In Deb's words:
Glassy sea, capricious wind,
Entertainment--mammals finned,
Time for tonic, highly ginned!
7.18.2012
First at-sea post
We had a great start. We stayed away from the traffic at the other end of the line and managed to cross with speed and clear air. We had a bunch of nice tacks and good tactics while playing with the tide and, although we didn't win the "first under the bridge" prize, we claim we won the first past mile rock prize.
It was nice sailing, sunny, tons of dolphins, more whales than I've ever seen, and variable wind from 7-13 kt. We had a beautiful sunset on glassy water, with whale bellowing and flukes a-splashing . The wind then really died and now we are doing 0.00 kt speed over water. The seas are so flat that we can't even really use our ultra-secret swell drive.
After some soup and crackers (we expected to be a little sea-sick by now) and some fresh-baked ginger cookies, it was time for a couple awkward headsail changes, and a nap on the rail… from which I was awoken by a whale spout that startled me awake because it was so close. It was a little nutty.
Andy
It was nice sailing, sunny, tons of dolphins, more whales than I've ever seen, and variable wind from 7-13 kt. We had a beautiful sunset on glassy water, with whale bellowing and flukes a-splashing . The wind then really died and now we are doing 0.00 kt speed over water. The seas are so flat that we can't even really use our ultra-secret swell drive.
After some soup and crackers (we expected to be a little sea-sick by now) and some fresh-baked ginger cookies, it was time for a couple awkward headsail changes, and a nap on the rail… from which I was awoken by a whale spout that startled me awake because it was so close. It was a little nutty.
Andy
07/18/2012 0030
7.17.2012
Good news/bad news
Here's a video of a whale Bob sent me from his phone. Its kinda hard to see (easier to hear). Good news - they've already seen some cool wildlife. Bad news - this means that they were still in cell phone range at 7 pm. And it doesn't look very windy out there. Keeping our fingers crossed that it fills in soon.
They're off!!
Brainwaves is off!
Each boat receives a leaf that has been blessed in Hawaii. Here's hoping for smooth sailing.
There were plenty of people who came by to say their goodbyes.
It looks like we might have a future PacCup skipper here!
Thanks to Ray and Patti, the CA based support crew and friends were able to cheer on Brainwaves from the Catalina-34 Crew's Nest. THANKS SO MUCH! It was a great way to say goodbye. Here's Brainwaves giving us a drive by right before the start:
Brainwaves had a good start and the sun even came out to help send them on their way. In this picture Brainwaves, and the rest of the fleet, make their way under the Golden Gate Bridge:
Bon Voyage sailors. Here's to a safe and fun sailing adventure.
7.07.2012
Go Green Buffalo!!!
Go Green Buffalo!! They were our arch-rivals during last year's PacCup and it is great to seem them leading this year's Single Handed Transpack.
http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lectronicday.lasso?date=2012-07-06#Story2
http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lectronicday.lasso?date=2012-07-06#Story2
7.05.2012
7.04.2012
Alright team, I'm one week away from leaving rainy and foggy New Zealand to fly to sunny and warm San Francisco.
It's time to warm-up the blog.
Since my first PacCup in 2010, I've spent the last two years in Auckland sailing keelboats with some of the funnest and fastest boats in the Haukari gulf. Now, I'm putting the last touches on our medical kit, refamiliarizing myself with our blogging and comms plan, doing 2000 pushups a day, swimming five miles every afternoon, and reasserting my previously unquestioned position as the brainiest, brawniest, and handsomest member of the Brainwaves crew.
Captain Jimmy is getting ready for his third PacCup by futz'n to his heart's content. Even though Brainwaves has never been more ready to sail fast, he's is doing all sorts of final prep work for make her even faster and more comfortable. He's using his Colorado workshop to splice, sew, cut, glue, and saw all sorts of nifty bags, lines, and nicknacks to make our race from San Fran to Hawaii as fun and speedy as possible. Since this is Jimbo's second time skippering Brainwaves through the 2070 mile PacCup, I bet he's having a much less stressful time doing the last-minute tuning.
Deb is probably making herself crazy perfecting our two-week menu and keeping Jimbo in line. If it is anything like last time, I'm planning curing my chronic scurvy and on gaining some weight during the voyage. Last time, Deb made about eleven days worth of awesome home-cooked meals at Ralph and Marilyn's kitchen, placed them in a commercial deep freezer, froze them solid, repacked them in dry ice, and then packed them in insulation for storage in Brainwaves's quarter-birth. The only way to improve on this system is to include more fresh-baked cookies. Since the meals should stay cool for about 10 days, we are really going to work to sail fast in order to avoid breaking into the freeze-dried food.
Bob is continuing to now perfecting his navigational skillz. This will be his third PacCup and his second time as navigator, and I bet he will remember to bring the correct computer this time. He is going to have a difficult time picking a better route than last time, but I he will be able to give us an even more optimized plan following all his experience gained in the last two years. I've heard that he has improved his grooming habits from last time, but that remains to be seen.
Andrew will also be competing in this second PacCup. Since the start of our last one, he's sailed 2070 miles to Hawaii, raced his Open 5.70 for two seasons, and spent a lot more time sailing on the San Fran Bay. He's produced some awesome videos, and expect some even better stuff during our next race.
Our newest crew member, Blaine, will be replacing Tim (who will be much missed). Although he has some big shoes to fill, he is already an awesome crew member. He has tons of experience competitively racing dingiest and keel boats and he has already shown his worth as a helmsman, trimmer, tactician, etc. Even though he's a really nice guy, I hope he understands the types of hazing he should expect during his virginal Pacific Ocean crossing (we are looking for suggestions).
I also don't want to forget to thank our awesome shore team of Ralph, Panda, Eric, and the rest of the team that are frantically helping to get Brainwaves ready.
Special thanks to our friends and families, who continue to be incredibly supportive. In addition to helping Brainwaves get ready, supporting our preparation trips on Brainwaves, and taking care of "real life" while we sail to Hawaii for two weeks, they continue to supports us during our packing and our obsessing about sailing. We couldn't do this alone.
Feel free to follow us-
The blog- http://ibrainwaves.blogspot.co.nz
Facebook Page- https://www.facebook.com/brainwaves.jboat
PacCup website- http://pacificcup.org/race2012
It's time to warm-up the blog.
Since my first PacCup in 2010, I've spent the last two years in Auckland sailing keelboats with some of the funnest and fastest boats in the Haukari gulf. Now, I'm putting the last touches on our medical kit, refamiliarizing myself with our blogging and comms plan, doing 2000 pushups a day, swimming five miles every afternoon, and reasserting my previously unquestioned position as the brainiest, brawniest, and handsomest member of the Brainwaves crew.
Captain Jimmy is getting ready for his third PacCup by futz'n to his heart's content. Even though Brainwaves has never been more ready to sail fast, he's is doing all sorts of final prep work for make her even faster and more comfortable. He's using his Colorado workshop to splice, sew, cut, glue, and saw all sorts of nifty bags, lines, and nicknacks to make our race from San Fran to Hawaii as fun and speedy as possible. Since this is Jimbo's second time skippering Brainwaves through the 2070 mile PacCup, I bet he's having a much less stressful time doing the last-minute tuning.
Deb is probably making herself crazy perfecting our two-week menu and keeping Jimbo in line. If it is anything like last time, I'm planning curing my chronic scurvy and on gaining some weight during the voyage. Last time, Deb made about eleven days worth of awesome home-cooked meals at Ralph and Marilyn's kitchen, placed them in a commercial deep freezer, froze them solid, repacked them in dry ice, and then packed them in insulation for storage in Brainwaves's quarter-birth. The only way to improve on this system is to include more fresh-baked cookies. Since the meals should stay cool for about 10 days, we are really going to work to sail fast in order to avoid breaking into the freeze-dried food.
Bob is continuing to now perfecting his navigational skillz. This will be his third PacCup and his second time as navigator, and I bet he will remember to bring the correct computer this time. He is going to have a difficult time picking a better route than last time, but I he will be able to give us an even more optimized plan following all his experience gained in the last two years. I've heard that he has improved his grooming habits from last time, but that remains to be seen.
Andrew will also be competing in this second PacCup. Since the start of our last one, he's sailed 2070 miles to Hawaii, raced his Open 5.70 for two seasons, and spent a lot more time sailing on the San Fran Bay. He's produced some awesome videos, and expect some even better stuff during our next race.
Our newest crew member, Blaine, will be replacing Tim (who will be much missed). Although he has some big shoes to fill, he is already an awesome crew member. He has tons of experience competitively racing dingiest and keel boats and he has already shown his worth as a helmsman, trimmer, tactician, etc. Even though he's a really nice guy, I hope he understands the types of hazing he should expect during his virginal Pacific Ocean crossing (we are looking for suggestions).
I also don't want to forget to thank our awesome shore team of Ralph, Panda, Eric, and the rest of the team that are frantically helping to get Brainwaves ready.
Special thanks to our friends and families, who continue to be incredibly supportive. In addition to helping Brainwaves get ready, supporting our preparation trips on Brainwaves, and taking care of "real life" while we sail to Hawaii for two weeks, they continue to supports us during our packing and our obsessing about sailing. We couldn't do this alone.
Feel free to follow us-
The blog- http://ibrainwaves.blogspot.co.nz
Facebook Page- https://www.facebook.com/brainwaves.jboat
PacCup website- http://pacificcup.org/race2012
The total studs on the Singlehanded TransPac are paving the way...
Alright Brainwaves SuperFans, to get people ready to follow the Brainwaves Superteam, you can practice by watching the SuperCool sailors singlehanding from San Fran to Hawaii. These guys sound like they are having a great time. Check them out.
Andy
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