WANDERING IN HILO

Last night I had a beautiful sleep.  The sleep you get when you are tired and the job has been done.  No interruptions, no wind shifts and secure in the knowledge that Truce was securely moored fore and aft.

I got off to a late start this morning, I must have switched to Island time during the night.  Anyway, I got the rig tensioned up properly as far as I can tell.  The mast wedges are also looking good but I want to put a bit more pressure on the starboard side.  As it was lunchtime I decided to go ashore and finish the mast off tomorrow. Besides a job like this always benefits from some more thinking time.

I caught the local bus, that rattled and shook its way into town.  One of the things I had to do was get a money order to pay for mooring.  The port does not accept cash or credit card, they only accept cheque or bank draft / money order thing.  I finally got what I needed from Pay Day Loans for a cost of eighty-eight cents.  With money order in hand in made it back to the port before they closed and handed my paper over to the clerk.  What a performance and waste of precious time to explore Hilo.

Hilo town is an interesting place and there is a great open-air market that I will explore further tomorrow and stock up on fresh fruit and veg.  The variety of colourful shirts on offer is almost too much to take in.  Real loud Hawaiian shirts in the worst possible taste – I want to buy them all.  Spoilt for choice, I ended up buying nothing.  Tomorrow is another day.

Just outside the port gate I found a bar having the vital combination of cold beer and Wi-Fi.  The local brew, Castaway IPA, is to be recommended.  So, after a day doing a lot but not seeming to achieve much I returned to Truce for sundowners and a chat with my French neighbours.  Early in the evening we had a rain shower, cooled things down nicely.  I am listening to Norah Jones greatest hits on the Bose, nice mood music that fits the night well.  Now I am looking forward to another peaceful night’s sleep.