The journey ends for Hokulani

The journey that began back in 2016 has finally come to an end.  Hokulani was cleaned up after the 2022 Pacific Cup race, moved over to the Sail California docks at the end of October, and put up for sale.  In the last days we've negotiated her sale to a sailor from outside Vancouver, BC.  We need to get through the survey and other pre-sale contingencies and then she'll be on to new adventures with her new owners.  It's been a great ride and we'll miss her!

                                            Looking good at the Sail California Docks

You can see the listing here: http://www.sailcal.com/boats-for-sale/1996-j-boats-j-120-alameda-california-8599070/

Aloha Hokulani!

54 Days Later!

Well, it took 54 days - from August 12th when I left the boat at Keehi Marine Center, to October 5th when the boat arrived at the KKMI boat yard in Richmond, CA.  She's finally home and we can start figuring out what was up with the lower rudder bearing.  I met the trucker at KKMI around 1115 and by 1330 we had the boat and mast unloaded from the trailer.  While I wait for the rudder guy to free up, I spend the rest of the day unwrapping the mast (2 100'x12" rolls of bubble wrap I bought at Home Depot in Hawaii), and reassembling the mast (installing the spreaders, etc.).  We also came up with a plan to fabricate a cover for the radar mast hole that's in the deck.  Depending on what we find with the rudder bearing, we should have the boat back in the water next week.  Once it's in the water we can re-step the mast and sail back to Brisbane.

Post race update

During the race we had 2 GoPros and several cell phones taking pictures and video.  We also had the shore crew's pictures and videos from the start and the finish.  I've now had a chance to go through all of the material and consolidate it into our official Hokulani 2022 Pacific Cup videos.  There are two videos - the 15 minute version that gives you the full experience, and the 5 minute version with jus the highlights. You can find links the the videos here:

Long version:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zorM_KvXIL8&ab_channel=TracyRogers

Short version:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcpjNGXfx3g&ab_channel=TracyRogers

You may recall that on the last day or two of the race we were having some issues with our lower rudder bearing.  Rather than sail the boat home on a questionable rudder bearing, we decided the ship the boat home.  KYC was kind enough of let me keep the boat at their docks until the boat yard was ready for us to show up.  So, once that was arranged I went back to CA to get some work done and then flew back to Oahu on August 10th.  On the 11th we sailed the boat from KYC to Keehi Marine Center (about 43nm) - it took about 7 hours and between Koko Head and Diamond Head we hit over 16 knots surfing down the swells with a reefed main and the #4 jib.  You can see the video of the sail around the island here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFyuMrGxxrI&ab_channel=TracyRogers

A friend of my nephew was able to fix me up with two young (20 something) sailors and a buddy from Maui connected me with an experienced harbor pilot on Oahu who were able to help move the boat.  After arriving at Keehi we removed everything we could in preparation for pulling the mast and hauling out the boat (I had already arranged for a trailer, which showed up that day).  The next morning I was at Keehi at 0700 and disconnected the shrouds, forestay, backstay, and wiring so the yard could pull the mast - which we did just after 0800.  The boat came out next and while the yard guys arranged the stands on the trailer I disassembled and wrapped the mast.  By 1130 pretty much everything was done.  So that was August 12th.  Unfortunately, the next couple of eastbound Pasha ships were taken over by the military so the boat just sat on its trailer in the yard.  Today (September 12th) the boat got moved over to the port and is expected to be on Pasha's Jean Anne that sails for San Diego tomorrow.  At this point Hokulani is likely to arrive at KKMI in Richmond (after getting trucked up from San Diego) early the last week of September.  We can then figure out what's up with the lower rudder bearing and put the boat back together.  Back on the water in October!

 All ready to go, just waiting for a ship home...

                                              

7/18 finished!

 Hi all, we completed the race Monday morning around 0650 Hawaii time, just after the sun came up. This  continues my streak of races finishing in daylight. We completed the 2,070  nautical mile course in 12 days, 22 hours, 45 minutes, holding our lead in the fleet from the Golden Gate bridge to the finish.  However, given the slow first half of the race, on corrected time we just didn’t have enough race course to build a lead to finish on top.  We feel good that we were first to finish in our fleet and arrived before all but 3 other Monday and Tuesday starters.  We were welcomed into Kaneohe Bay by several heavy showers that completely soaked ourselves and the boat (we probably both needed it).  The welcoming party was great and for my first time we got a spot on the KYC bulkhead - which was mostly empty as we arrived before so many other boats.  Looking forward to the awards dinner Friday night.

7/17 update

Good afternoon everyone. Last night was nasty until the moon came up. We had winds in the 20's, completely dark, and crazy seas thanks to Darby. That lasted about 3 long hours. At this stage the crew is pretty tired so to make life a bit easier and to take it easy on the rudder bearing, we went blast reaching with white sails pretty much directly towards the finish at good speed. Today has been more of the same, gusty winds and big seas from a variety of directions. We've been power reaching and having some amazing surfing runs. Killer VMG. Looks like we'll be hitting 100 miles to go around sunset and finishing early tomorrow morning. Can't wait to get to KYC. To give an indication how loopy we're getting, John has been enjoying listening to Mark and me quoting lines from our favorite movies. Probably best kept on the boat…

7/16 update

Hi all, we continue to drive hard. Maybe too hard? Our lower rudder bearing is not happy. Not much we can do about it other that to be less aggressive in our driving and make sure it lasts to Kaneohe. We hit a top speed of 15.4 knots last night in the midst of out running a squall. The boat was lit up! Fuel for the engine is starting to run low and I'd like to rely mainly on solar to keep our batteries charged up. So, goodbye refrigerator - biggest energy hog on board. We finished our last prepared meal last night so the only things in there were luxuries at this point. We can last a couple of days without them being cold. Makes the arrival that much better. Looking like something on Monday at this point. See you soon! Tracy & crew

7/15 update

Yesterday afternoon at 5:30 we made our long anticipated move and jibed south looking for the trades. We sailed just west of south and then we're able to run directly at the finish line (granted, at the time over 600nm away). Since then we've made good speed going almost directly where we want to go. All the models say decent easterly breeze for the next few days, getting us in there late Sunday or early Monday. We'll see what we can do to shorten that! Aloha, Tracy & crew