Wednesday Morning
Good morning! VALIS is sailing well, and all are in good spirits (or asleep). At 8:55AM PDT our position is: Lat 43d 28.6m N, Lon 124d 38.1m W. We are sailing at about 7.5 kts on a course of 175 deg mag.
Early this morning we had come as close to land as we wanted (about 12 miles off the coast near Reedsport OR), so at 5:00AM we jibed back out. We were carrying the reefed main and reefed genoa out to port, which was forcing us to sail further west that we wanted, and we were going pretty slowly, so we rigged the spinnaker pole hardware: downhaul/foreguy, and afterguys. While were at it we rigged the end-boom preventer (we don’t need it now, but it’s nice to have ready). Now the genoa is poled out to starboard, and we are sailing fast and comfortable.
Our 8:00AM radio test net was a wash-out. I could hear one boat calling VALIS (on #4A), but I couldn’t make out the name and they couldn’t hear me. #8A was worse — nothing at all. 4A, 4B, and 4C all had digital communications going on (with some breaks), which didn’t help at all.
I understand that we are now (or were) visible via AIS tracker. There will no doubt be many gaps in coverage as we sail offshore and back, and past areas of the coast with no land-based receivers. Please don’t worry about this.
I have no idea what the dinner surprise will be, so watch this space for the exciting details!
Regards, Paul / VALIS
4. June, 2014 at 09:37
Good morning Valis! It is great to see you on the AIS again. You are sailing down the part of the coast that I know well having camped there often while my family lived in Eugene for a year and every summer for 5 years following. A beautiful part of the Pacific coast line! Nice to hear that the Spinnaker is up and happy. Looking forward to seeing whatever the chef(s) come up with for the evening dining. Must be time for Sailor Jim to take on some cooking duties! Hugs to my skipper!
cheers,
Anne
4. June, 2014 at 10:00
Valis,
Not sure what your plans are when you get to the S.F. Bay Area, but Richmond Yacht Club would like to welcome you to come and stay in our harbor. As you know the Pac-Cup village will be based here and it would be great to have you join us.
John Dinwiddie
Harbormaster
Richmond Yacht Club
4. June, 2014 at 13:13
FYI: Listened on 4A/8A both AM and PM on June 3 and AM on June 4, from Vallejo Marina: just garbled words Did not attempt combo. Will be away from SSB until Sunday evening: awaiting for conditions to improve westbound!!!
4. June, 2014 at 20:30
You are having a great ride!
Some world class sailing. I miss it dearly.