Blonde Reef

[canhle]

Does anybody knows where is Blonde Reef ?

canhle

[Bill]

I beieve that it is underneath the Hilo breakwater. The Breakwater generally follows the course of the reef.

Bill

[Guest]

If your talking about This Blonde Reef then you have your answer.



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[Carey]

Blonde reef is a lava flow reef average 10 feet below the Hilo Bay Breakwater from the Mauna Loa Pana'ewa lava flow that started where Kulani Correctional is now:

"The entire coastal shoreline from Suisan at the mouth of the Wailoa river to the ponds at Ha`ena is formed by the Pana`ewa flow. All the land mauka (upslope) of those boundaries toward Kulani is covered by the Pana`ewa flow. The surface area of the flow totals more than 173 square kilometers (67 square miles).

The total volume of the eruption is unknown because the undersea portion of the flow is not mapped. The Pana`ewa flow created the reef on which the Hilo Bay breakwater wall is built. Thickness of the Pana`ewa flow near the shoreline was measured at 31 m (100 feet) by core from the scientific drill hole in Keaukaha.

The Pana`ewa lava is characterized by abundant green and white minerals. The green mineral is olivine, an early-forming mineral in basaltic magmas, and the white mineral is feldspar, a late-forming mineral. The presence of feldspar indicates that the Pana`ewa eruption tapped a shallow magma body that cooled for a considerable period of time."
http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/volcanowatch/1999/99_12_16.html

[Guest]

I should have posted This link as it shows a better perspective of the location and history of the spot.

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[bystander]

quote:

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Originally posted by Greg

Damon, That's the one. It's kinda funny the site linked above talks about Blonde reef as a "surf" site but forgets to mention there's a huge breakwater on top of it. The reef, by the way, was named after the HMS Blonde, Captain James Cook HMFIC.

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Better check your history. HMS Blonde was captained by the Right Honourable Lord Byron [George Anson], Commander. Cook was captain of HMS Endeavor.

[Guest]

More info behind the name:

In 1778, the first written reports of Hilo were made by Captain James Cook, who said that heavy seas prevented his landing at "Aheedoo." One of the explorers who came after Capt. Cook was Lord Byron, who first charted Hilo Bay. For years, the bay was known as Byron's Bay and the entrance to the harbor, Blonde Reef, was named after his ship.

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[Greg]

I stand corrected. Senior moment.

[Nate SC]

Carey...You are "THE BOMB!".

[Carey]

Hilo Bay was known for the excellent surf, esp. with north to east swells, the wave over blonde reef was said to be one of the finest in all of Hawaii with very long fairly high curls - picture postcard perfect, the reef ridge was a hard crush, but if you rode beyond the ridge, the waters got gentled & deeper fast. Very popular area for many of the old timers I have talked to while researching the watershed.