Lucky

Things were looking really scary for a while with hurricanes Madeline and Lester headed for Hawai‘i. Fortunately, Madeline turned to the south and Lester to the north of the islands. Whew!

Due to the hurricane threat, there was no harbor traffic in the morning, but things picked up in the afternoon after it became clear Lester was moving away from O‘ahu.

Kinei Maru No. 83 arriving at Pier 9:

Crew handling mooring lines at the bow:

Tug Hawaii and barge Capella with Pi‘ilani assisting:

Tanker Ross Sea heading to the offshore anchorage:

Ross Sea draft marks:

View from offshore:

Back in the harbor with another tanker, St. Joseph:

Mikioi at the bow:

Pi‘ilani:

St. Joseph tying up at Pier 51:

Salishan with Matson barge Mauna Loa:

Job done. Mikioi headed back.

Mahalo to Captains Enos, Hopkins, and Demuth. Special thanks to Paul.

San Francisco Ship Spotting – Morning

Last week, I had the opportunity to visit San Francisco for a few days for work.

On Thursday, I was supposed to meet my co-worker at 1000 at the Exploratorium. Waking up super early, I was able to squeeze in a bit of ship spotting to start off the day.

First stop was the old Matson Building on Market Street.

Nautical motif:

I walked over to the Ferry Building and boarded the ferry to Alameda.

I had noted (via the MarineTraffic app) that Lihue would be arriving and I was hoping to see her at the Matson terminal.

As the ferry pulled away from the pier, I could see Lihue approaching the Bay Bridge.

Talk about good timing! (Yeah, I’m a nut. I hope no one saw the mad grin on my face.)

Looking back at the city:

Royal Melbourne pushing tank barge Bernie Briere:

Oakland gantry cranes:

Passing Kauai at the Matson terminal:

It was great to finally see HMB-1, now owned by Bay Ship, at Alameda:

Sigh. What could have been…

Schnitzer Steel facility:

More old friends, Matsonia and Moku Pahu:

Commuters on board, it was time to head back to San Francisco.

Here’s Lihue!

She had some problems related to her engines back in Honolulu, which delayed her departure. Glad she made it to the Bay Area safely.

(She’s currently back in Honolulu. 🙂 )

Sandra Hugh (same class as Pi‘ilani?) assisting:

Goodbye Oakland:

I saw a dolphin and tried to get a photo, but it didn’t turn out (can only see the top of its dorsal fin).

Passing under the Bay Bridge:

Back on land, a view of the Ferry Building:

At anchor:

Pilot boat San Francisco heading out:

Posing seagull:

More to come…

On Board Pi‘ilani – Kaiwo Maru Job

This past week was a busy one, but much better than the last.

I had a lot of fun on Tuesday! The Japanese training ship Kaiwo Maru moved from the offshore anchorage to Pier 11. I had a good view of all the action from the Foss tug, Pi‘ilani.

Before leaving the pier, I asked if I could have a look at the engine room. Pretty cool!

One of the engines:

Another photo of Ile de Sein, as we headed out:

One couldn’t have asked for a nicer day!

Approaching the anchorage:

Pilot boat Honolulu, heading back to the harbor after taking the pilot, Captain Ed Enos, out to the ship:

What a lovely sight!

Raising the anchor:

Heading to the harbor:

Emory Carrick heaving a line up to the Kaiwo Maru crew:

Some of the Ile de Sein crew having a look at the ship:

Mikioi, the other tug assisting the ship:

I’ve always been interested in what people come up with in the way of chafing gear.

I was pleased to see a design similar to a couple I made for Falls of Clyde:

An old work in progress photo of one of my projects:

(I really miss doing this sort of stuff. 😦 )

Adjusting mooring lines and putting chafing gear in place:

Wrapping the line around the bitts:

Not the best photo, but it shows a mooring line stopper in use:

Finally, putting rat guards on the lines:

A big mahalo to Michael MacDonald, Rick Wilson, and Whit Olson of Foss Maritime/Young Brothers! Special thanks to Captain Kamaile Kahoekapu and Emory Carrick.

Brilliant Friday Morning

Beautiful weather and a sailing ship. What a splendid way to end the week!

I was given the okay to tag along on board Foss’ tug Mamo for the arrival of Nippon Maru. 😀

Mamo at the pier:

Mikiala II, the other tug scheduled to assist Nippon Maru:

Pilot boat Kawika heading back into the harbor:

Looking back at JRS Canis at Pier 1:

Nord Optimiser at anchor offshore:

Mamo approaching Nippon Maru:

Cadets at the rail:

Crew member by starboard light:

Bow wave:

Back in the harbor, a welcoming party on the pier:

Other harbor sights on the way to Kapalama Basin (to turn the ship).

Matson work boat in a hurry:

B. Sky with a few truckloads of supplies on the pier:

A new view of Mokihana:

Horizon Spirit:

Mahalo to Michael MacDonald and Rick Wilson of Foss Maritime/Young Brothers! A special mahalo to Captain Larry Lamarca and Chris Vincent.

For a Change…

…a post without Matson ships!

After a quiet Sunday morning doing mundane household stuff, it was off to the harbor to do some ship spotting (what else is new).

The schedule indicated that a ship called Moneyball was arriving after noon. Curious name. It sounded like some mega-yacht, but a Google search revealed it was a cargo vessel.

Hokulani passed by while I was waiting:

A plume of smoke in the distance indicated that the Makakilo brush fire was still going:

Moneyball with Pi‘ilani and Mikioi:

I was fortunate to be invited (unplanned) to go out on the pilot boat. 😀

Tanker Polar Resolution at the offshore anchorage:

It’s always something to see these big gals up close!

Back to the harbor and more of Moneyball at Pier 11 with Pi‘ilani:

Her old name Pacific Tramp is still quite visible on her hull.

Kawika and Pauwela at Pier 19:

Sand Island bridge:

Moving Pauwela on to the trailer:

Recently, I’ve been posting quite a bit about Horizon Lines ships. For whatever reason, their schedule has been more photo friendly.

Horizon Enterprise was arriving just around sunset.

Heading out on board Kawika:

A different view of Polar Resolution:

Horizon Enterprise with Diamond Head in the background:

Heading in, passing by H buoy (with boobies):

Back in the harbor:

At the pier:

Moneyball on the way back to Pier 19:

Thanks to Captains Dorflinger, Brown, and Baker. Special thanks to Paul for a great day!

In my previous post, I forgot to mention that it was great to see that the fairy tern chick in the breadfruit tree by FOC has fledged. Good luck little one!

View from the Heights

Another perspective post. Just took a photo from my street of Jag Lalit offshore.

See Holiday Ship Spotting for the view from the water.

ETA: Another photo of Jag Lalit anchoring (again). The small yellow speck at the right is the pilot boat.

MarineTraffic showing location:

Holiday Ship Spotting

While other people were at the beach or the park for the 4th of July holiday, I was at the harbor. Yeah, ship nerd with no life. 😛

It’s a good thing that I checked the schedule when I woke up, as things had changed. I would have been very sad had I arrived at the harbor at the time I had originally planned to.

I made it just in time to catch Horizon Reliance (a rare daytime opportunity):

Mamo at the bow:

Mikioi at the stern:

Leaving the harbor:

Not the best photo of Clipper Skagen, but I like the view of the Wai‘anae range in the background:

USCGC Rush dressed for the holiday:

A trio (parents and youngster?) of fairy terns soaring gracefully over the water:

Mamo and Mikioi heading out to the next job (tanker Morning Haruka in the distance):

Morning Haruka at the Horizon terminal:

Stern lines:

Longshoremen taking care of things on the pier:

Attempting to set up the rat guards:

It was rather gusty so he couldn’t get them in place on the lines. He ended up just leaving them hanging loose.

Mikioi again:

And Mamo:

Captain Al Dorflinger boarding the pilot boat:

Mahimahi:

On to another tanker, Jag Lalit:

Approaching the anchorage (D):

Anchor lowered:

Different view of the bow:

Captain Sinclair Brown disembarking:

A hearty thanks to all the mariners working during the holiday.

Mahalo to Paul and Captains Dorflinger and Brown.

Timely Mental Break

Another tough week at work meant that I was looking forward to the weekend.

The day started off at the ship, as usual. I brought the sander with me, but didn’t do any work.

The birds were having a rough week as well.

One of two broken eggs:

Dead chick:

The Board of Water Supply people weren’t happy either, as they had to deal with a water main break along Ala Moana Boulevard:

Muddy run off in the harbor:

Well, enough problems. On to the ship spotting for the day.

Hollum arriving:

Different spelling, I know, but I kept thinking of Mr. Hollom. Or a typo trying to type “Gollum”? Either way, not really a good name for a ship.

Tiger 5 assisting:

Moana Holo with Ka-Maluhia:

Kashima Maru, ready to leave, in need of a pilot:

I always enjoy and am very grateful for the opportunities I have been given to tag along with the pilots on the pilot boat. Saturday meant quite a lot to me, as I really, really needed a break from my land-based cares.

Kashima Maru heading out to sea:

Rhapsody of the Seas taking on fuel:

HR Resolution:

Mokihana departure – setting up pilot ladder:

Rhapsody of the Seas again, later on in the day:

Different view of HR Resolution:

B. Sky, just ‘ewa of HR Resolution:

Clipper Skagen, just ‘ewa of B. Sky:

Out of the harbor, under the Sand Island Bridge, past Hokule‘a:

(Event going on…lots of people!)

Symi is still here!

Going out (very slowly) from the harbor to the offshore anchorage again:

Pi‘ilani:

I can see the ocean from my house. I grew up looking at, but not really seeing the harbor. The lights of the ships at anchor offshore, bright but small points in blackness, always seemed so lonely. I never dreamed that I’d get the opportunity to experience things up close.

Kawika headed to the anchorage to await the arrival of Symi:

Fortunately, the ocean was calm. I imagine it must be pretty hellish on a rough day.

Not the best photo, but here’s Symi (finally) with city lights in the distance:

Back in the harbor, two Matson ships at the pier.

Maui arrived first:

Then Kauai (with Mikioi here):

Goodnight, all!

Mahalo to Captains Stenback, Dorflinger, and Brown for humoring the strange person with the camera. Special thanks to Paul.

Honolulu Harbor (1836)

One of my favorite sources for old Royal Navy information is The United Service Journal. Some volumes are available for free through services like Google Books. However, there’s nothing quite like owning the actual thing.

I recently acquired another volume to add to my modest collection. Among the usual batch of interesting articles, there is one titled “Narrative of a Voyage from Valparaiso to the South Sea Islands in Her Majesty’s Ship Actaeon, Towards the End of the Year 1836.”

Actaeon arrived off O‘ahu on October 23rd. Here is the author’s (uncredited) description of Honolulu Harbor:

“We anchored in the outer roads in 15 fathoms, coral bottom, and a little after sunset. There is a long reef [that] runs along shore 18 or 20 miles, and opposite the town of Houalutire is a break in it of about a hundred yards, which is the passage for ships to the inner anchorage. There are never less than eighteen feet of water on the bar, but the most intricate part is after this is passed. A pilot came on board early in the morning, and we were towed in by the boats from all the whalers, about forty in number. We moored inside all the whalers, at not more than a stone’s-throw from the shore. There are always a number of ships here in the months of November, December, and January, when the whalers come in to refit, and replenish their provisions. The harbour-dues are heavy, and bring in a good revenue; but the harbour is gradually filling up. The bottom is muddy, and the shoals on either side of it extend out to the reef, so that the poor inhabitants, who subsist chiefly on shell-fish, such as oysters, mussels, &c., walk out on the shoals at low water to procure them. We should say the harbour is capable of containing sixty ships. It is well sheltered on all sides. The tides here are by no means regular.”