I spent many years sailing that muddy little ditch, the Columbia River, out of Portland, dreaming of one day sailing in the Singlehanded TransPac. I started my ocean sailing career 15 years ago, singlehanding much of the time up and down the West Coast. My wife LaDonna and I cruised our Crealock 37 between the Bay and Alaska for three years before stopping in Sausalito for a spell.

Watching the 2006 fleet sail under the Gate, I realized that now was the time to finally fulfill my dream. Because I couldn’t take LaDonna’s home away for two months, I found a little Contessa 26 on which I planned to do the race. We worked tirelessly for several months getting the boat race-ready, then our friend Aaron Dunlap offered the use of his new-to-him Valiant 32 for the race. We quickly shook hands before he could change his mind and sold the Contessa. Now I have a comfortable - and not too much slower - boat to ‘race’ to Hawaii in.