Me at the Finish

Left to Right: Race Chair-Rob Triton, my brother Mike, me, my sister Ngina

TAZ!!’s Deck looking aft

18 July, 2012 15:58

Port Side od TAZ!!’s Cabin

This is a view of the port side of TAZ!!’s cabin. Notice the “Jet Boil” stove hanging from ceiling, my Single Side Band radio and spare lines on the wall. My trash bag is behind the radio.

A Line of Squalls

Me on Day 10

My Finish

My Finish

My finish was not what I expected. It was just the continuation of a series of surprises and tests. About 60 miles out I decided to jibe for a North approach because the winds near Kauai on an eastern approach are typically light. I noticed at the winds were starting to build…from 18 to 20 as I continued on. The seas were very steep running about 12’ high. I had the wing up and was surfing at 10 knots. It was quite a ride as TAZ!! almost ran into the leading wave as it was surfing down the following wave. It was scary but nothing bad happening. I continued on. I decided to wait to contact the Committee until 15 miles out. I decided to plug in my cell phone in case I needed it. As I plugged in the charger I noticed that the lighter socket was needed o be screwed in a little. I was screwing it in tight and immediately noticed smoke coming out of my nav station. TAZ!! was on fire. I blew the fire out. A few wires and some paper in the
station had charred. Apparently the twisting of the lighter socket twisted two wires tight and shorted them out. The auto pilot was still working and nav lights were still on so I decided to continue. The winds were now blowing 22 and TAZ!! was still running fast. Mouton Noir radioed that she was bout 10 me behind me but I didn’t have time to talk. Too much was happening. At 8 miles out was pleased that the wind dropped to 10. I switched on my computer see where TAZ!! was relative to the shore and finish line. I put n my last clean shirt only to take a wave 1 minutes later. I yelled at the ocean.
At about 4 miles out the Committee called and said they couldn’t see me. I turned on my strobe and lit my sails with a flood light. At that point I noticed the shore getting very close and noticed the sound of surf on the shore. Checking my hand held GPS, I was on track. When I checked my computer, I was heading directly for the beach and was only about 10 feet off the shore. Shit, this wasn’t good, not good at all. I shoved the helm hard over and pointed TAZ!! out to sea. She responded immediately and the shoreline quickly fell away. According to the computer screen, I was now heading 88 degrees westward to the finish line. My hand held GPS had the coordinates of the Committee’s condo (on land) not of the finish line. Checking my track on the computer, I turned TAZ!! in only12’ of water. A few minutes later I received radio confirmation that I had crossed the finish line.

Attached is a self portrait on day 10 and a picture of a line of squalls to my rear.

115 nm to go!

The stars are magnificent! This is only the 2nd night where the beauty of the night sky has really shown. When there are no other lights to dampen its brightness, the night sky is really impressive. It appears to be 3D. It actually is 3D. I’m looking at his dome of endless brilliance. Wow. This is only the 2nd night when stars were visible. All the other nights were either overcast, full of squalls or both. All in all it has been an unpleasant ride. The seas have been lumpy with cross waves. I’m willing to bet some of the cross waves are from tropical storm “Daniel” which was down just above the equator. We were given a warning about it just in case it decided to travel Nortit didn’t.

I can’t say enough about this trip in spite its being so uncomfortable. As usual for me, isolation (and good, long vacations) allows me to reevaluate myself, my life, my direction. I think it’s time to give up doing the Singlehanded Transpac in a small boat. At 65, it’s not where I belong. My physical strength is/was fine. Certainly my sailing skills are fine. It’s the gut drive to bang it out for 15 days that is missing. I knew it from the start but tried to ignore it. I love competing with skilled opponents. That got me out here. But when it came time to do a sail change at 4:00 AM I said “Nah”, it can wait until later in the morning when the sun is up. I also found myself deciding not to fly the spinny and fly the twins instead when the spinny would have given me 2 extra knots of speed (in trade for a lot more work). For instance, I’m flying the twins now when the spinny would be faster, but I’m writing this. Any excuse will do It’s about gently shifting gears with the passage of time. It’s time for me to be more gentle. This is getting a little “heady” but just perhaps it’s time for that too.

I’m not thinking of giving up TAZ!!. She is a fine boat and She can sail the Bay and coastal waters quite well. She’s just not an ocean racer. The Bay has more than enough competition. The bottom line is that if I want to win, then I need to go out and put 100% into it. I could also give up on this winning thing and just sail. Wouldn’t THAT be a change.

I also want to spend time more with my immediate family in NY, NJ, MA, OH and SC. I’ve got nieces and nephews I can torment. Lord knows they have tormented me. Besides think they may be ready to breed and there will be kids to paly with.

As best as I can figure out, I should cross the finish line around 1:00 AM California time or 10:00 PM Hawaii time. If I remember, the wind lightens up as you near Kauai so I could come in hour later.

I think I’ll hoist the spinny after I eat breakfast.

Two Days Later It’s Now 7/13 (Day 14)

Yesterday was a weird, frustrating day. I had broken both my poles and the prospect of limping into Hanalei Bay was depressing. I spent the day sailing downwind under a main sail only. Hoisting a jib didn’t make sense because I would have to reach up (or down) too far away from the finish line. So I pointed TAZ!! about 15 degrees up (to generate a little apparent wind) and cruised at 6 knots. I worked through my self pity and started thinking about making a pole. Hell, I should try at least. I spent the whole day making a wisker pole that was 14″ shorter than the 9′ 6″ one I had. Not satisfied with that, I spliced together a spinnaker pole that was only 4″ shorter than the 9′ 6″ length. I used a hack saw, the hand drill Dan (thanks) let me borrow, drill bits, some sand paper, a measuring tape, duct tape, various nuts bolts and washers I found or scavenged from places that didn’t see to need them as badly as I did.. I actually didn’t finish the spinny pole. The parts are cut and fitted. All that is left is to drill and bold the pieces together. I did fly the twins today with the wisker pole and it worked perfectly. I was surfing again all day consistently cruising at 7 knots with bursts up to 10. It was very satisfying. Squalls appeared all day. I took the pole down every time a squall hit me. I’m not offering any more sacrifices. It’s someone else’s turn. I’ll assemble the spinny pole tonight. I would like to fly one before the end of the race. Oh, it looks like I’ll finish on Sunday or Monday. I am currently 367 nm out. I’m looking forward to a shower and a large eggs/bacon/toast breakfast. It’s funny, I’m not looking forward to the news, TV shows or all the babble we get bombarded with. It will be real nice to see family waiting for me. Brother Mike and Jenita are there and Sister Ngina and Byllye arrive tomorrow. There will be great hugs and smiles all around.

This has been a particularly nasty Transpac compared to previous ones. The squalls and overcast have been painful for all the participants. This has come out in the evening chatter along with who is eating what, boat projects (like my poles), when and to where are people going after the race. People seemed surprised that I could rebuild my two poles from what I could find on my relatively little boat. People who know me aren’t.

That reminds me, the evening chatter has taken an interesting turnit’s dropped way off. There’s still chatter but it involves just of few of the racers. The rest check in with their Lat, Lon, speed, course over ground and distance to finish. Then they just go away (or they could be listening quietly like I do). Also as we get further and further apart, it’s harder to hear each other. There are also fewer of us as some racers are starting to finish.

In total, the day was satisfying except for the rain that seems to serve no purpose other than to be annoying. Birds are starting to show up. I’m going to miss this.

Thursday, 7/12/12, Day 13

Well, it must be some karma payback cause I got slapped again really hard at 2:15 AM. I was dealing with this little squall. No problem. The twins were up on the wisker pole. All of a sudden TAZ!! was knocked down – hard. Up to that point it was pleasant with 6’seas and 16 knot winds. I was running off the wind at 150 degrees. Then, Bam! I suited up. Needless to say the pole broke so I cleared it below. The twins were flogging badly and the main was back-winded. TAZ!! was in irons. I eased the preventer and jibed the main. Now I was going to weather in 25 knots of wind and I still had to go forward and lower and secure the twins. The bow was under water 30% of the time and I got drenched. Water poured down my sleeves and collar. Man, I had just desalinated myself. Back in the cockpit, I pointed the TAZ!! toward Hanalei Bay again and rested. No pole! TAZ!! was now doing 8 knots under only Her main. I cleaned up the cockpit and went below. When I woke up this morning at 8:20 AM the waves had built to 10′ to 15”and were coming from two directions. It was still blowing over 20. BTW, other racers/boats are being beaten up too but it’s their stories and I’ll let them tell them.

For me, this race has been a disaster. As an adventure, it can’t be beat. I have been push and tested in so many ways. Crawling to a half submerged foredeck in high winds and at night is a good example. I’m probably DFL. I’ve been DFL before, it’s been while, but it’s not new to me nor will it be my last. If you seize the opportunity, it’s a great vantage point to go to school. I’m in great health. I’m a little tired and uncomfortable but not hurt in any way.pretty good for an old man. It hasn’t gone unnoticed by me that all the racers my age are in big comfortable boats. One boat has a freezer and another an extensive sailing library. Hey, I’m peeing in a funnel!

Well, time for breakfast and some thought on how I can turn these pieces of aluminum tubing into a functioning spinnaker pole.