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AlanH
07-27-2018, 11:19 AM
After as many folks get back to the Bay Area as are gonna, what say we have a wrap up seminar? Say, maybe the last week in August?

What worked, what didn't?
What do you wish you'd done differently?

...and so on. I'd find a way to attend this, if it was set up.

Island Rider
08-03-2018, 07:39 PM
Ok, it appears there is minimal interest in a seminar. How about some posts here to help those of us planning for 2020?

BobJ
08-03-2018, 08:13 PM
I heard there were a lot of autopilot problems. I'd like to hear the details.

DaveH
08-05-2018, 01:35 PM
I think the idea is a good one, and we can even plan on re-presenting awards... crate will arrive with them this week.
Why not attach this to the Drakes Bay awards meeting on 8/29?

Philpott
08-06-2018, 06:34 PM
Tom Boussie mentioned how time consuming it was to disassemble JouJou in Nawiliwili in order to prepare her for the container ship passage. In order to remove the mast, all electrical components up there had to be detached. And then there was everything else!

What an ordeal! I never thought of that before. When JouJou arrives here all that must be re-done. Another ordeal! Tom talked about the positive and helpful interaction between Transpackers during that experience in Nawiliwili, which made me wonder whether there is the possibility of replicating it on this side of the Pacific so that: 1/ sailors can more effectively get sailing again ; and 2/ people might be able to share the labor and expertise instead of depending solely upon themselves or expensive marine yards. Knowing our singlehanders, they would try to do it all on their own. But must they?

There is a lot of expertise in this Club and people could listen to stories all at the same time. A hands-on Return Seminar, if you will.

Gamayun
08-09-2018, 09:36 AM
Definitely a good idea! Rob/Tiger Beetle also tried a new thing with the SSB net that Incorporated position reports of returning boats via email. I thought it was great.

mike cunningham
08-09-2018, 10:35 AM
In my thank you e-mail to the return feet team I mentioned I thought it might be a good idea to formalize the "return fleet" concept as part of the event. We could have a relevant seminar during the run up to the race, get participants nailed down, and have a defined plan going in. This suggestion is in no way meant to minimize how wonderful the support and comraderie was during the 2018 return. But, I think that knowing you had this support before the start might encourage folks, especially in heavier boats, to consider the race itself.

If the SSS thinks this idea has merit, I will volunteer to assist from the shoreside end. I will be an observer in 2020 and not a participant.

I tthink another thing that might be helpful is a voulnteer list for hauling and shipping prep assistance. Getting your boat out of the water and set up for shipment can be a tough, stressful slog as mentioned above. It might be useful to know who would be availabele and willing to help before the race starts. This could be a part of the overall return program.

DaveH
08-09-2018, 02:54 PM
Hi Mike -
I think that all makes a good amount of sense.

The Return Trip seminar is always on the seminar calendar, but admittedly tends to get buried in the pressing needs of getting the boat to the line, and of course TO Hanalei.
I certainly agree that we should put some extra effort in organizing both the returning boats, and the Matson Armada earlier in the cycle, and generally do what we can to promote the return trip.
This year turned out to be a good model for returning as a group; we should definitely take note of what worked and what can be better/more thoroughly thought through.

Consider yourself volunteered!
DH

Daydreamer
08-09-2018, 03:21 PM
I'll be Happy to help out too.

The trip back, though difficult in different ways than the race, was better than I anticipated.

My wife is worried I am going to sign up for 2020 !!?!!

AlanH
08-09-2018, 04:11 PM
Is there consensus that 8/29 is a good date for this? What say, SSS Board Members?

mike cunningham
08-09-2018, 04:30 PM
I'll be Happy to help out too.

The trip back, though difficult in different ways than the race, was better than I anticipated.

My wife is worried I am going to sign up for 2020 !!?!!

BTW Greg, I am in awe of you doing the return with an outboard and limited fuel. Holy cow!! I burned through 80 gallons of diesel during the return, I feel like a slacker compared to your effort. I am pretty sure you were carrying some of those Red Vines ;)

brianb
08-09-2018, 08:46 PM
Is there consensus that 8/29 is a good date for this? What say, SSS Board Members?

I think a wrap up is a great concept. 8/29 works.

I would suggest a panel of return-ees and a interviewer to coordinate a topic list.

Brian

Gamayun
08-10-2018, 11:54 PM
I think a wrap up is a great concept. 8/29 works.

I would suggest a panel of return-ees and a interviewer to coordinate a topic list.

Brian

I'm happy to participate, too. Ditto on what Mike said about being impressed with Greg and the limited amount of fuel! And also what Greg said about the return being more enjoyable than he had anticipated.

tiger beetle
08-12-2018, 03:36 PM
I'm happy to participate, too. Ditto on what Mike said about being impressed with Greg and the limited amount of fuel! And also what Greg said about the return being more enjoyable than he had anticipated.

I was intrigued at the reports of significant gear problems across the fleet, both during the race as well as on the return trip.

On board Tiger Beetle I had zero gear breakage on the passage from Tahiti to Oahu, and the single (maintenance) issue on the run from Kauai to Neah Bay was changing out the alternator belt. Other than that, everything on the boat worked properly. I do not know if that is because Beetle is being continuously sailed and therefore maintained, if I've swapped everything that breaks with something that doesn't (just a matter of fact in the cruising world), or if I'm not pushing the boat hard and therefore stuff doesn't break as a result (another artifact of cruising vs racing).

I was very pleased the standing rigging, replaced in Oahu, handled the return trip well and did not require re-tuning mid-ocean to handle stretch. The rigging is dyform which doesn't stretch much relative to 1x19, and I'd loaded it up off Waikiki a half-dozen times on tuning runs, and again checked it following the overnight run from Oahu to Kauai.

The number of autopilot failures on this SSS TransPac seemed significant, far more than I would have expected. Good thing folks had backup(s) to engage and keep their boat moving forward. I did have an Alpha Spectra ram failure on the run from Puerto Vallarta to Nuku Hiva, turns out that was an issue I introduced in the wiring (and have since altered the connection mechanism and that problem cannot happen again - soldered connections are necessary for systems that observe resistance, screw-terminal blocks not allowed!).

I"d be interested to see learn more about the gear issues, particularly autopilot problems, at a wrap-up seminar.

I"m also interested in how folks thought the radio/email net worked for the return trip. From what I saw, the boats with metered bandwidth (SailMail, WinLink) were ok with the radio net recap emails but could not handle multiple emails from individual boats due to the metering. Boats with unlimited (or easy) email connections (Iridium GO, perhaps other mechanisms) had no issues.

- rob/beetle

dolfinbill
08-17-2018, 10:51 PM
From what I saw, the boats with metered bandwidth (SailMail, WinLink) were ok with the radio net recap emails but could not handle multiple emails from individual boats due to the metering. Boats with unlimited (or easy) email connections (Iridium GO, perhaps other mechanisms) had no issues.


I used Winlink to send and receive emails and had no problem with metered bandwidth (whatever that is)

AZ Sailor
08-18-2018, 02:39 PM
I think a wrap up is a great concept. 8/29 works.

I would suggest a panel of return-ees and a interviewer to coordinate a topic list.

Brian

It is likely I will be in Alameda on the 29th, and if so will be there. I will be happy to share what I dare say is the definitive list of "Rookie Mistakes" in the race -- i.e., hard-won knowledge that will be essential for any future entrant looking to maximize chances of winning the Perseverance Trophy. And I have some thoughts on the return trip, too.

Rainbow
08-26-2018, 10:09 PM
I think a wrap up is a great concept. 8/29 works.

I would suggest a panel of return-ees and a interviewer to coordinate a topic list.

Brian


I'll be there Wednesday -- looking forward to seeing everyone. Cliff, Rainbow

pogen
08-27-2018, 10:47 AM
So Wednesday 29 August.

Time?

Place?

pogen
08-27-2018, 04:55 PM
So Wednesday 29 August.

Time?

Place?

"Sources say" it's at Island YC at 7:30 PM.

Philpott
08-27-2018, 08:51 PM
Dennis Maggard s/v Pamela, is coming.

Daydreamer
08-27-2018, 10:13 PM
I'll be there too:-)

DaveH
08-28-2018, 12:25 PM
yes, rumors are true - tomorrow night at IYC.
I'm told we'll have a bartender.
and Drakes Bay Trophies!

I am working on getting a webcast set up. having some challenges with a change in employment, but will post a link shortly

DH

DH

Philpott
08-28-2018, 02:34 PM
I'll bring my video cam and make a vimeo of you all. :cool:

RiffRider
08-28-2018, 02:43 PM
Hi All....Riff Rider here...I'd love to get together for chit chat or formal debrief if a date gets set.

mike cunningham
08-29-2018, 11:43 AM
Here's my presentation for tonight, assuming we get to present anything

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1vrvdbmVr4Yyf0iGIs-8uxuRB2hFqRqDoAMsrETi80ws/edit?usp=sharing

kapiib
08-29-2018, 04:56 PM
Hi - definitely wrapping up tonight at Island Yacht Club in Alameda at 7:30 - directions are online. Doesn't look like the tech is going to work as desired for remote involvement if you can't make it, but we might be able to have a skype session of sorts. It won't be ideal, but stay tuned to this thread and we'll post info if we can get something to work for remote access. Thanks!

AlanH
08-29-2018, 07:34 PM
I want to be there...want to a lot, but I left work at 5:20 and I hadn't even gotten to the turnoff from 101 to Highway 92 - the highway to the San Mateo Bridge, by 7:00 PM. It took me 45 minutes to get from Stanford to 101.

The only way I can make it to an SSS meeting is to take half a day off work and come over at about 2:00. Frustrated, here...very. F this S.

pogen
08-30-2018, 08:50 AM
I want to be there...want to a lot, but I left work at 5:20

#MeToo. I hit 237 at 5:30, total parking lot. I had to get into work this morning , and just could not face spending 3 hours in the car, so I bailed. Sorry I was not there.

pogen
08-30-2018, 10:01 AM
I no longer have any meetings I absolutely have go to, but it has become clear to me at least that having mid-week evening meetings has become untenable for many of us. The Club may want to consider having these on weekend nights instead.

AlanH
08-30-2018, 11:47 AM
I no longer have any meetings I absolutely have go to, but it has become clear to me at least that having mid-week evening meetings has become untenable for many of us. The Club may want to consider having these on weekend nights instead.

This exact thought occurred to me as I was zooming back south on highway 280. It took me 25 minutes to get home from where it took an hour and a half to get to, by the "most direct route" n highway 101. Going up 280 instead of 101 to get to 92 to get to the bridge wouldn't have helped, because the backup from the 101-92 exchange went clear up the hill to the College of San Mateo turnoff.

A month ago more-or-less I braced myself, and went to an Alameda City Council meeting regarding the Alameda Marina. I left work at 4:30 PM...got to the Alameda City hall at quarter to 8:00 PM. That meeting lasted until well after midnight and I was home in 65 minutes.

The truth is that I simply can't go to SSS meetings, if they're going to be in Alameda on weeknights starting at 7:30. I would have to take half a day off, or three hours off work and get over the bridge before 3:30 to make it without going through traffic hell..

As is stands right now I have my eyes fixed on SHTP (possibly a doublehanded Pac Cup, but probably SHTP) in 2022. Bay Area traffic will only get worse. v It CAN'T get worse from 4:30 - 7:00, it's total clog right now, so what will happen is that the clog will expand to 4:00 - 8:00. There's no way I will be able to make it to the SHTP seminar series unless I retire from my job (which I might) by then. But that means I'll hit the line and not really know the other skippers and as we all know, it's the PEOPLE that make this race what it is.

I would like to get on board with Pogen and suggest that it's time to start thinking about how to re-make / re-think the SSS meetings/seminar series. Skippers can register for all the races online now so that means we don' t have to make it to the regular meetings. Yeah..well, OK. I suppose. The "Good Old Days" of the late 90's and early 2000's where I'd drive over to the OYC, get a beer, and hang out late talking to friends from the SSS are over. All Hail the New World of technology and traffic. There may not be a real answer to this, in terms or the regular meetings.... But seminars and special meetings like this wrap-up... it really sucks if we can't even get to these. The answer MIGHT not be "more technology"...It might be, or it might not be. I don't know. The answer might be more weekend "sail-ins" combined with seminars. Or the answer might be "Too effing bad, leave work early, then.." I don't really have an answer, but when the SSS has members with jobs who live in the Bay Area and they can't actually attend meetings any more and hold a 9-5 job, there's a problem.

AlanH
08-30-2018, 11:58 AM
It's not just the SSS that is affected by this. I'd love to do the Wednesday night beer cans out of Coyote Point during the summer, but they push off the dock at 5:30, start is at 6:00. Highway 101 is a parking lot, and even worse is the surface streets traffic from Stanford to 101 at that time. So as much as I'd love to have some kickback racing on Wednesday nights, it's never happened.

brianb
09-01-2018, 07:56 AM
I no longer have any meetings I absolutely have go to, but it has become clear to me at least that having mid-week evening meetings has become untenable for many of us. The Club may want to consider having these on weekend nights instead.

I really had planned to attend the meeting convincing myself I could get away at 3 pm, as is my habit. Too many biz tasks dragged to 6 pm. At that point the trip up would get me there between 8 and 830, one begins to wonder why ?

I would suggest four alternatives:

1. Hold half the meetings in the West Bay, say at the Redwood City YC (Sequoia YC). (my house is also available in Los Gatos).
2. Start the meetings at 8 pm. This would still require sitting in traffic.
3. David's suggestion, Saturday or Sunday evenings after racing, could work as well. 7 00 pm start times ?
4. The club invest in one of the new meeting video capture systems, and a Skype account. These track the speaker around the room with a video camera and have directional microphones. It all sits on a tripod. Then insist that comments/questions be spoken into a mic. All presentations have slides that can be sent over a network. We then project all meetings using Skype or some other similar service.

Like David (AKA Pogen) and Alan the meetings are really a tough drive. For the Drakes Bay Skippers meeting I got to 237 and 880. An accident had blocked the road as traffic halted, and the freeway shut down. My road rage kicked in and I backed off the freeway and headed south.

Brian