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Thread: Interested in a boat for 2018 TransPac

  1. #601
    Join Date
    May 2015
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    907

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    Quote Originally Posted by mike cunningham View Post
    PJ, did you decide to use QtVLM? I have been playing with it on android and on my boats laptop. It's pretty robust. Were you aware it will read NOAA ENCs? I downloaded the relevant regions decompressed and put them in the kap folder and things are working fivers.

    I also have a Yacht Devices wireless gateway installed on mt Ray STNG network. QtVLM interfaces with the gateway and provides a full suite of instruments on the PC and Android. Reads AIS messages, the whole ten yards. Very cool.
    I was considering qtVlm and SailGrib. I went for SailGrib. I think they're very similar. Both can do what you describe. At this time I've chosen to not interface with AIS nor NMEA as I didn't want to spend that money. That will be one more reason to get my sleepy head out of the berth. I do have qtVlm on the laptop and that integrates with both of those.

    D-48

    Mostly I've signed up for the Farallon's and started stocking my pantry. Still no buyer ...

  2. #602
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Posts
    907

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    D-40

    As we get closer to the start I go less to the boat. I did go today so here's a quick update on what's been going on:

    1. I got a loaner spinnaker net (thanks BB!). I shortened it and hoisted it to see how things set. Cool stuff.
    2. I removed, checked and re-installed my jacklines.
    3. I picked up a .75 oz spinnaker after a bit of repair due to aging glue.
    4. I installed the GO for Saturday's race tracking.
    5. I removed stuff that I won't take with me.
    6. I found a place to "install" the umbrella, the one I'll use for afternoon tea and cookies.
    7. I replaced the batteries in the local and UTC clocks.

    And I think that's it ... My last item is a charger (preferably about 40 Amps) to use with the generator. Somehow I've not been able to make up my mind on this one ... I think I'll go for a portable like the Noco G26000 but it's low on Amps.

  3. #603
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    San Francisco
    Posts
    113

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    Great seeing all the time and experience you are getting... and great experience with the Autopilot. And a generator. You will be sleeping while others are not... you will be able to make good decisions while the sleep deprived will not.

    One thing...
    Looking at your polars to see if your speed at the time is right...
    Don't.
    When there are waves and/or you are sailing a SH course or sail config, the polars are useless (especially for an ultralight). Just sail your course and the sails to the telltales (go as fast as you can and sleep soundly). Now do use thise polars (suitably "tweaked/derated" to reflect your real ability to cover miles each day) for routing.

    All the practice you are doing is going to enable you to enjoy the ride... smell the roses... instead of feeling like you are getting beat up in a cage match. :-)

  4. #604
    Join Date
    May 2015
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    907

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    Quote Originally Posted by JimQuanci View Post
    Great seeing all the time and experience you are getting... :-)
    Thanks Jim!

    D-32

    I visited Brian's garage today to drill, baby, drill. Then drove to BYC to complete the installation of my secret weapon. Well, uh, no. Secret maybe; weapon, I don't know ...

    I did a few measurements for Shad, cleaned up the floor boards, the bilge and generally cleaned the bottom inside the boat. I like a fresh scent. I tested the Iridium GO with SailGrib and all is good there. I even configured the Facebook integration :-)

    There are still a few things to come to fruition but very close now: the charger is back ordered; a portable battery pack is on its way.

  5. #605
    Join Date
    May 2015
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    907

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    D-25

    Less than a month away and I thought I'd take stock of where I am.

    I'll start with an update on preparation:

    1. A couple battery chargers are on the way: one for each battery, allowing for a backup should one fail. I'll need to test each with the generator.
    2. Picking up on the "it's hot" comment from Skip's weather tips I got a small battery powered fan for the berth.
    3. I've been testing a power bank for electronic devices. It seems to be working well.
    4. I was recommended a French book about weather routing and have been applying that knowledge to SailGrib.
    5. I got two types of chafe prevention balm. I found out that either my life jacket or the dry suit neck seal is rubbing against my neck.
    6. I've started putting together a day checklist that I can use to track daily activities. I plan to laminate that and cross things off as tasks get accomplished.
    7. I've started applying a citrus based solution to limit underwater growth.

    Here's where I think I'm falling short in terms of preparation. Now, I don't know what I don't know and I'm reasonably confident the list is longer. Although, as all list, I'd rather keep this one short, you're welcome to nail a few more items to it.

    1. I think I could have practiced more head sail changes. Last year in Santa Cruz that's what I started with, in flat water. But offshore I refrained from venturing to the bow, not being properly dressed. A few months back I bought a dry suit as a life insurance for that North Pacific crossing I bailed out of, out of concern for my emotional sanity. I haven't put it to work though. I have mentally rehearsed things as an alternative. If past races are any indication head sail change is a weakness of mine, either because I select the wrong one or don't switch.

    2. I still don't know for sure which sail to carry on the windy reach. I've been wondering how hot I can sail with the chicken chute. I don't think I'll get to try that. Singlehanded on the Olson 30 it seems really hard to put a lot of sail area as too much healing makes it hard for the auto-pilot to handle.

    3. I'm not on top of the auto-pilot. It works, that's a given. I'm just not sure of what the limits are, just like alluded to above. The more I read the more it's apparent that most skippers rely on the auto-pilot to a great extent. For me that means a conservative sail plan but that most often also spells S L O W.

    4. I have not sailed with the spinnaker in more than 15 kts and mostly I have not sailed with a spinnaker in any significant swell. Well, that's not 100% true as I did helm a Clipper boat with the spinny up on 8-12 ft swell in 15-20 kts of wind. That was another kind of boat ...

    5. Weather routing is another weakness. My knowledge of weather is very limited.

    6. Physically I can't say that I'm buffed up as I've been slacking on fitness for several years now.

    7. Last but not least I have almost zero experience racing and certainly zero multi-day experience. Even without considering course choices, decisions about heading, sail choices, sail trim, all things that make a boat go fast, are still infantile.

    I'll stop there with this list. I will now put things in perspective and balance this with a list of things I did well.

    1. Confronted with two schools of thoughts I chose to buy a boat that had been prepared. This was the right choice for me. When it comes to boat projects I have two left foot. The boat was more expensive than I had hoped; I bought time and time is priceless.

    2. When I started I had zero experience with spinnakers. I now can sail with one singlehanded. I learned to rig a poled out jib and even dabbled with twin jibs. I've played with all my headsails, reefed the main more than I care to count. I've surfed with the boat and learned that I like to go fast.

    3. When I started I had zero offshore sailing experience. I now have made a 16 days crossing in a semi racing environment; I did my qualifying cruise; I sailed from Santa Cruz to Richmond; I sailed to the Farallon.

    4. When I started I had zero racing experience. I now have a few races under my belt and friendly circumstances even allowed me to place in a few.

    5. Even though the boat had been prepared I still went through hundreds of small decisions here and there. Through that sea of confusion for this newbie sailor I managed to pull through. I realize there is so much more to know; still, I remain steady on my course and, with 25 days left, I hope all will continue in the same manner. Possibly a good way to describe my experience with this process over the past 18 months is that I am like a sailor in a dense fog, with all senses on the look out for indications of what's to come, hoping to alleviate surprises. It was intense; it still is. There aren't many signs out there. This forum helped, some consulting helped, friendly advice helped. Still I remain in this deep fog and have learned to live with it and trust that all will be well. I don't want to diminish the importance of all who helped, however, the preparation for the race was mostly a singlehanded adventure. All my sailing was 99% done alone, all my preparation was 99% done alone, all my decision making was 99% done alone.

    6. I've struggled with my mental angst alone too. Maybe I project a face of confidence, maybe not, you decide. I am however a whirlwind of poor self esteem, fear of the unknown and an overly critical mind mixed together. That is what I have mostly been dealing with the past months. It's not over; it's a daily battle. Just as an example: sometimes I feel like I may end up like Crowhurst, big dreams vanishing in the ether offshore. How my mind comes up with these follies I don't know but once out they like to float around. Throughout it all I've worked at it, not letting it get the best of me. Earlier posts on this thread show how angry I was when dealing with the boat and sail evolutions. The land of zen sailing is still out there and it's closer now. It doesn't appear out of reach anymore. Maybe I'll fly that spinnaker in front of a squall, being relaxed, at one with the sea, the wind, the boat, the human and all the humans who got me there, smiling happily under the stars.

    7. I do not have a support group to carry me through this. It's most likely a reflection of who I am, a socially maladjusted individual. Regardless I marched on.

    8. Whatever happens next ... I'm leaving behind me a story on this forum that may prove helpful and encouraging to other newbies with lofty dreams.

    9. I managed cost as best as I could. I'm over budget but not twice as much as is often the standard, which really means I did very well in this department.


    Certainly I couldn't change where I started from. All I could do was build from there. I think I did well in that regard. I did get help along the way and I'm thankful for that.

    The story won't be over until I'm back from Hanalei and I have sold all the remaining bits of this adventure, maybe making room for the next one.

    At work I was know as Philippe "I don't know". I still don't ... What is knowing anyway?
    Last edited by jamottep; 05-29-2018 at 10:58 PM.

  6. #606
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Berkeley Marina
    Posts
    154

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    Quote Originally Posted by jamottep View Post
    What is knowing anyway?
    A philosopher...already more Moitessier than Crowhurst. Put one in the win column!
    I, for one, have found this thread nearly as addictive as Sled's. You've done a great service for us SHTP daydreamers by detailing the trials and tribulations between here (the sofa) and there (Hanalei).

  7. #607
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Posts
    448

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    Hi Philippe -

    You're entering the Singlehanded TransPac with perhaps less singlehanded experience offshore than others, and you're coming up on jumping over the first big hurdle: getting the boat to the starting line. That's an enormous achievement all by itself.

    For me, the most important decision I made for each of my races to Hawaii was to determine why I was putting the boat out there and what I wanted the outcome to be. I've raced in full-crew programs where winning was everything - if we weren't first it was a bad day on the water. That was definitely NOT what I wanted my race to be about; there's only one boat that finishes first and if that's the requirement to have fun then you're setting yourself up for failure. So I never sailed to Hawaii with a need to finish first.

    I also do not understand boat owners that define success by how much equipment was broken. I finished a race to Hawaii and was informed by the boat next door that they had broken both poles, lost all stanchions on starboard side, and blown out their last kite 25 miles from the finish - they pushed hard and were super happy with that. I thought he was crazy - where's the seamanship in that? He now had a broken boat out in the middle of the Pacific, good luck fixing it up and getting back to San Francisco. That's NOT how I define 'doing well' (in fact it would be kind of the opposite).

    I enjoy the ocean crossings/passages, I like to watch Beetle turned loose and running free. I hate to give away miles where I could have done better and I applaud the boat that passes me when I'm at my nexus for performance, fun, and keeping everything in one piece. I know my boat and I have limitations- I will push as hard as I feel comfortable without risking breaking the boat, the gear, or myself; if the other guy does better then good on them! At least I gave the crossing everything I had up to the limits that I set.

    Rule 1 for Beetle: don't break the people, don't break the boat, remember to have fun!

    What I've found in the race over is that by the end or at the 3/4 mark each skipper is keen to help every other skipper get to the finish line - concerns over who is ahead of whom on corrected time are no longer relevant, I just want everyone I've been talking to on the radio for the past 10 days to make it to Hanalei in one piece and have a terrific time along the way.

    My thought: think about why you've entered the race, what outcome you would have fun pursuing, and then aim at that result. If I sail the best race that I can then I'm happy and I did what I wanted to do.

    A block of wood tosssed into the water off the Farallones will eventuallly get to Hanalei - your job is to get there faster! That's what I tell myself when crossing the start line and headed for the Gate.

    - rob/beetle

  8. #608
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Posts
    54

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    Not sure if this is the best thread to post this to but I have been struggling and failing to get a weather fax onto a computer via a SSB reciever. I have found the SSB signal, can hear the fax audio tones, but can not for the life of me get anything recognizable on the the computer screen using two different software modules. I am going to bring the rig (Kaito, antenna, and laptop with SeaTTY loaded) to the awards meeting tonight in the hopes that somebody can steer me in the right direction.
    Chris/ FUGU

  9. #609
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Posts
    907

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    Yes, reading Moitessier's book about rounding Cape Horn. I just interrupted that to read Black Feathers' account of his SHTP again. On the topic of reading I went through Party of One and it didn't exactly resonate with me.

    I am not sure what I want from this race anymore. Is it the idea of leaving that attracts me? Is it building a foundation for future escapades? Is it winning at all cost? I know I can cross that last one because I didn't write all the checks I could have.

    I don't think I like the idea of racing as in I don't like the prospect of losing :-) I haven't found a way to reconcile these two. If you have a magic mental trick please share it.

    In any case thanks for the kind words of encouragement and keeping this thread alive with fresh air :-)

  10. #610
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Posts
    907

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    FYI ... for those interested ... when I google stuff on the Olson 30 I sometimes come across the work of previous SHTP'er. A great example from Jiri/Kato (it doesn't apply to me as I don't have the same sails):

    http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/ind...nded-olson-30/

    What is very cool though is the amount of time this must have taken, reflecting on the level of his preparation. I think he was second overall, only 3 hours behind Domino.

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