Our new ride, at least for a while. Bluepac has carbon fiber mast and sails. It’s a sprit boat and uses a asymmetric spinnaker. It’ll take a while to dial it in. Fun!
This year’s sailing season of 3793 nautical miles included a trip to Hawaii (about 2300 miles) and one trip to Ensenada (over 400 miles), a trip to Santa Barbara for the Santa Barbara City Race and Tequila Derby. Other various races included 15 to 20 mile courses and many races under 10 miles. We sailed about 45 races this year. Second Chance dominated our time in the first half of the year. Other boats raced included Maine Squeeze, Fusee and Out Patient. I also sailed a race with Tom on Quiet Time. Another busy racing schedule awaits us, and possibly some new boats.
Looking ahead, Mary and I will be cruising to Mexico and beyond, but first we need a boat. The plan is to start looking seriously after Megan graduates (this May).
Nine days in December, 8 performances involving 5 schools 600 kids and 40 songs.
We sailed a 17 mile course yesterday in 20-35 kt winds and finished last! But we only broke a few things on Fusee and it was nice and cold and wet, so the crew was pleased.
The Santana winds brought interesting conditions as we sailed out to Platform Gilda, normally an upwind beat, with the reefed mainsail eased and the jib bouncing around in the choppy conditions. The farther offshore we sailed the more the fetch and chop. After rounding Gilda we headed back to shore. Troublemaker was in front of us and Quiet Time was on our stern where she had been since the start. Grace was on the opposite board and appeared to be making better speed toward the finish (VMG) so Harry made the call to follow Grace down the coast. Quiet Time followed us for a while, then
made for the beach again. The wind was blowing hard and the waves were causing havoc with the rig, so we ended up sailing the rest of the race under reefed main alone. Grace finished well but may be disqualified because she didn’t leave both cans at Gilda to port.
Nobody should be allowed to buy our government. This includes but is not limited to the rich, corporations and unions. Can we all just agree on this?
We need good government that represents the will of all Americans.
…on eBay. Late forties vintage English Besson Prototype. Gettin’ my lip back.
This morning Mary found this Sabot on Craig’s List for $100 so she called and now we own it. It’s complete with a centerboard, tiller/rudder, sail and racing rig. We can’t wait to sail it.
This one’s for you…Harry, Bunni, Mary, Dave and Sandra. 
After many hassles and pie fights AYC awarded this trophy to Fusee on Wed., Sept. 15th for a race that finished on Mon., Sept. 4. Why so long? Mistakes were made in the calculations. Whatever. The Fusee crew, led by Harry Krum, learned something from this race. Don’t accept wrong decisions.
We were a little late to the start line, so after raising the big headsail in light airs we settled in for a reach to Catalina’s west end. It took a few hours to clear the island and due to an unfavorable weather pattern known as the Catalina Eddy, we found ourselves unable to go west. We could sail north and south only for two days! Finally the wind changed a little and we pointed Second Chance’s bow in the general direction of Oahu. The weather was still cold but the wind became stronger and steadier for the next five days. During this leg we averaged less than 150 miles per day.
Our crew worked in watches of three: three people per watch, watches lasted three hours. One person at the helm, one trimmer and one to keep the other two company.
Our meals, expertly planned and prepared by Commodore Randy Alcorn of AYC, were delicious and satisfying. Before the race, he cooked dinners like beef stroganoff and spagetti with meatballs, then stored them in plastc bags and froze them. One night we had strawberry shortcake for dessert! Everyone ate dinner at the same time, and for lunch a crew member would make sandwiches for all. For breakfast there was oatmeal, fruit, granola bars and instant coffee. Food is important to crew morale and Randy kept everyone happy. Very little alcohol was consumed during the race, most drank none.
Right from the beginning, this was magic.
So many elements had to come together. A man who was looking at a new chapter in his life decided to fulfil an old dream and buy a boat.
In the process he became friends with some of the locals and joined CIYC. One day, at the club, he met the love of his life. Phil Sauer is that man.
After finding Second Chance Phil asked Harry to help him sort the boat out and get her sailing. Harry needed crew and recruited his friends saying “How would you like to race on a Swan?”
The idea was to do the Ensenada race, but first there would be some local races to shake down the boat and crew. After several races and practice sails, the crew was selected for the downwind run from Newport Beach to Ensenada.
In the meantime, Phil was busy making plans to move to Hawaii with Sara. The idea developed to sail Second Chance to Hawaii in the Transpac Race.
Now what did we get ourselves into?
