Just filed the 0800 (PDT) position report... Just 171 "glorious miles" to
go and we have the boat pointed at the mark.
It's still dark on the boat of course as we are so near to Hawaii now.
Venus came up and pierces through the clouds with its intense brightness
that seems to change color like a diamond... like Jerry sang, "the spiral
light of Venus rising first and shining best."
Last night was so beautiful... perfect conditions for star gazing. The
boat moving fast enough to be easy to drive, but not so break neck that it
required a huge amount of concentration.. and the moon didn't rise until
half the night was over. Mostly clear skys let the stars pop out.. the
milky way just parallel with our course on the port side guiding us into
Hawaii. And just to make sure we didn't get lost.. I counted 4 meteors
aiming in the same way off our port bow.
Just hours away now. See you soon our loves.
(Keep the bar open friends.)
Data.
Saturday, July 19, 2014
Friday, July 18, 2014
300 miles to go!
Just a short update with 300 nm to go. The afternoon wore on with little
change in the heat.. but we did get that squall I was hoping for. For
about an hour it looked like a personal express train to Hawaii for R2. Of
course, it didn't last.. but gave us the opportunity to dry out a few
spinnakers and then enjoy the afternoon under the shade of the big A2. We
joked around and I had to ask for a moment of silence because I haven't
done enough situps to handle the belly laughs.
We see more birds now... two days ago a lone albatross, and now 6 white sea
birds (terns perhaps?) are flitting about. Clearly getting closer to land.
Hoping to get in before the bar closes on Sat night.
Data.
change in the heat.. but we did get that squall I was hoping for. For
about an hour it looked like a personal express train to Hawaii for R2. Of
course, it didn't last.. but gave us the opportunity to dry out a few
spinnakers and then enjoy the afternoon under the shade of the big A2. We
joked around and I had to ask for a moment of silence because I haven't
done enough situps to handle the belly laughs.
We see more birds now... two days ago a lone albatross, and now 6 white sea
birds (terns perhaps?) are flitting about. Clearly getting closer to land.
Hoping to get in before the bar closes on Sat night.
Data.
Tropics
Woo.. its hot here. It's late morning.. the sun is out, the deck is
burning hot and I'm writing from down below where its a bit like a steam
oven.
The good part of it being late morning though is that the sun will soon
bring the afternoon wind and we'll be back over 15 kts of wind for the next
12 hours.. it will be refreshing not to mention helpful in trying to hold
on to our position in the race. Not much to be done tactically now..
unless you count on strange rituals as means of bringing our own personal
squall to bring us to Hawaii.
In the meantime... we tell stories and laugh. Its been a good trip.. just
another day or so with any luck.
Data.
burning hot and I'm writing from down below where its a bit like a steam
oven.
The good part of it being late morning though is that the sun will soon
bring the afternoon wind and we'll be back over 15 kts of wind for the next
12 hours.. it will be refreshing not to mention helpful in trying to hold
on to our position in the race. Not much to be done tactically now..
unless you count on strange rituals as means of bringing our own personal
squall to bring us to Hawaii.
In the meantime... we tell stories and laugh. Its been a good trip.. just
another day or so with any luck.
Data.
Thursday, July 17, 2014
a female perspective ... by Lashawna
With only a couple days left in this great adventure, a realization occured
to me...I have raced across the Pacific with Team Reinrag four times now as
well as several Cabo Races, but have never contributed to our blog. Being
the only female aboard I figured I might give you the feminine perspective
of living in a 100 sq. ft. petri dish with five stinky boys (I, of course,
smell like roses). First of all, boys have a strange fascination with their
regularity and enjoy sharing information better left unsaid. There is also
the bizarre habit of insulting eachother in a loving sort of way, something
I have not been graciously exempt from. Fortunately, I too know how to say
I love you with four letter words...and, no, I don't mean L-O-V-E. Now that
we are on our 7th day of co-habitation we've really settled into our groove
of sleep, eat, drive, trim. My day goes something like this...wake up at 1
am with a red light in my face saying "Your up"...wiggle out of the "spider
hole" put on all my soggy gear, harness, head lamp...slam a Red Bull...go
on deck, take a face shot of sea water, trim sails for an hour, drive for
an hour, and the last hour of watch usually involves pillaging for snacks.
4 am...crawl back into spider hole, or not, if there's a sail
change...repeat every 3 hrs. All in all it's a good life and there's always
a little angst about the finish of a race. The six of us are spread out
among the East Coast, West Coast and Hawaii and usually only see eachother
to race. But all good things must come to an end the wind is building and I
must go "Hamachi Hunting"
Aloha,
Lush (AKA J-girl)
to me...I have raced across the Pacific with Team Reinrag four times now as
well as several Cabo Races, but have never contributed to our blog. Being
the only female aboard I figured I might give you the feminine perspective
of living in a 100 sq. ft. petri dish with five stinky boys (I, of course,
smell like roses). First of all, boys have a strange fascination with their
regularity and enjoy sharing information better left unsaid. There is also
the bizarre habit of insulting eachother in a loving sort of way, something
I have not been graciously exempt from. Fortunately, I too know how to say
I love you with four letter words...and, no, I don't mean L-O-V-E. Now that
we are on our 7th day of co-habitation we've really settled into our groove
of sleep, eat, drive, trim. My day goes something like this...wake up at 1
am with a red light in my face saying "Your up"...wiggle out of the "spider
hole" put on all my soggy gear, harness, head lamp...slam a Red Bull...go
on deck, take a face shot of sea water, trim sails for an hour, drive for
an hour, and the last hour of watch usually involves pillaging for snacks.
4 am...crawl back into spider hole, or not, if there's a sail
change...repeat every 3 hrs. All in all it's a good life and there's always
a little angst about the finish of a race. The six of us are spread out
among the East Coast, West Coast and Hawaii and usually only see eachother
to race. But all good things must come to an end the wind is building and I
must go "Hamachi Hunting"
Aloha,
Lush (AKA J-girl)
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
The power!
What a fantastic night. Starting just before our party.. we did a sail change and a
sail backwards to remove a rubber 2x4 like object that had wrapped around our keel..
we set out for a squall line. Chased it down but didn't quite catch it for 2 hours.
Then after the party, another squall came through.. JJ set a new record boatspeed at
21.2 kts. The wind kept up in the lulls to 19 kts just about all night. We hauled
the mail.
Morning came and we awaited the 0800 position report. OK.. admittedly, the 0800
position report was a bit of a disappointment to us. Clearly our competitors to the
North are just as crazy as we are racing this inspiredly designed yacht at the edge
of destruction all night long. Kudos on them.. and there are still 800 miles to go!
Our day has been perfect. The sun is out in force. (I've got a sunburn through my
shirt). The seas have grown to 2m giving nice launch ramps for surfing. The winds
remain in the 20 kts range. And R2 is just rocketing along. The sheer power is
amazing. She starts off in the 12 kt range and then a gust of wind comes with a nice
ramp and in seconds you are doing 20+ kts.. (I had a record for an hour at 22.1, but
Kevin took it back at 23.1).
The acceleration is immense. I was thinking of trying to calculate the required
power but the nav table is bouncing too much to put pencil to paper.
Where does all that power come from? Sure, its the solar flux that is measured in
megawatts per meter, causing heating of the water, evaporation, and convection of air
masses both vertically causing the squalls and in latitude causing the weather
systems.. But, still the ocean in a squall is a pretty amazing sight to see. And
maybe still more is that through (ok millenia of) naval architechture and sail
design, we apes got it focused down into a 41' boat.
Oh.. and another scatalogical update.. this ape enjoyed the head today!
Data
sail backwards to remove a rubber 2x4 like object that had wrapped around our keel..
we set out for a squall line. Chased it down but didn't quite catch it for 2 hours.
Then after the party, another squall came through.. JJ set a new record boatspeed at
21.2 kts. The wind kept up in the lulls to 19 kts just about all night. We hauled
the mail.
Morning came and we awaited the 0800 position report. OK.. admittedly, the 0800
position report was a bit of a disappointment to us. Clearly our competitors to the
North are just as crazy as we are racing this inspiredly designed yacht at the edge
of destruction all night long. Kudos on them.. and there are still 800 miles to go!
Our day has been perfect. The sun is out in force. (I've got a sunburn through my
shirt). The seas have grown to 2m giving nice launch ramps for surfing. The winds
remain in the 20 kts range. And R2 is just rocketing along. The sheer power is
amazing. She starts off in the 12 kt range and then a gust of wind comes with a nice
ramp and in seconds you are doing 20+ kts.. (I had a record for an hour at 22.1, but
Kevin took it back at 23.1).
The acceleration is immense. I was thinking of trying to calculate the required
power but the nav table is bouncing too much to put pencil to paper.
Where does all that power come from? Sure, its the solar flux that is measured in
megawatts per meter, causing heating of the water, evaporation, and convection of air
masses both vertically causing the squalls and in latitude causing the weather
systems.. But, still the ocean in a squall is a pretty amazing sight to see. And
maybe still more is that through (ok millenia of) naval architechture and sail
design, we apes got it focused down into a 41' boat.
Oh.. and another scatalogical update.. this ape enjoyed the head today!
Data
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Half way party!
Just a quick note.. because this constitutes drunk blogging. Having our
half way party... just after a long squall with 20 miles of 15+ kts
driving.. ( got the record back from JJ who did 21.2 this morning.. I hit
21.2.. silly, but fun.) Enjoyed a bottle of Port between the 6 of us and
we're feeling fine.
half way party... just after a long squall with 20 miles of 15+ kts
driving.. ( got the record back from JJ who did 21.2 this morning.. I hit
21.2.. silly, but fun.) Enjoyed a bottle of Port between the 6 of us and
we're feeling fine.
Black is the night, and full of FUN!
We aren't technically in the tropics yet.. but its starting to get
tropical. The wind is finally "abaft the beam" and the downwind spinnaker
is up. First typical day of racing.. our die is set, our "slot" can't be
changed and we focus on our boatspeed and hope that the wind to the north
with our competitors isn't that much favored.
My 11 pm watch was... worth the price of admission. Got up in the pitch
black.. moon not yet up and overcast. Lush compared it to driving the
"Space Mountain" ride. Asked about my night driving.. I boasted that it
was better than my day driving. Its funny, but in some ways, its true..
just focusing on the compass course, the curl of the spinnaker lit by the
running lights, and the feel of the sea transmitted through the deck to
your feet and the wheel to your hands. "Use the force, Luke!" On the
other hand, not seeing the world around you does leave you feeling like you
are constantly making a left turn, but just ignore that.
Did I mention there was 23+ kts of wind and we surfed to 20+ kts. Oh...
yeah. Nothing like it. So exhilarating. (As I write this... Sailor Chick
just bested my speed with 21+ kts.)
My last watch ended with dawn.. Venus came up first.. just over the edge of
a little squall. Nice misting and a bit of pressure. What a great
beginning of the day. (oh.. and the fresh air reminds me.. time for a bath
today!)
So.. are we having a good time.. you bet. Thanks everyone for making it
possible for us come out to play.
Data
tropical. The wind is finally "abaft the beam" and the downwind spinnaker
is up. First typical day of racing.. our die is set, our "slot" can't be
changed and we focus on our boatspeed and hope that the wind to the north
with our competitors isn't that much favored.
My 11 pm watch was... worth the price of admission. Got up in the pitch
black.. moon not yet up and overcast. Lush compared it to driving the
"Space Mountain" ride. Asked about my night driving.. I boasted that it
was better than my day driving. Its funny, but in some ways, its true..
just focusing on the compass course, the curl of the spinnaker lit by the
running lights, and the feel of the sea transmitted through the deck to
your feet and the wheel to your hands. "Use the force, Luke!" On the
other hand, not seeing the world around you does leave you feeling like you
are constantly making a left turn, but just ignore that.
Did I mention there was 23+ kts of wind and we surfed to 20+ kts. Oh...
yeah. Nothing like it. So exhilarating. (As I write this... Sailor Chick
just bested my speed with 21+ kts.)
My last watch ended with dawn.. Venus came up first.. just over the edge of
a little squall. Nice misting and a bit of pressure. What a great
beginning of the day. (oh.. and the fresh air reminds me.. time for a bath
today!)
So.. are we having a good time.. you bet. Thanks everyone for making it
possible for us come out to play.
Data
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