Locomotion Pacific Cup '06

back in kaneohe..safe

as some you know, we had to put back into kaneohe after trying to head north. in a nutshell, it was just too tough! instead of the 10 knot easterlies which were forecast ,we had building winds from the ne 18-23. we toughed it out for 3 days, covering 450 miles in 3 days, all with the #4 jib and a double reefed main. the swell was slightly different angel from the wind waves, so we were slamming constatnly. water sluicing over the boat at all times, lots of little leaks below. the third night, the newer and ostensibly more robust of the two tillerpilots crapped out, leaving us with only the old one for the remaining 1900 miles to seattle. the next morning the wind built to 24 knots. the barometer was only at 1017 si we knew it was a LONG way to more moderate winds. so we put about, and after another 3 ugly ugly days we are safe and sound back in Kaneohe, which is truly as close to heaven as you can imagine. will head into honolulu tomorrow to make arrangements for shipping
the boat back. not wild about the money aspect, but i really think it would have been stupid and dangerous to conintue on. hope you are all well....tiz

HALFWAY...ALMOST

It is Sunday..we are 1130 miles from the finish line. Technically the
halfway point is 1035, but that is a straight line from SF. We have come WAY
south looking for wind, and it iw finally p[aying off. Running now in 15-19
knots pointing at Ohau. We are doing pretty well, but there is a pesky
Beneteau named Tutto Bene that we are having trouble shaking. We can see
them back on the horizon, but they keep dogging us. To save our time we have
to beat them by 3.5 hours. Could be ver yclose at the end. All systems
working finle. Still a very long way to go..later tiz

48 hours in

hard to believe we've only been at this for 2 days. it is wednesday. feels
like an eternity. the first night wa like all first nights at
sea...miserable. water everywhere, no sea legs, no rythim to anything..plus
variying states of nausea. better now, and we've all settled into a
moderately grouchy sleep deprived state. but the good news is that we've
really covered a lot ofdistance since monday morning. getting around the
high is the key and we hope we are set up right..we'll in the next few days.
all systems workikng fine. later tiz

pac cup

we are finally off....tomorrow. boat is all set and listing to starboard significantly!! Looking windy for exit from the Bay (blowing 30 on the Cityfront today), but lots lighter outside. Look for us to take a BIG dive to the south as there is an ugly High sitting right on the rumbline! Will send updates via sat phone as we can!! all is well tiz

The Ditch is Done

Last Sat, we took loco upriver...the Delta Ditch Run is about the most fun race around. 67.5 miles all downwind from SF Bay, up the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers to STockton. Carried a flood tide all the way up and ended up 2nd in class. WINDY!!! Lots of jibes in lots of wind..some parts required the jib, but mostly the kite. Bob, Gay, and Alicia came down from Seattle and joined up with old pals down here. Had a fine time, all in all!! No damage to the boat at all either coming down the coast or in our little jaunt upriver, so we're pretty much ready \to cross the pond in July....more to come...ted

livin the high life on the riviera!!

Well we made it to the Richmond Riviera. No doubt about it, the RYC is the coolest yacht club in the universe. Trip down was "tedious". Engine was running for all but 5 hours. All systems worked flawlessly, so there really isn't too much that needs doing other than drinking rum....darn! The first picture is of the stalwart delivery crew, Greg, Pookie(Larry), Pukey(Tim), Tiz, and honorary crew and unanimous most valuable player, Donald Crowhirst(autopilot). Other than docking, we used the autopilot 100% of the trip!! With the remote, you could just sit in the hatch, and steer from there just fine. Besides the obvious "lazy slug" factor, not having to hand steer is a huge reduction in fatigue, and therefore a safety feature...right! The other picture is loco in full drying mode. After a week at see, down below gets a bit ripe, but all back to normal now. The Delta Dtich Run is thiws Saturday, and we're all looking forward to going up river! More to come...later...tiz

almost there

this passage from eureka to sf has been a pain the ass. steady winds right
square on the nose. the sw swell makes starbord tack easy, but port is
similar to getting a root canal. they keep forecasting S to SW, but it's not
happening. nonetheless, we're getting there. noiw well south of pt arena.
ETA SF 3-4am Sat morning. will snd more when we arrive. all well and
healthy...lookign forward to this being OVER!! ted

Thank goodness for GPS!!

Greetings from the southern OR coast. As of about noon Tues, we are about 75 mi from the CA border. Has been very light the past 24 hours, but wind seems to be shifting to the SW so hopefully we can sail soon. Engine is amazing! at 2300 rpm, it burns only about 1/3 gal per hour!....Here is Larry lookiing VERY salty with his sextant. Too bad we had to remind him the sun was over his shoulder! Looking forward to what he comes up with for a fix...probably somewhere in the Med! ...All going well here...hoping to arrived Eureka mid morning Wed...then just 200 miles to SF.later ted note:::had to remove the photo...too slow...sorry

Headin' South

Greetings from Newport, OR. Just a fine burtger and beer at the Rogue
Brewery. Arriverd here after noon on Monday. Passage from Puget Sound was
cold, rainy, but moderate...and over. Forecast calls for a high building in,
but south winds..not making much sense. But we think the sooner we can beat
it south the better, so we are off again. Boat is holding up well. Been a
bit bouncy, and nausea has been the order of the day. Pretty mellow now, so
we will be making the most of it. more to come ted

Slow = Expensive

Well the test of the sat phone worked, but even with the camera set on lowest resolution, it still took just about forever to transfer. Well, still inexpensive compared to the cost of a new sail!! So looks like there will be a FEW photos sent at stategic times while enroute to our inevitable victory at Kanoehe Bay...but just a few. You may have noticed Gay and Ted STYLING in their new PacCup aloha shirts. We are going to be very cool!! We had our official PacCup safety inspection yesterday, and passed with flying colors! The boat is just about ready to go to sea, and we're all excited. We leave a week from today, and while long range forecasts are not too reliable, it does not look like anything dramatic is laying in wait for us...keep your fingers crossed. ....and on another note, the attached photo is PacCup vet and author of the phrase: "I can't sail fast if I don't feel PRETTY", Paul "Poopsie" Beamer. He's on the way to his wedding...can't you tell? He and the divine Ms
Morna just rounded out their first year of marital bliss. We thinks she's a good candidate for beatification! tiz
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