Correspondence with Frank Russell, whose father commissioned the Ipo Kai and who is also restoring a 27' CSK Catamaran

Frank,

Thank you so much for that information. I met with Wayne this morning to go over a lot of the plans. I will ask him about fairing the forward cross piece. I've been assuming a lot of what is on the boat is tried and true, and have been telling Wayne I don't want to "fix what isn't broken", and so to mostly restore what is already there. So, can you tell me any more about the upsides and downsides of removing the Nar-pole. Makai didn't have one. Please tell me more about your tiller thoughts. When we used to sail the Makai passed the Ipo Kai, my brother was always envious of its wheel.

Do you know what Ipo Kai means? Do you have plans for it or Imi Loa or Imua, or any other information like that?

We are trying to figure out fresh water capacity. Any thoughts?

Do you think and electric pump head would be worth it to a family over the manual pump head it now has?

Wayne thought we might save some on the cost of the front trampoline by using mesh, instead of the sewn together webbing. However, I remember a lot of water coming through the tramp when sailing upwind in a nice breeze, so I wasn't sure that was the place to save.

Wayne has also located a discounted carbon-fiber wing mast he is recommending to reduce the weight aloft. However, it is not cheap. Do you have any thoughts?

-----Original Message-----

> Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:35:48 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Frank Russell
> Subject: Re: Ipo Kai
> To: Brown
>
> Hi Mike,
>
> Yes, Ipo Kai was built for my father in 1969 -1970. Rudy and my dad went
back and forth between an Imi Loa or Imua design and Ipo Kai was what came
of it all. 38ft x 16.5ft. I am one of 7 kids, so my parents were adamant
about cabin to hull access and not thru the deck hatches. The big boxy
forward crossbeam was installed after Ipo Kai took a large wave head on
during the Newport-Bermuda Race and was quickly installed and never rounded
and faired. It is solid spruce (4- 6 laminations) and can be carved to an
oval shape. We always wondered after she was sold, why the new owners never
did that after they spent fortunes on other modifications. Speaking of
which.... I'd remove the center nar-pole up the middle of the forward net,
too much weight. Also, on a boat this size, I'd prefer tillers over
wheel.... just my preference.
>
> I have to run, but would certainly welcome a call!!
>
> Aloha!,
> Frank Russell

An Update From Mike

I thought you might want to add some of this to the blog.

Richard doesn't think we need to spend money on the electric head. He thinks the manual will be fine and its an extra thing that could break.

I met with Wayne Iwamoto yesterday morning to arrange work plans. Wayne thinks we should think about engines soon, if we are going to replace the Tohatsu. He needs to run cables and get the engine housing right. I think we are looking for a 4-stroke, from 15 to 50 hp, with at least a 25" transom height shaft. Wayne is looking into this as well, but help is welcome. Honda makes a 15hp and 50 hp motor with a 25" shaft. The smaller is around 110 pounds and the larger is about 100 lbs more.

Kris and a friend worked on cleaning up the boat yesterday. They removed stuff from the interior and stacked it below to make room to work. Two men we use at the apartments sometimes are sanding on the boat today.

Gil was raising one cockpit seat to put in a larger water tank. Then we would need to rebuild the other seat and modify the table to make everything work again. I said I had a smaller water tank from the Makai. We agreed to put the smaller tank in so the dining area would not require modification.
We'll put the larger water tank in the storage area just forward of the cabin as a backup for longer voyages.
We're continuing discussions on making the head as people friendly as possible.

The Beginning

This new web log has been created to document the life and adventures of the IPO KAI. We'll be posting updates and news as we refit the IPO KAI and get her ready to be ocean worthy once again. Here are some photos of her current condition.

...To many years of sailing the open seas on the IPO KAI!!!