Oh, and it felt good to go sailing again: I picked up a Merit 25 at the school and sailed the Redwood channel for a couple hours. Very satisfying!
Oh, and it felt good to go sailing again: I picked up a Merit 25 at the school and sailed the Redwood channel for a couple hours. Very satisfying!
Sweet. Some of my earliest sailing, 25 years ago or so, was crewing on a Merit 25 in regattas on a big man-made lake north of Phoenix. Loved sailing on that boat. And it kind of got me pointed in this direction. I found the Bay area's Merit 25 fleet info on line, and read Paul Kamen's description of sailing Twilight Zone in the 1986 SHTP. I've been captivated by the idea of single handing to Hawaii ever since.
I heard Paul was the second crew on Double Espresso during its Pacific Cup bid.
I wonder if a checklist exist. Like all the steps needed to get ready. Lots to do and I imagine a year can go by fast.
Since it's in new condition, half of my cost = $175. Their consignment fee is 40-50% depending on the value.
So I'd take $100 for it, plus shipping (shipping is probably less than ten bucks). If you send me an e-mail I'll describe it in more detail. Brookhouse did some custom programming on it.
A generic check list applicable to everyone could be extracted pretty easily, I think, from the 2016 RRC. I don't know when the 2018 RRC will post, but I wouldn't think it would require too many changes to the check list.
Anything more than that would be pretty boat-specific. I'm happy to send mine, if you want, but it is entirely specific to my boat (Valiant 32) and the level of equipment she came with (SSB, Pactor modem, Monitor wind vane, hydraulic below deck auto pilot, solar panels, masthead LED tri-color). While I didn't have to acquire any of that, big parts of my check list involve the setting up and learning the SSB stuff, installing and learning the Monitor wind vane, etc.
Download the SHTP2016 Racing Rules and Conditions. Check off every sentence that you have accomplished. Add a task for every sentence you need to accomplish with its due date and estimated cost into a spread sheet. Estimate a schedule for each task to be finished at least by the due date. Add races and other test sails to the schedule. Identify a "critical path". Prioritize. Order long lead time parts and pullouts. Search for stuff at Blue Pelican and the Boat Show. This is your life for the foreseeable future. Get busy.
Prepping for LongPac 2017 will get you ready for 2018 , and serve as your qualifier. Even if you don't make the prep deadline, or you DNC or DNF the race you will still be solidly oriented on what is involved. The Longpac MEL was in a tabular form that you might find a little easier to follow, the substance was the same.
Longpac docs are here: https://www.jibeset.net/JACKY000.php?RG=T005953377
Last edited by pogen; 02-28-2017 at 04:52 PM.