KAILUA-KONA — Nearly 200 years after American Christian missionaries arrived in Kailua-Kona aboard the brig Thaddeus, the pastor of Hawaii’s first Christian church, Mokuaikaua Church, blessed a restored scale model of the ship Tuesday at the church on Alii Drive.
The restoration was the work of sailor and boat builder David Coy of Honaunau.
“This ship here tells us a story,” said Pastor David De Carvalho during the blessing. “Everyone that comes here and looks at this, somehow they can envision how 164 days went on that ship.”
On April 4, 1820, the Thaddeus arrived in Kailua-Kona with passengers the Rev. Asa Thurston, his wife, Lucy, and six other couples on a mission to convert the local population to Christianity, according to the National Register of Historic Places.
Several years ago, Coy, who started sailing in the 1950s and has built full-size boats, visited the church. Inside, he found the model of the Thaddeus.
The model, he said, was in a “kind of run-down condition” at the time.
It was a project he wanted to take on, saying he enjoyed making models in the past for his nephews.
“And I’ve heard there aren’t too many people who know how a rig like this works,” he said Tuesday at the church. “And I would like to see more people learn about it or at least get to see one.”
Coy’s efforts to restore the model involved replacing every inch of the vessel’s rigging and all the sails.
He and his helpers also did a bit of painting to spruce up the rails and cabins as well as varnish the decks, masts and yards.
Work on the model brought with it some unique challenges.
While working on the ratlines — the lines tied to form ladders on the rigging — someone asked him whether it would be harder on a full-size ship.
“And I said, ‘No, if I was doing it full size, I’d have a crew of two dozen people and we’d be done in a hurry,” he said, laughing.
Mike Beatty, a retired youth pastor at the church who is in charge of the church’s “aloha greeters,” said the Thaddeus holds deep significance for the place of worship.
“It’s just like Pastor David said, everybody has a different feeling when they see the ship,” he said.
When children visit, for example, he tries to get them to connect with the Chamberlain family, who traveled with five children ages 2-12.
“So, I try to get them to imagine what it would be like to be on a small boat in the middle of the sea,” he said, explaining the vessel had to sail around Cape Horn at the tip of South America.
He said they all had a common drive.
“They all loved God,” he said. “That was their love for God.”
Email Cameron Miculka at cmiculka@westhawaiitoday.com.
