Monday, June 23, 2008

Pacific Cup - Offshore Safety Rules

The Pac Cup rules include by reference a rather complicated set of offshore racing requirements. Some of them are deadly serious (such as ability to signal for help or handle an infection) and some are waived (bucket vs real head). They cover everything from hull construction through accessories like motor, radios, and even personal gear (lifejackets, etc.).

There are a LOT of line items to fulfil, and not all of them were designed with design peculiarities of particular boats in mind. It's an entirely different angle having to deal with this versus previous Pac Cups when I'd help out with some boat work but not have to deal with the entire list.

The following are my notes at the moment on Elise with respect to the safety regs.
Ref the annotated offshore rules (including US Sailing and Pac Cup RC mods) at
http://pacificcup.org/node/866

3.04.3, stability/buoyancy
as stock.

3.08.4 companionway hatch
active TODO
swivel hardware, operable from both sides

3.14 Pulpits, Stanchions, Lifelines
stock. Apparently does not strictly conform to 3.14.3 c, 86.6"
max between stanchions (actually ~90 from stanchion to fwd end of pushpit)
Active TODO:modifying to meet 18" high (many E27's only have 12"
stanchions)

3.17 Toe Rail
stock, 1"

3.19.2 Bunks Stbd is for off-watch. leecloths fitted P+S.

3.21.1 Drinking Water
Active TODO: hose, valves, pump
main storage is water bladders
emergency and supplementary is conventional supermarket water bottles

3.22 Hand holds
stock E27 has adequate grap points whatever her orientation

3.24 Compass
Permanently installed compasses P+S fwd end of cockpit
hockey puck compass for use taking bearings

3.25 Halyards
stock has 3: main (aft), jib (fwd, above forestay), spinnaker
(fwd, above forestay)
added: spare external halyard led fore and aft (fractional fwd)
Main, jib, spin halyards confirmed to reach waterline with
adequate length to wrap on winch. spare halyard will likely reach too but isn't run and I haven't measured it.

3.27 Nav Lights
masthead LED tricolor (LED so watts not applicable but adequately bright)
stock bow and stern light (incandescent)
two house batteries allow independent 12V power if necessary

3.28 Engines, Generators, Fuel
Honda outboard, gasoline in normal red containers.
pull start.
protection from heavy weather is its cover
stowed as per stock E27 one design
solar cells (~100 watts total, 3 panels. 60-80 in primary).
required consumption:
tricolor, instruments, SSB
policed as power available:
cabin lights, autopilot, laptop, stereo, etc.

3.28.4 Batteries
2 gel 12V, 1/2/1+2/off switch, 32 AH each

3.29
VHF - masthead antenna, stern antenna. standard 25W marine unit
with weather frequencies
SSB - Icom 710M. slide-on backstay antenna. backup "speaker wire" antenna
handheld VHF - also has weather frequencies
vessel EPIRB
(2) personal EPIRBs

4.02 Hull Marking
1.0 m^2 orange distress flag

4.03 Soft Wood Plugs
plugs tied in bags next to our two throughulls, next to each other fwd:
knotmeter impeller
depth sounder

4.04 Jackstays, Clipping Points
We generally rely on jacklines rather than static clipping points,
though the latter are available at the termination points of jacklines.
standard WM jacklines, configured as follows:
1. continuous "V" with point at bow through tack fitting running aft on each side, inside lifelines to toerail.
2. aft end of cockpit to fwd end, through-bolted padeyes at bottom of cockpit
3. port to starboard, on deck aft of cockpit (for driver)
4.05 Fire Extinguishers
(1) port, aft side of main bulkhead
1) port, just under deck even with fwd end of cockpit (on "torbedotube")

4.08 First Aid Manual and First Aid Kit
(have, need to reinventory. Two non-critical drugs are a few months past their nominal expiry date but all the normal stuff is thereincluding aluminum splints, antibiotics, painkillers, "emergency"seasickness meds, field guides, etc.)

4.09 Foghorn
standard canned gas version.
one spare can of gas

4.10 Radar Reflector
standard (todo: confirm mfctr was Davis) round/two plates type

4.11 Navigation Equipment

4.11.1 Charts
paper Kaneohe chart current (Jul 07 printing)
Calif->Hawaii
paper charts of US coast down to Santa Barbara
mapping GPS

4.11.2 Reserve Navigation System
sextant, books, plotting instruments, universal plotting paper.

4.12 Safety Equipment Location Chart
(TODO)

4.13 Echo Sounder or Lead Line
have both sounder running on house 12V and lead line

4.14 Speedometer or distance measuring instrument
have knotmeter and GPS

4.15 Emergency Steering
have wooden emergency tiller, basically same spec as original.
varnished so we know it won't swell and fail to fit.
emergency rudder mounting on outboard bracket (tiller-steered)
supplies for other arrangements as may be necessary (aluminum tubes, flat boards, buckets, lines)
TODO: trial/signoff, due "prior to starting the race" targetting beginning of July

4.16 Tools and Spare Parts
a variety of electrical supplies (wire, crimp fittings, multimeter, etc.) spare blocks, shackles, clevis pins, cotter pins+ringdings
lines (racing no-stretch and resilient)
bolt cutters+hack saw with carbide blades
TODO: formal tools+spares list

4.19 EPIRBS
(1) 406 vessel EPIRB
(2) personal EPIRBs, one in hand one to be borrowed

4.20 Liferafts
(rented from Sal's. TODO: get fax with full details)

4.20.3 Liferaft Packing and Stowage
most likely to be stored on deck aft, stbd. Will finalize when we see how the boat trim/heel looks.

4.21.2
have grab bag, will blaze and fill as per recommendations- nothing we won't already have

4.22 Lifebuoys
Lifesling with self-igniting light
horseshoe, strobe, MOB pole in "torpedo tube"

4.23 Pyrotechnic Signals Required:
SOLAS red parachute, 6 req'd. Have:
(4) expiring 2010
(1) expiring Sep 2011
(1) expiring Nov 2011
SOLAS red handheld, 4 req'd. Have:
(1) expiring Sep 2011
(3) expiring Nov 2011
SOLAS orange smoke, 2 req'd. Have:
(1) expiring Jul 2011
(1) expiring Dec 2009

Extra:
SOLAS white handheld:
(4) mfg Dec 06, implied expiry 3 years of '09

misc USCG red handheld, orange smoke, some expired some not but all in apparently good condition.

4.24 Heaving Line
sock type, 50 ft WM.

4.25 Cockpit knife
stainless fixed blade dive knife, steel pommel for hammering, hard sheath

4.26 Storm and Heavy Weather Sails
Trysail (not here, delivery promised 6/20 or 6/21)
heavy weather jib: existing #4 dacron jib. hanks, and forestay is bare (no tuff luff), all foresails are hanked.

4.27 Drogue
(TODO: ordered)

5.01 lifejackets
two inflatable models, "pill" type automatic
TODO: spare CO2
backup fixed foam vests

5.02 Safety harness and tethers
inflatable lifejackets have integral harnesses.
standard WB tethers
(1) Lirakis-type harness, double-clip

5.09 Annual Man-Overboard Practice
(done, need to lookup dates, ~ last Nov and sign off)

5.11 Preventer or Boom Restraining Device
(TODO- easily breakable type, thin dacron line).

6.xx Training
Pac Cup safety seminars both crew
CPR certs both crew
Celestial Navigation course but not tested (OCSC, both crew)

Slowly but surely

Hello symphonic fans - hard weekend at work on Elise for a change...And still loads to do but we are definitely seeing the end of it and resolutely crossing off items on the list. From bow to stern, we:

  • Secured all the "lids" on the V-berth with a combination of bungee cords, wooden 'sticks' through the hole of the lid and sometimes a padeye or similar fitting for the cord in the cubby hole
  • Secured the stove with a nice big bungee so it doesn't go flying if we are upside down
  • Latched firmly the two batteries - they ain't going nowhere unless the entire bow is moving in that general direction
  • Secured the 'head' (read bucket) to its fittings
  • Added a nice "hook" out of place and behind thick cable so it's not a danger to anyone for practical reasons (say, we need to hang a flashlight or something)
  • Tied the "lantern" (battery-operated camping lantern) by the stove at the v-berth to provide light. It is unlikely that we will need a lot of light there but it is handy to have ready at our fingertips if we do need some. Remember, everything has to be easy when you are sleep deprived
  • Taped the through-hull plugs close to the through-hulls, in a nice ziplock bag
  • Revamped the safety 'drawer', with new cool gadgets such as a 1x1 m orange flag ready to be displayed on deck if need be as per the rule, more spares, etc...
  • Secured the top of that drawer with strong velcro
  • Secured the nav table lid with a little mechanical aid
  • Drilled some holes to secure the SSB to the nav table
  • Cleared the nav table so it contains only the items we really need...
  • Installed mesh pockets for 1) various items such as sunglasses or a flashlight which we just need to drop when we check something quick at the nav table 2) all of our spare gloves, etc... 3) cooking ustensils (pretty basic...) 4) toiletry items 5) misc, not assigned and put a bunch of sticky plastic hooks that can become handy...
  • Installed rolled up flags on the starboard side along the cables we are running...
  • Bought all of the missing flares we need
  • Wrote 'Elise' and added some reflective tape on our spare lifejackets and other various buoyancy equipment (that was a hard job...)
  • Find new ways to stow equipment that is safe, easy to access and more open (the cubby holes were getting very damp and retaining humidity): dock lines and tow lines and winch handles and jewelry bag (no we don't carry jewelry, this is what we need to rig the boat up, turning blocks, etc...) under the port settee. Lines are hanging off the MOB tube also on the port side. Tools + spare parts under the port-side settee
  • New anchor + 14 ft of chain + aS 200 ft of 3-stranded nylon anchor line...now stowed next to the engine...m njuumh (that was Hershel the cat's literary participation to the adventure)
  • Finished installation of the wireless remote control for the regular auto-pilot
  • Devised a way to secure the cooler to the floorboard and ensure that the lid doesn't open up all of the sudden
  • Fixed the floorboard (one of the mechanical fittings to keep it in place had to be replaced)
  • Got a Rambo-like dive knife which will be used as a cockpit knife as a safety measure: if lines need to be cut, crew that needs to be disciplined, you know, this type of things...
  • Got a 50 ft throw line
  • Got a nice little stroby-looking light for the lifesling with the most annoying "test" mode...
  • Ordered a 'light list' from the Coast Guard
  • Finalized our celestial navigation package: almanach 2008, universal plotting sheet, reduction tables...we have the tools already, including the sextant
  • Got our borrowed first aid kit (it's not a first aid kit, it's a portable hospital)
  • Got a new pole (we are using the old one as a spare)
  • Got a new spare halyard (the other one chafed)
  • Put some anti-chafe tape at the end of the spinnaker halyard
  • Got a nice second reefing line and installed it
  • Got some cool pockets to keep lines out of the way and installed fittings for them
  • Did some varnishing for the emergency tiller...
  • Devised and built a nice way to get two of our solar panels operational! (Kudos to Nathan)
  • Got delivered pizza directly on the boat, on the trailer...
  • Ordered a second bucket as per safety rules
  • Got a boat drogue (drogues are not designed to stop your boat unlike sea anchors. They hang off the stern and slow down your progress downwind)
  • Got a 5-gallon gas can...
Still a bunch of things to do...but getting there! Inspection deadline is July 3rd so last leg before the finish on boat prep!

Revised start dates

http://pacificcup.org/node/1863

Boat Name Type Entrant Div START
Neptune's Daughter Crealock 34 Ed & Earlinda Polkenhorn DH 1 Mon
Rubicon III Contessa 33 Rod Percival DH 1 July 14, 2008
Plus Sixteen Olson 911 Paul Disario DH 1 12:50
Raindrop Cascade 36 Joby Easton DH 1
Dart* Peterson 34 John Crutcher DH 1
Giant Slayer* SantaCruz 27 David Garman - Debra Lowell DH 1





Green Buffalo Cal 40 Jim Quanci A Mon
Azure Cal 40 Rodney Pimentel A July 14, 2008
Shaman Cal 40 Steve Waterloo A 13:05
Acacia Valiant 42 Robert Hinden A
California Girl CAL 40 Timm & Victoria Lessley A
Gaviota CAL 2-46, Jensen Marine James Partridge A
Valis Pacific Seacraft 44 Paul Elliott A
No Ka Oi Gibsea 43 Phil Mummah A





Le Flying Fish* Moore 24 Jean-Philippe Sirey & Stephane Plihon DH 2 Tues
Bar-ba-loot* Moore 24 Andrew Hamilton DH 2 July 15, 2008
Moore Havoc* Moore 24 Mark A. Moore DH 2 13:30
Moonshine Dog Patch 26 Dylan Benjamin DH 2
Mirage Express 27 Terry Cobb DH 2
Alternate Reality Express 27 Darrel Jensen DH 2
Elise Express 27 Nat Criou/Nathan Bossett DH 2
The Contessa Swede 55 Shawn Throwe DH 2





Cirrus Standfast 40 Bill Myers B Tues
Compromise Elite 37 David and Sandy Englehart B July 15, 2008
Horizon Hunter Hunter 466 Charlie Cooper B 13:45
Checkered Past Wyliecat 39 Chris Gibbs B
Pacific High Catalina 400 Andre Skarka B
Gavilan Wylie 39 Brian Lewis B
Kokomo Sabre 425 Denny Flannigan B
Music Nordic 44 John McCartney B





Bequia* Beneteau Dennis Ronk C Tues
Oceanaire* Tayana 47 Garrett Caldwell C July 15, 2008
Ada Helen* Catalina 42 1/2 Joseph Pratt C 14:00
Sweet Okole* Custom Farr 36 Dean Treadway C
Rabian* J 35 Vern Zvoleff C
Urban Renewal* J 35 Les Vasconcellos C
Bullet* Express 37 Michael Maloney C
Tiki Blue* Beneteau 423 Gary Troxel C





Ohana Beneteau 45F5 Dean S. Hocking D Wed.
E. T. Antrim 27 Todd Hedin D July 16, 2008
X-Dream X-119 Steen Moller D 14:10
Sleeping Dragon Hobie 33 Dean Daniels D
Jamani J-120 Sean Mulvihill D
J World J/120 Wayne Zittel D
Buzz Off Henderson 30 Fischer / Rodriguez D
Summer Moon Synergy 1000 Joshua Grass D
Sapphire Synergy 1000 David Rasmussen D





Sabrina Calkins 50 Chris Calkins / Norm Reynolds E Thurs
Recidivist Schumacher 39 Ken Olcott E July 17, 2008
Low Speed Chase Sydney 38 James C Bradford E 14:45
XL Antrim 40 Antony Barran E
Morpheus Schumacher 50 Jim Gregory E
Roxanne J-125 Greg Slyngstad E
Hula Girl Santa Cruz 50 Paul Cayard E





Velos Tanton 73 Kjeld Hestehave F Sat
Criminal Mischief R/P 45 Chip Megeath F July 19, 2008
Flash Transpac 52 Mark Jones/Peter Stoneberg F 15:50
Holua Santa Cruz 70 Brack Duker F
Rage Sunrise 70 Steven Rander F
Pegasus OP-50 Open 50 Philippe Kahn F





Humdinger Walter Greene 35 "Acapella" Trimaran Larry Olsen Multihull Thurs




July 17, 2008




15:00





We are getting a transponder!

So you can follow our progress....neat!

And please note the NOR thing (for non-racers, NOR means Notice of Race): do NOT give us any information about other competitors' location. We will have a daily position check-in for tactical purposes.

However, it is perfectly fine for you to use this information to ship us some wine. Just make sure the bottles are nicely packaged in a sealed and padded cannister when they are dropped in the water. In the absence of a fridge, we'll probably prefer red.

Satellite Transponders

Thanks to the organizational and research efforts of Vice Commodore Jim Gregory, we have contracted with FIStracking to provide satellite transponders for each and every boat at no additional cost to you (unless you break it, of course). FIS has supported many major regattas, including Vic Maui 2008, Swiftsure, and more.
These will be made available to boats doing the return trip for a modest fee.
Not only does the tracking create a really great viewing experience for those at home, it also provides an added safety element in the event someone needs to find you to rescue you or bring you cookies or something. Please note that PER NOR and SI's, direct or indirect access to the sat tracking information by competitors is forbidden so as to preserve the fairness of the race.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

We leave July 15th in the afternoon...

Preliminary Assignments:

Boat
Type
Skip
Club(s)
Division
LOA
Rating
Start
Neptune's Daughter Crealock 34 Ed & Earlinda Polkenhorn RYC DH 1 34.1 PHRF Mon
Rubicon III Contessa 33 Rod Percival DRYC DH 1 32.7 PHRF July 14, 2008
Plus Sixteen Olson 911 Paul Disario RYC/Seattle YC DH 1 30 PHRF 12:50
Raindrop Cascade 36 Joby Easton Royal Rose City YC DH 1 37 PHRF
Le Flying Fish Moore 24 J-P Sirey & S. Plihon PCYC/SSS DH 1 23.9 PHRF
Bar-ba-loot Moore 24 Andrew Hamilton SCYC DH 1 23.75 PHRF
Moore Havoc Moore 24 Mark A. Moore RYC DH 1 23.75 PHRF








Green Buffalo Cal 40 Jim Quanci RYC A 39.2 PHRF Mon
Azure Cal 40 Rodney Pimentel EYC A 39.5 PHRF July 14, 2008
Shaman Cal 40 Steve Waterloo EYC A 39.5 PHRF 13:05
Acacia Valiant 42 Robert & Maryann Hinden EYC A 42 PHRF
No Ka Oi Gibsea 43 Phil Mummah SSS A 42 PHRF
California Girl CAL 40 Timm & Victoria Lessley CYC Portland A 39.33 PHRF
Gaviota CAL 2-46 James Partridge LosAngelesYC A 46 PHRF
Valis Pacific Seacraft 44 Paul Elliott SYC A 44.08 PHRF








Cirrus Standfast 40 Bill Myers KYC B 40.02 PHRF Tues
Compromise Elite 37 David and Sandy Englehart PCYC B 37.08 PHRF July 15, 2008
Horizon Hunter Hunter 466 Charlie Cooper Marina Bay YC B 44.25 PHRF 13:30
Checkered Past Wyliecat 39 Chris Gibbs RYC B 38.8 PHRF
Pacific High Catalina 400 Andre Skarka YachtKlubPolski B 41.6 PHRF
Gavilan Wylie 39 Brian Lewis RYC B 41.5 PHRF
Kokomo Sabre 425 Denny Flannigan CYC Tacoma B 42.5 PHRF








































Dart Peterson 34 John Crutcher Antigua YC DH 2 34 PHRF Tues
Giant Slayer SantaCruz 27 David Garman - Debra Lowell TTPCY Seattle DH 2 27 PHRF July 15, 2008
Moonshine Dog Patch 26 Dylan Benjamin SSS DH 2 26 PHRF 13:45
Mirage Express 27 Terry Cobb SSS DH 2 27.3 PHRF
Alternate Reality Express 27 Darrel Jensen STYC DH 2 27.25 PHRF
Elise Express 27 Nat Criou/Nathan Bossett SFYC DH 2 27.25 PHRF
Music Nordic 44 John McCartney EYC DH 2 43.1 PHRF
The Contessa Swede 55 Shawn Throwe StFYC/EYC DH 2 52.5 PHRF








Bequia Beneteau Dennis Ronk VYC C 41.67 PHRF Wed
Oceanaire Tayana 47 Garrett Caldwell SSS C 47 PHRF July 16, 2008
Ada Helen Catalina 42 1/2 Joseph Pratt CPYC C 43.8 PHRF 14:10
Rabian J 35 Vern Zvoleff StFYC C 35.4 PHRF
Urban Renewal J 35 Les Vasconcellos KYC C 35.5 PHRF
Bullet Express 37 Michael Maloney BYC C 37.08 PHRF
Tiki Blue Beneteau 423 Gary Troxel RYC TeamBlue C 43.17 PHRF
Ohana Beneteau 45F5 Dean S. Hocking SYC C 44.11 PHRF








Sweet Okole Custom Farr 36 Dean Treadway RYC D 36 PHRF Wed.
E. T. Antrim 27 Todd Hedin SFYC/RYC/PCYC/SSS/CCA D 27.83 PHRF July 16, 2008
X-Dream X-119 Steen Moller SSS D 39.3 PHRF 14:25
Sleeping Dragon Hobie 33 Dean Daniels SBYC D 33 PHRF
Jamani J-120 Sean Mulvihill SFYC D 40 PHRF
J World J/120 Wayne Zittel SDYC D 40 PHRF
Buzz Off Henderson 30 Fischer / Rodriguez Waikiki YC D 30.8 PHRF
Summer Moon Synergy 1000 Joshua Grass RYC D 32.83 PHRF
Sapphire Synergy 1000 David Rasmussen RYC TeamBlue D 32.8 PHRF








Humdinger Walter Greene 35 "Acapella" Trimaran Larry Olsen BAMA Multihull 35 BAMA Thurs







July 17, 2008







15:00








Sabrina Calkins 50 Chris Calkins / Norm Reynolds SDYC E 50 ORR Thurs
Recidivist Schumacher 39 Ken Olcott Seq YC E 39.8 ORR July 17, 2008
Low Speed Chase Sydney 38 James C Bradford SFYC E 38.6 ORR 14:45
XL Antrim 40 Antony Barran California YC E 40 ORR
Morpheus Schumacher 50 Jim Gregory RYC E 50 ORR
Hula Girl Santa Cruz 50 Paul Cayard SFYC/StFYC E 52 ORR
Roxanne J-125 Greg Slyngstad CYC Seattle E 41 ORR








Velos Tanton 73 Kjeld Hestehave SDYC F 72.5 ORR Sat
Criminal Mischief R/P 45 Chip Megeath CYC F 45 ORR July 19, 2008
Flash Transpac 52 Mark Jones/Peter Stoneberg StFYC F 52 ORR 15:50
Holua Santa Cruz 70 Brack Duker California YC F 68.09 ORR
Rage Sunrise 70 Steven Rander Portland YC F 70 ORR
Pegasus OP-50 Open 50 Philippe Kahn Waikiki YC F 50 ORR








Can there possibly be more? Yes. Storm Trysail Team Trophy Entries:
And Blue Water Family Trophy Entrants are

California Girl, Hula Girl, Green Buffalo, Jamani, XL, Alternate Reality, Mirage

And why RYC is supporting this benefit regatta

Find out the facts behind sarcoma and sarcoma research:
http://www.richmondyc.org/HOA/assn13823/documents/Sarcoma%20Cup%20NOR%20Appendix%20A_v2.pdf

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Sail for Andrew 15-yr-old sailor and sarcoma patient on June 28-29

If you haven't done so, please really consider signing up for the Sarcoma Cup Regatta.

This is really going to be a special event. A lot of Beethovens and very talented friends as well as the folks at RYC have been working overtime to make this a great event. Two bands, lots of food (including free Peets coffee and free wine!), a free drink coupon for every single participant, beverages, entertainment. A long list of trophies... more than what your average regatta would offer, huh? And registration fees are not any higher.

Oh, yeah, there will also be racing in perfect sailing conditions and a very well run event. Fred Paxton's the conductor. So check it all out and get signed up ASAP at

http://www.richmondyc.org/cal2/EventShow.asp?event_id=89406&event_batch=1

We have just decided to dedicate this first Sarcoma Cup to Andrew, a 15 year-old local sailor who was diagnosed with sarcoma in November, 2007. Barring a medical emergency we think Andrew will be in attendance...so, it would be a HUGE boost for his morale to have a big turnout - especially as he is just starting a new treatment. He is too weak to sail right now so we can sail for him. You can read more about Andrew at http://stories.beatsarcoma.org/2008/06/this-years-sarcoma-cup-will-be-sailed.htm

Andrew is taking a break from his flight for his life just for the rush of seeing some sailboats play. We need to be there for him. Great sailing… good cause… great fun. What more can you ask for?

Seriously, please help us make this a great event…. Let’s show up in huge numbers…

Be there!


Tuesday, June 17, 2008

A little bit closer to the race...and a little colder at the base...

Well, we did spend a little time working on the boat this weekend and our rigger was hard at work during the week...Another Elise's health bulletin.

Rig:
- Elise has a brand-new shiny rig (and according to a weird email about some bulb needing to be changed, the shrouds might be glowing in the dark)
- There is now a second reefing line (and associated turning block), the chafe problem with the external halyard is solved and the lead issue with the outhaul is fixed

Electrical:
- The two batteries are now connected by a switch, which is now solidly bolted. It is therefore possible to switch from battery 1 to battery 2 without cutting the power (through 1+2). It is also unnecessary to disconnect the battery by hand to avoid leaks. All that is required is to put the switch in the 'off' position. Easy or what??

Communication:
- The SSB has now been tested in both receiving and transmitting mode and has been shown to work. It now needs to be mounted, grounded, etc...thank you Brian for being on the other end of the line(less) conversation

Just in case, it isn't very apparent in the picture. Nathan is talking to the SSB and has bought a Harry Potter-approved broom as an emergency escape mechanism if I get too boring.

Navigation:
- The remote control unit for the autopilot is now ready (last thing to do is to bolt on the receiver, but the holes are already drilled for that!). You can now control the autopilot (on, off and any direction, as well as MOB alert) from anywhere on the boat with a small waterproof remote which you can tie on to your gear. This can be quite helpful short-handed!!! Later, it will become possible to install a MOB relay connected to the boat EPIRB. In addition to carrying your own personal EPIRB, it is a nice safety touch if you are single-handling. Also the MOB function of the autopilot is programmed to 1) store the coordinate where the event happened, 2) bring the boat head to wind to stop it ASAP and will calculate the compass course to return to the victim. That can come in handy for people alone on watch who for any reason are not tethered in.

Space Management:
- The anchor will now sit next to the engine
- The space left by the anchor below the port settee will be used to store spare parts. Quite logical since it is right next to where the toolbox is stored
- The leecloths are ready to be installed

Safety inspection checklist:
-
We measured anchor length (and will verify with inspector to see if that's OK)
- We counted our flares
- Listed heavy equipment that needs to be restrained, equipment using batteries and Nathan filled out our "energy plan"
- Elise's pole is relegated to the "spare parts" category
- Our water bladders (including the two borrowed ones) will meet the water requirements. We will carry water bottles around too. They are easy to store and easy to carry
- We can borrow a safety kit with up-to-date meds

Measuring the anchor line required knowing how many inches there are in a foot...No one taught me this at school.

Cuisine:
- The eggs rancheros suck
- The "dried freeze" ice-cream sucks. Glad we're not astronauts.
- The pesto pasta tastes nothing like pesto but otherwise good
- The meatball spaghetti tastes good (we had established already that the Jambalaya was OK)


And our specials tonight are some tasteless gelatinous pasta with a creative pesto imitation and 'spaghetti infierno' adding the flavor of confetti spaghetti to the mystery of unknown meat (small) balls

Interesting finding, worth publishing in the journal of medical discoveries that very few people care about:
-
The hormone replacement therapy I have to take has "nausea" as a noted side-effect. I have noticed an increased sensitivity to certain kinds of food, car sickness, etc...much more so than before. It may have contributed to my recent adventures.

And we have a a long shopping list ready for West Marine Fleet Night on Thursday.

And Dayne stopped by to say hello!! We pulled Elise out of the water and rubbed her tummy :)

Oh, and summer has come. It is cold, foggy and windy. I am glad we have the stove now!

Friday, June 13, 2008

Latitude 38 June Article about the Sarcoma Cup

there it is!

Looking for crew or looking to crew at the Sarcoma Cup?

Several people have expressed their concern with finding crew for the Sarcoma Cup. There are resources for you! Several people have signed up as available crew, so you could check the crewlist (see below). You can also put your name down as someone who needs crew. OCSC can help match you with some advanced students.


Looking for crew or looking to crew?
Note: OCSC, BeatSarcoma's partner for the Pacific Cup '08 will kindly help match advanced students with skippers.
You can fill out this form
Or check the crewlist
Or contact us

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Delta Ditch Run

Overall, we had a great race and kicked some ass!!! We ran aground in the mud off the end of the pier after the Richmond Bridge, then caught up with the rest of the fleet (to about mid fleet, position #4 and #5, then keeping up, then slowly falling behind, trying to figure out what was wrong with our boat speed, then taking our spinnaker down, turning around to check on de-rigged vessels and losing about 15 minutes. When we resumed the race, we were dead last but for one Moores who did the same thing. We caught up with the general fleet and even managed to finish ahead of an Express27!! Unbelievable! If our redress is granted, we could be in 7th position, mid fleet!

Division=Express 27

Date: 06/07/08 StartTime: 11:15:00 Distance: 67.5nm

Pos Sail Boat Skipper PHRF Type Finish Elapsed Corrected
1 1 Get Happy!! Busch,Brendan 129 Express 27 21:37:53 10:22:53 10:29:57
2 11e Wile E Coyote Pruzan,Dan 129 Express 27 21:42:08 10:27:08 10:34:15
3 29e Eagle Groelz,Ross 129 Express 27 21:53:14 10:38:14 10:45:28
4 67 Shenanigans Moore,Bill 129 Express 27 21:56:27 10:41:27 10:48:44
5 0 Dianne KATZMAN,Steve 129 Express 27 21:57:07 10:42:07 10:49:24
6 77539 Desperado Bruzzone,Mike 129 Express 27 22:01:33 10:46:33 10:53:53
7 8444 Swamp Donkey Goldfoos,Bill 129 Express 27 22:06:53 10:51:53 10:59:17
8 28031 Take Five Carroll,Donald 129 Express 27 22:06:59 10:51:59 10:59:23
9 3e Lightn'Up Powell,Bruce 129 Express 27 22:09:25 10:54:25 11:01:50
10 18079 Alternate Reality Jensen,Darrel 129 Express 27 22:09:28 10:54:28 11:01:53
11 40428 Ergo gage,Chris 129 Express 27 22:12:01 10:57:01 11:04:28
12 18355 Archimedes Balderrama,Joe 129 Express 27 22:15:34 11:00:34 11:08:04
13 101e Elise Criou,Nathalie 129 Express 27 22:19:35 11:04:35 11:12:07
14 49 Scandalous Owens,Garry 129 Express 27 22:20:56 11:05:56 11:13:29

Speed as VMG of winning boat: 6.5 knots



Speed as VMG of winning boat: 6.5 knotsI had
We had a great time - we were all focused on the race, on boat speed, trying to make the most of the wind we had, trying to get the most wind we could and staying in clear air. We were all working as a team on maneuvers. Everyone taught something to everyone else and learn something from everyone else. Here are some lessons we learned that I thought could be helpful for the Pacific Cup.

  • Downwind driving

Delta Ditch Run is not a jogging race but a sailing race sailing mostly with the wind behind. This year, the wind direction was a bit odd at times but we had our spinnaker up during the great majority of the race, including start and finish! So there was a lot of driving under spinnaker, first in light air, then in medium air. We could try depowering the spinnaker by bringing the pole slightly forward (less sail area and a not so ideal angle to the wind, air flow disrupted). In light air, we couldn't always fly the spinnaker at the ideal angle. Perhaps the apparent wind was becoming too light to fill the sail. In order to keep our sail full, even if we weren't reaching, we had to bring the pole much further forward than we normally would for that point of sail. Lessons learned in light air:

o Weight counts A LOT (as our speedo indicated): have your crew sit on the leeward side...
o Trim the main constantly! In light air, wind tends to be shifty and every puff is worth running with. Your main sail is a pretty powerful sail, don't forget it! If you have an idle crew, it's not a bad job to do :)
o Obviously, you'd trim your spinnaker constantly, but I have never seen anyone forget about that...
o Move your tiller as little as possible to avoid any loss of speed
o Make small shifts, adjust and then continue with a change
o Have someone stand at the mast, as high as possible and look around at the surface of the water to spot the areas with dead air and the areas with puffs
o Go for the wind - in light air, even an increase of 1 knot of wind speed (out of say 5) is HUGE! You can get 20% relative increases! Imagine what that can do to your boat speed
o Expedite your gibes: a) you don't want to keep weight at the bow for too long and b) the air is so light that you can just gibe your main and your spinnaker at the same time.
o If it gets really really light, take out your light sheets. It didn't get that bad for us on Saturday
o Have one of your off crew sometimes look behind, or have the driver do it on a regular basis. This is where you will notice the puffs
o Driving in light air is super tiring mentally as you are trying to pay attention to the tiniest change. On a 70 mile race, change your driver and trimmer on a regular basis. We had a crew of 4 and we running with groups of 2 ON and 2 OFF, except for maneuvers.
o Pay close attention to the current lines
o In light air, you can carry your kite pretty high. It can be well worth it.
o Try to stay in clean air. Several times boats tried to play with us, come on top of us and take our air, push us up, etc...(especially a Santa Cruz 27 which we finally passed, only to be passed again when we assisted the other vessels!). Of course, at times you need to play the game as it is very narrow. Sometimes, these boats are not even in your division. Ultimately, I am not sure if it is worth it. When I said "let's stop playing and just sail fast" because it felt that we were too focused on that one boat and lost our focus and perspective on the race, I think that everyone thought I meant "don't do anything about that boat". I guess I meant "the bay is big, let's just get out of here". Two Moores 24 play each other up out of the channel at some point. They didn't run aground but for about 5 minutes, they were definitely not heading in the direction of Stockton...
o Having someone sit just forward of the mast did not help our speed (contrary to an observation made last year by Nathan and Jerry on the Spinnaker Cup)

  • Stay comfortable and hydrated

It was so hot!!! The metal parts on the boat were burning, the sun was unforgiving, the light air run made it even worse as there was virtually no air floating around the boat...At some point the display of our speedo just stopped displaying...we think it might have gotten too hot. We put a cover on it and it went back to life. Strange for a device which is meant to operate in pretty tough conditions. Our solar-powered TakTik ran well after sunset, maybe because it was super wired? Interestingly, inside Elise, it wasn't too hot and uncomfortable which bodes well for the Pacific Cup. We decided to have a dodger installed for the race (Elise looks horrible with this kind of stuff on...almost like a cruiser!) but it'll keep the inside dry and us cool.

o Dress lightly in breathable material and in layers (synthetic is great)
o Wear a hat and sunglasses
o Drink often, it doesn't matter if it isn't cold but bring some ice if you carry beer...
o Eat small bites regularly, some small salty bits and fresh fruits (until you can't!)
o Try to stay out of the sun if you can: great incentive to sit on the leeward side of the boat!
o Sit on a cushion (it won't be as hot as some of the metal parts...)
o close hatches to prevent the sun from getting in
o Take turns if you can (so you can rest your mind...and stay alert when you need to)
o In the delta, wear your layers back as soon as it gets dark if you don't want to be eaten alive by bugs...(like I did...) I had pretty rosy legs afterwards!
o Wear a lot of sunblock and apply some more on a regular basis
o Keep the wine for the evening
o Bring a water gun...

  • Driving in a crowded channel

There were quite a few boats in that race and it is helpful to know the various rules of the road.

o It might be hard to look at starboard tackers when they are coming from behind so having someone in the crew look out for traffic and call those out is great.
o Make sure to check behind before you do a gibe or anything dramatic, you don't want to cut across someone's path!
o Stay cool and don't do anything too fast if you get close to other boats. Keep your course, assert your rights by asking for the right of way to make sure the other boat is aware of what you are going to do, or acknowledged you have seen a boat you need to give way to. If you make brisk moves, you may surprise the boats around you and cause them to do more of these brisk moves...
o Keep charts on deck, or regularly check your GPS as sometimes marks were hard to see (behind boats or looking just as red as a car taillight...) Always know where your safe side is, just in case you need to make a correction.
o If you overtake the last boat of your fleet coming back from a 15-minute rescue operation, don't shout "Oh my God, that's an Express 27! We've caught up with our fleet!".

I played a bit with the various GPS modes and we monitored electricity usage (running lights all night was no problem and using the speedo all day was also fine. At times with VHF and GPS also. Coming back, we salute the heroic efforts of Roger who drove all the way to Stockton with his 10 horse-power motor and stayed up all night with Dayne to drive the boat back. I went down to sleep, expecting to be woken up three hours later. About 7 hours later, I woke up in time to make some breakfast for the kids on the deck. At least, it is dark enough in the quarter berth, even in broad daylight to sleep pretty well! Our second spinnaker (which we hoisted after the "assist" operation) didn't seem to fly as well as the old patchy one, not sure why.

Delta Ditch Run Map

Richmond to Stockton (Click on the map and you can move it around)

View Larger Map

Will there be room for us on the boat???

The most daunting task in front of us is trying to figure out how everything will fit on the boat. We have started to look into this...We can either look at it from bow to stern, or by category of items (note: this is only our current thinking!!!)

  • Sails
Headsails:
We will leave our headsails on deck: #1 for light air, #3 (most likely to use) for heavy air and #4 for storm. We will attach them to the rail in their bag to protect them from the sun.
The blast reacher will probably also be up there...
Spinnakers:
We will leave the spinnakers inside the boat,* possibly one on the V-berth * since they don't weigh much and on the port quarter berth. We will bring all 4 of Elise's spinnakers. 3 light ones (old, pretty new and completely new) and a heavy one (France). Also, very soon, we will have one up...We will rig the spinnaker net and the chicken stay. The spinnaker net will be taken down on the jibes, but just attached to the rail somewhere convenient. We will keep the spinnaker sock on the port quarter berth.
The pole and the spare pole will be in the pole sleeve along the boom
Mainsails:
The main will be hosted and the trysail will be kept on the port quarter berth


  • Communication Devices
The SSB antenna will be along the backstay (it is a slip-on antenna)
The spare VHF antenna is at the pulpit
The SSB tuner will be at the stern, close to where the antenna gets into the boat
The VHF antenna is at the top of the mast. We might take a spare just in case a bird decides to sit on it again
The main SSB unit will be bolted and braced on the right-hand side of the nav table. We will have stickers with the numbers of the weatherfax stations and the emergency stations all over it. We can easily read the GPS from there so it'll be easy to give our position
The hand-held VHF will be in the waterproof grab bag
The satellite phone will be fully charged and in the grab bag
The EPIRB will be in the grab bag
The personal EPIRB will be with our night personal gear/close to our personal and safety gear
The laptop will be in a water and bullet proof sealed hardcase, attached to one of the settees with bungee cords or velcro. The laptop will sit on the nav table when in use or when being charged
The VHF is bolted onto the cabin top, inside the cabin

  • Navigation Equipment
The GPS Antenna is sitting on the stern pulpit
The hand-held GPS will be in the grab bag
The SF bay and CA coast charts will be in the nav table
The Ocean and Kanehoe charts will be rolled up next to the nav table behind the starboard settee
The hand-bearing compass is in the nav table
The starfinder and almanach, reduction tables and universal plotting sheets will be in the nav table
The divider, compass, rulers and other various navigation instruments are in the nav table
The rules of the road, flag table and nav lights recap are in the nav table
Tricolor nav lights are sitting at the top of the mast
Spare (regular) nav lights are at deck level
Emergency hand-held nav lights are under the sink
The anchor ball and motoring cones are under the sink
The weather faxes will be received via the SSB and viewed on the computer
My blog entries will probably come from the satellite phone
My watch will be firmly attached around my wrist
The magnetic compasses are on the bulkhead in the cockpit
The NKE instruments are to the right of the starboard compass
The TakTik is mounted on the mast
The autopilot is fitted below deck with the commands with the rest of the NKE instruments (compass, depth sounder, speedo) and we can carry a wireless remote as well
The barometer is on the port bulkhead

  • Other emergency items
The radar reflector will be mounted in the rig
The mirror will be in the grab bag
The flares will be in the waterproof sealed hard case specifically designed for flares
The personal strobe will be attached to our lifejackets
Our sailing knife will be in our pocket with us on deck
The boat knife will be by the sink
The emergency epoxy will be in the emergency drawer
Whistle will be attached to our lifejackets
Tethers will be either attached to our lifejackets or hung over lines designed for this purpose and running over the port settee
Our lifejackets have in-built harnesses
Our spare lifejackets will be stored around the MOB tube along the port-side quarterbirth. We will have one type I spare PFD each
A spare harness will be next to this spare PFD
A harness to go aloft will be next to the spare sailing harness (for tethers)
The tow line will be under the port settee
The engine will be attached to the stern post under the cockpit, alongside its mount
The emergency water bladders will be velcro'ed to resined-in light planks of wood at the head of each quarter berth
The gas tanks will be attached to the stern pulpit on both sides
The emergency auto pilot will be attached behind the engine to the engine post along with its electrical cable
The emergency tiller will be next to the emergency autopilot
The emergency rudder will be attached to the stern of the boat ready for deployment
The banding tool will be sitting between the two quarterberths
Some of the first aid kit will be in the safety drawer, some in the grab bag. The grab bag will be right at the beginning of the starboard quarterberth, ready to be pulled out
Fenders will be stowed as far behind as possible, wherever they fit...They won't need to be accessed for a couple of weeks...
The anchor will be stowed under the starboard settee
The stove will be at the V-berth, port-side bulkhead
The main bucket will be at the central "head" location
The second emergency bucket will be behind the engine and will contain cleaning equipment
We don't know yet where the liferaft is going to go...somewhere on deck. Maybe stern pulpit, maybe down in the cockpit ahead of the traveler
Flash light will be in the nav table
Spot light will be under the sink
Horseshoe will be mounted to the stern pulpit
Lifesling + strobe + drogue + man overboard pole will be mounted to the stern pulpit and fitted inside its stern tube
The phone numbers to the Hawaii and SF Coast Guards will be in the grab bag and the nav station
The phone numbers of every single doctor I know around the world will be in the nav station and the grab bag (always good to have someone up at any time of day and night)
The paddle and the boat hook will both be attached to the rail with quick release knots
Through-hull plugs are next to the throughhull holes under the V-berths (Elise has only two of those, for the speedo...)
The others are stored in the safety drawer
Nav table and drawers will be velcro'ed close
The plexiglas double-companionway hatch has lanyard and shackles with quick release to keep them in place
We are thinking of fitting a 'L' shape device through the sliding cabin top hatch so it can be closed and opened from both outside and inside (so we don't get trapped inside)
The forward hatch will be dogged (may be open on really calm days to air out the boat a bit...)
The flare box will be tied to the port settee behind the leecloth (we will be sitting on the starboard side only...)

  • Food
2 Mugs stored in the port-side canvass pockets (they will also be used as regular glasses...)
2 bowls stored at the same place. Anti-slip mats are there too
American flag, protest flag and StFYC burgees are also stowed there. (we use France as a French flag)
camping cutlery will be stowed there
Camping pots and pans will be stowed under the sink
Plastic plates will be stowed in the sink
Hot flask will be stowed in the sink (we can boil hot water at the beginning of the night and have hot tea or soup all night long without having to use the stove again!)
The kettle will be stowed on the stove, secured with a bungee cord when not in use
We will pack our regular meals in sealed waterproof ziplock bags, organize by day. We will store the last day at the bottom and the most recent days up on top. They will be stored under the quarterberths (and on the port-side quarterberth). The ones we need to access next will be within arm's length. We can move the whole pack forward as time goes by.
We will have a cooler box up on deck (attached with a lanyard) that will contain the snacks of the day: energy bars, nuts, fruits, beef jerky for Nathan, dried snap peas for me, etc...
We will stow the wine bottle next to the anchor wrapped in rags. We will tape the corkscrew to the shelf along the port bulkhead
We won't be using the stove very often and each time, we will make sure that there is enough air flow to make sure that no toxic gas remain below deck

  • Water
We will store some of the cooking water in big 2-4 gallon jugs next to the head (under the "central" V-berth seat) - we will have water bottles under the sink
We will store a lot of bottles of water in the cooler and additional water under the quarter berth
The rest of the water we will be using will be all around the boat

  • Spare Parts and repair equipment
Spare electrical, small boat and chemical parts and dock lines will be kept under the port settee
One of the spare spinnakers may be sitting on top of the port settee kept in place with a lee cloth
The spare lines will be wrapped around the MOB tube as the regular lines are today (the regular lines will be rigged on deck for the duration of the trip)
The light spinnaker lines and the second set of spinnaker lines will be at that place as well, as well as tag lines
The spare boat hat will be there
Spare sailing gloves will be in the safety drawer
Rigging, mast, duct and electrical tape will be under the nav table, alongside lube, saws and blades and boltcutters
Sail tape will be under the nav table
Instrument and winch covers will be under the port settee
The toolbox will be under the starboard settee, forward of the anchor
Some tools will be stored on the top compartment of the flares box
Spare batteries will be in the nav table and under the starboard settee next to the toolbox - some in the nav table
"toilet" bags, empty garbage bags and ziplock bags will be stowed at the V-berth
Sail ties are in the blue pockets next to the nav table as are the spare regular 14-16' electrical cable spools

  • Electricity Devices
The heavy batteries will be under the V-berth, one on either side, in plastic boxes and strapped on
Cables will be run through holes and under floorboards
Electrical panel for the NKE system is along the port-side settee (the flux gate is in-between the two berths below deck)
We will place the biggest solar panel at the stern and the two long ones most likely along the lifeline on each side (where they are least likely to get damaged by lined, etc...and probably upright to protect them from lines, etc...Maybe one facing in each direction. It would be great to have the ones on the side able to pivot so we can try to catch as much of the sun as possible every time...Maybe in the future, we can think about wind power. That could even work at night.
We should certainly be able to run the autopilot during the day as the battery depletion rate won't be greater than the replacement rate with the big solar panel...but at night, not sure yet!

  • Personal Gear
Our personal gear (eg spares, toiletry bag, except that mine can be hanged, sleeping bags) will be kept in our seabag on the port quarter berth
Our foulweather gear, current gear (gloves, hat, etc...) will be on the port settee and hanging off lines
The mirror is right by the nav table
The portable shower will be stowed in the sink
Comfy mattress will be on the starboard quarter berth (where we will sleep) as well as the boat cushions, unless in use on deck
headlamps will be hanging off that nice port-side line...
Toilet paper is stowed under the V-berth
Kitchen towels stowed next to the sink (around the "faucet")

We might push out the full garbage bags all the way to the stern (it's out of the way, but it's also right where our head will be when we will be sleeping, might not smell super good...
And finally, I will put foam (or some of these dinghy air pockets) at the stern and at the bow to provide additional buoyancy. I sank once and I don't want to sink twice. It is actually also a safety measure. If you can stay on your boat, it will be much safer than if you are drifting in a liferaft some place.

If we have time, might fit some marine loudspeakers around the stern pulpit and find some kind of audio device...iPod-like...I guess AM waves travel pretty far too.