Desk on ship with my personal log book and pink dino guy among other things:

The task of the day was to touch up the varnish on the poop deck rail.

I may return to the ship tomorrow to apply another coat.

We replaced the loose, worn chafing gear that had been placed (temporary) on one of our newer lines:

While looking at the new chafing gear from the pier, I noticed that we need chafing gear between the hull and the starboard spring lines. Always something…

No interesting ships in the harbor today, so I went to see if I could find the cowries again. No luck. I did see various fishes, including a school of good-sized ‘ama‘ama or striped mullets (Mugil cephalus).

Hard to see because of the ripples:

Detail in calmer water:

Salvaging the TK Bremen (via R. Wilson on Facebook)

One of the people commenting on the photos posted a link to the blog of photographer, Philip Plisson. His son, Guillaume, has captured some really excellent images related to the wreck.

I love this set of the salvage crew:

TK BREMEN 14 : Les acteurs du chantier, par Guillaume

Primer over rust converter-treated areas:

Looking back at the ship on the way home:

While I have been in the area many times since I was a child, including doing field work for my BMC senior thesis (geology), it was a real treat to see the familiar landmarks from the sea.

Koko Crater:

***

Hiking is one of my favorite activities, although I haven’t done much of it lately. When my friend (the same one I went sailing with) asked if I wanted to do the Koko Crater Railway hike, I thought it would be a cool thing.

Arriving at the parking lot in the Koko Head District Park and looking up at the top of the crater, I began to think that maybe it wasn’t such a cool thing after all. There already were a number of small specks of color moving up toward the summit, each speck being a person.

View from the parking lot:

The trail follows an old railway line up the side of the crater. The beginning of the hike isn’t too bad.

It’s what comes after that makes one question one’s sanity. The railway ties, turned steps, are irregularly spaced and rather tricky to negotiate for someone with short legs like me. To make matters worse, there are 1000+ of them (murder for someone who is out of shape and used to sitting in front of a computer all day). I’ll never complain about the 100 steps along the Diamond Head trail again.

So…was the effort (and current muscle pain) worth it? Absolutely.

Looking over Hawaii Kai toward Diamond Head and Honolulu in the distance (a bit hazy due to VOG):

Hanauma Bay:

Road along the coast:

For you POTC fans, part of the latest movie was shot in this area.

Looking over the interior of the crater to the coast just past Sandy Beach:

There is a botanical garden located on the floor of the crater.

Expensive homes on a ridge:

For the history- or mechanically-minded, there are old concrete bunkers and machinery from WWII still at the top.

Electric pole:

Machinery inside a bunker:

It reminds me of a skull.

A rusty winch:

Although fairly modern, it would look at home on FOC!

***BONUS PICS***

I mentioned that senior thesis. Here are some photomicrographs of some thin sections I prepared from samples collected in the area (yes, I had a permit):

No interesting ships to take photos of, so had to be content with sea creatures.

‘A‘ama or Thin-Shelled Rock Crabs (Grapsus tenuicrustatus) hanging out:

Something I never expected to see…live cowries!

I headed over to Chinatown to check out the Chinese New Year festivities.

Bright fish decoration:

I stayed for the parade. As this is a maritime blog, I have to include a photo of the navy band. Go Navy!