'08 race entries

[haulback]

Nice pic, Al

We've heard the 'bark' , now we've seen the dog.......

Jim/Haulback

[Ergo]

Jim, is Al the one on the right or left?

Bill Merrick

[Alchera]

Speaking of pictures, someone ought to tell Don on Warriors Wish that his boat will go a lot faster if he takes that buoy out of the cockpit...

Or maybe that's his Transpac radar reflector?

- Mark

[Warriors Wish]

If only I could figure out how to get it 13 ft of the water

[dogbark]

Nice Bill, Gus is the good looking one!

[Eyrie]

Hey there,

Just a quick note to remind all you "prospective" entrants that the start is just under 15 weeks away, and the entry deadline is 5 weeks away. Here's the list of deadline dates:

5/03/08 Deadline for application to enter the race. (10 weeks)

5/24/08 Deadline for full payment of entry fees without penalty. (7 weeks)

5/24/08 Deadline for submission of yacht’s 2008 PHRF certificate. (7 weeks)

5/24/08 Deadline to schedule yacht inspection. (7 weeks)



6/14/08 Deadline for submission of details of the qualifying cruise. (4 weeks)

6/14/08 Deadline for completion of local yacht’s inspection. (4 weeks)

6/21/08 Deadline for receipt of request for partial refund of entry fees. (3 weeks)

6/28/08 Deadline for submission of EPIRB serial number & registration information. (2 weeks)


7/06/08 Deadline for passing of all the yacht’s inspection. (1 week)

I would appreciate a quick note from you to hear how your boat preparations are going and the chances of you getting your entry in for this years race. You can post here or send me an email: synpetroka@earthlink.net

Let me know if you are getting bogged down with your to-do list and perhaps I can find you a "boat nanny" to guide you and give you a boost.

Synthia

[AlanH]

My Preparations:

Application is in
PHRF Certificate is in
$$$ are paid up
EPIRB certificate is in
waiver is in

Paperwork Remaining: Copy of most recent survey. I've scheduled a survey with Stone, Ramsey and Wedlock for Wednesday April 23rd. I should have the results the next day, or latest by Friday. I'll e-mail a copy to Synthia for her reference, and will also print off a copy for my files and snailmail a copy it to the SSS address that week since the rules say "hard copy".

I'm still up in the air about whether I'm going to use the kite, but that will require more testing, and it's looking like I am not going to have time to get the proposal to the PHRF committee, and back to the SSS by the deadline. I'll still probably take it, since it's the perfect sail to have in the event of a distmasting....God forbid.

General boat Prep.

The solar panels are here, I now have to mount them and install the charge controller. A short discussion I had with Mark Deppe this weekend cleared up a questionable point I had about the charge controller. I have enough panel acreage to (theoretically) power the boat all the way to Hawaii and not ever fire up the little gas generator. I still have to install them.

The little gas generator (claims to put out 50 amps @ 14+ volts, honest) has been overhauled and runs like a champ. It now sits in it's nifty box with enough gas in it to run for something like four hours....more than enough.

The emergency rudder blade is done except for painting it, and I'm working on the bracket and the cassette. Cassette is about 1/3rd done. I might need custom pintles, we'll see. I plan to test it on April 12th out by the Lightbucket.

The electrical system lost power more quickly than I expected it to during the 07 LongPac and the September trip I did. I *strongly* suspected the very old and very rusty 20 amp shore charger, so I yanked that out this weekend and I now have about the simplest possible electrical system for the boat. I've crawled over and inspected every inch of wire in the boat (except inside the mast) and nothing looks chafed or bad. I also pulled out a mess of old cut-off wiring, mostly cut by previous owners, but one from an old LORAN trimmed off by me. Now there's about half as much electrical and co-axial cable running around the boat...much easier to figure out, and I know exactly what everything is and where everything goes.

I need to take one sail (my #3) by a certain sailmaker and have her check it out, though she looked at a couple of months ago and pronounced it OK. I want to get grommets hammered into my #4, though, and buy a big bag of 100 lb. cable ties in case the headfoil craps out. Hmmm...might drop by Fry's on the way home tonight, and check that one off.

I found my old VHF emergency antenna, and it's now on the boat.

I just started this weekend on re-doing the SSB ground plane. There's a 25 foot roll of aluminum flashing sitting in the car that will replace the copper stuff, much of which has corroded to dust. Other than the ground plane, everything else is in place, and hopefully will work. If it doesn't, then I'll scream, throw my hands up in despair, and count on the Iridium phone that I'll rent.

The hatchboard latch system, simple though it is, is in place. I have an extra hatchboard. The first aid kit is ready to go, though it needs new antibiotic cream, and a prescription for a general-use oral antibiotic that I'll get late in June.

I now have three handheld GPS's, all run on AA batteries and two of them have serial connections to a computer if I decide to do that. I'm still on the fence over spending $500 for an AIS unit, though now that I've seen Mark's NASA unit, it's tempting. I think that will wait until all the really vital stuff is done and if there's time I'll spring for it.

I've decided that the current stock SC27 cooler plus 1/4 plywood "framing", which weighs a ton and was the culprit for my disastrous problem with my left ankle last September, has got to go. I took measurements this weekend and will be formulating a step with some storage space built in that will replace it...and no hard edges in bad places. This should go fast, it's just a plywood step with some bracing that will screw into place.

I could write more but you get the idea. I have a "to-do" list with 21 things on it. The cooler replacement project made 22. Some are tiny, like "softwood plug on through-hull" (the boat only has one through-hull). Others are weeks-long projects like "Build emergency rudder". Of those, all the paperwork things are checked off, and (I forget exactly) about 5-6 actual "work" things are checked off. The "biggies" left are the emergency rudder cassette and the SSB ground plane and lowering the mast to put on the masthead strobe. In fact the strobe and an inspection of the rigging and stuff up there, should happen this coming weekend.

Aside from one week in April, which I promised to Joan, and two Highland Games that I'm throwing at, every single weekend between now and the end of June has "Boat" marked on it. Of course, there's a health issue in my family which may take up a lot of time in the upcoming months, but I'm forging ahead anyway. If I decide now that that issue is going to prevent me from sailing, then it's over....I can't do that, so I'm keeping on.

I even purchased new Gill foul weather gear since on this boat I'm gonna live/die by what I'm wearing, a whole lot.

I need to take my SOSpenders lifejacket in to get the "new boat's" name embroidered on the thing. That means I need to rip Wisdom's name off it....a nice mindless evening project.

[Eyrie]

5/03/08 Deadline for application to enter the race.

5/05/08 next TransPac Seminar

If you still have not filed your entry forms and plan on attending the next seminar, I will accept your hand delivered race entry packet (plus one fruity rum drink) without penalty that evening.

And speaking of the next seminar, this will be a good one for your support crew to attend as it will address provisioning, getting your boat back home, and what to do in Kauai. Details are posted on the seminar page:
http://www.sfbaysss.org/TransPac/tra...r_schedule.htm

Check out the TransPac page for a complete list of current race entrants:
http://www.sfbaysss.org/TransPac/tra...photo_bio.html

And coming soon to the web site, a complete list of all the race results since 1978. Thanks to Peter Hogg & Stan Honey for compiling the list and calculating the corrected times.

Synthia/Eyrie

[Eyrie]

5/03/08 Deadline for application to enter the race.

5/05/08 next TransPac Seminar

If you still have not filed your entry forms and plan on attending the next seminar, I will accept your hand delivered race entry packet (plus one fruity rum drink) without penalty that evening.

Out of respect that the next seminar is on Cinco de Mayo, change that fruity rum drink to a 'rita on the rocks no salt.

I'm nothing if I ain't flexible!

Synthia/Eyrie

[haulback]

a big '''''GREAT JOB''''''''to race commitee from Haulback for coming up with, and posting on race page, the PCR calculator and link to YRA site......

This part of the race has always seemed to be a bit of a mystery to me

Jim