The Flyin’ Hawaiian Takes Flight

There’s something missing from Sausalito’s Richardson Bay anchorage: the notorious Flyin’ Hawaiian catamaran. Word around the docks is that Hot Rod Lane’s home-built creation actually made it out the Golden Gate and headed south over the weekend.

Why is that news? Because Lane’s 65-ft cat — which was launched in May 2013 after a three-year build process at San Rafael’s Loch Lomond Marina — had been unsuccessful on all previous attempts to either sail or motor. And she’d dragged several times in different parts of the North Bay, once having to be rescued by the Coast Guard. 

Designed and built by Lane, 53, and his son Michael Johnson, 29, without any professional help, the big cat’s odd shape, 2-by-4-and-plywood construction and unconventional rig have made it the butt of many caustic comments on cruiser forums. 

So where is Flyin’ Hawaiian headed? Lane’s original goal was to reach Hawaii and live aboard there at anchor. But conjecture around the Richardson Bay anchorage seems to be that she’s heading to Southern Cal first. 

The bottom line for Belvedere homeowners living adjacent to the anchorage is that there is now one less illegal liveaboard vessel to blight their view. And for the Richardson Bay Regional Authority, which oversees the anchorage, there’s one less unnavigable vessel that might drag ashore and have to be removed at great taxpayer expense.