Sparky in Paradise
Greetings to all. Having been home for a week and taking care of “domestic” things, I find myself thinking of the SHTP and Hanalei Bay, and the impact the race and the people involved had on me. My apologies in advance for how long this is.
1. SHTP Race Committee: Synthia, you were awesome throughout this entire process; from the beginning for my qualifier all the way until the end of the race. The few calls I made to you after the dismasting were so positive, and the conviction in your voice telling me I would figure it out was powerful! You gave me options during this crisis, and never did I feel I was truly alone. You had Rich get on the SAT phone letting me know how I could set up the SSB to communicate, and Sylvia had information available regarding the Coast Guard, and what steps they would take should I need it. Immediately you told me to stabilize the boat and then to get some rest so I could think clearly about the next steps, and that’s exactly what I did. It’s mind blowing to be so overwhelmed with something so quickly, so it was a welcome set of instructions to take…thank you!
2. Beginning of Race: The feeling of excitement and exhilaration at the start of the race was incredible! I still think of the Scottish bagpipes that were playing while we were being towed out – thanks Alan Hebert! This was music to my ears as it reminded me of Braveheart, and of the battle that was about to commence. Also, the people that were clapping at the end of the docks while we were leaving literally brought tears to my eyes. Both of these events will never be forgotten - it really was emotional. Saying goodbye to my friends and sweetheart was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, as I was still asking myself if this was really happening.
3. SSB Roll Calls: I looked forward to this every 9am and 9pm! It was great hearing everyone’s voices, as well as charting the positions of the racers. I was always amazed at the distances some of the racers were doing and would shake my head in awe. I always laughed out loud –out of great respect—when the General spoke. His voice was so “military,” and I can still hear him say “Harrier with a comment,” or “Harrier with a question.” He truly commands a lot of respect! Haulback seemed to always have a smile on his face while he was talking, and he was always loud and clear. Again, just amazing experiences via the SSB time schedules. I’m also very very happy I brought a SAT phone, as I could never get the SSB to transmit after the mast came down. I could vaguely hear the others, but nothing was going out. The SAT phone was my link to continuing to provide my position reports, and to talk with my sweetheart.
4. Sailing: My little boat (Sparky) sailed great overall. Prior to me sailing downwind, the boat felt fast on a reach with the Genoa. We seemed to be making good speed and keeping up with some of the bigger boats in our division. Once we started sailing downwind, however, Sparky could only go so fast due to waterline length. It seemed no matter how long and hard I flew the spinnaker, we were only making so many miles. The Electra with a masthead rig really wobbled back and forth quite a bit when flying the chute, so no windvane or autopilot could steer a proper course. Most of the time I flew the Airx 650, and when the wind picked up, the shy kite would be hoisted. I basically put my food and water out for the day and got in a workout from 09:30 until 19:30 - I hand steered while trimming the kite. I had a few spinnaker foul ups, and this always required a lot of effort to fix, obviously. I would also find myself dousing the spinnaker if I saw the Navik windvane’s paddle coming loose from the unit. I started detaching the paddle from the unit while flying the spinnaker, but it got to be a pain to reassemble once I dropped the chute, so I ended up leaving the paddle in the water while I flew the kite. Speaking of the windvane, I babied this thing! This is a fine piece of equipment, and in my humble opinion, the most important piece of equipment on my boat. I had to constantly tighten bolts, etc., but it was worth the energy. I flew twin headsails at night, as I was too exhausted flying the kite all day, and having to wrestle with spinny foul ups in the dark didn’t seem too appealing. The first night I started sailing downwind in those swells, I realized the boat was going all over the place with the jib poled out and main (wing and wing). I tried a few other things, but the rocking motion of the boat prevented any type of self steering to do its job. So, I experimented with hanking on different jibs and it worked. The perfect combination was the 90% to windward and 110% on leeward. I didn’t have a 130%, and the next size up was my 155%, which was too much to use in this situation. Running twins still rocked the boat, but at least the boat was able to sail on its own.
5. Food and Water: I had about a weeks worth of provisions left over after 27 days at sea. I drink a lot of water on land, so I brought 28 gallons with me on the trip. I also brought a lot of canned foods (lots of chili beans), and dried foods that sustained me. I also had lots of snacks to keep the sweet tooth happy. One of the first things that ran through my brain after the dismasting was provisions. I immediately took inventory of what I had left, and knowing I had enough for a couple weeks was a big relief.
6. Sleep: This was the most challenging part of the trip for me. My tri-color lights didn’t work since day one, so I hoisted the pigstick with the strobe every night. I was going through two (2) AA batteries a night, so I had to start monitoring when I would hoist. I pretty much set my kitchen timer for 45 minutes and poked my head out and looked around for traffic. It’s funny, I didn’t see any ships in the shipping channel as we left, but did see a few while under jury rig in the middle of nowhere. I saw one at around 2am while I was doing around 2 knots, and as I saw the lights approaching, I was able to hail the captain and make contact. I would turn on my strobe and hold it up until they had a visual. Once confirmation of the strobe was made, the captain altered course due to our headings. Only once did a ship have to change course. The other two occurrences didn’t pose a risk of collision. I found that the communication with traffic was always friendly and they all wished me the best of luck in reaching my destination under jury rig.
The week or so sailing under jury rig really had an impact on my sleep, as I was always too worried about the rig coming down. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep much. At night, I would hold the flashlight at the base of the mast for 10-15 minutes completely focused on whether there was movement. I constantly adjusted the lines holding up the mast because they always seemed to loosen up. I was able to rig a couple lines to the cabin top winches to make it easier to tighten. After arrival on shore, I still was not able to sleep for three (3) days. I found it fascinating how our minds and bodies adapt to certain situations. I never felt tired or groggy the last week, just pure excitement knowing I was headed to Hanalei.
--Continued on Sparky update #2
Greetings to all. Having been home for a week and taking care of “domestic” things, I find myself thinking of the SHTP and Hanalei Bay, and the impact the race and the people involved had on me. My apologies in advance for how long this is.
1. SHTP Race Committee: Synthia, you were awesome throughout this entire process; from the beginning for my qualifier all the way until the end of the race. The few calls I made to you after the dismasting were so positive, and the conviction in your voice telling me I would figure it out was powerful! You gave me options during this crisis, and never did I feel I was truly alone. You had Rich get on the SAT phone letting me know how I could set up the SSB to communicate, and Sylvia had information available regarding the Coast Guard, and what steps they would take should I need it. Immediately you told me to stabilize the boat and then to get some rest so I could think clearly about the next steps, and that’s exactly what I did. It’s mind blowing to be so overwhelmed with something so quickly, so it was a welcome set of instructions to take…thank you!
2. Beginning of Race: The feeling of excitement and exhilaration at the start of the race was incredible! I still think of the Scottish bagpipes that were playing while we were being towed out – thanks Alan Hebert! This was music to my ears as it reminded me of Braveheart, and of the battle that was about to commence. Also, the people that were clapping at the end of the docks while we were leaving literally brought tears to my eyes. Both of these events will never be forgotten - it really was emotional. Saying goodbye to my friends and sweetheart was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, as I was still asking myself if this was really happening.
3. SSB Roll Calls: I looked forward to this every 9am and 9pm! It was great hearing everyone’s voices, as well as charting the positions of the racers. I was always amazed at the distances some of the racers were doing and would shake my head in awe. I always laughed out loud –out of great respect—when the General spoke. His voice was so “military,” and I can still hear him say “Harrier with a comment,” or “Harrier with a question.” He truly commands a lot of respect! Haulback seemed to always have a smile on his face while he was talking, and he was always loud and clear. Again, just amazing experiences via the SSB time schedules. I’m also very very happy I brought a SAT phone, as I could never get the SSB to transmit after the mast came down. I could vaguely hear the others, but nothing was going out. The SAT phone was my link to continuing to provide my position reports, and to talk with my sweetheart.
4. Sailing: My little boat (Sparky) sailed great overall. Prior to me sailing downwind, the boat felt fast on a reach with the Genoa. We seemed to be making good speed and keeping up with some of the bigger boats in our division. Once we started sailing downwind, however, Sparky could only go so fast due to waterline length. It seemed no matter how long and hard I flew the spinnaker, we were only making so many miles. The Electra with a masthead rig really wobbled back and forth quite a bit when flying the chute, so no windvane or autopilot could steer a proper course. Most of the time I flew the Airx 650, and when the wind picked up, the shy kite would be hoisted. I basically put my food and water out for the day and got in a workout from 09:30 until 19:30 - I hand steered while trimming the kite. I had a few spinnaker foul ups, and this always required a lot of effort to fix, obviously. I would also find myself dousing the spinnaker if I saw the Navik windvane’s paddle coming loose from the unit. I started detaching the paddle from the unit while flying the spinnaker, but it got to be a pain to reassemble once I dropped the chute, so I ended up leaving the paddle in the water while I flew the kite. Speaking of the windvane, I babied this thing! This is a fine piece of equipment, and in my humble opinion, the most important piece of equipment on my boat. I had to constantly tighten bolts, etc., but it was worth the energy. I flew twin headsails at night, as I was too exhausted flying the kite all day, and having to wrestle with spinny foul ups in the dark didn’t seem too appealing. The first night I started sailing downwind in those swells, I realized the boat was going all over the place with the jib poled out and main (wing and wing). I tried a few other things, but the rocking motion of the boat prevented any type of self steering to do its job. So, I experimented with hanking on different jibs and it worked. The perfect combination was the 90% to windward and 110% on leeward. I didn’t have a 130%, and the next size up was my 155%, which was too much to use in this situation. Running twins still rocked the boat, but at least the boat was able to sail on its own.
5. Food and Water: I had about a weeks worth of provisions left over after 27 days at sea. I drink a lot of water on land, so I brought 28 gallons with me on the trip. I also brought a lot of canned foods (lots of chili beans), and dried foods that sustained me. I also had lots of snacks to keep the sweet tooth happy. One of the first things that ran through my brain after the dismasting was provisions. I immediately took inventory of what I had left, and knowing I had enough for a couple weeks was a big relief.
6. Sleep: This was the most challenging part of the trip for me. My tri-color lights didn’t work since day one, so I hoisted the pigstick with the strobe every night. I was going through two (2) AA batteries a night, so I had to start monitoring when I would hoist. I pretty much set my kitchen timer for 45 minutes and poked my head out and looked around for traffic. It’s funny, I didn’t see any ships in the shipping channel as we left, but did see a few while under jury rig in the middle of nowhere. I saw one at around 2am while I was doing around 2 knots, and as I saw the lights approaching, I was able to hail the captain and make contact. I would turn on my strobe and hold it up until they had a visual. Once confirmation of the strobe was made, the captain altered course due to our headings. Only once did a ship have to change course. The other two occurrences didn’t pose a risk of collision. I found that the communication with traffic was always friendly and they all wished me the best of luck in reaching my destination under jury rig.
The week or so sailing under jury rig really had an impact on my sleep, as I was always too worried about the rig coming down. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep much. At night, I would hold the flashlight at the base of the mast for 10-15 minutes completely focused on whether there was movement. I constantly adjusted the lines holding up the mast because they always seemed to loosen up. I was able to rig a couple lines to the cabin top winches to make it easier to tighten. After arrival on shore, I still was not able to sleep for three (3) days. I found it fascinating how our minds and bodies adapt to certain situations. I never felt tired or groggy the last week, just pure excitement knowing I was headed to Hanalei.
--Continued on Sparky update #2