Okay, on a reach, we got the best run of our fleet and a bunch of others. Secret to winning.. Be on a reach. And don't hit a whale as one boat did. No damage to either, but startling.

The sun has finally come out to play and the water is warm. We've seen one tropic bird and are fishing for Mahi-mahi. It's getting late, so I think we'll reel in the line.

Tonight for dinner... Cornish Game hens!



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The wind has clocked behind us enough to put up the spinnaker. The Cal 40's, darn them, are about a day ahead, and so got theirs up a day before we did. However, we are making nine knots, more or less, steadily, and expect to start eating into their leads. We are hoping that they see us and get nervous and do something silly.

Like go way too far north or something. We are also hoping for a crab pot to catch them. That would be pretty nice for us too.

John and I had to fiddle with the sail trim a bit to keep from rounding up. Creaky neurons etc impeded the 300+ years combined age in getting this right immediately, but we finally figured it out and are rocketing along straight to Hawaii! Hmm. at 8 knots, with 1300 miles to go, we get there when? Saturday? Nah. No way. But still.... this bears some thinking about.

Food has been great. Tonight: Chicken Biryani. Tomorrow is Cholesterol day, with Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, Steak, and more.

Love to all...



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33N by 129 W. -- Weather has filled in nicely, as I mentioned before. The skies are still grey, but we are making a good 7-8 knots pretty much towrd Hawaii, and that is great. Oh sure, we are near the back of the fleet, but we are gaining on those rascals. See, they went north when we went south, a bit, so now we are going west when they are going southwest. All going to converge in a big mid pacific party.

We hope.

The food has been great: connie sent Chicken Legs and Lasagne, and we started in on NOelle's Mac and Cheese, with visions of Pork Chops and Applesauce in our heads for tonight. We have learned to eat with a sporf, which is a combination spork and knife. Sporf. It's what's for dinner.

From an upcoming press release:

At the daily "Children's Hour," a free-format radio discussion time among the racers, spirits were high as a good breeze had filled in, allowing boats to proceed toward their chosen waypoints with speed. "No Ka Oi is Hawaiian for 'perfectly trimmed spinnaker'" announced a spokesman for No Ka Oi, a Gibsea 43 from Brisbane, CA. A bit later, Tiki Blue (Beneteau 423 from San Francisco) announced the loss of a pair of spinnakers to wind perhaps a bit too boisterous for the choice of course and sail. Repairs are underway.

Also underway, according to reports, are repairs to two heads (marine toilets), two radios, and at least one generator. Unlike in-the-bay racing, ocean racing over long distances calls not only for superior tactics and boat handling skills, but also equipment repair skills, for broken gear will not only slow a boat's progress but also will impair crew comfort and possibly safety. Racers carry a range of backup and overlapping safety gear to assure a safe - if not always swift - passage.
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As you've no doubt gathered from others, the start was a casual romp out into some pretty light stuff. Our light-air tacking angles forced us to choose between a course of around 320 (Alaska) or 200 (Mexico). We took a loop up and over the Farallons, passing Southwest Farallon Island within a quarter mile. The cries of the birds and barks of the sea lions made for a magical moment, alloyed only by the eye kept on the radar, charts, and rocks so as not to end the trip before it began.

Off we went on a Southward course, like birds, too stupid to know that NORTH is the summer direction.

Well, stupid birds or not, south is seeming to work for us. Wind has picked up to a very civilized 10-15 knots in pretty flat (lumpy for the Bay, flat for the ocean) seas. Our food has been great. Chicken, lasagne, zucchini bread this am for brekkies. I am going to hide the Peet's french roast. These guys don't appreciate it.

We have had a great run today and hope to make up our slip in standings. On the other hand, we kicked the bejesus out of Acacia and passed another boat in the afternoon. Only we learned later that Acacia spent three hours freeing herself from a crab pot and the boat we passed was a singlehander (or extremely unpopular skipper) with his main down doing repairs.

Still, we are WAYYY faster than flotsam.






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But first, this message from light winds.

As is my permanent karma, it seems, we will be facing light winds. We'll roll out the staysail and do all we can to get moving, but it may be 24-48 hours before the wind gets decent.

The boat's crammed with food, and we have good spirits. All will be well

And we had such high hopes. The later start should have all but guaranteed us a solid summer pattern. But NoooOOOooo. No, we have some ragtag collection of lows and high, and pixie sticks and chunks of weather chum spewed all over the darned map. Bottom line for a rotund boat like VALIS:

Drift. The good news is that the wind will fill, according to the computer, by Wednesday, but it will be a slow start. The single-handers already know this. 12-hour runs from 5-50 miles are all they are doing. One guy is going sort of backward....

But any day on a boat is a good day. And we have a solid boat, a willing crew, and an eclectic set of chow that will carry across the salty sea.

See you in Kaneohe, okay?