8:00 PM PDT, July 22, 2012 Latitude 32 deg 29min N, Longitude 135 deg 39 min W Speed 8kts @ 240 deg magnetic 1348 miles to Kaneohe Bay.
I am told that our tracker may not be updating our position. Please don’t worry — we’re doing great. We may be able to get the tracker going again, but if not we will remain in contact with the other boats and our shoreside friends via radio and satellite phone.
We’ve had a great day aboard VALIS. The heavy overcast is breaking up and we’ve had hours of sailing the over sparkling blue sea. It’s warmer, too, and we have shed our various layers of thermal insulation and are sporting more tropical-looking gear. It’s still cool at night, but a the foul weather gear takes care of that.
At daybreak we were sailing under plain sails: main, genoa, and staysail. During the morning radio roll-call the wind became appropriate to hoist a spinnaker, so up went the colorful 3/4 oz chute. Once up, Michael noticed a small tear in an upper panel, and not wanting it to turn into a big rip we brought it down and in it’s place put up the blue/white 1-1/2 oz spinnaker. The wind was probably a bit strong for the light-air sail anyway. The rip has been repaired and we have this sail in reserve should we need it later.
We’ve been making great time with the heavier kite, regularly breaking ten knots of boatspeed. Our average has been around eight kts, which is very good for VALIS. If the wind picks up too much we will run up the “shy kite”, which is a smaller spinnaker designed for heavier air.
We’ve remained in VHF radio range of several boats and spoke with Temerity and Lightspeed. We’ve had no sails or ships within visual range today.
Lunch today was chili and cornbread, and for dinner we had salad, and a stew over polenta. Fine dining aboard VALIS! For the last few evenings we’ve opened up the cockpit table, laid out a non-skid tablecloth, and had our meals in a most civilized fashion. Unfortunately, the candles keep blowing out.
We are now running the engine (out of gear) to charge the batteries. As we get more sun we will need to charge less. It’s pretty noisy down below with the engine on, so I am hoping for more sun!
Best wishes to all, Paul / VALIS

Time: 3:40PM PDT Position: 33deg 34min N, 131deg 52min W Speed/Course: 7kts @ 230 deg true
Good afternoon from VALIS! We’ve been making good speed towards Hawaii and the crew are in good spirits.
We kept the spinnaker flying most of the night, but by 1:30AM in order to keep the big sail happy we were heading further south than would have liked. So we dropped the kite and unfurled the genoa and staysail. The wind was strong enough that we lost very little speed, and were again sailing in the proper direction.
Around 4:00AM we saw the tri-color of “Lightspeed”, a Wylie 39 from Division B (Div B started Tuesday). She slowly crossed our bow at a distance of several miles, and by sunrise she was gone.
Around 9:00AM this morning the wind was again appropriate so the spinnaker went back up. This sail gives us a lot of drive, and sometimes it tries to take VALIS on a wild ride, the boat heeling and spray flying. It takes quick work at the helm to bring the boat back on her feet, but so far we’ve had no calamities.
Morning roll-call went well (VALIS is communications boat), and when it was over we were able to talk with Lightspeed and Temerity via short-range VHF radio.
One recent development in marine technology is “AIS”. This shows the position, course, speed, and other information from almost all large ships, and from some smaller vessels. VALIS and some other racers carry an AIS transponder, which means that we broadcast our position, etc. Most other boats carry at least an AIS receiver. We are really enjoying having AIS on board, and use it to help make our encounters with shipping less stressful. We still keep a visual lookout, but with AIS we can see these ships (and some racers) as they approach from many miles off — usually far beyond our 12-mile visual horizon.
Below is a screenshot (I hope!) of our AIS display. We are in a region of the Pacific where shipping is common, and at first it might look like we are attempting to cross a busy freeway (we are the little green triangle at the center of the screen, our path over the previous 24 hours shown behind us).
When you look more carefully, you will see that these ships are at least sixty miles away, and we will never be close enough for us to even see them by eye. Nothing to worry about, but good to know.
Dinner tonight will be Chicken Biryani, an Indian rice dish that has become a favorite of the VALIS crew over the previous Pac Cup races. Rich has it heating in the oven while he prepares a green salad.
Until later, Paul / VALIS

We’ve been blasting along under spinnaker, and making good time for Hawaii. We’re aiming a little south to try and avoid the forecast lightening air to the north, but it’s not much of a detour. The wind is on the beam, and our spinnaker isn’t really cut for this job, but it’s doing fine. If the wind picks up we may go back to “white sails” (genoa and possibly staysail).
Today was generally overcast, and we are again running the engine to charge the batteries. Sun on the solar panels would be nice, but we have more than enough fuel to for charging.
Today we had a nice VHF radio chat with our friend David on Temerity. David and his daughter Annika are doublehanding in the race and are in good spirits. Today they caught a tuna and were enjoying sashimi in the cockpit. You may remember David from the 2010 Pac Cup, where he was crew on VALIS.
We’ve been seeing debris, probably more than usual for this area. These seem to be mostly large floats or ship-fenders, and of course the always present styrofoam bits. For a while we were seeing something every fifteen minutes or so. We haven’t passed close enough to the bigger items for any detailed identification. We had been asked by some researchers to collect a seawater sample when we crossed 35 degrees latitude, so I did that (a bit south of the line, but I hope close enough).
We’ve also seen several ships on our AIS, and one was near enough to see visually. We hailed it to confirm a safe passing — she passed us at about four miles distance, heading for Japan.
Dinner tonight was salad, and chicken on brown rice. We used a little salsa to add some spice to the rice, and it was most satisfying. Thanks to Phil and Dick for the great meal preparation, and to Michael for the chicken.
Our position at 8:43 PM PDT is 34deg 35min N, 129 deg 50min W. Speed 6.2 kts, course 255 deg true.
I’m off-watch and heading for the bunk! Paul / VALIS

We put up the spinnaker this afternoon! The wind is very light, and just a little aft of the beam, so we put up the light-air kite. It’s not really cut for this broad-reaching, but it’s a little better than the Genoa and staysail we had been using. Anyway, it’s good practice.
It’s still cloudy, and the wind is up and down (between three and ten knots), so it’s slow-going. The forecasts promise more wind soon.
We are eating through our frozen provisions. The dry ice has evaporated, so we moved everything into the refrigerator (taking out the items that could stand being a little warmer), and this has our meals in a semi-frozen state. Last night we had spaghetti with Phil’s home-made sauce. For lunch today we had pizza, made from flatbread, leftover spaghetti sauce, cheese, and Michael’s roasted chicken.
VALIS remains third in our division, and we are hoping for a chance to do better.
Position at 2:27PM PDT: 35deg 58minN, 129deg 12minW Speed: 5.2 kts Course 220deg true
Aloha, Paul / VALIS

What a difference a day makes! (you will probably see this comment more than once during this race.)
Yesterday morning we were again dealing with light or nonexistent winds. At times it took over an hour to just get the boat pointing towards Hawaii, while we were drifting in a completely different direction. It didn’t really matter where we were pointing, but it just felt better to try.
And then the wind finally shifted, coming from the north as it’s supposed to. We slowly gained speed throughout the day, and by midnight we were making seven knots (in the right direction!). We hit a top speed of 8.3 kts around 3:00AM. The wind has now slacked a bit, but we are still sailing nicely.
The dry ice has just about vanished, but our appetites are back, so we hope to be able to eat at least most of the crew-prepared food. Last night we had fresh fruit, cheese and salami on crackers, and a delicious Lasagna, courtesy of Dick Holm. This morning, Dick prepared smoked salmon and cream cheese on flatbread. Dick is quite the gourmet!
VALIS is currently third in her division, which is great, but of course it’s still very early in this race.

July 18, 4:00 AM PDT, lat 37 deg 16 min N, lon 124min 54min W. Speed 3 kts, course 262deg T
Yesterday was a good ome aboard VALIS. We are getting used to our watch schedule, and are actually making up for the pre-race sleep-deprivation. Our appetites are returning (although none of us were ever seasick),and spirits high.
About this time yesterday we were slatting around in extremely light wind, with the sails often backed as we attempted to chase the wind. The windex at the top of the mast was literally spinning in circles. It was wet, too, as we sailed under low clouds.
With the morning sun came the wind. Not a lot, but enough to sail in the proper direction at a few knots. These conditions lasted through the day, and well past midnight. The wind has been coming from the south, and is definitely not the typical north west wind we see at the start of the Pacific Cup. We expect to meet the “normal” NW winds soon, and the transition may bring more light air.
Lunch yesterday was tuna sandwiches (tuna mix provided by Phil), and dinner was going to be Lasagna (provided by Dick). After thaving for most of the day, it remained mostly hard frozen. It looks like we’re having Lasagna for dinner today instead.
After getting off my 1:30-4:30 AM watch, we started the engine (out of gear) and are charging the batteries. The solar panels provide some juice during the day, but not enough to completely cover our requirements.
More later… -Paul Elliott
After a cold and drizzly night, with very light wind, we are now sailing in the sunshine (true, with lots of clouds too, but there’s sun), and feeling pretty good. We’re sailing west at 4.5 kts, which is better than we were expecting given the forecast (now at 6.2 kts, as we sail under a cloud). Most of our division is ahead of us, but we aren’t letting that get us down.
It turns out that Paul Carson is a sail-trim and driving fool. He can usually manage to squeeze a good fraction of a knot out of any difficult situation. The photo shows Paul at the helm, taking us towards Hawaii.

12:15PM PDT, lat 37 deg 27 min N, lon 123min 35min W. Speed 5 kts, course 277deg T
After a cold and drizzly night, with very light wind, we are now sailing in the sunshine (true, with lots of clouds too, but there’s sun), and feeling pretty good. We’re sailing west at 4.5 kts, which is better than we were expecting given the forecast (now at 6.2 kts, as we sail under a cloud). Most of our division is ahead of us, but we aren’t letting that get us down.
It turns out that Paul Carson is a sail-trim and driving fool. He can usually manage to squeeze a good fraction of a knot out of any difficult situation. The photo shows Paul at the helm, taking us towards Hawaii.

8:00PM PDT, latitude 37deg 40m N, longitude 122deg 58 min W, course 185 true, speed 5.5 kts.
Greetings from the good ship VALIS, on our first day of the Pacific Cup race from San Francisco to Hawaii. We are: Paul Elliott (me), Paul Carson, Rich Jones, Michael Moradzadeh, Dick Holm, and Phil Mummah, and of course VALIS.
We arrived early to finish stowing gear and prepare VALIS for the race. Friends and family stopped by to wish us well, and as you might expect, it was difficult for us to cast off the dock lines. It’s hard to say goodbye, even for just two weeks.
But cast off we did, and we arrived at the starting area in time to make a few practice approaches and speed-calibration runs. Our division (Division A) got the gun at 1:00PM PDT, and the battle was on. VALIS was second across the line, and second under the bridge. Out the channel we went, on one tack and almost to Drake’s Bay. We tacked ond headed towards the Farallones. As I type this, we have just sailed past the southwest end of South Farallon Island, and are heading south and slightly west.
We need to get further west before the (forecast) wind dies tomorrow. The wind is currently about 8 kts from due west. Seas are comfortable, with swells 4-6 ft (I estimate). We are settling into our watch schedule (I have just come off watch), and it is getting *cold*. Dinner was sandwiches.
Now to get some sleep before my next watch (1:30 – 4:30 AM).

It’s Friday, and we are getting ready for our race. One truckload of provisions + one small boat = controlled chaos. Here’s Phil looking for the crowbar as he tries to fit in just one more bag of beef jerky (the breakfast of champions!).
We still have some waterline left, so I guess we’re not finished yet.
Later today we actually try to sail this thing! Tomorrow is the Skipper’s meeting and Bon Voyage Party. Sunday we catch up on all our missed sleep (yeah, right…) Monday we start for Hawaii!

test from the slip