Look what the cat dragged in...

OK, I am cheap.  And broke too, after the VanIsle application and all the other goodies we have added.  So we can't afford a ton of new sails right now.  But look at the wicked weapon we found in a quantum bag recently.  Thanks to Al and Stu who have been combing dumpsters across the country to help us go more quickly round the cans, round the county, and round the island in 2011!

A Disgusting Fit of Heroism

Happy Holidays!  Tis the season to be jolly, and while we haven't been sailing as much, there is still plenty happening.

Lots of improvements to the boat.  Improved steering, lots of weight gone, sails evaluated, re-measured, diagrammed for TWS/AWA (Graeme).  Then re-diagrammed accurately (Al).

Now we just need to find a time to go sailing.

Speaking of projects, the Hero of the Month for our crew has to be Al Hughes.

Just prior to last race, I managed to drop a full holding tank that we unwisely suspended from the topping lift on my hand.  Made a couple of pretty good sized holes, forced me to wander around with electrical tape on my paw for a few days, and still we failed to remove the fecal matter.  Made for good comedy though, and we somehow finished third in spite of our problems with bleeding and pooping.

Al decided enough is enough and took matters into his own hands.  On a sunny day in December he took Kotuku to the pump out station, jury rigged a feeder hose into the depths of her bowels, and gave the boat a much needed, um, enema.  Then in a fit of energy (or disgust) he ripped out the completely frozen macerator, the faulty Y-valves, and the other offensive bits.  Not sure he was happy about it, but I know that some members of our crew will be much happier knowing that their private business can be pumped out in a more normal fashion.

Thanks Al!  I am sure the old girl feels a little lighter on her feet as a result of your hard work.

Application for Van Isle 360 is in!

Met a major milestone yesterday by sending the application off for our biggest race in 2011.  If you don't enter, you can't race, and I am excited to get to work on being more competitive next year so that we can be in the hunt in Nanaimo.  We made great progress in the back half of 2010, but there is lots of hard work to do.  Sail inventory to build, training, seamanship courses, life rafts to certify, and logistics and planning required.  And sailing.  Lots of it.

Speaking of logistics, last night after climbing Eli and I designed a rack system to build over the 4x4 pick-up we will use to tow the trailer with all of our stuff.  We decided that a pick-up + trailer would be more flexible and greater load carrying capacity than the RV we had lined up.  After that, we sketched (on bar napkins) a few modular table systems to hold the appetizers and snacks that will await the boat at the end of each leg.  All aluminum, custom fabbed of course.  Still working on a kegalator for the tailgate, but I think Eli has a plan for this too.  He has been practicing with the welder, and he sure seems handy after a few beers!

Proposed Race Calendar 2011

Hot off the press, not final, but everybody is asking.  Here is a preview.  

12 races, 12 months.  We'll do the Ballard Cup Series again on Monday nights for our practice sessions.  We may do other races if we can make time for them, but the goal is to maximize our preparation while minimizing impact on family and work.  With that in mind, we cut down on the multi-day buoy races and the deliveries, except on those races that happen to be in Canada.  Or Anacortes.  Focus on distance/point-to-point, and getting ready to be competitive for the VanIsle 360.

So here is the current thinking.  Check your schedules and let me know.

1/8 Dumamish Head.  Cold.  Close.  Fun.

Nothing on the calendar in Feb, except skiing.  Possible practices TBD.

Mar is our busiest month so get you affairs sorted early.

3/5 Center Sound Series #1 (all CSS races are one day/Shilshole based)

3/12 CSS #2

3/26 CSS #3

4/22 Southern Strait (West Van)

5/28-29 Swiftsure (Victoria)

6/4-18 VanIsle 360 (Nanaimo)

Nothing in July--Go cruising!

8/28-29 Northern Century (Anacortes)

Nothing in September.  Go cruising some more!

10/8-9 PSSC (Shilshole)

10/21 Grand Prix (Shilshole)

11/12 Round The County (West Sound)

For those who want to do VanIsle, the spring calendar is particularly important.  Helping out with deliveries and boat prep will be important too, so volunteer if you can!

Winter Vashon: Battling all the way around the course

Nothing about this race was easy.  The delivery was against a big tide, and finished in the dark.  No parking for late arrivals at the yacht club, so we slept next to the ferry at the boat launch pier.  Got to the start a bit late as we didn't have tasks clearly assigned, were late getting the jib up, and got too far from the line at the start.

Had to battle through dirty air in chop and fight for skinny lanes.  Current and wind shifts are a bit difficult to detect in a washing machine.  Blew up a jib sheet.  Tacked.  Blew up the other.  Tacked again.  Swore.  Dodged a de-masted boat.  Felt really sorry.  Got nailed by a gust and a wave.  Swore again.

But battle we did.  John did a hell of a job keeping the boat on her feet.  Stu and Al fed us more of the shifts than most of the other boats caught, and kept us in the current lanes.  Tony called puffs, when they weren't continuous.  I had a frustrating battle at the helm, but snarled through the waves and grimaced through the round ups to keep us going.  Slowly we ground back, picking off one boat at a time on the long beat up Colvos passage.  Amazingly, as we reached across to the top mark we could see that we would round in first for our class.

Up went the green rainbow kite.  Down came the #3.  Out came the sun and dried up all the angst.

Off went the great white heron otherwise known as Kotuku.  Deep run down to Point Robinson followed by a tight reach to Commencement Bay.  Eventually the #1 went up, probably earlier that it needed to, but the spectacular broach that had been threatening us all the way up the Sound was averted.  And we crossed the line to the sound of the cannon.  First across the line.

We weren't quite fast enough to maintain our hold on first, as the Olson we passed at the top mark was hot on our heels and we owed them time.  The class winner, Wildflower, was with us tack for tack on the beat upwind.  And while we were able to extend our lead on the downwind leg, we couldn't save our time.

Still, 3rd place, 11th overall, with boats like Flash, Tantivity, Absolutely, and Neptune's Car behind us in the standings, we feel pretty good about the result.  89 boats including the cruising class and multi-hulls.  What a great race for this time of year in the Pacific Northwest!

The boat keeps us in the hunt.  The crew fought hard enough to get us on the podium in spite of our challenges.  And the neverending work, great attitude, and passion of this team continues to amaze me.

Thank you all for another great race!