of the islands’ features as a buffer. Picking the best route is crucial along with knowing that you may have to wait a day or two to continue your trip. This is primarily why Hawaii is not a great cruising destination, along with the lack of marina space and the condition of the facilities.

Spike Jackson

Bud Thompson writes: I sailed around Hawaii chartering and racing from the 1940s through the 70s. WWII found me on the island of Oahu in Hawaii working in a machine shop at Pearl Harbor and later on with The Army Transport Service. I first worked on an LT tug towing barges to various ports in the islands and other islands in the Pacific. Each trip gave me a little more knowledge of the wind and seas we had in our channels. It was never the same and there was always a new lesson learned. During this time I bought the 38’ Aux. cutter “SINDRI” that became my home for the next 10 years. The work on the tugs pulling barges to ports in the Hawaiian and other islands in the Pacific ended up being my training grounds for the charter business I found myself in after the war.

One of the first lessons I learned was to stay out of the Alenuihaha channel between Maui and Hawaii whenever possible. The tall mountains of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on Hawaii and Haleakala on Maui restrict the Trade Wind flow and the winds were compressed through the Alenuihaha Channel. The sun, later in the day, heated the leeward sides of the two islands with the resulting rising warm air drawing the winds through the channel at speeds much higher than out in the windward ocean.

The surface waves were forever being pushed ahead and finally would pile up on the wave in front and its quite a sight to see when you’re in the trough looking up at one of them coming down on you! On other inter-island trips, I noted that the seas to windward of the islands just a mile or two out had a nice motion and a longer moment from crest to crest and this was the way I planned to get across the Alenuihaha Channel. I would sail over to Kaumalapau Harbor on Lanai and then around Lanai to Lahaina and then up between Molokai and Maui and get into a longer sea and then tack when I thought I could clear Hana, Maui on the north-eastern tip of the island. Depending on my charterer’s wishes I would either stop at Hana or go straight across to the big island. This worked out quite well with my charters later on.

I sold the SINDRI in 1955 and she was lost in 1979 on the reef in front of the yacht harbor the very week I left the islands. Almost as if, “If you’re going, so am I”! She gave me many great memories.