You might be wondering how to get into the boating community in Hawaii. The best way might be to just buy a boat! But as they say, the best boat is… someone else’s! Owning a boat has its joys and miseries, as any boat owner will tell you the two best days in a boat owner’s life is the day they buy and the day they sell. All jokes aside, if you’re not going to buy a boat then the next best option is to have friends with boats. Boat owners are always looking for crew. If you want to walk around the docks and just talk to random strangers, that’s one way to do it. You could join any one of the number of yacht clubs in Hawaii, boat ownership is not a requirement to join a yacht club but you’re sure to meet members who have boats and the clubs often organize events that will get you on a boat. If you hang out at the yacht clubs, especially Hawaii Yacht Club on a Friday afternoon you might be able to join the crew of one of the boats participating in the Friday evening sail races that go out of Ala Wai. This event is one of the most fun regular boating events on Oahu.
A great way to get involved in boating and meet other like minded people is to take a sailing class. There are several schools and organizations in Hawaii that offer these opportunities and where you live and where you have access might determine your best option. No matter what your intention is for getting out on the water learning to sail is a good idea anyway because it combines a few topics, such as water safety, seamanship, mechanics, weather, etc. into one activity so even power boaters and paddlers could get into sailing. Although solo sailing could be a thing, sailing is generally considered by nature a very social activity and a great way to meet friends.
Another great way to get involved in the boating community in Hawaii is to join and participate in one of the three active Facebook groups in Hawaii: Oahu Sailing Hawaii Sailing and Hawaii Afloat. There might be others that we’re not aware of, please contact us if you know. The first two have been around for awhile and have a lot of active and helpful members on the forum. As of this writing Hawaii Afloat’s facebook group is just getting started, be one of the first!