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Single Handed Farallons

W

Wet Spreaders

New member
So, I'm mulling on doing the race this year for the first time. I did some crewed YRA events outside the gate last year and the boat is in good shape with all of the required equipment. What else do I need to know that's not obvious for a first timer? I have never sailed so far/long alone; what are the strategies for staying safe, managing the physical side of it and deciding when to drive or use the AP?
 
Ditto. A few more things to tick off the requirements list, but my chubby Cal and I just might be ready to try this year. I'm mainly using SHF as an arbitrary goal, knowing that I'll still have a few items to tick off the list and probably won't actually qualify -- but will be that much closer to compliance for Drakes and HMB.
If by some miracle I make it to the SHF start, complete with MOB and parachute flares and all the rest up to muster, I'd like to hear tips from the regular loopers.
 
Make sure you have the 2017 safety equipment requirement list.
Parachute flares are no longer required. 3.6.4
Three solas day/night, handheld or parachute flares are required. 3.6.6

Seems redundant but I think the the key words are day/night.
Also three instead of four.

I'll have to check what I have to see if they satisfy the day/night requirement.
Everything was current for 2016.

As far as the race itself, I was advised to study the chart detail of the island and to plot a course around giving plenty of room.
Some say to keep to at least 50 ft depth, more if a large swell is running.

BAMA has an extensive reading list they require for participation in their event. Lots of good info there, as well as our forum on past SHF.

I get seasick, but didn't know it until the 2015 SHF, my first one. It was pretty windy and lumpy that year.
I wound up turning back a couple miles from the island feeling pretty wiped out.
Now I take Dramamine, starting on Friday before the race to acclimate.

With dramamine I can eat and drink normally so I keep water and a bag of food and snacks handy.
Also keep a pee bottle handy. I don't go over the side. ever.

Jacklines can be a bit troublesome and never seem to be perfect.
I have to remember to take my time, plan ahead as much as possible.
Generally I only have to go foreword to set up the kite. Sometimes I don't set.(twice) Once was pretty light.

I use the AP quite a bit. It steers better than I do but I like to steer after getting trimmed to a course.
Tacking I do myself if there are waves and swell as the AP is slow to tack and we can get pushed back.
Typically I go, AP off, tack and heave jib by hand, set AP, trim jib, trim AP, trim for course.
Drink some water, have a snack, enjoy the view, check course, trim some more, then maybe steer for a while.

I keep learning and improving.

Keep it fun!
It's ok to turn around if it isn't.
 
When shorthanding with my son I've started launching and retrieving my kite from the companionway instead of from the hatch or a bag at the rail. It seems to work well. So there's really no need to go forward at all during the race unless something goes wrong. The procedure for launch is:

1. Secure the sheet to the winch
2. Sneak the tack past the shrouds, but on deck, as far as the wadded up mess in the companionway will allow.
3. Hoist the kite to the top of the mast so that it can't shrimp
4. Pull down the tack
5. Trim the kite

for dousing,
1. Toss the halyard and tack over the side
2. Haul in on the lazy sheet
3. Release the tack and gather the foot over the companionway
4. blow the halyard and shove it all down the hole
5. clean up

I have not tried this in more than 15 kts yet, but it's becoming my "go to" method for solo kite handling. Much easier than frigging around on the foredeck with the snuffer.
 
I did the SHF for the first time in 2015. At the start I was kinda "what the hell am I doing" (pretty much the same thoughts I had at start of 2015 LP and 16 SHTP by the way) but the first time I sighted SE Farallon I was thinking "I did it!!" although I hadn't really done it yet. It was very fulfilling. I had gone to the SFYC Sea Survival course earlier in the year and one of the Low Speed Chase survivors did a presentation. After hearing what he had to say I stayed way away from the island as I rounded. It was a bit rough but not scary rough. I think the key is to stay warm and fed. Layer up to start, you can always take things off later. Putting stuff on later can be a pain especially if you are already wet and cold.

Put some chow in the cockpit somewhere.

When you finish you will feel like you have really accomplished something regardless how you perform in the race.
 
Btw, there was a reference in that thread to a boat called Fast Forward and implications of a spinnaker related disaster. Anyone know what that's about?
 
I just received the email OK that the GGYC Race Deck will be usable Sat until 17:30 so now I can finish the SI's and open the race. We will need a Committee Car at the breakwater after 17:30 for the finish..

I have done the race many time and same problem 50% of the time. I tend to forget to drink enough water and halfway back just as Lightspeed is screaming on a reach the leg cramps begin...Maybe just me loving to steer her on a reach or cockpit layout. Anyway just a heads up for a long race, keep food and water within hands reach....
 
I remember my first SHF, which was probably around 1998. It's quite a feeling to get to the other side and realize that there's nothing between you and Japan, but water.

I would suggest taking your first one easy, unless it's a very light day. Set your boat up so that if you have to shorten sail, you can do it by reefing rather than a headsail change. If you don't set a spinnaker on the way back you will still bomb home at a good clip if it's anything like a typical year. If it's "Pretty Windy" then there's something to be said for setting the spinnaker while still in the lee of the island. I rounded the islands fairly close to Jim Fair several times. Jim always set early, usually in the lee of the island. Yeah, sure he headed for Ocean Beach for the first hour and a half but he was always trucking along and by the time he got between the Lightbucket and the entrance channel, he'd usually be headed right down the pipe towards home. I stared at Jims shocking pink spinnaker a bunch of times while I dithered with setting. I'd round the island within a hundred yards and he'd beat me home by 40 minutes.

Your goal for SHF #1 is to get there and get back with a smile on your face. All the regular stuff about jacklines and so on, still apply. Now there are big equipment requirements so review them and comply.
 
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Is it possible to spend the night before and/or after the race at the GGYC dock? Are there other nearby options available? If I have to sail all the way back to the South Bay, its going to make for a very long day.
 
Evan, the answer is yes both before the race and also we have had some pull in after the finish and spent the night. Check the GGYC website for contact....R
 
I'm not sure it was me. Somewhere in that old thread was a reference to Dan's FAST FORWARD, and Lanikai asked what happened to her - I just supplied the link.

Since we're on the subject, FAST FORWARD is a good example of why calculated stability indices (STIX) are not reliable indicators of boat stability. There is a movement toward requiring them for ocean races. For example, if NorCalORC didn't delete the requirement every year, we would all need to have a boat with a calculated STIX of 103 to be able to do our coastal races, and much higher for offshore races. This is a bad use of data and would eliminate many of our most popular local designs from ocean racing. Unless you perform hydrostatic tests, you don't know how well a boat will right itself.

FAST FORWARD was a 38 footer with a deep bulb keel and would have met a calculated STIX threshold, but Dan (who is/was a safety engineer by profession) believed its wide beam aft and cockpit layout prevented it from righting itself. It floated, on its side, most of the way back from SE Farallon before it fetched up on the rocks north of Pt. Bonita. I was in his division in that race.
.
 
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BobJ said:
It floated, on its side, most of the way back from SE Farallon before it fetched up on the rocks north of Pt. Bonita. I was in his division in that race.
Click to expand...

At some point, an anchor might have made sense, at least to slow the momentum. This is also why I carry a sturdy anchor on the bow....cruzer stigma be danged ;)
 
His anchor (a typical Danforth-type) was deployed. He was drifting so fast that the anchor merely skipped along on the surface.

This is one of the reasons I bought a Burke drogue (the "Kraken" in the e-rudder thread). A drogue might have slowed the boat enough for the anchor to grab.
 
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BobJ said:
His anchor (a typical Danforth-type) was deployed. He was drifting so fast that the anchor merely skipped along on the surface.

This is one of the reasons I bought a Burke drogue (the "Kraken" in the e-rudder thread). A drogue might have slowed the boat enough for the anchor to grab.
Click to expand...

Has anyone used drogues with an ULDB, in particular an Olson 30?
 
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