Gentle Wind is at anchor at Sugar Beach, just offshore from the town of Kihei on Maui. We had a rather uncomfortable trip up from the Big Island yesterday, with strong NE trade winds (30knots and up) and swell (7-10 feet) on our beam. The winds and swell died off right before we got to our planned anchorage at Makena but just as soon as we got the dinghy in the water a new wind, swell, and surge started up turning our nice little anchorage into a nasty lee shore. So we put the dinghy in tow (too nasty to lift it onto the boat deck) and raised the anchor, only to discover that we'd badly bent one of the flukes on the 60-pound Danforth! That anchor is now useless, so we'll rely on the 70-lb navy-style backup. With broken anchor secured, we proceeded another 10 miles north to Sugar Beach, nicely protected from both the north wind and the NE trades. And there's a beautiful beach here, too, although the divers on board are upset at having so much sand around (I guess it reduces visibility). :) Right before dinner time last night the USCG stopped by and did an inspection boarding. We passed without any violations. They didn't ask for our waste manage- ment plan, but I had it ready just in case. So far, this is the most pleasant place we've seen in Hawaii. Air temps are in the high 70's (8 AM) and water temp around 81. There's a light breeze from the north at 5-7 knots and 15 miles or more visibility. We'll be heading for Honolulu tomorrow. Unfortunately we couldn't get any space at Ala Wai (they lost a lot of slips last winter) so we'll be over by the airport at Keehi. Since the TransPac boats are due to start arriving in the next few days, all the slips are taken so we'll be out in the mooring field. Personally, I like being anchored out, or moored, but being at the dock does make life a bit more convenient if you want to stroll into town. Most systems on the boat are working at 100%. It's a boat, though, so there's always a few things to work on. We still don't have the SSB radio working (so no weather fax and no SailMail) so we're relying on the Iridium satellite phone for communications under way. We're going to try to get the SSB looked at while we are in Honolulu.