07/09/2009, 23 48'N:14141 19'W, Getting closer
Lets get this part out of the way sailing is the same as it has been for the last how ever many days. Same sail same direction same same. Although we have begun to encounter some rain showers and the additional wind that comes with the rain. We're going to need some extra push to catch and pass the boats that went further south.
Roll call has us 4 in class and 33 in fleet with 1000 miles to go. The computer says we will be there in a couple of more days. Time will tell.
- In the speed department Jim hit 16.5 last night and Will topped him at 17.2 this morning then Captain Bill schooled the boy and pushed it up to 17.9. As of 10 AM Thursday we have traveled 1478 miles at an average speed of 8.8 knots
Now for the other stuff
Some may wonder why I am doing all the blogging. Well here is the answer, up to now I am the only one crazy enough to give up sleep and sit wedged in the nav station to write all of this on the computer. Plus with the little book I have notes from the last 24 hours to refer to. Others will read the blog for approval. So there you have it.
So today we are bring you two guest bloggers, Steve to tell you his story on the tradition of the half way party and , Suzie to give you complete gourmet food report.. See their stories below.
Around 1PM on Wednesday Steve Hastings will be as close to his wife, daughter and youngest son as he has been for 25 days. She is flying to Hawaii today and around this time they are about 35000 feet above us.
Now the Gourmet food report from yesterday provided by Suzie
Breakfast I let the boys fend for themselves. I have two cereal choices, Raisin Brand and Honey nut clusters with ice cold milk in the reefer. I usually have to ban one or two a day for the condition they leave the galley.
Lunch was fresh crisp Canadian bacon, sweet Fuji apple slices and pan fried French toast made with sweet Hawaiian bread covered in maple cream syrup.
Dinner was a Savory cassoulet full of juicy shrimp, venison sausage, sautéed butter nut squash, with roasted red bell peepers, cannellini beans and hominy Served with a side of Irish soda bread dripping with butter and pesto sauce all the better to soak up the deciduous juices
The local scenery has not changed much we see a lot of ocean and then more ocean. We did finally get a break in the weather yesterday afternoon and the sun came out around 6PM just after the first squall passed it allowed us to have a wonderful evening for the halfway party which you will read our thought in another article on the web page, well you read our comments. Then we had the most amazing sky to the east there was a line of clouds with a sliver of white across the top very spectacular. The sunset which happened at 9:03 PM PDT was one the first of the trip with a few clouds to break things up. Then around 10:30 the moon snuck it head up ands we were treaded to a quick glimpse before the clouds came back. The overcast skies have kept the trip cool but limited our view of the moon and stars. Last night was the first where we were warm enough just in shorts and foul weather jacket. At about 4 a.m. Carter was grinding the winch for the spinnaker sheet on the low side when a flying fish landed in his lap. This is a better place than when in the 2007 Transpac his sister Holly got hit in the head by a fish. The puzzlement to the crew is why is it only the Hastings kids that get hit by the fish?
The Halfway Party we enjoyed is a long standing tradition of Transpac. We learned about it while watching the History of the Transpac DVD. Crews have been known to bring a wide variety of attire and beverage for the occasion. Pictures of the parties are turned in to the race committee so that everyone can enjoy the best ones at the awards banquet.
Later, signing off from the SV Passion located at 23.49N and 139.58W only 1000 miles from Hawaii (getting closer every day)
07/08/2009, 23 39'N:138 21'W, Half Way To Honolulu
Will - My costume was the best. Period. End of story. Well the end of my story at least.
Carter -Will's costume was the best as anyone could tell. It was a fun halfway party although this year we did not have a Fred the bird to celebrate with.
Steve - My thoughts on the halfway party go more to the people I am doing the race with. For example, Billy and I have been sailing together for over twenty years. His son Will was two years old then. Will is on board with us. My son Carter wasn't even born then. He is on board too. Suzie has been sailing with me for twenty years too. Gary over ten years. This is my second Transpac with Mark. Jim is new but has fit in perfectly. Sailing is a great part of life and these people are a great part of my life. Wouldn't be here without them.
Suzie - Once again I find myself on another adventure, this time with the Aloha Eight., How fortunate I am to be part or such a wonderful crew life doesn't get any better.
Jim - Half way to Hawaii. Suzy's great food is keeping us in the mood. Have no fear, have broken no gear. Surf some more and we just might score. Not much sun, but still having fun. Just five more days, we'll be ready for leis.
Admiral Mark - the half way party was perfect timing. Too much fun with a great group. We had following seas beam winds sailing at 12 knots headed to Hawaii. The S/V Passion is taking good care of her crew and the crew is treating her well in return. A great crew having a great time supported by the best spouses and shore team in Texas. Not sure how to have more fun. Aloha
Gary - My second Transpac hard to believe. The first one was a once in a lifetime deal and here I am again having another adventure of a lifetime. Being part of this crew for the last 11 years has been one of the great treasures of my life. Here we go on the downhill run to Honolulu and more adventure to come I have no doubt. "Sharing Times are Happy Times" is a quote you hear a lot from this crew, never a more fitting statement. Aloha
Captain Billy - Another Great Adventure with great friends. This trip is a lot of fun and an adventure of a lifetime. I am very glad to be able to have such an opportunity with such good friends. Will has fun as he displays his sense of humor; I am glad to have him back to play with after his South American Adventure.. Thanks so much to Steve, Mark, and Jim for having us aboard, and thanks to all of our spouses for letting us go play. Life Is Good!
07/08/2009, 23 48'N:136 41'W,
Welcome to day 7, yea I only knew that because I cheated and looked at yesterday's blog entry. Some time with out a date on your watch things seem to evolve around food and wake up calls to go on deck. We had been listening to I pods but went back to Margaritaville on Sirius radio. Yea we were surprised that it works out in the middle of the Pacific.
Yesterday was Mexican day we had brisket fajitas wrapped in a tortilla. It seems we have tortillas a bunch. Guess they are flat and do not take up much room and can do a bunch of things with them. Our afternoon snack was homemade banana nut bread and a glass of ice cold milk. Dinner was chicken enchiladas with salsa Verde and fresh Pico de gallo, you can not complain about the food on board.
Back to racing, guess what? We are on starboard tack with the ¾ A kite. The most exciting thing last night was the 10 PM to 2 AM watch the wind picked up to 25 knots and with the ¾ A kite up it was exciting, while Jim was driving he managed to send two waves into the cockpit for the first water on board that far back. I asked Steve if our sail maker Terry Flynn had given him limits on what wind speeds we could use the ¾ A sail and he said "no but I guess we will find out" which reminded me of another story about a sail maker and his customer. We will tell that one at the dock.
We had set a theoretical way point some time ago at 24N and 135W and we reached that point at 7:30 this morning. Guess it is good to have goals. Our strategy has changed a bit in the last 24 hours. I kept talking about sagging down to cross in front of the competition. We are now mostly headed straight to Hawaii and will wait for the predicted wind shift to the east to jibe first and use the shift to get to them. We have 100 miles of leverage so it will not take much of a shift. So I predict that I will be writing about our first jibe in the Saturday blog. We are currently sailing a TWA of 150 degrees with an AWA of 110. as the wind shifts to the east we will consider changing chutes to the new secret chute and we need to sail deeper to head for Hawaii.
In the speed department Will is the king of the hill at 15.9 with Steve and Jim are at 15.8. No more staysail it became two pieces during the broach yesterday morning. Decision was made not to repair it due to the limited sticky back we have on board and we may need to patch up a chute later in the trip.
At 1PM Tuesday we have been racing for 120 hours and have sailed 1008 nm. For those who need to know that is 8.3 knot average. At 1 PM we still had 1420 nm to go and we have picked up the pace and we are averaging 10+knots for the last 20 hours. Looks like a Monday finish for us.
We did see another boat at noon and caught them by 2PM and they were out sight by 5PM. Do not get too excited it was Far Niente a Catalina 42. They were in the first start 4 days ahead of us and as of the Tuesday morning role call were in 43rd so no gain in fleet for us.
Received the news from the roll call some good some bad. We are now 3 in class and 30 th in fleet an improvement of one place each. Bad news is that the Horizon gained 6 miles and Allure gained 4 miles on us, they are 83 and 40 miles south respectively. We did put it to the Mighty Tongaroa gaining 17 miles on them, they are 23 miles north of us. Seeing how we owe everyone in our class time we need to speed up a bunch. It is looking like the south is winning.
Sea life has been hard to find we have seen a couple of pods of porpoise feeding and the last couple of days the flying fish have started showing up. That is about all this time.
Life on board is becoming more routine and sleep is becoming easy in the tossing hull with the engine running to charge the batteries, make water and keep the refer cold.
Last night was the full moon and the skies were still overcast so we did not get a look at the moon. It did provide enough light to see the sails. You know it is pretty out here in the wide open Pacific. The other thing that happens as you head west is you change time zones every 15 degrees. This changes when the sun rises and sets. Not bad except you keep your watches on PDT till you get to Hawaii. So the sun rises later each day and sets latter each evening. The 6PM to 10 PM watch now is all during the day.
Later, signing off from the SV Passion located at 23.56N and 136.03W only 1221miles from Hawaii (getting closer every day)
