Follow our journey of restoring the schooner Elixir on Kauai, starting with gathering scattered parts, tackling piles of sails, and using ingenuity (and a Canadian dime) to piece together a vision of the ship’s rigging. A story of determination, discovery, and diving into the world of boat restoration.

Dive into the challenges of restoring Elixir, from evolving workshop setups with tarps and tools to tackling unexpected rot and redesigning the deck layout. Discover how a simple plan grew into a four-year journey of creative problem-solving and synchronized steps—all before the days of digital project management!

Explore the magic of Sundays spent on Kauai's Secret Beach in the 1980s, accessible only by a jungle trek through guava-slick trails. Discover the joy of swimming with playful dolphins in the bay, a breathtaking experience of connection with nature.

Daily swims in Nawiliwili Bay, near the Jurassic Park breakwater, and life in a stunning cliffside rental overlooking Kauai Lagoons Golf Course made for unforgettable moments—including the time I unknowingly asked a celebrity golfer to move his car!

Discover the challenges of removing cement ballast from a boat’s bilge during a restoration project. Learn how we tackled tight quarters, a jackhammer, and embedded debris like engine parts and steel shot while preserving balance and addressing structural rot.

We arrived in Kauaii at the beginning of the year, January 1, 1988, and stayed at a friend’s

beach cottage until we found our own place. Of course, we went to Nawiliwili Harbor to visit our

new project right away.

As with some projects, this one began a few years before we knew it did, with a trip to the boatyard on Kauai. On that original visit, Tosh visited with the previous owner. Walking under the stern, he looked up to touch her planking and felt an overwhelming wave of wonder and magic at the beauty and symmetry of her lines. Little did he know how that moment would determine the course of the next chapter of our lives.