Puu Kole, Niihau

Aloha All,

The sail, or rather motoring, across the Kaulukahi Channel to Niihau was a dream. Light winds, calm seas on a sunny morning. I’m told that those were uncommon conditions for these waters, for sure. I’m glad we decided to circumnavigate Lehua Rock before we arrived at Niihau.

Lehua Rock is one of those ancient lava structures with rugged features that change as you round the island. You can imagine how it was formed by looking at the horizontal layers of lava that change with elevation. Particularly interesting was a collapsed crater on the north side that had a huge crack in the western wall. We took a lot of photos of each other’s vessels with that most conspicuous feature in the background.

After the photo session we proceeded to anchor inside a little bight on the northwest tip of Niihau. That portion is known as Puu Kole. The anchorage is protected from the easterly trades and accompanying seas. The funny thing is that the wind direction changed throughout the day, coming from all cardinal directions and everything in between. Fascinating!

Makaòiòi invited us over for cocktails and dinner. Clay and I took the dinghy over to our buddy boat on a trip that seemed to last all of 30 seconds. The rum and gin drinks were fabulous but the chili prepared by Makaòiòi’s skipper/owner was awesome. Definitely a chili contest blue ribbon prize winner. We also enjoyed a poetry reading by Clay. The eclectic selection of the evening was, “The Shooting of Dan McGrew” by Robert Sessions. A true classic and a perfect cap to an excellent day!

Since arriving at Niihau we’ve counted ten monk seals, two swimming near our boats, and the rest sunning themselves on the rocks and coarse white sand beaches. They don’t seem very concerned about our presence. There are also turtle tracks from the water’s edge up to the vegetation line at several spots along the beach. We think they’re in nesting season. Hopefully these offspring don’t hang out under high rocky cliffs when they get older.

The itinerary calls for us to reposition south of here to Keawanui Bay later today. We’ll overnight there and commence our longest leg, to the Big Island, on Thursday.

Take care and stay well.
logan


Dolphins Off The Port Bow!  Makao'io'i With Niihau & Lehua Rock In The Background


Large Crack in Lehua Rock, East Side

West Side


Hitchhiker at the Puu Kole Anchorage


One of Ten Monk Seals Spotted at Niihau

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