18 May 2006
Goodbye island paradise

Click on this link to hear Adrian's latest audio interview with Steve Sleight for Cowes Online: http://www.cowes.co.uk/cb/zone

After a 10-day stop-over in Honolulu to make emergency repairs, I slipped my mooring at the Waikiki Yacht Club at 1.30 pm on Wednesday. After the excitement of touching land after six months alone, it now feels strange to once again find myself on the  wide ocean with only Barrabas as company.

As I watched the mountains of Oahu and the high-rises of Honolulu fade into the mists of low cloud a certain sadness descended at leaving a group of new found friends who have, by their help now become an integral part of  the Alpha Global story. Commodore of the Waikiki Yacht Club, Ivan Chan  Wa was inexhaustible in his efforts to locate the right people to carry out the work  on Barrabas and Rear Commodore for Sail, Michael Roth was equally generous with his time.

With the replacement parts organised and sent out to Honolulu by Louise, I was able to substitute the electronic control head for the heating system and the body of my Ampair wind generator. A tricky piece of work involved replacing and rewiring the voltage converter unit that powers the ship's computer. All theses systems are now fully functional. Dan Toye of Electro Marine Services charged up the boat's battery bank and we put the batteries through a thorough health check. I had been concerned that there may have been a current leak, but Dan, using a galvanic meter allayed my fears.

I took the mainsail to North Sails Hawaii for minor repairs. There, Jim Maselli wasted no time in getting to work, immediately appreciating the need for urgency.

Both Dan and Jim are members of the Waikiki Yacht Club.

The repairs to the mast took place last Friday. Two 3-inch square, 1/4 inch thick plates were welded to the damaged area and a new through-bolt made to take the lower shroud tangs. Despite the repair, I am mindful that there is a weakness now and will need to modify my sailing strategy accordingly. This means reefing the sail down at lower wind thresholds than previously.  The consequence will be slightly slower boat speed but this  will be mitigated by the gains that will inevitably be made by having had the hull scraped.

My special thanks goes to Lara DeRonde and Ernie Woodruff who really put themselves out to drive me round Honolulu on numerous errands, taking up many of the time consuming jobs that needed to be  done on the boat and who both provided great company at the end of the day when  I was too tired to do more work.

Bobbie Jennings organised an interview with Hawaii Public Radio and journalist Kayla Rosenfeld will be  contacting me periodically through the remainder of the voyage. I also spoke with Steve Sleight for Cowes Online. Steve, an author and well-known personality within the British sailing community has been very supportive of the Alpha Global Expedition and it was good to finally have a chat with  him about the next phase.

A final word of thanks to DHL for delivering the much needed consignment from the UK to Hawaii and for also shipping back a  package containing film footage and photos to Louise in the UK.

My immediate task is to reach my selected antipodal point south east of Japan, a distance of 3200 miles. There is a concern now  that the Typhoon season has begun and it was with considerable trepidation that I learned of a big storm hitting Japan just recently.

After 10 days ashore it will take a little time for me and Barrabas to settle back into our previously established routines but I am fuelled by the  kindness, graciousness and generosity of those I met in Honolulu.