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Our crossing from the Marquesas to Hawai'i was ideal. We had good wind, the waves were not too high and we did not see any signs of the ITCZ (Inter Tropical Convergence Zone), in which there can be no wind up to strong squalls, thunderstorms and a lot of rain. After the first two days, which were pretty rough, we had only sunshine, good wind from the right direction and the trade winds, which usually blow between 20 and 25 knots from the northeast in the north of the equator, were with 15 knots just strong enough to make good sailing.

We reached Hilo on the 3rd of May and anchored in Reeds Bay. Since we have been in contact with the customs and border protection for a few days before our arrival, and they had all our papers, the immigration and customs formalities were very easy and friendly.

Exactly on the day of our arrival a few earthquakes happened and the first fissure on the east side of the Kilauea volcano opened up and lava started to flow out in the middle of a residential area. So we just got there in time to see some volcanic activity close up.

The biggest of the Hawai'ian Islands is named Hawai'i but is mostly called „Big Island“. It is made out of five volcanoes, two of them regularly active and one of them only dormant, which means it could be active again. The most famous is Kilauea, which has been continuously active since 1982 and is known for the lavalake of the Halema'uma'u crater.

On our second day in Hilo we had to visit the harbor master to get a temporary mooring permit. He was excited because there had been a strong earthquake at noon. It was with 6.9 the strongest one since the 70ies and all the buildings in Hilo started to shake and a mini-tsunami (app. 30 cm) happened. We did not feel anything on the boat and were surprised by the news.

01_In_the_morning_the_summit_of_Mauna_kea_is_often_without_clouds
02_Rainbow_falls_in_Hilo
03_Orchids_at_rainbow_falls
04b_Surf_spot_in_Hilo
04_Wailuku_river_above_rainbow_falls
05_Wailoa_River_State_Park_in_downtown_Hilo
06_Monument_in_Laupahoehoe_State_Park_for_the_victims_of_the_Tsunami_in_1946
07_Waipio_Valley_lookout_on_the_eastern_coast
08_Waipio_Valley_was_the_capital_and_permanent_residence_of_many_early_Hawaiians

While exploring Big Island we visited the bay of Lapahoehoe, which was destroyed in 1946 by a strong tsunami. The whole village as well as the school with 19 students and five teachers was swept away. A few people survived and you can read all about their survival stories in the Tsunami Museum of downtown Hilo. After that we visited the beautiful Waipi'o Valley, one of two steep and long valleys on the island. Waipi'o, which means „curved water“, is known as the „Valley of the Kings“ because it was home to many early Hawai'ian rulers. Today the valley is private and mainly used for taro farming. The view across the valley is beautiful with the black sand beach and the waterfalls in the back.

09_Statue_of_Kamehameha_the_Great_who_was_the_first_king_of_almost_all_the_Hawaiian_Islands
10_Puukohola_Heiau_is_a_sacrifical_temple_built_by_Kamehameha_to_gain_the_favor_of_the_war_God
11_Mailekini_Heiau_is_another_temple_on_this_hill
13_Pelekane_is_the_site_of_the_former_royal_courtyard
14_Stone_leaning_post_near_the_Heiau_was_6_feet_high

If you want to know about the history of the island you should visit Pu'ukohola Heiau. It was built by the first king of all of Hawai'i, Kamehameha the Great, as a temple for the war god. In 1790 Kamehameha successfully invaded Maui, Lana'i and Moloka'i and when he returned to Hawai'i he also wanted to rule over all of Big Island. According to a prophesy he would only rule over all of the island when he would built a large heiau – temple – dedicated to the war god. Kamehameha set to work immediately and within a year and with thousands of workers was able to finish the heiau. At the opening ceremony he also invited his rival king Keoua, who was slain in a scuffle when he arrived. By 1810 Kamehameha was indeed the ruler and revered king of all the Hawai'ian Islands.

15_The_observatories_on_Mauna_kea
16_The_visitor_center_(2804m)_and_the_summit_(4205m)_of_Maunakea
17_Cinder_cones_above_the_clouds_at_2800_m
18_Beautiful_red_cinder_cone_close_to_the_visitor_center_of_Maunakea
19_Maunaloa_in_the_background
20_Clouds_moving_towards_cinder_cones_on_Maunakea

When visiting Big Island a visit of the Mauna kea is recommended, the highest mountain in the world measured from the bottom of the sea floor (app. 10.000 m). The visitor center is in 2.850 m and at night you can look through telescopes into space. Since its high elevation - the summit is at 4.205 m - dry environment and stable airflow, the summit is one of the best sites in the world for astronomical observation. The Mauna-Kea-Observatories are the largest group of observatories in the world. Made up from telescopes of 11 countries, including the Keck-observatory, which has one of the biggest telescopes in the world with two 10-meter mirrors. That’s why in Hilo all public lights (in the harbor, on the streets) have special lamps which can be easily located and taken out of measurements.

21_Intersection_of_Saddle_Road_and_Maunakea_access_road
22_Lava_flow_from_Maunaloa_next_to_saddle_road
23_Inside_of_an_old_lavatunnel
24_Last_view_of_the_old_Halemaumau_crater_of_the_Kilauea_Caldera
25_Explosion_cloud_of_Halemaumau_crater_as_seen_from_road_11_through_Kau_desert

The highlight on Big Island is a visit of the Volcano National Park, which is located around the summit of the Kilauea. The Kilauea is a shield volcano located on the eastern side of Mauna Loa, the second currently active volcano. Since the big earthquake and the vanishing of the lava lake of the Halema'uma'u crater, it was clear that the National Park had to be closed at some point. We were lucky and got to see the caldera of Kilauea on the last open day. No lava was visible but the Halema'uma'u crater was smoking a lot. At that time more and more fissures were opening up on the eastern side of Kilauea and were destroying home after home. So over 2.000 people had to be evacuated and leave their houses.

Since the lava level was sinking rapidly the walls of the crater were getting more and more unstable. Once the lava level would sink under the water level, water would get in contact with the hot lava and start to explode. As long as the empty lava tunnel is open the pressure can get out. But since the walls were unstable a lot of rocks were falling into the tunnel and blocking it. So the pressure rises and at some point there will be an explosion of rocks around the crater. That was what the scientists were expecting and the reason of the National Park closure. A week after the closure just as predicted, the first explosion was seen on the summit of Kilauea.

26_Kiko_our_very_own_Hawaiian_guide_on_Big_Island
27_Kikos_old_Hawaiian_double_canoe_in_Hilo_Harbor
28_Pakia_tea_in_the_Hilo_harbor_helping_Kiko_with_a_mooring_(Kiko)
29_Kikos_small_double_canoe
30_Pandanus_tree_at_old_sugar_cane_harbor
31_Ocean_lava_flow_at_night
32_Lava_glow_at_night
33_Laze_cloud_from_the_lava_ocean_entry
34_Tiny_rainbow_in_the_laize_cloud

Our Hawai'ian friend Kiko, a boatbuilder and known to most people on Big Island, came one day with news from the lava streams leaking out of the fissures. Two of them were supposed to reach the ocean in a few hours and he told us to sail there and look at this amazing spectacle. So we decided to leave in the evening and sail down to the southeast side of the island, approximately 35 nautical miles. After we left the harbor area we were able to already see an orange glow in the night sky, which is made by the lava fountains. The sailing down was pretty rough but we were able to see the first lava flow before we reached the cape. Finally we could see the big “laze cloud”. Laze develops when lava comes in contact with seawater and consists of fumes of hydrochloric acid and small glas particles. Because of the constant and strong trade winds from the northeast we were able to keep out of this toxic cloud. We did not want to get too close to the lava flow anyway because one never knows how fare the lava sprays. We were the first ones to see this spectacle live. It was an incredible and amazing experience and the second boat only arrived in the morning.

After our first trip we even had to pass the lava flow for a second time on our way to the western side of the island. The second time we were able to see a huge lava stream running into the ocean and small lava explosions at the entrance into the water.

The situation calmed down for the moment after destroying over 700 homes and building up areas of new land. But if it is really over or only stopped for the moment nobody knows. After the lava vanished from the Halema’uma’u crater, it got unstable and started to collapse. This started the lava fissures on the eastern part of the Kilauea. The Kilauea is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and therefor situations like this one will develop once in a while. Although this is no help for all the people who have lost their homes. Because the Kilauea is also the most known volcano in the world there were no deaths or even injuries and the development of the situation was and is known by the scientists very accurate. The most disturbing part for the people not living in the fissure zone is definitely the so called “vog”. This looks like fog but consists of ash particles, sulfide and other gases. At the western side of Big Island we experienced this “vog” and could not see the sun properly for days.

35_Nice_anchorage_on_Kona_coast_sadly_with_lots_of_vog_in_the_air
36_Enjoying_the_Spinner_dolphins_around_the_boat_with_a_black_lava_beach_in_the_background
37_Long-snouted_Spinner_Dolphins_(Stenella_longirostris)_resting_around_the_boat_at_our_anchorage
38_View_from_Kohala_towards_Kawaihae
39_Puukohola_Heiau_(sacred_platform)_from_our_ocean_anchorage
40_Modern_double_outrigger_canoe_in_Kohala_area
41_Gold_Dust_Day_Gecko_(Phelsuma_laticauda_laticaud)_is_found_everywhere_but_was_introduced_on_the_islands_from_Madagascar

On the western side you can find a lot of beautiful anchorages and in all the bays we saw spinner dolphins, which rest there during the day. In the evening they leave for the open ocean where they mainly hunt for fish and squid. The coral coverage is not very good and we could see that the coral bleaching from last year also effected them. We also did not see a lot of fish on the reefs. Most of them were very little which could mean that the bigger ones are fished out. We also did not see any sharks except a few baby white tipped reefsharks.

Finally we had enough of the “haze” and set sail towards Maui, where we would hopefully see the sun again.