My Final Sail Aboard Phoenix (and Losing the Drone)
November 5, 2025 · 32 min · 15K views · Maui
Phoenix sails past sea cliffs at golden sunset
What this video covers
Oliver sails Phoenix from Maui back to Oahu — a two-to-three-day passage — after a month cruising the Hawaiian Islands.0:47 Departing in glassy calm, he motors at 3 to 3.5 knots on a 25-horsepower Universal engine, a recurring frustration he attributes to the engine's limited output rather than a mechanical fault.3:46 Wind fills in at 14–17 knots as Phoenix rounds the ocean-facing side of Maui, and he sets a preventer for a dead-downwind run past the sea cliffs.8:13 He notes that telescoping whisker poles are aggravating and recommends a fixed pole instead.14:11 Flying a drone near the sea cliffs, he loses the signal at roughly 1,000 meters with 30% battery remaining; the drone fails to return home and goes down at sea.16:30 Night sailing along an unlit coastline relies entirely on Navionics and GPS.20:39 PredictWind forecast no wind, but conditions hold at 5–5.5 knots boat speed wing-on-wing through the night, and Phoenix arrives at Oahu around dawn.24:10 At the end, Oliver announces he is under contract on a 1998 Pacific Seacraft 40, a Crealock design he describes as purpose-built for ocean crossings, prompted partly by the difficulty of beating Phoenix around South Point of the Big Island.32:05
Boats in this video
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