Tag Archives: Boats

A traditional sail

A small sailboat off the coast of Hawaii

This little sailboat is a modern rendition of a traditional Hawaiian style. The two hulls are common in various forms in Polynesian culture and the sailing rig features a Hawaiian Peʻa sail, otherwise known as a Crab Claw sail. These sails used to made from the woven leaves of Hala trees.

On this boat, the sail is made from a modern material and it’s speedy progress through the water wasn’t down the the light breeze, but rather an outboard motor, which is also not traditional!

Signs: Heineken Sailboat

A neon sign advertising Heineken Beer

Back in the day, I used to make home brewed beer. I needed bottles to put the beer in and that required emptying bottles that formerly held beer. Heineken was one of the many brands that were pressed into service. But there was one problem. Those green bottles were made with thinner glass and had a tendency to blow up under the pressure of my home brew.

I kept my beer brewing bottles in my wardrobe and the Heineken bottles’ volatility meant that my clothes acquired a certain aroma. It’s probably why I wasn’t more successful in the job I had at that time!

None of this has anything to do with the sign of course, but any time I see the Heineken name I immediately associate it with those days.

Well red

A red windsock at Upolu in Hawaii
The windsock at Upolu Airport with Maui in the background.

This month’s Sunday Stills Color Challenge is ‘Red.’ See more responses here. A variety of subjects for this one!

Crossing the line

Late afternoon sun of the coast of Kohala, Hawaii

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Silence.’ See more responses here.

The current eruption at Kilauea has been putting out a considerable amount of vog. This volcanic haze can make life difficult for people, causing respiratory and other medical complications. But it can also cause colorful skies.

I was driving home from work last week on a day when the vog was heavy and the sky glowed. There wasn’t much wind – another reason the vog has been hanging around – so the ocean was calm. I’d stopped to take photos once, but when I saw this little boat heading for this band of sunlight, I pulled over again.

I’d lucked into a quiet break in the traffic and was far enough from the coast that there was no sound from waves coming ashore or from the boat’s engine. I watched for a while until the boat crossed the glittering band, before returning to my car and heading home.

EV Nautilus

The NOAA EV Nautilus off the coast of Hawaii
The NOAA EV Nautilus off the coast of Hawaii

I saw this ship off the coast of North Kohala, but couldn’t immediately identify it because it was too far offshore. Luckily, it hung around and a couple of days later I saw it much closer and stopped to take photos.

The ship is the Nautilus and it’s an exploration vessel operated by the Ocean Exploration Trust and was engaged in research, sponsored by the National Geographic Society. They were studying marine mammal vocalization and local shark diversity and abundance around Hawaii.

For more information about the ship, go to https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/technology/vessels/nautilus/nautilus.html. For more information about the research project, go to https://nautiluslive.org/.

The NOAA EV Nautilus off the coast of Hawaii

Kawaihae Harbor from the air

A view of Kawaihae harbor from the air

This view of Kawaihae Harbor shows the main harbor with its wharf on the left and breakwater on the right. Close to the breakwater are several boats on buoys and the military’s landing ramp and staging area. On the upper right is the relatively new small boat harbor, home to about 25 small boats.

Bottom left is the old small boat harbor which is mostly used for launching small boats and canoes these days, after a storm breached the small breakwater protecting it.