Aloha, just brief recounts of a recent unscheduled trip off the dock for
Swan Song.
Nancy and I were planning a 6 days cruise beginning on Friday the 30th of
July, instead the cruise was interrupted by the following adventure.

We've been following and somewhat involved with the herculean effort of
Minoru Saito, the 76 year old Japanese sailor who is on his 8th
circumnavigation of the world and this, his last, is west about, aka the
wrong way. http://www.saito8.blogspot.com/

He ran into a bit of trouble 500 odd miles west of Hawaii a few weeks back
and turned around to come back to Hawaii. Various things broke and as he
slowly approached Hawaii , up wind, up wave and up current his situation
deteriorated further and further. On Wed the 29th his headstay broke at the
masthead and only his Texas rattlesnake rattle kept the rig up in the seas
and winds. He was 25 miles from Honolulu at that time. By the time we got
the message here, worked with the US Coast Guard on trying to find some
assets near him to effect a tow it was Thursday AM on the 29th. There were
two commercial salvage and towing services available here but both were
somewhat beyond the amount available to pay and insurance is not something
obtainable to single handing ocean sailors. This is can attest to from my
own experience!

By 0900 on Thursday Swan Song causally raised her hand and said "what about
me?" We had a short offline discussion and talked about how Nancy might view
the use of here home as a vessel for an open ocean towing job and a few
other details of what she, Swan Song, might be up against. "No worries on my
side" she said. "You deal with Nancy and I'll deal with the ocean."
OhhhhKaaaaayyy, so I broach the subject with Nancy. She already suspects
that the conversation is coming as I have been checking Swan Song's assets,
Towline ready? Yes 350'. Towing bridle ready?  Yes. Fuel OK? Yes. Etc etc.

"This is our home" was a frequent theme throughout the ensuing discussion.
While I fully appreciate that I did have to remind her that I had recently
brought our home, aka Swan Song, ~2700nm across the Pacific from Cabo San
Lucas to Hawaii on her own bottom without a whimper from her. Then the part
about one has to help those in trouble at sea if at all possible, "but why
Swan Song and you out of all the other thousands of boats here" she asked.
"Because I feel very strongly about the need to help fellow boaters in
trouble", says I. All this time the VHF has been crackling with the CG's
pan-pan request for assistance for the vessel in distress every 15 minutes.
Swan Song pipes up, if we don't get underway soon he'll drift further away
and the job will get tougher and longer, do we go or do we stay?

Suddenly the plants are being moved to their cages, books from the tables,
etc etc. I guess we are going. I call a mate and he'll leave work and be
here in an hour so I call the CG and let them know that Swan Song will go to
Nicole BMW's assistance and tow him in. A comms schedule is set-up with
them, details passed and soon Ed arrives and we're off the dock. Nancy is
taking Pictures from shore of what Swan Song looked like the last time
she'll see her, at least that's the reading I get ;-)
At 1130 we clear the Ala Wai Harbor breakwater and feel the Pacific swell.
In 10 minutes we are steaming a course of 240 degrees 7.2 kts downwind, down
wave and down current. By 1300 we have cleared the lee of Oahu and are in
the a nice 3-5' wind wave various SE to SW swells and a15 kt east wind. Nice
conditions but forecast to change later today and really change going into
Friday.

The last position report had him at 35 nm out which was 10 nm further than
when his forestay broke. 10 nm in 12 hours sounded about right for the
wind/current drift. We should have him in sight midafternoon and in tow by
1700. The seas are growing as we distance ourselves from Oahu and the CG is
updated every 30 minutes to our position. Whoa, what's this, a new position
report from Nicole BMW, he's drifting west at 3 kts suddenly, this is not
good. So we ask the CG to make sure he has reduced his windage as best he
can. I fear that some sail has come loose or something else that has
increased his windage and thereby his drift. On the next comm with the CG
they tell me he has all sail down and contained....bummer! We are
experiencing an increase in current now also as Swan Song in over 8kts.

At 1700, our original ETA, we are still 13 nm from him. Our speed is now up
at 8.5 to 8.7 kts, the following seas are 5-7, the wind is up in the high
teens and the swells are E to SE at 3-5 long period. The tow back is
beginning to look nasty and longer than expected. At 1830 we have a visual
on him at the same time as the radar picks him up, 5.6 nm and closing. At
1915 we throttle back an make a circle around Nicole BMW looking for
trailing lines or any other hazards to Swan Song. Other than his sitting
beam to in the seas, rolling from gunnel such that his mast creates a 200 ft
danger zone to windward and leeward all looks OK. Nicole BMW is a 56' X 14'
X 7' steel cutter rigged sailboat. Her gross tonnage is 43, net 37 but I
believe her displacement is only 25 tons.

Ed and I make a couple of passes to try to get a line to Saito-san, two
asses by the bow at an oblique angle nets no joy. The first past by the
stern with Ed dropping a float with a floating line comes close but as I
have to stay well away from the "big stick" the float is out of reach. Try
two with Ed dropping the float sooner and my staying in just a bit closer
letting the float drift down and Saito-san has it! Ed pays the 100' 3/4"
floating line to maintain slack as I slowly keep powering away from the
"stick". Soon Saito-san gives us the signal that he has it secured and Ed
pays out the additional 350' of tow line. Swan Song takes up the slack and
we slowly head up wind, up wave and up current back to Honolulu.....56 nm in
the distance.....at 1945 fifteen minutes after sunset.

The tow is slow with the wind in the low 20's, waves 5-7' with an occasional
higher set and out speed ranging from a high of 2 kts to a low of .5 kts. We
keep increasing the rpms until we are at an EGT (Exhaust gas temp) of in the
low 600's. A good temp for our DD 6-71N.  Out tow line is a 3/4" 50/50 line.
The core is nylon and the cover is Dacron which gives it better shock
loading than straight polyester line but not as much as all nylon. We seldom
feel any jerking and the load on Swan Songs towing cleats is easier. Ed
sleeping and we are now averaging closer to 2 kts so the ETA is under two
days back to Honolulu. At 0300 Swan Song suddenly shoots up to 6
kts....bummer we last the tow!

Getting the towline back in lets one appreciate the load a trailing line
has. It took us 15 minutes to pull in the 450' of line where upon we noticed
that it has been chafed thru on his bow. We had asked him to keep an eye on
it for chafe but guess he missed something in the dark. Going back to get
another line on the jumping wild stallion at O'dark thirty wasn't something
to look forward to. The method we used in daylight was out of the question
as you can't see the "big stick" coming at you out of the black sky. Nope
this one would have to be done backing up to the bow of the stallion and
hope to get a lead on him before he mashes you. With Ed on the stern I
worked Swan Song backwards in the beam sea's every closer to the bow. I
could see the entire bow of Nicole BMW above Swan Song's boat deck and then
not be able to see it at all. Ed estimate the relative vertical distance was
change 20' minimum is a second or two. Saito-san needed both hands to keep
himself on the bucking bronco. Ed final got me to within a couple of feet ,
passed the line to Saito-san's boathook and I powered forward while Ed payed
out the line again. Saito-san promised to keep a sharper eye out for chafe.

Settling down again I was working a course to the port of the rhumbline in
an attempt to free ourselves of the current jet that we were fighting.
Slowly the speed began to increase even as the wave and winds increased. 2.5
and then a 3kt average. Now we are getting ETA's under 24 hours! We finally
found a lane that seemed to actually have an eddy and were up to 3.5 kts and
even a 4 kt display on occasion but the wind was now 25 kts and the seas
were punching over Swan Song's bow on occasion...11' off the water. Ed had
begun to look a bit green around the edges so we let him lie in the saloon
as much as possible. Better to have him available when needed than standing
watch while booting over the side.
As daylight lifted the darkness we had Oahu clearly in sight with Diamond
head on the horizon. The wind during the morning got as high a 28 kts true
but generally was 25 kts. So lots of wind wave running on top of the swells.
Pretty much a constant spray on the windscreen with the occasional wash of
heavier water and out boat speed is 3.75 average and an occasional 4.5 kts.
ETA is bouncing from 1400 to 2000, great a daylight arrival! We are still
working to Port of the rhumbline to try to get in the lee of Oahu quicker
and then parallel the coastline.

All is well except that this course will take us close to Pearl Harbor
entrance and the Pacific War Games are on right now. So dodge a sub, watch
out for a carrier, get hassled by a destroyer, duck behind a missile frigate
all the while trying to keep the long tow in a generally upwind profile to
minimize the drag. Most of the warships worked with us except of Warship 065
who made us take a 90 degree turn to starboard for 2 miles to pass behind
it. This after the bridge had already OK'd our passage on our current
course. Seems the Ensign who gave us the first permission understood our
need while the afterguard wanted to watch us suffer.

Once back in from the two mile detour we really picked up speed and the ETA
was settling in to 1430 to 1500. I had made arrangement earlier for some
slip space at Kewalo Basin, a busy commercial harbor, for Nicole BMW. Parker
Marine, who runs vessel assist here, had agreed to take him in tow into the
harbor once I got him here. The harbor entrance is tight, has lots of
traffic and there was a southerly swell running in the entrance so no place
for Swan Song to be doing broken field running with 25 tons tethered behind
her ;-) We contacted Mike Parker and arranged for a 1500 meeting outside the
harbor. He showed up at the appointed location and we had Saito-san drop our
towline. Ed and I pulled it in, straightened out the cockpit and prepared to
lead Swan Song back to her slip in the Ala Wai small boat harbor. At 1600 (~
29 hours) we were tied back in the slip, tired but very happy that we had
been able to help a boater in distress and that everything worked as well as
it did.

Long ago when I got the towline I never knew if it would be attached to our
bow or our stern first. One never knows how things will turn out but being
prepared and having the right resources on board often can save your bacon
or someone else's. Our love for the seas carries with it both a respect of
it and a willingness to help those who are having a bad day at sea. Who
knows the next time it could be me making that call that I have used up my
bags of tricks and need some help. Would you go out of your way and answer
my call?

Dave & Nancy
Swan Song
Roughwater 58
Limin in Waikiki Beach

Well done...a casual tow we have probably all done but yours was way above and
beyond.

Joel Wilkins
m/s Miss Magoo
C-45
Indian Rocks Beach, FL

Snip...Would you go out of your way and answer my call?

Congratulations on a job well done! You can blame Commander Kevin M. Brand,
captain of the USS Benhold - a guided missile destroyer (DDG). Be advised,
by dint of his assignments, he appears to be very well-connected with plenty
of relevant experience. There are other ships with the numerical designator
"65" but that vessel is assigned to Pearl and is listed as participating in
the exercise. He was probably "protecting" an air defense sector, but I
don't think that the Hawaiian Air National Guard would attack in the
circumstances. I'm surprised that the USCG remained silent, but I am
reminded that the Navy is both the king and queen of Hawaii.

Ron Rogers

The other "65" candidate is the USS Chosin (CG-65) a Ticonderoga-class
guided-missile cruiser captained by Capt. David J. Sheridan. Not as
well-connected, but tons of technical expertise and formerly was a captain
of a DDG. Must know how to run a ship. {;*))

Ron Rogers