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Thread: From the fat fingers of the racers

  1. #91
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    from John Wilkerson s/v Perplexity

    Hey everyone.

    I expect to arrive by midnight tonight, weather and gear cooperating.

    I have a request - would it be too much trouble to ask the people of Kauai to celebrate my accomplishment with fireworks? I think it would make for a spectacular arrival. I do understand the effort and cost involved. Thank you for considering my request!

  2. #92
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    9:13 this morning from Falk 70 miles to go. Overdid it last night, shredded another spin ....... all safe

  3. #93
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    Uh oh. That Will. He's snakebit.

    something's up with his rudder bearing. Brian suggested any kind of oil, or that squeegie butter. RC standing by.

    Name:  Sea Wisdom's rudder bearing.jpg
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  4. #94
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    From Northern Star @ 9:30 Monday July 5

    Northern Star Daily Report. All well aboard Northern Star. Jamie is alive and healthy. Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow evening, hopefully before sundown. And for the record, looking forward to your meeting me and coming aboard to celebrate and help with anchoring!

  5. #95
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    9:24 am on July 6
    Jamie is the next boat in. His jib is apparently wrapped around the forestay of Northern Star and has been for days. He's due in this afternoon @ 4:47 pm, just in time for Tree Time.

    [BNorthern Star Daily Check in. All good on Northern Star. Looking forward to closing the door on 2020/1 Singlehanded TransPac this evening and seeing everyone. Will send updated eta later.

    Jamie
    ][/B]

  6. #96
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    Will, congratulations to you and Sea Wisdom on finishing the Singlehanded Transpac! Your perseverance and capable management of your boat’s systems was on display and we see that nothing short of a sinking was going keep you from sailing across that Hanalei finish line. Damn Fine Job! Your Buckle is well earned! - Commodore Joe
    Last edited by Submarino; 07-07-2021 at 09:55 AM.

  7. #97
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    This from Rainbow, not really a reply to Submarino's post, but I couldn't figure out how to start a new thread:

    After several days of slow, cold sailing under a gloomy overcast, well West of L.A now, the sun comes out to warm and lighten life and illuminates the heart wrenchingly deep indigo blue color of the sea.
    Running deep off wind, full main and Kermit, the big green spinnaker, pulling steadily. 20-25 knot winds and long smooth 8-12’ seas quartering from starboard. Rainbow pauses in the troughs as the sea draws in a breath, then begins to lift her stern and dip her bows in a curtsy as the next wave slides under. On the crest the adrenaline rises as the wind gets a grip on the sails, Rainbow lifts her bows and her skirts and surfs up to 10, 12, 15, 18 knots throwing spray from both sides of both bows as the ocean exhales in a whoosh. Then pause, take a breath, lift and run again. And again. It’s perpetual motion.
    There ahead, a powerful red steel hulled ketch, running free and unfettered. It’s Joshua, and there on the stern Bernard waves me on; “Why stop? Take The Long Way. Save your soul. Sail on.”
    Breathe in, breathe out; Let the sea cleanse the mind, the heart, and the soul. Let it never end.

  8. #98
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    Shark on Bluegrass notes from the first quarter
    Date: 2021-06-25 12:33
    From: "Falk Meissner"

    SHTP 2021 log Shark On Bluegrass
    Transcription of my hand written notes.

    Saturday 06/23
    Nice send-off: Vanessa , Malina, Tom, Brian, Tibu thank you!
    Windy sail to the start.
    Light wind outside the gate, change to Genoa, moving at4-5kn.
    Sleep in the evening to catch up on my sleep deficit from last week (a
    lot of work-work finishing and starting a project and the packing
    prep.)
    Change down to #3, don’t want to get caught at night with the Genoa up.
    Expecting shift to north -which never came as the coastal south Eddie
    moved between me and the synoptic wind.
    Saw a grey whale splashing his fin on the water. He must have been in
    love with the Shark. Crossing to the north of the north farallones. As
    predicted fleet split into north and south

    Useful:
    Solar cells seem to have plenty of power
    Figured out some menu items on the chart plotter. -finally.
    Seems I am using the chart plotter as primary navigation tool. INavX app
    only as cross check. Also keep the chart plotter running most of the
    time ( despite power consumption)
    Dodger: just the way to the start was worth the hassle of getting it. (
    overtime, really LOVE the dodger, it allows to keep the companionway
    open and gives a holding point.) - Thanks Thomas, Brian, Aaron.
    Better: dodger with handles on the side and stiffer front. Aaron was
    right, the natural tendency is to grab the higher point and not the
    handles on the deck.

    Sunday 06/20
    Somewhat cold during the night, lucky I brought the additional blanket.
    Gloomy day, calm. Worried that solar cells do not charge enough, but
    they do, even on overcast day.4.5-5 knin7-8 kn of wind.
    Put the Genoa up. Fast but more stress. Autopilot can’t handle the
    puffs. Worried to get caught in big wind. Genoa requires a trip to the
    foredeck to get it down. Big heavy sail. Spin can be doused from the
    cockpit. ( after a few more days I am now convinced that hanks are the
    better option for this type of sailing. Jib / Genoa comes down by itself
    while staying attached without the need to go forward. It’s a Safety
    feature in heavy wind or seas... Can put up second sail without the need
    to take the first one off as well)
    Decide to keep direct route northerly seems plenty of wind. Find out
    later that this was the wind circling the hole bringing me dead into the
    middle of the anti clock wise Eddie. Well second most west boat for
    tonight, did not last long so.
    Still seasick, all the pasta with tomatoe sauce is coming out again.
    Together with all the water.
    Still cold at night , need blanket and sleeping bag.

    Useful:
    Additional light blanket (Delta ~ Westin business class blanket for the
    connoisseurs ) additional layer when needed or as light blanket for
    naps.
    Sleep most of the time in the windward berth. Lee cloth work! Faster
    into the cockpit. Fore peak is for quiet nights w.o. Foulies, even has a
    proper sheet.

    Monday 06/21
    Sailed into the wind hole, the only way around is to gybe, go north and
    put the spin up.
    Light winds, so mostly slept through Sunday and Sunday nights,still
    working off the sleep deficit. Turns out I don’t need the alarm to wake
    me up to check. I wake up when the noises change:
    Bow wave splashing = speed
    Trim = flogging sails
    Balance = autopilot only working short bursts not long side to side
    moves
    Overpowered = heel
    Traffic - AIS beeping - this one works beautiful I am happy I installed
    the transponder after Long Pac
    Well and once in a while take a peek around of course.
    First sunny day

    Useful
    Buckets without flimsy handles. Took the handles off on both buckets and
    cut holes near the rim to pull string through.

    Tue 6/22
    Found the wind last night. Making 8kn on a beam reach with the spin up
    under autopilot, while sleeping!!!.
    It got too windy so needed to take the spin down. Manage to shrimp it
    which tore one clew off the spin. That’s why you use old sails for this.
    This was a 2011 spin. RIP. Change to #3 as we finally got into the
    wind.
    Slept 6 hrs straight, nice, woke up to a dead main battery. Switched to
    backup. Let’s see; over discharged li Ion batteries go into sleep mode,
    manual says solar charger will wake them up. Tried to “jump start’ with
    the second battery before .... bad idea cable got warm quick. Let the
    charger do it’s work. Measured the voltage as the battery , creeping up
    from 11,80 to 12,40 over two hours or so. Battery comes back to life.
    Nice to see theory in practice....
    First sunny evening. Beam reaching, with cross waves. Not quite
    comfortable.

    Useful:
    tool box with voltmeter.
    Buying the autopilot one size up ( st 2000 tiller pilot) able to handle
    a lot. Thanks Rufus for the recommendation.
    Less useful: mast instrument, boat speed, and digital compass. I sail
    mostly after COG and SOG. So take them off the MEMA network to save 0.4A
    in the power budget .
    Useful: camomile tea, no appetite for any of the sodas or power drinks I
    brought. Drinking lots of water from then jar. The Lee cloth really
    work (not a common equipment on an Olson 25) allows me to sleep near the
    cockpit. Also noticed that I am very diligent to keep the cabin and
    cockpit orderly and clean.

    We 06/23
    Made 70 or so miles over night on a beam reach at7-8 kn. Slept from 9 pm
    to 7am with few interruptions.
    One AIS alarm. Build into my dream. DCA 1.4 miles in 20 min. Hail the
    freighter that I see him amd change course slightly to pass his tern
    more clearly.
    Main battery all well at 12.6V in the morning. Once the backup is
    charged combine both solar panels to charge the main. Getting 6-8A out
    of 150W solar. Compared to 2-3A use, depending on what is running. Very
    happy with the solar set up.
    Decide against going to Genoa in the morning wind is about 12-13kn. It’s
    getting lighter rapidly.... I am about 50nm south of the rump line. So
    the calm of the High is in the way. Keep.going South_West around 215-220
    on a beam reach under spin ( my other older spin, likely 20 years old,
    came with the boat - 1.5 oz cloth so this should hold.). Don’t want to
    go even more south. The gamble is how much distance to add to go south.
    I have a short light boat so Minimize additional distance while keeping
    moving in lighter winds vs the bigger boat. Well see.... from the
    standings I am in the middle of the field.

    Washday, head to toe wet wiping and fresh cloth - very nice - spa
    experience

    Not useful: not bringing hand soap. The bottle I grabbed is shampoo plus
    conditioner - too oily. Socks; I am basically barefoot all the time.
    Except when I go forward I put the boots on.
    Useful: the Spinlock harness, comfortable, and less bulky than the
    inflatable. So much easier to keep on all the time.

    Ahh, officially managed 1/4 of the to go distance. Let’s s celebrate -
    freeze dried pasta in tomato sauce, check, apple check, bell pepper
    check.

    Thursday 06/24
    Good spin run yesterday evening amd last night. Wind calmed down over
    night. 5-6kn under autopilot in 7-9kn of wind - autopilot is able to
    handle it. So go to bed.

    Found the Pacific high! It’s where the weather models say it would
    be.... contemplating or the last two days . Running SW at 210-215 for
    three days now. Going more south? I am not going to make 200n, to get
    into the strongest trades. From the position reports none of the
    competitors went that far south staying north see,s risky as the high
    sits there. Same conclusion, keep reaching amd keep the boat moving.
    Making 5kn in little wind...

    Have been keeping up with the family amd friends. Amazing that the
    Sattelite modem works re;active;y seamless even for casual calls. I also
    opened the first messages in the bottle. A jar full of wishes from
    friends amd family. Thank you Vanessa f-r organizing. Thanks to all who
    wrote so,etching. Today I found messages from Fran amd the cousins...

    Useful:
    Knee pads - finally started wearing them all the time, who would have
    thought what a useful invention. Chafe control - probably a know. One
    to he experience sailor. Manage to nearly cut through a spin sheet
    rubbing on the life lines on Tuesday. Caught it early enough. Very
    careful now to keep everything separated

    Despite the annoyingly slow progress, this is the first fully enjoyable
    and comfortable day. It’s warm. The boat does not roll and keeps a
    steady pace. Finally go to do some house keeping amd to type up my notes
    from the last days no promises I will keep that up....

  9. #99
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    July 13, 2021 Green Buffalo's notes during return to the Mainland

    Just over two days into the trip home. The first two days were quite rough... 18k-22k of wind and big seas. Warm, wet and uncomfortable. One reef in the main and the working jib (85%). One could sit in the companionway but the whole cockpit and most of the space under the dodger was in the "splash zone".

    Everyone working on their sea legs meant not much food. Just sleeping and going to the head is real work.

    That said, making good progress... 160nm per day (2.5 degrees of latitude) including "some" easting.

    Now today it mellowed a bit... wind down to 15k... so we had a chicken and cabbage salad dinner. And I took a quick shower in the cockpit (yes I was starting to get a bit "ripe"). Now maybe saying it mellowed is a bit premature as its back to 18k as I write this.

    Weather forecast looks pretty good... wind should continue to mellow over the coming next two days - and allow us to get a bit more easting... and then comes the "big motor" across the southeast corner of the high.

    Cheers,
    Jim
    Green Buffalo

  10. #100
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    July 14

    Just when we thought the wind might temper a bit, it didn't. Last 24 hours have been 18k-20k - with occasional 24k when clouds pass.
    That said, "bow banging" has decreased quite a bit... as we fine tune our direction and sail trim to best "meet the waves". Did I mention the wave state is a bit of a mess?

    After successful cabbage salad with chicken last night, tonight its mac and cheese with string beans and chicken.

    Still looking forward to the wind and waves mellowing... maybe by late tomorrow (we are already at 31 degrees North Latitude and the center of the high is maybe 36-37 degrees).

    Crew hanging under the dodger chatting... clear blue skies... just looking forward to less bump and less water on deck.

    Cheers,
    Jim
    Green Buffalo

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