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Thanks for the great coverage PB.
"We don't have concierge service but we have The Voices."
"We don't have concierge service but we have The Voices."
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Autopilots....who's using what? Anybody know? I'm especially curious how the Pelagics are working out.Comment
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Day 5 – Ah… the Ridge
Well here we are at the end of Day 5 and most of the boats are decending into the ridge, basically the weather spinning off the bottom of the Great Pacific High, and recognized as the point at which the northwesterlies begin a transition into the northeasterly tradewinds. Some boats have reported throwing up chutes (spinnakers) meaning the wind is backing aft to come more from behind the stern than from the beam or side of the boat. This is traditionally known as the tricky part of the course, because the air closer to the center of the Great Pacific High pressure system (usually north) is lighter than the air further away from it (usually south). This part of the race is a balance between keeping wind, but not sailing too far south out of the way to Hawaii. This year’s High is pretty far north and east, but you can see from trackers that speeds have slowed down a little as boats hit an area of lighter air below the High and to the west. Possibly a welcome break from the pounding most of these guys and gal were doing previously. Fish on anyone?
The race chair has sent out some information on Hurricane Blas to the fleet, which is currently expected to weaken as it begins to track into colder waters. We are also keeping an eye on the next tropical depression, Four-E.
Temperatures should warm up a bit and the sailing ought be pleasant for now, if not too light for some. 🙂 Hoping they all have a great night!Comment
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Notes From The Boats: July 7
*July 5th* Hi race fans.. I got up this morning and put up the code0. Basically a big big jib spinnaker thing. Kinda like thin formica like in a counter top made into a sail. It’s a beast. Anyway after it falling over the side, I hoisted it up and have been hand flying it all day. surfing and having a ball. I’m in the blue ocean water now, water is warming up. I had a very very close call with a 600 foot container ship. I had to back down to take his stern, I steered down 30 degrees for about 5 minutes to get behind it. Last night the same, at night very hard to see red and green lights. Anyway, my spirits are great. I’m down in the cabin typing with no seasickness, I am eating day 1 food. Yum. I’ll hold off on the rum for a few days. Steph (anie Schwenk) “the princess” gave me an ipod with about 1000 songs, so that has my spirits way up. That is the best part of the trip so far. Boat is good, weather is good, systems all working. I got wind on line and mast head lights. That’s nice. Tonight I will work on speed gauge. (he’s referring to the fact that his instruments were not working and now he has wind speed. He’s hoping to get the water speed later tonight) So Ben Garman what was the answer to the big question from Saturday? This is a shout out to Chris Young, How’s it going Chris? Is Ben keeping up his job? OK. That’s all I’ve got for you today. Tomorrow some explanations of the mysteries of the this trip. The sea is not greedy this time, it does not want my stuff. 🙂 (this is a reference to earlier trips across the Pacific where the sea does seem to come alive and take things off the boat. DaveG did this trip with his brother Dan for instance and they lost nearly all of their buckets because the sea kept taking them.)
David Gaman
SC 27 Giant Slayer
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Jacqueline Rudder Noises – Tortuga Stands By
Mike checked the undercarriage and could find nothing inhibiting rudder motion. The friction and noise must be due to causes inside the post/bearing housing. He has opted to continue on to Hanalei. Randy has also resumed his course after rendering assistance to Mike’s inspection efforts.
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Mouton Noir, Elizabeth Ann, and Owl checked in with N6IZ via SSB at 7225 kHz this evening at 830 pm PDT. The conversation was centered around the weather, there was peaked interest in the low pressure systems lurking to the south of the race course. Other discussions included the outcome of Jacqueline’s rudder situation, Mouton Noir’s apparent SSB issue, of course he came up on frequency with his backup radio and antenna, and batteries that are low on electrons. All seemed to be having low energy in the battery set. A sure sign of overcast conditions. The group indicated conditions were very enjoyable presently. John, “I am having the time of my life out here”.
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July 7, 2016 8:30 am
Day 5 update; sail config:Main and Asymmetrical spin Position 34.33n 131.47W ; S5.6 C237. Just a gorgeous today. Shorts! the sun finally came out. been flying the asym all day there are squalls passing through but they are very light and just add a burst of wind speed for 10-15min then pass, some had some light sprinkles. Had an eventful day. in one of the light spells in between the squalls the sail was collapsing and filling and I noticed something go flying, it was the port turnbuckle for the whisker stay. in all the activity getting ready i put rings in everything else on that side except the inner turnbuckle part it self so it worked its way loose and unwound and now belongs to Neptune. i had a moment of macgyver thinking of how to reattach it then remembered i had kept one of the old ones, score! just as I was finishing up that repair i got a hail on the vhf from Mike on Jacqueline. he was having some/steering rudder issues and was going to go diving underneath and hoped I would come stand by while he did that just in case. We’ve been sailing in close proximity all along so far, so I was only about 4-5 miles away so I diverted and headed over to where he was. i sailed the first hour and it was slow going at 2 knots downwind to where he was and would take another 1:30 to get there so checked with the race rules to make sure I could turn my engine on and help him and got there much quicker. Once on site his boat was rolling in the big swell so it was tricky to get him a line and I heaved a line to him with my kayak helmet to use if he was going to get in the water to see if anything was wrapped around his rudder post. After the story Dave King tells of to having to check the underside of a boat in the ocean, I got a kayak helmet to have on board. he dove in and didn’t see anything visible that would be affecting his steering. on the humorous side, he forgot he had his life/jacket harness on and got in the water and, it works! the issue is its hard to move the wheel back and forth. all told my diversion was about 2:30 hours. he is going to continue on with the race and hope for the best. was happy to help him out and told him first round in Hanalei is on him! (i get credited my time for the diversion)ok now, back to sailing now. hopefully these mini squalls stay mellow for the next few days. cheers, team tortuga.
Randy Leasure
Westsail 32,' TortugaComment
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Comment
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Tropical Depression 4E
BULLETIN
TROPICAL DEPRESSION FOUR-E ADVISORY NUMBER 4
NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL EP042016
900 AM MDT THU JUL 07 2016
...TROPICAL DEPRESSION NOT IN ANY HURRY TO STRENGTHEN...
SUMMARY OF 900 AM MDT...1500 UTC...INFORMATION
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LOCATION...12.7N 110.8W
ABOUT 705 MI...1135 KM S OF THE SOUTHERN TIP OF BAJA CALIFORNIA
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...35 MPH...55 KM/H
PRESENT MOVEMENT...WNW OR 285 DEGREES AT 8 MPH...13 KM/H
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...1006 MB...29.71 INCHES
WATCHES AND WARNINGS
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There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect.
DISCUSSION AND 48-HOUR OUTLOOK
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At 900 AM MDT (1500 UTC), the center of Tropical Depression Four-E
was located near latitude 12.7 North, longitude 110.8 West. The
depression is moving toward the west-northwest near 8 mph (13
km/h). A westward motion is expected to begin tonight and continue
through Saturday.
Maximum sustained winds are near 35 mph (55 km/h) with higher gusts.
Some strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours, and the
depression could become a tropical storm later today or tonight.
The estimated minimum central pressure is 1006 mb (29.71 inches).
HAZARDS AFFECTING LAND
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None.
NEXT ADVISORY
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Next complete advisory at 300 PM MDT.
000
WTPZ44 KNHC 071436
TCDEP4
TROPICAL DEPRESSION FOUR-E DISCUSSION NUMBER 4
NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL EP042016
900 AM MDT THU JUL 07 2016
Tropical Depression Four-E has not improved in organization since
the last advisory. A small cluster of deep convection is located
near the low-level center, but otherwise widespread showers and
thunderstorms mainly within the eastern and southern portion of the
circulation are lacking banding characteristics. The intensity
remains 30 kt based on Current Intensity estimates of 2.0 from TAFB
and SAB.
The cyclone is still moving west-northwestward, or 285/7 kt. A
strong subtropical ridge, which extends from northern Mexico
westward to near 130W, is expected to maintain its strength and
remain stationary for at least the next 3 days. This pattern is
forecast to drive the depression almost due westward between 24
and 72 hours. By days 4 and 5, the ridge is expected to weaken a
bit, which should allow the cyclone to gain some latitude and turn
back toward the west-northwest. The track models, particularly the
GFS and ECMWF, are very tightly clustered, with those two models
less than a degree apart at day 5. The updated NHC track forecast
was nudged southward on days 4 and 5 to be closer to the GFS/ECMWF
consensus, but otherwise there is higher-than-normal confidence in
the track forecast for the entire 5-day period.
The key concern for the depression's intensity forecast is the cold
wake left behind by Hurricane Blas. Based on the latest available
daily global SST analyses, the waters ahead of the depression have
cooled to 26.5 degrees Celsius or colder. The official forecast
track for the depression intersects and remains very close to Blas's
track during the next 5 days, which would keep it over these
colder-than-normal waters for a significant amount of time.
Since the SHIPS guidance utilizes a weekly SST analysis, which is
showing ocean surface temperatures about 2 degrees too warm,
confidence in its output is somewhat low at the moment. Vertical
shear and environmental moisture values appear conducive for
strengthening, so the NHC official intensity forecast still shows
intensification, but at a slower rate than indicated by many of the
intensity models. The updated forecast is also a little lower than
the previous one, especially through 48 hours.
FORECAST POSITIONS AND MAX WINDS
INIT 07/1500Z 12.7N 110.8W 30 KT 35 MPH
12H 08/0000Z 13.0N 111.9W 35 KT 40 MPH
24H 08/1200Z 13.2N 113.5W 40 KT 45 MPH
36H 09/0000Z 13.2N 115.2W 45 KT 50 MPH
48H 09/1200Z 13.2N 117.0W 55 KT 65 MPH
72H 10/1200Z 13.2N 120.6W 75 KT 85 MPH
96H 11/1200Z 14.0N 124.5W 85 KT 100 MPH
120H 12/1200Z 16.0N 128.5W 90 KT 105 MPH
$$Comment
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More Notes From Boats
Pancakes! Come and get em! Just scared down a triple stack… Life is great here aboard Althea. We’re in pure I don’t care that I am only moving 4kts mode. Last night I dreamt about 4kts. Dreams do come true. For a solid 4hrs I slept as Althea played rubber ducky in this big bathtub they call the Pacific. Wind has been pretty variable. Everytime I get to the ridge, it moves further west and leaves me back in northerlies. It was 13kts for about 30 minutes earlier this morning. Oh if only you could have heard the hooting and hollering. Doing the rodeo dance and slapping the horse’s ass. Giddy up. To pass the time and deal with my obsession of the wind speed, I’ve been playing a game of auctioneer. Most likely originating from my childhood farming roots, I stand in front of the gauge and sell knots of wind to the highest bidder. Can I get a 3.1! A 3.1 a 1 a 1… !!3.1!! Can I get a 3.2 a 3.2 a 2 a 2 a 2 do I hear a 2? Going once? SOLD! Can I get a 1.7 … Yeah things get weird when you are all alone in the middle of nowhere. Like a couple nights ago, when we *were* sailing, spinnaker was up, Althea humming along at 7kts. I drank a rather large cup of coffee and had a full out dance party on the transom until the sun came up. Literally. For hours. It was grand. But the thing I realized about dancing and well singing, practice doesn’t make perfect. I reckon I’ve been practicing for close to three days now and I’m pretty sure it’s much worse, lol. Can’t wait to show you all my new moves when we get to Hanalei! reading: Lee Shore Blues
Brett Suwyn
Cavalier 39 S/V Althea
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Pakala musings
Well that’s where I am right now. Dana Point, is home. Lotta water between here & there. I took a picture of that water that goes forever in all directions. It can be cool, scary, etc, but that’s what the 24 of us chose. The sailing part is actually a relief. Getting here was intense, expensive, and lists morphed in sub-lists that of course didn’t all get done. But when we left the dock, at least I felt finally on the way. Thanks to everyone that has sent emails & texts. It’s way cool to get them. Like getting a postcard from someone on a trip when you were a kid. But you’re the guy on the trip. All you guys that know other people on this race, send them a text or email. They’ll love it. Oh & hi to the people in Mexico & Canada that checked out the blog. That’s right, we can tell where people are when they log in. Who knows, some day we may show up at your house… Well not really, just sounded spooky to say it. Let’s see, what else? Spent most of the day at the computer trying to figure how to miss this high pressure coming our way. Doesn’t seem to be much choice but to just deal with it, but I keep hoping that the weather gods change their minds and make it windy instead. Yeah sure, right. I can at least try. Took down the A3 spinnaker and put up the A2, all before breakfast. Actually everything was done before breakfast, which was Tuna & Avocado at 3:30pm followed by 6pm wine on the deck. Been catching up on sleep as the whacked out dreams and weird thoughts have lessened. Nothing threatening, just out there. We’ll leave it at that. No music or voices yet. Though I would prefer those than the dreams. Gonna try to include a photo again. It’s not always successful. Trying Sqaure on my iPhone camera.
Later.
Joe Barry
Express 37' PakalaComment
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Weather Routing Incorporated indicates Blas will not have a large impact on the fleet
Weather Routing Inc. is Proud to be the Official Weather Provider for the Singlehanded TransPac Race Prepared: July 07 15:40z FM:
Weather Routing Inc. (WRI) Synopsis: Good morning. Please see the section on HURRICANE Blas and TROPICAL DEPRESSION 4E. An area of HIGH PRESSURE is now located near 40N/160W, and has ridging E’ward to 130W. This HIGH will meander to 44N/155W through the 10th, with ridging SE’ward to 30N/130W at that time. The remnants of Agatha are now centered near 23N/140W and consists of a weak LOW level circulation. This will transition into a weak trough of LOW pressure, and will move W’ward, extending from 21N/147W N’ward to 26N on the 10th. An upper level LOW is now located near 29N/141W, and this will weaken into an upper level trough while moving W’ward, extending from 27N/146W SW’ward to 24N on the 10th.
Severe Weather Potential/Advisories: There are no advisories at this time. Please monitor NOAA All Hazards Radio on your VHF for the latest official warnings and advisories from The National Weather Service. Hedge Forecast: We are very confident in the forecast for all grids, as the track of HURRICANE Blas is expected to remain just south of the grids. The west turn of Blas has HIGH confidence as once the system rapidly weakens, it will be steered more by the ridge and to the west. Regardless of the track though, there will be enhanced conditions in grids JJ and KK below. Conclusions: The remnants of Agatha are not a major concern.
For Blas, the system will be weakening rapidly in the next 3 days, and by the 10th, will be a post-tropical GALE. The weakening is expected as the system moves over cooler waters. The system will be located just south of grids KK and JJ on the 09th-10th, so it would be best for vessels to remain close to the n’rn half of those grids into the long range for maximum safe berth from the system. The cluster of vessels farther west should remain safely ahead of HURRICANE Blas, with the cluster of vessels farther east remaining safely north and east of the system. In the long range, we will need to also watch closely the track of TROPICAL DEPRESSION 4E, and any impacts to the grids in the 6-8 day timeframe. For Grid II, expect main N-NE’ly gentle to moderate breezes through the 10th, with building but long period SE-S’ly swells due to TROPICAL activity to the south.
For Grid CC and DD, similar conditions are expected. Farther south, expect more enhanced NE’ly winds in JJ due to Blas through the 10th, along with building swells, up to 11ft by the 10th. Some scattered showers/squalls are expected in the s’rn portion of the grid on the 09th-10th due to Blas. For KK, similar conditions are expected.Comment
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They ran out of names?Comment
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they will soon run out of letters and have to start using symbolsComment
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More Boat Notes: July 7
Caught my first fish flaot on Seazed Asset
I have been fishing for three days, and caught my first one today, sort of. What I caught is a piece of a broken yellow plastic crate. I starting noticing bits of floating stuff in the water yesterday, there is more today. Its not just on the surface, standing on the bow, or just looking over the side I have seen all sorts of plastics debris, just below the surface. The largest floating bit about a 2′ x 3′ fishing float, or boat fender, had about 6″ of barnacles on the bottom. So its been out here a while. Lost of plastic jugs and some foam. Not a nice thing to see. So make sure you recycle as much as you can, and don’t litter. Don’t worry, the “fish” is going to HI with me
Vance Sprock
Cal 40' Seazed Asset
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hi ho, hi hee, the sailors life for me..Mouton Noir
In my note at the bottom of this mornings checkin, I observed that the conditions were ideal for a romantic sailor, smooth, blue water, nice breeze, a cherry sunrise. Hah!!! Now I know why I abandoned the romantic philosophy of life many years ago!! No sooner had I sent the report, than dark, wet clouds covered the sky. The beautiful blue sea turned to a sullen, ominous gray. The previously smooth water became lumpy and chaotic, and worst of all, the pleasant breeze, about 12 knots or so, dropped to less than 2 knots. To make the day complete, the wind direction migrated from a lovely beam reach to a deep run, although thankfully still on starboard tack. So now we sit, broken hearted. Tried to sail fast, but can’t get started. THe boat is rocking , the sails are slatting, gear is banging and the quality of life generally has declined a lot. Too dark to get much charging from the solar panel, too cold to run around naked, offending the neighbors, no wind to run the wind generator, and thousands of dollars of very nice sails being rapidly degraded by the relentless snapping and slatting. Putting up lighter sails would only result in their destruction. According to the GRIB files supplied by the Lying Dog GRIB computer, we should be seeing 6 to 10 knots from forward of the beam. Pggst! I spit on the GRIB files!!!! But all is not lost!! I have a Kindle (and, not being romantic anymore, 2 spares) and lots of books. So Pttthh ocean!!!!! stick it where the sun don’t shine. Which seems to be all around us, come to think of it.
Waiting for better things, or Godot, whichever comes first.
Michael Jefferson
Garcia Passoa 47' Mouton Noir
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Slatting Along
Warm, calm day on the ocean today, winds at 1 – 6 kts mostly NE, creeping along very slowly with sails flapping. Made only 20 nm DMG in 6.5 hours. Trying to nap, but all the clatter of gear makes it a bit hard. I assume that much of our fleet is also stuck, except maybe those in the south, this is not a post-squall low or anything. Very little wildlife spotted this whole trip, except for the whale in the Bay at the start, and some fast moving dolphin or porpoise a couple of days ago. Almost no birds for days as well.
Dave Nabors
Olson 34' Temerity
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Day 5 – This is How I Remembered It!
It rained this morning, not a squall, just some rain. I loved it. As I looked around I realized how beautiful it is here. There are fluffy white clouds, grumpy looking dark grey clouds, patches of baby blue sky and the ocean is a cobalt blue with a little purple in it. There is no on or anything else as far as the eye can see. I think I’ll have some cookies! Today it will be Robin’s scrumptious cookies! TAZ!!, the boat: She is just fine. Right now I am flying the spinny in a starboard reach in 15 knots of wind…just enough to surf. The sea state is almost flat with 1’ waves and no swells. TAZ!! Is healing at 15 degrees. The GRIB files showed that the wind is the same for about a 500 nm radius. Let’s hope that is true, we don’t want a competitor sneaking away – smile. George, the sailor: I am fine. I have sore hands and knees and quite a few bruises on me hips and back…al of which is expected. I have been sleeping well (on the floor) trying to get rested for the latter part of the race when I have to be awake at night for the squalls. Race strategy: I have to be careful what I say here, being careful not to reveal too much. Its almost too late for anyone to use my strategy against me. We are all committed to where we are. Suffice it to say that so far, so good. The wind is starting to clock around to the rear which means I may be entering the Trades – yea. Then again, this could only be a wind shift… There is a angry Pacific storm forming just above the Equator headed this way. If/when it gets here, I’ll be gone (farther West). Besides, theses storms usually weaken when they hit the cold Pacific waters. Take care, all, it’s time to do stuff and YES, I’m drinking my water!! Kelsey, Alicia and Jeff just had twin girls about 6 days before the race! They are beautiful. Go by and see them. Katrina has the details. I love you more than rice and gravy .- Dad
George Lythcott
Express 27 TAZ!!Comment
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Notes From Boats July 8th
Day 6 update: 34.01 – 133.23 C235 s1.3 – sailconfig full main, large jib & staysail. Has been a real challenge with light winds on and off. there have been a few periods with no winds and we go around in circles. was really hoping to avoid that type of situation but this is going to be a long race this year. that second day of little progress after the start really cost the fleet who didn’t go south of the farallones. we are paying for it now. Jacqueline seems to have improved his steering situation i just got the boat moving after going in circles again and the sails are slatting and no boat speed, so again back on deck for me at 0300…glad i got some naps today. xo team tortuga
Randy Leasure
Westal 32 Tortuga
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Into the Goodies before Midnight!
Port tack and a lot south overnight to move into more wind. Plan to flip over to starboard to increase velocity to Hawaii for the day. With luck might get into 1/2 way bag before midnight.
Chris Cartwright
J-88' Ventus
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This is SV Libra reporting on race day number 5. At 6:43 PST I am 632NM offshore SF bay about 30 miles south of the great circle route. The race start last Saturday was rewarded by a deep feeling of accomplishment: making it to start line! It is not as easy as it sounds… The exit from the bay was definitely windy and gusty as always… I actually broke one of my reef line blocks before passing the GGB. It just exploded and vanished! Quite interesting.
I was already doing a repair in the 1st mile of the race! As promised by the forecast weather was a lot easier outside the gate and I managed to avoid a pocket of light wind and clear the Farallones by night fall. The most impressive was to sail across a large cluster of whales. I did not even count them all, at least a dozen between the SE Farallon and the middle Farallon. Impressive! I did not get too close to not disturb them too much. It looked like a hearing fishing fest, that was probably about dinner time. Then we entered the “windy reach” and clearly I understood why this part of the course is named this way: it was windy, very humid and cold. I had to double reef my main sail and changed my reefed genoa to a jib at night. It turned out I was too sea sick to complete the head sail change and sailed the whole night with main sail only.
Surfing at 8 knots quite regularly. Yes, with a double reefed main sail!! This setup was not bad, boat was stable fast enough and I could start to sleep and accommodate to the sea… It took me 36 hours to fully recover and eat normally again. This was expected and once again it happened. After not eating for 24 hours I was obviously a little too weak to sail the boat with an asymmetric sail when I first had the chance on day 3 although I gave it a try before night fall and starting surfing over 15 knots. This was very fun but too unstable to carry overnight… With plenty of energy I set the spinnaker up yesterday morning (race day 4) and started to be fast again. I crossed 2 cargos overnight and verified with them my AIS transponder range, which is unfortunately quite weak (1.5 miles).
The good news is my AIS receiver range is over 12 miles. Long story short I can see cargo from far away even if they don’t see me. Pirate mode setting? Race Day 5, today was a great day, although wind is starting to weaken… I was able to take my first shower and observe for the first time some clear views of the sun and sky. Update Thursday July 7th 9AM, race day 6. I spent some time tunimg my autopilot for different weather conditions. It is starting to pay off… Conditions have been light and very changing, with wind oscillating between 350 and 53 degrees magnetic. I even had to sail under a jib for a couple of hours before sunrise so I was not heading to Tahiti… This morning 1st thing first: I set my biggest spinnaker up and am now playing with small squalls to keep the boat moving.
Life aboard is definitely happening on the other side of the boat compared to last Saturday… Temperature is nice but the sun is too shy! Boat is getting wet again! Hopefully getting through this low wind condition by tomorrow night fall without impacting too much my ETA. I am also monitoring the evolution of the tropical storm moving toward our race course. It is apparently (hopefully) weakening quite a bit while making it way north…. So far so good. This is sailing vessel Libra reporting from the deep, over and out.
Gregory Saramite
Pogo 2' Libra
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8:30 am July 7, 2016 From Ventus
After attempting to go wing and wing last night when winds were light and kite would not fill. I had a night of rocking rolling and banging of rig with swell and no wind.
The fine trim mainsheet was caught in a Jybe and is out of action (not an issue )
The real issue was horizontal pin connecting boom to gooseneck shook out.
This was a bit of a low spot for me because although trades would blow me to Hawaii. It would be a long long trip.
After some encouraging words from friends and SSS community, a few Allen keys, a cotter pin and duct tape things seem to be holding together.
Chris Cartwright
J-88' Ventus
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Eight months ago I didn’t know what a boat polars were. Nope, never heard of them. But as I researched a downwind sail plan for Althea I kept running across references to aquiring them for your boat and then using them to achive optimal downwind sailing angles. I did some searches and found some free collections of polars but nothing for a Cavalier 39. I then contacted US Sailing and they didn’t have them in thier database. Nope nada. That’s when I came across OpenCPN, a free software navigation tool. I hear it’s like Expidition, but free. It runs on Windows and Mac, and has a number of plugins you can install. There are a lot of very usefull plugins, including one to create polars.
Basically you can input boat speeds at various angles and wind speeds to get graph and table of boat speed against true wind angles. Now here’s the magic part. Using a NMEA feed[1] from my onboard network, I can record live data to create these polars in realtime. Yep, that’s right. What this means is that I now have now have sets of polars for my all my sail combinations. I know what sailing angles I am performing best in the current conditions. Realtime baby! A zillion times better than any stock polars would provide me. I did a few spinnaker changes yesterday and tested some angles at various windspeeds and recorded it all. I know have pretty good confidence when I should fly which spinnaker and what target speeds to trim to. It was also a chance to practice my spinnaker changes. I’d start the stop watch and go nascar on the foredeck. Best one was just over 10 minutes, lol.
But no fouled lines and that’s all that counts. [1] For my NMEA network feed I have a Simrad GoFree WiFi controller. Connect to the wifi network with a device or laptop, set the ports, and them BAM, live, integrated data with my android and mac apps. P.S. Fair winds to all you PacCuppers leaving soon. It’s glorious out here! And bring mouthwash and baby wipes. thank me later. All the best.
Brett Suwyn
Cavalier 39' Althea
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Noon July 7, 2016 Finally back on track. light wind but spinnaker is up and we are doing great. I love this more than I ever imagined I would! day 6 is well underway!!!
Margie Woods
Catalina 34' Haunani
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Hi Guys,
Remember how yesterday I said Sleep dep was going away. Back to Sq one. Last night was spent trying to get some forward momentum when there was no wind and the A2 and Mainsail were thrashing around. A2 is 1000sqft. And it was raining. I got a text from my son Jack, asking if this was fun. Sitting in the rain hand steering a boat that just wants to thrash back & forth and go 2kts. Fun? No. Finally it got up around 6-8kts and I could go down & try sleeping. Dawn was right there and pretty much the same, rain let winds. Then it popped to 16-18 and instant roundup. Got that sorted, ate breakfast (working on the Avo stash) and wouldn’t you know, Broach.
Went out grabbed the tiller, brought it around, then she damn well did it again. Out of control sheets started wrapping around each other from thrashing, mayhem. Got calmed down, struck the A2 and went about untangling everything.Sheets all had to be rerun. Spinnaker packed. I am waiting for the 4 squalls sitting around me to make a decision. Blast reacher went up. Wind is down. I’ll put the laundry back out after I finish this time. All this happened before 10:30am PDT. Phew. How’s that for a busy morning, Hong Kong visitors? Hi Post Dept at The Voice. Keep on cheering!! Lee, the Go Pro hasn’t even come out of the box. I know, I’ll get on it. 974nm from Universal Studios. Seems 3x that. Back to putting out the laundry again.
Joe Barry
Express 37' Pakala
PS. Wind changed & came up. Since we are heeling to Starboard, I notice the wine bottles clinking. Have to attend to that.
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Taz: Auto Has Left The Building I was awaken at 4:00 AM this morning to loudly flogging sails only to find that my auto pilot (Auto) was no longer holding the course set. I tried adjusting the controls to get TAZ!! back on course but nope. I reset Auto…no change. The tiller was moving trying to follow some course, just not the one I wanted. I changed rams…no difference. I crawled back and checked the brain….all connections seemed intact. TAZ!! was dead in the water with the main flogging and the spinny wrapped around the spinnaker net/forestay. The only thing I could think of was the flux gate compass. I found my spare, uninstalled the active one and installed the spare. Auto Pilot was now working!! Including putting my tools and other things away and unwrapping the spinny, I had lost 4 hrs. It was 8 AM but I was Racing again.
Time to download GRIB files to find out what was going on with he wind and air pressure. There was a hole sneaking up on my location and I needed to stay ahead if it. No problem, I had about 12 knots of wind. At about noon, Auto shut itself off. I restarted (a number of times) but after running a few minutes, it shut off again. Low battery voltage? No, both batteries were charged at 13.32 and 13.47 respectively. I checked the voltage at Auto itself…same. I hand steered for an hour and tried Auto again. After 10 minutes, off again. I changed the ram and Auto was running again. Apparently the ram I was using was broken and drawing too much current causing Auto to shut down to self protect. I’m racing again!…But no!
Remember that hole? I am now in it. The GRIB files show me at the edge of the hole but I can’t get enough way on to outrun it. At 4:00 I was still in it only moving at 1 to 2knots. At 5, the wind filed in a bit (8 knots) and I’m now moving at 4.5 knots. As far as I can see, there is no new wind in sight. I’m gong to have to spin some real magic to get back in this race. There must be others in this hole but there also are others who are flying along. Oh well, It time to find some magic.
George Lythcott
Express 27' TAZ!!Comment
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July 8 Overall Positions And Wind Map
A visual representation of the fleets general location, as some boats near the 1/2 way point....
Windyty.com and TrackerComment
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July 8th Leaderboard
Things seem to have generally slowed down as the leaders approach the 1/2 point.
On the corrected side of things:
David Herrigel's Wilderness 30 Domino leads the Kane Division
David Nabors's Olson 34' Temerity leads the Ku Division
Vance Sprock's Cal 40' Seazed Asset is top dog in Lono Divison
Lee Perry's Westsail 32' Patience is bringing the heat in the Kanaloa Division....
Meanwhile, in the distance covered contest:
Joe Barry aboard the Express 37' Pakala has 1,266 nm DTF and is roaring along at 2.7 knots
Robert McDonald is sailing his Olson 29' Nina, to the Kane Division lead, 1.239 nm DTF also doing 2.7 knots
In the Kanaloa Division, overall distance award belongs to David King on the Westsail 32' Saraband with 1,507 nm to go at 1.1 knots
And lastly but not leastly, Lono Division leader is Vance Sprock on his Cal 40' Seazed Asset, 1,289 nm DTF and blazing along at 3.2
Pressure should increase over next 48 hours as Blas passes to the south....Comment
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Meanwhile, tropical depression 4E has graduated to a named storm, in this case Celia.
The NHC models are showing the path and expected strength below...
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