renting H16 in Maui

Hi all,
I took a vacation in maui (Kaanapali, somewhat northwestern on the island) and I am thinking about renting a Hobie 16 while I am here. Has anyone sailed in Maui before? I have had experience sailing an H16, but not in the ocean. The winds seem fairly consistent without many large gusts but I would prefer to stay out of the water! (gotta love those sharks!)
Does anyone have a recomendation for a rental? I am sure that most rentals are similar and they wouldn't set me up with a poor quality boat, but I'd like to hear what others have experienced.

Thanks,
Charlie

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'73 Hobie 16- orange and yellow

I think there is a maui regular here on the boards.. hopefully he'll respond to you.

I've swam off Maui... didn't even think about sharks... they probably aren't an issue.

Not sure what part of the island these guys are on:
http://www.mauiwatersports.com/mws/node/37

You can drive from Hana to Kaanapali (sp) in under an hour I think, and thats one end of the island to the other.. It's an island, and not a very big one. Lahaina (sp) to the airport was about 25 min. I haven't been to Hawaii in about 6 years but everything is pretty close. Those Hawaiian words have to many vowels! I live around Bohemians, their names are luck to have a vowel.

Yea, I am not too worried about the sharks either, I have been swimming several times already. No prob! We drove down to the opposite end of the island yesterday actually, it is very nice down there. I just didn't see any Hobies!
Haha, amen to the vowel situation. it is a challenge to pronounce!

thanks
charlie

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'73 Hobie 16- orange and yellow

A number of West Maui hotels rent Hobies. Mostly Waves. STAY AWAY FROM THE HYATT!! Their boats are very poorly maintained.

West Maui Sailing Center in front of the Castaways restaurant north of Black Rock has a 16 and a Getaway. Chuck, the owner, is a long time Hobie guy.

The sailing here can be interesting. If the trade winds are up, you'll be in a consistent 20 + wind. It's 5 PM HST and the wind is at 17 mph gusting to 29. If you hang to the west of the wind line, you won't have any problems.

The old locals say sharks won’t bother you if you don't go in the water early in the morning, late in the afternoon, if it's cloudy, and after a rainstorm when the water is murky from run off. Most of the latest shark bites have been in the South Maui area.

There is absolutely no way you can get from Hana to Kaanapali in one hour. Between traffic and road conditions, you'll be lucky to make it from Hana to the airport in 1.5 hours. The summer visitors are here so you do not want to be on the roads in West Maui between 3 and 6 PM. It may take a half hour to get from Kaanapali to Lahaina.

Don't worry too much about saying any of the names correctly. The locals have already got you classed as a visitor because of your either pale or red skin. Use lots of sunscreen and wear your Cool Dude Sunglasses.

If you're looking for food try the Plantation Course clubhouse in Kapalua for breakfast. Prices are reasonable and you get a 100-mile view. Dinner at Pacific'o, 505 Front St. Extremely fresh fish. Make a reservation for 6:30 and ask for a seat on the hedge. You'll get a great sunset. The owners are long time sailors.

If you're In Lahaina Friday (June 21), stop by the Lahaina Yacht Club. I'm teaching junior sailing and should be there unless the senior instructor decides we're taking the kids out on the club's Olson 30.

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I made it to the Castaway Cafe, unfortunately too late. They told me to come back in the morning, which I plan on doing. The Kaanapali Alii recommended that I go to the Castaway, they were too expensive ( or something along those lines).
Thanks a lot for the help, Sorry I wasn't able to make it to the Yacht Club, we ended up doing Haleakala and sleeping all through the afternoon!
Thanks again,
Charlie

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'73 Hobie 16- orange and yellow

Ahhhh, the oh dark thirty trip up the mountain to see the sun rise. Did you have to dodge the pelotons of downhill bicyclists on the way back?

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Yea! That was pretty intense, not gonna lie!
Hopefully we wlll get the hobie tomorrow, if not we are here until tuesday evening so sunday or monday for sure!

charlie

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'73 Hobie 16- orange and yellow

Hoodcanal16, Let me know how you make out with the Hobie rental. I've rented in Maui several times from Ocean Activities (Whalers Village and Grand Wailea) and have been increasingly disappointed. The last time (March 2007) they only rented poorly maintained Waves. They had removed the rudder cams, so I had a heavy weather helm the whole time out. If the Trade winds are blowing then they tend to be fairly steady and build during the day. Unless there is a shark alert, there should be no problem. When I was out I was fortunate enough to have a whale breach about 200 yards ahead of me. Good sailing.

I believe they're the same guys that run the Hyatt rentals.

I bet they fell out and none of the rental guys realized what the problem was. If they did figure it out, it would be hard to get parts locally.

January, February and March are the best whale months. There's usually so many it's tough for the tour boats to get around. Year 'round there's pods of spinner dolphins and lots of sea turtles.

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Hobie1616, Oh, they knew they were missing, because they said they removed them to help protect the rudders from beach landings. And they aren't hard to get either because there is a Hobie dealer on Maui. They were just poorly maintained, but they still got a heafty $55.00/hr rental fee for them.

The local "dealer" has no parts in stock. They're only interested in selling rotomolded boats. The majority of their business is power boats and power boat parts.

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Resurrecting an extremely old thread. I am heading to Maui at the end of this month and wanted to rent a hobie while in town. Do any hotels on the west side still rent hobies? Anyone know of anywhere to find a sailboat on the island, if the hotels aren’t renting hobies anymore?

I called West Maui Sailing but they aren’t running their Getaway due to their owner / instructor being out of action.

Thanks for any new leads!

I vacationed in Maui several times. As an experienced H-16 sailor (and owner) I didn't foresee any problem renting a Hobie but was surprised that it was not possible at that time (mid 90s) We were told that it was considered too dangerous. that if you got in the channel between Maui and Molokai the winds could easily take you out to sea. We ended up snorkeling a lot. Saw a couple of barracuda but no sharks.

My wife and I stayed in a hotel in Kaanapali the first time. We found that for breakfast we could go to the supermarket in Lahaina which had a great bakery and buy hot coffee and pastry and a container of juice. We then drove just out of Lahaina to a park on the water where we would enjoy our breakfast. Very pleasant time. Later visits, we stayed in condos where we had a kitchen.

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Howard

We stayed at the Hyatt in Lahaina for a week in January, didn't see a single hobie. There is a lot of rock, coral that I would worry about people who don't know the area, hitting. Everyone surfs. I'm not complaining, we loved it. Wanna go back. Snorkel, surf, luau, Black Rock beach, Road to Hanna, black sand beach, etc.