# Missing 25 Foot Sail Boat and Skipper



## casey1999

Hang in there Ron,

http://www.hawaiinewsnetwork.com/friends-of-missing-boater-hold-on-to-hope/

Friends of missing boater hold on to hope

Posted on December 1, 2014

There's still no sign of a missing boater off Kailua-Kona.

On Thursday, 67-year-old Ron Ingraham radioed a Mayday, saying his 25-foot boat "Malia" was taking on water.

"This is Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. I'm in the middle of Alinui Channel. Uh, small boat, dangerous sinking," said Ingraham.

He issued the Mayday call Thursday morning and was about 46 miles southwest of Kailua-Kona.

Friends say Ingraham is an experienced fisherman who lives on his boat at Kaunakakai Pier and would often travel to Lanai.

"This last couple months, he's been catching his boat to Lanai, fishing akule or mepachi and catching a ride with his cooler going up to the Lanai City. Selling his fish, trying to make a few dollars there," said Dedric Manaba, a commercial fisherman on Molokai and a friend of Ingraham.

The Coast Guard believes he was sailing alone from Kauanakai Harbor to Manele Bay on Lanai. How he got swept off course remains a mystery. His friends say the weather conditions could be to blame.

"I think when he left Manele and went around, I think he got into the strong wind and maybe got some engine trouble or something," said Manaba.

So far, the Coast Guard has searched more than 7,000 square miles for Ingraham by air and deployed a tracking buoy to get a better read on where he could have drifted.

Ingraham's friends believe he traveled with proper safety equipment and say he even had a kayak on board.

"I'm hoping, I'm praying to God that he's on one of the beaches of Lanai up Shipwreck Beach. And that he hurt himself as the boat was sinking trying to get into his kayak," said Kenneth Corder, a commercial fisherman on Molokai and a friend of Ingraham. "In my heart, I believe he's gone."

"He's a tough 67-year-old guy. And I believe with all his experience and stuff, I believe he's still out there either on his boat or on his kayak. I think he's still out there. And I'm hoping they can find him," said Manaba.

According to the Coast Guard, the current weather conditions are 35 mile per hour winds with eight to 15-foot seas.

Crews will continue searching throughout the night by helicopter.


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## casey1999

Update:
Search continues for Molokai man
The Coast Guard attempts to locate a missing fisherman


By Rob Shikina



POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Dec 01, 2014 
LAST UPDATED: 09:38 a.m. HST, Dec 01, 2014 



U.S. COAST GUARD
This picture is of 25-foot sailboat Malia whose owner placed a mayday call Nov. 27 saying his vessel was taking on water and in danger of sinking 46 miles west of Kailua-Kona. 
An ocean search for a Molo*kai fisherman who made a distress call four days ago is still being treated as a search-and-rescue mission, the Coast Guard said Sunday.

Ron Ingraham, 67, made a distress call at about 8 a.m. Thursday, saying his vessel was flooding and in danger of sinking 46 miles west of Kailua-Kona, the Coast Guard said.

Before losing contact, Ingraham gave his GPS coordinates, which were near Ale*nui*haha Channel — the passage between Maui and Hawaii island, the Coast Guard said.

Ingraham is believed to be the only person aboard the Malia, a 25-foot sailboat that left Kau*na*ka*kai Harbor, Molo*kai, for Ma*nele Bay, Lanai.

On Sunday, Ingraham's friends struggled to remain hopeful as a small-craft advisory remained in effect for waters around the islands and no sign of Ingraham was found.

"It's a tough one," friend Dedric Ma*naba said by phone from Molo*kai. "Each day that goes by, you think he's probably gone. He's a nice guy."

He said strong northerly winds may have pushed Ingraham, a longtime fisherman, south of his intended course. He wondered why the Coast Guard hadn't spotted any debris, and said Ingraham had a kayak on his boat.

By Sunday afternoon the Coast Guard had searched 7,798 square miles, the agency said.

Aircraft crews conducted more than 50 sorties in the search mission, which began Thursday and focused on an area southwest of Maui.

To determine where to look, the Coast Guard dropped a self-locating buoy to track ocean currents and used a software system that calculates the most likely place to find a person in the water.

But severe weather hampered the search. On Friday the 87-foot Coast Guard cutter Ahi turned around because of the weather.

The rough seas were expected to continue, with a small-craft advisory probably being extended past its 6 p.m. Monday expiration, the National Weather Service said. Northeast winds were predicted to be about 28 mph in the Ale*nui*haha Channel with waves of about 12 feet Monday, the weather service said.

On Sunday the Navy assisted in the search with a P-3 Orion patrol plane.

The Coast Guard did not say how long it will continue searching for Ingraham, but said a MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew would search Sunday evening and overnight.



Conditions must be rough if an 87 foot CG cutter turns around.
Pic of sailboat attached


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## miatapaul

Hope they find him, sounds like some rough stuff. Very sad.


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## rbyham

Looks like a Bayfield 25... pretty solid pocket cruiser...


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## casey1999

RIP Ron.

Coast Guard suspends search for missing Thanksgiving mayday boater off Kailua-Kona 
Dec 02, 2014 - 8:01 AM 

The Coast Guard has suspended the search for 67-year-old Ron Ingraham who has been missing since Thursday after he placed a mayday call at 8…
The Coast Guard has suspended the search for 67-year-old Ron Ingraham who has been missing since Thursday after he placed a mayday call at 8:03 a.m. saying his vessel was taking on water and in danger of sinking 46 miles west of Kailua-Kona.

“The suspension of an active search and rescue case without definitive resolution is one of the most difficult command decisions a commanding officer has to make,” said Capt. Shannon Gilreath, Sector Commander, Coast Guard Sector Honolulu. “We have exhausted all available resources in our efforts to locate Mr. Ingraham but, pending further developments, I have have decided to suspend the active search.”

Coast Guard and Navy crews conducted an extensive search of the area, flying 59 sorties and covering approximately 12,000 square miles since Thursday.

Involved in the search were MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crews and HC-130 Hercules airplane crews from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point along with the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Ahi, an 87-foot patrol boat homeported in Honolulu and a Navy P-3 Orion crew from Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Oahu.

During the course of those flights, Coast Guard HC-130 crews deployed a self-locating datum marker buoy to gather critical information for the development of search areas. To calculate search areas in the complex currents of the Hawaiian Islands, watchstanders use the Search and Rescue Optimal Planning System.

SAROPS is a software system that uses simulated particles generated by users in a graphical interface. These particles are then influenced by environmental data to provide information on search object drift. Using information on a point of origin and local currents, it calculates the most likely area to find a person in the water.

The 67-year-old Ingraham is believed to be the sole person aboard the 25-foot sailing vessel Malia which departed Kaunakakai Harbor, Molokai, to Manele Bay, Lanai.

A friend of Ingraham called Coast Guard Sector Honolulu Command Center Friday and cited Tuesday, November 25th as the last time he spoke with him.

Watchstanders at Sector Honolulu Command Center received the mayday call over VHF radio channel 16 at 8:03 a.m. Thursday. Ingraham reported flooding on his boat and provided a GPS position approximately 46 miles west of Kailua-Kona near Alenuihaha Channel before communications were lost.


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## miatapaul

A real shame they did not find him. Those waters there can be really bad. I take it there is a strong current in the channel, but one would think the boat would have left some bit of debris behind. I that when I go (as we all must) being able to go doing something you love is the way to go. My grandfather had a massive heat attack and died on the golf course. The only thing he would likely rather died doing was hunting. To go doing what you love is the way to go.


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## MarkofSeaLife

Dunno. i would prefer to die in my sleep at 97 after the 20 year old nurse have tucked me in.

This is another very sad case. Also another, third this month, without an EPIRB.


Mark


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## miatapaul

MarkofSeaLife said:


> Dunno. i would prefer to die in my sleep at 97 after the 20 year old nurse have tucked me in.
> 
> This is another very sad case. Also another, third this month, without an EPIRB.
> 
> Mark


well I think tyrion lannister said it best:


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## MarkofSeaLife

miatapaul said:


> well I think tyrion lannister said it best:


Bastard stole my line!


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## casey1999

miatapaul said:


> A real shame they did not find him. Those waters there can be really bad. I take it there is a strong current in the channel, but one would think the boat would have left some bit of debris behind. I that when I go (as we all must) being able to go doing something you love is the way to go. My grandfather had a massive heat attack and died on the golf course. The only thing he would likely rather died doing was hunting. To go doing what you love is the way to go.


Weather has been real rough here last two weeks. Strong trades and swell from multple directions. The wind in that channel could easily be 40 Knts with 20 foot breaking waves. the alenuihaha channel is one of worlds most dangerous-trades funneling between two volcanoes one at 10,000 ft and other at 14,000 feet. And cg help by air is 100 miles away. In the white capped covered water, nearly impossible to find much debis, and depth is 5,000 feet. Not a place one wants to have a problem.


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## krisscross

Even if he got in his kayak before the boat sunk, his chances of making it to shore would have been slim to none in that weather and in that place. He probably joined the Davy Jones crew. RIP old sailor dude.


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## casey1999

krisscross said:


> Even if he got in his kayak before the boat sunk, his chances of making it to shore would have been slim to none in that weather and in that place. He probably joined the Davy Jones crew. RIP old sailor dude.


Agree,
Not sure if you folks are familiar with the Hawaiian Eddie Aikau, but he is probably the best waterman in the world.






"In 1978, the Polynesian Voyaging Society was seeking volunteers for a 30 day, 2,500-mile (4,000 km) journey to follow the ancient route of the Polynesian migration between the Hawaiian and Tahitian island chains. At 31 years of age, Aikau joined the voyage as a crew member. The Hokule'a left the Hawaiian islands on March 16, 1978. The double-hulled voyaging canoe developed a leak in one of the hulls and later capsized about twelve miles (19 km) south of the island of Molokai. In an attempt to get help, Aikau paddled toward Lanai on his surfboard.[6] Although the rest of the crew was later rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Cape Corwin, Aikau was never seen again. He removed his lifejacket since it was hindering his paddling of the surfboard. The ensuing search for Aikau was the largest air-sea search in Hawaiian history.[7]"

Even he could not win the battle. He was lost not far from the Alenuihaha Channel, and an area with similar conditions.
Another article on Eddie:

Eddie Aikau

Eddie Aikau

(from the Eddie Aikau Foundation Website)

Edward Ryon Makuahanai "Eddie" Aikau (May 4, 1946 - March 17, 1978) is one of the most respected names in surfing. He was the first lifeguard at Waimea Bay on the island of Oahu. He saved many lives and became well known as a big-wave surfer. "Eddie" was a true symbol of Aloha.

Born on the island of Maui, Aikau later moved to O'ahu with his family in 1959. In 1968, he became the first lifeguard hired by the City & County of Honolulu to work on the North Shore. Not one life was lost while he served as lifeguard at Waimea Bay. Eddie braved surf that often reached 20 feet high or more to make a rescue. He became very famous for surfing the big Hawaiian surf and won several surfing awards including First Place at the prestigious 1977 Duke Kahanamoku Invitational Surfing Championship. The local saying, "Eddie Would Go," refers to his stoke to take on big waves that other surfers would shy away from and his courage to make a rescue in impossible situations.

"Eddie" became involved in perpetuating his Hawaiian heritage. In 1976, the Polynesian Voyaging Society sailed the Hokule'a on a successful 30-day, 2500 mile journey following the ancient route of the Polynesian migration between the Hawaiian and Tahitian islands. In 1978, a second voyage of the traditional sailing canoe was planned. At 31 years of age, Aikau was selected for this voyage as a crew member. The Hokule'a left the Hawaiian Islands on March 16, 1978. The double-hulled voyaging canoe developed a leak in one of the hulls and later capsized in stormy weather about twelve miles south of the island of Molokai. In an attempt to get to land to save his crew and the Hokule'a, Aikau paddled toward Lanai on his surfboard. Hours later a commercial airplane spotted the Hokule'a and the rest of the crew was soon rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard. Aikau was missing at sea. Despite great search efforts "Eddie" was never seen again.

Remembrance of Eddie

From an Interview of Nainoa Thompson in "The Ocean Is My Classroom," written by Gisela E. Speidel, Editor of The Kamehameha Journal of Education, and Kristina Inn, Associate Editor

Nainoa hesitates and looks away. "It's only fair to mention that it wasn't all perfect and glorious. We made mistakes. I must tell you about Eddie, because he had, and still has, great influence on me; he's one of my great teachers." Nainoa tells of how Hokule'a, a few hours after leaving Honolulu harbor, capsized in the Moloka'i Channel and floated upside down, the crew clinging to her overturned hulls. For hours airplanes flew overhead between the islands but did not spot them. Fearing that they might drift ever further away from help, Eddie Aikau, lifeguard on the big surf beach of the North Shore of O'ahu and at home on his surfboard in even 30-foot waves, left on a surfboard to get help. Eddie was never seen again, Hokule'a finally found.

"Come, I want to show you something." Nainoa steps into another room and points to a picture of a young man, tanned with long hair, smiling, and looking as if about to talk with you - it is Eddie. "Eddie had this dream about finding islands the way our ancestors did. Whenever I feel down, I look at Eddie and I recall his dream. He was a great teacher. He was a lifeguard ... he guarded life, and he lost his own, trying to guard ours. Eddie cared about others and took care of others. He had great dreams, he had great passions.

"After Eddie's death, we could have quit. But then Eddie wouldn't have had his dream fulfilled. He was my spirit. He was saying to me, 'Raise those islands.' His tragedy also made us aware of how dangerous our adventure was, how unprepared we were in body and in spirit." Is it perhaps from trying to make sense of Eddie's tragic death that Nainoa has come to understand that success should not be measured by the outcome of something we do but by "reaching a new place within ourselves?"

Eddie Riding on the Crest of the Myth

Twenty years ago this month, big-wave surfer and lifeguard Eddie Aikau lost his life in a brave effort to save crew members of the capsized Hokule'a

Article by Burl Burlingame, Star-Bulletin. Posted: Friday, March 6, 1998.

Aikau on the day the Hokule'a set sail. Courtesy of David Bettencourt.

That Eddie would go was never seriously in doubt. After a night of clinging to the overturned hull of capsized voyaging canoe Hokule'a, ignored by close-passing ships and aircraft, flares sputtering futilely in the darkness, and islands growing smaller on the churning horizon, in the mid-morning of March 17, 1978, crewman Eddie Aikau insisted on paddling his surfboard for help. Lanai, he estimated, was only 12 miles away.

But the canoe was being battered by choppy waves and gale-force winds, and the capsized hull rode low in the water, making it difficult to accurately gauge distance. After a conference among the Hokule'a's officers, they decided Eddie could go; indeed, he could not be restrained. Aikau tied the surfboard leash to his ankle and a portable strobe light and some oranges around his neck, and hesitantly tied a life jacket around his waist.

Aikau estimated it would take five hours to reach land. As he paddled away, crew members held hands and said a prayer. Some saw Aikau ditch the clumsy life jacket a few hundred feet from the canoe hull. Others saw him on his knees, paddling strongly, the board riding up and over the grumbling whitecaps, peeking into sight, smaller and smaller as he stroked away. No one ever saw Eddie Aikau again.

Twenty years later, the sacrifice of Hawaiian surfer and lifeguard Eddie Aikau has reached mythic status. "Eddie Would Go stickers dot bumpers everywhere. The Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau Big Wave International surf meet occurs only when the biggest waves descend howling upon Waimea Bay. A plaque in his memory is lovingly tended by lifeguards and friends at the bay -- which was stolen for the first time on the same day it was dedicated. And "Eddie Would Go," a new play by Bryan Wake, is playing at Honolulu Theatre for Youth.

This sense of mythology is what drew Wake to the subject, his first play, spurred on by the enthusiasm of former HTY director Peter Brosius.

Myth vs. man

When Wake began researching, however, he discovered that Aikau's celebrity as a cultural hero had begun to chip away at memories of the real man, and worse, were becoming combined in the popular subconscious. "There were kids who were mixing him up with George Helm, with Duke Kahanamoku. I was six when Aikau disappeared, and for years I was convinced he disappeared while rescuing tourists from a boat in Waimea Bay."

The circumstances of Aikau's life fit neatly into the archetype of the mythic hero, the humble person from poor surroundings who masters a particular skill, who saves his fellow man or lifts them from despair, and who then vanishes or dies tragically in such a way that leaves his absence open to speculation and interpretation.

Born May 4, 1946, on Maui, the third of six close-knit children, Edward Ryan Aikau discovered the waves of Kahului -- pre-harbor, it regularly broke two- to three-foot -- by helping father Solomon "Pops" Aikau drag a heavy redwood surfboard to the beach. The family moved to Oahu in 1959, where they took care of a Chinese graveyard.

Eddie kept surfing, fixated on it, dropped out of school and worked at the Dole Cannery so he'd have the morning breaks open for surfing. "He was an A and B student before he dropped out," said sister Myra Aikau.

In 1967, virtually unknown on the North Shore, he showed up at a huge day at Waimea Bay, free-falling down thundering 40-footers, a smile on his face, and was instantly embraced by the professional surfing fraternity.

There are surfers, and there are big-wave surfers. One type uses the wave to propel his board, he's in charge; the other becomes an extension of the ocean, riding on its mighty shoulder.

"I surf some of the biggest waves in the world, I'm the oldest guy in the world surfing the biggest waves in the world, and I've seen lots of surfers take off," said Clyde Aikau, Eddie's younger brother and his best friend. "But none surfed like Eddie. He'd take off on a big, big scary wave, and he'd be sliding down it with the biggest smile you ever saw. The rest of us are nervous. Eddie belonged there; it was home."

That rare skill began the legend. After all, waves coalesce, gathering into a surge all the little wavelets that wrinkle the ocean's skin, the energy roiling into a kind of cyclic engine, pushed by wind and storm and tidal forces and pulled by the moon and then, when the spinning water strikes a rising beach, it rears up, climbing and then collapses, foaming the shore with the vibes of storms far over the horizon. And here's Eddie, so at ease in these immense forces that he smiles when he surfs. Eddie would go, all right.

Aikau became known not just as a superb surfer, but as a mediator and lifesaver, someone who'd leap into the surf to rescue someone in serious trouble, or break up arguments with logic and simple good cheer. In recognition of his special skills, he became a lifeguard at Waimea Bay despite not having a high school diploma.

"It was a special thing that he got an exemption to be a lifeguard even though he didn't have a high-school degree," said Clyde Aikau. "But Eddie had knowledge, not education."

'Only Eddie dared'

Another step in building a legend: doing something no one else has done before or since, purely on the basis of raw skill. Aikau's prowess as a lifeguard became widely known, and a comforting presence on the beach. No one drowned on his watch, dozens were saved, at least the ones we know about, because Aikau rarely bothered to file reports on lifesaving.
"The phrase 'Eddie would go' predates Hokule'a," said Mac Simpson, maritime historian. "Aikau was a legend on the North Shore, pulling people out of waves that no one else would dare to. That's where the saying came from -- Eddie would go, when no else would or could. Only Eddie dared."

His fellow lifeguards voted Aikau Lifeguard of the Year in 1971.

David Bettencourt, attorney and sports enthusiast, met Aikau at a luau when the surfer had returned from a surfing contest match in South Africa that didn't happen.

"He didn't think he was bigger than anyone else. All the surfers I knew talked about him -- Ricky Grigg, Jose Angel -- but when we met I was amazed at how little he said. It's not just that his accomplishments were so well known that he didn't need to talk about them, it's that he was genuinely humble," said Bettencourt, who was "hanai'd" by the Aikau family after suffering a hang-gliding accident.

During the 1970s, Aikau became more interested in his Hawaiian-ness, expressing it through spirituality and curiosity about the then-new Hawaiian "renaissance." Part of it was a reaction to older brother Gerald's death in an auto crash just a month after returning from combat in Vietnam.

Aikau decided that he'd try out for the second voyage as a Hokule'a crew member, and began spending every free moment at the dock, learning everything he could about the voyaging canoe.When the time came, as Aikau waited with other Hokule'a candidates to see if he had made the cut, he played a song he had written for the occasion, which noted, "Hawaii's pride she sails with the wind / and proud are we to see her sail free / Feelings deep and so strong / For Hoku, Hokule'a / For Hoku, Hokule'a ..."

"I don't think there was a dry eye in the room as he finished," recalled fellow candidate Marian Lyman-Mersereau. "I felt great admiration for this man, who was not only a courageous and gifted athlete, but a sensitive and talented musician as well. I looked forward to getting to know him ..."

She didn't get the chance. A few hours after she launched amid officious hoopla at Magic Island, Hokule'a, overloaded, with "watertight" compartments letting in water on one side, and thrashed by choppy seas, was struck opposite and broadside by a large wave, driving a wedge of water under the lighter outrigger and flipping the craft like a pancake.

"People who live on shore simply do not understand that a sailboat cannot be operated like a train. The weather is a factor, the major factor," sighs Herb Kane, Hokule'a designer, historian and artist. "Hokule'a took off that day because they felt they had to. The governor was there to see them off, and had brought news crews. But the weather wasn't right. When you have to conform to someone else's schedule, you have to accept risks."

As Aikau told disc jockey Ron Jacobs in his last interview that day before the canoe left, pressure from "the media and all our families" was becoming "unbelievable from all over, but once we sail out there, we'll be all right. We can settle down and be ourselves." And then he played his "Hokule'a" song live on the air.

The great adventure became a life-and-death struggle. Ironically, only a few hours after Aikau disappeared, the rest of the crew were spotted by chance and rescued. "That's what creates the legend, the all-consuming, selfless act," said Wake. "It's the tragic heroes that become mythical."

The search for Aikau became the largest air-sea rescue effort in modern Hawaiian history.

"Oh, wow, it was tough," recalls Clyde Aikau. "In 1978 I was in Australia at a surf meet when I heard about Eddie, and all through the flight back, I kept looking out over the ocean, just hoping. If anyone could make it, Eddie could."

"I was so sick the day Hokule'a left; strep throat," said Bettencourt. "I went home, and the next day canceled my court stuff. But then I got a call saying Eddie had disappeared. We searched in my plane. (Pilot) Tom Hauptmann put a Hughes 500 (helicopter) at our disposal and we searched for days."

He sighed as well. "We saw the board, I'm sure of it, and about a hundred yards away from the board, something orange in the sea. It's always haunted me. We pulled up to get our bearings -- we didn't have navigation equipment then like we do now -- and lost it beneath us. When we went back down, we couldn't find it, or it was gone. This isn't known, but the helicopter ran up like a $6,000 to $7,000 fuel bill while it was searching for Eddie, which was paid by (singer) Helen Reddy, who just quietly gave us the money."

Eddie would go, and he was gone. The legend ended there and the myth began. "I heard one kid saying that Eddie is the guy who hits the biggest waves, but if he were to walk by today, she wouldn't recognize him," pondered Wake. "There's a real belief out there that Eddie is still among us somehow, still looking out for swimmers. The trick in doing the play was to balance and honor the man, but also to be truthful."

Still healing

For Myra Aikau, who's still grieving after 20 years, the loss still aches.
"The hardest part, looking back, the hardest part was not seeing the body," she said. "You can never be sure without a body. Psychics would call us up and say Eddie was over here, or over there, just crazy stuff, and we finally had to put a halt to it. Eddie's gone."

To this day, people still call her to say they'd seen "Eddie standing beside the road on Molokai, or on a hiking trail somewhere, or at the beach, out in the waves. But you know, that's not Eddie, at least not the real Eddie. But it might be Eddie's spirit."

Bettencourt remembers Aikau "as the first Renaissance Hawaiian. He was completely happy to be Hawaiian -- never wished to be anything else -- and he stuck to the basics of behavior and culture, a simple life without a lot of negative impact on others.

The bumper stickers came in the '80s, as did other commemorations. The Quiksilver surf contest always begins with a beachside ceremony celebrating Aikau, and then the contest settles in to wait for Waimea's legendary waves to build properly. As contest director, George Downing's official rules state: "We will wait for that special day when the bay expresses its beauty -- a day that would stoke Eddie."

And so Eddie Aikau, who shrank from being larger than life in real life, became remembered for a heroic legacy that few can comprehend.

"He was heroic when I knew him," said Kamau'u. "The bumper stickers actually do mean something. He had a courage about him that went beyond the physical, it was spiritual as well. He's an inspiration. He gave his life to save his crew -- what more can you say?"

"His legacy is not to live solely for yourself, to help each other, to be of service, that's about it, brah," said Clyde Aikau. "I don't know about this myth deal. He gave his life to save others. That's it. If you're an old person, lived a full life, it's a tragedy when you go, but it's not unexpected. But Eddie was in his early 30s."

One of the things that ran through Wake's mind while writing the play was the sense of aloha that Aikau personified, something Wake doesn't see a lot of any more. "OK, he was a symbol, but he was a symbol of something we're in danger of losing -- aloha, simply being kind to your fellow man. Think about car jackings, people getting beat up on the North Shore. That sort of thing rarely happened in Eddie's day. We've changed, and so our real memories of Eddie Aikau become more and more distant. It's society that has changed, not Eddie Aikau."

Mused Downing, "When I look back, it keeps coming to mind -- and I was trained as a seaman in the Coast Guard -- never, never leave the ship. In Eddie's case, though, the first thing that came into his mind was the saving of lives. It was a natural thing with him, an urge that overwhelmed him, to help, even at risk to his own life.

"But the processes and skills that worked so well for him at the beach were not the same on the open ocean. His decision to go for help was highly emotional, but based on a lifetime of water skill and on the way his family valued life. You have to admire that incredible desire to care for people, to the point where his sense of self didn't matter. Like that guy in 'Titanic' who drowns so that the girl can survive; Eddie was like that. It killed him, but it also created him."

Right now the Hokuleia is circumnavigating the planet:
Hokulea ? Worldwide Voyage Tracking Map - Hokulea


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## miatapaul

casey1999 said:


> Weather has been real rough here last two weeks. Strong trades and swell from multple directions. The wind in that channel could easily be 40 Knts with 20 foot breaking waves. the alenuihaha channel is one of worlds most dangerous-trades funneling between two volcanoes one at 10,000 ft and other at 14,000 feet. And cg help by air is 100 miles away. In the white capped covered water, nearly impossible to find much debis, and depth is 5,000 feet. Not a place one wants to have a problem.


I think I remember Bob Bitchen talk about that stretch and how it was really hard to make it through on Lost soul and that is a monster of a cruising boat. I suppose he is now spending his time listening to braddah IZ. May he rest in peace.


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## casey1999

miatapaul said:


> I think I remember Bob Bitchen talk about that stretch and how it was really hard to make it through on Lost soul and that is a monster of a cruising boat. I suppose he is now spending his time listening to braddah IZ. May he rest in peace.


Captain Cook had a problem in the Alenuihaha Channel also. After leaving the Island of Hawaii (Big Island) to sail to Oahu, he broke a spar in the high winds of the Alenuihaha. :

Captain Cook killed in Hawaii ? History.com This Day in History ? 2/14/1779

"On February 14, 1779, Captain James Cook, the great English explorer and navigator, is murdered by natives of Hawaii during his third visit to the Pacific island group.

In 1768, Cook, a surveyor in the Royal Navy, was commissioned a lieutenant in command of the HMS Endeavor and led an expedition that took scientists to Tahiti to chart the course of the planet Venus. In 1771, he returned to England, having explored the coast of New Zealand and Australia and circumnavigated the globe. Beginning in 1772, he commanded a major mission to the South Pacific and during the next three years explored the Antarctic region, charted the New Hebrides, and discovered New Caledonia. In 1776, Cook sailed from England again as commander of the HMS Resolution and Discovery, and in January 1778 he made his first visit to the Hawaiian Islands. He may have been the first European to ever visit the island group, which he named the Sandwich Islands in honor of one of his patrons, John Montague, the Earl of Sandwich.

Cook and his crew were welcomed by the Hawaiians, who were fascinated by the Europeans' ships and their use of iron. Cook provisioned his ships by trading the metal, and his sailors traded iron nails for sex. The ships then made a brief stop at Ni'ihau and headed north to look for the western end of a northwest passage from the North Atlantic to the Pacific. Almost one year later, Cook's two ships returned to the Hawaiian Islands and found a safe harbor in Hawaii's Kealakekua Bay.

It is suspected that the Hawaiians attached religious significance to the first stay of the Europeans on their islands. In Cook's second visit, there was no question of this phenomenon. Kealakekua Bay was considered the sacred harbor of Lono, the fertility god of the Hawaiians, and at the time of Cook's arrival the locals were engaged in a festival dedicated to Lono. Cook and his compatriots were welcomed as gods and for the next month exploited the Hawaiians' good will. After one of the crewmen died, exposing the Europeans as mere mortals, relations became strained. On February 4, 1779, the British ships sailed from Kealakekua Bay, but rough seas damaged the foremast of the Resolution, and after only a week at sea the expedition was forced to return to Hawaii.

The Hawaiians greeted Cook and his men by hurling rocks; they then stole a small cutter vessel from the Discovery. Negotiations with King Kalaniopuu for the return of the cutter collapsed after a lesser Hawaiian chief was shot to death and a mob of Hawaiians descended on Cook's party. The captain and his men fired on the angry Hawaiians, but they were soon overwhelmed, and only a few managed to escape to the safety of the Resolution. Captain Cook himself was killed by the mob. A few days later, the Englishmen retaliated by firing their cannons and muskets at the shore, killing some 30 Hawaiians. The Resolution and Discovery eventually returned to England."


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## casey1999

Interesting that Cook's crew traded nails for sex. I read another article that said Cook needed to leave the big island as his ship was falling apart- the crew were pulling out the ships nails. I guess that is why "pleasure" boats are now made of fiberglass...


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## miatapaul

casey1999 said:


> Interesting that Cook's crew traded nails for sex. I read another article that said Cook needed to leave the big island as his ship was falling apart- the crew were pulling out the ships nails. I guess that is why "pleasure" boats are now made of fiberglass...


Perhaps where the phrase "I nailed her" came from?


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## BoatShowAvenue

These are terrible news  i hope they can find him soon enough!


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## casey1999

BoatShowAvenue said:


> These are terrible news  i hope they can find him soon enough!


No new news for several days. The search ended several days ago. I am sorry to say I think Ron has been lost at sea. RIP


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## casey1999

Well this cat has 9 lives:

Missing mariner found alive, 12 days after call for help - Hawaii News - Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Missing mariner found alive, 12 days after call for help

By Star-Advertiser staff

POSTED: 11:20 a.m. HST, Dec 09, 2014 
LAST UPDATED: 11:35 a.m. HST, Dec 09, 2014

A 67-year-old boater, missing at sea since Thanksgiving, was located alive Tuesday by the Navy.

Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Scott Carr said Ron Ingraham was found 52 nautical miles south of Honolulu after the Coast Guard received a mayday call from Ingraham Tuesday morning.

The Coast Guard launched a C-130 helicopter and contacted the Navy, which had a warship in the area. The Navy arrived at the scene and launched a small boat to rescue Ingraham.

"He's tired. He's hungry but he's OK," said Carr.

The Coast Guard had conducted a massive search for Ingraham after they received a mayday call from him on Nov. 27 that his 25-foot boat Malia was taking on water and in danger of sinking near the Alenuihaha Channel, about 46 miles west of Kailua-Kona.

He was traveling alone from Molokai to Lanai.

The Coast Guard suspended its search for Ingram on Dec. 1.

Way to go Ron,


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## miatapaul

Wow that is great news! was he still in his boat and they could not find it? That is not encouraging.


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## casey1999

miatapaul said:


> Wow that is great news! was he still in his boat and they could not find it? That is not encouraging.


I cannot find the details. I am sure tomorrow the details will be available. Nothing was mentioned about the sailboat. The original story was he had a kayak on the boat- maybe he was in that. He did call out on the VHF this morning and that is how he got rescued. Not sure if it was a hand held unit or not. The CG here has antennas on mountains and they can receive signals from many miles away if conditions are right.

I hope Ron gets a PLB and maybe one of the new Standard VHF's with built in GPS and DISC. Like these:

STANDARD HORIZON GX1700 Compact VHF Radio with Built-In GPS | West Marine

ACR ELECTRONICS ResQLink+ Buoyant Personal Locator Beacon | West Marine

or a hand held:
http://www.westmarine.com/buy/stand...ting-handheld-vhf-with-built-in-gps--11029907


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## casey1999

Word is that Robert Redford is flying to Hawaii as we post. He wants to film the sequel to "All is Lost". The rumor is in Part II, Robert does fix the VHF and the call to the CG goes through. Robert needs to meet with Ron to sign off on the movie rights.


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## casey1999

miatapaul said:


> Wow that is great news! was he still in his boat and they could not find it? That is not encouraging.


Just saw cg video. Boat intact, mast up, kayak on board it looks like.


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## krisscross

That is great news. He must have stopped the leak, or at least slowed it down. I wonder if the leak was related to his rudder, as he was apparently unable to sail.


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## SHNOOL

talk about crazy mis-reporting
Boater found alive at sea nearly two weeks after reported missin - KLTV.com-Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville, Texas | ETX News

"Both his masts was broken. He was sailing on a little auxiliary sail, trying to make his way back," Molokai fisherman and Ingraham's friend Dedrick Manaba said"

Really 25 foot double mast? Fisherman that doesn't know a mast from a boom? What kind of quote was that?

There is one tough sailor.


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## deltaten

New meaning and encouragement to:
"Never, ever, EVER give up!"
Pleased to hear thehappy ending on this one!


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## casey1999

Here is the CG video:


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## casey1999

Story in todays paper:
Missing boater found 64 miles south of Oahu Hawaii News, Honolulu, Honolulu News, Sports, Editorial, Features, Travel and Business - Honolulu Star-Advertiser - Hawaii Newspaper

Friends of a Molokai fisherman are scrapping plans for a memorial service now that he was rescued after going missing at sea for nearly two weeks.

Ron Ingraham, 67, radioed for help through a VHF channel about 8 a.m. Tuesday, and the guided-missile destroyer USS Paul Hamilton, which was about 14 miles away, reached him about an hour later, 64 miles south of Oahu.

"He was hungry, tired and a little bit weak," said Coast Guard Lt. Scott Carr. "I don't think he had eaten in a little while."

Ingraham, who was also dehydrated, was recovering Tuesday aboard the Hawaii-based destroyer, the Coast Guard said.

Carr said Ingraham's 25-foot sailboat, Malia, was intact, and rescuers were trying to repair its outboard motor to allow Ingraham to continue on his own to Molokai, where he lives on his boat in the harbor.

He said there wasn't enough wind for Ingraham to sail back.

"Unbelievable," said Ingraham's friend and commercial fisherman Dedric Manaba, who had tried to remain hopeful during the Coast Guard search touched off by a radioed call for help on Thanksgiving Day. "This is awesome."

Manaba said he was preparing fliers for a memorial service set to take place in the Kaunakakai Harbor slip where Ingraham docks his boat.

Friends described Ingraham as a longtime fisherman who often fishes off Lanai and sells his fish on the island.

"I can't wait to talk to him," Manaba said. "I just want to hear what happened."

Carr said he didn't know the specifics on how Ingraham survived 12 days at sea after his first mayday call. He said rescuers plan to debrief Ingraham.

Ingraham radioed for help at about 8 a.m. on Nov. 27, saying his boat was taking on water and in danger of sinking. He reported being 46 miles west of Kailua-Kona before his VHF radio communication cut off, prompting a Coast Guard search in severe weather.

A Coast Guard HC-130 airplane crew reached the place Ingraham reported to be in about an hour, but couldn't find any sign of the sailboat.

The 87-foot Coast Guard cutter Ahi, which also launched the first day, was forced to turn around because of strong winds and rough seas.

The Coast Guard continued searching by air with the HC-130 airplane and an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter, while Navy crews assisted with a P-3 Orion aircraft.

The search was suspended Dec. 1 after the Coast Guard and Navy conducted 59 sorties and covered 12,000 square miles without finding any sign of Ingraham.

The five-day search cost the Coast Guard at least $486,600, according to asset operating rates. The Coast Guard provided the following breakdown: $4,959 an hour for 62 hours operating the MH-65 Dolphin helicopter, $9,535 an hour for 18 hours flying the HC-130, and $1,252 an hour for six hours operating the cutter Ahi.

The cost of flying the P-3 Orion aircraft for 14 hours was not immediately available.

Carr said the standard rates are used to calculate the cost of hoax calls or for billing of non-rescue missions. He said the Coast Guard's mission is to protect those in danger on the sea, and that the service's operating budget includes the cost of rescue missions.

"At the end of the day, you have a mariner who was found alive and safe at sea," he said. "It's a positive outcome."

Carr encouraged mariners to protect themselves by having onboard an emergency position indicating radio beacon, or EPIRB, which sends out a constant signal when activated.

In another story a week back it said Ron had won his boat in a poker game. This is one lucky man.

Ron, if you see this, send me a PM. I will buy you a PLB for Christmas.
Aloha


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## manatee

ALOHA, Ron and U.S.S. Paul Hamilton,

*WELL DONE!!!!!*


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## casey1999

This story seems to be the most accurate- lots of miss-information out there:

Boater missing since Thanksgiving found alive, 64 miles south of Honolulu | KHON2

Boater missing since Thanksgiving found alive, 64 miles south of Honolulu

By Nestor Garcia and Web Staff Published: December 9, 2014, 10:56 am | Updated: December 9, 2014, 7:14 pm

A boater who had been missing since Nov. 27 was found alive and uninjured Tuesday aboard his 25-foot sailing vessel 64 miles south of Honolulu.

Ron Ingraham, 67, was last heard from when he placed two Mayday calls Nov. 27, saying his vessel, the "Malia," was taking on water and in danger of sinking 46 miles west of Kailua-Kona.

The Coast Guard believes Ingraham was sailing alone from Kaunakakai Harbor to Manele Bay on Lanai when he made those calls on Thanksgiving.

Search crews responded to where they believed the calls were initiated. The initial search in difficult weather and sea conditions covered about 12,000 square miles, but there was no sign of Ingraham or his vessel.

The search for Ingraham was suspended on Dec. 1.

Then on Tuesday, Coast Guard watchstanders at Sector Honolulu Command Center received a short Mayday call at 7:55 a.m. from Ingraham.

The call lasted for just a few seconds, but it was enough for the Coast Guard and the Navy to scramble to the rescue.

"With our equipment, we were able to basically use direction finding equipment, we were able to d-f the signal, and trace him to where he was," said Lt. G. Scott Carr, deputy of external affairs with the 14th Coast Guard District.

The USS Paul Hamilton, a Navy guided missile destroyer, was nearby and rushed to the scene, while the Coast Guard sent a C-130, a Dolphin helicopter and the USCGS Cutter Kiska to join in the effort.

Officials say Ingraham was weak, hungry and dehydrated when he was brought on board the Navy vessel.

"He got a shower, which, if you know, spending time at sea, it's really nice to get the salt water off of you," said Carr. "He got some food and water. He's okay."

Ingraham's fishing buddy, Dedric Manaba, heard the good news from the Coast Guard while he was out fishing off Molokai.

A relieved Manaba offered this advice for his friend: "I'm going to tell him maybe you should go fishing with me more often and stop fishing with that little sailboat, kind of dangerous."

The rescue team is attempting to fix Malia's engine, since the weather and sea conditions are not good for the boat to use its sail.

If the engine cannot be fixed at sea, the Coast Guard will either tow Malia to Honolulu or to Ingraham's home island of Molokai


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## casey1999

All's well that ends well:

Son to reunite with dad found after 12 days at sea - Hawaii News - Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Son to reunite with dad found after 12 days at sea
POSTED: 10:59 a.m. HST, Dec 10, 2014 
LAST UPDATED: 01:50 p.m. HST, Dec 10, 2014

ASSOCATED PRESS

The estranged son of a 67-year-old Hawaii fisherman rescued after 12 days at sea says the ordeal has motivated him to reunite with the man after not speaking to him since the 1990s.

His father, Ron Ingraham, arrived Wednesday on the Hawaiian island of Molokai, where he lives on his boat that was towed to shore by the Coast Guard.

He was found dehydrated and hungry Tuesday after being missing since Thanksgiving, when the Coast Guard picked up his first mayday call. He radioed that he was in danger of sinking nearly 50 miles from the Big Island.

Coast Guard officials sought to contact his next of kin, son Zakary Ingraham, 43, in Missouri. They were unable to reach him until the following Monday, the day they decided to suspend the search.

"It's tough to put into words," Zakary Ingraham said in a phone interview Wednesday from St. Joseph, Missouri, as his father was en route to Molokai.

"You're crushed, and you don't know what to do," he said. "And of course, I'm in Missouri so that made it feel worse I couldn't go out and look for him. It was horrible."

Complicating his feelings was a wave of regret for all the years of lost contact and the fact that his father never met a grandson, 8.

"I always wanted to find him and get in touch with him," Zakary Ingraham said. But his father lives on a boat, subsists off fishing and has no known email address or cellphone number.

"We didn't really have a falling out," the son said. "We just kind of grew apart."

Zakary Ingraham lived in Kealakekua on the Big Island until age 7, when his parents split and he moved to the mainland with his mother.

He recalled pleading with the Coast Guard to extend the search: "I held on to hope. I knew my dad was tough. So I didn't feel like he was gone."

For Coast Guard officials, calling off a search is the hardest choice they have to make, Lt. Scott Carr said.

"You're making a decision to stop searching when you don't have a resolution," he said. "We searched for five days. ... We used every resource we had, and we weren't able to find him."

As the days wore on, Zakary Ingraham resigned himself to accepting his dad was gone.

And then he got a call Tuesday that his father was found.

"At first it didn't register," Zakary Ingraham said. He recalled picturing a floating life jacket on his lifeless father, thinking they must have found him dead.

"They said, 'He's alive,'" he said. "You might as well be on a Broadway show jumping up and clicking your heels, I was so happy."

In the days since, Zakary Ingraham has tried to learn more about his father. He said he reached a fellow Molokai fisherman who told him his dad had set out for the island of Lanai, where he planned to sell his fish.

The Coast Guard had no details yet about what went wrong on Ron Ingraham's boat or how he survived so long at sea.

"To my knowledge he didn't require any medical attention, other than he was tired, hungry and dehydrated," Carr said.

Efforts by The Associated Press to reach Ron Ingraham through the Coast Guard on Wednesday were unsuccessful.

A Navy ship was nearby when the Coast Guard received Ron Ingraham's mayday Tuesday. Crew members from that vessel, guided-missile destroyer USS Paul Hamilton, gave him water and food.

"It's the holidays. We all have family who we love and miss, being here stationed far away from the continental U.S.," Carr said. "Anytime we rescue a mariner is a great day."

Zakary Ingraham said he's trying to get a loan so he can afford to travel to Hawaii to see his father.

"When I see my dad, I'm going to give him a big hug," he said. "I'm going to do everything I can to get out there as soon as possible."


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## krisscross

When found, how far was he from the original position where his first distress call was made?


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## Bene505

From one of the videos of him back on land, he said: "I'm a little dazed right now and I'm headed to the bar"

Regards,
Brad


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## casey1999

Robert Redford has decided the sequel to "All Is Lost" will be called "All Was Won" and based on Ron's story. Seeing Ron won his sailboat in a poker game and he fixed the VHF and now the boat is back in safe harbor, Ron did win.

Hawaii News, Honolulu, Honolulu News, Sports, Editorial, Features, Travel and Business - Honolulu Star-Advertiser - Hawaii Newspaper 
Fish and grit helped man survive at sea
A storm set the Molokai resident's boat adrift, and he spent 12 days on the ocean before his rescue

By Rob Shikina
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Dec 11, 2014

Ron Ingraham, 67, was found dehydrated and hungry after going missing on Thanksgiving, when the Coast Guard picked up his mayday call saying his boat was in danger of sinking. A second call more than a week later ultimately resulted in his rescue.

Molokai fisherman Ron Ingraham, who was rescued after 12 days at sea, is getting some needed rest, but could head back out to sea in a few days.

Ingraham's friend Dedric Manaba, who also is a commercial fisherman, said Ingraham expressed interest in going fishing with him in a few days. But this time it would be on Mana*ba's 34-foot fishing boat with powerful motors, compared to Ingraham's 25-foot sailboat, Malia, which has only a small engine.

"That would scar me for life," Manaba said about Ingraham's ordeal at sea. "He's a tough guy. Most guys would have cracked."

Ingraham, 67, and his sailboat, which is also his home, returned to Kaunakakai Harbor at 8:50 a.m. Wednesday with the assistance of the Coast Guard.

He saluted the Navy and the Coast Guard for his rescue, which was prompted by his mayday call after he made makeshift repairs to get a radio working.

"I was trying to maintain a positive attitude and not give up," he told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in a telephone interview from Molokai on Wednesday afternoon. "It was difficult. The last three or four days, I thought that was it. I was getting weaker by the day."

He said he ate raw ahi and mahimahi he caught, chewing on the bones and skin and eating an eyeball for hydration.

"The fish saved me," he said.

Ingraham had been missing since Nov. 27, when his first mayday call was picked up by the Coast Guard, prompting a five-day search by the Coast Guard and Navy southwest of Maui. The 12,000-square-mile aerial search ended Dec. 1 without any sign of Ingraham.

On Tuesday morning, the Coast Guard received another mayday call from Ingraham and the nearby guided-missile destroyer USS Paul Hamilton rescued Ingraham 64 miles south of Honolulu.

Ingraham, who often fishes off Lanai and sells his fish on the island, said his ordeal began just before dark on Nov. 25 when he rushed to get his boat out of Lanai's Kaumalapau Harbor before severe weather could smash it against the rocks.

Ingraham paddled out on his kayak and cut the mooring ropes in his rush to leave the harbor. He planned to head around the island and seek refuge inside Lanai's Manele Harbor.

"All night long, I fought the current and the weather, and I'm going backwards," he said. "I couldn't make it."

Surrounded by 15-foot seas and life-threatening conditions, Ingraham decided to run with the storm, letting the northeasterly wind take him south of Lanai.

During the storm, a rogue wave hit the side of his boat, throwing him overboard and dipping his mast into water, soaking his radio antenna.

The boat righted itself and Ingraham, who had tied himself to the craft, climbed aboard.

Over two days the winds pushed him hundreds of miles, he estimated, southwest of Hawaii island.

On Nov. 27, Ingraham radioed for help, saying his boat was in danger of sinking, and gave GPS coordinates that indicated he was 46 miles west of Kailua-Kona.

Ingraham said he didn't know anyone heard his call and said the GPS coordinates from his GPS device turned out to be inaccurate.

But the Coast Guard did hear the call and arrived on scene in an hour, battling severe weather that forced an 87-foot Coast Guard cutter to turn around.

After a couple days trying to figure out which way to go, Ingraham headed into the tradewinds, hoping that would take him toward the islands.

"I had to go uphill," he said. "I couldn't sleep. I was just too busy the whole time fighting the elements and trying to go upwind in my sailboat."

It took him nearly two weeks, and two days before his rescue, the winds died, leaving him becalmed.

He couldn't climb his mast to fix the antenna, so he tried to fix his radio.

"I got a piece of coat hanger and copper wire and stuck it right in the unit and put it out the door," he said. "The lady on watch on that destroyer picked up the blip."

He said the rescuers used the blip to triangulate his location.

"Those guys are like real live heroes," he said of his rescuers.

After Ingraham returned, his friend Manaba gave him an emergency beacon called an EPIRB that sends out a constant signal once activated so he would never find himself in a similar situation.

Manaba said he wished Ingraham would have called him because he could have towed him back to shore with his fishing boat.

"He's been blessed," Manaba said.


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## casey1999

krisscross said:


> When found, how far was he from the original position where his first distress call was made?


I would estimate he was found about 100 nm east of the search area. Ron said his gps gave the wrong long/lad when he made his first mayday call to CG. And the search area was based on the given long/lad.

What I do not understand, and maybe someone could explain. I thought the cg could get a rough estimate on your location with just the VHF signal through either triangulation or at a minimum using direction finding to at least get direction of the signal. That would at least confirm if the given long/lad makes sense. Apparently his most recent mayday was picked up by a navy ship that was a few miles away. From reports that ship used direction finding equipment to locate Ron from the mayday call. Other reports say the cg first herd the latest mayday call- a lot of miss-information out there.

Here is are CG "Rescue 21" details:

http://www.uscg.mil/acquisition/rescue21/

"Rescue 21 is operational along the entire Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts of the continental United States as well as along the shores of the Great Lakes, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Marianas Islands, covering approximately 41,871 miles of coastline. The system was accepted at Sector Buffalo Aug. 22, 2012."

This pdf states the Rescue 21 is only good 20 miles out from land- so maybe that is the problem:

http://www.uscg.mil/acquisition/rescue21/pdf/rescue21.pdf

Can the CG get your rough location or at least a DF heading to where your VHF signal is coming from?


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## krisscross

casey1999 said:


> I would estimate he was found about 100 nm east of the search area. Ron said his gps gave the wrong long/lad when he made his first mayday call to CG. And the search area was based on the given long/lad.


Thanks. That makes sense. Looks like he was just drifting during that time, which is peculiar, as his mast was intact. Maybe his halyard fell out of the mast head and he was unable to hoist up the mainsail. But what about headsail? Or maybe he just did not want to move much to improve the odds of CG finding him? I think there is a lot more to this story we don't yet know about.


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## casey1999

krisscross said:


> Thanks. That makes sense. Looks like he was just drifting during that time, which is peculiar, as his mast was intact. Maybe his halyard fell out of the mast head and he was unable to hoist up the mainsail. But what about headsail? Or maybe he just did not want to move much to improve the odds of CG finding him? I think there is a lot more to this story we don't yet know about.


This is my guess based on what Ron says and what I know of the wind strength and direction. Go to this site and go to the detailed map of Hawaii and then run the animation on the wind speed/direction:

Sailing Weather - Marine Weather Forecasts for Sailors and Adventurers - PassageWeather

Now Ron says he first left Molokai heading for anchorage at Lanai. He says he went around the back side of Lanai. Once he starts getting around the back side he would then be exposed to the open channel winds and currents between Maui and Lanai. He says he hit strong winds and seas and then just ran bare poles for a number of days. He says the storm carried him many miles- which is perfectly possible. He also says after the high winds abated, he started to sail up wind. If this is what happened, he would have ended up south of Oahu, which is where the reports said he was- about 60 miles south of Oahu. The strong trades could have blown him in a south west direction and the his up wind sail would be pretty much due north to take him where he was found. His trip could have been something like 400 miles. Note that the last few days we have not had much wind- and that is why he was becalmed when rescued. One tough dude and quite a sailor in my opinion.


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## Erindipity

Just as a matter of curiosity, what Make and Model of boat did he have?
It looked to me like a "Character" boat with that Bow, but it seems to be well built; it made it back to Port, and the USGS didn't sink it as they sometimes do. 

Erindipity


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## casey1999

Erindipity said:


> Just as a matter of curiosity, what Make and Model of boat did he have?
> It looked to me like a "Character" boat with that Bow, but it seems to be well built; it made it back to Port, and the USGS didn't sink it as they sometimes do.
> 
> Erindipity


Someone previously posted Bayfield 25- looks like that's it:
https://bayfield25.wordpress.com/

The Bayfield 25

The Bayfield 25 is a high quality, Canadian built, traditional, Ted Gozzard designed pocket cruiser. Sloop rig, clipper bow with bowsprit, full keel with protected rudder, Yanmar diesel engine, spacious salon with standing headroom, and enclosed head.


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## miatapaul

Erindipity said:


> Just as a matter of curiosity, what Make and Model of boat did he have?
> It looked to me like a "Character" boat with that Bow, but it seems to be well built; it made it back to Port, and the USGS didn't sink it as they sometimes do.
> 
> Erindipity


I believe it was a Bayfield, while they are as much made to look salty they are are well built.

Hey not to minimize what this guy went through, if you are in the islands would you not keep many days worth of rations on your boat, just in case? I understand say someone in the Chesapeake not, after all from most spots you could walk to shore, but around the islands it does not take much to go wrong before you are drifting around in the middle of nowhere. When I get out there (yes it is in the works) I will be sure the dry storage is filled to brim with food, and water tanks are full of fresh water. Even if I don't normally drink tank water I am sure if it is sanitary it would be welcome after a few days out there! He just did not seem very well prepared.

Looks like Casey and I were posting at the same time!


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## Erindipity

I thought that it might have been a Bayfield _29_, given the three portlights per side; the only Bayfield 25 that I ever saw only had two, and that is what Sailboatdata shows.
No doubt there are variations.
They seem to be very nice Boats, and have a good reputation, which this story will no doubt enhance.

Yeah, still a lot of unanswered questions here, like no visible Registration Numbers on the Bow, or Name and Port on the Stern, that I could see. (The Hawaiian "Malia" in the USGS lookup is a Fountaine Pajot, which this was clearly not.)

Vega1860 speculated that Ingraham was having Harbourmaster issues, and that is why he left, and quickly.
(BTW, an Albin Vega was on my Short List, but the original engine was shot, and that is a fairly big problem on the Vegas.)

Thanks all

Erindipity


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## casey1999

miatapaul said:


> Hey not to minimize what this guy went through, if you are in the islands would you not keep many days worth of rations on your boat, just in case? I understand say someone in the Chesapeake not, after all from most spots you could walk to shore, but around the islands it does not take much to go wrong before you are drifting around in the middle of nowhere. When I get out there (yes it is in the works) I will be sure the dry storage is filled to brim with food, and water tanks are full of fresh water. Even if I don't normally drink tank water I am sure if it is sanitary it would be welcome after a few days out there! He just did not seem very well prepared.


I normally have a few days of food stashed and some 5 gallon jugs of water just in case. Most folks probably do not have 2 weeks of food if they think they are just going 30 miles and be to another island. But most folks also have a vhf and maybe a spare handheld, and maybe an epirb or plb, but then maybe not. As far as water, when I first started sailing bottled water had not been invented, the tank water was all we drank for 4 weeks straight on passages, and we never got sick, and never had plastic bottles to carry to shore, or drop in the ocean.


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## MarkofSeaLife

It costs little to have a large quantity of pasta and fresh water on board. I always have 30 days of rations, and on a passage ensure I have enough for a few months.


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## casey1999

MarkofSeaLife said:


> It costs little to have a large quantity of pasta and fresh water on board. I always have 30 days of rations, and on a passage ensure I have enough for a few months.


How do you and your crew decide who to eat on day 31?


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## manatee

casey1999 said:


> How do you and your crew decide who to eat on day 31?


Heaviest first?


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## casey1999

manatee said:


> Heaviest first?


My cannibal list is:
1. Fat men
2. Skinny men
3. Fat women (single)
4. Skinny women (single)
5. Mothers and Children (under 18)- Those are spared.

Note: All my crew sign waivers and legal docs concerning the above prior to leaving dock, so I cannot be sued for utilizing discriminatory policies.


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## miatapaul

Like the life raft seine in Road to Morocco with Bob Hope Bing Crosby where they flip the coin to see who gets eaten first. 

"we're gonna get awfully hungry"


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## aeventyr60

I think ol Lecter had it correct;


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## Minnewaska

This is a great feel good story for the holidays. One of our own was rescued and will reunite with his kid. Sounds like he colors a little outside the lines, but still, good stuff.


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