Pu’Keka’a (Blackrock Beach) Maui, February 5, 2022

 The ʻAuʻau Channel is pretty much surrounded by islands creating a good “lake” for the Humpback whales.  To the north is Moloka’i to the south Kaho’olawe, west is Lāna’i and east Maui.  Being so protected by these islands and with plenty of depth the ʻAuʻau channel is a major whale-watching center in the Hawaiian Islands.  The Humpback whale began evolving 40 million years ago, tens of millions of years before man even existed.  The Hawai'ian islands formed just about the same time.  Humpbacks then and now migrate nearly 3,500 miles from Alaska in the fall and spend the winter months in these and adjacent waters.  

So calm is this channel that ʻAuʻau is Hawai’ian for "to take a bath”.

This crossing lived up to its name and reputation.  First and foremost, the whales.  I could not have imagined better whale watching soon after rounding the western most cape of Lāna’i, and heading northwest we began spotting the whales, hundreds of spouts “thar she blows’, their rounded surfacing (which gave the Humpback it name), that iconic wave of the tail before diving, and most of all those spectacular breaches.  We saw all these things both near and far for about six hours sitting on the bow of the catamaran.  We saw one whale repeatedly raise its tail high out of the water and smashing it violently onto the water surface and another just as we were preparing to disembark the catamaran for the final time roll over on its side and raise her fin high and then let it fall back into the sea.  She did this six times and Sandy is convinced that she was waving goodbye to us.  The sea was smooth and the sailing was pleasant.

This whale got so close we could have jumped on its back

We saw many, many whales, but just looked at them instead of taking pictures

Our catamaran cruise ended by anchoring for a few hours at Pu’u Keka’a.  There is a large rock there from which the young jump off into the surf.  I eyed it for a long time before deciding that at 72 my time had passed.  Instead, Glenn and Sue snorkeled in the bay, and I took a leisurely swim. When it was time to time to disembark I swam from the boat to the beach with a dry bag, after wading ashore and getting a shirt, my documents, and cell phone out of the dry bag, I walked across the beach and then through a resort. There, I ordered an Uber that took me to the car rental location where I picked up our rental then drove down to Lahaina Harbor where Captain Whitney, Jess, and Penny brought Sandy, Glenn and Sue plus luggage in on the dinghy.  All worked well...we threw our bags in the back of the pick-up truck that I had rented (that’s another story) and drove to the condo.  Though I enjoyed the catamaran, I think we were all ready for some clean laundry, Hollywood showers, and regular beds.

      

Now!  This is a rental automobile worth swimming for!

Our sailing over, we had visited, and walked upon four islands O'ahu, Moloka'i, Lāna'i and Maui.