Sail Cutthroat

Hawaiian Island Sailing Adventure
Charlie Wagenseil
The Sailing Nephew
13 July 2007 – it was a Friday

click here to see video…Kauai Sailing

My inaugural Hawaiian sailing adventure all started when we left Ko’Olina Marina on Oahu onboard the S/V Cutthroat and journeyed off into the sunset on July 6th heading towards the beautiful island of Kauai. Prior to leaving, I thought this trip was going to be like an easy extended sail, such as San Diego to Catalina Island with steady winds and smooth water that I vividly remember doing last summer, but boy was I wrong! It was quite the bumpy ride!! As I lay in the cockpit trying to stay awake on watch, my poor Aunt Elise fell from her sleeping position and onto the floor from a direct result of a violent swell (not from the effects of drinking Jagermiester I assure you). Once the severities of the swells increased, I began to feel “unpleasant.” Let’s just say my BBQ ribs and 7-Up didn’t sit too well in my stomach. Luckily, I had in my possession a few handy dandy plastic zip lock bags. I was sure happy to finally reach our destination of Hanalei Bay, which is on the northwest end of Kauai. The entire trip took us approximately 15 hours and at a sailing speed of 7 knots (a long ass trip I assure you)!! We were anchored in the bay for a good solid week before we decided it was time to go back to Oahu before the really heavy winds were predicted in the upcoming days. The beach at Hanalei was the most tropical and scenic beach I have ever encountered. However, I do think the sand in Florida is a little nicer.

On the 12th of July we headed back towards the southern part of the island of Kauai towards Oahu and decided to check out Nawiliwili Harbor. On the way there, we had 30 knot winds and 12 foot swells within close range, which made the trip very uncomfortable. Luckily no one felt sick during that sail! The water was dead calm once we finally got into the harbor. We took a mooring for a night and planned to leave the next morning. A Norwegian cruise ship was docked overnight right next to us, which was quite a sight during the evening hours. My Aunt, Uncle, and I enjoyed a nice, peaceful night sleep before the sail back to Oahu. We had no clue what problems we would soon encounter the following day…

All three of us were up on deck by 6 o’clock in the morning ready to head off. Soon after leaving the harbor, I remembered that uncomfortable feeling I felt during my first Hawaiian sail. Thankfully, I was prepared with the help of my dear Uncle Roger, who did not want to clean off the deck if I did get sick. I put on a patch which helped keep me comfortable for most of the trip back. This was probably the most uncomfortable sail I have ever endured. My Aunt, who had been sailing most of her life agreed to that as well. On the way back, the bow of the boat was submerged by massive waves crashing onto the deck! We were definitely “pooped” (I have some video footage of the intenseness of the waves if someone is interested)!!! Luckily, the cockpit stayed somewhat dry and protected by eisenglass, but boy did the boat get hammered. A latch which holds my bedding to a storage compartment in the forward stateroom broke off because of the violent battering caused by the massive swells. At approximately 4 p.m. we were so close to arriving back in Ko’Olina when all of a sudden the engine which helped assist us in our sail died. Yeah, we were actually sailing, but it is very difficult to enter a marina and dock in a slip without the luxury of an engine (unless you’re Captain Ron). First, we tried fixing the situation by installing a new oil filter but realized it was a more sophisticated problem than that. Next, we tried calling the Marina for assistance. The guy on the radio said that they didn’t have a boat to tow us in, but said he would ask every boater in close proximity if they could tow us in (there is no Sea-Tow in Hawaii, which is quite ridiculous and hazardous). After sailing closer to the marina, we decided we were going to anchor and try calling some of the nearby boaters on the radio. Of course, no one seemed to be responding to our calls or wanted to be bothered (assholes!). We had to move to our last and final plan, which was to unhook the dinghy “Crewcutt” from the davits and tie it to the starboard side closest to the bow of the sailboat and hope to God that it could at least pull the 52 foot vessel to the fuel dock which was at least a mile away. Just remember, we are not even in the channel yet and the dinghy’s fuel tank only had a 1/4 left. I was assigned the most crucial task of getting into the much smaller dinghy and attempt to power the sailboat with its 8 horsepower Honda 4-stroke engine to the fuel dock while Elise manned the helm and Roger was on the bow ready to release the anchor in the case of an emergency. I thought to myself, “this must be a suicide mission.” I hurried up, said the Lord’s Prayer and made my way into the dinghy (also, just think…. it was dark as well…). I powered that dinghy engine as hard as I could while Elise tried aiming the boat towards the channel. Once we reached the channel I laughed and felt much more confident in myself and the dinghy. The Cutthroat was cruising at about 2 knots thanks to the little dinghy engine that could. Because we got closer and closer to the fuel docks at the marina with a steady momentum, Elise made the decision to keep going and hope to make it all the way to our slip with out the possibility of running out of gas. I just prayed to God, Baby Jesus, King Neptune, Allah, and Buddha all at once in hopes that the dinghy would keep going. We somehow made it all the way to the dock where our slip was. The next part was slowing the velocity of the sailboat and give it a big strong push into the slip without crashing into the dock or another boat for that matter. Roger unhooked the line holding the dinghy to the powerless sailboat so I could maneuver and give the Cutthroat a good push into the slip. The entire mission was a complete success and learned many valuable lessons from this experience.

” Always keep your cool no matter how stressful or nerve wrecking a situation can be
” Use your head and think of the best possible solution to a problem and visualize it step by step to see if it could indeed be possible
” Be focused and stay positive during the whole ordeal
” Most of all, do not underestimate the power of an 8 horsepower dinghy engine!

Boy, were we glad to get back to the marina. All in all, boating in Hawaii is definitely not the best place in the country, but we all certainly learned something positive from this whole experience. If you do not wish to take a boat trip to the different islands, the other option is to take a puddle jump flight to the different islands for only $30 one way. What a bargain!!! But if you’re looking for an adventure on the open ocean like I experienced, sail into the sunset and be prepared for any obstacles that come your way. And more importantly, just remember the advice from a fine captain by the name of Ron, “if you get lost, you can just pull right in and ask for directions.” Also, “If it’s gonna happen, it’s gonna happen out there!”