Half Moon Bay 2018

[Philpott]

The Half Moon Bay race was good to Dura Mater this year. She likes a lot of wind and behaves like a big dog running on the beach. We beat our best time by two minutes a mile, which caused my son to tease me: “Slow down, mom! You’re becoming a speed demon!”

DM and I stayed over an extra day and enjoyed the beautiful Sunday in a leisurely fashion while the rest of the SSS motor sailed home.

Sunday morning eight of us walked over to Ketch Joanne’s restaurant for breakfast, where we told boat stories. Joe Balderrama s/v/ Archimedes, told us the one about how Cliff Shaw saved his boat in Hanalei Bay when it dragged anchor. Cliff explained how he had eaten meals thanks to Joe's gratitude ever since. Then he ordered up a nice breakfast. That made us laugh.

Chad Peddy s/v Irish Blessing, warned us of a city in Texas where, when you get a speeding ticket the police officer explains your options: 1. Pay the ticket today or if it’s too late, 2. Stay overnight in a local hotel and pay the ticket tomorrow. Chad was indignant. We laughed. The food was good, the waitress had a lovely smile and was very responsive.

Saturday night in the Half Moon Bay clubhouse there was our Race Chair, Jim Vickers s/v Joy Ride, grinning and slouching against the wall. Jim started the day watching us get drenched from the dock of the Golden Gate Yacht Club. Then he drove down to HMB by land yacht. Thank you, Jim. Kristen Soetebier, Treasurer for years now, made sure that swag gets ordered and then delivers it. Does it ever occur to anyone that the Island Yacht Club is always (well, almost always) open for us in plenty of time to meet for skippers and awards meetings? Well, that is usually because Kristen drives over after work and makes sure the door is unlocked. Thank you, Kristen.

David Herrigel. Ah. As someone who was in Hanalei Bay, I can promise you that David accepted responsibility for everything. EVERYTHING. The Sea Squirrel. The rental car. The trophies. He made sure Susan Walker had everything she needed for the Awards Dinner. He made sure my rolling pin made it home. I could go on and on. David has been a First Rate Sailor Herder. We are very lucky that he dodged that hurricane because otherwise he would have been drowned and we would never have learned how terrific he could be as our Commodore. Thank you, David.

I’ve been thinking about this whole volunteer sailing club business, and why our particular one seems to keep working. Because logically? It really shouldn’t. There are too few people doing too much, and too many people blissfully unaware. The Singlehanded Sailing Society needs new people to step up and volunteer to take responsibility during the next two years.

Everybody has an opinion about this Club. During the past six months I have had occasion to discuss the SSS with three outsiders who have offered their unsolicited opinions about the way the Club is organized. Saturday night Dennis Maggard, s/v Pamela, informed me that what we need is a Media Director. I laughed and smacked him on the arm. “Tag! You’re it!” I said. He didn’t think that was funny. Maybe we do need a media person on our board. What do you think? It’s your club.

At the Wake Up Café in Hanalei Bay, while eating a monster cinnamon roll, hash browns, eggs, ham, toast and coffee, Larry Conklin explained that he had finally figured out that “you people have a very unique culture”. He paused for effect, then added, “and I’ve finally figured it out.” He said that it had taken him awhile to realize that the SSS has a fixation with Hanalei Bay, and he appreciates our obsession. What does this mean? I have no idea. Maybe our Media Director can deal with the endless possibilities represented by our obsession.

Ray Irvine has puzzled over the organization of the SSS for years. For ten years now he has told me how we are totally incoherent and incapable of coordinated action. And yet, forty years later, here the club still stands. Ray might even have begun, finally, to appreciate our “culture” a little bit. Certainly he came over to the dark side in time for this years Race. He worked with David and Brian Boschma for hours behind the scenes to tweak Jibeset enough so that it addressed weird tracker glitches as they revealed themselves during the race

Which brings me to complaints about the 2018 Singlehanded Transpacific Yacht Race website. David Nabors is done as web Czar. He was done three years ago, but nonetheless worked to set up the 2016 Race website even as he prepared to sail Temerity in the 2016 race. This past year he agreed to set up the 2018 Race site only because he was between jobs for two weeks in the spring. That won’t happen again. We really do need someone to be responsible for the club site. Maybe a Media Director isn’t such a silly idea. It certainly sounds impressive. How do you like the sound of that title following your name?

We used Word Press because it is free and relatively user-accessible. A free website administered by volunteers means that race participants don’t have to pay more for that piece of the experience. However, it would be wonderful if someone could step up to improve the experience. How about you?