Viewing distant islands--O'ahu from Kaua'i

I looked out across the ocean east of Kaua'i yesterday, and saw O'ahu.It sat there on the horizon, a dark hump in the distance, with a low shelf off to the right side. Not clear enough to pick out gullies from ridges, but clear enough to know it was real.This isn't unheard of. Kaua'i residents who live in Kalaheo and Wailua Homesteads report that on special days, they sometimes spot the island from their highland vantages.

And other folks say they'll spot it from time to time even from Lihu'e.But being able to see O'ahu from Kaua'i or vice-versa is rare.I've never seen a photo of one island taken from the other, and even on this day, it was still hazy enough that while my eye could pick the shape of the island out, my camera could not.O'ahu folks know how hazy Moloka'i can be in the distance, across the Kaiwi Channel.

Well, the Ka'ie'iewaho Channel more than twice as wide as the Kaiwi. Sixty miles from closest point to closest point. On a normal day, there's nothing at all sitting on the horizon.I'm assuming the island was visible because the air was unusually clear. There had been a couple of days of calm, which let the ocean spray settle down. And the trades had just returned, lightly, to push the vog away.

As the wind picked up on the ocean, the island grew more faint, and by midday it was gone again.I have sailed between the islands, and normally have been able to pick Kaua'i out on a voyage from O'ahu at a range of 40 miles to about mid-channel, depending on ocean conditions. For those cogitating on the issue, viewing these islands does not require any special bending of light.