TRANSPAC 2011 on Second Chance (Timm)

Hey Timm, here is copy of the write up I did for our club. Still seems like I am catching up on sleep. Aloha, I apologize for missing last month’s letter, I thought I was ahead of the game when I wrote it earlier this time, but I guess have to actually send it to Cherri, if you want to read it. My bust. However, I do have an excuse, not one of those dog ate my paper ones either. A group of us have been working on getting a Swan 441 ready for TRANSPAC 2011. The 2225 mile race from Long Beach, Ca. to Honolulu, Hi. After months of preparation, racing local races and the Ensenada race, we were ready, we passed all the inspections and given the ready to go. Can you say party! What a relief. The party starts out with you meeting your sponsors from Hawaii. We go to Long Beach to Shoreline Yacht Club to meet everyone doing the race, or at least in the Aloha Class and get to know the boats and crews. From there on, it has been an experience of a life time. I have been on the ocean off and on since I was 14. This was by far the best and a test of all the boating/racing I have learned. Even though we were in the condo class, (the cruising class). We had just as many sail issues and boat problems to deal with as the best high performance boats. During the first 5 days we couldn’t get the water maker to work, leaving us with the decision to turn around and come home. We added another set of eyes to the problem, they found we had an air leak in the line, bingo; the water maker was working. I know, there some of you rolling your eyes, thinking what happened to the days of carrying everything you needed for a passage. But it is the way to go these days, especially when you think a gallon of water weighs 8.8 lbs per gallon times 9 people at 1 gallon per day. Then, you get the privilege to take a shower every couple of days. Ok, so back to what happened; just before the halfway point we had an electrical fire around 0230 in the morning. Thankfully the circuit breaker popped and nothing flammable caught fire. We were able to get it out. We went through spinnakers. We got hit with heavier winds and rain squalls that created knock downs and a round down where we buried the spinnaker pole into the bottom of a wave and lost gear. After that we got the spinnaker up and flew it until just before we got hit with the next squall, we doused and reefed the main just before it hit. We started surfing at high speeds on a 28000 lb Lazer. The only casualty; a circular pin had popped through the gorilla tape and tore the spinnaker on the takedown. I taped the last spinnaker back together for the last 600 miles, but the wind was so high we didn’t fly it. After all the adrenalin, we were just satisfied to finish in the winds and speed we had. The race was 2225 miles from Long Beach, Ca to Honolulu, Hi. We sailed over 2800 miles, some of that good and some of that bad. We had everything from light winds on the nose in the beginning to later, running in 25-35 knots with higher gusts from the rain squalls. Mostly we dealt with 15-25 and confused seas. But once we did get that long rolling Pacific swell everyone tells stories about, it was, it was the best sailing and surfing you can get, you could hook up and get the boat to plain for long periods, the speedo would go from 6.8 and 7.2 to 8.6 and more. If you looked at a hand held GPS, we saw 11’s plus . Overall, our speed averaged 6.6 over the course. Everyone had to contribute something to the trip, I like to cook, I provisioned and made the meals for the boat. Breakfast was fresh apples and bananas with oat meal, or granola bars. Lunches were ham and turkey sandwiches with different cheeses, dried fruits and chips. Dinners included spaghetti and meat balls, sausage and peppers, a chicken pot pie filling over mashed potatoes, black eyed peas and ham over rice, stir fry chicken and vegetables over rice, red beans and rice, beef stroganoff, and more. Channel Islands Yacht Club sponsored the boat and had a few fund raisers for the crew to offset our costs. One of the meals was a pot roast, someone experienced in Bali. They donated it to us for the trip. I vacuum sealed the roast and froze them. I added garlic mashed potatoes and fresh steamed green beans. That was our half way dinner. I brought animal cookies and frozen strawberries, I snuck on a can of whip Crème. That was our Strawberries and short cake. I can say no one got hungry or lost any weight on this trip. Well, maybe I did lose some. As well as many of us know, there is always a bigger picture. Someone won this class and other boats placed well. But, we finished 6th on Tuesday 15 days and 2hours and 30 something minutes into this race. As we were coming down the Malaki Channel in 25 plus winds and huge seas, looking for the finish line, I was on deck looking for the finish line, the R2 Buoy, ¾ of a mile off Diamond Head; you have to finish within 100 yards to starboard. I can see the pin, we focused on the course. All of a sudden I see another red marker in front of us, I ask what is this mark and everyone says this is not ours don’t worry about it, as we get closer, I notice it is a Kayaker and he is out of his Kayak and has no paddle or life vest on, I don’t know if you know, but my other sin is ocean kayaking and all we do is practice rescues. This guy had no safety equipment. I started yelling he is in trouble and we need to do a rescue. We went into full Man Overboard Mode and dropped our Man over Board Module for him to get into. You just never think; Every time you do a man over drill, which it may benefit. We picked up the Kayaker who drifted off shore with the winds and outgoing tide. He had been out paddling and snapped his paddle. He had been adrift for more than 4 hours and we came upon him while we were looking for our finish line. As I give a glance skyward, I realize, this race was not ours for the finish times, but somewhere, someone of a higher authority made it clear, this was a learning lesson for all and that life’s rewards may not always be silver or platinum… Oh, I almost forgot to mention what happens when you finish. First you have to wait for the inspectors to come aboard and inspect your boat, which is tough, because you see your better halves, friends and a welcoming committee waiting for the race committee to sign off your paperwork and release the boat. After that you are welcomed by the Transpac Commodore, this year Bill Lee of Santa Cruz Yachts comes aboard and welcomes you. Then after that they give the go ahead for family and friends to come aboard. They give you a Tea Leaf Leigh and a Mai Tai, then, they take you to your party with more people waiting for you and all kinds of food and drinks. Since we got in so late, every night was a party by a yacht club and the days someone took us around and showed us the island. Wow, Hawaii is sure nice. So far, I have been asked by as many people as I can think of since I have been home, would I do this race again. “You bet ya”. I am looking for a boat and crew that will make it as fun and comfortable as possible in as little time we have to spend out there. Thank you for letting me take up your precious time. See you at the club or on the waters. Randy Commodore 2011 Anacapa Yacht Club

Wow great time! I want some. From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Randy Alcorn Sent: Friday, September 02, 2011 10:25 AM To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: [Cal_Boats] TRANSPAC 2011 on Second Chance (Timm) Hey Timm, here is copy of the write up I did for our club. Still seems like I am catching up on sleep. Aloha, I apologize for missing last month’s letter, I thought I was ahead of the game when I wrote it earlier this time, but I guess have to actually send it to Cherri, if you want to read it. My bust. However, I do have an excuse, not one of those dog ate my paper ones either. A group of us have been working on getting a Swan 441 ready for TRANSPAC 2011. The 2225 mile race from Long Beach, Ca. to Honolulu, Hi. After months of preparation, racing local races and the Ensenada race, we were ready, we passed all the inspections and given the ready to go. Can you say party! What a relief. The party starts out with you meeting your sponsors from Hawaii. We go to Long Beach to Shoreline Yacht Club to meet everyone doing the race, or at least in the Aloha Class and get to know the boats and crews. From there on, it has been an experience of a life time. I have been on the ocean off and on since I was 14. This was by far the best and a test of all the boating/racing I have learned. Even though we were in the condo class, (the cruising class). We had just as many sail issues and boat problems to deal with as the best high performance boats. During the first 5 days we couldn’t get the water maker to work, leaving us with the decision to turn around and come home. We added another set of eyes to the problem, they found we had an air leak in the line, bingo; the water maker was working. I know, there some of you rolling your eyes, thinking what happened to the days of carrying everything you needed for a passage. But it is the way to go these days, especially when you think a gallon of water weighs 8.8 lbs per gallon times 9 people at 1 gallon per day. Then, you get the privilege to take a shower every couple of days. Ok, so back to what happened; just before the halfway point we had an electrical fire around 0230 in the morning. Thankfully the circuit breaker popped and nothing flammable caught fire. We were able to get it out. We went through spinnakers. We got hit with heavier winds and rain squalls that created knock downs and a round down where we buried the spinnaker pole into the bottom of a wave and lost gear. After that we got the spinnaker up and flew it until just before we got hit with the next squall, we doused and reefed the main just before it hit. We started surfing at high speeds on a 28000 lb Lazer. The only casualty; a circular pin had popped through the gorilla tape and tore the spinnaker on the takedown. I taped the last spinnaker back together for the last 600 miles, but the wind was so high we didn’t fly it. After all the adrenalin, we were just satisfied to finish in the winds and speed we had. The race was 2225 miles from Long Beach, Ca to Honolulu, Hi. We sailed over 2800 miles, some of that good and some of that bad. We had everything from light winds on the nose in the beginning to later, running in 25-35 knots with higher gusts from the rain squalls. Mostly we dealt with 15-25 and confused seas. But once we did get that long rolling Pacific swell everyone tells stories about, it was, it was the best sailing and surfing you can get, you could hook up and get the boat to plain for long periods, the speedo would go from 6.8 and 7.2 to 8.6 and more. If you looked at a hand held GPS, we saw 11’s plus . Overall, our speed averaged 6.6 over the course. Everyone had to contribute something to the trip, I like to cook, I provisioned and made the meals for the boat. Breakfast was fresh apples and bananas with oat meal, or granola bars. Lunches were ham and turkey sandwiches with different cheeses, dried fruits and chips. Dinners included spaghetti and meat balls, sausage and peppers, a chicken pot pie filling over mashed potatoes, black eyed peas and ham over rice, stir fry chicken and vegetables over rice, red beans and rice, beef stroganoff, and more. Channel Islands Yacht Club sponsored the boat and had a few fund raisers for the crew to offset our costs. One of the meals was a pot roast, someone experienced in Bali. They donated it to us for the trip. I vacuum sealed the roast and froze them. I added garlic mashed potatoes and fresh steamed green beans. That was our half way dinner. I brought animal cookies and frozen strawberries, I snuck on a can of whip Crème. That was our Strawberries and short cake. I can say no one got hungry or lost any weight on this trip. Well, maybe I did lose some. As well as many of us know, there is always a bigger picture. Someone won this class and other boats placed well. But, we finished 6th on Tuesday 15 days and 2hours and 30 something minutes into this race. As we were coming down the Malaki Channel in 25 plus winds and huge seas, looking for the finish line, I was on deck looking for the finish line, the R2 Buoy, ¾ of a mile off Diamond Head; you have to finish within 100 yards to starboard. I can see the pin, we focused on the course. All of a sudden I see another red marker in front of us, I ask what is this mark and everyone says this is not ours don’t worry about it, as we get closer, I notice it is a Kayaker and he is out of his Kayak and has no paddle or life vest on, I don’t know if you know, but my other sin is ocean kayaking and all we do is practice rescues. This guy had no safety equipment. I started yelling he is in trouble and we need to do a rescue. We went into full Man Overboard Mode and dropped our Man over Board Module for him to get into. You just never think; Every time you do a man over drill, which it may benefit. We picked up the Kayaker who drifted off shore with the winds and outgoing tide. He had been out paddling and snapped his paddle. He had been adrift for more than 4 hours and we came upon him while we were looking for our finish line. As I give a glance skyward, I realize, this race was not ours for the finish times, but somewhere, someone of a higher authority made it clear, this was a learning lesson for all and that life’s rewards may not always be silver or platinum… Oh, I almost forgot to mention what happens when you finish. First you have to wait for the inspectors to come aboard and inspect your boat, which is tough, because you see your better halves, friends and a welcoming committee waiting for the race committee to sign off your paperwork and release the boat. After that you are welcomed by the Transpac Commodore, this year Bill Lee of Santa Cruz Yachts comes aboard and welcomes you. Then after that they give the go ahead for family and friends to come aboard. They give you a Tea Leaf Leigh and a Mai Tai, then, they take you to your party with more people waiting for you and all kinds of food and drinks. Since we got in so late, every night was a party by a yacht club and the days someone took us around and showed us the island. Wow, Hawaii is sure nice. So far, I have been asked by as many people as I can think of since I have been home, would I do this race again. “You bet ya”. I am looking for a boat and crew that will make it as fun and comfortable as possible in as little time we have to spend out there. Thank you for letting me take up your precious time. See you at the club or on the waters. Randy Commodore 2011 Anacapa Yacht Club