Epilogue

The race over was great - mild but good conditions by Trans Pacific standards and we won - we finished first in our division and first overall. The time spent in Hawaii was great - though not long enough, and the delivery back was as good as it could possibly have been.

In addition to the satisfaction of attaining our goals and of course the trophies that Martin received, the boat (and crew) were featured on the August cover of the SF based sailing magazine Latitude 38.

If you're interested check out:
http://www.latitude38.com/
and http://www.latitude38.com/LectronicLat/2004/0704/July30/July30.html#anchor64829
and http://www.latitude38.com/LectronicLat/2004/0704/July12/July12.html#anchor53080

I have some photos from the race at: www.demak.com/paccup/bestof
and I have some photos from the delivery at: www.demak.com/paccup/pcreturn

Since returning to the Bay Area, I've been sailing most days - prepping, practicing and racing in three Farr 40 regattas including the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds aboard John Mac Laurin's "Pendragon." Next, the St. Francis Big Boat Series aboard Winnetou - to defend our trophy and attempt at a three-peat. (September 16-19th) After that, the Santa Cruz Invitational Regatta in October.

It has been a good summer indeed!

Barry

Land Ho and All That Jazz...

So... It's Monday morning and it's been 15 days since we left Kaneohe, and 13 since we left Kuai. It's time to be there already, and fortunately we just about are. We've been motor sailing since nightfall yesterday and are 35 miles west of the bridge as I write this. We can see the Farallones clearly - despite overcast skies - and can barely discern Pt Reyes to the left, abeam of us. Several sea lions have come by to welcome us already, too.

We expect to be sipping Bloody Marys in about 5 hours (noon PDT) when we come under the Golden Gate Bridge. This is a tradition Robin introduced me to about 2 years ago. I don't know who started it when, but it seemed like a good enough tradition to me, and one I thought I should embrace. If you've never had a Bloody Mary while sailing back to San Francisco, under the Golden Gate, you should. Trust me.

I previously mentioned that we caught several fish - two that we kept and ate - two that we released. The white lure and the orange lure worked like charms. Now, that green lure - "Mike's lure" wasn't so lucky - sorry Mike. Not only did we not catch a fish on it for 3 days, but when I went to bring it in last night, the leader and lure came untied.

It's likely that this will be the last post to the blog unless something extremely worthy prompts another morning posting.
Fortunately, it's been a largely uneventful crossing and the boat has been fabulous so far. (don't jinx it now, eh?) We've enjoyed mostly moderate conditions and good wind from the right direction most of the time. Scott and Mitch have survived - so far (don't jinx em now, eh?). We've even had our fair share of fresh fish.

Thanks to all who have followed our progress and who have kept us amused by email.

Thank you - especially - to Martin and Margaret Brauns for entrusting us to bring Winnetou home.

Another half hour on my morning watch then bacon, eggs, more coffee, one last roll call and soon a spicy tomato cocktail!

Aloha, mahalo, thanks and bye for now!


Barry

Winnetou, WDB6525, clear.

Uno burrito carnitas, por favor

I am beginning to get cravings that cannot be fulfilled on the boat.
(stay focused here - I was referring to things gastronomical)

At the moment, the craving is for a carnitas burrito with hot sauce from Taqueria La Victoria in San Jose.
Normally a twice-weekly staple of my diet, I will have gone over a month without even a one.

Other than that, pretty much "no news is good news" out here at the moment. We seem to have routed a very favorable approach to San Francisco and the forecast is for PLENTY of wind from a favorable direction.

The moon was spectacular last night - when we could see it! (The last two nights have been totally overcast with a thick layer of low clouds and occasional squalls.) Robin got to enjoy a moon bow on his midnight watch. I got to enjoy squalls and 25 knot sustained wind on my 4 am watch.

We've been reefed since this morning, enjoying average winds in the range of 15-20 knots from about 345 deg, and boat speed of 8 - 9.5 knots, with the occasional 10 knots on gusts. Seas are biggish with swells ranging from 4 to 8 ft, coming at us from the wind direction - so things are a little on the rolly side. ("Rolly" is not a word, nor is "biggish," I know.)

At 18:00 on this final day of July, 2004, our position is:
N38 deg 08 min
W129 deg 46 min

We are 346 miles west of the orange bridge, and have begun making ice for Monday's Bloody Marys.
For those keeping score, we logged 197 miles from noon yesterday to noon today and are hopeful that tomorrow's 3 digit number will begin with a "2."

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to cook the pre-cooked pork chops for dinner.

Adios,


Barry

Robin's Glass Ball

Not much earth shattering excitement occurring since yesterday. Anything happening aboard Winnetou would surely pale in comparison to the excitement you all must be getting out of the Democratic National Convention. Despite the occasional email it is nice to be unplugged from such things for so long.

One of the weirdest things about being on a boat for an extended period of time (about 24 days in July for Robin and I, when you add the race to Hawaii and the delivery back) is not getting news about the death of famous people. 6 months from now I'll ask someone a question about a celebrity - say Michael Moore - and they'll respond "where have you been, didn't you know Michael Moore died when he cut his femoral artery when he dropped his camera at the DNC last summer?" But I digress...

(although I don't much care for Michael Moore, I don't wish him harm. I was just using him as an example. I'm sure he's fine, really.)

So, back to the fine yacht Winnetou...

For the past 10 days or so, Robin has been in a rainmanesque mode whenever on deck, constantly repeating "I just know there's a glass ball out here somewhere for my honey, Betsy." He will utter this at least 10 or 11 times daily. (before and after he watches Wheel of Fortune)

(glass balls are discarded/wayward floats that are used to float fishing nets. They are - quite literally - glass balls, handblown aboard fishing boats. You often see them in seaside tourist shops or as the decorations adorning touristy seafood restaurants. They are a rather high-end form of sea trash, and a highly sought collectible by many)

So, today was a rather uneventful day as we work our way out of the high. Mostly light wind, often no wind or wind from the wrong direction (we motor then) and a few hours of 14 knots from the North - perfect! As we head into night it's cold and rainy and looks to be squally for some time ahead.

We're motorsailing towards SF, 10 knots of breeze from 40 degrees at the moment.

Our position at 22:30 7/29/04 is:
N38 deg 38 min
W137 deg 02 min

Thanks to Jessica - who emailed a recipe for stove top macaroni and cheese - we were able to dine on homemade mac and cheese tonight. Perfect for the conditions and WAY better than that crap that comes in box. I was shattered to find out that it's the milk, 1/2 cup of butter and pound of cheese that makes it taste so good. And I thought it was good for you.

Cheers,


Barry

Swimming in the Deep End

Today we got to go swimming in the deep end of the pool - 4700 meters deep - to be exact. Not to mention 800 miles offshore. The water is so clear yet so deep as to appear dark. It's not until you drop a quarter in the water, that you realize how clear it is. You can watch it sink for minutes. No large invertebrates were present - to our knowledge - at the time. 70 degrees was a bit chilly - though warm by coastal standards.

Yesterday we celebrated breaking the 1000 miles-to-go mark. Evening was ushered in by a 3/4 moon night light. The sky was so clear and the moon was so bright that you could probably read by the moonlight - but why would you want to?

The sky was overcast by morning and the wind shut off as we reached the center of the high. The jib came down this morning, and the motor went on - in gear. We covered 159 miles from noon yesterday til noon today.

Despite the lack of wind (which is exactly what we expected)it's been quite pleasant - save for the sound of the Yanmar. We should see a building breeze from the left in the next 18 + hours, and be able to shut the thing off again.

For an up-to-date picture of our weather, see:
Current Pacific Surface Analysis

Click here for other weather tidbits.

Our position at swim time, 15:30 7/28/04 was:
N39 deg 11 min
W141 deg 11 min

Again, feel free to write us. Most emails are read. Some are even responded to. Write to wdb6595"atsignhere"sailmail.com. Be sure to substitute the "@" symbol for "atsignhere" above. Text only, please.

Barry

Block Party

San Francisco has its summer street fairs, San Jose its summer Jazz Festival and block parties are the norm throughout the country during the summer months. The local residents of the East Pacific Ocean held one last night and invited us.

Last night we were joined by at least 50 Pacific white-sided dolphins. Whatever ones religious beliefs and convictions, I would argue that there is no more spiritual moment then being in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by dolphins just doing what they do.

What dolphins do - if you haven't been to this church - is to converge on the boat (doing 9 knots at the time) from a half-mile away and set-up stage on both sides of the boat. Perhaps choreographed - perhaps not - they fly out of the water along side the boat, crisscross the bow over and under each other, surf the bow wake and generally amuse and delight. (They also cause curious onlookers on the bow of the boat to get sprayed by waves - which also amuses and delights those not on the bow at the time.)

Last night's service began at about 11 PM and lasted about a half hour.

So... two metaphors. Mid-ocean block party to celebrate our halfway, or divine inspiration. Your choice.

Though socked in by thick fog last night and into the morning, today has once again been a great sailing day.

Our position at 19:00 7/26/04 is
N 39 deg 25 min
W 147 deg 52 min

Wind is 14 kT from 160 deg
Boatspeed is 9 knots at a heading of 80 deg.

1200 miles to go...

Homemade terriyaki marinated ribeyes, garlic spinach mashed potatoes and a bottle of Pinot Noir to celebrate our halfway. The Dove Bars thawed and refroze - we'll give em a try, though.

Thanks for the emails, jokes, top-ten lists, TDF updates and well-wishes.

Time to barbecue...

Barry

It's chile

Greetings from the middle of somewhere.

It's rather bizarre that we're closer to the Aleutian Islands then we are to Hawaii or San Francisco - and they're about 1100 miles away!

We're enjoying delightful sailing conditions today, after 18 hours of less than pleasant conditions. Last night's fish bbq had to be postponed. The weather got kinda sh%&ty so no bbq, and too tumbly for me to want to prep fish below. Stomach's weren't really up for it, anyway. Hopefully we can enjoy it tonight - as the weather is moderately comfortable - no foul weather gear required - at the moment.

Gene - we must of missed each other in the fog. Sorry. Hope you made it home ok.

The water temperature is down to 67 deg, making the showering a bit chilly, too. The sun is finally poking a hole in the cloud cover, whew.

The night watches were a bit eerie as we were rolling along, close reaching, reefed, 16-18 knots of wind in moderately lumpy seas in pea soup thick fog from about midnight til 8 am. We were able to shake the reef at about 9am, and things got better from then. The wind went light, then right and we were able to ease the sails and go fast as the wind steadily built through the day.

Our position at 16:45 7/25/04
N52 deg 13 min
W170 deg 10 min

We're doing 9 knots, with wind of 18 knots from 170 deg.
Heading is 75 deg - aiming right at the orange bridge between SF and Marin.

1400 miles to go!


Barry