July 7th, 2:00PM: We’ve had some very nice wind this morning. Of course, it’s from the south, and we’re still aiming for the north winds further out, so there may be some frustration ahead as the wind shifts. Still, we’re sailing around six kts to the west, which is good enough for now.
We ran the morning roll call radio net today (as we will do for the entire race), and got to talk to most of the boats that have started — Doublehanded 1, Division A (we’re in that one), Doublehanded 2, and Division B. This year the doublehanders are allowed to report their position via satphone, and Pac Cup Headquarters emails us their positions so I can repeat them to the fleet during roll call. Most of the doublehanders are using the satphone option, but a few are using the old-school SSB marine radio like the rest of us.
After the net, we were hailed on the VHF radio by Phil, a friend and crewmember on “Coyote”. Phil was wondering if we wanted any Grey Poupon — I popped my head out the companionway and there they were not far astern. We can still see them to the south. Coyote is VALIS Pac Cup ’08 crewmember Steve Hill’s boat.
All crew are feeling well, and we are defrosting the Mongolian Beef with Pork Fried Rice for dinner.
-Paul