Alenuihaha Channel — Hawaii
To cross one of the most dangerous stretches of water on earth, Hawaii’s Alenuihaha Channel is a sailor’s personal Mt. Everest — a Cape Horn comparable accomplishment for sailors seeking heavy weather challenge.
Paul Exner — “The heaviest wind in the Alenuihaha Channel I’ve sailed in the 31 times I’ve crossed the Alenuihaha was 45-knots sustained for 10-hours, fore-reaching from Maui to Hawaii Island, blasting through 12-15’ heavy-seas — my SV Solstice sailed like a fast-moving freight train, pitching over steep waves to point her bow toward a starry sky. On two other crossings I flew my storm-trysail to catch gusts to 50 knots. The Alenuihaha Channel is a treacherous swath of ocean capable of wind-speeds double the Trade Winds that fuel it — a place where actual sailing conditions are underestimated by the weather forecast.”
Capt. Buelow (Hawaiian Tug Capt.) — “When Mainland guys come over here and see these channels, they go ‘Wow.’ Everbody expects it to be paradise and mellow, and they have no idea how hairy it can get out there. Alenuihaha is definitely ranked Hawaii’s #1 channel for roughness… When winds top 50mph and swells exceed forty feet, commercial tug-trips get cancelled!”
Michael Spalding (Alenuihaha swimmer on his 2nd attempt) — aborted his first-try after bitten by a shark off Upolu Pt. and hospitalized. Michael’s second try was different: “I wanted to spend as little time as possible swimming in the dark, especially off Big Island where I was bitten… I didn’t want to get bitten twice.” Linda Kaiser (channel-swim colleague) commented further about Spalding’s 2nd attempt — “The winds started out very calm, but they built later in the day reaching 20 knots by mid-afternoon as he approached Maui. Mike had encountered an 8-foot oceanic white tip shark about 10-miles from his start. Mike had the shark at his toes but the shark turned before Mike touched the ladder. The shark chased him around a bit and then left, but returned a short time later. Mike continued to swim while all-hands kept a close eye on the shark and it finally left.” Michael Spalding is one of four people to swim the Alenuihaha Channel.
Europa Autonomous Wave Glider — “On the day we originally tried to launch Europa to cross the Alenuihaha Channel autonomously (Jan. 6th, 2020), we experienced Gale force winds, with gusts over 50mph. We monitored the weather hourly and finally found a break on Jan. 8th and launched Europa. However, since we were still experiencing Gale conditions we decided to not have Europa cross the channel directly from Puako but instead send Europa 30nm south to Kailua-Kona in hopes of getting out of the strongest funneling affects of the Alenuihaha. Even so, Eurpoa still faced gusts over 50mph and seas over 15ft during its Alenuihaha crossing over to Maui.” NOTE: Europa is one of several autonomous-vessels by Liquid Robotics. The Jupiter Research Foundation has successfully crossed the Pacific Ocean autonomously using a L.R. Wave Glider: PacX Expedition.
Alenuihaha Channel — Weather Model
Alenuihaha Hands-On Expedition
Specialized training to sail across Hawaii’s Alenuihaha Channel — participate in nine virtual sessions with Paul Exner — learn all aspects of heavy weather sailing; then, apply yourself and experience a detailed technical-crossing of the Alenuihaha that challenges sailors to the highest level.
Train with Paul Exner before crossing the Alenuihaha
Comprehensive 9-Week Mastermind — learn and DO everything needed to prepare for extreme weather at sea.
NOT TRIVIAL INSTRUCTION — Paul Exner and his expedition team aims to summit Hawaii’s Alenuihaha Channel during the Mastermind.
The Mastermind dives-deep into all boat and crew-preparations, team-leadership methods, and expedition plans used by Paul for his Alenuihaha crossings.
Every sailor is welcome to enroll in the Mastermind’s peer-to-peer culture. All participants collaborate to prepare their own boats to sail heavy weather… The Alenuihaha crossing is a real-time case study showing how Paul Exner’s methods apply in practice.
The Mastermind group empowers sailors and sailboat owners to work cooperatively and take massive action to sail BIG weather on their own.
Prepare yourself to sail extreme weather — step-by-step.
October 8 - December 17, 2024