9.27.2010
9.09.2010
8.23.2010
7.20.2010
7.19.2010
7.18.2010
Imminent arrival...
The guys did there 25 mile check in about two hours ago, so they should be arriving any minute now. The shore crew is on their way...we'll try and post some pictures ASAP. Yahoo!!!!
Yacht club
We visited the yacht club yesterday. Awesome scene. Trunk Monkey and Pocket Rocket
were in the (can't think of the right word) waiting for a slip, all
lea-ed out. The crew (including a super hot surfer chic that I
suspect was actually a super hot sailor chic) drinking by the pool and
lounging on the grass. Real-time updates on this white board as the
boats call in their 100-mi marks and the officials call in the
finishes. Women making boat leas. LOVED IT and super excited to see Brainwaves crew all lea-ed and lounging by the pool.
were in the (can't think of the right word) waiting for a slip, all
lea-ed out. The crew (including a super hot surfer chic that I
suspect was actually a super hot sailor chic) drinking by the pool and
lounging on the grass. Real-time updates on this white board as the
boats call in their 100-mi marks and the officials call in the
finishes. Women making boat leas. LOVED IT and super excited to see Brainwaves crew all lea-ed and lounging by the pool.
nearing the 100-mi mark -- 7/18 0400 post from Andy
0400 7/18:
The night started off slow and then the wind picked up and now it's a screamer. I was on the helm this night with the Monster just kicking back wen the wind started to work it's way up to 30. Perfect swells on the stern, moonlight on the water, and little old me surfing along at 11 for what seemed like hours. We then gybed, downsized a shoot, and should be calling in soon for the 100 miles. This is going down to the wire! 15 hours!
The night started off slow and then the wind picked up and now it's a screamer. I was on the helm this night with the Monster just kicking back wen the wind started to work it's way up to 30. Perfect swells on the stern, moonlight on the water, and little old me surfing along at 11 for what seemed like hours. We then gybed, downsized a shoot, and should be calling in soon for the 100 miles. This is going down to the wire! 15 hours!
7.17.2010
SAT phone calls from Brainwaves
Brainwaves is less than 200 miles out and we have started receiving SAT phone calls. Great to hear their voices. Spirits are high.
Jordan
Range to mark 268 - 7/17 11:20 update from Andy
7/17
11:20 PST
We can basically see Hawaii. Range to mark 268, time to mark 1 day 16 hours. Only one more overnight and one more whole day. We are hoping the winds freshen or head to give us an advantage over our arch-rivals in the race. The 8 o'clock rollcall position reports have us arriving 1.5 hours behind them. If we continue to push hard and get some more luck we can totally close that gap. We are looking forward to a photo finish.
We tamed the Monster last night. Mostly light winds with a couple of squalls. Ever since we blew up Captain America (RIP) we've had to go big. That thing was a beast, unruly, ugly, loud, and really uncooperative. After riding her hard last yesterday I think we found her true soul- she's just a gentle beast that needs a firm hand and a rubber ball(Ed. note: The rest of the crew disavows these comments) (Andy’s note: bob is just jealous because we took his ball gag).
The rest of Brainwaves is doing great. She has a few more wrinkles and some new creaks and groans, but no broken arms. Nothing a few thousand more dollars wont fix. We are already figuring out how to win the PacCup in 2012.
The crew continues to be awesome. Everyone is making the spinnaker dance, which is most important, but the space on the boat down't seem too small. we have 5 guys on a 35 foot racer-cruiser and I haven't even wanted to kill anyone. I know for a fact that everyone LOVES my armpit smell and my near-constant Monty Python impressions (Ed. note: Andy's “odor-to-humor” ratio just barely within acceptable limits). I will look forward to some alone time, a shower, and some wife-squeezing when I get home.
Love Andy.
PS: BANG! th Port Spinnaker crane just broke! We had better get the spinnaker down and relaunched.
PPS: Well that could have been worse. We thought that might happen. The spinnaker douse and set went well (except for the hourglass that went up the first time, but we dropped it and flew it again without any difficulty) and I don't think we will do any active repair this time. I hope the other crane doesn't go, but we have a pretty good contingency plan if it does. I'm glad that happened in the day.
PPPS: Just got off the phone with the support crew. Those guys are the best. We heard that our rigger and friend was reading the blog and was concerned about the breakages. We have been pushing this baby hard.
11:20 PST
We can basically see Hawaii. Range to mark 268, time to mark 1 day 16 hours. Only one more overnight and one more whole day. We are hoping the winds freshen or head to give us an advantage over our arch-rivals in the race. The 8 o'clock rollcall position reports have us arriving 1.5 hours behind them. If we continue to push hard and get some more luck we can totally close that gap. We are looking forward to a photo finish.
We tamed the Monster last night. Mostly light winds with a couple of squalls. Ever since we blew up Captain America (RIP) we've had to go big. That thing was a beast, unruly, ugly, loud, and really uncooperative. After riding her hard last yesterday I think we found her true soul- she's just a gentle beast that needs a firm hand and a rubber ball(Ed. note: The rest of the crew disavows these comments) (Andy’s note: bob is just jealous because we took his ball gag).
The rest of Brainwaves is doing great. She has a few more wrinkles and some new creaks and groans, but no broken arms. Nothing a few thousand more dollars wont fix. We are already figuring out how to win the PacCup in 2012.
The crew continues to be awesome. Everyone is making the spinnaker dance, which is most important, but the space on the boat down't seem too small. we have 5 guys on a 35 foot racer-cruiser and I haven't even wanted to kill anyone. I know for a fact that everyone LOVES my armpit smell and my near-constant Monty Python impressions (Ed. note: Andy's “odor-to-humor” ratio just barely within acceptable limits). I will look forward to some alone time, a shower, and some wife-squeezing when I get home.
Love Andy.
PS: BANG! th Port Spinnaker crane just broke! We had better get the spinnaker down and relaunched.
PPS: Well that could have been worse. We thought that might happen. The spinnaker douse and set went well (except for the hourglass that went up the first time, but we dropped it and flew it again without any difficulty) and I don't think we will do any active repair this time. I hope the other crane doesn't go, but we have a pretty good contingency plan if it does. I'm glad that happened in the day.
PPPS: Just got off the phone with the support crew. Those guys are the best. We heard that our rigger and friend was reading the blog and was concerned about the breakages. We have been pushing this baby hard.
2-days! - 7/16 2100 post from Andy
7/16 2100 PST
Our master navigator (Expedition) tells us that we have less than 2 days until our current arrival in Hawaii. We are already planning our landing. The boat is tidy, we are being less frugal with our fresh water, and looking at our entry paths.
The competition is tight. After 2070 miles there are predictions that we might get to the finish within 2 minutes of the next closest boat in our division. What a race!
We spent today taming our Monster and hope to keep it up through the night. Tips from Tim and a long day of variable but light winds are giving us some added confidence. Currently there is a squall on the horizon and we are going to see how much wind it brings before deciding on dousing the chute. It would be awesome if we could rock that thing all night. Or alternatively, it would be awesome if the wind really came up and we could scoot along under the little chute. We will see.
We used the satphone to call the home team today. We hear there are some blog fans out there which is great to hear. We would love to chat more, but sending an email is kind of a pain. When we hear that other teams are sending video from the top of their mast we are jealous of their bandwidth.
I think we are going to drop the chute and then I get to take a nap.
Love you.
Our master navigator (Expedition) tells us that we have less than 2 days until our current arrival in Hawaii. We are already planning our landing. The boat is tidy, we are being less frugal with our fresh water, and looking at our entry paths.
The competition is tight. After 2070 miles there are predictions that we might get to the finish within 2 minutes of the next closest boat in our division. What a race!
We spent today taming our Monster and hope to keep it up through the night. Tips from Tim and a long day of variable but light winds are giving us some added confidence. Currently there is a squall on the horizon and we are going to see how much wind it brings before deciding on dousing the chute. It would be awesome if we could rock that thing all night. Or alternatively, it would be awesome if the wind really came up and we could scoot along under the little chute. We will see.
We used the satphone to call the home team today. We hear there are some blog fans out there which is great to hear. We would love to chat more, but sending an email is kind of a pain. When we hear that other teams are sending video from the top of their mast we are jealous of their bandwidth.
I think we are going to drop the chute and then I get to take a nap.
Love you.
Andy
Fun last night - 7/16 am message from Andy
I had a great time driving last night until midnight. it was pretty fun. There was enough moon to see by and we could just surf these long swells in the moonlight and hunt for some squalls. Partially cloudy, patches of brilliant stars, and an occasional light rain from squalls. Most of the time I have to concentrate about not falling off the edge of a wave, not plowing the bow into a wave, avoiding blowing up the spinnaker, avoiding collapsing the spinnaker, finding the perfect surf, heading the perfect angle, keeping my hands from blistering, willing the boom to stay put, begging the tell-tail to stay put, keeping the stern from being pooped, wondering if we need to change the spinnaker, move the pole trim the sheets, wondering if people are getting enough sleep, etc. ect. Not a lot of time for contemplating the larger meaning of life, but lots of time to loose concentration and have the boom swing across and become a literal widow maker. After loosing concentration a couple times you have to hand it over. When things are difficult it can be as often as every 20 minutes, but when the sea cooperates we can helm for hours in a tight little rhythm. Both are fun, but the former is petty scary.
Bad news: We are going to have to bury Captain America. This morning, during breakfast, it blew-up after a small pop while Andrew was driving. The thing was totally shredded and half flying half drowning in front of the boat. Everyone on deck threw their breakfast (oatmeal and/or cold cereal) overboard and sprung into action. I woke up Bob, put on my life jacket and went on deck to see what we could salvage. We actually gathered it up pretty quickly and avoided wrapping it around the keel and launched a second spinnaker within a few minutes. We even had a debrief were it was noted that our biggest mistake was not taking a picture of the carnage. Our deck work is getting pretty tight and teamwork really does feel like no work.
We are sad to see Captain America go, she was our best behaved spinnaker and now we only have our Monster and our little shoot. We have 420 miles to go and our pleased with our position. I hope Neptune favors us.
Love you.
Bad news: We are going to have to bury Captain America. This morning, during breakfast, it blew-up after a small pop while Andrew was driving. The thing was totally shredded and half flying half drowning in front of the boat. Everyone on deck threw their breakfast (oatmeal and/or cold cereal) overboard and sprung into action. I woke up Bob, put on my life jacket and went on deck to see what we could salvage. We actually gathered it up pretty quickly and avoided wrapping it around the keel and launched a second spinnaker within a few minutes. We even had a debrief were it was noted that our biggest mistake was not taking a picture of the carnage. Our deck work is getting pretty tight and teamwork really does feel like no work.
We are sad to see Captain America go, she was our best behaved spinnaker and now we only have our Monster and our little shoot. We have 420 miles to go and our pleased with our position. I hope Neptune favors us.
Love you.
Cruising the trades . . . 7/15 pm post from Andy
7/15 1900
Back to feeling better. We survived the heat of the day and made some good miles. A couple irritating breakdowns are keeping us from sailing and resting at full capacity but we still have good spirits and are determined to keep sailing well. Nothing dangerous in over 48 hours.
This morning, about 10 minutes after taking the helm (after a whole 3 hours of sleep and a good breakfast), I had had a microscopic momentary spinnaker wrap and then noticed a small tear in the sail. What a bummer. Down with the middle sized shoot (Captain America) and up with the big shoot (The Monster). Then we found what -might- be the source of our troubles and had a long discussion about going up the mast again to cover the offending "sharpie." The plan is on hold for now and we will stay Earthbound for a little longer.
We have another night ahead of us. Last night there was a good squall that pushed bob around at a shifty 35kts right after dusk that was a little intense. We did fine except for the flying objects down below during the oscillations then there was some more squall chasing and lull finding overnight where we had to rotate our drivers every hour. In the morning, when it lightened up, we were too tired to upgrade to our bigger spinnaker and think we lost some miles there.
My favorite part of today was driving while Capt'n Jimmy used the head; try as I might, I couldn't give him a chocolate broach or a dirty round down. There just wasn't enough wind. Maybe next time.
When I told bob that I wanted to do this again in 4 wks he told me I was a nutcase.
Quotes:
"that wave didn't respect the starboard tack"
Andrew
Back to feeling better. We survived the heat of the day and made some good miles. A couple irritating breakdowns are keeping us from sailing and resting at full capacity but we still have good spirits and are determined to keep sailing well. Nothing dangerous in over 48 hours.
This morning, about 10 minutes after taking the helm (after a whole 3 hours of sleep and a good breakfast), I had had a microscopic momentary spinnaker wrap and then noticed a small tear in the sail. What a bummer. Down with the middle sized shoot (Captain America) and up with the big shoot (The Monster). Then we found what -might- be the source of our troubles and had a long discussion about going up the mast again to cover the offending "sharpie." The plan is on hold for now and we will stay Earthbound for a little longer.
We have another night ahead of us. Last night there was a good squall that pushed bob around at a shifty 35kts right after dusk that was a little intense. We did fine except for the flying objects down below during the oscillations then there was some more squall chasing and lull finding overnight where we had to rotate our drivers every hour. In the morning, when it lightened up, we were too tired to upgrade to our bigger spinnaker and think we lost some miles there.
My favorite part of today was driving while Capt'n Jimmy used the head; try as I might, I couldn't give him a chocolate broach or a dirty round down. There just wasn't enough wind. Maybe next time.
When I told bob that I wanted to do this again in 4 wks he told me I was a nutcase.
Quotes:
"that wave didn't respect the starboard tack"
Andrew
Still heating up - July 15 am message from Andy
It is hot here!
things are going well.
Not a lot of sleep.
We are still pushing for third.
Fast is fun.
Should be there in 3-4 days.
Love Andy
things are going well.
Not a lot of sleep.
We are still pushing for third.
Fast is fun.
Should be there in 3-4 days.
Love Andy
7.15.2010
Andy - 14:30 PCT, 7/14
Had a good night last night without any major or minor tragedies. Good wind and kind of hairy and we struggled to have our "A" team drivers fresh enough to surf all night long. Our biggest issue is finding time to make people sleep. When stuff breaks, like it did yesterday, it takes an enormous amount of time to fix it. So we spent all day yesterday splicing new halyards, guys, and various other lines, going up the mast, and changing headsails so no one got any food or sleep. What a marathon.
The wind and waves built overnight. And we had another potential gear failure that could have ended our spinnaker run. Tim flogged the sail after a 14.5 kt surf and the spinnaker starts going crazy and there is no control on the end of the pole. The pole goes wild and the spinnaker goes apeshit and we are sure that we are about to put the pole through the spinnaker or drive the pole into a towering wave at 13 knts. We assume that the foreguy has parted and start yanking strings. Tim cool as a cucumber starts flying the kite with the malfunctioning pole (at night, at 30 kts wind). I ask for "all hands on deck" (think this is the third night in a row) and we start sorting stuff out.
This was much better than the previous nighttime emergencies. No on goes over the lifelines, noon loses their cool, and Andrew doesn't even have to come on deck. It turns out that the guy shackle had flogged itself loose and nothing had actually broken. We drop the shoot into the V-birth on top of a sleeping Andrew, I tape and wiretie the shackle closed at the pulpit (with the standard breaking waves over my head, and then magically launch the shoot (which Andrew had packed in about 2 seconds). I think we lost about a mile. It was hot.
The "A" team drivers pulled through overnight in 1 hour shifts. I stayed up with them trimming and helping to call shifts and even managed to get some sleep as well. I got up at first light and the wind had moderated so I took the helm and whacked out a 13er without even collapsing the shoot and making a 1 kt entry into the next wave. Hells yeah, that's how we've been rolling fo' real.
The other fun even in this morning is that someone (not me) misread our GPA reported position and called in our incorrect position to the morning roll call. When we did the calculations it looked like we had slipped a position to 5th and had had a really slow day. We did have a slow day (we drove under genoa along for about an hour) , but when the real navigator rechecked our results, we had actually had a relatively good day. Still 4th, but we are creeping up. We do have to submit an embarrassing correction but we went from a little depressed to pretty pleased.
This is fun.
Andy
Andy - Carnage
Lots of stuff is breaking around the fleet. Rudders - gone; booms - broken; and a boat is taking on water. Listening to role call was likely listening to a demolition derby. It sounded like everyone is safe and no one is sinking, but a couple boats sound like they are dropping out.
Good luck, everyone.
We are doing better. There were no "all hands on deck" moments last night. Once the spinnaker pole came off the mast for unknown reasons (this was a crash spinnaker take down, followed by a poling out of the genoa.) The wind-on-wing wasn't that much easier to sail (I was too tired to drive well) so I fell asleep in the cockpit "helping" Andrew.
Then, after we raised the spinnaker in the morning, I was driving and the eff'n spinnaker halyard parted and I nearly ran over the chute and really cased a total disaster. This caused another crash takedown (which was pretty smooth) and then launched our monster chute. We are back trucking along under moderate breeze, but soon I have to got up the mast an d re-run a new Halyard. I might get a short rest before then.
I am having a great time but we are tired and trying to sail mart, safe, and fast. I hope we can keep up with our competition.
Andy
Andy - batshit sailing
We are doing some hauling of the ass this night. We are all working to get some serious miles on today. There are 30 kts of breeze moving at the same speed and directions as the waves. The boat is humming like a laser and staying on her feet. E can feel ourselves gaining on Hawaii (and hopefully the competition). We might have to knock the shoot and pole out the jib again, but right now the drivers are felling fresh and feeling that they can push it.
Bob and Tim are tearing it up on the helm and Jimmy is trying to sleep after being up for about 24 hours today. He did a great job managing the crew and trying to keep us fresh for just this type of occasion.
Andrew and I are down below in our gears ready to go on deck and clean stuff up if we push too hard, but I think we are going to make it without having to take down the chute. We will see, it is a tough call.
Bet the time you read this, we will have broken something or sailed smart and aggressively. We are certainly giving it a lot of thoughtful considerations. We are being safe.
Andy
7.14.2010
Email from Bob - July 14
I'd love to be emailing you more but I don't always have time to do it. Yesterday it was pretty much all hands on deck for most of the day--we had a foreguy failure in the middle of the night, and a spinnaker halyard broke in the morning that sent the spinnaker into the water in front of us. Not fast. That last adventure was cause to send Andy up the mast with the main down. Also not fast. In the end we sorted everything out, and we had a smoking hot night last night. We flew the spinnaker through night with no carnage to speak of. Very nice sailing today and people catching up on sleep.
We're doing OK in the race. Today's position report is wrong--we still actually in 4th and we are trying to catch Green Buffalo. We have 4 days to make up ~30 mi. Do-able but a challenge.
7.13.2010
Update from Andy, July 12
We are whipping downwind testing Brainwaves to its limits. I have only slept a couple hours in the past 24. As you know, I am a bad sleeper. I am also the worst helmsman, so I try to help out on other things to make myself useful when the seas are confused and the wind is odd. Spent some more time on the bow rigging a spinnaker net, what a pain in the ass. Less breaking water and more sunlight, but lots of tangles.
A couple more gear failures but nothing we couldn't handle. The basic "strategy," now that we have committed to our route, is to sail as fast as we can without wiping out either ourselves or brainwaves. People got a little rest this afternoon event though we didn't get much this morning and last night and most of the fixes seem like they will hold us through the night.
Hopefully, we just might make it to HI in about 6 days. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone.
love, Andy
PS. The food continues to be the best.
PPS. Andrew was driving and got the boat up to 15.6 after this mornings breakerage.
PPPS. 200 mile day yesterday and we have done 113 today since 8 am, and we are heating up!
A couple more gear failures but nothing we couldn't handle. The basic "strategy," now that we have committed to our route, is to sail as fast as we can without wiping out either ourselves or brainwaves. People got a little rest this afternoon event though we didn't get much this morning and last night and most of the fixes seem like they will hold us through the night.
Hopefully, we just might make it to HI in about 6 days. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone.
love, Andy
PS. The food continues to be the best.
PPS. Andrew was driving and got the boat up to 15.6 after this mornings breakerage.
PPPS. 200 mile day yesterday and we have done 113 today since 8 am, and we are heating up!
Post from Andy, night of 7/11/10
We were ripping under spinnaker in the middle of the night going something like 12 knts directly toward HI when we heard a pop and the spinnaker collapses and all hell breaks loose. I get to shout "all hands on deck" and wake Bob and Andrew. Tim is steering and Jim and I save the shoot from falling into the water and getting run over and wrapped under the keel. It is total pandemonium and liners are shooting everywhere, green water is blowing us off our feet and Capt'n and I are trying to yank this nasty hourglass from around the foreguy, with other tangles around the jib sheets, our tethers, our feet; everything was total ass over teacups in the front while working overtime to miss the invisible rollers and not take everyone's head off with the boom.
Finally, we release all the correct sheets/guys/halyards and cram the thing down the correct hatch.
We discovered that the halyard cam let go and may be broken. Once we sorted everything out, pulled out the jib, repacked the spinnaker, and have a fix-it plan that should make us good-as-new once we get a little rest and a little light.
I am sure this is standard fare for seasoned salts but fun and new for me.
love Andy
PS. This is really fun.
Finally, we release all the correct sheets/guys/halyards and cram the thing down the correct hatch.
We discovered that the halyard cam let go and may be broken. Once we sorted everything out, pulled out the jib, repacked the spinnaker, and have a fix-it plan that should make us good-as-new once we get a little rest and a little light.
I am sure this is standard fare for seasoned salts but fun and new for me.
love Andy
PS. This is really fun.
7.12.2010
July 10 & 11 updates from Andy
And a couple posts from Andy:
I believe from July 10 (though not sent until July 11):
It was a great day. Sunny and fast and fun. Lots of 8s and a couple 9s. After it got dark we decided there was too much wind and had our first "all hands on deck" moment. After putting a reef in the main, we were still going too fast and tried to roll the jib. There was a bit of a problem and it required me going onto the bow and screwing some stuff up some more. Anyways, it all got sorted out and we didn't lose much time. Pretty exciting and we learned some good lessons. It was like the movies and I think Andrew has some photos of green water breaking over my back.
During some of our down time I got to read this month's latitude. There is an entire write-up on the broken leg that we tried to help with in Maryland. It sounds like they could have used our help. You should definately check it out and forward it to the sailing crew. The boat's name was escapade and you will need to dowland the pdf of the July issue and search for Escapade.
Anyway, I'm off to bed.
From July 11:
They are still kicking ass here on Brainwaves. Another day knocking out 8-12s under genoa and main. 1st and 2nd are pulling away, but we are eating up miles on 3rd and pulling away from 5th. Nice place to be since several of the boats have won this several times before and both the 1st and 2nd have awesome ratings. They are good boats and good crew to race with.
We continue to debate when to fly the chute. I'm not afraid to say that I'm a little afraid to fly the chute. We are doing great, having fun, and going fast. I'm worried about screwing it up and going ass over teacups.
Things have gotten much wetter since the green water last night but we are almost ship shape again. We go the water out of the bilge, the clothing hanging, and are certainly back up to speed. I found some nice bruises and woke up with some sweet old man hands. Tonight we are having our half-way dinner. We are not half way for miles, but i think we are around there for time. Vietnamese food, spring rolls, some sort of "special" dessert, adn a bottle of wine.
Lots of chores this morning. Breakfast, dishes, bilge, dry sleeping bags, getting lunch and dinner ready (looking tasty), wetting the NOAA faxes. I was too busy that I missed my morning turn at the helm. On well, at 1600, I'm back on and will show them how to surf at 11.
We got some more quotes for people:
JimBo (at the helm): mumble mumble mumble mumble
Bob (at the navstation): what did dad say?
Andy (at the companionway): He says you're adopted.
I believe from July 10 (though not sent until July 11):
It was a great day. Sunny and fast and fun. Lots of 8s and a couple 9s. After it got dark we decided there was too much wind and had our first "all hands on deck" moment. After putting a reef in the main, we were still going too fast and tried to roll the jib. There was a bit of a problem and it required me going onto the bow and screwing some stuff up some more. Anyways, it all got sorted out and we didn't lose much time. Pretty exciting and we learned some good lessons. It was like the movies and I think Andrew has some photos of green water breaking over my back.
During some of our down time I got to read this month's latitude. There is an entire write-up on the broken leg that we tried to help with in Maryland. It sounds like they could have used our help. You should definately check it out and forward it to the sailing crew. The boat's name was escapade and you will need to dowland the pdf of the July issue and search for Escapade.
Anyway, I'm off to bed.
From July 11:
They are still kicking ass here on Brainwaves. Another day knocking out 8-12s under genoa and main. 1st and 2nd are pulling away, but we are eating up miles on 3rd and pulling away from 5th. Nice place to be since several of the boats have won this several times before and both the 1st and 2nd have awesome ratings. They are good boats and good crew to race with.
We continue to debate when to fly the chute. I'm not afraid to say that I'm a little afraid to fly the chute. We are doing great, having fun, and going fast. I'm worried about screwing it up and going ass over teacups.
Things have gotten much wetter since the green water last night but we are almost ship shape again. We go the water out of the bilge, the clothing hanging, and are certainly back up to speed. I found some nice bruises and woke up with some sweet old man hands. Tonight we are having our half-way dinner. We are not half way for miles, but i think we are around there for time. Vietnamese food, spring rolls, some sort of "special" dessert, adn a bottle of wine.
Lots of chores this morning. Breakfast, dishes, bilge, dry sleeping bags, getting lunch and dinner ready (looking tasty), wetting the NOAA faxes. I was too busy that I missed my morning turn at the helm. On well, at 1600, I'm back on and will show them how to surf at 11.
We got some more quotes for people:
JimBo (at the helm): mumble mumble mumble mumble
Bob (at the navstation): what did dad say?
Andy (at the companionway): He says you're adopted.
Boat update - July 11
Looks like they're sailing hard now...no time to write long email messages. Here's what we did get from Bob today:
Will keep this short as life is busy. We've been flying the small chute all day in 20-25 and we're going fast --- averaging >9 knots with top speeds >13 knots. Everyone is able to drive in these conditions, which is awesome. We will see if we're able to keep it going until morning. BW is much more tolerant to shenanigans than Speedy was [Note by Kristen - Speedy is the boat Jim and Bob did the PacCup on in 2002]. We've had a few minor broaches that were recoverable. We're having fun.
Will keep this short as life is busy. We've been flying the small chute all day in 20-25 and we're going fast --- averaging >9 knots with top speeds >13 knots. Everyone is able to drive in these conditions, which is awesome. We will see if we're able to keep it going until morning. BW is much more tolerant to shenanigans than Speedy was [Note by Kristen - Speedy is the boat Jim and Bob did the PacCup on in 2002]. We've had a few minor broaches that were recoverable. We're having fun.
7.10.2010
PacCup version of an office pool
We've started up an office pool aboard Brainwaves. No idea what the winner gets, though it will probably involve Mai Tais. Any other guesses?
First time boat speed reaches >10 knots:
Cap'n Jimmy: 7/15 03:00
Tim: 7/10 16:00
Andrew: 7/10 11:42
Andy: 7/09 20:00
Bob: 7/10 20:00
Max day run:
Cap'n Jimmy: 185 mi
Tim: 220 mi
Andrew: 185 mi
Andy: 194 mi
Bob: 192 mi
Max boatspeed:
Cap'n Jimmy: 16.6 knots
Tim: 12.0 knots
Andrew: 13.2 knots
Andy: 15.6 knots
Bob: 14.4 knots
Arrival date:
Cap'n Jimmy: 7/21 18:00
Tim: 7/20 18:00
Andrew: 7/18 20:00
Andy: 7/21 21:30
Bob: 7/20 16:00
Bob
First time boat speed reaches >10 knots:
Cap'n Jimmy: 7/15 03:00
Tim: 7/10 16:00
Andrew: 7/10 11:42
Andy: 7/09 20:00
Bob: 7/10 20:00
Max day run:
Cap'n Jimmy: 185 mi
Tim: 220 mi
Andrew: 185 mi
Andy: 194 mi
Bob: 192 mi
Max boatspeed:
Cap'n Jimmy: 16.6 knots
Tim: 12.0 knots
Andrew: 13.2 knots
Andy: 15.6 knots
Bob: 14.4 knots
Arrival date:
Cap'n Jimmy: 7/21 18:00
Tim: 7/20 18:00
Andrew: 7/18 20:00
Andy: 7/21 21:30
Bob: 7/20 16:00
Bob
Update - July 10
Hello again,
We just finished a very fun night of sailing-- we had warmer weather, plenty of breeze and a sky full of stars to steer by. Although we're all still in full foul weather gear and long underwear it won't be long before it starts coming off. Last night also marks the first night in several that either the boat or a crew member hasn't gotten smacked by a bird.
We've compiled a collection of quotes over the last day or two to give you some insight into our little world:
Andy: Bob. Are you ready for some high intensity, high performance sailing? (Trying to rouse a sleeping crew member at 3AM to drive the boat in 0 knots of wind and wet, 50C conditions)
Bob: Wow. That handy billy has gone from most-mocked piece of equipment to MVP in only 3 days!
Jim: Remember, people, it's the fun race to Hawaii!
Jim: Head up, mumble mumble.... (spoken in direction of Hawaii)
Tim: There's a lot of stinking water out here!
Andrew: The visibility has gotten better, but not the view.
All crew: Yum, lasagna! Yum, cheesecake!
Tim: I've never sailed this long without trimming my main...
Andrew: Can we switch drivers? I'm hallucinating again.
Bob: Andy, can you show me again how to display the max speed?
Panda (guest quote): Jim, starting this engine is like starting the space shuttle!
Bob: Does the anchor chain go above or below the spinnaker pole?
Ah, at least we're amusing ourselves...
'Til next time,
Bob
We just finished a very fun night of sailing-- we had warmer weather, plenty of breeze and a sky full of stars to steer by. Although we're all still in full foul weather gear and long underwear it won't be long before it starts coming off. Last night also marks the first night in several that either the boat or a crew member hasn't gotten smacked by a bird.
We've compiled a collection of quotes over the last day or two to give you some insight into our little world:
Andy: Bob. Are you ready for some high intensity, high performance sailing? (Trying to rouse a sleeping crew member at 3AM to drive the boat in 0 knots of wind and wet, 50C conditions)
Bob: Wow. That handy billy has gone from most-mocked piece of equipment to MVP in only 3 days!
Jim: Remember, people, it's the fun race to Hawaii!
Jim: Head up, mumble mumble.... (spoken in direction of Hawaii)
Tim: There's a lot of stinking water out here!
Andrew: The visibility has gotten better, but not the view.
All crew: Yum, lasagna! Yum, cheesecake!
Tim: I've never sailed this long without trimming my main...
Andrew: Can we switch drivers? I'm hallucinating again.
Bob: Andy, can you show me again how to display the max speed?
Panda (guest quote): Jim, starting this engine is like starting the space shuttle!
Bob: Does the anchor chain go above or below the spinnaker pole?
Ah, at least we're amusing ourselves...
'Til next time,
Bob
7.09.2010
More from Andy July 5 @ 7:38 pm
The crew is doing great. I thought that everyone would have some kind of crazy rash by now but other than a couple very minor scrapes everyone is doing great. This trip is much more comfortable than i thought it would be. There is plenty of room on the boat for everyone, their gear, and our door. Everyone is in good spirits and getting along well. We are trying to scrape by our miles and fill our sails.
The waves are angled now so there there is occasional surfing, which is fun.
The boat is amazing. I thought there would be some minor annoying breakage every day but so far nothing has broken that coolant be fixed with a plastic zip tie.
We could have used some more time to work some minor bugs out of the computer(we have to reboot every time we send a message on the SSB) and we never did get the dates port with the Sat phone to work) but even the electronics are holding up.
(Lovey stuff to me)
Love Andy
The waves are angled now so there there is occasional surfing, which is fun.
The boat is amazing. I thought there would be some minor annoying breakage every day but so far nothing has broken that coolant be fixed with a plastic zip tie.
We could have used some more time to work some minor bugs out of the computer(we have to reboot every time we send a message on the SSB) and we never did get the dates port with the Sat phone to work) but even the electronics are holding up.
(Lovey stuff to me)
Love Andy
Update from the boat - day 5
Greetings All.
Well, we finally got some wind, and in the right direction. Most of yesterday was a fluky drifter. Winds varied from dead calm, light and fluky from the south, east and finally NW. We had the spinnaker up for part of the day but it was a challenge to keep in flying. We took it down, and soon afterward the winds shifted to the NNW. We'd get puffs, the boat would accelerate to 3-4 knots, then the winds would die. Repeat. Sometime during the night, the winds filled in more solidly and we have been able to point directly at Hawaii, doing 5-6 knots.
Did not see many boats yesterday, so it makes me wonder if our reputation is known and they are all avoiding us. Saw one big blue spinnaker behind us for a while, but it went down around the same area that we took ours down. I predict that we'll be flying one permanently by the end of the day.
Off to bed for a short nap before roll call. Love you all.
Bob
Well, we finally got some wind, and in the right direction. Most of yesterday was a fluky drifter. Winds varied from dead calm, light and fluky from the south, east and finally NW. We had the spinnaker up for part of the day but it was a challenge to keep in flying. We took it down, and soon afterward the winds shifted to the NNW. We'd get puffs, the boat would accelerate to 3-4 knots, then the winds would die. Repeat. Sometime during the night, the winds filled in more solidly and we have been able to point directly at Hawaii, doing 5-6 knots.
Did not see many boats yesterday, so it makes me wonder if our reputation is known and they are all avoiding us. Saw one big blue spinnaker behind us for a while, but it went down around the same area that we took ours down. I predict that we'll be flying one permanently by the end of the day.
Off to bed for a short nap before roll call. Love you all.
Bob
From Andrew - Brainwaves quotes for July 8
Andy - Hey! Do you have any waffles?
Bob - We'll get the wind at 11 (no time zone, am/pm, or date specified)
- I can see some wind over there.
Jim - Did you reboot the computer?
- Head up (mostly done entirely by hand signals)
Tim - Watch out, it's sea level hot.
- this is more fluky than lake sailing.
Andrew - Its finally filling in - this time this is a new wind.
All - Yum . . . Deb, you really outdid yourself. (spoken at every meal)
Bob Dylan - You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.
Bob - We'll get the wind at 11 (no time zone, am/pm, or date specified)
- I can see some wind over there.
Jim - Did you reboot the computer?
- Head up (mostly done entirely by hand signals)
Tim - Watch out, it's sea level hot.
- this is more fluky than lake sailing.
Andrew - Its finally filling in - this time this is a new wind.
All - Yum . . . Deb, you really outdid yourself. (spoken at every meal)
Bob Dylan - You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.
7.08.2010
Andy July8 @ 10 am
Right now we are going zero knots. Haven't moved since 8 am and now it is 10 am. We are sitting around to see where the fleet is, we all call in our 8 am position report at 10 and everyone gets to listen in to see where everyone else happens to be. We can't use your fancy sat tracking device that is on the Internet. Don't even think about giving us hints as to where the wind is or how we can better role everyone in the fleet.
We heard over our radio that a bunch of boat saw w
Hakes and dolphins jumping in the phosphorescent seas on the first night, we didn't see any this time, I'm sure it was because we were going too fast.
We are a little less rested today since it was all hands on deck to try to convince the non existent wind to move us forward into the next wind band. The weather is very unusual, normally we would be cooking along in the trades by now, spinnaker up, shirts off, muscles bulging. Unfortunately the troposphere prevents the former and Bob's lack of muscles prevents the latter.
Oatmeal for breakfast, pb and j on muffins for lunch, lasagna for dinner. Dinner last night (roast and potatoes) was good and hardy. Everyone is still doing great. No problems releasing cargo or staying hydrated. I think I might actually gain weight on this trip.
It is awesome that people are checking out the blog. If they want to send us a message, they can email you and you can forward it to us.
Love you and hope you don't have to wait too long for us in Hawaii.
Andy
We heard over our radio that a bunch of boat saw w
Hakes and dolphins jumping in the phosphorescent seas on the first night, we didn't see any this time, I'm sure it was because we were going too fast.
We are a little less rested today since it was all hands on deck to try to convince the non existent wind to move us forward into the next wind band. The weather is very unusual, normally we would be cooking along in the trades by now, spinnaker up, shirts off, muscles bulging. Unfortunately the troposphere prevents the former and Bob's lack of muscles prevents the latter.
Oatmeal for breakfast, pb and j on muffins for lunch, lasagna for dinner. Dinner last night (roast and potatoes) was good and hardy. Everyone is still doing great. No problems releasing cargo or staying hydrated. I think I might actually gain weight on this trip.
It is awesome that people are checking out the blog. If they want to send us a message, they can email you and you can forward it to us.
Love you and hope you don't have to wait too long for us in Hawaii.
Andy
Update from the boat - day 4
Hello All,
Just beginning day 4 of the PacCup. We feel like we made some progress over the last 24 hrs, finally getting the boat up and sailing rather than drifting around the ocean. Winds are still variable, so until the weather settles a bit more, we expect there will be more fluky winds. On the plus side, it has gotten a bit warmer over the last day. Although everyone is still in full foul weather gear, long underwear, etc., getting out of a warm bunk at 3AM to begin your shift isn't as bad as it used to be.
Last night we caught a bird! There were 4-5 birds circling around us for most of the night, no doubt curious about what we were doing out here so far from shore. On a couple of occasions, we heard a bird smack into the sails. After one of these times, Andrew heard a rustling sound down by the boom, and found that one of the birds had trapped itself between the boom and the mainsail. It managed to free itself just as he was heading up to help it.
We saw one or two boats during the day and 2 boats close behind us during the night. However, they were nowhere to be found at dawn. I think one of them was Megahurts, but we will find out at morning roll call. I think Nozomi has found a different part of the ocean to sail in after yesterday's "waffle scare".
The boat and crew are doing great, with no damage to either.
Keep thinking wind!
Bob
Just beginning day 4 of the PacCup. We feel like we made some progress over the last 24 hrs, finally getting the boat up and sailing rather than drifting around the ocean. Winds are still variable, so until the weather settles a bit more, we expect there will be more fluky winds. On the plus side, it has gotten a bit warmer over the last day. Although everyone is still in full foul weather gear, long underwear, etc., getting out of a warm bunk at 3AM to begin your shift isn't as bad as it used to be.
Last night we caught a bird! There were 4-5 birds circling around us for most of the night, no doubt curious about what we were doing out here so far from shore. On a couple of occasions, we heard a bird smack into the sails. After one of these times, Andrew heard a rustling sound down by the boom, and found that one of the birds had trapped itself between the boom and the mainsail. It managed to free itself just as he was heading up to help it.
We saw one or two boats during the day and 2 boats close behind us during the night. However, they were nowhere to be found at dawn. I think one of them was Megahurts, but we will find out at morning roll call. I think Nozomi has found a different part of the ocean to sail in after yesterday's "waffle scare".
The boat and crew are doing great, with no damage to either.
Keep thinking wind!
Bob
7.07.2010
Andy July 7 @ 8:45pm
The race is going better. We have 10 knots of wind and are cooking along at 7 knots when I drive and 6 knots when Bob drives (he hasn't called the weather correctly either). It has been great sailing this day, we chewed up some miles and the boat is behaving great. Still no breakage.
The crew is doing good. The shift system is very convenient, there is always some task to look forward to.
The food continues to be awesome. Breakfast of granola, yogurt, dried fruit, bagels and cream cheese, and some Ginger cookies. Lunch of some awesome pasta salad with salmon, olives, and cheese. I had a snack of half a turkey sandwich i ate just so it wouldn't go bad. Dinner will be roast beef and potato (from Idaho).
Im doing great too. No seasickness even when I'm writing on the computer or reading Latitude on deck. Im next going to try reading in my berth. I got a little sunburned today even though it was totally overcast. Next I'm going to try and drop soothing off in the head. Wish me luck.
Love, Andy.
The crew is doing good. The shift system is very convenient, there is always some task to look forward to.
The food continues to be awesome. Breakfast of granola, yogurt, dried fruit, bagels and cream cheese, and some Ginger cookies. Lunch of some awesome pasta salad with salmon, olives, and cheese. I had a snack of half a turkey sandwich i ate just so it wouldn't go bad. Dinner will be roast beef and potato (from Idaho).
Im doing great too. No seasickness even when I'm writing on the computer or reading Latitude on deck. Im next going to try reading in my berth. I got a little sunburned today even though it was totally overcast. Next I'm going to try and drop soothing off in the head. Wish me luck.
Love, Andy.
Update from the boat - day 3
Hi All,
Greetings from the Pacific Ocean. We are just beginning day 3 of the PacCup and the conditions have been fairly similar since approaching the Farallons, with gray overcast skies and light winds. Yesterday at dawn,we were able to see 3 other boats close to us. Nozomi was so close that we sailed over to ask if they had any extra waffles for breakfast. Judging by their looks of total incomprehension, I assume they must have run out already. Or maybe it was Andy's Pennsylvania accent--we will keep him chained below in the event of any future encounters.
Onboard, we are in pretty well into our daily routine by now. The watch schedule is working out great, allowing everyone to be well rested and make sure there are always fresh people trimming and driving. Everyone is doing well, and neither seasickness nor scurvy has been a problem for us. Deb's made us some awesome food and we've been getting our daily grog rations.
We've been playing with different sail combinations to make the boat go faster, with varying amounts of success. We'll be interested to hear where the rest of the fleet is at this morning's roll call. What we really need is more wind!
Think wind,
Bob
Greetings from the Pacific Ocean. We are just beginning day 3 of the PacCup and the conditions have been fairly similar since approaching the Farallons, with gray overcast skies and light winds. Yesterday at dawn,we were able to see 3 other boats close to us. Nozomi was so close that we sailed over to ask if they had any extra waffles for breakfast. Judging by their looks of total incomprehension, I assume they must have run out already. Or maybe it was Andy's Pennsylvania accent--we will keep him chained below in the event of any future encounters.
Onboard, we are in pretty well into our daily routine by now. The watch schedule is working out great, allowing everyone to be well rested and make sure there are always fresh people trimming and driving. Everyone is doing well, and neither seasickness nor scurvy has been a problem for us. Deb's made us some awesome food and we've been getting our daily grog rations.
We've been playing with different sail combinations to make the boat go faster, with varying amounts of success. We'll be interested to hear where the rest of the fleet is at this morning's roll call. What we really need is more wind!
Think wind,
Bob
7.06.2010
Brainwaves sighting
I just ran across another blog on the Pacific Cup website (which I check way to often since they really only update the thing once a day), when I came across this blog post from a competitor of Brainwaves, Valis. There's our guys in the background!
http://sailvalis.com/wordpress_1/?p=412
Think wind everyone!
-Kristen
http://sailvalis.com/wordpress_1/?p=412
Think wind everyone!
-Kristen
7.05.2010
7.04.2010
How to find us
For those SuperDorks who want to watch the start at 11:45 Pacific Standard Time, they can Watch the St Francis Yacht Club webcam: http://207.150.197.186/
Almost Ready!
All the tasks are almost done, just need to add some spreader patches, load the sails, top off the food, and buy some deodorant. There is tons to do back shore-side after we leave, and I'm sure we will have lots of futzing, but I'm feeling good.
I'm off to take a shower and put on my scopalamine patch for tomorrow.
We cast off at 9am Monday. It should be pretty great.
Andy
7.03.2010
The Crew
from left to right:
Tim Seeling - Breckenridge , CO
Andrew Rist - Menlo Park, CA
Jim Brainard - Golden CO
Andrew Brainard - Bethlehem
Bob Brainard - Sunnyvale, CA
7.02.2010
7.01.2010
Decluttering
Capt'n JimBo and I are at the Marina Cafe using some free wireless after a couple days off the grid. the pack'n and fix'n is going well. We need a little more motivation for the unpacking. We are still trying to get some clutter off the boat, but she's sound, safe, and fast. Looking forward to our start on Monday.
Andy the unabled seaman.
PS: Think wind!
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