Sun Seeker, a yacht donated to the Kauaʻi Sea Scouts earlier this year to teach island youth seamanship, sank in its slip at Nawiliwili Harbor during Hurricane Lowell. Just weeks before the storm, the vessel had carried scouts on a two-week, five-island summer voyage to Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi and Maui.
According to Kauaʻi Now, the sinking capped a rough stretch for the nonprofit, which had secured Sun Seeker with doubled lines, tied-down equipment, closed portholes and extra fenders before Hurricane Lowell arrived. Tom Worthen told the outlet that the crew had spent a three-day Labor Day weekend aboard the boat and left it on the morning the hurricane hit. Worthen called the yacht's loss heartbreaking, and a scout’s mother was among the first to discover Sun Seeker underwater the following morning.
A Broken Cleat Sealed the Boat's Fate
Kauaʻi Now reported that storm surge broke a port-side cleat on the dock, allowing Sun Seeker to swing backward and repeatedly strike the dock with its stern. The impacts opened a hole in the hull, while flooding outpaced the bilge pumps. The vessel remains at Nawiliwili Harbor as the scouts work through recovery plans.
The nonprofit is working with its insurance company to raise Sun Seeker, according to Kauaʻi Now, and plans to salvage usable equipment once the boat is recovered. Depending on its final condition, it could eventually be towed to Oʻahu and dismantled. The group also faces insurance costs on top of the loss.
From a 40-Foot Trawler to a Showcase Yacht
Kauaʻi Now reported that Sun Seeker, valued at $500,000, was donated to the Kauaʻi Sea Scouts nonprofit earlier in 2026 to replace the group’s former 40-foot trawler. At a spring open house covered by Kauaʻi Now, the scouts described moving from the trawler to a yacht outfitted with three refrigerators, a washer and dryer, air conditioning and sleeping space for around 20 children. Coverage has reported the yacht’s size inconsistently: as 61 feet in that Kauaʻi Now story, 65 feet in The Garden Island's account of the same April event, and 63 feet in Kauaʻi Now’s report on the sinking.
Kauaʻi Now also reported that Kumu Sabra Kauka led a special blessing aboard Sun Seeker at Nawiliwili Small Boat Harbor and that the scouts later held a recruitment open house tied to the boat in late August. For 15 years, the Kauaʻi Sea Scouts program has introduced local youth to seamanship, leadership and teamwork. Sun Seeker was intended to support that mission by giving generations of Kauaʻi youth opportunities to learn seamanship and take extended voyages.
Storm's Reach Extended Across Kauaʻi's Harbors
Hurricane Lowell brought winds of up to 87 miles per hour through Nawiliwili Harbor, and the damage there was part of a broader pattern of destruction the storm inflicted on Kauaʻi's waterfront. At Port Allen Harbor, the storm damaged boats, piers and the breakwater, pushing large boulders with the force of the water, according to KHON2. Simultaneous high tide and storm surge compounded those impacts across the island's coastal areas, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported, with nine boats missing from Port Allen Harbor in Eleele and two more sunk by the morning after the storm.
The scale of that damage reflects how widely Hurricane Lowell hit Hawaiʻi's western islands, causing power outages, road damage and flooding, according to The Guardian. That outlet reported Lowell was one of several storms to strike the islands in recent months, a pattern some meteorologists have linked to a powerful El Niño that tends to promote hurricane activity in the Pacific. At Port Allen, the same KHON2 report notes harbor businesses will need major repairs before they can fully return to operating on the water.
What NOAA Says About Lowell and El Niño
NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service reported that Lowell passed west of Hawaiʻi on Sept. 8 as a Category 2 hurricane, bringing damaging winds, heavy rain and hazardous surf. The storm caused flash flooding and left nearly 90% of Kauaʻi without power. Fox Weather reports that El Niño is typically associated with increased storm activity in the Eastern and Central Pacific basins. That general association does not establish that El Niño caused Lowell or the harbor damage.
Rebuilding the Program From the Waterline Up
Despite the loss, the Kauaʻi Sea Scouts say they plan to work hard and keep the adventure going. The group is raising funds to rebuild its program and resume operations, hoping insurance proceeds and community donations will together fund another, larger boat. Any replacement, however, is expected to be about twice as old as Sun Seeker, require more maintenance and accommodate roughly half as many crew members, according to Kauaʻi Now's reporting.
For now, Sun Seeker sits where it sank, a reminder of both what Hurricane Lowell took from Nawiliwili Harbor and what the scouts are trying to rebuild in its wake. The nonprofit's next steps depend heavily on how quickly the insurance process moves and how much of the vessel can be salvaged once it's finally raised.
