Sailing is good for kids.
That’s the premise behind the new nonprofit Kohala Sailing Foundation, which works to foster confidence, teamwork, environmental stewardship and ocean skills in keiki aged 11 to 17 through free educational sailing excursions.
“We get ourselves separated from the natural world, and it separates us from ourselves,” said senior captain and co-founder Ralph Blancato. “Everybody who comes out gets off the boat and goes, ‘Man, this is the best day of my life.’”
The daylong outings along the Kohala Coast for 10 kids per trip usually include the presence of a marine science expert like retired University of Hawaii at Hilo professor Jim Beets to provide in-depth knowledge about the marine ecosystem, or a guest lecturer who educates the keiki about a specific topic like sharks.
The captain and crew try to give every child on board a chance to steer the ship, handle lines and tie knots, instilling valuable skills while bolstering the keiki’s ability to work together and believe in themselves.
“I’ve seen it help young girls with self-esteem issues,” Blancato said, sharing a story about a shy 13-year-old who responded to his compliments about how she steered the boat by asking, “Can I do this when I grow up?”
Blancato said he began providing educational youth sailing trips in West Hawaii over 25 years ago as a side-effort to his interisland charter sailing business from 1999 to 2004.
Blancato said he found a 42-foot motorized sailboat “in good shape” in Point Loma, Calif., three years ago. The boat, named Pua, was sailed to Kawaihae, where it now serves as both a children’s educational vessel and a charter boat, which ultimately funds the monthly keiki sailing days.
Seasoned sailor Paul Allen moved to Hilo with his wife, Lejla Bratovic, around the same time Pua arrived. Allen said he and Blancato “connected immediately” as avid sailors with extensive experience years before Allen and Bratovic moved here.
Now 79 years old, Blancato is transitioning primary operation of Kohala Sailing Foundation’s Pua Ka Ilima charter business and nonprofit keiki excursions to Allen and Bratovic, a move that made sense considering Allen pervously conducted educational sails for youth in Santa Cruz through his nonprofit organization, Coast is Clear.
“It really is all about building a personal relationship with the water and the wind and the ocean in the hopes of fostering some stewardship and environmental awareness. Also, just the fortitude that all of that gives us when we go out there,” said senior captain and co-founder Allen, who is known as Captain Pablo to kids aboard Pua.
Allen and Blancato founded Kohala Sailing Foundation as a nonprofit in 2024.
They work with a third captain and several crew members, including Ruby Mandini, who first did a keiki sailing excursion with Blancato as a child alongside her sister, who became a repeat participant.
Mandini, now 20, is studying early childhood education at UH Hilo to support her work with a family-run preschool and the Humanity Hale nonprofit.
Mandini said Humanity Hale is a trauma support program that provides counseling and activities to young people in need of guidance, with a particular focus on children in or aging out of the foster care system.
“I never planned on working with kids, and now I have three jobs immersed in the lives of children,” Mandini said with a laugh. “(The keiki sail) was the first time a lot of these kids (from Humanity Hale) had been on a sailboat. They had an amazing time in the water … some were scared to steer the ship, but they can’t wait to come on again.”
Mandini has crewed aboard Pua on both charters and educational sails. She also has helped Blancato and Allen bring in youth from Waimea Middle School and Humanity Hale for keiki sail days. Mandini said the sailing excursions — during which cellphones are not allowed — have a great impact on the kids, regardless of their backgrounds.
“Especially at middle school age, it’s tough, so the sailboat is important because it gives them a chance to meet kids they don’t know and have something that’s their own,” Mandini sad. “It’s cool having them not be on their phone. … It’s involvement and them having to talk to each other. When I think about them having phones on the boat, I imagine it’d be a much more shy, closed-off environment with less engagement between the peers.”
Allen said the team is working to get more high school and middle school students aboard the Pua, with a goal of eventually being able to offer two to three keiki sails per month if they are able to secure the funding.
“We don’t charge any fee for (keiki sails), so we really are relaying on donations, grants or revenue from our charter program, Pua Ka Ilima,” Allen said. “The boat runs as a private charter, and those proceeds go towards funding keiki sails.”
To sign youth up for a keiki sail, charter a trip, or to donate to Kohala Sailing Foundation, visit www.kohalasailingfoundation.com.
Email Kyveli Diener at kdiener@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
