Kaunakakai was a fantastic stop, and with an invitation from our new friends for a dinner ashore tempting us, it wasn’t easy to leave. But the whitecaps in the channel promised good sailing conditions, and the allure of a new anchorage on a new island won the day.
Anchored at the Needles, Lanai
So, we pulled up the anchor and headed across the Kalohi channel to Lanai. As the whitecaps predicted, we had a close reach in 20-25 knots of breeze for most of the sail. Like most boats, Madrone’s favorite point of sail is somewhere between a close and a beam reach – with the steady wind from the perfect direction we were able to keep the boat speed near 8 knots the entire way.
Checking the anchor set and doing some snorkeling
Most of the west coast of Lanai features volcanic sea cliffs. These range in height from about 100′ to almost 1000′ in height, and they are apparently formed by the incessant wave action wearing away the land. Our anchorage, The Needles, is a rock spine that is all that remains of what once was a headland jutting out into the sea. What’s left is a series of rock towers surrounded by reef.
Swimming back to Madrone
From the anchorage, we had a view of the entire sweep of the west coast of the island. One house on shore and one boat anchored 3 or 4 miles away were the only reminders that other people lived on the planet.
Snorkeling was reputed to be very good at The Needles. We did see a lot of fish and coral, but we unfortunately timed (or mis-timed) our arrival to coincide with the start of a the arrival of a south swell. The wave action over the reef meant that the water was cloudy and visibility was not that great.
It is really nice to have a swim step, even though Madrone’s is a small one.
But we definitely can’t complain – an anchorage to ourselves on a new island, and nothing to do in the evening except watch the sun go down.
