Historic Hawaii
The east coast, or windward side of Hawaii, is known for its tremendous rainfall, with up to 140in per year, so what might have been a remarkably scenic drive across the Big Island with views of the Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea volcanoes, turned out to be like a bad day in Scotland. But on the west side of the mountains, the sky turned blue and the sun shone as we descended into the tourist town of Kailua-kona. We wanted to find the site in Kealakekua Bay where Captain Cook was killed. Having sailed in his wake around Australia, New Zealand and French Polynesia, it was interesting to visit the place where he met his demise.
As a geologist I couldn’t leave Hawaii without seeing some molten lava. We visited the tongue-tying Halema’uma’u Crater but later found out that the Eastern Rift is where all the action is. I took a tour that guaranteed some of the hot stuff. We hiked for a couple of hours through the forest up to the lava front. It was incredibly exciting to see the lava oozing out of fissures in the crust, then solidifying into Daliesque shapes. The heat, smoke and noise were indescribable; trees were spontaneously catching fire. It was so hot my wellies melted!
It was a 20-hour passage from Hawaii to Maui across the Alenuihaha Channel. The channels between islands are known for their strong winds and the secret is to cross when the winds are predicted to be less than 15 knots. We hit the channel at sunset as the wind dropped, and had a very gentle crossing with virtually no breeze – but no nightmares, either.
Our first port of call was La Perouse Bay on the southwestern corner of Maui. The best snorkelling was on the west side of the bay, which is part of a marine sanctuary. Boats with motors are not allowed in the area, so we pumped up our inflatable kayak and paddled over instead. Snorkelling the lava flow was amazing; the intricate topography of underwater gullies and sea stacks provided a refuge for a variety of reef fish, and the water was incredibly clear – almost sparkling.
After three days, we moved on. There’s a 72-hour rule in Hawaii, which limits the amount of time you are allowed to stay in a single anchorage to 72 hours. It is not clear exactly how far you have to move, and in practice,