The Pacific Cup 2012 Wrap-Up with Hindsight Included

(Originally written in September.  Posted in November.)

Kotuku is back in her slip.  Summer has ended.  And a few folks asked me if I would do a quick summary of what we learned on our great adventure this summer, racing to Hawaii in the Pacific Cup.  Here is what I can dredge up from the memory banks.  Here are some highlights:

Pacific Cup, the Fun Race to Hawaii.
It is 2070 nautical miles.  And that is just the Race.  The delivery was another 750.  And the ride home?  3000?  All in Kotuku would travel nearly 6000 miles to San Francisco, to Kaneohe, on Oahu, and then home.  About 50 boats signed up from all kinds of places, including Victoria, Vancouver, Anacortes, Seattle,  Portland, and California.  2 Sloop boats, Sandpiper and Kotuku would make the journey.  Thanks to the hard work and fine sailing of her crew, Kotuku would arrive back in Seattle in good shape, and ready to race or cruise again in the fall.  And we would forge strong friendships and create lasting memories.  It would

The Fast Boats Get All the Glory.  Until They Don't.
The race itself was a slow go for the first starters, the doublehanders and slower classes.  Thanks to a healthy hit to our handicap, we were a "pretty fast" boat, and started later in the week.  After a solid start, Kotuku and crew beat out under the Golden Gate, saw 10 whales by the time we got past the Farallones, and got a kite up on Day 2.  Some of the boats who left three days in front of us were just leaving the Farallones themselves.

We had great reaching sails and we had great sailing.  True to form, the clouds began to leave us, the spin pole ground back slowly, and pretty soon we were running.  The fleet was large enough that we saw boats most days, and had a series of battles with other boats in the fleet.  We caught a tuna, and later a Mahi.  Neither fish lasted very long, because Matt is a fine chef.

The middle of the race was squally.  I remember describing it as "Launching off cliffs in pitch blackness, driving by feel, with both crew talking constantly about heading, wind direction, and speed."  It was seriously intense.  All 7 crew switched off, but when the chips were really down, Alex Simanis stepped up.  We had some pretty good drivers aboard, everybody having raced and driven offshore in breeze before, but Alex was amazing, driving for hours in the nastiest conditions.  Made for interesting sleeping when the boat was launching off waves with the water roaring off the stern, too.

It Takes An Army...
Getting the boat ready is a lot of work.  Our whole crew, led by Al Hughes, pitched in.  Here is a quick summary of what this looked liked.  It was truly a team effort, and I want to thank each and everybody for their commitment and hard work.

Matt Steverson owned the provisioning, and researched exhaustively how to get the maximum food value (and flavor!) with minimum weight.  We beta-tested concoctions on overnight races during Southern Straits, Swiftsure, and Oregon Offshore.  We carefully calculated required amounts for delivery to San Francisco, the Race, and the return leg to Seattle.  Matt hand-packed every ingredient for every meal, for every day the boat traveled on its great circle.  When we caught fish, Matt had them filleted, cubed, seasoned and added to the meal plan, almost before we had the blood cleaned off the boat.  We ate like royalty, cooking and clean-up were easy.  And we were all gloriously happy!

Emily Hawken took classes, researched offshore medical kits put together an extensive list of medical supplies from IV fluids to pain killers to catheters.  I have no doubt we had the best med kit in the fleet, but more importantly, Emily, a nurse practitioner put the meds and her knowledge to good use by providing remote support to both delivery crews who experienced some serious issues (multi-day sickness, dehydration, infection) and through her support the boat was able to carry on, although we thought of diverting on the way south, and also talked about options for getting a sick crewmember off the boat on the ride home.  Ironically, the race crew that Emily was a part of didn't have any issues more serious than rope burn and sunburn.  Thanks Emily!

Alex Simanis was our sailmaker, and built us an extremely fast downwind set of sails.  The A2 was our real weapon, and probably pulled the boat along for over 1000 miles.  It still looks great.  The S4?  Not only was it beautiful, it was extremely rugged.  In squalls I never once worried about the sail, bouncing cliff jumping off of big confused seas.  The sail just took what the sea had and pulled hard.  19.6 knots under storm grey skies.  No problem.  But Alex didn't just sell us sails.  He and the team at Ballard Sails painstakingly babied our old inventory, strenthening, re-cutting, devising interesting storage methods that allowed us to compact sails and move or hike them as necessary, something that was legal on this race.  Thanks Alex, and thanks Ballard Sails!

Nick Bannon, in addition to being a rock-star bowman, was a great help with boat prep, and he "owned the rig".  We did complete rig inspections including replacing running rigging, new masthead tricolors, new backstay, die checking our rod rigging, and a pretty huge list of other stuff.  (Need to rig a carbon spin pole--check!)  And he was our primary videographer.  Fine work, Nick!  He can drive, too...unusual for a bow guy~

Eli Secor was our chief carpenter, and assistant systems engineer.  He installed deeper sinks for doing dishes offshore, serviced the watermaker, re-built trim pieces (we break things, racing...) made offshore hatchboards, worked with Al on the emergency steering system, and generally put in more hours on the boat than anybody, except Al.

The list of work that Al performed on Kotuku would fill a novel.  Certainly more than even he could keep track of.  Want new rudder bearings?  Al figured out how to pull the rudder while we were in the water (lots of weight in the bow!)  And he installed them, too.  How about that SSB?  Al got it to work.  Um, those stupid B&G things that are supposed to tell us how fast we go?  Al replaced them, quickly and cost effectively.  And built an emergency rudder that you can use to park the boat in her slip.  And he re-built the autopilot.  And replaced the LP system.  And re-plumbed the head.  Oh, and when late in the game our prop started to fail, he said "I think I have one somewhere" and off he went to Anacortes to strip one off of his Imoca 60, Dogbark.  Plus he led both delivery crews, and navigated us around the Pacific quickly and safely.  Without Al, there would have been no race.  Thanks Al, for everything, from all of us!

Overall the experience was amazing.  We pushed the boat hard, and she responded beautifully.  The crew was tough, resilient, and damned near perfect.  Al put us in a position to win.  And we nearly did.  2nd in Class, 5th overall.  Beat some sleds and some really good sailors.  It probably came down to ratings, which on a race like this are hard to figure.  All I can say is I figure we gave it our best shot, and I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to sail across an ocean in a boat as fine as Kotuku, with a crew as good as this one.  Thanks to everyone who made this possible!

Looking Back on 2012

Good Memories

Good Weather

Good Sails!

Perseverance in Oregon Pays off in Canada

More Great Sails!

Good Friends Having Fun!

What a year!  We have had some amazing adventures together and some great times with great people. So many great people actually.  From this year's retro RTC crew, to the Pac Cup team and shore crew, to the winning efforts we put forth this spring at Southern Straits and Oregon Offshore.  (Good delivery help there too, come to think of it.)  It has been a truly remarkable year.  Thanks to everybody who participated!

Kotuku has been cruising more and more, and I don't think you will see her out many days on the race course as we move to the next phase of our sailing dream.  We will sure miss the excitement, the passion, the excellence that we developed as a team though.  It was as fine a group of sailors and people as I have worked with.  To go from a PNW newbie boat to winning the VanIsle 360, RTC a couple of times, Center Sound Series, Straits, and giving it all we had in the Pacific Cup, I wouldn't have believed it would be possible.  The hard work, the good times, the selfless contributions of each of you are what made it possible.  Thank you.

Fair winds in 2013!  We hope to see you soon on the docks, down the Sound or across an ocean.

Summer Sailing Celebration Wednesday Night!

For all of you who have shared in our summer fun, please come join us at Shilshole for a final night where we can tell stories, exchange photos, eat some salmon, and reminisce about what a great time we had sailing.  We'd love to see friends and family of the delivery crew, the race crew, and the return crew if you can make it.

Please join us at Shilshole C-dock on Wednesday, September 12th around 5:00PM.  We have lots of salmon--I didn't get to take part in the tuna harvest on the way back, but the coho have been running in the Sound and I caught 4 this weekend.  We will also have corn and salad.  Feel free to bring a dish, a snack, a drink, or a really good story.  We'd love to see you if you can swing by.

Thanks again to everyone for the wonderful year!

Welcome Home Party at Shilshole

Coming Home at last.

 The Welcome Home Party.  Thanks To everyone who came out!

Left Seattle July 1st, returned home with the boat and crew looking sharp as ever, but with something like 6000 miles under her keel in the meantime.  Great crew, great friends, good old boat.

Welcome Home Kotuku!

It sure is nice to have cell phones.  Much easier to communicate with the crew aboard when you can just call and have someone pick up the phone.  Talked to Al a few minutes ago and they are stopping at Port Angeles for burgers and beer, and to drop off Judy, who lives on the penninsula.  Talked to Judy and she sounded wonderful.  Really glad she enjoyed the experience as much as she did--these kind of memories and experiences leave a person a little changed, and she sounds like she heard the call of the sea loud and clear.

Their estimated arrival time is 7AM tomorrow morning.  Anyone who can, please make your way down to Shilshole Marina, C-dock, slip C-30 to welcome them home.  These folks have traveled 3000 miles, and the sight of friends and family when you make landfall is a powerful thing.

Welcome Back Kotuku!  Your friends and family have missed you, followed your every move, and can't wait to see you tomorrow!

The Bird is in the Bay

Just talked to Al.  They are standing around on the fuel dock at the Makah Marina in Neah Bay, waiting for it to open.  All is well, they are thinking about trying to roust up some breakfast, "maybe even an egg" he said with glee.

110 miles to go, so it will likely be late night or early morning.  Sounds like they might even go slow, which would give folks a chance to meet them at the dock in the AM if they do.  I will keep you all updated!

Still a Day away

Just to let everyone know the wind has almost died off of Flattery, speed and wind down to 5 knots, so it looks like we will stop at neah bay for fuel as it is touch and go whether we could motor long enough to make PA.  So ETA Seattle is probably back to early AM on Thursday (Graeme is a good prognosticator).  Beautiful night though with lots of bioluminesence for the first time all trip.  I could see lots of fish and birds and particularly sea lions chasing prey.  Get some sleep, Al

For those who are interested in meeting the boat when it arrives (Shilshole Marina, dock C-30), I will try to post an accurate arrival time once Al calls me.  I am thinking that he'll call this morning.  Depending on their timing I can still see them arriving late tonight, but the wee hours of the morning are most likely right now.

A Day Away and still fishing?

(OK, not a tuna, but it's the only fish photo I have from the trip)

Sailing all night, set bird kite at dawn, caught fish at 6, saw Dall's porpoises at 0630, all is good aboard Kotuku.  Forgot to report best tuna dish done by Judy last night.  Tuna chunks dredged in dry vegetarian chili mix, fried in olive oil over rice with lime juice and salsa verde.  Take the recipe to the bank my friends.  Matt has a cardboard model of the I550 about half done.  Using graham cracker boxes and super glue.  Pray that the real one has plywood and epoxy.  Looks very cool though and even has a name on it, honey, ???  Last night's gribs have winds looking much improved so likely to hit Neah Bay in the early morning.  Don't know if we will stop because fuel dock likely closed.  Will have more news this evening on that.  Starting to get static on VHF 16 and seeing bull kelp strands in the water.  Everyone is asleep.  Feeling like home and friends are near, carrying on, Al

0800 PDT position 48 06N 127 59W course 070 speed 7.0 wind 13 kt at 275, DTF 130

A Lovely Day, according to Al

(Al giving the big thumbs up)

By my vote the best day of the trip today.  Set the A3 around 8 am and carried it until mid afternoon.  The breeze built to around 9 knots which was significant with apparent at 50.  Back to jib and breeze continued to around 14 peak at about 1700.  Now slowly dropping, currently 12 knots, very pleasant easy sailing at 6-7 knots.  Temp mid 60's, wind 5-15, seas flat, saw a lone Dall's porpoise (for sure black and white with small nose) visit, Had multiple fly bys of Sei whales.  One was a bit too close, right under the boat visible in the clear water.  They must be shallow swimmers between breaths as you could see them under 20'(?) of water by the glow of the sun on their backs as well as surface turbulence even though they had not surfaced.  Pretty rapid traveling speed of around 7-8 knots.  Caught another albacore today, around 10 lbs.  Hope to bring some home for the troops.  Listened to some Renee Fleming and Weller, as well as Weinstein playing Goldmark and currently playing a French singer(Corine Clement) that Odom has on his playlist.  No motoring except for a charge period.  Looks good for this evening and tomorrow daytime, touch wood, then according to gribs it all fizzles.  We hope they are wrong or we are close enough to motor in to Neah Bay.  We (Matt and I) had enough viewing of Duntze Rock buoy during Swiftsure to last a lifetime.  Wishing you all well, Aloha, Al

Thanks for the ID Diane Carter.  The others could easily have been Pacific white sided, the lighting was not good.  None of us here had ever seen the others before.

1900 position 47 47N 130 16W course 060M speed 7.2 wind 11 NW DTF 226

T-48 hours to Landfall

Still sailing, hoisted the A3 this morning, Kotuku pulling 6's in 6 knots of breeze, sun is up and life is good.  These days 24 hours without the D4 is sweet.  Judy did a great job for a rookie keeping the boat moving through her whole watch last night following the apparent wind in difficult conditions of under 5 knots, beating east.  We'll make a sailor out of her I think.  Rest of us doing fine although Emily and her mention of fresh peach pie has at least me drooling in my sleep.  Looking forward to landfall in the next 48 hours hopefully and then another 24 to Seattle.  Sayonara, Al

0800 PDT position 47 42N 131 56W course 060 speed 6.5 wind 310 @ 6.0 kt  DTF 291

Yo Katy, Matt needs mail!

Go M's  .500 is good goal for us--(I told them the Mariners are only 6 games off .500, and 11/12 at home recently.)

Also, sounds like John is pretty much back to full strength.  Al has him standing watches, regardless.  

Go Kotuku!  It will be great to see you all back home this week!

Cranking off the miles

Pretty good sailing day, no real lulls, wind is lifting and sheets are easing.  Still under white sails clicking off the miles.  Partly cloudy afternoon with a short rain shower. Had a short Dall's porpoise visit, about 6 individuals.  Caught another albacore, a little bigger one around 10 lbs.  Matt and Judy prepped and made cheesy tuna s**t tonight.  Ummmmm good.  Tonight's winds should ease and maybe go fluky but tomorrow should be okay if the gribs can be believed.  Carrying on the charge home, Al

1900 PDT position 47 22N 133 43W, course 055M speed 7.5 winds 13 knots NNW, DTF 366

Note from Graeme:  These turkeys still aren't saying when they will arrive.  366 miles to go as of last night.  I have them in Neah Bay Wednesday morning, and Seattle on Thursday.  But that is just my math.  Right now they are hauling the mail, and could beat that.  Or the wind could die, and they won't.  But they are off the coast of WA right now, getting closer every minute.  So it won't be too long.  Hang in there!

500 miles to go

Kotuku continues on her merry way.  Around 1930 ZPDT Kotuku was visited by a pod of around 40 Dall's porpoises.  Matt got some underwater footage with the GoPro that is kind of cool.  John has video and Steve has some stills.  One curious observation around 40-50% of them had no dorsal fin??  the ones w/o dorsal were all black, no white patches.  Young ones?  Fukoshima ones?  Help us out, thanks Al

Any ideas?  I am off on a boat myself which is why posts are delayed. -Graeme

Sailing along fine, except for John

We bailed on the east around 1000, found the wind we left 2 days ago (when we should have jibed) and are sailing (yes) again due north.  We just could get across the front no matter what we did (even motoring all night).  It seemed to going east as fast as the boat.  Now the problem is how to maintain some semblance of sailing over the next 48/72 hrs to be in a position to get the re-established NW flow forecast for 96 hrs from now.  Had a six hour layover by a small sandpiper seeking a refuge from the drizzle/mist but it was a long ways from shore.  Hope it finds its way.  Late this afternoon had a swim by of a mother daughter whale duo.  Black bodies, significant hooked dorsal fin way back from the blowhole, estimate at 40-50 ft long of the adult, no mist from breathing, headed to gulf of Alaska, guessing sei, maybe minke but looked to be too big.  Cheers, Al

1700 PDT position 43 50N 142 24W course 015M speed 7.0 DTF 783 wind WSW 9 kt

What Al doesn't mention is that John came down with a bit of a bug.  He got expert medical advice from our trusty Medical Officer (thanks Emily, you rock!), and is already on the mend.  Nothing like a well oiled team, even when they are now back ashore.

Go Kotuku!  783 miles to go, making 7 knots.  Hmmm....can they keep it up?  At least they have whales to keep them company.  Hope Steve is taking lots of pictures!

Day 12 and still don't know where to go

Well what to do?  Had a long conversation with Valis last night after the role call about strategy.  They still have wind and are heading north looking good, but his expedition routing is showing going east or west or north depending on the forecast.  Really quite jumbled.  We have put our eggs in the go east basket in the hopes of getting any wind, even on the nose.  To us that looks best but time will tell.  In any case it looks slow for next three days so don't be planning any arrival parties just yet.   We motored all night and are just starting to see the first breathes of a Northeaster.  Wish us luck, Al

Day 11 Evening

Day turned out better than expected.  The fog burned off early and a little wind has been with us ever since.  We've been averaging about 5 knots sailing with the bird kite once again.  We stopped numerous times to investigate glass balls and debris.  Judy again found another large glass ball with net.  That makes three, 2 with nets, that we think ties us with Medusa as temporary leaders in the glass ball division.  We were able to check out some of the timbers and they are all milled lumber ranging from 4x8 to 8x16, up to 16 ft long, all covered in goosenecks, pretty conclusive to us as tsunami debris but who knows for sure.  We did pick up one piece about 8 ft long, 1 5/8" square with stainless nails on one side that appeared to be Weyerhauser parallam or equivalent.  Also saw a possible tatami mat, but it turned out to some kind of synthetic that we took pictures of.  We went for another group swim and had a huge plate of mahi nachos, with black beans, tomatoes and queso grilled under the broiler thanks to Judy.  All the talk was where is the cold cerveza?  Cheers, Al

1800 PDT position 43 01N 144 25W, course 070M speed 5.0 DTF 884, wind 195 @ 5 knots

Morning-Day 11 929 Miles to Go

Oh well, around 0600 we ran out of wind and commenced motoring.  Again.  Earlier we came across the King Milo (500 ft freighter) bound for Panama.  We were the stand on vessel and the officer was very courteous after a call on the VHF and he altered course to pass behind us.  I wished him well on his voyage and he returned the wish to us.  Again I think the AIS identifier is the key to these situations.  Calling with a vessel name seems to make all the difference in getting a response.  Later Judy spotted another 14" glass ball (with net still attached) that she and Matt recovered.  She is busy cleaning it of all the gooseneck barnacles that get attached during its time at sea.  Got a little fog this morning that I think will burn off later but we are approaching the NW and it is not uncommon in the late summer/early fall.  We have set a course straight for Flattery hoping to cut across this section of the high and get into the northerly coastal flow.  It is a gamble this far out and south that we have to end up hard on the wind nearer the coast which may be uncomfortable but the coastal winds appear to be easing a little bit.  The option of motoring north seems to have a bigger risk of motoring for a far longer time as we ended up too far east to stay in that flow along the old frontal area.  Valis did a better job of staying west in the flow, my compliments.  Cheers, Al

0830 PDT position 42 40n 145 19w, COURSE 045m SPEED 5.2KT DTF 929 wind 4 kt SW

Day 10 Evening

Another beautiful day, winds have lightened as expected but we are still sailing along under the big bird kite.  Caught another 10 lb bull mahi this morning, kind of surprise this far north, almost to latitude of Oregon, water temp just below 70F.  Matt fixed a brunch of fresh bisquits, poached eggs on steamed mahi with hollandaise sauce.  Delicioso!  This afternoon Matt just missed getting a small glass ball that was almost completely covered with barnacles.  Matt and Judy made some mahi ceviche with fresh pineapple for dinner.  This is seeming like a gourmet cruise.  I expect winds to continue to lighten and we will probably be motoring by tomorrow as we get swallowed by the high pressure.  That may last a day before we get enough wind to resume sailing but it is all speculation.  Hope all is well ashore, we are doing fine, although the colder wet damp nights are soliciting complaints from some.  We think we are seeing some tsunami debris but it is very hard to determine what is general trash and what may have come from the devastation in Japan.  For instance today we came across a wooden beam roughly 15 ft x 18", two almost identical wooden tables/pallets about 5' square and a curious thing that looked like a large milking container, 4' tall, 2' dia with three legs on the bottom.  It was painted white but the bottom and the 3 legs were fluorescent orange.  One guess was the mail buoy? We also saw a small car tire, low profile, aluminum rim.  Tsunami or no?  Cheers, Al

Oregon Here We Come...Sort of.

Relatively peaceful night but very wet with dew.  The kite came down around midnight as the wind dropped and concern about a wrap took precedence.  Sailed wing on wing through this morning.  Skies still clear, Venus bright above the moon this morning, should make it the latitude of Oregon before this evening.  Switched to PDT onboard this morning but the crew seems to be hanging on to that hawaiian time pretty fiercely as no one else has even stirred and it is now almost 1000.  Put the fishing line out again in the hopes of another tuna.  All in good time, Al

position at 1000 PDT 41 01N 146 45W course 005M speed 5.7 knots, DTF 1036, wind 11 knots @ 175

(Yay!  Kotuku is almost to Oregon.  But we have about 900 miles of East we still have to cover.  The hope is that the more normal Westerly/NW pattern fills in, and the rest of the way is reaching and running to the Straits of Juan de Fuca.  Now, if we can just get the weather to cooperate!  -Graeme)

Turning the Corner

Still bandwidth constrained, but here is the note from the boat:

We had our half way happy hour extension with the bar open for Sailor Jerry, sprite and Tang followed up with Matt made seared albacore on a bed of quinoa, shitake, sun-dried tomatoes.  Happy Trails to you, Al

Inexplicably pleasant sailing

I am running out of adjectives to describe how nice it is out here right now.  We are sailing with the big bird kite up doing 8 knots in 15 kts out of the south heading right towards the north end of Vancouver island.  I couldn't script anything better for this moment.  Tomorrow who knows.  Today began with the discovery of a 10" flying fish in the head.  It appears it landed on deck in the wee hours of the morning where it left a tell tale trail of scales and flopped around and fell into the open hatch.  Saw another outboard tank and a large truck tire float by today along with seeing a bunch of fulmars.  

We caught an albacore that Matt served as sushi with wasabi and soy for lunch and poke style for happy hour.  Had a round of sea showers with the still 72 degree water, before too long it should dip into the mid 60s.  Matt also went for some underwater video with the GoPro that turned out cool.  You can see the rudder, saildrive, keel and bow while sailing along at 8 knots.  Troops are doing well but we are starting to ration crackers even though Matt said I had a trunkfull before leaving on this trip.  Tonight we switch to PDT as the watches are getting out of sync with the daylight.  Cheers, Al.

1730 HST position 39 49N 147 28W, speed 8 kt, course 020M, DTF 1102, winds south @ 15kts

Go The Bird!  

Day 9 progress

Nice night, autopilot worked well, lots of miles clicked off, past halfway (depending how one counts or what to expect in the second half).  Hoping our highway to the Straits continues a little longer.  72 hr grib file shows it does although it eases a little and turns a little more north.  New waypoint for us of 45 x 140.  Thanks for the sports and political updates.  Sorry Alex, but the Double Damned wind is out here.  Not much to report elsewise,  Al

0600 HST position 38 48N 148 38W, course 015 speed 8.0 DTF 1184 winds S @ 18knots

last night's report--green flare sighting

Its been a long day but with some good rewards.  Lots of miles covered, got most of the crew some good experience hand steering downwind in waves, learning about apparent wind, etc.  Removed and replaced the autopilot after making some adjustments.  Fingers crossed that it works correctly.  Around 8 PM HST I saw a green aerial flare nearby.  Reported the position and time to Valis before the evening roll call  at 9 PM, who will relay the info to the CG.  In the 04 SHTP I had a similar experience and the end result was it was from some military exercise like a submarine surfacing but I cannot remember exactly.  Tonight is reportedly one of the nights for viewing the Perseid meteor shower.  We could certainly see something as the sky was incredibly clear with more meteor activity than we remember seeing.  Getting close to halfway which is pretty good time, cheers, Al

2200 HST position 38 09N 149 36W course 035M speed 8.0 DTF 1248 wind 20 kt SSW

Morning Report

Note:  Emails have been a little irregular, and as I think we have mentioned that is not too surprising.  Certain parts of the world require that you use the radio at certain times of the day.  If that isn't possible (because Al helped out for three watches in a row and then slept, for instance) then sometimes things get delayed.  Also, yours truly was out salmon fishing, which limited my access.  Sorry.  Here is Al's report--Kotuku is flying!

Interesting evening, the wind continued to build throughout the evening, Weller set a record 13.2 knots wing and wing before I pulled the plug first double reefing the main then finally dousing the jib at 0400 when I was becoming a sleep zombie.  The pilot was having issues with our course or sail plan or waves and would loose course about every 45 minutes.  Some of the crew were having difficulties in the dark figuring out how to recover before any minor disaster occurred because no one was then driving. I stayed up through Weller, then Odom, then myself, then the first part of Judy's watch before calling it quits.  We saved Matt for daylight and he has been hand steering since 0600.  Jib is back up wing and wing and we will carry on through the daylight hours as is with the hopes that things will ease.  Seas are quite confused with a leftover NW swell and SE swell meeting and the the new SSW wind waves on top of that.  Winds are not too bad with gust at 30 and regular 20-25 SSW but the boat is tossed about quite a bit for now.

1000 HST position 37 11N 151 09W, course 050 speed 8.5 DTF 1339 wind 22 SSW

Delayed due to propagation issues sorry  Al

Posts from the Crew

John speaking:  got news from friend Peter that Marvin Hamlisch died...long story short, worked with him alot over the last 6-7 years so this is extremely sad news...never could have imagined I'd read this literally as our odometer out here turned to 700nm north of Oahu: middle of nowhere. Thanks Peter for telling me!  Every day out here infinitely fascinating, not enough wind for 2 days now, but keeping busy, on book #2...oh, and Captain Al delegated to me the task of observing and recording any debris we find out here for a Pacific Marine Survey group...it's a very scientifc study I gather, observing from a particular side of the boat at specific times 2x a day, 30 minutes each...often skunked, then off-duty some big chunk would show up...so following the rules best I can.  Everyday is an education out here, could not be with a finer crew...and Captain Al...extremely impressed with navigational strategy like trying to get north to catch edge of low-pressure system that could whisk us home in a hurry.  Weather fax shows gale off Washington coast now...but we won't get there for some time yet...always a method out here and could not be with a finer Captain.  Well, life's simple but "busy" here...just remember everyone, no matter the time of day or what you're up to, or asleep or anything...Kotuku is moving along 24/7 and, so far so good for sure, in fact, fantastic.

Steve speaks, finally:  Spectacular sea views...pastel blue sky morphs into translucent shades of deep blue sea that mophes into golden sunsets that illuminates the eastern skyline from the north edge of the horizon to the south edge like being inside a bowl with all the colors of the rainbow swirling around the white puffy clouds.  Venus appears, mars, jupiter and finally a millions of spectacular stars illuminating the black sky from infinity.  The space station screamed past us a couple of nights ago and th not so infrequent meteor streaks across the sky. The view is nothing short of simply amazing.

The color and movement of the sea changes constantly creating one spectacular scene and then another and another.  I wish we had time to stop and collect component parts for the buoy people project, as mile after mile in what looks like an endless sea in all directions is littered with colorful plastic junk.  It's everywhere!

I've managed to take a few photos. Hopefully a few will come out...I would be pleased with a single spectacular photo!  Will see.  Great crew, fabulous food...if only we had loaded up a few cases of chilled pino gregio and some decent Waterford stemware for our evening sunset reflection hour.  Ciao to everyone.  Odom

Moving Right Along

Wonderful day of sailing wing on wing in 15-20 knots SSW.  Fingers crossed for it to carry on for a couple of days.  Plastic Debris survey is showing less objects but not sure if it is an anomaly or the weather or??  Forgot to mention that yesterday we came across most of a refrigerator that had been at sea for some time.  It was floating on its side with the door missing, quite rusty and lots of gooseneck barnacles on the bottom side.  The curious thing was there were three recently dead fish inside.  They looked like bait and all we could figure is they were part of the crowd living in the shadows under this fridge and some thing came along and spooked them, they jumped and oh crap, they landed in the inside.  Stories are easy to come by with all the spare time out here, who really knows.  Came across the Zim San Francisco (800 ft container ship) this morning enroute from Oakland(? as AIS only gives destination) to Japan.  We are all doing well, fixing last of mahi with some lime and garlic along with John's Japanese curry and long grain white rice for dinner.  Some more black footed albatrosses and one white tailed tropic bird today. Cheers, Al

Yahoo, wind returned about 0200 HST and has been building slowly ever since, now up to 16 knots SSW.  Sailing with pure white sails do 6-7 right down our intended track.  We still have half a tank of fuel plus 12 gallons of jerry cans so I think we are good (touch wood)for the near future.  I expect this to continue for the next 72 hours.  We played a few rounds of nerts(sp?) last night in the cockpit before it got too dark to see the cards, then had some bowls of black bean soup before retiring.  Happy times aboard the bird, Al

0600 HST position 35 18N 154 32W, course 030M speed 6.5 DTF 1541miles.

Wind Again! (a little, for now...)

Motor stopped this morning at 0800 when the A3 went up.  Hopeful it will last.  Burned about 10 gallons of diesel, so a little less than 1/2 gallon an hour, but hard to get an exact estimate of tank reading.  Winds have clocked around to almost due south magnetic.  Skies are clear but cloudy out on the NW horizon.   Matt did chili last night, excellent as always with some macadamia nut shortbread cookies for dessert (thanks Lori).  Changes are afoot in the weather dept. with a vigorous (for summer)low pressure system heading our way.  We are treading a fine line to try to stay far enough north of the high to have wind and far enough east of the low not to get too much wind to be comfortable.  We also must think about keeping to try and get north so that after the low passes we don't get swallowed up by the high again.  Lots of weather faxes from last night to digest along with today's grib files.  Situation should become clearer in 48 hours I hope.  Al

0800 position 33 42N 155 39W speed 4.5 knots course 033M DTF 1640 wind 6 kt SE (but variable)

Sorry but really poor propagation this morning made this hard to send.  (Editor:  That means we will need to reduce email traffic.  Sorry fans, but we have been bombing them with mail.  Short and sweet will likely get through, but more than that plugs up the airwaves when the propagation is poor.)

Day 5 Evening (Return)

Boring!, spent most of the day motorsailing NNW in less than 5 knots.  But Judy did spot a magnificent 12-14" green glass ball that we recovered.  We also spotted other glass ball wannabes that we went to investigate.  We also opened our coconut (from Bill and Lori), pretty young w/o much meat but good juices.
Judy also fixed a very nice chilled (thanks to the engine running the reefer was on)fruit salad with fresh apples, oranges, hawaiian limes and pineapple.  Delicious stuff.  Not much hope for wind until tomorrow at the earliest.  Al

position 1800 HST 32 37N 156 25W course 015M speed 5.5 kt DTF 1715 wind 2 kts from 130


G, we(Matt) finally dove on the saildrive before putting it in gear and found a short (12") piece of plastic pipe that had wrapped it self around the front of the leg and was causing the noise.  All is good.

Light Breeze leaves us motoring

Very peaceful night, winds slowly dying.   My cutoff for motoring is 3 knots of boatspeed and we hit that at 0600.  Hopeful that it is just a hiccup and not a couple of hundred miles of motoring.  Time will tell. Crew has been busy reading, crossword puzzles, sudoku, glass ball searching and sleeping.  Kotuku only has 50 gallons for the whole trip so we must motor sparingly.  Also finally cool enough for a light sweatshirt for this morning's watch.  All for now, A

Day 4 Evening

The Al Report:  Frustrating morning and delightful afternoon.  This morning we ran into either a huge rain squall or some weather anomaly.  The tradewinds disappeared and winds went southerly, then westerly, then northerly with lots of showers before settling back into the more usual easterly.  I took a little advantage of the showers for a cleaning but as usual the showers didn't last long enough so it was back to the bucket.  We had a little watermaker incident today as well.  The output was seeming low but I couldn't find a reason why.  I was thinking we had fouled the membranes or something terrible.  Later I noticed some leakage along the flooboard at bottom of the companionway.  Further investigation traced it back and it turned out to be the hose came lose on the valve under the sink.  No big deal except for all the clean dish towels were under the valve and got soaked.
Matt and Judy fixed baked Mahi on a bed of rice, beans, corn and tomatoes topped with queso and tortilla chips (where's Nick?)  Delicious stuff.  Al

1900 HST position 30 41N 157 04W course 000 speed 6.5 kt DTF 1824 wind 12 E

John here:  Hello my landlubber friends...short course first: border of Calif. and Mex. is about N 32 degrees latitude...San Fran is about 38, Seattle about 48 degrees...just an hour or two ago as we sail north from Oahu we passed 30 degrees N latitude...not so far now to being even with the Calif/Mex border...only we're out at 157 degrees W longitude, or about 2000 miles west...we're virtually in the middle of the Pacific ocean, and enjoying this with awe and respect for the ocean.  If you'd like to get a message to us, write to kotukusailing at gmail.com   It won't come directly to us, but is "filtered" by the shore team for bandwidth reasons, so keep it short and sweet.

I'm loving this...oh, played another recital...at about 29 d. this afternoon...Bach at sea, what could be better?  Stunning intense orange sunset tonight...arrrrggghhh...John

Day 4 in review

Last night was the best so far.  Very clear with stars coming out very early and no moon until midnight.  We studied our sky map on the ipad for a couple hours figuring out where all our favorite constellations were.  Scorpio was out in force to the south and mars, saturn, and spica made a super bright triangle to the west of that.  The night watches were pretty uneventful, breeze between 10 and 20 kts, and no squalls.  My mom and I took the 4-8 shift and a couple downpours gave me the chance to take a much needed shower, and we surpassed the 500nm mark at 0800!  The sea state has smoothed itself out as well and everyone seemed to get a really good nights sleep.  We're looking forward to another beautiful day of sailing! I'm missing everyone at home, especially my Katy, I can't wait to spend some more time out here with you, it's too beautiful to miss.

Matt

Morning brings grey skies, squalls, showers and a disruption in the force (the wind is dying, hopefully just because of the squalls)  All is well, routines have become routine and we carry on.  No contact with Darwind last night even with Valis trying 4A and 6A along with the usual 8A.  Don't know if you heard nut Hula Girl lost her mast just outside Kaneohe, ditched it and motored back in.  No injuries reported but it has to be costly, turbo carbon rig and all.  You probably have more info by now.  Cheers, Al

0800HST position 29 34N 157 04W, course 340M speed 6.0kt wind ENE 6 knots, dtf  1872

Day 3 Return Trip Evening report

Calming down somewhat this evening, winds 16 out of the east, we shook out both reefs, still clipping along at 8 knots to the north.  Judy made Matt's tuna, seaweed and whole grains tonight.  Matt also broke out the ipad for some stargazing.  We could see Mars and Saturn near each other, Altair (Hi Paul and Suzette)and lots other stars.  Pretty amazing app for us amateurs.  Just starting to see some more bits of plastic, line and styrofoam.  It could be the calmer waters allow for more sightings but in any case there is something at least for John to put down in his Marine debris survey report.  Hope all is well, Al

2000 HST position report  28 08N 157 04W  course 355M speed 8 knots wind 16 E dtf 1933

Day 3 morning

Variable was the word for last night, each watch had a little something, rain, calm, windy, stars and moon and clouds.  Steve had a little bout of seasickness but still did his watch.  Currently still heading north with the general trend towards lightening and lifting but too hard to predict exactly when.  Had a visit from what appeared to be shearwater trying to land aboard unsuccessfully but it might have been an immature brown boobie, hard to tell in the dark.  Crew is all healthy and trying to keep from getting fried by the tropical sun.  Al

0800 HST position  26 40N 157 12W course 000M speed 7 kt wind 5-25 east  DTF (flattery) 2004.

Day 2 Evening

Really nice day of sailing with 15-20 knots out of the east, double reefed main, lapper jib doing just under 8 knots.  We covered 180 miles in our first 24 hours which seems quite extraordinary while in cruising mode.  Matt fixed some of the mahi into a ceviche with fresh garlic, apples and reconstituted mangoes.  John is standing his first solo watch this evening.  Everyone seems to be adjusting quite well in spite of the somewhat bouncy ride.  It should ease a little over the next 24 hours though.  Al

Ahoy Everyone, John here:  What a place to be...these ocean swells, while not "heavy weather", are just spectacular, infinite varieties of landscapes...well, seascapes.  Don't pay attention and you get a wave in the face.  At approx. 24 Lat. and 157 Long. played Bach and Chausson Poeme for Judy aboard Kotuku...wondered if that was the first time ever Bach got a hearing there. On my evening watch spotted something on the horizon...turned out to be a US Survey Vessel, USNS Waters...radio contact ensued, very interesting that we're not completely alone out here.  My next watch at 4am...so can relax for now.  Besides friends on the mainland hopefully checking our blogs I know we have an audience far afield as Lisbon, England, Japan...Oahu as well...really happy about that. Ok all for now...oh yeah, the color of the ocean "Cobalt Blue" sailors call it...you wouldn't know it existed but by being here. John

2000 HST position  25 16N 157 26W  course 000M speed 7.5 distance to Cape Flattery 2076 miles  (now because we have to sail mostly north to start with because of the wind rotation in the NE pacific, the change in distance will not be near as great as the miles traveled, clear as mud?)

Day 2 update--Boobies Galore

Relatively peaceful first night for the crew, no sea sickness, a little bit of sleeplessness and a few squalls with some rain and wind.  We had one red-footed boobie reside on the bow pulpit all last night and another come join us for about 30 minutes early this morning on the stern pulpit.  Its always somewhat comical to watch them trying to land on a lurching sailboat.  They go round and round trying to find the proper rhythm to attain their perch.  They both left with the sunrise.  Still heading north in about 15 -18 knots true with a few splashes on deck.  Had oatmeal with craisins, honey and nuts while listening to some of John's classical guitar CD, Paul Bernard.

0900 HST position 23 52N  157 42W, course 350M  speed 7.5 kt

Had out first check-in with Valis at 2100 HST on 8A.  Seven boats checked in kind of spread across the ocean with Valis and Kotuku being the only boats currently headed to Puget Sound.  Everyone else is headed to some part of CA I believe.

Al

Return Trip Day 1 report

Aloha Friends and family,  Well the bird has left the nest of Kaneohe Yacht Club.  Kotuku departed around 1215 HST after a final Sunday brunch.  It took a little maneuvering to get clear of the spider web of lines and boats still tied to the bulkhead in front of the club. We motored down to the fuel pier and topped off our tank and two jerry cans with diesel.  Then we headed out and were quickly joined by Bill and Lori on their Beneteau 35 who gave us a nice escort to the end of the ship channel.  From there we are heading north in a mild 15 knot easterly tradewind.  Doing about 7.5 knot average on a close reach with the cruising 2.5 and full main.  Just before sunset the winds built a little to 25 and we threw in a reef, probably for the rest of the evening, as there are some squalls about.

The return crew consists of Matt, his mom Judy, John Weller, Steve Odom and myself Al.  First passage for Judy, John and Steve so we have hopes that the somewhat gentle start is good omen.  I should also extend much thanks and praise on both the PCYC and KYC for the amazing efforts of the clubs and volunteers towards a fantastic race environment and support.  My old sailing mate Bill and his wife Lori also made my first stay on Oahu very memorable.  I hadn't seen Bill since 1974 so there was heaps of catching up, reminiscing and beer consumption (Coconut Island brewery is a hidden gem).  Thanks also to Graeme and Janna for all their support and letting us take their boat home to Seattle.  Thanks to all the race crew who helped transition form race mode back to delivery mode while in Kaneohe, that's Alex, Nick, Eli and Emily.  Mahalo, Al

2000 position  22 18N 157 47W  350M  7.5 kt

Kotuku has flown the Nest

Just a brief note to say that the next phase of the adventure has begun.  Kotuku's delivery crew of Al, Matt, Judy, John, and Steve are underway.  When I spoke to Al this afternoon he said that the delivery was off to a great start, that they had fair winds and that they were sailing north.  He also said that so far no one was seasick, which means that they are off to a pleasant start indeed.  Godspeed Kotuku!  Catch lots of fish, and dodge debris effectively!

And we would like to say thank you once again to the fine folks at Kaneohe Yacht Club for hosting us, and to all the people who make the Pac Cup possible.  Mahalo!

PAC CUP WRAP UP

It has taken a day or two to collect our thoughts, let the flack over the ratings and standings settle, and find a computer.  But it's time to close the book on this race and get back to life again.  What a race.  What a finish!

Our last day was our fastest of the trip.  We averaged 9.5 knots for the last day, and came in under Savai's big red and grey kite to the finish.  When we sighted land about 20 miles out we let out a whoop, and then chewed away at the last few miles.  They seemed to take forever, in spite of our boat speed.  But finish we did, in 10 days, 23 hours, and with memories of the trip of our lives.

We were met at the finish by the Pac Cup escort boat, and by a powerboat loaded down with kids, family, and the nicest pilot you could ever meet, Thanks Kevin for taking everyone out to the finish.  It made it extra special to be able to share that with our family.

When we finished we thought we had won.  But it turns out we had miscalculated the time delta between us and Elan.  Those of you watching the tracker closely probably guessed that we might not be able to save our time on the last day--Janna was pretty sure we were in trouble.  But ignorance was bliss, and we were congratulated as champions.  Which made it doubly bitter when we woke up in the morning to find that after the final day's handicap was applied, we were second by 52 minutes. 

The team on Kotuku sailed an amazing race though and we are proud of our effort.  We drove hard when we could, sailed safely when necessary, and had a heck of a lot of fun in the process.  Rather than being sick of sailing and tired of our shipmates, we are already scheming about the next great adventure.  One of the first things we did was liberate a three sailing dinghies from the Kaneohe yacht club, and six of us had a spectacular battle up and down the bay to the delight of its inhabitants.  (Yes, I was the one who flipped the dinghy--sorry KYC!)

A big thanks to everyone who supported us, from the shore team (Janna, Talia, Savai, Amy, and an army of friends and family).  The folks in Kaneohe have been wonderful.  We were met with Leis and Mai Tais, we did a Jimmy Buffet Buffet last night, there is a Luau this week, and a Rum party where I will present the Commodore with a Sloop Tavern Yacht Club burgee.  About time the Sloop made its presence known in the islands.  

I am guessing the Bats and Sharks will be seated around the pool, scheming, dreaming,  scratching our heads about our rating.  An Express 37 weighs 50% less but has the same sail area as Kotuku but we owe them 8.6 hours, would love to get someone to explain that one to me some day.  But a bit of grumbling keeps us balanced, considering how much fun we are having!

And we might be working on some video too...stay tuned...Nick is threatening to publish both our high speed surfing and my wipeout-- both were, um, memorable...and should make for good entertainment.

Thanks again from all of us on Team Kotuku, Matt, Emily, Al, Alex, Eli, Nick and I feel honored to have had the chance to do this, and loved all of your comments, wishes, and support.  We feel like we did this with one great big family, and it was great fun to share our experience with you.  

The bird has landed!

I'll try to post photos on Facebook!

Going to the finish line!

A nice guy Kevin from Kaneohe Yacht Club is taking us to the finish to see them come in. Deb and John are with us! Wish I could post a photo... We see a sail in the distance! -Janna, Talia, Savai, Amy & Sol

Day 11 Evening from Al - last night!

Going to bed in Hawaii now that I've received Al's last evening post. We will see them tomorrow! Here's Al: After a another picture postcard day with sunny skies and 10-20 ENE trades again, it looks like a squally stormy final night.  Already had two spinnaker changes and the sun hasn't set.  Alex fixed his variation on the Tuna surprise with lentils and sun-dried tomatoes.  I know I can't wait for a nice fresh salad, and okay maybe a pizza.  We are trying to push pretty hard for our last night.  We are going to three hour watches to keep everyone on their toes.  Hoping for a good night but will know come morning, Al

Day 11 morning from Al

Good morning, Down to one day and change.  As I commented on watch, this was the most pleasant night of sailing in now almost four transpac crossings.  Winds 8-18 knots, no squalls, stars galore, 3/4 moon for most of the night, then enough light from Venus to see the spinnaker clearly, Air temp 72 degrees (better than daytime for me), near perfection.  Jupiter? maybe above Venus in the east this morning.  Sunrise not till well after 8 because of the drop in latitude and no change of ship time since SF.  We are hoping the roll call positions will be to our liking but I am sure Elan is hoping for the same thing. We shall hear soon at our 1000 check in.  Only on board crisis are we most assuredly will run out of Via (starbucks instant coffee) this morning and the toilet seat is now duct taped to the toilet bowl.  No details needed.  Janna and family are in the air so this may get posted late. Hope there were no worries and thanks to J for all the work she has put in keeping you and us up to date.  Aloha, Al

Day 10 Evening from Al

Too peaceful, we need miles.  Winds most of the day were around 10 knots, hot and sticky as we traversed a little wrinkle in the trades that some in the fleet were speculating was the result of an upper level low.  We hope we haven't bled too many miles to the competition.  Still appears like a Sunday finish for team Kotuku.  Saw some more white tailed tropic birds and our first blue faced boobies.  Lots of all size flying fish, including one that flew through the foretriangle up and over the bow last night for the sharks entertainment.  They also a bright white flash that was reported by several of the boats at children's hour today.  Speculation ran from lightning, to exploding meteor and on to government testing.  No thunder heard, light was bright white not yellow that some likened to a camera flash although it would have to be some camera.  There is now a sign on the companionway that started as 2 days, 7 people , 100% focused.  It didn't take long for it to be messed with and now reads 2 days, 1 pickle, 7 people, 100% focused.  So the yodeling pickle (who has previously made the crossing to hawaii by sailboat) from the halfway party is no on the job.  Mr T is temporarily on the sidelines with battery issues, Sucka.  Here's hoping tonight is kind to us, Al.

Um. Al. I think that's blue FOOTED booby.
As our 3-year-old Savai would say, "It's toe-kuku!"

So, folks. Janna here again, and I believe this will be my last act of post support from Seattle. I'm packing for Hawaii! We fly out early tomorrow. I hope to post their Day 11 morning update from my layover in California, but who knows. With the time difference, they've been sending 'em later, so maybe I won't be able to post till I'm in the land of luaus. Too bad the tracker isn't more [insert your own expletive + adjective here]. (Not that I'm complaining. No. No.)

Also, I just wanted to say that I read and re-read these updates from Al. And I don't understand half the references either. I think that's why I find them so delightful.

Off to Hawaii! Keep on trackin'!

-Janna

Day 10 Morning from Al (and Eli)

Good Morning,  All in all that was probably one of the best nights of the trip.  Moderate winds, lots of stars, no squalls until the sharks sunrise watch when things got a little cross eyed.  The day dawned with the end of the squalls and we had the first visible sunrise in a long time.  The day should bring more of the same (fingers crossed).  446 miles to go at 0800 so looks like Sunday daylight finish at Kaneohe.  Starting to stack the boat for a 400 mile port tack reach.  Hoping all is well with you, Al


From Eli (clipped from a personal email to his fam since this is a party line): All is well out here, we've had some exciting sailing over the last few days! We've also seen more and more flying fish, LOTS of bright stars, and I'm learning all about squalls. They can be dramatic and usually provide a welcome, if still cool, fresh water shower.

Getting close

This came in after bedtime last night:
Saw our first White tailed Tropic bird late today, must be getting close to the islands.

Since they can't send us a photo, here's one from the Internet. Land is close!

Day 9 Evening from Al

Splendid early evening meal of fresh caught baked mango mahi with rice, dining in the cockpit under tradewinds of 20 knots ENE, blue skies and puffy white clouds. We are hoping once again for an easy night but who knows.  Most of the rest of the day has been covered by earlier messages I think.  Be safe , I think Kotuku knows her way from here, having done the Transpac race early in her life.  Cheers, Al

Fish on! from Graeme and Nick

Hi Kotuku followers,


Janna here. Wanted to let you know that Graeme has been writing blog posts for a blog related to his work: Light My Fire. They're the folks who make sporks and other camping gear; Graeme's company is their US distributor. Good stuff! I haven't been double posting those updates here (for the most part) but thought this one was worth sharing directly. For other content, check out the Light My Fire adventure blog. Very cool.


Here's the latest update from Graeme:
We finally found the tradewinds.  Man, it was a tough road getting here.  We have had 3 straight squally nights, with high winds and confused seas.  Then we had a patch of light wind.  Then, this morning while I was driving the clouds seemed to organize themselves into marching marshmallow men and begin an orderly tromp toward Hawaii.  The water is very warm and very blue.  The wind is a steady 18 knots.  We moved up a spot in the standings and are currently 1st in our class and 6th overall.  And this afternoon we caught a beautiful Mahi Mahi, about 6kg (13lbs.)  She put up a good fight but was no match for our seasoned crew, and we are having ceviche for happy hour and baked mango mahi for dinner.  Care to join us?  We are living the dream out here.  I think about work occasionally, wonder if people are ready for the show in Salt Lake City.  I am sure they are, or that they will be.  In the meantime, we have a bit more work to do ourselves on Kotuku.  We have tough competition in our class just waiting for us to make a mistake.  And we would like to see if we could move up another place in the standings tomorrow.  Oh, we have a lot of fresh fish to eat too.  Better get to it then!


P.S.  Savai, you were right.  Green with tassels was the winner!  Big thanks to Kevin for providing the lure in the half way box, and to Savai for selecting it.  And will someone please tell us what happened to Ichiro...traded?  To who?  For what?

Mahi Mahi!

Nick here again. Looking forward to some good eating this afternoon with the big Mahi we caught. What a beautiful fish! We have all been busy these past few days with tricky conditions and many sail changes, but everyone is still as jovial as ever. I had a good view of the sunrise this morning from the top of the mast and lots of good surfing this afternoon. We are even doing quite well in the race standings, slowly picking our way through the overall standings while holding first in our class. What an adventure we are having. Life is good, hope all is well at home.

Day 9 Morning from Al

Well it was tale of two nights.  First until the 0200 shift change it was delightful, balmy 15-20, some stars then the bats left and the sharks took over.  Mother nature had something in store for the sharks.  Squalls, winds to 35, shifts but Alex was something for this duck to watch.  He assumed the Jedi master role and just kept Kotuku (mostly) on her feet and just motored forward on Lightspeed, doing steady burst of 12, 14 knots for minutes at a time.  Absolutely magnificent to watch.  The bats came back on at 0500 (we have shifted watches ahead one hour to try to keep a little sync with the daylight) and were prepped for their watch.  Mother Nature had other ideas.  About one hour into the watch a squall came through with winds over 35 and in a hurry to get the kite down things didn't quite go according to plan.  No harm, no foul in the end though other than a minor rope burn to Alex's hand.  We went along for almost an hour under main only through daybreak (still hit 16 knots) while we did some checking.  Sent Nick up the mast for a rig check with all the stress she has seen over the last few days we thought it would be prudent.  Eli did an adjustment to the steering pedestal which was making some unwanted noises and also causing concern.  We set the S4 and then changed to the A2 shortly thereafter as the winds continued to ease back to 15 knots.  600 miles to go, be safe, Al