Kai Ohana

About the Boat

Kai Ohana ("Ocean Family" in Hawaiian) when purchased by the Bach Family on the island of Sint Maarten/Saint Martin in January 2006 was a 75ft (60ft on deck) Italian designed and built wooden staysail schooner called Saudade (Portuguese for "Longing", as for an old friend or home). She, one of two sister ships (the second was destroyed in a fire several years ago), was commissioned by the Italian Minister of Transport as his personal fishing yacht (she initially did not have a rig) in 1960 and completed in 1963.

Island lore has it that she was sold by the Minister of Transport and put into commission as a charter vessel specializing in amateur treasure hunting off the formidable east coast of Africa. From there, she was sailed by her owner (the one I bought the vessel from) to South Africa where she was re-planked and re-rigged. After her refit, she made the long voyage up through the southern Atlantic Ocean to the Amazon River where she spent considerable time in the Belem area, before she headed north to Trinidad where her port, aft quarter had been holed one night by a large pleasure yacht and her drunk captain. After her repairs, she made her way up the Windward Islands to St. Maarten where she spent several years being neglected.

Her hull construction is 1-1/4 inch teak planking over double 7"x3.5" sawn frames of oak spaced 7" apart. When the Bachs bought her, she was primarily suffering from freshwater rot to her decks and topsides though most of the hull below the waterline had been spared damage (saltwater does not rot wooden boats). She was hauled out of the water at the time of purchase where a 12-man crew from the neighboring islands spent the next six months re-planking her hull where necessary, and replacing all the caulking with epoxy and splines. Once her hull was saturated with epoxy inside and out, fared and painted (at this point she'd be considered a "cold-molded" type boat), she was splashed in July of 2006 after a re-christening ceremony performed by the foreman of the crew, Gregg Buyskes, at which point the Bachs, Chad Adams (ship's engineer) and Daniel Petrásek (our Czech welder) spent the next eighteen months completely renovating the interior, sealing up the decks, replacing and/or rebuilding all of the electrical, plumbing and mechanical systems on board, and designing replacing the old rig with an entirely new one.

She currently flies 2,400 square feet of sail when her full contingent is up, and she employs her original Mercedes 350hp V-10 “marinized” truck engine with a Twin Disk transmission for auxiliary power. Though she looks old, often being referred to as a "pirate ship," she supports all the latest gear and technology including self-steering, a watermaker, a 10-Kilowatt genet, five computers, two GPS units, electronic chart plotting, radar, and SSB and VHF radios with email capabilities, to name a few.

By the end of November 2007, she was to a point in her construction where they successfully tested her rig in her first sail from Marigot, St. Martin to Anguilla and back (a twelve-mile round trip that took a single afternoon) and for the next three months the finishing touches were completed. Toward the end of February 2008, she began her long-awaited destiny of sailing her crew west to the Virgin Islands and beyond.

Click here to view more details of the renovation of Kai Ohana.

Captain Craig Bach

He’s obviously not your typical Dad, but he wasn't always the way he is today. He, like hundreds of thousands of fathers around the country, had worked the first seven years of his career, often times for more than twelve hours a day, seven days a week for months on end to "achieve the American Dream." His transformation from the "idyllic" father started when he woke up one morning some time in 1993 and realized he had four children whose names he could hardly remember and a wife he scarcely recognized. From that moment on his involvement with his wife of 23 years and children has been his number-one priority.

Once enlightened to the fact that the family was more important than the grind, he made the decision to take two years off to "let Laurén explore her own career opportunities, while I cooked, changed diapers and taught the kids to swim and ride their bikes." His devotion to his family has never since faltered, and always wanting to keep up with its diverse members, he surfs, skateboards, mountain bikes, attempts creating art and music, enjoys listening to their music, learns from and teaches, watches "pink movies" (the girls choices), and even acquired a first-degree black belt in Taekwondo with them. "I could see the writing on the wall once the family started classes without me, I knew who'd be calling the shots in a few short years if I couldn't defend myself," he reminisces.

Often described by friends and family as a visionary, tenacious as anyone you'll ever meet, a fervorent naturalist, and, as a result, a vociferous advocate for the environment, Craig seems to always be willing challenge the status quo, speaking his mind, and living and seeing life as pure adventure. He's an avid reader as well, often having several non-fiction books going at a time, and a prolific writer, which, coupled with the internet, has been the perfect platform to fuel the expression of his views. Be careful when sending him an email. If he passionate about the subject, his answer will inevitably be three pages long!

Once back in the "career building mode", but never far from his family roots, his interests in the environment led him to become one of Austin's innovative green builders (long before it was "cool to be green"), and in 1997, he moved his family out of the city and into a strawbale home/farm that he designed and built (with the help of his brother, Ted) surrounded by a permaculture (biodiverse, organic) hobby/demonstration farm where they collected rainwater in a giant cistern (their sole source of water) and grew much of the food they ate (to see this project please visit Jardines Pura Vida.

Since some of his earliest memories, one of Craig's lifelong dreams has been to sail around the world. Fortunately he has just the family that is willing to indulge him.

Laurén Bach

She laughs a lot, thinks outside the box, and empowers everyone around her. After a conversation with Laurén you feel anything is possible. Somehow she managed to launch Laurén Bach Realty while raising four kids, at times even home-schooling them. Because she enjoys participating in her family's lives, she achieved a second-degree black belt in Taekwondo, and learned to surf (oh yes! at a surf camp solely for women). In preparation for the adventure ahead, she volunteered her time to the Austin Yacht Club's Jr. Sailing Program. Coach Steve Gay snagged her as his assistant for the high school sailing team. Her passion for community service is rivaled only by her passion for life. Laurén is the kind of charismatic, vibrant person you want as your best friend...

The following audio is an interview of Lauren Bach on how her family was able to take on a project and subsequent adventure like Kai Ohana. This was recorded in August of '07 in Austin Texas for "What If It Really Works?" and appears here courtesy of Chuck and Karen Robison.