Hi,
	Surprise!  I'm back in Honolulu.  How did it happen?

	Just over two weeks ago I sailed boldly forth from the Ala Wai.
That was a nice quiet light-air overnight trip,  sailing slowly past
the cloud-capped northeast shore of Kauai, then greeted by blustery
rain in Hanalei Bay.

	I first visited Hanalei 10 years ago to join my former neighbor
Bruce on his boat _Saltflower_ and sail her back to Ventura, CA.  I
remembered Hanalei Bay as one of the prettiest places on earth.
	It still is.  The frequent rains still feed frequent rainbows
and an ever-changing display of waterfalls on the mountainsides.  The
town has grown up a little, but not much.  It's still quiet and
peaceful.

	My father flew out to join me, and on Thursday, Aug. 21 we set
sail for San Francisco.  We were both looking forward to the trip
together.  We hadn't been on that long a vacation together since I 
started working summers a quarter-century ago.  Also, he hadn't been to
sea on a small boat since his sea duty 40 years ago on (slightly larger)
US Navy destroyers.

	Are the stateside newspapers covering the El Nin~o weather?
Out here, and in California, and in the 2000 miles of ocean in between,
it's making a BIG difference in the normal weather pattern.  To make a
long story short, the normal sailing route home looked unpromising, so
we set out sailing on what the weather faxes implied would be the best
alternate route.
	It was rough, squally sailing, but we were making OK progress,
350 miles in the first 4 days, when we started suffering damage to the
sails.  With two of our most important upwind, heavy-air sails out of
commission within a few hours of each other, we had to re-think.  We
could limp 1800 more miles in poor conditions, or we could turn to a
more comfortable sailing direction, return to Honolulu, get everything
fixed, and try again.  We chose Plan B.  It took 3 days to sail back
to Oahu.

	I'm relaxing in the Ala Wai;  a new stays'l is being made by
Port Townsend Sails, and the yankee jib is being re-stitched and
reinforced by North Sails here.  North will also take a look at my
mains'l to see if they can make it a little flatter for upwind sailing.
Meanwhile, the weatherfax implies that conditions to the northeast may
be getting better.  I plan to set out again around Sept. 12.

	My father has returned home, so I'm looking for crew again.
I believe that I've found one;  a second would be perfect.
_Espire_ is ready go.  As much as I like life here, I'm eager to get
back to Redwood City and back to my "real" life.

	Take care,

		Rick