NAWILIWILI — When the Kauai Sea Scouts leave on their 2010 summer cruise, the goal is to see how far down the Hawaiian Island chain they can go, said skipper Larry Richardson.

That cruise became reality when an anonymous donor gave the Sea Scout program a new boat in the form of a 40-foot cruising trawler.
“We were looking around for a boat and came across this boat that has been for sale for a long time,” Richardson said.
After making contact with the owner, Richardson explained how the program operates under the auspices of the Kauai Police Activities League and he challenged the boat’s owner to visit several Web sites that talk about the program.
To his surprise, the boat’s owner called him a few days later and offered the boat to the program.
“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done,” Richardson said of the new acquisition. “We had the boat surveyed and the hull is in outstanding condition. But there are superficial dry rot and other things that need work.”
The Scouts plan on spending the next month doing maintenance and repairs on the 1973 Taiwan-built trawler that was harbored on Maui.
“It’s got a 700-gallon fuel tank which gives it a 2,200 nautical mile range, and a 300-gallon water storage tank,” Richardson said. “The motor runs fine.”
Aboard the trawler, there are two state rooms and two heads, including a shower.
Once the initial repairs are done, Richardson said the Scouts will head out to sea on some weekend cruises, making stops at Port Allen and elsewhere on Kauai.
“Our goal is to have a cruise a month. Eventually, we expect to expand the cruises, working out to Oahu,” Richardson said. “All of this leads up to the summer cruise where the Scouts will be aboard for two weeks. At that point, we’ll see how far down the Island chain we can get.”
Richardson said when the program started, the goal was always to get a boat so the Scouts could get hands-on experience in sailing, boating safety and the Sea Scout program.
Looking over the boat berthed at Nawiliwili Small Boat Harbor, Richardson said in retrospect, wishing for a boat was pie in the sky, although it didn’t feel like it while he was concentrating on getting a craft for the program.
“When the owner gave us the boat, it wasn’t just for the Sea Scouts,” Richardson said. “This is a boat for Kauai’s youth.”
With the capabilities of the boat, Richardson said who knows what the future holds.
“We could go away for longer cruises to places like Guam or Saipan,” Richardson said.
Currently, there are 13 registered Sea Scouts, Richardson said. Of those, 10 are active.
The Sea Scouts meet at 6 p.m., Wednesdays, at Nawiliwili Small Boat Harbor. For more information, call Richardson at 652-0802.