Yesterday at 4PM Moku pe'a was sitting serenely at anchor in the keyhole at Haena. It is one of the loveliest spots in Hawaii. I was below typing the day's blog post when we heard someone yell from the water. A guy on a surfboard paddled out to tell us that the Governor and the Head of DLNR would be there inspecting damage repairs from last years' flooding early the next morning. He suggested that we not be there if we didn't want to get cited by DLNR.
It is my normal practice to spend one night in Haena before proceeding down the Na Pali coast to Nualolo at its western end. Day anchoring in Haena is allowed, but overnight anchoring is not. I know the rules, but always figured that a single overnight was no big deal if I departed first thing in the morning. DLNR was casing the place though to make sure everything was just right for the Governor's visit. I likely would have been busted for sure, so we had to leave.
Hmmm. Which way to go. An hour to windward back to Haena, or rush 10 miles down the coast to Nualolo before the sun got too low? We opted for Nualolo, quickly got underway, and hoisted a full mainsail to get us quickly down the coast.
The wind swirls close under the Na Pali cliffs much like it does on the north shore of Molokai. We wanted to stay close for the scenery though. Just as we approached Kalalalau we got a particularly large gust accompanied by a forty degree wind shift. I was driving, saw the shift as it hit, but couldn't turn the boat quickly enough to prevent the mainsail from jybing.
In a jybe the wind catches the mainsail on the other side from behind. The mainsail and boom flew across the boat gaining speed and momentum until the mainsheet stopped it suddenly (it's not called "boom" for nothing). The sudden stop placed a bigger bending moment on the aluminum boom than it could handle, and it broke cleanly in two just aft of the mid-boom mainsheet block attachment.
This kind of accidental jybe happens occasionally, and usually doesn't cause any damage. This time we were not so fortunate.
A "preventer", a line that holds the boom out so it can't fly across the boat during an accidental jybe, would likely have kept us out of trouble. In my haste to depart Nualolo I failed to rig the preventers as I normally do, and did for our crossing from Oahu.
We started the engine, put the boat head to wind, got the mainsail down and pieces of the boom secured, and assessed our situation.
We couldn't use the mainsail without the boom and couldn't repair the boom by ourselves. It was not prudent to proceed further from civilization without a mainsail, so we powered back up the coast to Hanalei arriving back in the anchorage in a driving rainstorm just as it got dark.
On the way back I called Mitch Haynie on the phone. Michael and I had spent the previous evening at Mitch and Jenna's enjoying a fabulous dinner and great conversation. Did Mitch know of anybody on Kauai who might be able to help us fix the boom?
No, he didn't, but Mitch has a close friend, Mel Wills, who would. Mel is the operations manager for Holo Holo Charters which runs tour boats out of Hanalei and Port Allen. Mitch called Mel, and Mel said he knows just the right guy, Mike Malone of M&S Marine.
This morning Mel called Mike, and Mike said he could help. At 8AM we dinghied ashore with the broken boom, borrowed Mitch's truck, and drove to Kekaha on the other side of the island where we met with Mel and Mike.
Besides running Holo Holo Charters, Mel is a seasoned sailor. He's done nine Transpac races, some of which I competed in. We have a lot of mutual friends. It's surprising that we haven't met before. I could tell he knew what he was doing when the first question he asked me after I told him the circumstances of breaking the boom was, "Were you using a preventer?" Ouch.
Mike took a quick look at the boom, indicated that it should be fixable, and disappeared with it back into his shop. He said it should be ready in a couple of days.
This is a work in progress, but it is looking like the mighty Moku pe'a may be back on her feet pretty quickly. This timely and relatively painless recovery wouldn't be possible without the generosity of good people like Mitch, Mel, and Mike, and we are very grateful for their help.
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