Sailing vessel Mālama Kai is a Westsail 42 cutter rig, sloop. She was built in Newport Beach, California in the 1970s. In the Hawaiian language, the word mālama translates to protect or care for, and kai is one of the words for ocean.
Mālama Kai’s crew chose the home port of Ma’alaea, Hawaii. Ma’alaea bay is on the island of Maui, and is known as a breeding area for humpback whales. Also home to our Hawaiian side of the family, the Hawaiian islands and their culture of caring for the land and sea, is a meaningful part of our lives.
Join us in person or virtually through this site as we explore, share knowledge, and tell salty tales of wildlife encounters.
Meet your crew:
Seasonally, Christian Holm can be found at the helm of a four-engine jet, flying through billowing clouds of smoke, bouncing in turbulent air while precisely dumping 27,000 pounds of bright red retardant next to a raging wildfire. His day job in the aerial firefighting industry is pretty exciting, however, he looks forward to a 6 to 7 knot life.
Lynn Swycaffer Ringseis is a quintessential waterwoman. Her love of the ocean has no bounds. She has a background of running sailing charter yachts in the Caribbean and has crossed the Pacific once and the Atlantic twice, the first time was in 1984 on a humble 33’ sailboat with no electronics, navigating with a sextant. This led to her love of voyaging by boat.
Mālama Kai has had quite a good time at the boat “spa” as she has enjoyed an extensive refit in the Pacific Northwest with all new electronics, standing and running rigging, a new set of sails, watermaker and so much more.
Lynn and Christian met while crewing on Profliagte, the committee boat for Baja Ha Ha sailing rally from San Diego to Mexico.
They look forward to sharing their love of the ocean with sailors who wish to join them. Mahalo!
