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#1 2011-10-03 14:59:15

Admin
Kraken
From: Dublin Bay
Registered: 2011-02-24
Posts: 333

Frances 26 GALADRIEL (Phil Mislinski)

"Galadriel" is a Frances 26 that sails in Pacific waters around Hawaii.  To the best of our knowledge, she has travelled further than any other Frances 26.

Phil Mislinski is the owner of this rather special boat and enjoys tinkering which is as well, since he has done a great deal of work and plans to do still more to make her second to none.  Phil and Monique are now full members of our Association.

Phil is an excellent photographer and has given us permission to use a couple of photographs from his own website.

Galadriel_1.jpg
"Galadriel" a Chuck Paine designed Frances 26' Sailboat built by Victoria Yachts of England

Now you may be wondering how "Galadriel" managed to sail so far away from Warsash and the River Hamble. Phil thinks he has uncovered some of her history so this is what he believed happened ...

I've slowly been putting together the pieces of how Galadriel, originally named "Theresa" made it to Oahu. Most of the following is hearsay from people I've met around the island who know the boat. Some of them actually met the original owner. Others heard the story through the second owner.

The original owner was a young Brit who bought her from Victoria on a bank loan. He left England for an extended sailing adventure and quickly "forgot" about paying off the bank. He made his way south then crossed over to the Caribbean. After knocking around a bit he moved on through the Panama canal. He spent a few years bouncing around the south Pacific getting as far as the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. I still have some of the sails he picked up from a loft there. He then returned to Oahu where he lived on the boat in Kaneohe Bay. In ~1993 the bank got word that the boat was on Oahu. They quickly sent the repossession team to impound the boat. The second owner managed to get a very good deal buying the boat from the bank.

The second owner was a ~25 year old American who moved the boat over to the Ala Wai marina in Honolulu where he lived aboard for approximately 4 years. During that time he took great care of "Theresa" and sailed her regularly. Six years ago he took a job in Hong Kong and was unable to bring Theresa with him. He returned for 4 weeks per year to live aboard and sail. Unfortunately he didn't keep up with very much of the maintenance after moving to Hong Kong. That turned out to work to my advantage.

In December of 2003 he put the boat up for sale at a rather high price given her condition. Fortunately I had been shopping for a good, small cruising boat capable of inter island trips and knew exactly what she was. I managed to talk him down on the price initially. After having a survey done and taking her on the sea trial I was able to push the price even lower. This process took a few months because part of the deal was to have the engine rebuilt and he was having trouble getting that  coordinated from Hong Kong. After closing I had some minor blisters repaired, the bottom and top sides painted, and some other minor work done. We launched her from the Waikiki Yacht Club in early March '04 and renamed her "Galadriel". Our maiden voyage was the ~4 hour trip to Ko'Olina with a  20kt tail wind and following, 4 foot rollers.  Very exciting! Ko'Olina is located in Barber's Point Harbor on the south west side of Oahu.

Aloha,

Phil

Galadriel_2.jpg
Two girls sailing a Victoria Frances 26' Sailboat off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii

The prevailing winds are typically from the ENE or NNE for most of the year. In the winter months we'll get winds from about any direction, but the rest of the year is fairly predictable. Most of our sailing is up the coast towards Makaha because the view is much better than heading towards Honolulu. A few times each summer we sail around to Waimea Bay on the North Shore for a long weekend on the hook. This summer I'm planning to circumnavigate Oahu. My wife and kids will be along for most of it, but a friend will join me on at least one leg. I'm also planning to help a friend sail his boat to Kauai in late June.

Yesterday we just did a kayak reconnaissance trip to check out Kahana Bay on the windward side. We found that the bottom is mostly hard sand with very few rocks and coral heads. Depth in the area we would anchor is 8 to 15 ft. Now our proposed route is as follows with a stop for the night at each destination:

Day 1 - Waikiki Yacht Club in the Ala Wai Harbor
Day 2 - Anchor just off Hawaii Kai near Port  Loch Road (south swell permitting)
Day 3 - Kaneohe Bay
Day 4 - Kahana Bay
Day 5 - Waimea Bay
Day 6 - Yokohama Bay off Makua Valley (south swell permitting)
Day 7 - back to Ko'Olina

For the most part the water is deep and there are no obstacles or hazards. A few areas where you have to really pay attention are near the bigger points due to colliding currents and swirling winds, shipping traffic near Honolulu; reefs on the windward coast line; reefs within Kaneohe Bay; unmarked channel getting into Kahana Bay (this is ~1/2 mile wide). The 3'10" draft and great sailing motion of the Frances make it ideal for sailing around Oahu. It can handle the choppy seas and still get into some of the secluded bays.

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#2 2011-10-03 15:06:09

Admin
Kraken
From: Dublin Bay
Registered: 2011-02-24
Posts: 333

Re: Frances 26 GALADRIEL (Phil Mislinski)

Update 2005

Phil has sent us some pictures of his summer sailing in 'Galadriel' off the coast of Oahu. For those of you that rarely venture out of the Solent, may I remind you that Oahu is part of the Hawaiian Islands and at approximately 160ºW and just south of the Tropic of Cancer has weather that is generally much better than our own! To put you in the picture, Phil has supplied this chart.

Galadriel_Oahu_Chart.jpg

Honolulu is the large city with both port and airport on the south side of the island. 'Galadriel', a Frances 26, is normally berthed in the Ko'Olina marina.

Galadriel_Katarina.jpg

This is Katarina, snorkelling near the shore in Waimea Bay over the July 4th weekend.

Galadriel_Interior.jpg

The interior of 'Galadriel' after refinishing some of the wood work. The cabinet doors still need varnish, but most of the weathered wood strips have been refinished.

Galadriel_Catamaran.jpg

On the evening of July 4th all of the other boats anchored in Waimea Bay pulled anchor and sailed off just before sunset, leaving the entire bay to us.

Galadriel_Two_Girls.jpg

July 4th with the girls on deck.

Galadriel_Winch.jpg

Galadriel sailing on a beam reach as we approach Kaena Point on the return trip to Ko'Olina. A Frances really moves on a reach.

Kaena Point is the most westerly point of the island, north of the Makua Valley.

Galadriel_Anchored.jpg

Monique, Sammy and Katarina hang out on the deck of 'Galadriel' while anchored off 'Electric Beach'. A cooling water outlet pipe from the power plant provides an incredible snorkelling experience at this anchorage. Thousands of fish feed in the warm water 20 to 30 feet below the surface. A pod of spinner dolphins frequent the area. On the return trip the dolphins came out to surf our bow wave as usual so we pulled in for a short swim session before heading back to the marina.

Galadriel_Dolphin_1.jpg

Galadriel_Dolphin_2.jpg

It's been a while since I've had the chance to e-mail you. Since the last time we've spoken I have moved to Boulder, CO. Galadriel is still safely moored in Hawaii and up for sale. I'm secretly hoping that she doesn't get any offers by ~February. If that happens my wife has given me the OK to put a little money into her and sail her to San Diego, California where my sister lives. Since the flight from Denver to San Diego is relatively cheap we would then use Galadriel for vacation trips into Mexico.

Odds are I won't be ready to make the trip until 2007. In the meantime I will have to haul and paint the bottom and take care of several other tasks which should be fun (standing rigging, re-caulk all deck hardware, replace the forward hatch, install a windvane, etc). I've heard good things about Coppercoat bottom paint from a few European friends and I was wondering if you have any experience with it. Their website (http://www.coppercoat.com) is loaded with useful information.

Now that it's getting a little cold in your neighborhood I figured that you might like a few photos from our 4th of July trip. Here's one to get you started.  I took this while we were anchored off Makua Valley. It's a large bay just to the south east of Kaena Point. A wonderful place to anchor in the summer when most of the swells are smaller and from the south east. I'll send more in a few days.

Cheers,

Phil Mislinski

Galadriel_Makua_Valley.jpg

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