Sealing off aft cables

Protecting the electrical system as much as possible.

Sawing off excess bolt

Thank you Serge

New gooseneck...

Mirror

thank you serge

View from main mast of Echappee

A couple of weekends ago I helped out Nathan with some issues that required a trip aloft.

View was great so I took some pictures.

Holder for ST 2,000 (and x5 wand)

Added this little guy again (after last year's Long Pac, I learned that the regular holder for the ST 2,000 does not work well...the autopilot keeps getting out of it. This works)

Unidentified lifeform on Elise

or ex lifeform..

Tuning the rig up

Jason the Rigger

Elise now tuned up for some heavy weather stuff

Replacing lifesling cover

New

Old, first tried to fix it but not really working. and pretty sure that if I don't do anything about it, I will be waving it byebye on the trip.

Installing big solar panel

Jason the Great

Sealing off electrical connections

Particularly the base of the mast - very exposed to weather

thx Serge

getting elise ready for her passage

thx Serge

Storm Tactics

Preparation is continuing. This book can be summarized as 

'learn to heave to and park your boat'

(and handy practical advice on how to rig a para anchor/drogue to get your boat to not foresail if the wind velocity increase past the point where either a triplereefed mainsail, or a trysail is too much for the rudder...or if you have no more rudder!)

A quote to remember

'I believe that any boat can be made to heave-to' - Sir Peter Blake.

Mast goes back up

With Jason and help

Looking better. Only missing item now is the boom...

Bilge Pump Fixing

The old and the new

And tested

Thanks Serge

Splashing Elise for her mast to come back up

At the hoist

The Mast

Mastless Elise in the water.

Her trip to the hoist

Hooking her up

Photo from Latitude 38 back in April

Nat, Brian, Nathan, Mark and Scott

Elise is home with a fabulously smooth glossy looking keel

Gordie is a God that every sailor in the area should worship....He just worked a miracle on a super tight schedule...

Parts of the old keel. Turns out the gelcoat/paint and first layer of fiber glass was super thin and the epoxy was also very thin in places. The first two layers would come off with a screwdriver

Next the mast needs to go back up so she can recover her proud allure

Check out this beauty. Amazing.

Home again - and resting before her voyage.

Black Feathers (book)

Written by a Single Handed Transpac 2008 racer. (I just read it as prep) - Great perspective. I love the bird story.

Elise's bathroom

This is hilarious  fantastic job Serge...

Guts

I see a spec of dust I need to brush off...

Isle

More around the rocks photos

purchased from Leslie Richter -  http://www.rockskipper.com/

Was blowing a little over 20 knots, looking at main sheet arrangement, main sheet needs a tad more twist

Getting traveler up to increase the twist in the main and depower the boat. I was kicking ass at this time (although it was a real lucky break currentwise) and I lost all of this in the light air, then no air right off the Richmond Bridge. I am still a fairly lousy light air sailor, actually I am a light air sailor when it comes after so much fun. I am now much much better in light air when the entire day is light air. there is hope...

Neutral helm, balanced fast boat. Life is good?

OK; back to focusing. This is a race.

fear?

A lot of people ask me if I am not afraid when sailing solo. I do experience 'fear' or 'anxiety' mostly before I go which is why I am spending soooo much time trying to reduce to the maximum I can the likelihood of any failure (+ it's a race so even any failure that is just an annoyance but that could hae been prevented is probably a time loss I can do without).

I have had the boat surveyed (and after the keel incident that part is going to have a second lookover), I have had the rig taken down and inspected - and these are the two most important parts of the boat. I am taking a spare forestay (believe me I have learned that lesson...).

I am also worried about not getitng enough sleep which can become dangerous as you may not make good decisions when you are sleep deprived. I love one of Skip Allan's stories of the 2008 transpac where a sleep deprived racer is trying to have a radio conversation with Venus believing it was a ship light. And that's why I have invested so much time and money in steering systems and the associated electrical system (like pumping 200W worth of power into the batteries, etc...)

That's also why I have been sailing quite a bit solo since the beginning of the year - and I have been sailing the boat offshore since I got her so she is probably the safest boat for me to do the race on. I know what we can take safely.

I usually experience anxiety when I am light to no air and close to 'something' or in area with high ship traffic - because I am always worried that my outboard won't start...that's why I have AIS, carry an anchor, etc... and now I have even experienced rocks...proximity of lee shores isn't an issue for most of the race...so I am not to worried about that.

I do not experience any anxiety of 'what if a whale hits me again', 'what if I hit a container', etc...and there are two reasons for that. a) I can't do much to prevent it so I won't spend any time and effort there. + this risk exists with or without crew...Instead I look at the worst case scenario and I rehease in my mind what I would. Once I do this, I can go to sleep because I know that b) if it happens, I will most likely come out ok.

For instance, if your rig comes down - and assuming if has not hit you on the head and killed you instantly in which case there is nothing more you need to worry about - the real immediate risk you need to take care of is the mast poking a hole into the watertight hull. Elise's mast went down once, or rather it broke at the top. But there was absolutely no risk of poking. So we had plenty of time to remove the rigging, sort out cables, lines, etc... jury rig a mini sail and sail downwind slowly to the nearest port. It wasn't fun but it wasn't dangerous. And if the mast is threatening to poke a hole in the boat, I would

a) try to add cushions/protection to the boat on the side the mast is on (like fenders, sail bags hanging off lifelines, etc... to give myself more time to assess if I can recover the rig (unlikely given my strength) or if I need to let go of it and
b) remove pins (easier than cutting cables), run lines out of the mast, etc... and if need be use bolt cutter and saw to saw through shroud wire and rod

The other most catastrophic thing that can happen is your boat taking on water. If it is a small intake, a small plug to stop the water intake and potentially a fiberglass/fast cure epoxy fix over the top of it is probably enough to get you to your destination. Plug might be enough too if it is then dripping in and you might just have to pump out water from time to time.

If big big hole and boat going down, I have a lot of 'air filled' stuff on the boat which may prevent it from sinking and keep desk just above water. In which case, I might ask for help but might be able to stay on boat while it gets there. Gives me better comms, better protection from the elements. If boat really sinking...there is a liferaft which I keep on deck because it is easier to launch it from there. I have already had to take to a liferaft it isn't the end of the world (yet).

And I will keep my sat phone charged up at all times - and I can read 'War and Peace' to the Coast Guard before I run out of air time.

Other than that, a line might be cut loose and I can use spectra lines or halyards, or other sheets, etc... to still keep the rig up.

Anything else on the boat might seriously slow me down (like mast folds, ALL of my spinnakers are shredded to confettis, etc... but it is unlikely to kill me and I will probably have some time to think about how to deal with it. And if I must stop racing forced by the circumstances, it isn't a bad place to take a slightly longer cruise...

Medically, I am taking a floating hospital, enough to probably stabilize my situation for a little while.

And of course I have TWO EPIRBs...

So there is risk and I can't take it away. I don't believe that it is much greater than biking to work in the city though...so I am probably embarking on a safer adventure..

So no I am not super super anxious - the boat is a fast seaworthy vessel that I trust immensely. She has proven time and time again that she is up to the task. Elise can handle conditions far worse than what I can handle (and regardless of what the Purdeys say, she heaves to perfectly well). More like a feeling of excitment!

And I always keep in mind that if I make it to the other side it is because the sea has let me pass.

Return trips booked

Elise needs to be at the Matson dock on July 16th but won't leave for another couple of days
My flight is booked for July 20th.
Both of us are booked on the sail out starting on June 28.
I can't wait to spend some quality time with her.

Very nice video about single handed gybe on an Express 27

A lot of people may say that it isn't the perfect gybe but I'll argue that it is a fantastic gybe and great video because

a) something doesn't go according to plan (and that will happen)
b) Todd remains calm, assesses situation, stabilizes situation and then just corrects it
c) it does the job, the boat did gybe

There is no drama, no rush.

Notice that he gybes the main first which is also what I do in heavier air. I had read that it is better as a 'round up preventer' and I have indeed not rounded up yet when gybing alone in heavier air (I have gybed in 27 knots singlehanded without any problem at all on San Francisco Bay).

My main problem when I gybe is still to keep the kite full (I often basically put the clew (and soon to be new tack) too far forward)

In lighter air, it looks like this



Note the sequence which is also the one that I use
1- clip on leeward side
2- twings to lifelines
3- clew about 2 feet from forestay
4- pole 2/3 back

Depending on wind speed I steer 145 to 160. In lighter air, I do gybe the main first, otherwise it is even more difficult for me to keep the kite full and it doesn't matter much.

Strangely enough, all my spinnaker handling singlehanded including dousing in 30 knot winds recently have been a lot cleaner than when full crew. They have also been much more prepared, though through and slow/methodical...perhaps because recovering from just about anything singlehanded is more work than anything else and you go the extra mile to try to avoid it?  Nathan says taht it is because it is easier to coordonate a crew of one than a crew of 5. There might be some truth to that...