We (snif) had to split up with our cruising mates on s/v Infini... we went into the Rainbow Bay Marina, in Pearl Harbor, and Infini went into the Hawaii Yacht Club in the Ala Wai Yacht Basin. Only military (retired or otherwise) can get into Pearl Harbor.
We spent the next several days running around with our new friends on s/v Windy City, who have been here at Rainbow Bay for about the last year. They have a car, and graciously offered to chauffeur us around to help us get settled. Our primary job was to find a car for ourselves. We started at the "Lemon Lot" at Hickham Air Force Base and worked our way through a few used car dealers nearby and some possibilities we found on Craigslist.com.
After 2 days of looking, we had a pretty good idea of current values in the "under $3000" range. We settled on a nice looking but fairly old/high mileage Toyota SUV Rav/4 L, for $2800, no sales tax, and $25 registration/inspection fees. Not too bad. It has 4 doors, 2WD, a roof rack, and cold air. We think we can easily resell it for about what we paid for it when we leave in 5 months.
The marina here has recently had a drastic personnel turnover, and the new manager, who didn't get any coaching from the old one, is struggling with simple issues. It took us 3 days to get a mailbox, and we're still not in a permanent parking space. But it's otherwise a really nice place, with decent showers, laundry, book swap, and a hanging out place for residents. And very secure. But not so secure that friends can't visit--it is Navy property but not within the gates of the base, so anyone can come visit without any hassle.
Today is College Football Day on Soggy Paws. One of the few things we miss about being in the U.S. is watching college football on TV. We are using our spiffy HVR-950Q WinTV receiver on our laptop to watch TV. With the tiny supplied antenna we are getting about 6 channels, and contemplating a better antenna that can be mounted higher.
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At 10/20/2010 7:32 PM (utc) our position was 21°22.26'N 157°56.27'W
Hi there. Love following you blog...thanks. Question for you. Was it hard to get a slip in Pearl Harbor? We're retired military and are contemplating going to hawaii next year to miss Typhoon season in the south pacific (heading over there this season 2011), but wondered how hard it would be to get a slip. I know in San Diego it was impossible, but we don't know anyone in Hawaii with a boat. Any info would be helpful. monicamckaskle@hotmail.com
ReplyDeleteThanks! Have fun on your trip home (and good luck with that driver's license thing).