And at 0900 Monday morning, after a morning of packing away the sails, pumping up the fenders and getting the lines out and ready, we pulled alongside the fuel dock at Ko Olina Marina. Customs came to meet us not long after, to have look around the boat, make sure we didn’t have any fresh fruit or vegetables, and check everyones passports and visas. Luckily, we were cleared and moved onto our permanent berth for the next few weeks. At last we could relax, sunbathe, have a couple of drinks…all before we went back to work and did the very thorough final clean on deck and down below. We all got stuck in, with the AC on and tunes pumping and smashed out the jobs quickly, as Anna had promised us a swim that afternoon! Lunch was pulled jackfruit tacos (sorry Rico, not real pork I’m afraid!), and after what I call “Happy Hour” (because cleaning is the happiest of hours), people starting saying their goodbyes! Chris and Wade were the first to leave, then Rico and Rick.
Then there were 4. Gabi, Jeff, Tina and Brad had their hotel rooms booked for a couple nights away, so naturally we went swimming as promised, and I cannot express how amazing it was to cool off in the clear blue Pacific.
But alas, work had not finished for Anna, Maggie and myself as we had a big mainsail to remove from the boat and prep for sending to North Sail for some maintenance. With 3 people, it took a while; Two up the mast and one on deck taking the full-length battens out as the sail came down. It was hard work, but it all paid off when the guest crew arrived back after a pub run and bought us bottles of Mai Tais!! Thank you!!
For dinner, smokey Mac and cheese, and an early night for all as the long hard day caught up with us.
The next couple days involved pancakes for breakfast, snorkeling at Kahe Point (which involved swimming with turtles), a tasty crew dinner at Monkey Pod and saying our goodbyes to the rest of the guest crew. It was sad saying farewell to new friends, but glad that they all had fun and now get to go home to their old friends and families.
Farewell Chris, Wade, Tina, Ricco, Brad, Jeff, Rick and Gabi, and thank you for a memorable first trip for me on board Sea Dragon.
