Last Saturday I loaded my boat to be an escort for the Molokai 2 Oahu paddle board race. Couldn’t get approval w/ taking care of the kiddo to leave for the whole weekend, so I decided to try to get some sleep early and cross the channel from Oahu to Molokai at midnight, then anchor or drift to rest for a bit before I had to be at Kepuhi Beach to load/ unload gear for the race start.
I ended up launching the boat at about 12:30am, and was unable to get any sleep before. Weather was predicted to be 10-15 knots of wind with 3’ seas, that I’d be going pretty much head on into. As I was trimming down the engine I noticed some steering fluid in my splash well. Turns out when I got new seals to fix the leak on my ram (same time I installed auto pilot), did not fix the leaking problem. I saw where the new seal on the starboard side was leaking and confirmed a few very small gouges in the shaft where the seal was letting out a little fluid.
Now this isn’t the “right” thing to do before crossing a notoriously dangerous 25 mile wide channel, but I topped off the fluid since I had 4-5 longer trips already since I put the new seals in. It was a slow enough leak that I felt confident I’d make it to Molokai and be able to top off again before heading back.
After topping off the fluid, I made my way directly South to push further offshore before rounding the corner (lesson learned from previous crossings, get away from the bath tub of currents and waves closer to the sea cliffs). Ended up being a little rougher than expected. I was able to set auto pilot, and took it slow 8-10 knots initially. Unfortunately it was a very dark night with seemingly no moon illumination. I could not see the bigger waves to time my throttles and ended up slamming a LOT even when I slowed down to 6-7 knots. Maybe next on list of expensive things I don’t need but may end up wasting my money on anyway is a good night camera…
Regardless, the rougher parts seemed to come and go and I had a relatively smooth ride for a good chunk of the crossing. Made it across into the lee of Molokai at about 4:30am. I was not a fan of the crossing, not because of it being so rough, but rather just being completely solo in pitch black, with no other boats in sight, not the best feeling at times. When I arrived, I was exhausted and needed to get at least a mini-nap in. As dawn was approaching, I set a massive anchor alarm and just drifted down wind along the coast a few miles offshore with my lights energized. I maybe got a 15 minute nap in before I headed up to Kepuhi Beach.
For the race, it was a prone paddleboard relay for one of my work buddies and his friend. The race was a long 7 hours back to Hawaii Kai with lighter conditions (not much wind or swell to push) and a cross current that was seemingly pulling North and back towards Molokai. We swapped paddlers every 30 minutes until the last leg of the race, where we aggressively swapped every few minutes to eke out 3rd place in the division with an exciting back and forth paddle battle to the finish line.
Stoked on the day, the event, and the trip. Boat did great, even if I couldn’t set auto pilot due to the speed being far too slow.
Loaded up late the day before:
About to launch out of Hawaii Kai:
Beginning of the Kaiwi Channel crossing:
Channel was rougher than expected:
Sunrise at Kepuhi Beach (race start)
Snapshot from the race:
Steering project done!
Knowing my steering still wasn’t fixed, which I am a little unhappy with the shop that did the seals and finished my auto pilot install (I paid them to do it so I wouldn’t have to do it again and confirm everything was good). After pricing everything out, it would be $200 + $150 for new OEM seals and a new piston rod for the steering, I could do it myself, or pay the shop to replace the rod and do seals again. Instead, I decided to just buy an entirely new steering ram and do it myself. This way I have an entirely new steering system for the price the shop would probably charge me to do deals (again) and a new rod. I don’t fully blame the shop, the gouges were pretty small and near the end of one side on the bottom. Impossible to even see, but you can feel it with your nails.
Finished the install yesterday and it was quite a pain and quite messy, but everything’s all buttoned up and seems to be working flawlessly again.
Next projects:
-Replacing outrigger mono with new line that reaches closer to my halyard so it’s safer to mess with outriggers when it’s rough. Also adding Aftco roller clips to replace my Gemlux that had a cut melted into them from the lines chaffing over time.
-Adding a CE Smith (4) life jacket storage bag under my hard top. Planning to mount the bag to starboard with a bunch of stainless screws and fender washers, then mounting the starboard to the hardtop with Heavy Duty Industrial Velcro. This will make the bag portable and limit more holes (I already mounted enough things to it). I did recently mount a roof rack to the front of the hard top and use a makeshift PVC rack using the rocket launchers. I didn’t get pictures of that yet, but will post when I finish the hard top install for the bag.
-Last but not least, have custom SeaDek bow to stern to be professionally installed soon, just awaiting an opening in dates to have it laid down.
