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## Days 39 to 41: The Harbor
She kept going.
Her celestial navigation, maintained through 41 days of daily noon sights, had placed her close enough to Hilo, Hawaii, that the island was coming into view on the horizon. Hilo, on the Big Island of Hawaii, sits at approximately 19.7°N latitude. The North Equatorial Current had carried her down toward the 19th parallel; her daily navigation had kept her on track.
The approach to Hilo Harbor in darkness was a problem. The harbor entrance is narrow, and entering it at night in a vessel with no engine power, no running lights (the electrical system having been destroyed in the capsize), and limited sail control was a risk she decided not to take. She spent the final night offshore, working the storm jib to hold position in the approaches, waiting for dawn.
At dawn on the 41st day, the Japanese research vessel Hokusei Maru — a squid-research ship working the waters off the Hawaiian coast — spotted the Hazana drifting near the harbor entrance. The crew of the Hokusei Maru responded to Ashcraft’s flare, made contact, and provided coffee and food. The research vessel towed the Hazana to the harbor breakwater. A U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary vessel completed the tow, bringing Ashcraft and the Hazana the rest of the way into Hilo.
She reached Hilo on November 22, 1983.
She had been at sea for 41 days since regaining consciousness after the capsize. The Hazana had covered approximately 1,500 miles on a jury-rigged storm jib, guided by celestial navigation and the North Equatorial Current. She was emaciated, dehydrated, injured, and traumatized. She was alive.