Sunsation Nation does Hawaii
 

I've become pretty good friends with fellow board member AZ Boater, the owner of Deja Blue, over the past few years. Been running our Sunsations in a lot of cool places. He moved to Hawaii a couple years ago and took his boat with him. I came out this week and we've had a blast. Launched out of Pearl Harbor, ran around the Honolulu area by Diamond Head. Another day we ran out to Ko Olina which had some pretty exciting water and anchored out in Electric Beach. Enjoyed some snorkeling. On the way back on Pearl Harbor Day we came across a couple Black Hawks holding station flying the flag at sunset which was beautiful.

Here's some of the pics so far:

http://texasboatforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=85

I'll update as the trip goes.

Everyone please check out the website-- There is one pic in which they are exiting the harbor --this had a MAJOR pucker index!!!!

GREAT PICS

3pointstar

That is awesome.

I visited Hawaii for the first time in May and stayed at the Hilton, close to where those pics were taken. Did my open water cert out there by the submarine rides. Beautiful place. A Hawaii poker run would be off the chain. Are there any other offshore boaters out there on this forum?

Yes sir - the last one ! if one cklicks on the pic it will get larger.

I looked at it again: there seem to be a Donzi heading right for it. LOL.

The water turned out to be no big deal just looked super dramatic coming up to the marina. Had a little "oh hell" moment though! Made for a hell of a picture though.

I'm just about the only offshore boater on the island. There are a few old Donzi's, one 29' Baja, one mid-90's 32' Fountain and one 43' Scarab that runs tourists around. With the exception of the 33' Crossbow, I've never seen any of those rigs on the water, but laid up on their trailers. The power boating scene is pretty small here; mostly fishing or sailboats, with the occasional super yacht in port. Too bad there is no draw for powerboaters because the water is incredible year round. Just yesterday, we were anchored off just Waikiki beach surrounded by turtles and dolphins.

How much was it to get the boat out there?

Out of the Port of San Diego with Pasha Hawaii was approx $7,200 for the boat and then $1,100 for my truck. The rig arrived in Honolulu 4 days later.
The vehicle fee is a fixed cost, while the boat/trailer is over-sized cargo and is calculated by linear foot/beam/width. Cargo rates fluctuate with the current cost of fuel.

;)

You getting some ideas tom??

Remember you Tim and I discussed shipping to Kona??


AZ Boater, who do you have to service your boat or god forbid fix it of something happens mechanical? I understand good merc mechanics are few and far between and then if you think boat mechanics are slow on the mainland , I could only imagine having to deal with. "Hawaiian time".

I frequented Hawaii islands the very first time around May perhaps along with stayed for the Hilton.http://goo.gl/Ip7OZO

Tank, you highlight the biggest challenge in keeping a boat here. Good merc shops are not easy to find. I have a few independent mechanics that I've interviewed and will use them if I must. I had the boat serviced by a great merc mechanic in Texas before I shipped her over. Now I do my own scheduled maintenance and with the Rinda scan tool, I've caught a few problems before they became a big deal. I'll ship the boat back to the Mainland in few years, so for now I am getting maximum enjoyment out of it.
That "Hawaiian time" thing is very frustrating and you have to factor it into just about anything you need done with your house/car/etc. Tough mindset to accept as a Mainland transplant.

Yea , the Hawaiian time thing gets freaking old! But you're living it up and boating in a destination only few can even dream of. Sh!t, I was practically raised on the big island and have been into offshore boating since I was 11. But still have never been able to put the two together. Always wanted to drag a boat over there, just could never make it happen.

Keep the pics coming. Looks like a blast!!

Here is the latest video from winter boating on the island

http://youtu.be/bYw6qAmNi2U