In Hanalei Bay

[Philpott]

High Drama on the Water

Have you heard the story about the rudder failure on the Hinckley during the 2019 LongPac? There's a video about that somewhere.

Oh. Here: https://vimeo.com/347607793

Well, it failed again on the way to Hawaii. And so the skipper has to make the hard decision: to put in at Nawiliwili or finish the race? Being a prudent sailor, he's torn.



And then

Lee Johnson s/v Morning Star and Cliff Shaw s/v Rainbow, who are anchored in Hanalei Bay, immediately offered to accompany him to Nawiliwili once he finishes the race. If he finishes the race. Brian and Greg immediately got on the internet and started problem solving methods of repair.

The skipper of the Hinckley called Brian on the phone, asked if he could obtain a 6" by 3/16" bolt. Brian was standing just outside the Princeville Ace hardware and said, "Yes". Went inside and there it was: the bolt needed by the Hinckley skipper. And so it goes.

The next installment will be: Will Lee and Sea Wisdom Meet the SHTP. What Happened out There? Stay tuned.

Thank you to Erik Simonsen of Pressure Drop for the photo

 

[Philpott]

Shark on Bluegrass

Falk arrived last evening, his anchor rode in a rat's nest. His wife, Vanessa Valdez, went along on the Sea Squirrel II to collect him. His daughter Melina, sat up on the bow and helped him untangle it.

This morning Falk spoke with Brian. Brian asked if he felt okay about his boat's holding. Falk's response:

"I don't care if the boat drags. I don't care if it drifts out to sea. I'm done with that boat."



Falk said every muscle in his body hurts this morning. He said he didn't know he had so many muscles.

 

[Philpott]

Synthia and Greg are getting ready to walk down the road to the trail through the jungle, the jungle that leads to the Hanalei River. On the way down the 194 steps to the water edge you pass by the trail to the ruins of the old Club Med. Club Med is abandoned now, like Incan memories.

Once at the river Lee Johnson will meet them with his own dinghy, the Richard Parker. From there they go to Morning Star, where the Sea Squirrel II awaits. Jamie aboard Northern Star is due in @ 5pm with a spinnaker sock wrapped around the top of his headstay. This means that he has not been able to unfurl his jib.



Thank you to Erik Simonsen of Pressure Drop

 

[talonf4u]

Is this a bad time for a lowball offer on an Olson 25?

 

[BobJ]

I almost listed Rags with a broker in Honolulu. A month later I thought she was the most wonderful boat in the world.

Falk just needs a little time for the amnesia to set in.
.

 

[Philpott]

Last night we collected Will from Sea Wisdom at about 1 am. The water outside the bay was relatively quiet, the swell not so intimidating as earlier finishes, but this was a boat with no steering.

We collected him and it was quite a wonderful scene, and to pluck a sailor from an ocean that didn't care one whit about how beautiful was his boat? Quite an emotional experience. Cliff on s/v Rainbow stood by and so did the crew of the Sea Squirrel II. More about that later.

None of us had much sleep the night before, and this morning we started the ferry back and forth between boats early, too. so more about all that later, after a good night's sleep. Many stories, all of them terrific. For the time being, here is the tired but happy crew of the Sea Squirrel II in the sunshine of Hanalei Bay.



MJ, Synthia and Greg

 

[Philpott]

Greg and Brian left in the car; got into the long line @ 1pm that snakes down into Hanalei 3x daily. Their mission? To fix Will's boat. We've been retrieving other people and their boats and I think both fellas were missing the hands-on, fiddle with this, tinker with that aspect of being around sailboats. They could hardly wait. Here's a photo



What does this photo tell us? I have no idea. Maybe Skip could make it a game. He's good about that.

 

[Philpott]

Here's the beauteous Sea Squirrel II outbound on the Hanalei River



We have to give her back tonight. That is very sad because she has been particularly good, with her orange tie-died bimini and her big engine. Vroooom. Synthia and Greg have figured her out and drove her with a fine touch.

 

[sleddog]

Kudos to not only the sailors of the 2021 SHTP, but also and especially to the RC and all hands who turned to to make the extra effort in providing an Aloha Welcome to Hanalei. In the finest tradition of SSS and the Singlehanded Transpac, you, Brian, Jackie, Greg, Synthia, Larry, Lee, Dennis, Christine and Jonathan, and others you know who you are, You have done yourselves proud. Well Done.

~skip aka sleddog

 

[dolfinbill]

Actually not Hanalei but Nawiliwili. Arrived yesterday due to month's long reservation assuming awards ceremony might be here again. Not. On my afternoon walk of the harbor I was passed by Siren on a trailer heading out to be shipped home. Mountain was on 100 dock yesterday but is gone today, being delivered home? But there on 300 dock (aka the xSHTP Olson 30 dock) was Kato and this guy.

 

[jamottep]

I was looking at the picture and thinking what a nice looking boat. I bet I could race that ... Then looked closer
Thanks for sharing the picture, I'm so glad to see DE still doing good!

 

[dolfinbill]

Nawiliwili again. On my afternoon marina walk I get through the unlocked gate of 200 dock and see this beautiful red boat. Hard to believe it has a bad rudder.



Further down to starboard is this sleek Westsail 32 with skipper Bill on board. As I click this his better half Darlene walks up.



Earlier today at Poipu Beach we meet this guy.

 

[Philpott]

Miscellaneous photos from the past several days:

The Kahuna at work on the deck of the condo



The view of the finish line with Brian's Yagi antenna made from arrow shafts



Hula's finish



A view from the Condo at Dawn



Margie Wood and Brendan Huffman

 

[Philpott]

Yes, yes, and we have photos of the sailors and stories about them, too. But we want to give them copies of the 8 x 10" color photographs Erik Simonsen took of them at the start, and they haven't seen them yet. So those will show up here once the racers have seen them first. In the meantime:

Here are Robb Walker and Jim Quanci



Greg and Cliff fixing Will's rudder. Said Will, "But Bob promised me it wouldn't happen again! He PROMISED!"



Here is Mary Lovely with friends Ian and Rene. Ian is crew on Green Buffalo back home and this time upon her return



Christine Weaver interviewing Falk Meissner.



At Tree Time, sitting with his wife, Vanessa Valdez, Falk let slip the cost of shipping Shark on Bluegrass home. Vanessa looked at him in shock. We looked at Falk. Avoiding her eyes and with a straight face he said to the group at large, "I've not been completely explicit about costs."

 

[Philpott]

Cliff Shaw, winner of the 2021 Singlehanded Transpacific Yacht Race, multi hull division



In the finest SSS tradition, closing down Tahiti Nui. John Wilkerson, Brian, Synthia, Jamie Wylly, Greg and Jackie. Thank you to Jamie and John for picking up the tab.

 

[Philpott]

Getting ready to carry all the trophies down to the River: Lee is doing laundry, Synthia is wearing a dress (!!), Brian is eating spicy poke, and Greg is drinking coffee.

We have burgees and belt buckles. Immediately after we arrived Brian cursed : "I forgot the buckles". Of course we didn't believe him because ... Kahunas don't make big mistakes. But it was the truth.

He called Simin Imen, his wife at home in Los Gatos, who crawled around in the garage carrying her iphone. She face timed Brian and they found the buckles. Finally.

We owe Simin big time because she drove to the Post office and sent them priority mail. So they're here.

In the meantime, here are some photos from July 2

Brian aboard s/v Pamela



Greg and Syn



Dennis aboard, playing guitar

Lee and Brian chatting

 

[Philpott]

Christine just sent this over from Latitude 38: https://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/2021/07/14/#back-basics-singlehanded-transpacific-race-awards

 

[Philpott]

What Happened in Hanalei Bay?

Okay, where was I? Oh, yes, before the racers arrived there was a race committee meeting on the s/v Pamela. I was already out there chatting with Dennis and we invited everyone else to come visit, too. Here is our host



Dennis had no food, but Tom Boussie was in town for another day, and he texted "What can I bring?" The response? "Food". So he did. He brought a ton of delicious barbeque chicken and beer, too. Here he is chatting with Lee's niece, MJ



Someone brought rum. Dennis and Synthia mixed up a 2021 batch of the Official SSS Mai Tais.



Then we all got back into the Sea Squirrel and Synthia dropped us off at Black Pot Beach boat launch (not really a launch, but close enough to shore for us to wade in).

Kuhio Highway, the connection between Hanalei Bay and Princeville, where the condo was located, had a restrictive enter and exit schedule. Monday - Friday you could drive between Princeville and Hanalei from 5:30-6:30 am, once again in the middle of the afternoon for an hour, then after 5:30pm until 11 pm when it closed completely. Weekends the road crews managed cars into and out of the towns every hour. The cars were lined up all the way back to the Princeville Village, but almost everyone was a good sport about it.

What did this mean for your intrepid race committee? Did we tell the sailors that they had to hove to offshore until we could arrive in the morning? No way.

We walked the three blocks from the old hotel, down the 194 steps to the beach below the hotel, through the deep dark jungle,



arriving at the slippery rocks abutting the Mighty Hanalei River. Then we waited for the arrival of Lee on his dinghy, the Robert Parker, or Captain Synbad upon the glorious Sea Squirrel II.



If you detect an obsession with small motorized dinghies, you would be correct. We were heavily dependent upon them. In the future I would recommend that sailors be advised to bring their own dinghies, and to use them.

 

[Submarino]

My drybag, swim fins and goggles got frequent use back and forth to Archimedes.

I also recall having Sea Squirrel 1 tied up to to the an anchored boat and having to swim out and back after use. The tiger sharks liked my dusk swims more than I did ; )

 

[Philpott]

Photos from the Start by Erik Simonsen/ Pressure Drop

Only five per post, so be patient