Some more random thoughts
July 28, 2010
One of the coolest things about being in Hawaii was finally getting to meet all the people I’d been racing against. By this, I mostly mean the double-handers. (not that I didn’t enjoy meeting all you guys on crewed boats, I swear!)
I already knew a few, but I hadn’t met many of them pre-start and finally putting faces on Nozomi and Tule Fog and Stretch and others was really fun. I don’t think I am alone in feeling this way, espicially as every party I walked into seemed to have two parts- a lot of people, including the crewed boats, and then over there would usually be a group of 20 or so people who doublehanded. Cliquey? Not really, it just seemed we had more to talk about. There are a lot of shared experiences out there, and it was nice to hear about everyone else’s lows and highs and realize they were a lot like mine.
Also, I feel like I haven’t said enough about my amazing sponsors. Chafe happens, but after a few days of anxiously checking my tack line and halyards, I realized that I could worry about other, more pressing things (eating, sleeping, driving) because the Samson line held up amazingly. And what chafe did happen was mostly due to my own poor choices about leads, so the fact that all of their lines are so strong gave me the chance to have some leeway in terms of trial and error.
All the Ronstan blocks that should hold up did- there were a few places where I should have lashed them on in the first place, and a shackle let go, but again- trial and error and the blocks themselves were pretty bomb proof. Also- since all of my winches gave up at one point or another (they were bone bone bone dry when I opened them up after 5 days of blast reaching… nothing a little dr bromers soap and sunscreen couldn’t temporarily fix, but wow.. guess I need more grease next time around- and really? of all the extra crap I brought along, I forgot winch grease?????), I was relying HEAVILY on the cam cleats around the cockpit, and they never even blinked at the extra loads.
And then on to Silicon Solar- I only took one of the 80 watt panels they gave me, as Andy and I knew we wouldn’t be relying on the pilot much, and it was perfect. The charge controller just magically makes it all happen and even though we only saw the sun once or twice in 2000 miles, we were able to charge up the SSB, handhelds, ipods, computer and still run instruments and running lights without worrying.
And I would be remiss for not thanking my dad, who flew all the way to Hawaii, missed being there for my finish (I can’t say I’m too sorry about beating him there, but still, I know he would have liked to have been there) and still put in a very long day of cleaning the boat (he actually wiped the boat down inside for me. The whole thing. All the scuzzwater and nastiness… amazing) and then two VERY long days at the yard taking it all apart, helping to organize the yard crew to get the rig out without the mast crane, getting the keel out, etc.
Of course that doesn’t come anywhere near to thanking everyone that’s helped me out so far, the list is way too long for this page right now, but I’ll try to give some more props where they are due in the future.
I’m back in SF and sifting through the list of things I didn’t get done in the last month and a half, and paying bills, and now it’s off to RYC to find something to sail on for the Beercan tonight…
