Some more trip pictures. Trolled from Haleiwa to Makua and trolled the drop-off on the West side. The winds picked up at sunset (not typical), normally it calms down at night when it cools off, all weather reports indicated light winds later on. Ka’ena Point was an absolute mess getting back around to the North Shore. Steep 4-6 footers with no back in 25 knot winds and higher gusts. Was thankful for the canvas, otherwise it would’ve been miserable.
New rule: No going around Ka’ena Point at night, because if there was not a nice full moon highlighting the swell and chop, it would’ve been a nightmare. The Grady handled it as well as it could, but I literally got a cramp under my right shoulder blade for the constant throttle jockying to keep control and minimize the abuse. As long as I didn’t jump the crest of a wave, we barely even had hull slap. Slow and steady and she plowed through nicely. I am definitely ready to upgrade to a 4 blade prop for more ”grip”, I will likely be able to count on one hand how many times I can even get close to top speeds with the conditions we normally have here. Let alone planing speeds...
Ka’ena Point has a bank that extends out a few miles and is only about 100 feet deep. On either side it drops off to about 1,500-2,000 feet very quickly. The worst we saw was right over the bank, where there were steep waves partially breaking with a hand full almost double the size as the rest. Luckily that was short lived, otherwise we would’ve had to abort and get a friend to bring my trailer to Waianae.
I used to always boat on the West side and love it for the lee you get from the mountains. Now that I live on the North Shore I keep getting drawn back around the point to that side, but have to always know there is a chance I won’t be able to safely go back around on some days.
Photos are of the down swell run around Ka’ena Point to the West Side and a peaceful anchoring at Makua. The calm ”before the storm”.
Side note: fixed the water pressure issue, apparently the hose nozzle has a variable tip that closes, the pump was working fine
. Found a few loose items that needed some tightening up. The 4 screws on the bottom of the passenger seat kept coming loose, oddly it has these thin washers underneath that have such a wide inside diameter that they fall out of the screws if loose even just a little. These washers kept allowing the screws to loosen, where the drivers seat has no washers and all screws have remained tight. Also, the port side rear seat grab handle bolt backed out and it the entire handle came loose. Had to tighten that back down. Going to keep a bottle of loctite on the boat now for sure along with the tool kit.