Aloha from the crew of VALIS! We are watching the sun set on another medium-adventure day here in the Pacific, and what a sunset it is. All day we have been seeing rainbows, because squalls are usually accompanied by rain. Twice today we have had mild deck-washers, which some of the crew used to their own advantage, personal-hygiene-wise. Between the mild squalls the skies ave been clear, the air warm, and the sun bright.

Today Steve put out the fishing line again, and we trolled for most of the day with no luck. Just as we were deciding on what to have for dinner, Steve and Paul reeled in a very nice Mahi-Mahi. We quickly anesthetized it with our spray-bottle of rum, and took a photo for posterity and bragging rights (33 inches). Steve skillfully divided the fish into steaks, which we had, along with beef steaks, for dinner (along with a three-bean and red cabbage salad). There is enough fish left for tacos at lunch tomorrow.

During last night’s watch we continued to play music in the cockpit. It was really a magical night, with clear skies filled with more stars than most people ever see. The Milky Way was magnificent, the shooting stars streaking across the sky. Later the moon rose, illuminating the patchy clouds with its glow. During my watch the music took a turn into some great keyboard-driven jazz, and as we sailed past a brightly fishing boat the evening was perfect.

We have just turned on the mast-top tri-color (navigation light), with Michael and John on watch. Steve is in the cockpit with them, his watch starting at 10:30PM. I come on watch at midnight, replacing John. At 1:20AM Alan spells Steve, and at 3:00AM Rich takes over for me. We stand three-hour watches, with two on watch at all times. Every 1-1/2 hours one person comes off watch ad another comes on, giving us a staggered watch system. Because Michael runs the fixed-schedule radio net, this counts as one watch, and this creats a schedule that shifts from day to day. The benefit of this is that nobody gets stuck standing the same watch every night, but it also means that we need to refer to a new watch schedule every day.

We now have 472 miles to go to the finish line — getting close!

-Paul

Aloha from VALIS, at lat 26 deg 45 min N, lon 144 deg 31 min W. We are sailing in light air at a speed of around six kts, on a course of around 210 deg mag. This is a bit more south than we would prefer, but as the wind picks up we should be able to head closer to Hawaii. Our 24-hour run was 153 miles towards Hawaii, about in the middle of our division.
Today Steve caught a Mahi-mahi, using the cedar plug lure that was so successful for VALIS during our 2006 return trip. Steve filleted the fish, and we baked it for dinner, serving it with biryani and green beans. Excellent!
We also hooked a very large fish on Michael’s hand-reel. This looked like a young marlin (perhaps?), and was at least four feet long. Alan valiantly played the energetic fish, but as we were attempting to board it it broke free. It may have been bigger than four feet, we will have to determine this once we reach the Kaneohe YC bar.
Yesterday around dusk we saw the white and blue sails of another boat to our stern. She sailed towards the north as we watched a beautiful golden sunset. We watched as the skies darkened and the stars came out, and our sailing visitor jibed to the south and after several more hours disappeared. From the position reports in the morning roll-call we believe the other boat was Tiki Blue.
Later in the evening the clouds filled in, and the sun rose behind a cloudy sky. The sky cleared somewhat in the afternoon, and we are now sailing in sparkling blue seas.
-Paul
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VALIS had another daily-record run at this morning’s 9:00AM roll call: 168 nautical miles made good towards Kaneohe. This was the best 24-hour run in our division, and in some others. The low numbers indicate the lighter winds we have all been seeing, often dropping below ten knots.
This morning at 6:00 AM we crossed the halfway point! John’s little Tiki Drummer became quite agitated and woke the entire off-watch crew with his primitive percussion performance. The entire day has been a halfway party, with the normally rigid discipline being temporarily relaxed; coats and ties not required at dinner tonight.
And what a dinner it was! We started with a crisp cabbage Caesar salad, followed by hot corn on the cob, and for the main course BBQ ribs and chicken, ably prepared by Michael, Rich, and John.
Credit must be given to Michael and Steve, and their wives, who provided most of the pre-prepared meals we have enjoyed so far. Thank you!
This has been a light-air day for the most part, but the skies have been sunny since noon, and the sea is finally showing the beautiful deep-water blue that help make ocean sailing such a glorious experience. We have been seeing flying fish, tropicbirds, and two days ago we had an impressive albatross pay us a visit. Now the wind has come up a bit, and the sailing is fine. We have been flying our colorful lightweight spinnaker since this morning, and this has helped us make the most of the conditions.
Position as of 6:45PM: lat 28deg 29min N, lon 141deg 53min W Speed: 6.5 kts, course 220 deg magnetic. Distance to finish line: 959 nautical miles
-Paul
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Today we celebrated our fastest 24-hour run: 193 miles made good towards Kaneohe (from 9:00AM Saturday to 9:00AM today). As it turns out, this was the fastest Saturday-Sunday run in our division, as well as in divisions B and C! This didn’t do much to help our overall standing, but it sure didn’t hurt, and it felt very good.
We have been flying the spinnaker continuously since Friday, and our speed has been averaging over eight knots, with periods in the solid nine knot range.
We should cross the halfway point tomorrow, with 71 miles to go before we reach the 1035 mile miles dividing line.
We continue to eat well, with Chicken Biryani for dinner yesterday, and roasted cornish game hens with rice pilaf on the side. There’s good eatin’ onboard VALIS!
Today we dropped a hook in the water, and eventually reeled in a small mahi-mahi. It slipped off the hook before we could board it, which was just as well, since dinner was being served. Better luck tomorrow?
After the evening radio net, California Girl hosted a radio remembrance for Davey Glander. Davey had sailed on VALIS with John and me during our 2006 return, and was a regular California Girl crewmember and friend. Rich had crewed with Davey on California Girl’s 2007 Transpac return passage. Davey had become a good friend to all of us, and it was a nice, if emotional, opportunity to share our thoughts. California Girl will scatter Davey’s ashes tomorrow at the halfway point.
Position as of 8:08PM (now) is lat 29 deg 13 min N, lon 129 deg 14 min W Speed 8 kts, course 235 deg magnetic. Windspeed about 17 kts.
-Paul
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Today is Saturday, day five of our Pacific cup, if you count the day we started as “Day Zero”. This seems to be the thing to do, so please mentally re-number the previous postings.
Regardless, I’m still pretty sure today is Saturday. It is easy to lose track when one day leads into another and we are standing watch at all hours.
One way to remember is by significant events. For us, Friday was spinnaker day. We launched our kite mid-day yesterday and immediately saw a boost in speed, as well as in excitement. The winds are around 20 kts (15-25), and we are able to hold a course towards Hawaii (or a little south). Steering is a challenge in this inherently unstable configuration, requiring that we use both finesse and power. Fortunately, Steve, Michael, and Rich are well-experienced in spinnaker sailing, and Alan, John, and I are really appreciating the training.
Another significant event happened today: John brought out his “Tiki Drummer”, a little plastic guy who bangs on skull-drums to a tuneful musical accompaniment. Steve fabricated a tether for our diminutive cheerleader, and he now lives outside, always ready to cheer us on.
It is now 12:32 PM, we are at lat 30deg 25 min, lon 134deg 47min, sailing at 9.3 kts on a magnetic course of 240deg, and have only 1346 miles to go!
-Paul
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Greetings from VALIS!
We are about 600 miles west of San Diego, and heading a little north of Hawaii. We still haven’t put up the spinnaker, since the angle isn’t right – it will be soon, though. Winds have been great, usually between 15 and 20 kts. We have been sailing 7-8 kts, with bursts over nine.
It has been getting warmer, but the sky remains overcast. Not much to see out here, but we were visited by a few birds late last night.
We are settling into our three-hour watch schedule, but for some of us (me, for example) have been getting pretty fatigued in the early AM hours. We will learn to manage our sleeping opportunities as the race continues.
For lunch today John made tuna sandwiches (with celery – very tasty), and Michael made a great dinner with a salad and home-cooked jambalaya.
Now, it’s time for a quick nap before my watch starts.
=============== Day 5
It is now Friday morning, and the conditions are much the same as yesterday. The sky is completely overcast, and the wind is a bit lighter, but still close to 20 kts. Today may be the day we set the spinnaker and head a little more south; we need to check the forecast.
Our position is about 730 miles west of Tijuana, and we’ve got 1539 miles to go before we reach Oahu.
-Paul
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Aloha from VALIS!
It is Wednesday evening, and we have just had a great dinner of Macaroni and Cheese (Thank you, Noelle!) This pre-cooked meal plan is very nice indeed! Michael has prepared a per-day meal plan, and we are (mostly) sticking to it.
In the morning we have a “buffet-style” breakfast (grab whatever you can find), which can include cereal, coffee, hot chocolate, leftovers, or anything else in the cupboards. Yesterday Michael revealed a box of doughnuts as a special treat.
Lunch today was grilled-cheese sandwiches and steaming tomato soup, prepared with style by Rich.
Dinner was followed by chocolate-chip cookies. So much for the Pacific Cup Diet!
The wind has been much better today, and we have been sailing southwest at 7+ knots with building seas. Very comfortable sailing, and certainly more encouraging conditions than we had the first 24 hours of the race. We are currently about 300 miles west of Pt. Conception.
At 9:00AM (PDT) Michael runs the Pacific Cup radio net from the VALIS radio. This where all boats must report their current position. This is also an opportunity for emergency radio traffic (none so far). Michael records the fleet’s position data, crunched the numbers on his computer, then via radio email sends the data and the results to Pac Cup HQ.
At 5:00PM there is another radio net, run by Michael. Dubbed “The Children’s Hour”, this is an optional and informal chat-session, where the fleet’s current standings are announced. This is also where we all trade fish-stories, gossip, and jokes. This evening we discussed the joys of head repair, how to shred two(!) spinnakers, what’s for dinner, and the like. Any “information” given during the Children’s Hour may not be completely true and accurate. Caveat Emptor!
I am about to start up the engine (out of gear, of course) to charge the batteries. Since there has been heavy cloud-cover, our solar panels have not been giving us much juice. This means we have to run the engine to charge them a little more often.
-Paul
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Greetings from VALIS! We are currently at lat 36 deg 46 min N, lon 125 deg 04 min W, (about 150 miles due west of San Simeon). Now that the wind has picked up we are making good speed on a southwest course, averaging between 7 and 8 knots.
The crew is in good spirits, and I have just come off watch (Rich replaced me, and Alan still has 1-1/2 hours to go on his three-hour watch). It has been mostly overcast since Monday, and it is still cold after sunset.
We have been eating well (the small seas no doubt play a factor here), and we have consumed the remainder of our bon-voyage sandwiches, baked chicken for Monday’s dinner and Tuesday’s lunch, and lasagna for dinner last night.
Now, to sleep, Paul.
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..very slowly.
It is just after 8:00PM PDT, and I have come off watch. The Pacific Cup race started with a bang (literally) when the starting gun fired and our division (div A) crossed the starting line. We had great windspeed and direction as we headed under the Golden Gate Bridge and out to sea. Out stratgey is (was) to head west towards the predicted favorable winds, and that is what we did, for a while. As we approached the Farallons, the wind began to go light, and at the moment our speed is only about three knots, and our course is mostly south, with just enough westing thrown in to keep us on this tack.
Going slow has its compensations, though. For the last hour a whale has been keeping us company, breaching, sounding, and occasionally poking its head up to look us over. As it ducks its head back under the water it gives us a wave with its fins. We often hear the whale before we see it, breathing loudly and occasionally spouting.
Until tomorrow, and hoping for wind,

Paul S/V VALIS

Our full Pacific Cup crew — Michael, John, Alan, Rich, Steve, and Paul (me) — took VALIS out on Saturday June 21, for some practice offshore. After breakfast, we left Sausalito around 10:30AM, and headed for the Golden Gate Bridge. On the way we conducted radio checks with several Pac Cup and Singlehanded Transpac boats – it was good to learn that our signal continues to sound good, and most all of the other boats were coming in loud and clear.

As we approached the bridge, Peter Lyons of “Lyons Imaging” zoomed by in his RIB and asked if he could take some pictures. Of course we said yes!

http://lyonsimaging.smugmug.com/gallery/5229185_CoNjB#P-1-15

We had a nice breeze heading out, but once we passed Point Bonita the wind dropped to just a few knots. After wandering in vain looking for some wind, and slatting around for a while, we fired up the Diesel and powered in the direction of the Farallons. A few miles out the wind returned, the seas built, and we had begun what was to be a bumpy afternoon and evening.

Rich prepared some freeze-dried dinner “samples”, and we took a vote: Beef stew was strongly rejected, but the beef stroganoff and the chicken with rice were declared edible. The final decision was to save the freeze-dried stuff for when we run out of real food.

We started our three-hour watches, with two crew on, four off. At 1-1/2 hour intervals one person came off watch and another came on, and this staggered-watch system seemed to work well. We will probably lengthen the daylight watches during the race, and make adjustments to compensate for some of the off-watch duties (communications in particular).

During the night we got used to handling the boat close-hauled in 20-30 kt winds (with 35-kt gusts), and seas 6-8 ft. At midnight we were about 50 miles offshore, so we jibed and headed back to San Francisco. By mid-morning Sunday we were back in the channel, at the tail-end of an ebb current. We sailed between Alcatraz and Angel Island, and then towards the Richmond Bridge. We did our MOB drill, then headed back through Raccoon Strait and into Sausalito. We had a debriefing, then washed down the boat. This was a good sail with a great crew!