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New Boat 4 Sled

and will be awarded the Barn Door Trophy for the fastest elapsed time of 6 days and change despite their need to run their engine 24/7 to power their winches, hoist and trim sails, and keep the keel canted such that the all professional crew do not tip over. And indeed, there is no rule preventing a powerboat from entering and "winning" the Transpac, as PYEWACKET, the turbo-ed Volvo 70, is proving.
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It was surprising when the TP allowed the "powered" boats to become eligible for the "Barn Door". That should have remained for human powered sailboats. In '13 the powered boats were not eligible (Maserati-Turbo'd Volvo 70, Ragamuffin 100', etc). This is why Rio was brought to the West Coast and likely why it is no longer racing the TP..... it's manually powered but is slower than the power assist smaller boats. At least they kept "some" award for human powered sailboats but that will be overshadowed by the first to finish crowd.
 
Can anyone comment of the current disposition of SEA WISDOM, and what failed in her steering in the recent SHTP? There's an ongoing story there we haven't heard. Friends in a sister-ship also suffered steering loss between the mainland and Hawaii some years ago.

I once visited aboard the Ron Holland designed, 100' maxi, WHIRLWIND XII, in Tahiti, and asked the English owner how his passage from Panama had gone. "OK," he replied, "but the boat was so heavy on the helm we couldn't steer and the auto-pilot couldn't either."

WhirlwindXII.jpg

I was left with the obvious question, "Well, how did you steer?"

The owner replied nonchalantly, "we locked off the wheel, and the watch stander steered with the handheld control to the bow thruster."

I'd never thought of that, and wonder if Will did?
 
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Chicken skin this morning as Cecil Rossi's Farr 57 HO'OKOLOHE sailed out of the sunrise and finished second boat for boat behind PYEWACKET, who came in under full moon at 2:53 a.m., sailing at 20 knots across the Diamond Head search light and Transpac finish line to claim the Barn Door trophy.

Cecil.jpg

What was special about HO'OKOLOHE's early morning finish was their crew of 9 were carrying the ashes of 4 shipmates who had gone before. There was not a dry eye as HO'OKOLOHE's crew dropped their spinny and sailed into the lee of Diamond Head where the ashes of Rex Banks, Gary Miltmore, Gordo Johnson, and Scott Abrams were spread on the tradewind seas.

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Synderella (Synthia) and two dogs visited CBC yesterday where Port Captain Spruit and myself helped celebrate her birthday with pizza, Macapuno icecream with blueberries, and chocolate cake.

Today, Philpot visited CBC to collect BobJ's trivia winnings and helpfully take them north to SURPRISE! to help celebrate his impending retirement party...However, before the goodies were loaded in Jackie's car, they seemed to have disappeared.
 
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What??? Just watched the 72 foot LUCKY go from 20 knots to 1.7 knots on the live Transpac tracker. LUCKY is about 30 miles upwind of the Diamond Head finish. Breeze in "ON" in the Molokai Channel- 25-30 knots. What happened to LUCKY? Broken rudder? What?? CHEVAL was first to finish in the 1995 Transpac with no mast. RAGTIME finished in '81 with no rudder using twin jibs to steer the last 100 miles. And the 81 foot MIR finished sailing backwards with her mizzen after losing her mainmast 1 mile upwind of the finish. Come on LUCKY, you can do it!

PS UnLUCKY has just officially RTD (retired) from the race. Why? The finish is directly downwind. Even MEDICINE MAN made it to within 300 yards of the Transpac finish before sinking.....EAGLE sank right after finishing. And two weeks ago Will singlehanded SEA WISDOM to the Hanalei finish with no steering.

My guess is UnLUCKY retired because she contravened Transpac SER 4.15.2 "A proven method of emergency steering with the rudder disabled."
https://yb.tl/transpac2021#

LUCKY is currently being towed the last 40 miles by the U.S. Coast Guard. Good on the Coasties. But I'm embarrassed. Poor form, LUCKY. The Coast Guard saves lives, not property, and you entered the Transpac knowing that self sufficiency for the course was the number one rule.
 
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You've heard the legend. Right from the beginning in the summer of 1978, the Singlehanded Transpac became a do-it-yourself, all volunteer project. And we've never looked back. It was 43 years ago 37 "crazies" set out from San Francisco, "alone but together," bound for Hanalei. 22 made it, only to find the professional race committee chair never showed and absconded with the trophies. As well, the promised welcome by Club Med never materialized, and we found ourselves taking our own finish time and gathering post race under the now famous Beach Park "Tree" instead of at the Club Med bar.

Club Med is long since gone. But since the beginning, for 22 subsequent SHTP races, the Singlehanded Transpac and its supporters have met the challenge of, "we'll just have to do it ourselves." This summer's 2021 race nearly didn't happen. You likely did not hear the Hawaii State Attorney General ordered the Race not to start, only to be told the Race had already started! We could he do? He did what the first RC Chair did: disappeared.

God love this year's Race Committee: Brian, Jackie, Greg, and Synthia for stepping up and making this year's race one of the most memorable in SHTP history against seemingly insurmountable odds. But they are worn out and have earned a "well done team", along with Kauai's very own Larry Conklin, as they retire from the scene.

As stressed many times, everything you read on my blog is unofficial. But I am happy to say new blood is stepping to the plate and taking the 2023 SHTP organizing by a nylon towline. Robb Walker on NOZOMI finished a close second in this year's SHTP and by all reports his skill and dedication to good racing, his gracious compliments of current activities, and well thought out suggestions how to improve the 2023 SHTP and its infrastructure will lend perfectly with much needed fresh legs in the sand.

Robb may feel slightly overwhelmed at times with organizing and delegating all the details of "herding cats." But we have continuing good news. Robb's lovely wife Rowena Carlson will be Commodore of the Pacific Cup Yacht Club in 2023, and her experience running the Pac Cup will nicely overlap Robb's prep and organizing the 2023 SHTP so that both races are sure to be well run, competitive, easy on the pocket book, and most importantly, FUN!

It is not too early to think about what comes next. What comes next is the need for volunteers to come forward and offer to help with the 2023 SHTP. Many hands make light work. I promise you the time of your life and the most wonderful people to work and play with. If you are one of those special few, like Robb Walker, who enjoy creating and making things well run, I suggest you call 510-681-5440 and tell the friendly voice at the other end "I want to help make the 2023 Singlehanded Transpac the best yet."

You won't be sorry. I guarantee it.
 
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Jonathan Gutoff said:
We'll talk to management about this. Thanks.
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Hi Jonathan,
Could you get hold of me at your convenience, 831-475-0278? I have run into a roadblock with RYC manager who claims the rat poison bait boxes are "effective and safe for wildlife." He gave no evidence, and they most certainly are not safe, being anti-coagulent poison of the highest order that is dangerous to birds and other wildlife. I've done the research and have the literature on what the poisons below are. Though osprey feed mostly on fish, they do on occasion eat rodents. It would be unfortunate if RYC were potentially poisoning osprey as well as other raptors, owls, and abundant wildlife in the hills behind the club as well as the feral cats on the West Annex

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[Can anyone comment of the current disposition of SEA WISDOM, and what failed in her steering in the recent SHTP? There's an ongoing story there we haven't heard.]

After we completed the repair in Hanalei Bay, Will sailed Sea Wisdom to Nawiliwili.
He plans to return soon with crew to sail her to Oahu and have the upper bearing replaced and the Hydrovane reinforced.
Delivery to commence after.

The cause of the problem appears to be the way the rudder stock was secured to the upper bearing.
The stock, being held in place with 4 set screws through the inner race of the bearing pressing against the shaft, managed to drift down over some time until the steering quadrant below rubbed on it's stops and the screws were rubbing on the boss for the E-tiller on the top of the stock, making quite a racket.

Another problem, one of the lower mounting bolts for the Hydrovane went AWOL causing it to move around and not steer correctly.
Will managed to stabilize it with a series of dyneema loops, line and purchase. This is what he used to steer the boat the last few hundred miles.
We used the manual tiller on the Hydrovane to steer into the anchorage.

Next morning at anchor, Brian, Cliff, and Greg evaluated the situation, found no danger of losing the rudder or water incursion, and devised a plan to lift the rudder back in to place and re-secure it.
In the process we found a recess in the rudder stock that we believe is where the set screws should have been located so as to capture the stock and prevent downward movement.
The inner race of the bearing is aluminum and the threads for two of the four set screws were compromised, unable to hold torque. Reason enough to have the bearing replaced.

Unfortunately I don't have any after photos.
Will sent these upon discovery of the problem.

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Rat poison follies

Skip:

If you are not yet aware of them, this group is strong and may be of help with the rat poison problem.
https://www.raptorsarethesolution.org/

They were contacted when a whole group of Great horn Owl chicks died locally at the Sweet Springs Reserve and their research traced the deaths to some rat poison boxes like those in your pictures which were put out in a local trailer park. RATS was able to bring pressure to bear and the placement of the boxes has been supposedly curtailed.

You might not be surprised to hear the opinions of my better half (who worked for years at a raptor rehab facility in Indio, CA) about the terrible damage these "better living through chemistry" solutions do to the entire food chain...
 
MAGICdreamer said:
Skip:

If you are not yet aware of them, this group is strong and may be of help with the rat poison problem.
https://www.raptorsarethesolution.org/
They were contacted when a whole group of Great horn Owl chicks died locally at the Sweet Springs Reserve and their research traced the deaths to some rat poison boxes like those in your pictures which were put out in a local trailer park. RATS was able to bring pressure to bear and the placement of the boxes has been supposedly curtailed.
You might not be surprised to hear the opinions of my better half (who worked for years at a raptor rehab facility in Indio, CA) about the terrible damage these "better living through chemistry" solutions do to the entire food chain...
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Hi Dreamers,

The current Catch 22 would be humorous if it weren't so potentially deadly for RYC's neighbors of hawks, owls, feral cats, fox, coyote, and "Lee" and "Eileen" the resident osprey. RYC's management claims the multiple rat poison boxes are effective, and harmless to wildlife and birds. I have been told to take any questions to Orkin. In 4 calls to Orkin, Orkin management has verbally repeated to me they "will not answer my questions as I am not the customer."

Thanks to TP and others, we have proof what anti-coagulant rodenticide are in the RYC boxes, and it is the bad stuff indeed, Diphacinone and Bromadiolone with Lumitrak. Bromadiolone is unequivocally cited in 2021 CA state law AB 1788 as being illegal (https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1788), and Diphacinone is only legal through a known loophole. As well, raptors and owls are protected species under both the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, part 703, and Cal State Code 3503.3. If you are poisoning their food, you are not protecting the species!

What would be a really cool thing is if RYC's membership agreed to nix the expensive poison and substitute owl boxes for rodenticide poisoned bait boxes. Thanks to any and all who would like to make their opinions known on this site as have MAGICdreamers.

PS: What is "Lumitrack" in the Bromadiolone poison? Bell Labs had recently made it so rats who eat the Bromadiolone with phosphors added will have the indignity of their turds glowing bright green under UV or Black Light so one can follow where they go to slowly die. Lovely.
 
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sleddog said:
Hi Dreamers,

The current Catch 22 would be humorous if it weren't so potentially deadly for RYC's neighbors of hawks, owls, feral cats, fox, coyote, and "Lee" and "Eileen" the resident osprey. RYC's management claims the multiple rat poison boxes are effective, and harmless to wildlife and birds. I have been told to take any questions to Orkin. In 4 calls to Orkin, Orkin management has verbally repeated to me they "will not answer my questions as I am not the customer."

Thanks to TP and others, we have proof what anti-coagulant rodenticide are in the RYC boxes, and it is the bad stuff indeed, Diphacinone and Bromadiolone with Lumitrak. Bromadiolone is unequivocally cited in 2021 CA state law AB 1788 as being illegal (https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1788), and Diphacinone is only legal through a known loophole. As well, raptors and owls are protected species under both the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, part 703, and Cal State Code 3503.3. If you are poisoning their food, you are not protecting the species!

What would be a really cool thing is if RYC's membership agreed to nix the expensive poison and substitute owl boxes for rodenticide poisoned bait boxes. Thanks to any and all who would like to make their opinions known on this site as have MAGICdreamers.

PS: What is "Lumitrack" in the Bromadiolone poison? Bell Labs had recently made it so rats who eat the Bromadiolone with phosphors added will have the indignity of their turds glowing bright green under UV or Black Light so one can follow where they go to slowly die. Lovely.
Click to expand...


Good news. After being apprised of the illegality of using second generation anti-coagulant on RYC property, RYC management has done the right thing and advised ORKIN to remove their approximate 10 bait boxes from yacht club property immediately. This is good news indeed for local birds and wildlife and will remove RYC from legal jeopardy. Orkin is in violation of CA AB1788 using second generation anti-coagulents a full 7 months after their ban.

1600 hrs. Boxes removed!
 
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Before I hit the road, I read that the Yurok tribe was hand crafting canoes for use on the Klamath River. It was along the way, so I decided to see what I could find. Luckily, I found a completed dugout and one under construction.

Overall, the lines are nicely proportioned.
CB07A2D4-6B25-4B28-86C5-F457A04A111B.jpeg

The carved seat and foot rests are sleek.
AEFD935A-D03F-480E-A680-009AD050B342.jpeg

Not sure about the pad at the centerline or the short, horizontal carving, maybe the mooring bitt?
CE185BF5-87B6-48E9-ACF1-211C4A6D3377.jpeg

Finally, the same detail under construction. The rock was just to keep the cover from blowing away. The cover kept wood from drying out, even on the foggy north coast.
895FE5F6-8AC5-461D-9FF0-01BE393A74B2.jpeg
 
If you are considering the 2023 Singlehanded Transpac, it is not too early to begin considering logistics, especially how to get your yacht home.

Though it means missing out on a potentially enjoyable return passage through the Pacific High, if your boat is a Cal-40 or smaller, or if the keel is easily removable, shipping home on a trailer is a tried and true method. In this respect, I am aware of 3 trailers here in Santa Cruz capable of carrying up to 36 feet and 12,000 pounds that could potentially be rented.

It is not too early to make reservations. I would remind just last month, the Santa Cruz 33 SIREN and O-25 SHARK ON BLUEGRASS were safely offloaded from the LURLINE, rigs stepped, and back in the water on San Francisco Bay just 17 days after finishing at Hanalei and delivered to Larry Conklin at Nawiliwili. It isn't always this easy, but shows what can be done.

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Too bad this option may not be available to Will and SEA WISDOM, who is currently stuck in Nawiliwili with ongoing rudder bearing issues. Though Cliff', Greg, and Brian's repair afloat in Hanalei is holding fine, SEA WISDOM had to return on her passage to Honoululu when the upper bearing began to come apart.
 
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Capitola Boat Club Junior Day was quite the success...First, we had a meeting to explain the Rules, that there were no rules, just be safe, use common sense, and if you don't know, ask.

First, the two brothers, Billy (7) and Tao (4) practiced abandon ship drill and took to the Avon "liferaft." They enjoyed being aboard their liferaft partially filled with warm water...

.kids4.jpg

The brothers are sons of Tanguy, who has competed in two Vendee Globes solo circumnavigations. While floating in the liferaft Billy, grandson of boat builder Billy Green, designed and built an aluminum foil model boat, complete with expandable width bow, foils, and rudders.

kids5.jpg

With Olina's (7) help the junior team raided CBC's wood locker and built themselves a "spyfort." When asked who they were going to spy on, their chorused answer was "You!"

The juniors then decided to have a car wash using scavenged materials including CBC's pressure sprayer, cloth dinner napkins and hand sanitizer. When pointed out we are practicing Stage 3 Water Conservation measures, Olina, Billy, and Tao seamlessly moved to making lemonade and a successful lemonade stand popped up in the driveway.

kids 6.jpg

Later, over corn and hotdogs, we had a "debrief" in the CBC clubhouse. It was unanimous, they want to come back soon and do it again!

kids6.jpg
 
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