Since I'm more cruiser than racer, I won't comment on my performance getting to Hawaii, but I will mention that Don/Crinan gave me the fishing tackle that you raffled to our intrepid group. Don says it was the women in his family who fished and he wanted me to have it. Well, as luck would have it, one of my crew on the return fishes in Alaska so was keen to try it out about a week after leaving Hanalei. That hand line with the bungee and the "squid" lure worked incredibly well!! After we caught the first albacore (~30 pounds), which was after only an hour of soak time, and no sooner had I stowed the fillets do I hear "we caught another one!" It was even larger than the first. This one got released -- we had no more room in the ice box. About a week later, after we had eaten tuna for practically every single meal, the line went back out. This time, it took most of the night before we snagged another around 6 AM. It was the smallest of them all, maybe just a 20-pounder. The only downside is that no one remembered to close the portlight in the cockpit that is directly over my berth. Why I have a portlight there is beyond me. My berth was soaked and my foulies smelled like fish blood for days. Or maybe they still smell like fish blood and I just got used to it...
Thanks, Skip!! That was pretty cool