Once off the boat, I attempted to call home. I had spoken with people on the VHF radio before arriving, but no marine operator was available to anyone without first having a prepaid account. Next, I lost all sorts of change in the pay phones using a Sprint calling card where if you put in a wrong account number it took your money. Finally, I got through to my father in California and then to my mother in Las Vegas
I spent ten days in Hilo recuperating. Pete went to stay with some friends he had in the islands. I gave him his return ticket and sent him on his way. He helped somewhat, but when I think about it, I could have just as well done it alone. And in fact, on the way home I would be single handing.
Hilo is a nice place to visit, but I had no plans for staying. There was some repair work to be done on the outboard as it was acting up. There were also some shady characters trying to sell me some sort of illegal substance, the green leafy type, but with a coast guard cutter sitting right there, I decided against the purchase.
I left Hilo and sailed to Oahu non stop. The outboard got me out of Hilo Bay ok, and I proceeded up the windward side of the island and through the Alenuiihaha channel into the lee of Maui. Then the outboard broke down and I drifted or barely sailed into an area just south of Molokai called the "SLOT." The winds there were so strong that I used only a single jib, no main. The wind drove me all the way to Oahu where I was able to wave down a small day sailor with an outboard. It towed me into the Alawaii boat harbor where my father and his wife had flown to see me.
After about a week my father and stepmother went home and I moored out in what was then a free anchorage called Keehee Lagoon. I stayed there for about a week preparing for the return trip home. There were a lot of provisions left from the trip over, so I simply filled my water tanks, got a loaf of bread, some soup crackers and a large bag of oranges. Heck, California was only 3500 miles away.
STARCREST IN HILO HARBOR
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