I am still not sure why we were so immediately attracted to the Nael. She is not what you would call a pretty boat. A shipyard in France that decided to produce a yacht line built her. This outfit built ships and Naels' style of construction shows it. She is very heavily constructed with heavier framing than I have ever seen in a steel yacht. With an overall length of only thirty-six feet, and a beam of nearly thirteen feet, she weighs in at nineteen tons.

     Needless to say, Nael is not going to win any races. Merlyn never liked racing anyway and I was ready to opt for comfort over speed. Nael rarely heels over more than eleven degrees and has a very gentle motion at sea.

     The fellow we bought Nael from was a traditional bare-bones sailor. The only electronic device on the boat was a Furuno twenty-four-mile radar. There were three electric lights and four Kerosene lamps. There was not even a light in the compass!

     Now let me say right here that electronics are not necessary. I sailed for years with no more than a compass, sextant and a nautical almanac. I never have, and never will, entirely trust any means of electronic navigation. However, I am getting lazy in my years and all this new-fangled hardware does seem to work pretty well. Besides, I love toys…

     We finally took possession of Nael in January of 1997 and began to refit her to suit our likes and needs. It took three and a half months of steady work to do this. I added electronics (GPS, HAM radio,  a stereo system, a built in computer, a complete set of sailing instruments, and lighting throughout). Merlyn rebuilt all her sails and built awnings and spray dodgers. We hauled her out and stripped her to bare steel below the waterline then refinished with epoxy barrier and undercoats, then three coats of a good hard bottom paint.  We refinished her topsides, decks and cabin sides, overhauled all winches and deck hardware, and replaced the broken windlass. The batteries were old and small. They were upgraded and replaced and a second bank was installed. We also constructed an arch on the stern to support a large solar panel and two wind generators.

     With Merlyn busy with sails, canvas, and interior fabrics, and myself busy with systems and such, we had very little time to play. The good part is that time passed very quickly and on April 16, 1997, we left our beloved Hawaii Yacht Club bound for Hilo.

THE CRUISE BEGINS

     We had a wonderful send off from our friends at Hawaii Yacht Club followed by a relaxing sail to Lahaina, Maui. We had stopped for a day at Haleolono on Molokai and were rested and happy when we arrived in Lahaina. The harbormaster and friends made us welcome and the next day wished us well as we set off for Hilo.

     The sail to Hilo was more difficult as it involves sailing up, through and accross the dreaded Alenuihaha channel. The wind and seas were up, so we pounded hard to weather for 37 hours before anchoring in Hilo.

     About twenty minutes after we dropped anchor in Radio Bay, the sirens went off and the Tsunami warning center came on the radio to announce (of course) a Tsunami warning. Supposedly, after a grueling hard weather sail, we are expected to prepare to put to sea at any moment! "This is ridiculous," I thought. "We are nearly out of beer." With my motley crew, going to sea without enough beer is begging for a mutiny. The warning was gratefully canceled after two hours (the beer store was still not open yet) and finally we could pass out properly without the worry of having a mountain of water fall on us. We spent nearly three weeks in Hilo making all the final preparations for the 2, 400 mile sail to Samoa via Palmyra. I wanted to spend a little time with my family. At the time I had no idea when I might see them again.

     We were in radio contact with Roger on Palmyra atoll, so this time also included picking up supplies for him and another yacht that was already there.

KEEHI LAGOON

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