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2004 TransPac Daily Reports

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PERPETUAL TROPHIES

FINISH LOG Start Pix Sailing Anarchy TransPac Article

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Interpretting the Position Reports
Field Description
Time Time boat made position report
Position Boats latitude & longitude in degrees & minutes at reported Time
COG Course over ground as reported by boat at Position and Time
SOG Speed over ground as reported by boat at Position and Time
12 HR DST Computed distance covered from last report
AVG VMG Computed average velocity made towards the finish since the race began
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Waypoints in a comma seperated file

Finish Log

Boat Finish Time Elapsed Time Corrected Time
(Preliminary)
Track Plot Distance Sailed Average Speed Average VMG
Dogbark 07/08/04 19:13:15 12:09:08:15 14:03:32:15 Track Plot 2,463 8.3 7.1
Joe 07/08/04 20:05:30 12:10:00:30 11:08:05:50 Track Plot 2,317 7.8 7.1
Alchera 07/09/04 16:35:15 13:06:30:15 11:16:13:35 Track Plot 2,267 7.1 6.7
Rusalka 07/09/04 18:36:45 13:08:31:45 11:19:25:45 Track Plot 2,318 7.2 6.6
Surfinn 07/09/04 20:32:30 13:10:27:30 12:06:11:30 Track Plot 2,503 7.7 6.6
Tiger Beetle 07/10/04 04:34:50 13:18:29:50 12:04:13:10 Track Plot 2,258 6.9 6.4
Zapped 07/10/04 23:43:44 14:13:38:44 12:02:10:04 Track Plot 2,318 6.6 6.0
Prankster 07/11/04 01:07:41 14:15:02:41 12:04:44:41 Track Plot 2,315 6.6 6.0
Koinonia 07/11/04 15:29:50 15:05:24:50 12:20:52:50 Track Plot 2,219 6.1 5.8
Audacious 07/11/04 17:06:05 15:07:01:05 11:21:45:05 Track Plot 2,395 6.5 5.7
Moorehavoc 07/11/04 17:14:49 15:06:39:49 11:11:23:09 Track Plot 2,207 6.2 5.9
SailaVie 07/11/04 19:56:37 15:09:21:37 10:23:21:37 Track Plot 2,275 6.1 5.7
Color Blind 07/11/04 23:31:38 15:12:56:38 11:19:25:58 Track Plot 2,231 6.3 5.7
Cookie Jar 07/11/04 22:57:09 15:12:22:09 11:17:05:29 Track Plot 2,231 6.0 5.7
Harrier 07/12/04 08:00:38 15:21:25:38 11:04:21:38 Track Plot 2,266 5.9 5.6
Haulback 07/12/04 15:47:05 16:05:12:05 11:02:42:45 Track Plot 2,355 6.1 5.4
Miss Laney 07/12/04 15:34:48 16:04:59:48 11:06:37:48 Track Plot 2,299 6.0 5.4
Kaien 07/12/04 18:27:43 16:08:22:43 13:08:32:03 Track Plot 2,237 5.7 5.4
Alegria 07/12/04 21:40:15 16:11:05:15 12:02:51:15 Track Plot 2,264 5.7 5.3
Ergo 07/13/04 00:09:40 16:13:34:40 12:00:02:40 Track Plot 2,263 5.7 5.3
Islander 07/16/04 07:11:13 19:20:36:13 14:19:17:33 Track Plot 2,496 5.2 4.5

Note: Please do not contact the TransPac Race Committee regarding the status of a competitor. All information available is presented here.

LOG

Boat Date Time Notes
Dogbark 06/26/04 2019 Dogbark log
Koinonia 06/26/04 2053 Koinonia pictures
Alchera 06/26/04 2300 It's been a wild first day. Unlike the mild start of the last SSS TransPac two years ago, this time the fleet was nailed with 25 knot winds and big lumpy seas right out of the gate and it's been that way all day. Alchera is flying through the mess at about 9 knots with lots of water over the boat, and I'm pretty much hiding down below whenever I can to stay out of it. But even below it's a chore to move around, because you have to hang onto something at all times to keep from getting flung around.
 
Will someone please remind me why I wanted to do this race again? And will someone please slap me if I talk about doing it again?
 
Of course, with 3 Moore 24s and a J90 out there on the same course, I can hardly complain. Well, yes I can, but I sure wouldn't want to be in one of those little boats right now. On the other end of the spectrum, Dogbark, the 60 footer, is probably having a great time of it.
 
Hopefully this weather will ease in the next day or two and conditions will get more pleasant. One can always hope. The fleet is taking it pretty well, only 3 missed checkins out of 24 boats, not bad. Wisdom checked in by satphone instead of SSB, since he has to run his antenna wire up the mast every time he uses the radio, and with the conditions we have right now I'm not surprised he decided to bag it and use the phone. I'm sure he is glad he has both! The worst mishap occurred on Zapped, when the autopilot hove the boat over unexpectedly resulting in a wave soaking Jim's laptop computer, which apparently is no longer functional. That's a tough break, since that's how he's getting his weatherfax.
Alchera 06/27/04 1000 It's been a windy and wet night for everyone, wind still at 25 knots or more and lumpy seas. Even Dogbark, who we were sure was going to fair the best of us tells us that it's wet everywhere. Haulback says he can't remember having this much water on board, and Carl on Audacious has been watching water spout up around the rudder post for the first time. Starbuck has started pumping the bilge, which he has never had to do before.
There were several reports of problems for the skippers to cope with. More information about the computer 'crash' onboard Zapped - the boat flung itself over and the computer (and other stuff) went flying into the bilge. Ouch. Jim also reports a very close encounter with a tanker last night that he had to head up at the last minute in order to pass it's stern. He also lost function on a couple of his main autopilot control units, but fortunately was able to get them back up and running. Speaking of autopilots, Moore Havoc was having problems with the SSB interfering with the autopilot, so his check-in consisted of very short, very rapid sentences so he could keep the boat from crashing. I've been there before, on my old boat Berserker I had to switch to the windvane before checking in on certain frequencies!
Al on Dogbark blew out the clew on his #1 Genoa. He was able to furl it somewhat, but still had to go forward and wrap a couple of spinnaker sheets around the ripped out portion which was still flailing about in the wind. His quote for the day - 'Boat's fine, skipper's still learning.'  Haulback, in the process of switching down to his staysail, had the lazy sheet whip itself into a mess of a tangle that took 40 minutes sitting on the rail to sort out, while taking wave after wave over him. Sounds like great fun. Turns out Harrier blew out the leech of his #2 jib, but it's still up there for now since he's waiting for the right time to deal with it.
Most of the fleet seems to be diving way south to avoid a high pressure area which has been forecast to drop down on top of the rhumbline between San Francisco and Kauai. So the tactical trick will be to determine how far south to go - too far south and you add so many miles to the trip that you can't make them up, not far enough and you get stuck in the high and go very very slow. Should be an interesting race.
Islander 06/27/04 1249 I CANNOT TRANSMIT ON MY SSB AND I CANNOT RAISE ANYONE ON VHF. AT 9PM 6/26 I WAS AT 37.21N 123W.AT 9AM 6/27 WAS AT 37N 124W.PLEASE POST THIS TO WEBSITE. FRIENDS AND FAMILY NEED TO KNOW. MY ROLLER FURLING JIB IS COMING APART AT FOOT NEAR SO AM SAILING UNDER DOUBLE REEFED MAIN. SEASICK.
Alchera 06/27/04 2200 The wind has started to ease up a bit in my neck of the ocean, down to 20 knots from 25, and coming aft of the beam, so over the course of the day I was able to shake out the reef in the main and the jib. The seas are still pretty lumpy, but that's been fun because Alchera gets up and surfs to 10 and 11 knots when a nice wave comes up from behind. Not as much water over the boat either, which made it possible to get out in the cockpit without getting constantly drenched. Now the wind has started to pick up again, and I'm hoping it doesn't keep going up otherwise I'm going to have to get my foulies all back on and go out and reef the sails instead of climbing into my bunk.
 
I was thinking about foulies - foul weather gear - today. It occurred to me as I discovered yet another secret zipper to allow water into the damn thing that I have yet to own a set of foulies and completely understand how all the little secret zippers and panels and cords and things work. You need a user manual for those things, and they don't come with one.
 
Anyway, interesting events on the water today. Starbuck has turned back and is withdrawing from the race. Apparently Greg blew out both of his primary jibs and doesn't feel he is competitive any longer. So he's headed for Monterey. Sail a Vie ripped her mainsail in the middle at the second reef point, so Phil can't unreef the thing without a major sail repair job. That's going to be a pain. Also, Koinonia lost a #3 jib. Apparently the sheet came apart and the sail flogged itself to death before Jim could get it under control. He's got a spare #4 up now. Bad luck for sails today.
 
Mark Moore on Moore Havoc had his automatic life vest inflate on him today while surfing. Must have been a really wet ride to set off the vest. But he seemed to take it in stride, said it was 'Quite annoying'.  There's an understatement for you. Chuck (on Joe)  did a 17 knot surf at one point today before getting a few reefs in and things back under control. Ergo broke a windvane, and has fuel getting into the bilge.
 
On the wildlife front, Tiger Beetle and Ergo each spotted an albatross. And Audacious is starting to pull in Albacore - two today. Something got the body of the first, but the second one was complete and Carl was enjoying it for dinner. He said it was a real wrestling match to get it under control once he got it in the boat.
Alchera 06/28/04 0900 Starbuck has reported he is DNF and fleet requests that race committee notify fleet when Starbuck has reported into safe harbor. Islander has known problem with SSB transmission, so fleet does not expect to hear from her. Haulback thought he picked up a transmission between Coast Guard and Wenlemir to the effect that Wenlemir was turning back due to medical problems, though we don't have any solid details. Fleet requests race committee relay back information on Wenlemir when it is known.
Rusalka 06/28/04 1100 Had to go forward to fix the furler this morning. It seems that the outer guard is only in place with a pressure fitting and during the stormy weather the first few days it came loose. The loose guard was interfering with the furler line. The allen nuts that tighten the fitting are on the underside of the drum, so I was lying on my back with my face under the furler drum playing with an allen wrench while getting pummled by cold waves down my back.
Koinonia 06/28/04 1100 Jim says only the leech line was damaged on the #3. He can repair it and
get it back up when the wind moderates. He's finally drying out a bit, and
his spirits are quite good, but he says it is "lonely" out there!
Wenlemir 06/28/04 1330 Wen Lin has been taken off his boat and is aboard a Coast Guard Cutter and on his way to Morro Bay.  Two coasties are motoring his boat into Morro Bay.  At present (13:20 6/28/04) they are about 50 miles out  of Morro Bay.  Wen was very seasick and he is also a diabetic.  He was unable to keep his medication down and requested C.G. asssistance.
Wisdom 06/28/04 1805 I received a message from the Morro Bay Coast Guard that they received a transmittal from Wisdom and that he is about 120 miles out from Morrow Bay, is "becalming" and is completely fine. I wish I had more info than that but that is good enough news for me. Thanks, Joan Hebert.
Alchera 06/28/04 1900 I can't remember the last time I've been this physically exhausted. Today was not one of my better days. It started early this morning, even before the sun came up. I got up and had something to eat, because I had planned to put up a spinnaker at the first light. Conditions were marginal at best, winds around 20 knots and still fairly lumpy seas. But I thought I could pull it off. Pulling the sock out of the hatch on the foredeck gave me the first indication that perhaps this was not a good idea. The wind started taking off with the sock before I could get the sail rigged up, and it took all of my strength just to wrestle it under control. After several attempts to get it rigged up, I had only managed to get the bottom of the sock twisted around itself. But finally I got it set.
 
Of course, the wind decides to pick up a couple more knots, and the boat immediately does a crash roundup. So I turn off the autopilot, get the boat headed back downwind, and try to engage the autopilot again. All is well for a few minutes, and then another crash roundup. The seas are just still too high and lumpy for the autopilot to cope - all it takes is the right combination of a wave lifting the stern along with a gust of wind and the boat gets pinned on it's ear. Unfortunately, I've got an SSB check-in coming up, so I try to find a combination of boat direction and sail shape that is somewhat stable. Of course, that's just wishful thinking, so during the check-in, while I'm trying to scribble down position reports to send back to the race committee, the boat does a crash roundup three more times.
 
After check-in I'm just about to give up, but I keep trying, since I'm hoping the wind and wave conditions will get better and allow me to keep flying it. But this is not to be, just when I think I've got it all dialed in, go below, and of course take off the foulies, we do another crash roundup - but this time the sail rips all the way down from the top and drags in the water. There is a tremendous amount of force being placed on the sheets and halyard that are still attached due to the speed of the boat in the water, so I cut the whole mess away and watch it sink into the waves behind me. Then I pull the sock down over what little remains of the sail tapes and stuff the sock back down the hatch. Sigh.
 
Since the boat is baldheaded, I unfurl the jib again, put a whisker pole on it, and get the boat moving. But now, I've got to get another spinnaker ready, because the conditions have continued to go lighter in the several hours since this ordeal began, and I know I'm going to need something. I have a backup spinnaker similar to the one I lost, but I'll need to put it in the sock. So there goes another hour trying to load up the sock with the backup spinnaker inside the boat, since it's still too windy to do it outside.
 
Naturally, by the time I've got the backup spinnaker ready to go, the wind direction has shifted forward. So I've got to get the pole off the jib again. With the wind change, now I need a different spinnaker than the one I just worked on. So up goes the Code Zero. And up goes the wind velocity again! This has been a very frustrating day - the wind dies down, the boat slows down, I put up a bigger sail, and the wind immediately picks up and overpowers the boat. Arrggghhhh!!
 
I have literally been working my ass off since before sunrise. I thought I was retired, what the hell happened?
 
On the plus side, this has been a pretty nice day for cruising. Too bad I'm not cruising. Kicking back with just the main and the jib would have been a pretty nice way to spend the day, and I probably would have thrown a fishing line out to boot. Ah well, you know what they say about the difference between an ordeal and an adventure is simply your attitude. I've got plenty of attitude right now, so I guess this is an adventure.
 
During the morning check-in Zapped mentioned that he had spent the whole night heading the boat towards the wrong waypoint. Apparently Jim had made a mistake entering in the data and went about 70 miles out of his way before discovering it. Jim on Haulback had apparently just finished cleaning and drying himself up and went out 'on the back porch for a smoke when I got hit with a pickup truck full of water'. Miss Laney came within sight of Ergo last night - Bill is seasick, and Daniel is coping with an autopilot that has gotten wet and is started to act flaky. Oh, and these words of wisdom from Tiger Beetle - 'Usually the first one to set a spinnaker regrets it.' 
Islander 06/29/04 0700 POS 0900 6/28 35N 125.39W DIR 180 SP 7
Wisdom 06/29/04 0900 Alan is retiring after hearing a loud bang and finding a bulkhead broken. Boat was oil canning. Boat and skipper are headed to Morro Bay.
Starbuck 06/29/04 1100 Starbuck has berthed at Monterey.
Islander 06/29/04 1200

POS 2100 6/28 34.07N 126.18W
POS 0900 6/29 33.35N 127.13W

SEA ROUGH. LOTS OF WIND. HOPE THINGS REALLY DO IMPROVE AFTER A FEW
DAYS. AM LAST BOAT. BUT WILL MAKE IT EVENTUALLY.

Islander 06/29/04 1330 PROGRESS SLOW BUT SURE. A ROUGH START WITH HIGH WINDS AND SEAS. NOW MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE. EMAIL IS ONLY COMMUNICATION. ALSO SLOW. EATING WELL. WILL TRY TO SEND POSITIONS DAILY.
Alchera 06/29/04 2100 Last night was very nice. After last night's check-in I still had the code zero spinnaker up, and the windspeed was continuing to fluctuate between just right and way too much, so I decided I had better take it down for the night before I broke something. Turned out to be a good decision - I certainly didn't set any speed records, but the ride was comfortable and I was able to get a good 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep among the 30 minute catnaps. There hasn't been much ship traffic to speak of, I've seen only one ship so far, and aside from that, the radar screen has been clear of targets. I've got the radar set to warn me if any blips get closer to me than about 7 miles, so I'm somewhat comfortable now taking longer sleep periods if the conditions are OK. Which they were last night.
 
At this morning's check-in I was pleased to see that I was in one of the front positions. But that may mean nothing in a week from now, as the boats further south come rocketing up with better wind. But it's a nice place to be for now. I've planned to cut the edge of the high as close as I dare to save on miles traveled, but that could backfire on me big time if the high pressure drops any lower and my wind goes away. I've got the reaching spinnaker up for now, and with the true wind at about 10-15 knots, it's moving Alchera along nicely. Earlier today the wind dropped way down and I thought I might have lost my gamble, but it's back up now.
 
The big news is that Wisdom has dropped out of the race. Apparently the forward bulkhead broke away from the hull, and without the supporting structure the hull was flexing, or 'oilcanning' badly. Too much flexing and the hull can come apart, so it's not a problem to be taken lightly. On top of that, Alan's engine ignition was flooded so he couldn't start the engine to charge the batteries, and the batteries were going flat. If that wasn't enough, his windvane broke. So Wisdom is now headed for Morro bay and is about 60 miles out. Fortunately, he still plans to join the skippers in Hanalei!
 
Zapped had his halyard part while flying the code zero yesterday. (Actually, the SSB conversation went something like this: Jim/Zapped - 'God took down my code zero today'. Jim/Haulback - 'It's always nice to have a helping hand on board.')
Fortunately, Jim was able to haul the whole mess out of the water and get things sorted out in about 15 minutes. However, now he has a halyard that needs to be retrieved from the top of the mast. Those who followed Jim's mast climbing adventures during the last race 2 years ago know why this is a big deal, suffice to say Jim will be taking extra precautions this time to make sure that he and the mast don't get very far apart. However, Jim's mast climbing record from 2002 may be under serious assault this race - Ryan on Surfinn has broken three halyards and gone up the mast twice already.
 
Ergo has bad fuel contamination in the main tank. Seems the rough conditions have stirred up all the rust inside the tank and this causes the fuel filter to clog within an hour. Bill has more filters, but not enough at that rate! He also has a small amount of clean fuel in an auxiliary tank, but it won't last him very long. So there was a long discussion on the SSB about possible ways to get the fuel out, manually filter it, and put it back in. Doesn't sound very pleasant. I had a similar problem in the '96 race, where I had to clean my fuel filter every hour of engine use because all of the sediment that had been stirred up in the tank during the first few rough days. It's not much fun.
 
Here's a repair you don't want to make at sea, courtesy of Rusalka - the housing on the roller furling drum came loose and slipped down, jamming the furler. No big deal at the dock, but try laying on your back, face up on the end of the bow with waves hitting you literally head on while you try to feed little Allen screws into the underside of the furler, and it's a completely different task.
Haulback 06/29/04 2300 Here at the rear of the SHTP fleet all seems to be going as well as can be expected. Haulback is sailing along reasonably well, noon-to-noon runs so far of 153, 167 & 160 mpd.. Would be nice to think I will be able to keep it up for the whole distance, but that probably will not happen. I am trying not to trouble myself with the 'faster' divisions but paying close attention to the other Boats in my group. All of whom, may I add, are further to the west than I am. My idea is to stay a bit to the east, where I hope there will be better winds for a bit longer once we get further south.
One spends long hours plotting and scheming what course may (or may not) be most advantageous, but only time will tell in the end.
Sad to hear that Wenlemir, Starbuck and Wisdom had to drop out, I can only imagine how disappointed they must feel. On a happier note, very glad to hear confirmation during roll-call tonight that Islander is still with us.
I spent the first day or so of the race doing only what it took to keep the boat going, once we cleared the coast. Had a much better time getting out under the Golden Gate bridge than in '02, but once outside the 'queasies' got me, as seems to be usual for my first day or so at the beginning of any passage. It was fairly windy and wet, which only made matters worse. I pretty well just hunkered down, kept drinking lots of water, allowed myself more than the daily ration of fresh fruit (seeing as that was about all I felt I could keep down) and slept as much as possible. Feeling much better now.... Got myself thoroughly drenched sitting on the windlass for about 45 minutes trying to undo a rat's-nest of a knot/tangle in the jib sheets the first night. There were waves breaking over me every few minutes, a most uncomfortable position to be in. Of course, once it is over the only way to dry out clothes and raingear is with body heat, so I kept them on for another 12 hours or so. Then on waking and seeing conditions had settled down a bit I went out in the cockpit for a cup of tea and a smoke. (by this time all is dry and cosy) Once I got nicely settled, about 100 gallons of ocean leapt over the coaming. Right on top of me...How disappointing!!! Gosh-Darn....
All the other guys sound like they are settling in as well. From the looks of the weather most of the gear-busting should be behind us by now. Big discussion topic now is 'when to turn the corner' and, hopefully, find the NE tradewinds.
I loaded up the icebox friday afternoon with two cakes of dry ice and about 8 gallons of cube ice. Not much food, but I figured I would eat it as the ice melts. Checked yesterday morning and everything was frozen solid!! Took a knife and chipped out sone yogurt and a block of cheese to eat later on once they defrost. Amazing, now I wonder how long the 'glacier-in-the-icebox' can last??
This afternoon was sitting on my companionway seat watching the boat moving along thru the water. Haulback was sashaying her trim little transom across the swells like a hooker looking for a nights work. Wind was about 12 to 15 just aft the beam, I had just made a cup of Lapsang Soochong tea, as a special treat, and all was well with the world. The ocean even co-operated and stayed on it's side of the boat this time.......
Found a new use for old weatherfax charts over the last couple of days. Rather than simply throw them over the side once I am done with them, I now toss then on to the cabin sole where they soak up water and salt that invariably gets tracked into the boat. Sort of like disposable carpet, only not so fuzzy.
The next couple of days will be interesting as everyone in our division seeks their own 'best' path into the tradewinds.
Rusalka 06/30/04 1300 It's gone a bit lighter but I suspect it's even lighter further to the NW. Took the jib off the furler in anticipation of putting the twins on. I'm holding off hoisting the twins for a while, running with the new airx kite and main (and nothing on the furler). Anxiously awaiting the the afternoon WFX's
Last time (2002) the jib/twins switch was a nightmare, this time I worked out a system so it went a little smoother. Wednesday is shower day on Rusalka.
Islander 06/30/04 1500 POS 6/29 2100 32.44N 128.03W POS 6/30 0900 31.58N 128.58W MARK THANKS FOR HELLO LAST NIGHT. I CONFIRM. CALLED ON VHF 68 AFTER 6/30 0900 ROLLCALL. NO RESPONSE. THANKS BILL FOR THE IDEA. NOW I AM TOO FAR BEHIND FLEET. AM SENDING GLOBALGRAMS ON GSC 100. HAULBACK HAS ONE. 6/29 WAS LOVELY SUNNY DAY. AFTER TWO DAYS OF BUCKING, BOAT NOW ROCKING. AFTER TWO WET DAYS, NICE TO DRY OUT BOAT. SOLAR PANELS FILLED BATTERY, SO DID NOT RUN ENGINE. SET STORM JIB, RESTED, ATE WELL. MONITOR STEERING. APPRECIATE SHIP SITINGS. MISSED WISDOM STORY. PLEASE REPEAT. WILL LISTEN 2100 ON 8185. BARBARA
Alchera 06/30/04 1630 It's time to pay the Piper. The northern route I took came at a cost which I'm paying right now, since there's very little wind and the boat is crawling along at only 4 knots. This is the price to be paid for sailing fewer miles, so those boats which may have more wind to the south may be in a better position now.
 
Yesterday and this morning I was flying a light air reaching spinnaker, which is good for light air so long as you can reach up enough so that the apparent wind is on the beam. But the further I got along the course, the more the wind shifted to the east, and the more Alchera wanted to head west and then northwest, which would have put me in worse light air than I am already. So this morning I had to take the reaching spinnaker down or I would have 'spun out' into the center of the high.
 
However, the light conditions made it a perfect day to switch the headsails to get ready for the downwind part of the trip. Alchera has what's called 'butterfly' or 'twin' jibs, two jibs sewn together at the luff and raised as a single sail, but the two halves can be poled out to either side. It's great when the conditions are too heavy for a downwind spinnaker, or too light to fly a spinnaker, or just as an easy alternative to flying a spinnaker. Singlehanders have continued to use them with great success in this race. The problem is that it is a big job to get the regular jib down and folded, and the twins raised up with their poles and rigging. In 2002 it took me 3 hours to do this. Today it took 2 hours, so I guess practice once every two years helps. So the light air is a mixed blessing - bad because the boat doesn't move very fast, good because it was perfect for making the headsail switch. Plus with all the boats in the fleet going slow right now, hopefully I didn't lose too many miles while the jibs were down.
 
So now the twins are up and Alchera is pretty much headed directly at the finish line for now. Since they don't require any constant attention like a spinnaker, it's a very easy kind of sailing. So I'm relaxing, and I may even take a shower later.
 
It's starting to get really warm. Gone are the foulies, I'm just working in jeans and a t-shirt. The heavy inflatable PFD has been traded for a simple harness. The inside of the cabin was smelling a bit moldy, so the side ports have been opened and there is a nice breeze coming through now. It's a beautiful day in the middle of the ocean. Add a few more knots of wind and you couldn't ask for more. Last night when I was still sailing under the spinnaker, I took some time just to kick back in the cockpit and watch the ocean go by, the sun go down, and the evening come on. Very peaceful. No green flash though.
 
Bill on Ergo explained his solution for cleaning his contaminated rusty fuel. He uses his outboard primer bulb and hose as a pump to pump a gallon of gas at a time out of his rusty primary tank and through a coffee filter into a gallon jug. He then pours the jug into a five gallon container through another coffee filter. Finally, he takes the five gallon container when full and pours it into his auxiliary tank, through yet another coffee filter. He says the final product seems to be pretty clean. (Yes, but is it as good as Starbucks?) Bill says he will always be reminded of this trip whenever he smells gasoline for the rest of his life.
 
Jim on Zapped actually went up the mast yesterday and rigged up an external halyard so he can fly his spinnaker net. He said he 'mostly stayed with the mast', but nothing like his wild ride of two years ago. Congratulations Jim!
Wisdom 06/30/04 1730 Is safely berthed in Morro Bay near Wenlimer.
Starbuck 06/30/04 1730 Is back to Alameda Marina
Islander 07/01/04 1430 POS 6/30 2100 31.21N 129.58W POS 7/1 0900 30.36N 130.25W DIR 235T SP 5.7 MARK, I CONFIRM POSITIONS YOU READ. CAN BARELY COPY TIGERB. COULD YOU DO ROLLCALL? THANKS. 6/30 WIND LIGHT SO SHIFTED SAILS. MAIN JIB IS NOW IN CABIN FOR REPAIRS. TWIN JIB FLYING. OVERCAST DAY, COMFORTABLE TEMPERATURE. SEA CALM. AT THREE AM, SHIP CROSSED BOW AT DISTANCE. DAYS LIKE THIS ARE WHY WE SAIL OUT HERE. BARBARA
Alchera 07/01/04 1700 I had my second night with a 4 hour uninterrupted sleep period. Problem is, that wasn't supposed to happen. I had set one kitchen timer to get me up in 30 minutes like I usually do, with a second timer set for 90 minutes. I slept through both timers. That's not good. What is surprising about this is that I wasn't particularly exhausted last night, tired yes, but not enough to crash. So I'm a bit worried that my unconscious brain is simply making it's own decision not to get up when the timers go off. During each of the last two times I have done this race, there has been one night about 3/4 of the way across, when I've gone to sleep and despite all timer alarms haven't woken up for 8 hours. Other skippers I have talked to experience the same thing, the body just gets fed up with sleep deprivation after awhile and calls a time-out on the whole business. But this is too early in the race and I'm not tired enough to start doing that sort of thing, so I'm a bit concerned.
 
After all, I haven't even had my first audio hallucination yet, it's not scheduled for another few days or so. Though if I start hearing 'the wheels on the bus go round and round' I will have Eric on Rusalka to thank for that, and I will personally strangle him on the beach in Hanalei for mentioning that little ditty just prior to our leaving. Yes, I know *you* have to listen to it, but now *I'm* infected. Thanks.
 
However, I did have my first lucid dream this trip a couple of nights ago, way ahead of schedule. But just the one so far.
 
When I finally did wake up this morning the boat was moving along quickly as a weak squall system was approaching, and I was able to gybe over to stay in front of it for about an hour and a half. This was a welcome relief from the light winds all day yesterday and last night. After this mornings check-in another weak squall pattern came through, and I was able to stay in front of that system the rest of the morning. So in spite of the weak winds on average, Alchera has been moving along pretty well this morning. These are not the full-blown squalls we will see further on down the course, but weaker versions - dark clouds and increasing wind, with sometimes a few light sprinkles. I did have some sprinkles come down from one of them, but not enough to wash all the salt off the boat. Alchera could use a good washing off, there are white salt crystals everywhere.
 
The fleet is starting to see the little 2 inch flying fish now. These guys are really quite enjoyable to watch, when they get startled one or a whole group of them will leap out of the water and flap their little wings and soar off over the waves. Occasionally the skippers will find one or more of them on the deck in the morning, or perhaps a squid or two instead. The squid you have to find and get off your decks before the sun bakes them on, otherwise you've got a real tough cleanup task.
Haulback 07/02/04 0100 Sitting on deck tonight after roll call, having a look around.
There is a thick rim of black cloud reaching from the sea upwards, soaking up the light cast by a bowl of clear but darkening sky above, with the first stars of the night taking their turns, one by one, to show themselves. I know the moon is there, one night from full, trying to find an opening in the cloud cover.
A brighter spot appears in the cloud, a bit brighter yet, then almost instantly he breaks through and we are illuminated by the moon's crystal light. Sharp, clear lines cast by the standing rigging run straight and true across the deck; clearly defined shapes and shadows replace what a few moments previous seemed gray and indistinct.
The spell only lasts a few minutes - I stand at the stern, one hand on the running backstays, and try to memorize the moment. A path of silver across the ocean's surface reaching from aft out to our stern quarter, the graceful lift and surge under my feet. The pale blue running twins, reflecting back the moon's own light, poled out either side of the headstay, pulling us forward across an obsidian sea towards the towering bank of dark lightless cloud directly in our path.
Well, I think to myself, 'We may not be fast, but we're pretty to watch'.
Roll back a couple of days to my last note. Wednesday morning the wind went a bit lighter and the sea had calmed down to the point where progress with all plain sail set was diminishing rapidly. Conditions seemed to be about right for a bit of spinnaker work. So up went the spinnaker net first, a triangular piece of gill-net I had sewn with nylon webbing tapes all round that essentially fills the area between the mast and forestay. Then up went the large 1 1/2 oz asymmetric. To my joy and unending wonder all went well. As a matter of fact I held on to it all day and with the onset of darkness decided to carry it through the night. This maybe was not the best of plans. With the coming of darkness the spinnaker decided to start playing the round-up/round-down/collapse-and-fill/flog-and-thrash game. Not often enough to actually make me take it down, but just often enough that I was paranoid enough to catnap on deck all night with one hand on the tiller to help out either the autopilot or windvane. Neither of which seemed to want to look after it all by themselves.
By first light this morning I finally realized that the wind direction had shifted around a bit to favour setting my new set of running twins. These are basically two identical nylon sails, that are poled out at 90 degrees to the boats centerline, and drag you more or less directly downwind. It is about the closest you can get to making a old fashioned square-rigger out of a more modern fore-and aft rigged boat. Once I got them rigged, up, trimmed and tweaked I was a happy boy. Nothing cranks up a sailor like setting a brand-new set of sails, nothing...
Then came this mornings roll call. A litany of moans and groans about failing winds, slow runs and low speeds. Funny how happiness can sometimes be defined as the difference between a slow run and a fast trot.
The rest of today was more of the same, most of us waiting for wind.
Jim Tallet on Zapped is up to his old tricks doing his regular Transpac steeplejack routine. I think he was up the mast twice today fixing things, yesterday as well, probably tomorrow and the day after, too. Nobody even bothers to keep count anymore, its just what Jim does
Carl on Audacious finally inspired me to try my hand at fishing. I was very successful at the fishing part of it. The catching part, OK, I need to work on that end of it some more..perhaps tomorrow....
Until something either inspiring or interesting takes place out here.................
That's All Folks...Jim/Haulback
P.S. Happy Canada Day!!!
Alchera 07/02/04 1200 It's amazing the kind of interest this race generates. I think it has to do with the fact that it may be one of the few remaining long distance singlehanded races that isn't intended for the professionally sponsored rock star sailor. It's just a bunch of sailing aficionados with their own boats testing their own limits. I think that's partly why there is such a bond and a spirit of cooperation among the skippers, we are not so much competing against each other as we are sharing a common goal.
 
Anyway, I received an email from a gentleman in Hawaii who has been following the race and listening to the check-ins on his SSB radio located in Honolulu, and he wished the fleet aloha and welcome to the islands. Nice to hear that sort of thing.
 
I've come to the conclusion that I am clueless provisioning a boat with food. What I buy and what I end up eating are so completely different that I think could have easily asked a stranger to go into a supermarket and randomly throw things into a cart, and it would have been just as good if not better than the selections I made. Plus, the race requirements states that you need enough food for 30 days, in case you break down and are drifting around for awhile. So all the bad decisions I make regarding food are doubled in quantity. If I actually did break down, I could probably make a raft with all the excess food I brought. One of the things I did getting ready for this race was to finally get rid of all the old cans of food from the first race I did back in 96. That should tell you something.
 
I always seem to think that working Alchera singlehanded is going to make me ravenous and I'll need to eat huge amounts of food in order to keep up my strength. So I've got boxes of powerbars, and packet after packet of trail mix and dried fruits and salamis. I haven't eaten a single powerbar, and I haven't opened the trail mix or any dried fruit. I've had a quarter of one salami so far. I've got a bunch of freeze dried meals 'just in case' I run out of regular food. Yeah, like that's going to happen. I would have just taken the same food I had left over from the last race, but I discovered that certain items, particularly Beanie Weanies, definitely have a shelf life. So all the old food gets tossed and I end up buying new food that I won't eat.
 
Then I end up totally underestimating other things like coke. I thought one per day would be reasonable. But I'm going through three per day easily, so I'll be out before I get to Hawaii. You would think after two other races I would have this food thing figured out, but I guess not. Jim on Haulback says he doesn't really eat real meals, but instead 'grazes' throughout the trip, and doesn't eat nearly as much as normal. That seems to be true in my case also.
 
And the race goes on. In my division Alchera, Tiger Beetle, and Rusalka are locked in a mortal struggle with one another, Surfinn is charging up from behind, and Joe is sailing impressively and has taken the lead. It will be a good race regardless of how it all turns out. It looks like tomorrow Alchera should reach the halfway point, and there is a little box onboard waiting to be opened to celebrate.
 
Koinonia came across something yesterday that makes every singlehander shudder - a huge steel floating mooring buoy for a ship, covered with tires, just cut loose and drifting around. Jim popped his head out of the cockpit just in time to see this massive thing go by. If he had hit it square on, it could have been a serious situation. That's one of my biggest worries, hitting a large solid object, particularly lost shipping containers. I once read a report about how many lost containers were floating around in the ocean at any one time and it was a scary number. Hit one of those at speed and there's a good chance you're going down.
 
Zapped is apparently trying to break his mast climbing record of 8 times in 2002. He went up twice again yesterday. I'm beginning to suspect he simply likes it up there. Tiger Beetle said he should equip the boat with a large extendable ladder, though Haulback's suggestion of using climbing pitons seemed a little more practical.
Islander 07/02/04 1300 JIB IS IN CABIN, BUT DAMAGE IS IN AN AREA THAT IS SO HEAVILY REINFORCED, I
DO NOT THINK I CAN REPAIR IT. BUT THAT IS OK. HAVE MY SECOND JIB UP AND WHEN
I GET TO DOWNWIND LEG, I WILL FLY STORM SAIL AS TWIN.TEH PROB WITH SSB IS
HIGH SWR. CANT FIGURE OUT HOW TO FIX THAT. BOOK MAKES IT SOUND LIKE HIGH SWR
MEANS THERE IS NO ANTENNA. WHICH DOES NOT MAKE SENSE SINCE I CAN RECEIVE.
HAVING A LOVELY DAY TODAY. SOLAR PANELS WORKING WELL. LIGHT WIND, BUT IN
RIGHT DIRECTION.
Islander 07/03/04 1330 POS 7/3 0900 29.25N 133.21W DTF 1476 DIR 250 SP 5 KTS. MARK,IF ANYONE HAS ANYTHING TO SAY TO ME, WOULD YOU PLEASE RELAY IT. YOU ARE ONE OF THE FEW BOATS I CAN COPY. THANKS. 7/3 MANAGED TO SAIL INTO THE HIGH. SPENT FROM NOON 7/2 UNTIL 5 AM 7/3 NEARLY MOTIONLESS. SAILS FLAPPED AND FLOGGED. HAND-STEERED, TRYING TO GET SOMETHING OUT OF EVERY PUFF. AVERAGE SPEED 1.2 KNOTS. HARD TO BELIEVE HUGE OCEAN CAN BE SO FLAT. AT 5 AM, THE WIND FOUND ME. WHAT JOY TO BE SAILING AGAIN! BARBARA
Alchera 07/03/04 1600 Last night was particularly exhausting, around midnight the first real squalls started marching through and lasted right through until morning. Squalls make it very difficult to get any sleep, because you have to constantly deal with the boat direction and sail trim as the squalls pass by. The radar alarm which is set to watch for ships becomes pretty much useless when squalls are around, because the squalls show up on radar and set off the alarm, which has to be turned off or it will drive you crazy. So in addition to dealing with the squalls, I need to keep watching out for ships as well. All last night it was all I could do to keep from dropping off to sleep.
 
Fortunately, the last squall through dumped a load of water on Alchera, so all those little salt crystals that were building up over everything have been washed away for now. Every squall has a silver lining.
 
This morning the wind in my vicinity died out to nothing, and during check-in I had to listen to the reports of all the other boats with good speed while I was barely creeping along at 3-4 knots with only 6-7 knots of windspeed, and the waves were causing the sails and spars to bang and slat around. The only thing worse to a sailor than too much wind is too little wind. How I happened to get in this wind hole when all the other boats seem to have missed it is beyond me, but those are the breaks and one has to live with them.
 
In the early afternoon the wind picked up to a nice 14-16 knots, and I put up my pretty baby blue backup spinnaker.  All was fine until a series of squalls came through and I ended up hand-steering the boat for several hours through torrential rain and 20 knot winds. Finally fatigue got to me and the spinnaker wrapped around the forestay something awful. I was able to get it down without ripping up the spinnaker, but I decided to fly the twin jibs the rest of the day and recover.
 
This morning we crossed the halfway point to Kauai, so it was time to open the halfway present and there was much rejoicing amongst the crew. A couple of good books, a small bottle of Frangelico, and a wonderful card and some photos from someone very special to me. Thank you Carla!
 
Bad news on board Surfinn - Ryan had the spinnaker up in a squall when the rope clutch holding the tack line to the spinnaker started to let loose, and the spinnaker started to fly up out of control. Ryan laid the boat over on it's side to get things under control before any damage could happen, but in doing so a critical fitting at the top of the mast broke. The fitting is needed to fly spinnakers, so for the moment Ryan cannot fly spinnakers - the heart and soul of what makes that little boat fly. Tough break, though I'm sure he'll figure out something. He's been doing a magnificent job moving Surfinn along this race course so I expect he'll get her back up to speed again soon.
 
Cookie Jar had some damage occur last night as well, George was flying the twin headsails when a squall came up, pitched the boat way over, buried one of the whisker poles in the water, and broke it. That's one of the risks with the twin jib whisker pole setup, you've got these long poles hanging way out over the water to hold the ends of the jibs out, but if the boat tips too far over and the end of a pole goes into the water with the sail attached and the boat moving along at speed, goodbye pole.
 
Sail A Vie has a developing situation onboard as well. The salt water pump on Phil's engine is no longer working. He's trying to fix it now, but if he can't then he won't be able to use the engine to charge his batteries, and then he will soon lose all his battery power. Fortunately, he has a windvane as a backup way to steer the boat which requires no power, but losing all of his other electronics would be really unfortunate.
Alchera 07/04/04 1600 I just realized it's the fourth of July! One loses track of things like that out here, in fact I wouldn't even know what day of the week it was if I didn't keep reminding myself. So no fireworks for me this year. I could shoot off a couple of flares but then someone might try to rescue me, and I doubt if they would be in a very festive mood.
 
I've been kicking back and listening to one of the new CDs I got for my halfway present yesterday and trying to decide whether or not to go to all the effort of unrigging the twin headsails and putting up the spinnaker. The wind is currently right at that speed, around 13-15 knots, where it is much better to fly the spinnaker. Yesterday though, by the time I had the spinnaker up and flying the wind picked up and the squalls hit, and I would have been better off leaving the twins up. So today I'll just wait a bit longer and see what develops.
 
Last night was a great night for flying the twin headsails, the wind kept up between 17-19 knots and kept Alchera moving along in the 8 and 9 knot range all night with no effort at all. I just had to check the wind condition every now and then to make sure the direction hadn't changed, and then watched the squalls march through. Funny, with the spinnaker up, I run from squalls and try to avoid them. With the twins up I'll head right into them if I can and get the boat moving in the 10 knot range while I'm below reading a book or something. Twin headsails are a must for this race, I love them! I just wish I could switch between the twins and the spinnakers a little faster and with less work.
 
Just to prove that not all the reports from the race are about breakdowns, George on board Cookie Jar reports that he had a wonderful time last night flying the spinnaker with the autopilot driving. Usually at least once during this race each skipper will report in and rave about what a great day or night it was, and it's good to hear about these times because it's why we do what we do. If it was always as tough and as hard as we sometimes talk about, who would want to do it? Nighttime can be particularly inspiring, with the sound of the boat swishing along through the water, the ocean lit up with a full moon, the Milky Way blazing it's way across the skies, and a trail of phosphorescence streaming out behind the boat. Wow. Chokes me all up just thinking about it.
 
However, Cookie Monster, the mascot aboard Cookie Jar who sits on the stern pushpit is looking a bit bedraggled and is in need of a good wash and dry. The first few days of rough weather took it's toll on poor CM, and he's going to need some TLC when he and George come into Hanalei.
 
Good news aboard Sail A Vie - apparently the engine warning light was a false alarm and the salt water pump is working just fine. So after running the engine with no problems and putting a good charge in the batteries, I'm sure Phil is feeling very relieved.
Surfinn 07/04 1830 Heard from ryan today. he got off 180 miles yesterday after the fiasco, he has a jury rig so that he can use the fractional chute, which he's using in anything from 13 knots to 25. also he expects another 200 mile day. He will save the masthead halyard til later in the race, because he's afraid it might chafe itself to death in a matter of hours.
-Jeff Finn
Alchera 07/05/04 1500 Another squally night with several of them dumping rain on Alchera, helping to keep the salt from accumulating. Still, it's hard to sleep when you can't use the radar to warn of ships, so I have to try and wake up every 20 minutes to check the radar for ship targets.
 
This morning there was a gorgeous sunrise, the prettiest I've seen so far this trip. There's a frigate bird flying around the boat and so far the wind has been a steady 18 knots, which is perfect, and I really hope it keeps up all day. I've had a breakfast of cereal, longlife milk, and a honeydew melon which has gotten just perfectly ripe. We are off to a good start, knock on wood. The GPS unit has started counting down the hours until arrival - up until now it has been pegged at 99hrs and 59mins, the maximum it can display. But now that Alchera is approaching the islands, the GPS is flickering to life with more meaningful numbers.
 
Every morning I do the 'deck walk' or as Ken on Harrier likes to put it, the 'deck crawl' depending on the conditions of either the sea or the skipper. It amounts to inspecting all of the standing and running rigging, mast tune and shape, hull, etc. for anything that doesn't look quite right. This morning I discovered a spinnaker sheet that had caught on a sharp edge and had nearly sawn itself through, the second time that has happened this trip. So I spent an hour or so rerouting a bunch of control lines and putting Teflon tape on others to try and slow down the chafing.
 
Boat tasks aside, it's also fun to just sit or lie on the foredeck as Alchera surfs down the waves, so it's not *all* work!
 
A couple of pairs of boats have sailed within sight of one another, which is pretty amazing given how large this ocean is. Cookie Jar and Sail A Vie have been within sight for the past two days now. And yesterday, Tiger Beetle looked astern to see the red spinnaker of Rusalka creeping up on him. Ever the gentleman, Rob let Eric catch up, taking photos as he approached. Then it was Eric's turn to film as Rob furiously scrambled to raise his own spinnaker and give chase. Rob said he and Eric spent a fair amount of time on the VHF 'plotting and scheming'. Who do you suppose they could be plotting and scheming against?
 
Jim on Haulback caught his first ever fish the other day. He said the trick was the previous day he spent practicing. I asked what was the difference exactly between practicing and actual fishing and Jim responded, 'if you don't catch a fish, you're practicing, and if you do, you're fishing'. I'm sure there's a metaphor for life in there somewhere.
 
Koinonia got a snarl of a spinnaker wrap while putting up the spinnaker net. Jim was in the process of raising up the net after setting the kite when the kite decided to wrap around everything -  the forestay, the spinnaker net, and it's halyard. Took 2 & 1/2 hours to get the whole mess untangled, fortunately only small tears to the spinnaker. Ken on Harrier also had spinnaker issues - three times he went to raise the spinnaker, and three times got hammered by a squall. Finally Ken decided today wasn't the day to set the kite.
 
And all is well aboard Miss Laney - systems are working fine but the skipper is feeling a bit homesick and is thinking about friends and family. It's amazing how being out here alone can intensify one's feelings and put relationships (and life in general) in their proper perspective.
Islander 07/05/04 1730 MY POS 7/4 2100 29.32N 136.54W DTF 1295 DIR 270 SP 5.7.
POS 7/5 0900 29.36N 138.07W DTF 1235 DIR 240T SP 5.1. HOPE A
SATELLITE PASSES SOON! BARBARA
Haulback 07/05/04 2230 Here at he back of the fleet all is well. The displacement division is
slowly inching it's way across the eastern Pacific towards the warm
sands and swaying palms of Hanalei Bay. A couple of the boats gave morning
roll call positions of less than a thousand miles to go, and all of us
are past our half-way points for the trip. ( Not too sure about
Islander, Barbara is incommunicado, but if she is not half-way today she must
be darn close.) Most of us will be out here for a week or a bit better
yet, and although we may not be able to see the islands, we can all
smell the pineapples from where we are.
This is flying-fish country, I picked one up off the deck a few days
ago, but never allow as how I am in their territory until I actually
see them taking off out of the water. Amazing how far some of the little
critters can fly. There is of course a great debate regarding whether
they actually fly, coast, glide, or leap. Possibly a combination of all
of the above, but they sure look to me like they are flying.
The last few days back here have been absolutely wonderful weather,
fairly smooth seas, no more than a one metre swell running, warm sunshine
and good company. If the winds are perhaps a little lighter than what
would be ideal, well, you may as well just sit back and appreciate the
rest of it.
This is my third time singlehanding to Hawaii, and I finally caught a
fish!! Yippee!! An Ahi, about 2 1/2 feet long, enough for two dinners
and a couple of snacks of sashimi.
Yesterday Dan on Miss Laney and I were chatting after morning roll
call, bemoaning the fact that an hour or so before the wind had fallen
off to almost zilch. He suggested that if I were to sacrifice a handful
of ice (yes, there still is some in the icebox) that the wind would fill
in a bit. He cautioned me not to toss too much over the side as that
may bring too much wind. I carefully scooped up exactly one handful and
chanting secret Costa Rican voodoo spells consigned it to the deep. To
Dan's everlasting credit, the wind did fill in to a nice,
spinnaker-flying type of breeze that held most of the day.
Yesterday was my half-way day. Celebrations included - sashimi for
lunch, lamb chops for dinner, opening the half-way bag Jean gave all of
us at the start,(thanks Jean) and having a shower. Now, having a shower
for most of you ashore is no big deal, right? You probably don't really
even think much of it. On this boat however it is a big deal, far too
complicated to explain to the uninitiated. Take my word for it, a shower
on Haulback is a hugely complex procedure.
Jim on Zapped seems to have broken the mast climbing habit, for the
time being at least. No more ascents since last report.
Kaien in sailing along in his own version of Nirvana. Of all the
boats this year Steve has all the mod-cons aboard Kaien. But he doesn't
care much for the sound of the engine so is running no refrigeration,
using his windvane rather than an autopilot, and possibly, but we don't
know this for a fact, spending hours doing yoga on the foredeck.
Phil, aboard Sail a Vie is fairly flying along, with Ken on Harrier
in hot pursuit. That contest may come down to a photo-finish.
Bill is sailing well again, once he got the wind back, well to the
north of the rest of us. I can't help but wonder if he has some grand
strategy in mind for the last few days of the race.
Carl, my favorite for first -to-finish in Displacement division, is
picking up a few miles every check-in on the rest of us back here. Like
myself he stayed east and went south of everyone else early in the
race.
And that concludes the inside scoop for this time around.
Bye for now....Jim/Haulback
Islander 07/05/04 2230 POS 7/5 2100 28.59N 139.03W DTF 1178 DIR 230T SP 5.2
Islander 07/06/04 0930 POS 7/6 0900 28.19N 139.57W. DTF 1122 DIR 230T SP 5.0
Islander 07/06/04 1300 7/6 BEAUTIFUL DAY. STEADY WINDS. MAY
TRY TO SET TWIN HEADSAILS AGAIN TODAY AND JUST STAY WITHIN WHAT MONITOR
CAN HANDLE RE DIRECTION. BARBARA
Alchera 07/06/04 1500 Looks like there is a real battle shaping up for first to finish between Dogbark and Joe. Joe has been moving well from the start, and Dogbark is beginning to pick up the pace.  Should be interesting.
 
Today I had a major decision to make - spend the rest of the trip in serious race mode and endure great mental and physical hardship, or try to catch a fish. I decided to try and catch a fish. After listening to the rollcall last night, I was getting very jealous. Both Tiger Beetle and Dogbark reported getting Mahi virtually as soon as their lines were let out. In Dogbark's case, Al was still letting the line out when he got the strike. Carlton on Audacious, the master at this fishing business, also reeled in another one. Like Haulback (until a few days ago) I have never caught a fish trolling from the back during one of these trips across. I lost several expensive lures and even all my line on the way back two years ago, but no fish. So my expectations were not very high. I rigged up a line the best I knew how, threw it out, and began my morning deck check. Fifteen minutes later I looked back to see a fish on the line! A nice 2&1/2 foot Mahi I believe. After making a total bloody mess of the cockpit trying to kill it and then slice it into something that resembled fillets, I took a couple and popped them into the oven in tinfoil with some seasonings. Very tasty. I could get used to this.
 
I knew Jim onboard Zapped was a little crazy, but now I'm sure. Apparently not satisfied with the record for the most number of times up the mast this race, Jim is now visiting the bottom of his boat as well. Yesterday while flying the spinnaker, the shackle at the top of the halyard gave way, sending the spinnaker and the sock over the side into the water. While in the water, the sock control lines got hopelessly wrapped around the rudder. So of course Jim dives over the side to free up the mess around the rudder. (Mind you, diving on the bottom of your boat in the middle of the ocean with any kind of wave action is not an easy task - the bottom of the boat threatens to bash your skull in with each wave.) With the rudder and sockline mess taken care of, Jim now climbs the mast to repair the broken halyard. So Jim gets the prize for visiting both the top and the bottom of his boat in a single day. Unbelievable. Then to add to that, last night he blows out his spinnaker leaving nothing but a few streamers and sail ties from a previous repair flying from the masthead. So of course, he's going up the mast again today. Haulback said 'if you ever need crew, don't even think about asking me - too much stuff happens to you and your boat!' Haulback and Zapped made a $5 bet several months ago that Zapped would lose more spinnakers on this race than the 3 he lost last time. With only one spinnaker lost on Zapped so far, it's looking like Haulback may have to pay up in Hanalei.
 
Dogbark reported seeing a while flare shoot up last night, but no one responded on the VHF and Al could not see any other boat in the area. Al reported the sighting to the coast guard but he believes it was likely a false alarm.
Islander 07/06/04 2100 POS 7/6 2100 27.41N 140.57 W DTF 1061 DIR 220T SP 5.0
Rusalka 07/07/04 0800 Kaua'i is DDW and we have light air. If it's blowing over 14 or so the
twin jibs are faster, if not kites are faster. With kites, sleep starts
to become an issue, it's one thing to sleep with the kite up while
you're reaching. it's another to sleep with the kite up in squall country
sailing as deep as you can.
The wind is at 14 now, I just took the kite down, unrolled the twins
and am going to get some sleep.
When you sleep with the kite up going deep, you leave your sea boots
on.
Rusalka - DTF 465 miles
07/07/2004
07:52:43 GMT
24° 13' N
151° 17' W
Islander 07/07/04 0900 POS 7/7 0900 26.54N 141.47W DTF 1008 DIR 220T SP 5.3.
Islander 07/07/04 1200 POS 7/6 2100 27.41N 140.57W DTF 1061 DIR 210T SP 5.0 POS 7/7 0900
26.54N 141.47W DTF 1008 DIR 210T SP 5.3. 7/7 RIGGED TWIN HEADSAILS AGAIN
YESTERDAY MORNING. MONITOR STEERING. CELEBRATED HALFWAY POINT WITH A
FRESHWATER SHOWER. (MY SALTWATER BATHS ARE REFRESHING, BUT NOT NEARLY AS
NICE.) FOR DINNER MADE A SPECIAL SALAD. ENJOYED DESSERT FROM HALFWAY
PACKAGES FROM FAMILY AND FRIENDS. REALLY APPRECIATED THE NOTES AND TREATS.
Alchera 07/07/04 1700 Yesterday was a *slooow* day. The winds were fine in the morning, but then by afternoon had died down to 10-12 knots and Alchera was rolling around in the waves and not making much progress. Last night was pretty much the same. Even the squalls have seemed to have lost their punch, I chase after them but don't get much back in return. Today has been even worse, the winds died down to less than 10, then a bunch of squalls came through and the wind direction went all over the map. For several hours I found myself close reaching in order to point to Kauai! Then about noon that nonsense ended, followed by 6-8 knots of light wind from the east, so I've got my spinnaker up now. A lot of work all day to keep moving.
 
Today is my birthday! It's the third one I've celebrated at sea by myself while doing this race. My close friend Chip usually gives me so much grief about getting old on my birthday, that he has accused me of doing this race just so I can avoid him! Well, it does have it's benefits. And I could think of worse ways to spend my birthday.
 
Every so often when there is VHF radio contact between one of the racers and a nearby ship, the ship captain's reaction is often disbelief that someone would be out in the middle of the ocean on such a tiny boat by themselves. Often the ship will divert and come close by with the crew standing and waving at the rails, amazed to see the crazy skipper in his little toy boat. However, Ryan got more than passing interest of another kind yesterday when a large sperm whale surfaced nearby, turned to look at the tiny Surfinn, and then made all appearances of coming over for a closer look! Ryan sailed away as fast as possible, very thankful I'm sure that his boat was able to do so. That sperm whale may have thought he just found himself a nice bathtub toy to play with.
 
There was some concern expressed during the SSB rollcall whether the mascot aboard Cookie Jar qualified as a pet and would therefore be subject to quarantine when reaching Kauai. Georges assures us that Cookie Monster does have all his required vaccinations up to date and is certified free of rabies, though he seems to have broken out in a case of mange as of late. Hopefully the Hawaiian officials will be understanding.
Islander 07/07/04 2100 POS 7/7 2100 26.06N 142.38W DTF 953 DIR 220T SP 5.5.
Islander 07/08/04 0900 POS 7/8 0900 25.15N 143.24W DTF 904 DIR 210T SP 5.0.
Alchera 07/08/04 1400 Last night the wind started to pick up a bit and this morning sees Alchera with 13-17 knot trade breezes directly out of the east with the occasional 20 knot squall thrown in. The twin jibs are up and we are pointed pretty much right at the finish line with 216 miles to go before Kauai. The GPS is saying another day and a half to the finish if this speed holds up. Days like this are particularly nice because as long as the conditions don't change, the boat pretty much sails itself and no sail changes are required. So that leaves lots of free time to look about at the ocean, catch up on sleep, or read. Very pleasant.
 
The other big change is the tropic weather - it's getting very hot! You can't sit out in the cockpit under the blast of the midday sun, it's just too intense. Down below I open the few portholes that I don't think will get any spray through them, but it is still very hot and humid in the cabin. The best time of day is later in the afternoon, when the sun starts going down in the west and the sails throw their shadow over the back of the boat. Then it is nice to sit up top and watch the ocean go by.
 
Joe and Dogbark are in a real dogfight for the first to finish honors. At morning check-in Dogbark was only 82 miles from the finish, with Joe nipping at his heels 3 miles behind. By rollcall tonight they should have finished or be very close!
 
During the morning rollcall Jim aboard Zapped was scared out of his wits when he heard the deafening sound of a ship's horn at close range and jumped out into the cockpit to see a huge Matson liner passing just astern. Jim had his radar turned off so didn't detect the approach of the ship. When he contacted the ship's captain on VHF radio he was told that the freighter had him in sight for some time and had actually altered course to pass close by astern. Heh heh.
Haulback 07/08/04 1500 Now the 'end game' starts....
Sometime today, probably early this evening, the first 2 boats will
finish. All throughout the fleet calculators will be clicking and
pencils being sharpened as everyone figures out by what time they will have
to finish to beat Joe's time. What has become an idle pastime for most
of us will now become a all-consuming passion as more and more boats
reach Hanalei Bay.
Most everyone, when asked about why they want to do this race comes
up with some variation on the theme of "just to do it" or "I like
sailing" or "I want to see the green flash". Then they get out here and sail
like maniacs, trying to win. Lets face it, to do any of the above all
you have to do is jump in your boat and sail over to Hawaii on your own.
No entry fee, no pre-race inspections, none of the hoops to jump
through that being in an organized event involves.
Everyone, deep in their souls, wants to win.
Yet to a great extent we are all subject to the whims of the weather.
This morning's roll-call was complete with all kinds of
prognostications regarding where, when and even, if, the wind was going to pick up
some more. Worse off of us all was Ergo. Barely audible above the gnashing
of his teeth came Bill's plaintive voice, "course - none, speed -
Zero!"
Bye the way, the ice I put on the boat friday before the start, 14 days
ago, is now done. Who would have thunk, eh?
Bye for now...Jim/Haulback
Islander 07/08/04 2100 POS 7/7 2100 26.06N 142.38W DTF 953 DIR 225T SP 5.5 POS 7/8 0900 25.15N
143.24W DTF 904 DIR 220T SP 5.4. 7/8 KEEP TRYING TO SAIL MORE DIRECTLY
DOWNWIND. NOW USING AUTOPILOT. YESTERDAY 7/7 AT 1600 WAS PASSED BY ICON
OF PAC CUP FLEET. SPOKE WITH JIM ROSER ON VHF. ASKED HIM TO CHECK IN
DURING SSS 2100 ROLLCALL TO CONFIRM HE SAW ME AND THAT ALL IS WELL. SORRY
HE DIDNT. FUN TO HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH SOMEONE AFTR ELEVEN DAYS OF
NOT SPEAKING. BARBARA
Islander 07/08/04 2100 POS 7/8 2100 25.06N 144.24 W DTF 848 DIR 265T SP 5.22
Islander 07/09/04 0900 POS 7/9 0900 25.04N 145.30W DTF 790 DIR 270T SP 4.3.
Alchera 07/09/04 1300 The boats are starting to finish, Dogbark and Joe came in yesterday after an incredible battle for first to finish. Not too much further now for me either, as of this morning's rollcall Alchera was about 62 miles from the finish. If all goes well today and the winds hold up, I should be able to make it in before the next rollcall. In some ways I'll miss not being on the ocean anymore, in other ways it will be nice for the race to be over so I can relax for a change. We've got good tradewinds this morning, so I've been sitting on the foredeck watching the waves fly by on both sides and looking off in the direction Kauai will appear.
 
Rollcalls are at 9:00 in the morning and 9:00 in the evening Pacific Daylight time. When the race starts out, these are pretty reasonable times. As the boats move west though and approach the islands, dawn is just breaking when the morning rollcall is due, and evening rollcall occurs just about the time you feel like you should be eating dinner. Then after evening rollcall there are still several more hours of daylight. So the body's clock gets a little screwed up, because the skippers are still on Pacific time, but everything in their environment is telling them that's not so. But it's easier to deal with the rollcall times that way then try to change them as the boats move along.
 
As I've gotten up earlier in the dark as I proceed west, I've noticed Venus rising in the east behind me every morning, very pretty. In the 96 race one of the skippers saw Venus as a bright light on the horizon and was sure it was a ship headed right for him. He tried hailing it on the radio to no avail. Naturally, the rest of the skippers gave him no end of grief after that.
 
Koinonia had an exciting time of it last night. While flying a spinnaker at night a squall hit very hard and very fast, laying the boat down immediately on it's side and putting the spinnaker in the water. Jim said it was one of the worst knockdowns he has ever experienced. He was able to retrieve the spinnaker out of the water with only minor damage, but lost a sheet and a guy in the process. George on Cookie Jar also had some remarks on spinnakers and squalls. Now flying the spinnaker for 6 days straight, he said that his biggest fear of flying spinnakers is when the squalls hit in the night. George comments 'Sometimes the first notice of a squall is when you do a face plant into the side of the boat. This is not the Zen of sailing'.
 
Sail A Vie pulled in a 3 foot Dorado last night, so Phil will be eating a lot of fish for awhile.
Islander 07/09/04 1400 POS 7/8 2100 25.06N 144.24W DTF 848 DIR 267T SP 5.2 POS 7/9 0900 25.04N
145.30W DTF 790 DIR 270T SP 4.3. 7/9 LIGHT WINDS OVERNIGHT, SMALL
IMPROVEMENT THIS MORNING. FIRST BOATS FINISHED YESTERDAY. EXCITING, BUT
DISCOURAGING TO SEE HOW FAR I STILL HAVE TO GO. HANGING IN THERE. BARBARA
Islander 07/09/04 2100 ISLNDR 7/9 2100 25.02N 146.35W DTF 730 DIR 270T SP5.5
Islander 07/10/04 0900 POS 25.26 N 147.48W DTF 671 DIR 290T SP 4.2
Islander 07/10/04 1500 POS 7/9 2100 25.02N 146.35W DTF 730 DIR 270T SP 5.5 POS 7/10 0900
25.26N 147.48W DTF 671 DIR 290T SP 4.3. 7/10 YESTERDAY WAS AN IMPORTANT DAY.
MANAGED TO REPAIR JIB. SET IT WITH WING JIB IN EVENING. PUT STORM JIB
AWAY. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! AT LEAST ONE KNOT. ONLY WISH I HAD FIGURED OUT
HOW TO MAKE REPAIR EARLIER. NOW HOPE IT HOLDS. CROSSED TWO THIRDS LINE
JUST BEFORE MIDNIGHT. WIND SHIFTED DURING NIGHT. NOW ON PORT POLE ON
GOOD LINE FOR HANALEI. BARBARA
Islander 07/10/04 2100 24.57N 148.49W DTF 611 DIR 230T SP 5.5
Islander 07/11/04 0900 POS 24.07N 149.41W DTF 554 DIR 215T SP 5.4
Islander 07/11/04 0900 POS 7/10 2100 24.57N 148.49W DTF 611 DIR 235T SP 5.7 POS 7/11 0900
24.07N 149.41W DTF 554 DIR 215T SP 5.4. RICH, CAN NO LONGER HEAR ROLLCALL.
IF THERE IS ANYTHING I NEED TO KNOW, WOULD YOU PLEASE EMAIL IT TO ME?
UNDERSTAND I MUST NOT HAVE ANY FRESH FRUITS OR VEGS ABOARD. ANYTHING
ELSE? THANKS. 7/11 STILL EXCITED ABOUT NEWFOUND SPEED WITH REPAIRED JIB.
REPAIR HOLDING. WIND NOT PERMITTNG DIRECT COURSE TO HANALEI, BUT MAKING
PROGRESS. BEGIN FINAL QUARTER OF VOYAGE TODAY. BARBAR
Islander 07/11/04 2100 POS 7/11 2100 23.12N 150.34W DTF 499 DIR 215T SP 5.3
Islander 07/14/04 1000 POS 7/13 0900 23.02N 153.53W DTF 315 DIR 30T SP 5.5
Islander 07/14/04 1040 POS 7/11 2100 23.12N 150.34W DTF 499 DIR 215T SP 5.3 POS 7/12 0900
22.24N 151.26W DTF 449 DIR 278T SP 5.0. 7/12 LAST NIGHT WAS A SERIES OF
SQUALLS. TODAY SEA IS RUNNING HEAVY AND CONFUSED. THIS MORNING GYBED TO
HEAD AS CLOSE TO WEST AS POSSIBLE. VERY TIRED. BARBARA
Islander 07/14/04 1800 POS 7/14 0900 23.47N 156.20W DTF 199 DIR 290T SP 5.6.
Islander 07/15/04 0900 S/V Islander is not in distress and current position 21-43N, 157-54W as of 11:11 HST
Islander 07/16/04 0100 POS 22.10N 159.10W
Islander 07/16/04 0700 POS 22.16N 159.29W

Perpetual Trophies

Trophy Boat Skipper
Latitude 38 First to Finish Dogbark Al Hughes
Grover Nibouar First ULDB to Finish Dogbark Al Hughes
Jack London First to Finish Dogbark Al Hughes
Orcon First to Finish Dogbark Al Hughes
SSS First to Finish Displacement Monohull Audacious Carlton Eshelman
Hanalei Yacht Club First to Finish on Corrected Time Sail A Vie Phil McFarlane
SSS Navigation Award Joe Chuck Beazell