On Sunday, January 28, VALIS raced in the Three Bridge Fiasco. This was the fourth time for VALIS, and for us the race definitely lived up to its reputation. We entered the doublehanded division, the crew being Dick Holm and me (Paul Elliott). Dick had helped sail VALIS back home after the 2010 Pacific Cup, […]

Yesterday I was monitoring the AIS receiver at my house to see what was going on in the neighborhood. As is often the case when there is a heavy marine layer (fog), the AIS signals were propagating from a long way off, some as far as 700 nautical miles. But something much closer to home […]

We are about to start the race: Pacific Cup 2010, from San Francisco to Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.  The VALIS crew is: David Nabors, Edward Killeen, Tirso, John Clinton, Rich Jones, and me, Paul Elliott.  Unfortunately, Paul Carson and Jack Thomas had other obligations — they will be missed, and I look forward to sailing with […]

The 2010 Pacific Cup is about to begin. The VALIS team is starting to assemble, the boat is (almost) ready, we’re preparing and loading provisions, collecting our gear, and generally psyching ourselves up the competition. We are also hoping for a glorious passage to Hawaii. However, the weather forecasts are looking pretty unpleasant for the […]

The race: The Spinnaker Cup — San Francisco to Monterey The crew: Edward K, Jack T, John C, Keith S, Phil M, Rich J, and Paul E (me). Just like Charlie, VALIS Don’t Surf. Or point, either. But great fun was had by all. The race start was delayed by about an hour, since there […]

It was blowing like stink, and the seas were large enough to be annoying.  Here’s what it was like once we left Monterey Bay and headed out to sea:

You may recall that as VALIS was sailing home from our recent northbound attempt, we discovered that we were entering the Golden Gate at the same time as No Ka Oi, returning from Oahu.  No Ka Oi had raced in the 2008 Pacific Cup, and as a result of our radio contact out by the […]

The “Great Pacific Longitude Race” (LongPac), which started on July 29,  is a 400 mile race from San Francisco to any point on Longitude 126°40′ West and return, open to singlehanded and doublehanded yachts.  No, VALIS isn’t racing in it, but some friends are.  Steve Hill, who was a great crewmember during the VALIS 2008 Pacific Cup […]

Today (Thursday) at 12:00 Noon VALIS and her hardy crew returned safely to her Sausalito slip. We had an exhilarating downwind sail back to San Francisco, with winds in the 20′s (and a few 30+ patches), and VALIS often hit 10 knots under main and poled-out genoa. While making our turn above the Farallons towards […]

On Monday I sent a quick email to the NOAA Ship McArthur II, inquiring about their operations when we saw them Saturday evening and Sunday morning. I just received a very nice email from McArthur II’s Executive Officer, Demian Bailey: —————————— The NOAA Ship McArthur II was working with government researchers from the Cordell Bank […]