Pōkaʻi to Ala Wai

Christy

On the last leg of our circumnav of Oʻahu, the fuel issue saga continues. The last two evenings at Pōkaʻi were quite rolly. Winds went from onshore to heavy trades the first day, so had to re-anchor as there’s not a ton of room to swing if you let out a lot of scope. We purchased this boat last October with about 250 gallons of 10 yr old diesel sitting in three large baffled black iron tanks. We hired a diesel polishing service and they didn’t complete the job ($1000 later) because their polisher broke. To get rid of diesel on island, you have to schedule a haz waste pickup at least two weeks in advance of a blue moon and after all the bureaucratic 🐂💩 it’s simply not worth anyone’s time. Not to mention disposing of that volume of diesel is also a logistical nightmare. So, our solution has been to dump additive and roundup in the tanks and run through it, refueling as necessary. We’ve gotten about 150 gal through after countless replacements of Racors and secondaries on the Yanmar which, although has been no small feat, has proven generally successful. This morning, to our dismay, we found out that our last 90 gal has turned into strawberry milk. Puttered along from Pōkaʻi to refuel another tank at the Ko Olina fuel dock. Lost power literally perpendicular to the fuel dock which was mildly traumatic and oh so embarrassing. Drained the Racor and replaced the secondary and all was well again on Ciao Bella. Barbers Pt was windy on the nose, but the waves were small so it was fine. Lots of security zones between Barbers Pt, Pearl Harbor, and Honolulu Harbor we had to avoid, plus a multitude of FADs, buoys, and tugs and barges that always seem to move towards you at the speed of light. I’m having sleep for dinner tonight 🍽️

Boat & Crew

Ciao Bella

Tayana, Vancouver 460

Christy

Owner

David

Owner