kaimiloa catamaran

• Yachting World
• Digital Edition

James Wharram: life and legacy of the iconic designer

• January 29, 2024

Julien Girardot meets Hanneke Boon in Cornwall to discover the legend and legacy of pioneering catamaran designer James Wharram

Falmouth, Cornwall, 1955: a legend is born along Customs House Quay. A smartly dressed young man with wild, curly hair has launched a 23ft catamaran, built in just a few months for the modest sum of £200 (the equivalent of around £6,500 today).

Rigged as a ketch with battened junk sails, the aptly named Tangaroa (meaning ‘God of the Sea’ in Polynesian) marked the beginning of the epic Wharram story.

At the time, catamarans were considered dangerous and eccentric, while yachting was a pastime largely reserved for high society. But sailing already has other visionaries. On the deck of Tangaroa, beside James, are two young women: Jutta Schulze-Rhonhof and Ruth Merseburger. In puritanical post-war England, setting off to cross the Atlantic with two young women – and German ones at that – was downright shocking! But these three young people care not a jot about conventional thinking. They dream of adventure and their enterprise is an act of defiance.

For years James Wharram has nurtured a passion for the history of sailing pioneers and the ethnic origins of the multihull. Devouring every book on the subject he could lay his hands on, he discovered the story of Joshua Slocum, the first solo circumnavigator (1895-1898), and the voyage of Kaimiloa by the Frenchman Eric de Bisschop. The tale, published in English in 1940, of de Bisschop’s attempt to prove the seaworthiness of double canoes by making a voyage from Hawaii to France on a catamaran he had built on the beach, became Wharram’s primary source of inspiration.

Riding out the storm: James Wharram at the helm of Tangaroa in Biscay in 1955. Photo: Julien Girardot

Wharram disagreed with many assumptions of the time, and his first Atlantic crossing was an opportunity to refute Thor Heyerdahl’s theory on the settlement of the Pacific islands. Wharram contested the assertion of the Danish anthropologist who, after his voyage aboard the Kon-Tiki in 1947, affirmed that the boats used were simple rafts. Wharram was convinced that the boats were more akin to double canoes with sails, capable of going upwind and holding a course. These early multihulls, consisting of two hollowed-out tree trunks, were connected by crossbeams bound together with plant fibre. The sails were probably made from what is known as ‘tapa’ in Polynesia, hammered tree bark, which was also used to make clothes.

The three young adventurers left Falmouth on 27 September 1955 on a boat loaded with books, basic foods, and very little else. Despite a fraught passage, encountering storms in the Bay of Biscay and being suspected of being spies by Franco’s Guardia Civil, the trio successfully crossed the Atlantic and reached the island of Trinidad on 2 February 1957.

Without a penny to their name, they adopted a simple island life, and Jutta gave birth to her and James’ first child, Hannes. The unconventional polyamorous family lived aboard a raft inspired by the floating dwellings of the Pacific, nicknamed ‘the paradise island of the South Seas’. Tangaroa, now tired, was abandoned, as Wharram decided to build a new catamaran. By chance, two solo sailors came to anchor in the bay where the Wharram tribe lived afloat, and the legendary Bernard Moitessier and Henry Wakelam helped Wharram build his new design, Rongo.

Wharram, Merseburger and Schulze-Rhonhof aboard Tangaroa in Falmouth, 1955, before their Atlantic crossing. Photo: Julien Girardot

Thanks to the experience of his first transatlantic voyage, as well as knowledge gathered from Wharram’s endless reading, Rongo was much more accomplished. While Tangaroa was flat-bottomed, Rongo has V-hulls. To prove the design’s seaworthy qualities, Wharram decided to tackle the North Atlantic, sailing from west to east with his two companions. This route was known to strike fear into the hearts of multihull sailors of the time, as the two previous attempts had tragically ended in two deaths.

The crew left La Martinique for New York on 16 April 1959, one year after Rongo’s construction began. The return voyage to Conwy in Wales took 50 days, but the gamble paid off, and Wharram’s new design was the first to achieve what many thought impossible. The curly-haired eccentric became something of a celebrity, and following his great Atlantic adventure, James published his first book, Two girls, Two Catamarans. The years that followed were Wharram’s golden age, with plans released to suit every budget and every dream. Soon there were Wharram designs all over the world, connected by a powerful community spirit.

Drawing a Wharram

My own journey to this remote corner of Cornwall began decades before. After 15 years of travelling the world, inventing and reinventing my life, including many years living in the Pacific islands, I felt the need to capture these experiences by creating the boat of my dreams.

Illustrations inspired by a visit to the Wharram design office in Cornwall. Image: Benjamin Flao

While living in Tuamotu, I was involved in several incredible projects to build traditional sailing canoes under the directive of talented local Tahitian boatbuilder, Alexandre Genton (now chief of operations at Blue Composite shipyard in Tahiti). At first we launched small single-seat sailing canoes with two outrigger floats. These are the simplest way to sail: a sheet in one hand, a paddle in the other, which you plunge over the side of the canoe into the water, and it makes a perfect rudder. Then we built a larger version, Va’a Motu, for a hotel in Bora Bora, of splendid stripped kauri planking. Finally, we worked with the local population to build an ambitious 30ft Va’a Motu with a single ama, on the atoll of Fakarava in the Tuamotu archipelago.

Curiously, after many experimental trials at building and sailing canoes, my imagined ideal yacht turned out to be something very close to a Wharram design, which I learned as soon as I shared my first cautious sketches with friends. I realised I had to meet James Wharram.

In October 2021, I dialled the number of JW Designs. A woman answered; James’ long-term life and business partner Hanneke Boon. I tell her my ideas to build from one of their plans: the Islander 39. We began an email exchange and when I asked her what James thought of this model, in November 2021, less than a month before he died, she replied: “James is enthusiastic about your project. He’s now 93 years old and nearing the end of his life.

The Pahi 63 Spirit of Gaia which Wharram and Boon sailed around the world. Image: Benjamin Flao

“He has been looking at the Islander 39 design for several years and often says, ‘I wish I had one myself.’ It’s the only Wharram design that has never been built, so your project is a wish come true for him.”

On 14 December 2021, James Wharram passed away. Out of respect for the bereavement, and due to Covid-related travel restrictions, we decided to postpone our meeting. Some months later on a beautiful spring afternoon, I landed in Plymouth with my friend and artist Benjamin Flao, himself the owner of a Wharram-designed Tiki 28, and headed for Devoran near Truro in Cornwall, the stronghold of the Wharram family.

Hanneke welcomes us into her office. It is a beautiful wooden cabin, warm and bright, overlooking the changing lights of Cornwall. The place looks like a museum telling the story of a life of travel and passion through yacht models, photographs and unusual objects. James is there, you can feel it. A glance at the shelves of the library shows an impressive array of rare and precious books, mostly dealing with navigation and shipbuilding in Oceania, and demonstrates the seriousness with which Wharram and Boon studied the history and technicality of ‘double canoes’.

“I’d like our boats to be called double canoes and not catamarans, which I think is a mistake,” Hanneke explains. The word catamaran, originally pronounced ‘catamaron’, comes from the Tamil dialect of katta ‘to bind’ and maram ‘wood’, as they were actually one-man rafts used to work on the outer hull of ships. The English pirate and adventurer William Dampier, in the 1690s, was the first to describe a two-hulled vessel as a catamaran, but although catamarans might be the commonly accepted word nowadays, it’s actually a mistake.

oon unfolds the plans of the Islander 39, the only Wharram design that has never been built. Many plans were hand-drawn by Boon. Photo: Julien Girardot

Hanneke unfolds the Islander 39 plan on her drawing board. Like all Wharram plans for half a century, it has been marked with her signature. Despite this unique pencil stroke, she has remained in the shadow of Wharram’s mythology for 50 years. Since 1970, Boon has drawn the majority of the construction plans by hand. They’re works of art and the best way to imagine yourself aboard a Wharram. Without her, JW Designs would not be what it is.

Originally from the Netherlands, Boon grew up in a family of sailing enthusiasts. By the age of 14 she was already building small canoes and at the age of 20 she joined the Wharram team and quickly became his co-designer. They criss-crossed the Atlantic twice in quick succession aboard Tehini, the crab claw-rigged double canoe on which James and several women lived for 10 years. Since then, Hanneke has escaped from her office whenever she can to sail thousands of miles on all the seas of the world, always using a double canoe.

Those radical vessels included the Spirit of Gaia, also built on site, through a sliding door next to Hanneke’s office. It was aboard this 63ft Pahi, Wharram’s flagship, that the Wharrams sailed around the world from 1994 to 1998. James described Spirit of Gaia as “a beautifully shaped woman he was in love with”.

Boon’s design office is adjacent to the Wharram HQ in Devoran and looks out over one of the River Fal’s many creeks. Photo: Julien Girardot

In Wharram’s wake

James and Hanneke’s home is a former veterinary surgery. The furnishings are basic, with only the essentials, but the doors close by themselves, thanks to an ingenious system of weights, ropes and pulleys. Benjamin and I offer to shop and cook, and in the living room, we put the dishes down and eat on the floor, like on the deck of a Wharram.

Jamie, James and Hanneke’s son, joins us for the meal with his partner Liz. “James has remained the icon of the business, but it’s really Hanneke who has been doing the job for the last 10 years. She is JW Designs,” confides Liz.

Jamie is at first more subdued, but talking to him you soon discover a true character. Given the world he grew up in, it’s surprising to learn that sailing is not really his thing: “I get bored quickly at sea and I’m sick most of the time! I prefer to be underwater. Above the line is not my thing.

Evocative illustration of the Wharram workshop in Devoran, Cornwall. Image: Benjamin Flao

“I do like the calmness of the ocean though, that parenthesis effect, detached from our hectic lives on land. In fact, I think the best thing about sailing is remembering long voyages, not making them,” Jamie jokes.

But he is keen to preserve Wharram’s legacy and the couple are thinking ahead to when Hanneke can no longer hold the fort. “As long as Hanneke is alive, the business will be run in her own way. But it’s certain that something will be put in place to enable people to continue to acquire the building plans, at the very least, this service will remain guaranteed.”

Back in the office next door, Nicki John answers clients and sends plans around the world. She’s only been with JWD for a couple of years, but that’s long enough for her to fall in love with the company’s story.

“One of the things I loved about James was that he came in every day. He’d knock on the door and jokingly ask, ‘Do you have time for some gossip?’ And then he’d tell me all sorts of stories. His travels, the women he had shared his life with, it was fascinating. When he was 18, he hitchhiked to Europe, smuggling coffee on the black market to finance his adventures. James’ story is just phenomenal.

Mana 24 is available as a CNC-cut self-build kit boat. Photo: Julien Girardot

“One day James came in, took out a plan, unfolded it as he sat down, and said, ‘Aren’t they beautiful?’ James was deeply convinced of Hanneke’s talent. He never stopped admiring her,” Nicki says fondly.

The community Wharram fosters is unique. Nicki shows us a photo that defines the ‘Wharram spirit’, of the hull of a Wharram being lifted out of the second floor window of a home in England. With no shed to build their Wharram design, they decided to use their living room as a boatyard. “This picture shows that if you really want to build a Wharram, you can do it anywhere,” says Nicki, “During Covid, we sold a lot more plans. Confined, people dreamed of freedom and took time to figure out how they wanted to live their lives.”

Now it’s Hanneke’s turn to shine as the head of JWD. In contrast to the technologically-led path that sailing often follows, James and Hanneke’s ‘low tech’ approach drives those who follow it to reconnect with past knowledge, practices, and philosophical approaches to our relationship with the world and the way we live in it.

Their love of minimalism is also at odds with many trends in modern yachting, but it brings its own luxury. The joy of not having too much of anything allows you to make room for the essentials, and for the beauty that surrounds you.

My dream of building Wharram’s unfulfilled plan, the Islander 39, remains. I’m in no hurry. Like the libertarian vision of James Wharram, it endures.

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Images of Old Hawaiʻi

May 17, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

The Royal Hawaiian Navy was created solely as a result of King Kalākaua’s plan for a confederation of Polynesian nations. This was an era of kingdom-building, and alliances were in vogue.

King Kalākaua had been in office since 1874, overseeing his small independent country. Influenced by his recent trip around the world, he looked forward to developing alliances with other Polynesian countries, seeing Hawaii in the center position. By 1883, commissioners had visited the Gilbert Islands and the New Hebrides, without success. (Kauai Historical Society)

The High Commissioner was a special Hawaiian envoy tasked with traveling to the various island nations of the Pacific to enlist them into the confederation.

In anticipation of the High Commissioner’s transportation needs, the Hawaiian government purchased a three-masted steamship named the “Explorer.” The ship was refitted as a gunboat and armed with Gatling guns and cannons. The name “Explorer” was translated into Hawaiian and the ship was renamed the “Kaimiloa”. The ship’s captain was George E Gresley Jackson.

His Hawaiian Majesty’s Ship Kaimiloa was commissioned on March 28, 1887, for the naval service of the Kingdom and comprised the whole of the Hawaiian Navy. (ksbe)

HHMS Kaimiloa was the first and only ship of the Hawaiian Royal Navy. The ship was a 170-ton Explorer gunboat, made in Britain in 1871. King Kalākaua bought the ship for $20,000 and added the rigging.

It sailed from Hawaiʻi to Samoa and other Pacific islands in an effort by Kalākaua to form a confederation of Polynesian states to counteract European imperialism.

The mission was facing an uphill climb in its endeavors. Imperial Germany was already in discussion with Samoa, and both Britain and the United States were interested in the structure of power within the region.

This important region was of interest to most of the European powers – two years after this voyage, the warships of the United States, England, and Germany were all at anchor in Apia Bay, as Germany had asserted a right to possession. (Kauai Historical Society) Talks did not progress well.

Capt. Jackson was a former British naval officer, and more recently, the former head of a reform school. Members of the crew were former students. On board was John E Bush, as the King’s embassy; the crew was Hawaiian. (Kauai Historical Society)

With only one month of training, the youths were put to the test when the Kaimiloa was ordered to transport the Secretary of Foreign Affairs to Samoa. The ship departed Honolulu on May 18, 1887, and arrived in Samoa 29 days later. (ksbe)

Historical accounts indicate that from the beginning there were problems with the officers and the crew. Upon arrival in Samoa on June 15th, the festivities were problematic as well. (Kauai Historical Society)

Robert Louis Stevenson, then a resident of Samoa, is quoted regarding a reception at the Hawaii embassy: “Malietoa, always decent, withdrew at an early hour. By those that remained, all decency appears to have been forgotten.”

In the morning, he added, the revelers were aroused from a drunken stupor and sent home. King Malietoa is reported to have said: “If you came here to teach my people to drink, I wish you had stayed away”. (Kauai Historical Society)

Due to the music program which was in effect at the reform school, some of these crew members were also members of a military band. They were led by Charles Palikapu Kaleikoa.

While the Kaimiloa was in Samoa, the Cadet Band performed concerts in Apia, the capital city, and around Samoa. The Hawaiian Consul reported (August 23, 1887:) Her (Kaimiloa’s) cadet band also became popular and their concerts were an appreciated treat to the Samoans. (ksbe)

The Hawaiian Consul in Samoa, also impressed with their exemplary conduct, reported in a letter: “I must say a word in praise of the Reform School boys. It was a matter of surprise to me to observe how well they behaved on shore and aboard, and how well they performed their duties.” (ksbe)

Under the direction of Lorrin A Thurston, the Kaimiloa was recalled. She returned to Honolulu Harbor on September 23, 1887; this appears to be her only voyage for the state. (Kauai Historical Society)

The crew was disbanded and the ship was decommissioned. After this, Kaleikoa joined the Royal Hawaiian Band and continued to play in it until his retirement 40 years later and retired as assistant band leader. (ksbe)

After it was decommissioned, the Kaimiloa was still used as a quarantine ship, but in 1888 she was sold and used as a transportation vessel between the Hawaiian Islands.

For a while, she was used for interisland shipping, transporting coal and oil. After a period in dry dock, her engines were removed (and used to turn wheels in a sugar mill operation) and in 1910, the hull was burned. (Kauai Historical Society)

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James Wharram obituary

On 27 September 1955, James Wharram set sail from Falmouth in a 23½ft flat-bottomed double canoe (now called a catamaran) that he had built himself at a cost of £200, with no engine, and none of the electronic navigation equipment today’s sailors take for granted. His quest was to cross the Atlantic, in order to prove that such a vessel, the ancient craft of the Polynesians, was an oceanworthy one. The boat was called Tangaroa, after the Polynesian god of the sea.

With Wharram, who has died aged 93, were two German women, Jutta Schultze-Rhonhof and Ruth Merseburger, both of whom he was romantically involved with. “They were very happy to share ‘their man’,” he wrote. “There was no jealousy.”

Wharram’s book about this and subsequent voyages was titled Two Girls, Two Catamarans (1969) and it seemed like the ultimate hippy adventure, before hippies had even been invented. But the trip was far from plain sailing. There were storms in the Bay of Biscay; in Spain Franco’s Guardia Civil thought the travellers were spies; in Gran Canaria they encountered former SS officers escaping to South America; they nearly capsized twice crossing the Atlantic. Wharram and Shultze-Rhonhof were terribly seasick; she found out she was pregnant; and meanwhile Tangaroa’s wooden hulls were being eaten by shipworms. Somehow, after a gruelling five-week crossing, they reached Trinidad.

If anything, though, it was more like a beginning than an end. Schultze-Rhonhof gave birth to a son, Hannes. Wharram built a new, bigger catamaran, named Rongo, that they sailed to New York, arriving in 1959. There he found himself alongside Sir Edmund Hillary on a TV quiz show called To Tell the Truth; the audience had to guess which of the three contestants posing as the mountaineer was the real one. Hillary helped Wharram win, and with the prize money he was able to buy a radio for his next voyage, another Atlantic crossing, back to Britain later that year. Wharram was well on his way to a life of seafaring, boat design and boatbuilding.

He was born in Manchester, the only child of James, a builder, and his wife, Blanche (nee Cook). As a teenager Wharram enjoyed climbing and roaming the moors. And he read, spending hours in the city’s central library reading about boats, particularly about the ancient Polynesian boats. The Voyage of the Kaimiloa by Éric de Bisschop (1939), about sailing from Hawaii to France, became a lifelong love and inspiration. He also read George Bernard Shaw, HG Wells, Bertrand Russell, William Morris, Adam Smith, Karl Marx and John Maynard Keynes; he became chairman of a Labour party youth group, but was saved from politics by his wanderlust.

Wharram left technical college to travel and work around Europe, where he discovered a new love: for women. Traudl, an Austrian psychologist, introduced him to Freud and Jung. Pat, an American 10 years his senior, gave him a book called Boat Building in Your Own Back Yard. Back in the UK, he worked as a labourer, on a trawler, in a boat yard. Walking in the Lake District, he met Merseburger, who would accompany him on that first transatlantic voyage on Tangaroa with Schultze-Rhonhof, whom he met at a swimming pool.

Wharram married Schultze-Rhonhof in 1959, but she had a breakdown, and died falling from a tower in Spain. Five years later, Wharram married Merseburger. They remained together until her death in 2013, joined in the late 60s by Hanneke Boon, who met Wharram when her family, holidaying in Wales, had helped him on another boat-building project. He and Hanneke had a son, Jamie.

There were other women coming and going, further catamarans, and further adventurous trips, then a business the three of them ran together from Cornwall, where they settled. Wharram designed catamarans based on Polynesian principles, and they sold the designs.

These are not boats for millionaire yachties, but for enthusiasts to make themselves and get to sea cheaply. And Wharram was not your typical yachtsman; it is perhaps not surprising the sailing establishment has sometimes viewed him with some suspicion. He was impossible to ignore, though, and slowly they came round to him. “Who is James Wharram?” asked the yachting writer Tom Cunliffe in Sail magazine in 2007. “Is he a philosopher, or a crackpot? A lifestyle guru or a libertine? Could he be a madman or might he be perhaps, unsettlingly sane? One thing is for sure: he is one of 20th-century seafaring’s most iconic figures.” In 2018 he won a lifetime achievement award from Classic Boat magazine.

In his last years Wharram lived with Alzheimer’s disease. “He struggled with his diminished existence,” wrote Boon, whom he married in 2018. “He could not face the prospect of further disintegration and made the very hard call to end it himself.” Wharram took his own life.

He is survived by Hanneke, Hannes (now known as Jonathan) and Jamie.

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'More fascinating by the day': Little-known history sails into Fort Myers

H is name may be all but lost to Fort Myers history, but Medford Kellum's brief part in his childhood home's past was colorful, even if that hometown never quite got around to making up its mind about him. Was he a laudable city father? A con man? A legendary sailor and fish hunter? A bigamist? A restless adventurer? All of the above?

On Nov. 9, Miami creator Cesar Becerra will be at the Collaboratory to discuss Kellum's legacy and the project that aims to bring his tall ship, the Kaimiloa, back into the public eye.

As Becerra describes his subject (he's got a Kaimiloa book and art project, among other things, in the works), "He's kind of a mystery but a fascinating character and he’s becoming more fascinating by the day." Born in Indiana 1874, Kellum came to the City of Palms after his father died in 1881.

Here's how News-Press alum and Tennessee writer Tracy Owens opened "Invisible Rogue," in Islandia Journal : "In the early 1920s Medford Ross Kellum seemed like the ultimate Fort Myers boy-made-good. So why did the town's newspaper have to issue a front-page plea for its citizens to welcome him and his family? What was the petty gossip that the people of Fort Myers were urged to rise up against? And, was there truth in it?"

Becerra will illuminate the man, his life, and especially, his extraordinary vessel, the Kaimiloa at the free Collaboratory event.

Key to Becerra's research into Kellum's Fort Myers chapters has been the archives at the Southwest Florida Historical Society's "Little Yellow House," which yielded photos, clippings and information about Kellum's Whiskey Creek mansion, now owned by Pason Gaddis, CEO of Hoffmann Media Group.

One of the treasures the archives yielded was a photo of a 13-year-old Kellum. Society volunteer Nancy Kilmartin helped research some of Kellum's backstory, which incudes rumors of alcoholism and swindling, but makes for fascinating history, she says.

A century ago next year, Kellum set out from Hawai'i on the 230-foot diesel yacht, its "four masts shooting up into the sky 13 stories tall," Becarra says. Accompanying him were a group of scientists from Honolulu's Bishop Museum, some of his children and a crew of tutors for the kids. The Kaimiloa was equipped with a radio station, a laboratory, an ice plant and a printing press, Owens reports. Plus, says Becerra, it boasted a film lab capable of processing movies.

The voyages of the Kaimiloa came at the end of the age of exploration, Becerra says. "I feel it was the last of the great explorations," he says. By the 1920s, not many frontiers remained, but the yacht did hold the distinction of being the first ship to send a short-wave radio signal across the ocean.

Becerra is fascinated by sheer grandiosity the Kaimiloa, and wants to help make it real for a 21st century audience.

"One of the dreams I have is to understand its immensity of the ship," he says. He has several ideas, ranging from finding a 13-foot building onto which an image could be projected, to building a skeletal model outlined with electroluminescent wire. "One of the translations of the name Kaimiloa is 'distant search,' " he says, "and that's what this has been."

As for the end of the ship, that's taken a while to emerge from the mists if history. Becerra says he's about 80 percent clear about what happened. He knows it was sold, renamed the Shenandoah III, and re-fitted with Asian furnishings. "When Med had it, it was a regal American ship," Becerra said. After that, it "was in an Oriental motif."

When a hurricane hit the Hong Kong Harbor in 1937, the boat was there, possibly being taken apart for scrap, he says. Originally, it was believed sunk, but "We've since learned, thanks to research by Stephan Schonberg (of the Southwest Florida Historical Society) that the ship was pushed up against Kowloon Beach," but whether it was re-righted or ever sailed again remains a mystery ... at least for now.

Cesar Becerra will speak about Medford Kellum and the Kaimiloa at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 9 at the Collaboratory, 2031 Jackson St, Fort Myers. Call 239-274-5900.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: 'More fascinating by the day': Little-known history sails into Fort Myers

'IMILOA - Express Whale Watch Cocktail Tour

• Look for migrating whales and dolphins on a Kauai catamaran cruise
• Listen to whale songs with special equipment and learn about animal behavior
• Get a fantastic view of Kauai’s southwest coast from the water
• Includes Hawaiian appetizers, cocktails, beer, and wine
• See itinerary
• Juice, Soda & Water
• Light Snacks
• Beer, Wine, and Mai Tai’s (For adults over 21 years of age with ID)
• USCG inspected Commercial passenger vessel
• Experienced US Coast Guard Licensed Captain
• CPR / First Aid & water safety trained crews
• Kauai Sea Tours, 4353 Waialo Rd #2B, Eleele, HI 96705, USA We are located in the Port Allen Marina Center, on the Island of Kauai. Head West on HWY 50. Turn left at McDonald's (JCT 541 Waialo Rd.) Look for Kauai Sea Tours on your right. Continue to the end of the complex, turn right and we are the 3rd lot on your left! Proceed to the office to check-in.
• Not wheelchair accessible
• Near public transportation
• Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
• Children must be accompanied by an adult
• No Children under the age of 3 years old
• No Pregnant women or serious health concerns
• CANCELLATION POLICY: To modify, reschedule, or cancel ANY tour and receive a full refund, YOU MUST CALL KST 24 Hours prior to your tour check-in time.
• Tour length is 2hrs from departure time, not check in time.
• No pregnancies, bad backs, those who have undergone any recent surgeries, those with any mobility problems
• Maximum weight limit 300lbs per person
• This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund
• This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund
• This tour/activity will have a maximum of 36 travelers
• For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start date of the experience.

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• Skye049 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Napali Coast Snorkel and sights/history (May 2024) Ten and Jake were incredible and so fun to spend the whole day with. Appreciate their whole hearted wants for us to have a good time! We appreciate everything and so thankful to have seen the part of the island “Napali Coast” that you can’t get to with a car. We snorkeled and the views were breathtaking! -Skye and Brian Read more Written May 11, 2024
• Celia G 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Unique/great experience Fun experience, exciting ride on Na Pali coast with unbeatable views, our captain was very knowledgeable about the history and you can tell shared a passion for what she does. Read more Written May 10, 2024
• DianneO559 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Above and beyond! Memories This was above and beyond our expectations in every way! The Captain Kauai was very engaging and gifted all with much historical and mythical stories and humor. The team was incredibly hospitable in every way. They not only encouraged pictures but offers to take them of our family. The captain made our trip interactive and enlightening. Would highly recommend! Read more Written May 10, 2024
• el_onorec597 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Amazing experience in the raft tour Amazing experience with Kauai Sea Tours, captain Paul and Chance on the raft tour! We had a blast on the boat and got to see dolphins! When the weather allows, the captain never hesitate to make you discover hidden gems (cave, waterfalls, etc.) that other bigger boats can’t do. We had lunch and were able to go snorkeling for about 30 minutes which was excellent. Because of the weather, we had a rough way back but it was the last touch to the adventurous experience - don’t hesitate to book with them, it was exceptional from start to finish, thank you! Read more Written May 7, 2024
• KimzeyK 0 contributions 4.0 of 5 bubbles Great Na Pali Coast Experience! We booked the Na Pali Coast sunset cruise for a group of 8 adults, and while we had a great time, we felt that "cruise" was a not quite the right word, as it conjures romantic images of smooth sailing with a cocktail in hand. This is a catamaran that bounces very fast over the waves - you need to hold onto something at all times when the boat is in motion, and between the waves and the rain, everyone was pretty drenched. (Their website says that you might get wet, but based on our experience, it's not might - it's will.) The crew prioritizes safety - they gave frequent reminders to hold on, and occasionally asked us to sit down when the water was especially choppy. Dampness notwithstanding, the trip was beautiful, and Captain Amber and the crew were friendly and knowledgeable about wildlife and local lore. The weather was so favorable that day that she took us out farther than they usually go. The only other way to see this part of the coast is on a helicopter, and it is truly spectacular. We also saw dolphins on the way out, which is apparently common in the morning, but less likely on the evening tour, and the rain delivered several spectacular rainbows on our way back in. Even those of us who were seasick were glad they had made the trip. (Note that the crew is not allowed to distribute any medication, so byo Dramamine. Shout out to Julian for the ice chips and ginger ale!) Non-alcoholic drinks are provided outbound, and the dinner buffet and bar open on the return trip. They served tacos, rice, and beans, including a vegetarian option, and the food was quite good. The trip felt a little long, but there isn't really another way to do it - just be prepared to spend most of the time in transit, with only about an hour roaming the actual Na Pali Coast - but it's scenic the whole way. Many companies offer this tour, and we obviously only took this one, but I highly recommend the Lucky Lady! Read more Written May 5, 2024
• rudolpha909 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Napali Coast cruise. Excellent trip. Fun group running it. Good food, drinks if you want it. Good ship. They kept you safe on as the boat moved, it is the ocean so expect that ;) Read more Written May 4, 2024
• Whitney S 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Great tour! The tour was amazing. The boat was comfortable, the captain was knowledgeable and the crew was welcoming and helpful. Seas were a little rough in some points but the captain did a great job of trying to smooth it out. Meal was good and drinks were great. Would definitely recommend this tour! Read more Written May 3, 2024
• A6992PNjeffw 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Prepare for an epic adventure Went on a Napoli coast cruise on Sunday after the Thursday was cancelled due to weather, so a bit nervous about motion sickness. Did the Dramamine ahead of time and NO issues. The seas were pretty calm too. The cruise was so perfect and the crew as well. Capt Kaua’i gave us the trip of a lifetime. Photos numerous, observed some pilot whales and the little taco bar was fun and good. Very highly recommended. Read more Written May 2, 2024
• K1340WAbethp 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles The best time EVER! My daughter and I went on this tour with the hope of experiencing the beauty of the Nē Pali coast together. It was absolutely paradise. Captain Amber and her crew created a spectacular day with the help of Mother Nature. We highly recommend the Lucky Lady, Captain Amber, and her crew for an unforgettable excursion! Thank you! Read more Written May 2, 2024
• SueM260 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Couldn't have asked for a better day! We just got back from this sunset tour of the Na Pali coast. We could not have ordered a more perfect day (they told us that as well). The seas were very calm, and the sky was very clear - there was only a slight mist at the top of some of the mountains. We were able to see a large pod of spinner dolphins, and Captain Amber stopped the boat so that we could spend quite a bit of time looking at them all around us, up to their usual antics! She was also able to expertly bring us really close to the coast on several occasions. The rest of the crew was fantastic also - very helpful, friendly, and attentive to all of the guests on the trip. The boat itself was spacious, comfortable, and had a lot of seating, both in the sun and in the shade. We would highly recommend this trip. Read more Written May 2, 2024
• 207matthewp 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Perfect day that will never happen again As our captain Amber told us this was the perfect day on the Na Pali coast and we would never see a day like this ever again. Smooth trip out and ocean was like glass by the time we got to coast. Had a surprise sighting of a whale! A lot of dolphins and beauty. Only recommendation I would make is to take Dramamine 😃. It was rough coming back and a lot of people were sick. I took 4 and still felt queasy. With this being said you should go because it is beautiful 😃. Read more Written April 27, 2024
• Susan2375 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles WOW Captain Jenn and Jake were amazing! Unbelievable views and adventure in the sea cave. Crazy choppy water that Captain Jenn navigates like a champ. Would definitely recommend but be ready for adventure. Read more Written April 26, 2024
• beckyandcalebc 0 contributions 5.0 of 5 bubbles Highly recommend The views were incredible! Skye was an awesome captain. He knows so much about the island and the ocean we felt super safe with him even tho the waves were a little crazy from the wind. We were able to see pretty much everything we were “promised” from spinner dolphins, turtles, monk seals, caves, water falls, and we loved being able to snorkel on the na pali coast! So amazing! Highly recommend! Read more Written April 24, 2024

More to explore in Kauai

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Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

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'IMILOA - Express Whale Watch Cocktail Tour provided by Kauai Sea Tours

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Kaimiloa catamaran 69.06 feet

“Kaimiloa” the fruit of a French tradition

To say that beautiful objects are also performing objects is to pay a fitting tribute to a French tradition: the nose of the Concorde, the fuselage of a TGV, or the pyramid of the Louvre are all contemporary testimonies to this!

In the maritime world, halfway between air and ocean, this requirement is even more crucial: a fine bow that cuts through the waves, a fluid aerodynamic profile, a rear skirt elongating the appearance… All these elements give a ship its weapons to conquer the seas and are summed up in a single concept: pure and elegant aesthetics.

KAIMILOA meets these imperatives more than any other. With its two lounges, two dining rooms, four double cabins, a captain's cabin, two engine rooms, a sail loft, and workshop, KAIMILOA matches the performance of our large 25 to 30-meter monohull cruising yachts, with equivalent performance and remarkable stability.

Specifications

• Overall Length: 21.05 m / 69 ft.
• Waterline Length: 19.55 m / 64 ft.
• Beam: 9.95 m / 32.6 ft.
• Beam Between Hulls: 6.85 m / 22.5 ft.
• Draft: 1.10 m / 3.6 ft.
• Mast Height: 26 m / 85 ft.
• Main Sail Area: 135 m2 / 1453 ft2.
• Genoa Area: 117 m2 / 1259 ft2.
• Staysail Area: 42 m2 / 452 ft2.
• Total Sail Area Upwind: 252 m2 / 2713 ft2.
• Engines: 2 X 50 hp.
• Displacement: 23 T.
• Crew: 10/12.

James Wharram Designs

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Tiki 38 tested.

I must thank Lee Shipley, Ben Mullet, Colin Flynn for their recent discussion on aspects of Wharram Catamarans on our Web Forum between 16 January and 4 February (under headings NARAI Mk IV and Tiki 46 Rig). Lee Shipley for writing about the advantages on open decks, i.e. no or minimum deck cabins, Ben Mullet on the advantages of the Wharram Soft Wingsail (often called the Tiki Rig), and Colin Flynn as to why a Wharram Catamaran is unsuitable for many would-be Wharram Catamaran owners, beginning with himself. In the February/March issue of the French multihull magazine, Multihull-World/Multicoques, a newly launched Tiki 38 was given a test sail. The boat in question was Kaimiloa, built by Dominique Naulet. The test sail shows a total stranger’s view of aspects of the Wharram Design, and the comments are interesting.

Multicoques/Multihull-World wrote:

"These boats aren’t often seen in our yachting harbours, for a simple reason: they sail far, very far, where there are no marinas, in the land of the sun, where these strange catamarans quietly pull on their anchor chain, while their crews relax and laze about on the trampoline... A boat designed by James Wharram is like no other boat. It is a catamaran. But James Wharram’s catamarans are like no other catamarans. Moreover, the owners of Wharram Boats are not like other people either. They seem inspired by a kind of faith, they seem to be on a quest for a certain quality of life, which finds its fulfilment in the realization of their boat. The Wharram is above all a state of mind. These boats are designed for living on the water, a minimalist version of the cruising multihull; they are created to cast off for the sunniest parts of the planet, preferably between 20o latitude North and 20o latitude South. The only possible connection between a catamaran mass-produced in one of our French x- or other boatyards, and a boat designed by James Wharram, is the number of hulls. Beyond that, everything is different: the motors, the rigging, the liveability, the materials and the cost. The concept from the start of Wharram’s Polynesian catamarans is expressed in their simplicity. Why be complicated when you can be something simple?"

Well, trust a Frenchman to get to the heart of design philosophy. I tell students who at times study in this office that all designers have an inner philosophy, which affects aspects of their designs. At the moment, I am writing an article, provisionally called: ‘I steered a Viking ship’, which contains these socio-philosophical reflections:

"What stops so many would-be sailors nowadays owning such craft [i.e. a Viking-style ship], is that their perceptions have been warped by modern urban living and the expectations of urban living. Modern urban man travels in his sealed luxury ‘car pod’ to his/her centrally heated office, then back to a centrally heated, carpeted floor house. For exercise he/she joins an expensive gym, where he/she runs on a treadmill like a hamster or a 19th century convict. All the time protected from the wind, the rain and the sun. The Vikings protected their bodies comfortably from cold and wet with wool and oiled leather. We have yachting clothing today which is as good. So we have the small boat design, we have the protective clothing. All we need now to have a new renaissance in modern sailing man, is to drop the comfort perceptions of urban city man."

The philosophical attitude in that article paragraph is reflected in our catamaran designs by the open centre decks, sometimes with a steering pod added.

Here is how the French Tiki 38 boat-tester saw the open deck concept:

"Let’s take the time to have a closer look at the platform. When climbing onboard, the first impression is that of entering a vast space, with the central part made up of slats, and the front of a trampoline. This feeling is further reinforced by the lack of any true roof – only the cockpit stands out. This is essentially an area for the running rigging – where almost all is centralized. At anchor, if the weather (the wind) does not make it possible to stay on the fore platform, it is always possible to find refuge in the cockpit, where you can be seated and very well protected."

Add the steering pod cockpit shelter to the sturdy deck tent mentioned by Lee Shipley, and sheltered harbour living space extends enormously on the Wharram Catamarans. Then the sailing capabilities on the Tiki 38 were described in Multihull World in these paragraphs:

"The breeze is rather light, under 10 knots, and at 45o of true wind, Kaimiloa is sailing faster than 5 knots. The thin bows and flared hulls forming a ‘V’ at the tip facilitate passage in the water. The wind increases and shifts, we bear away slightly, the speed increases: at 60o off the wind, with 10 knot winds, we advance calmly at 6 knots on a sea that is still flat. At the helm, the Tiki is lively, even though the excitement is somewhat damped, partly because of the nature of the tiller wheel ropes, made up of pre-stretched rope; but that’s the price of the Wharram spirit. Wire ropes would make the helm more sensitive. But have you ever tried to explain to an aficionado of Ducati twins the melody of a 4-cylinder engine? In front of us, a big squall fills the horizon, the sun takes advantage of this to offer us a magic festival of colour, while the wind increases: 12 knot wind, the speed rises to 6.5 knots. The breeze blows in gusts, with each one, the boat accelerates frankly, at 15 knots of wind, always close reach, we exceed 8 knots. We are crossing the swell from the open sea - about 1 metre – the boat passes into the waves perfectly, with gentle movements, truly a joy! The strength of the Wharram is in her flexibility. Seated on the port roof, in the wind, with my feet on the platform, I can feel she’s alive… I mean, she’s moving, since she is attached to her hulls only with braided rope! It’s time for cocktails (testing a boat is a real job and isn’t easy every day...)" "We’ve been at sea for 2 hours, it’s time to turn back. Jibing is done gently, thanks surely to the fact there’s no boom: all the sails quietly change their tack, and at broad reach, at 8 knots with 15-17 knot winds, we sail quietly back to Port Morin. Sailors know it: downwind the sea is fine. The Tiki is no exception, the jerking we felt earlier while sailing upwind have obviously disappeared; it’s a pleasure to glide. With a few degrees more, we could have thought ourselves between Hiva-Oa and Fatu-Hiva, pushed by a strong tradewind… Back at the anchorage, mooring is no problem at all. With her two motors, the boat almost turns on a dime."

I think that Ben Mullet and the many others who appreciate the Tiki rig would add to that description: "With more experience could do better."

Under the heading ‘Life on Board’, the magazine made these comments:

"And what about the inside? Sheer heaven… For those who prefer the comfy interiors with luxury appointments… of course, the liveability has nothing to do with what you usually find. Yet the features are functional and cosy. The two little roofs, 25 cm each, provide good headroom."

Well, coming from the world of French luxury charter catamarans, the boat test crew obviously found nothing luxurious to rave about in the cabin space. The magazine’s conclusions were as follows:

"The Tiki 38 is a surprising boat in more ways than one. First of all, it has nothing to do with other catamarans of its size, whether in displacement, sail area, and especially liveability. As for the price it’s a completely different category. We did, nevertheless, play the game of comparisons with other boats of the same size, just for fun...Indeed, the Tiki 38 is unlike any other.

I think that this is a pretty fair conclusion, though if they had read Ben Mullet’s piece on the web, they might have drawn a clearer conclusion. Ben Mullet pointed out that the Tiki 38's waterline length is 31’6" (9.6m). That means 6’6" (2m) of overhang, which add nothing to the accommodation or waterline length speed. The overhangs are there for wave riding in heavy seas. It is a more realistic accommodation comparison to compare our WLL to that of other catamarans. Still, I’m pleased with the Multihull World boat test. But obviously not everyone is going to like a Wharram Catamaran.

Colin Flynn’s contribution expressed his deep disappointment with his Wharram-style craft, he does throw light on a mental approach to the Wharram designs that "can end in tears", and is well-worth considering.

Note I write ‘Wharram-style’, for Colin Flynn’s original set of plans was the 28-ft Tanenui design, a design from 1973, which though seaworthy, was a low cost, minimum accommodation fast weekend sailer design. Colin enlarged and modified this basic design to 34 feet. Why? When he would have done better to have bought the tough 36-ft ocean going Tangaroa IV design, only 2 ft longer than his adaptation, which with steering pod and deck tent as described by Lee Shipley, would have given him the cabin space he needs (he sails in hot sticky Bali) for two people.

Which leads to some comment on the JWD attitude to design modifications. Apart from our prime concern about structural integrity, each case is different. There are not and cannot be hard and fast rules. For example, one Wharram owner sawed his Wharram in half, separating the two ends and adding some mid-ship section. This at first seems like wanton destruction. In fact it is a standard method of lengthening ships. For reasons of increased cargo/cabin accommodation or to decrease wave drag. Done by a practical person with common sense, it is a reasonable procedure. However, "without proper technical awareness of all the implications, such a modification is fraught with potentially deadly consequences", quote from said Wharram owner.

Another recent example of design modification is John and Beth Schwartsfeger’s Tiki 38. We personally know the Schwartsfegers. We visited and stayed with them in New Zealand during the building of their boat, and have the highest respect for their building skills. Yoka, now running the computer side of JWD, worked with them glassing their first hull. So when Beth and John started adding on cabin on cabin, we were not concerned over safety, or even too much about the boat’s final appearance. We knew they would get it right, but we were concerned over windage, which would reduce speed and manoeuvrability, and perhaps make steering in heavy seas difficult. John would have preferred a Tiki 46, but we only started designing her sitting in his part finished Tiki 38 cabin, thinking about his requirements, which grew at every visit. So the problem of modifications raised by Colin Flynn’s letter, is a very complex one. Each builder, each design, requires individual assessment. At the moment, I’ve not sorted out this problem.

Fortunately, at this moment of writing, I can hear the builders (house builders!). We are building a new drawing office in our existing workshop. Perhaps the day will come with several eager draftsmen, busily drawing modifications?! Meanwhile, it is best to stick close to the Plans as you bought them.

- James Wharram