Hawaii West Photography by David S. Hoornstra

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This shot tells you how we got to most of the places we visited on Coast Guard Cutter Kukui (WAK-186) between June 1970 and April 1972. Most places we visited were small islands or atolls with neither harbor nor close-in anchorage, so we worked cargo via two 25-ton WWII landing craft. In this shot Kukui is actively holding station.

The “Kuk” was a C-1 Liberty Ship launched in Milwaukee in 1946, the year I was born, just too late to serve in the war. She was modified in Baltimore for the Coast Guard’s new West Pacific mission. She spent the next 25 years building, then supplying and maintaining the Pacific LORAN (LOng Range Aid to Navigation) stations from Hawaii to Japan. 
There are three separate galleries below. Prints not available except to my Coast Guard shipmates, who can also get free high-resolution downloads on request. 

Gallery 1: Life on Kukui 1970-1972

A variety of photos, some of which were used in “The Seventh Day,” the last cruise/decommissioning book I designed and produced. Kukui is shown at her berth in Honolulu – I used that photo to create my oil portrait –  as well as off Yap, French Frigate Shoals, and Marcus Island.

Gallery 2: Westpac cruises and landfalls 1971-72

I joined the ship at Guam when she was less than halfway through her traditional Westpac about July 1970. Then the fun began. Photo 1 shows how a deuce-and-a-half is supposed to be handled. Photo 2 is what happens when a steadying line breaks: "loose and a half.” Photo 3 is Kukui off the volcanic shore or Iwo Jima. In Photo 4, BM3 Checketts is the M-Boat driver – the most envied job on the ship – a big Cummins diesel under each hand. Photo 5: an old wooden Coast Guard tug beached on Sand Island with the modern Honolulu Harbor as backdrop. In Photo 6, that's me in the red velvet jacket at the top (sunrise) Mt. Fuji. 

Gallery 3: Liberty on Maui and the Big Island 1972

A Phillipine crew is learning our ropes to take over when Kukui is decommissioned. The volcano on the “The Big Island” is shown smoking the day before we sailed away. At sea we saw on TV that she erupted quite hugely just after we left. It was early 1972.