coast guard c130 airplane — *Coast Guard C130 Fly-By*

Hilo is a major port on the east side of the “Big Island” of Hawai’i. It is usually quite wet, so you can always expect a lot of greenery.

The day at Hilo was very remarkable. First, the weather was not typical, a “kona” wind was blowing from the south, rather than from the northeast. Hilo was sparkling clear and the mountains stood out against a beautiful blue sky. This does not often happen.

Second, someone decided that we needed a lot of port security, so the U.S. Coast Guard was present in force. The entire day we were in Hilo, there were several well-armed CG boats patrolling the harbor. We even had a fly-by of the CG C130 “Herky” airplane.

The beautiful day was closed out by our sail along the lava flows. It is very difficult to get photographs of these flows at night, but suffice it to say that everyone ought to see this sight. The lava was flowing right into the ocean, sending up clouds of steam. The lava was lighting up the steam in a most eerie way. To top it off, there was a sliver of a moon above the lava flows while we were sailing by.

Hilo Harbor With Mauna Kea On the Horizon --- 2006 Cruise on Pride of Hawai’i