News
July 7, 1115
Today marks my 30th day sailing on the ocean, except for two days in L. A. to get groceries. I left the Aloha Dock at Hawaii Yacht Club on June 7th headed to the TransPac start line. We left later than we would have liked due to a few situations that were beyond our control, but once all that was sorted out we cast off the dock lines, blew the conch shell and pointed the bow to L. A. The same high pressure system that is now plaguing the TransPac 2023 fleet threw us some curve balls on our sail from Hawaii to the TransPac start, which caused a few more days of delays.
Once we arrived in L. A. early Monday morning June 26th and found a slip at Cabrillo Way Marina we filled the water tanks, plugged in the shore power to charge the batteries and setup any repairs necessary to sail back to Hawaii with a new start date of Thursday June 29th. I had ordered new sails a couple months before and they were already in L. A. ready to be delivered to Blue Moon. I organized new running rigging and with no time to spare Blue Moon was ready for the scheduled start.
It’s been 30 days since I cast off the dock lines from the Aloha Dock at Hawaii Yacht Club and although ocean sailing can be a bit trying at times I love every minute of it. It’s a common statement you hear at the arrival parties that although the destination is the goal, once Diamond Head Buoy is passed most crew think, if not say out loud “let’s just keep going. I love it out here”. I’ve been on the ocean 30 days this run and I feel the same way. It reminds me of my dear friend Paul who once, upon completing the TransPac single handed race immediately turned around and sailed back to California. I know which boat you’re on Paul, and I’m trying stay in front of you, but you’ll probably be waiting for me instead of the other way around, especially if I decide to turn around and sail back after crossing the finish line. JK
The winds are increasingly Easterly and hopefully building. The swells and wind waves (when there are any) turned Easterly a few days ago as they precede the wind change. Kamakani is giving the power to sail in the correct direction and Ewa is giving us signs that we are on the correct course. Once we get to the other side of the low pressure trough we should see sunshine and increasing winds steady from the East that will push us to Diamond Head. My navigation plan calls for one jibe, just West of Molokai. Let’s see if we can pull that off with an angle on the wind set for over 2000 miles. Then a blow on the conch shell at Diamond Head and another at Hawaii Yacht Club.
Being on the ocean is ridiculously fun. I’ve already started planning my next ocean crossing.
30 days is too short.
Capt. Russ
July 2, 2023
The gloom in June dwells long past noon and even in to night
Several days on the ocean course and the gloom still holds on tight
We never see the sky or star even though we’re out this far
The gloom is thick and wide and consumes every single sight
Not even a star to steer by at night is this sailors plight
For if I could only see a star.
It’s sad, they say, that one who strayed on the ocean for several days.
He tried to write one desperate night and poetry died that day.
Trim the Sails. Eat. Sleep.
Trim the Sails. Sleep. Eat.
Eat. Trim the Sails. Sleep.
Sleep. Trim the Sails. Eat.
Eat. Sleep. Trim the Sails.
Sleep. Eat. Trim the Sails.
:john
ps. Lovin’ it.
Friday, June 30, 2023
The Start
We arrived in LA just before midnight on Monday, June 26th, 2023. We were very tired. The Marina had us booked into a slip that was 16 ft. wide for Blue Moon which is 16 ft. wide. That doesn’t work. It was late and dark. The slip looked narrow but I have docked Blue Moon in narrow slips before. I put my trust in the harbor master that they had chosen the correct slip, they had all Blue Moon’s specs just for that purpose. Well the slip looked too narrow, and it was. Blue Moon was too big for that little slip. There was a fine slip on the other side of the dock and with some nifty maneuvering and a few surprises we got Blue Moon tucked in, fed and watered, and shut down by about 2 am. We were met by a welcoming party with hamburgers, fries, shakes, chicken nuggets, and yes - waffles, strawberry’s, and whip cream. A hungry sailors perfect welcome, complete with fresh made Manhattans.
We fell asleep quickly and woke up at about 7 am to begin the work to get Blue Moon ready to cross the ocean in the TransPac Yacht race from LA to Waikiki. We had two days to get her ready after having just arrived from crossing the ocean from Hawaii. Things break when crossing an ocean. Whether it be accidental damage, wear and tear, or mistakes made by the crew, things break when crossing an ocean and those things need to be fixed before returning to the wind and waves. Blue Moon is tough though, and built for ocean crossings so she was still in good shape with few needed repairs. The refrigerator stopped working while we were sailing to LA with about 4 days remaining. The alternator mounting bolt had sheered off, and there were some minor oil leaks from fittings on the engine as well as a small leak in the shaft seal. Nothing major and most items were repaired before early afternoon on Tuesday the 27th. We treated Blue Moon to new running rigging, tuned the standing rigging, two new sails - a Genoa and a spinnaker, some cleaning up and organizing so she would be ready to go. The provisioning needed to be done at the last minute so that perishables would last as long as possible on the voyage.
The TransPac committee had us starting on Tuesday the 27th. These yacht races have several start days over the course of a week so they can group boats into categories with similar sailing and speed characteristics. The slowest boats start on Tuesday and the fastest boats start on Saturday. This creates an arrival schedule in Hawaii where the slowest boat arrive a few days after the fastest boats and we can all celebrate together for a few days. We were scheduled to start on Tuesday the 27th but that wouldn’t be reasonable given the work to be done to get ready to cross the ocean again. Upon my request the TransPac Committee kindly put us in a new class with a start date of Thursday June 29th.
The work to prepare Blue Moon for another ocean crossing was proceeding well. The riggers needed a couple days to get the new running rigging ready and once done they were to get it installed on Blue Moon. On the morning of our start date the riggers still hadn’t completed the installation of the running rigging or tuning the standing rigging. We had to pull out all the stops and call in reinforcements. We had a schedule for the day of the start that was set in anticipation that the rigging would have been complete the day before. It wasn’t and Blue Moon’s start date was in chaos.
The day started at about 6am when there were several loud knocks on the boat. We parked in a slip that wasn’t ours a few days earlier because Blue Moon couldn’t fit in the slip that was assigned to her. The Marina staff assigned a new slip but it was also too small. Apparently they don’t know much about boats at that marina, which is the stuff of constant banter and will be for some time. The slip we were in was to be occupied by another boat on the day of our start, but we thought that we would be gone by then. We weren’t. 6 am and the arriving boat wants us to move Blue Moon so they can pull in. So an early morning shift of boats had Blue Moon moved about 15 yards from where she was and ready for start day prep. The photographers were scheduled for 9 am, the TransPac videographers shortly after that, the last bit of time with internet to download weather files before we depart was getting shorter, the riggers needed to be herded like cats - except for Ben who showed his super human strengths. By the time the photographers and videographers arrived the boat was full with over 10 people getting everything ready. New spinnaker halyards, main halyards, furling lines, outhauls, jib halyard, new sails - old ones down and new ones up, standing rig tuning, water tanks being filled, old running rigging removed, sail locker hatch leak repaired, stowing all gear and provisions for conditions at sea - all the prep at once. It was a hell of a sight, absolute chaos to the observer but onboard it was more like planned out dance moves with everyone grabbing what they knew and getting it done. Right about at the 2 hr. mark after it all started it was quiet and most of the workers gone and workspaces clean and tidy. The riggers did an excellent job making the new running rigging, everything was stowed and ready. Blue Moon was ready to go.
We left the dock at about 12:20 to make the start line a couple miles away by 1300. We arrived at the start line about 1315, after having arrived in LA from Hawaii just two days before. The rest of the boats had already crossed the start line at 1300 so we were on our own at the start line. The Race Committee boat was still there as was the orange marker at the other end of the start line. Being short handed it was always my plan to hang back and let the other boats fight for start line position anyway. We sailed past the Race committee boat with waves and chears and of course a hearty blow or two on the conch shell. Photography boats, drones, and helicopters buzzed around us for about an hour while we trimmed the sails and rig for the light wind journey to the west side of Santa Catalina Island.
We’re on our way.