It's Not So Bad.

1700 PDT, Race Time 28 hours.

I have fielded a few inquiries about our team's position in the standings and here has been my reply.

The Narrow Escape is optimized, unidirectional boat. It is not at its best upwind or in light wind something that they have enjoyed more than the usual amount of this year so far.

And, mainly dues to weight concerns, but also because of about a 30 minutes rating credit, the crew opted not to carry the overlapping genoa - a light air upwind sail.

The results so far are an estimate of how things might develop on corrected time based on the race so far. We all hope that the conditions to date will not be those that prevail all the way across.

About corrected time: The finish times are adjusted by a time factor to take into account the different sailing characteristics of the different designs in the race. Unfortunately the Race Committee has determined (discovered) that Narrow Escape might be a shape that revels in the windy downwind conditions that we hope are ahead.

When you are looking at the boats on race tracking or on the Transpac daily summary sheets you will see a number that reflects each boats handicap adjustment for the total race. The time difference between different boats is how the corrected results are calculated.

You will note that on that basis our Narrow Escape is expected to be the second fastest boat in division 6.

For instance, Alfa Romeo the fastest rated boat in the fleet, who doesn't even start until Sunday, needs to arrive in Hawaii nearly 9 days ahead of our Narrow Escape to correct over them in the results!

So hanging in there during this part of the race, where Narrow Escape struggles relative to the others in Division 6, is OK at this point.

What we are looking forward to is pictured (file photo) above!

Blogmeister

Its Not Me!

The Blogger Software has a mind of its own and inserts and deletes lines at will.

I never know how it's going to look until the same time you do! I bet there is a way to configure it where I am the one in charge but I haven't found that button yet.

Blogmeister (but obviously 2IC)

Day Two

Position, wind and speed? See First Roll Call above from the Transpac Website (click on it so it opens in a bigger window and then you can even read this).

This is a full time job responding to e-mails and updating the blog!

Here are a couple of e-mails received from the boat so far:

Received 1645 PDT, 2009-06-29

We have just passed Catalina west end. Mostly good with a few short tacks up the shore. The boat seems to travel faster a bit off of close hauled and so that is what we have been doing. Chuggy got a good start but because of the absence of pointing we ended up getting rolled by teh one design 35 and J world. These two boats are just in front of us as well as two 50 footers from the Aloha division so we think that we are about where we should be. Ross and Chuggy are on shift until 6:00 and then Web and I will take our turn.
When we send this we should get our updated Grib file and of course everyone is curious to see what the weather looks like.
Dougie

Received 2217 PDT, 2009-06-29

I am afraid that we don’t have any wind information for you Bill. We are not receiving wind information from the masthead right now. I can tell you that after a couple of hours reaching on a course of 220 degrees at about 8.5 or 9 knots the wind has started to go a bit light as predicted. I have just downloaded a new grib in the hope that it might give some better news, but I can see that there is really no way to get to Hawaii this year... We will continue on our course until the the winds begin to shift around behind us and then begin the southward run to see if we can get around the high.
Thanks for all the news from shore, and thanks for all the help.
I am going to see if I can get a couple of hours of sleep before going back on deck at 2.
Bye for now,

Doug

Received 1045 PDT, 2009-06-30

Thanks for the notes this morning Bill. All is good on the boat. We successfully our first roll call which was a minor success for us because the first time we actually heard a voice on the radio was Alaska Eagle at 0800. In the face of a 30 minute penalty each day for failing to make a roll call we think that this was a big success. The radio seems to work load and clear, but then again you knew that it would.
Chuggy and Ross are on deck right now sailing in about 10 knots of mostly west wind. We have the full main and jibtop which is a sail combination we like. We are sailing about 70 degrees off the wind and moving crisply. We would like to get more westing but it just ain’t there for us.
Web says yeh for the sailing anarchy photo—and that this is Chuggy best start ever (his only one). I am going to get more grib info and have a look at what we are going to be doing tomorrow. The natives are restless for a littlel spinnaker work, but unless we want to head back to Mexico I jus tdon’t think its going to be there for us.
Don’t worry about e-mail bandwidth. The reception is good and e-mail comes through fairly quickly. We also have the Iridium which I can use if we take too much time. And in any case I view the 10 minute restriction is more of a guideline that anything else.
More to come,

Doug

I left all the grammatical errors intact because my jealousy of them makes me spiteful.

Today's GRIB, or weather forecast, is much improved.

Yesterday, and you can hear it plainly in Doug's e-mails, was a bit discouraging with a weird little high spinning up along the coast to throw the normal "windy reach to the ridge" part of the race into disarray. It looked like you could do well along the rhumb line for a few days but later in the week the pattern was supposed to normalize, and a more southern route was definitely indicated, but with no way to get there from that along the rhumb line bit!

But today the best possible resolution of that dilemma appears to be developing.

The weird little high is now forecast to weaken and move offshore and north a little. Later estimates have it merging with the a strengthening (1032mb) Pacific High in a more normal position.

This is good news because a way south (that doesn't lead to the coast of Mexican coast around Ensenada!) is now opening for our team. And even better, as they go, it looks like they will be able to make a fairly normal turn towards the islands. Of course I will defer to Dr. McMeel of McMeel Marine Weather Routing Solutions - who I hope is following these reports and the progress of our intrepid crew - for a more detailed assessment.

Game On!

This picture from the front page of www.sailinganarchy.com Sailing Anarchy shows our contestants charging for the start line and looking good. Photo credit John Fuller (but when I asked John if I could use it here he said it wasn't his and thought it might be Tim Fuller) . I hope it will be OK.

According to the transponders they got through the first night at sea in good shape but we, and most of the rest of Div 6 too, did not update at 0800 so I am waiting with "worms in my mouth" (baited breath) for the 0900 update as well as the first official daily check-in information.

And speaking of Transponders I am now informed that they will update hourly for the first part of the race (?) and then shift to every 4 hours - too bad because I feel like I am right with them on the hourly schedule.

Blogmeister

Chuggy's in Charge

1500PDT, 33.32.2N,118.28.1W, Wind no report, Speed 5.1 @ 233, Cloud Cover no report,

DTF=2206.9 Miles.

Apparently even of the cooking! Here is a shot of Chuguar in the Galley of Narrow Escape whipping up some mid afternoon appetizers for the crew.

You have got to get a look at the tracker on the race website. It works great and really puts you in the race.

While there is some race track yet to go it looks like they got off the start line in good shape. My best guess at this time is they will make Catalina about midway between Isthmus and the West End - so a short hitch to get around. Then the trick will be getting offshore before the land affected breeze shuts down for the night. The last weather chart I saw suggested that today might be the last one for a few days where there will be decent breeze near shore too.

And what about that forecast? It is enough to get you scratching your head about the best course down the course so to speak. They promised they would never go north again after the last time but it sure is tempting based on the next 48 hours predictions! I will be interested to see which way they go.

But whatever transpires worry not. As in the Galley, Chuggy has a firm hand on the tiller!

Cap't Blogmeister

Leaving the LBC

1400 PDT, 33.37.33 N, 118.23.26W, Wind 12 @ 250T, Speed 6, COG 206T, Cloud Cover 50 percent, marine scud - clearing, Race Time 1 hour 0 minutes, DTF 2211.7 Miles.

These fresh photographs from John Northrop, our affiliate in Long Beach, of Narrow Escape leaving the harbor to begin their adventure.

Remember all that I told you about 4 hours tracking delay? Well forget I said that. The game is on and the tracking is running in real time updated hourly!

Which brings me to some changes on the header. Key among them we are changing over from Magnetic to True Wind Direction and Course over Ground. And for the first time we are reporting Distance to Finish!

Check back often.

Blogmeister

Let the Games Begin!

1310 PDT, 33.39.0 N, 121.40.9 W, Wind 15 knots - 285M, Speed 6.6 knots, Course 245M, Cloud Cover 100 percent, Marine Scud, Race Time 0 hours 10 minutes.

And they are off!! Well maybe. We will not know for sure until 1700 PDT.

You see each boat carries a Transponder that shows it's position on the race track. The transponder updates every hour but it has a built in 4 hour delay. Theoretically we can follow Plan B along (4 hours behind) all the way across. Having said that I notice that I can see them, very near the start line, right now - last report at 1300 - which is encouraging. Go to the http://www.transpacrace.com/ Race Web Site and select Tracking. Our favorites are in Division Six.

Now that they are away your correspondent's nervous stomach is diminishing.

Cap't Billy

Practice Start

1900 PDT (yesterday sorry to be late with this post), 33.41.6 N, 118.16.5 W,Wind 285M 18 knots Cloud Cover zero, Start + 18 hours.

In 2001 we managed the distinction of being late for the start. Everyone including the Race Committee got a big kick out of it. Some one commented that it was a real shame to travel 1500 miles and then be late for the start.

In an effort to avoid that stigma again the plan B crew, + Long Beach Host Ben Smith, headed out to the starting area and practise sailed the (hopefully only) Upwind Leg to the west end of Catalina. I am informed that they managed the West End without taking. And the winds were good (around 20 knots) on the way back they spun out a couple of times but also set a new speed record for this trip of 17 .6 knots.

The Tall Ship Lynx, pictured above will also be on the starting line tomorrow and they were out getting the feel of things on Sunday too.

Everyone sounds ready, even anxious, to be out there. Tomorrow they get their wish!

Grinder

And what about that Weather Forecast?

1400PDT, 33.41.6 N, 118.16.5 W,Wind W 10 knots, Cloud Cover 100 percent Marine Scud/Smog, Start + 43 hours 30 minutes (according to the Transpac Website - not me).

PZZ600-272215-
856 AM PDT SAT JUN 27 2009

.SYNOPSIS FOR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST AND SANTA BARBARA CHANNEL
INCLUDING THE CHANNEL ISLANDS NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY...
AT 16Z...OR 9 AM PDT...A RIDGE OF HIGH PRES CENTERED OVER THE ERN
PAC W OF CENTRAL CALIFORNIA WILL STRENGTHEN WHILE SHIFTING NE
THROUGH SUN AND PERSIST W OF OREGON SUN THROUGH WED. OTHERWISE A
THERMAL TROUGH OF LOW PRES NEAR SHORE WILL PERSIST THROUGH WED.

MON
WIND VARIABLE 10 KT OR LESS. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL
2 TO 3 FT. PATCHY FOG IN THE MORNING.
MON NIGHT
W WINDS AROUND 15 KT WITH OCCASIONAL GUSTS TO 20 KT IN
THE EVENING...BECOMING VARIABLE 10 KT OR LESS. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR
LESS. SW SWELL 2 TO 3 FT. PATCHY FOG AFTER MIDNIGHT.
TUE
WIND VARIABLE 10 KT OR LESS...BECOMING W AROUND 15 KT. WIND
WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 2 TO 3 FT.
WED
WIND VARIABLE 10 KT OR LESS. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL

I sure hope they can get offshore with what they are supposed to get on Monday because this forecast, and the Weather Chart above don't paint a Rosy picture for the next couple of days after that.

But like we always say when we don't like the forecast: A lot can happen out there in a couple of days!

Cap't Billy

Stare Down!

1300PDT, 33.41.6 N, 118.16.5 W,Wind W 8 knots, Cloud Cover 100 percent Marine Scud/Smog, Start + 44 hours 30 minutes ( I still don't get this time discrepancy thing - according to me we are Ed Zachary 2 day before the first start)

Found above is a shot of the Plan B and the crew sizing up the odds on favorite to complete the course in the least (and record) time - Alfa Romeo II. But they might not too. OUR favorites could prevail. And the sun might not rise in the east. . . and Pigs might fly. . . but we can be assured that Plan B will put in their almighty best effort to give Alfa a good run on time!

A Club of SoCal Alfa Romeos enthusiasts are planning a reception in Rainbow Harbor/rendezvous June 28th details on the Transpac Race Website http://www.transpacrace.com/ Check it.

Rarely Spotted Owl - Update

1130PDT, 33.41.6 N, 118.16.5 W,Wind W 6 knots, Cloud Cover 100 percent Marine Scud/Smog, Start + 45 hours 30 minutes (I get this time from the Transpac Race www.transpacrace.com Website but it is not lost on me that it doesn't actually add up - according to me!).

So OK you caught me. I would like to thank the dozens of Blog followers who have contacted me to tell me that is is impossible for the RSO to be in the LBC.

I have several "confirmed sightings" closer to home in Millers and Muddies and the Dinghy Dock and Muddies again and the Dinghy Dock again and also on Alice's Sundeck so it couldn't possibly be him.

Actually the hansom face you see on the header of my last post is Narrow Escape's California Host, Ben Smith.

Transpac have a tradition of matching each boat in the race with a local Host in Hawaii. It is also traditional for the Hawaii Host to organize a, usually impressive, Aloha Arrival Party at the dock head in the Ala Wai Basin, at any time of the day or night, when their boat arrives. The Hawaii Host turns out to be a great local knowledge resource to help grease the wheels of every little detail that needs attention after the race.

More recently, now that Transpac have a mainland base of operations in Rainbow Harbour, they have repeated that successful formula on the mainland side of the course and now assign each boat a Long Beach Host - Ben is ours - well theirs.

And what a Host! Ben pitches in with the work and facilitates all manner of problem solving. I understand that, through his connections at Cal Poly, some custom parts were fabricated out of "Lucky Aluminium" (some special alloy I guess). And as evidenced in the picture below (since they can not fall back on advice from the ROCK this time) he has not been afraid to get out on the boat to give the crew a few sailing pointers too!

And this just in from the LBC:

We had a great dinner at Shoreline Yacht Club last night with Ben, Susan and daughter Tricia. The boys were noticeable in the refined confines of Shoreline dropping F-bombs with great abandon!

So it sounds like the fearless crew of Plan B will be very sorry to lose LBC shoreside crew Ben when they push the boat away from the beach in a very few short hours!

Everyone back home would like to join with the race crew thanking Ben for taking such good care of the Plan B crew in Long Beach!

Blogmeister

Rarely Spotted Owl spotted in the LBC?

Well what did you expect there is sunshine, sailing and a beer tent? It would be hard to keep RSO away I say!

NB: That Rascal of the foredeck. . . er. . . in the background.

Blogmeister

Vindicated!

1330PDT, 33.41.6 N, 118.16.5 W,Wind W 12 knots, Cloud Cover 60 percent comment breaking up, Start + 67 hours 30 minutes.

In the middle of lunch I received the call I had been hoping for.

As my report began before lunch Evil, with eyes wide shut (above), and at times two apprentices, have now discovered the problem with the integrated instruments system on board. A repair has been completed and all systems are now go. Better yet it is reported from the boat that they think they even understand the nature of the problem which is now repaired!

Evil's report (in part): Yeah well Doug had a full week to hack and chop and just plain mess things up so it's unreasonable to expect even a journeyman to be able to be able to undo that fur ball just over night!

I am sure Doug would have a different view of things but I received the report from Evil.

Good News!

Blogmeister

OK Now Don't Get Cocky!

1200PDT, 33.41.6 N, 118.16.5 W, Wind SW 8 Knots, Cloud Cover 100 percent Marine Scud/Smog

Yesterday the SSB/Modem came on line with a bang and Evil, the leader of the wiring crew, was getting a little smug. So this morning Murphy had to come along and gave them another smack. While the radio continues to work well - I have received several e-mails from the boat - the instruments modules started to go off line one by one for no apparent reason. Evil and his apprentice are justifiably frustrated.

At this time they are rolling up their sleeves and facing this new gremlin.

More when I have it.

Cap't Billy, Blogmeister

"Welcome to Sailmail Honolulu"

1700PDT, 33.41.6N, 118.16.5W, Wind NW 8, Cloud Cover zero, Start + 92 Hours.

Evil, feeling a bit contrite yesterday, after undoing all the good work MacArthur had completed during the previous week, and having fielded numerous inquiries like, "so what did you do with all the money that was supposed to be spent on Electrician School", got right down to business today - no more messing around.

Having lovingly installed the very SSB rig in question I know how twitchy and complicated and difficult they can be. I performed days and days of fiddling work following the exact instructions received from Stan Honey - HF Radio expert. I didn't understand what I was doing. I was pretty sure it would not matter if I cut a corner here and there but instead I doggedly persevered and completed all the seemingly unimportant details too. So I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that, after buying the exact gear recommended in the Sailmail Primer and following the instructions patiently offered by experts - well it all just worked perfectly!

And it is hard to describe the sense of satisfaction when "Welcome to Sailmail Honolulu" appears that the first time on your computer screen. That means through some method next to magic you are connected with a Radio Station, manned by volunteers, 2300 miles away - and it is a heady feeling!

Today I received this message, "Please let me know if you get this message??" form a *.sailamail account and I knew right then that the crew in Rainbow Harbor had come to understand that sensation too.

And more importantly communications on Plan B is now up and they are able to communicate with us by HF e-mail and comply with the race instructions check in requirements.

Blogmeister

GRIBless In the LBC?

1130PDT, 33.41.6N, 118.16.5W, Wind NW - 12, Cloud Cover zero, Start + 93 Hours and 30 Minutes.

After my last report to you about SSB problems I received concerned correspondence from a couple of members of the crew pool that were sent down to the Farm Team for this crossing.

The above pictures from Hammy and Dice show the correct way to operate the big Icom Radio. So there it should be easy going now!

Since my last I have been advised that MacArthur and Chuggy have completed the shopping for non perishables - read freeze dried sawdust (actually I couldn't believe how good it was last time). So they must be planning on going for sure because that stuff is expensive and it just will not keep - longer than about 15 years!

You will note that a picture of MacArthur AKA Barkmulch has appeared on the Blog. I will try to figure out how to get some "file" shots of the other smiling faces up soon too.

Right now Doug is listed as "Navigator" but depending on where you look on the Transpac Race Site there are conflicts about who is in change and who is doing what. The only thing for certain, that I can glean from their registration information, is there are apparently no ordinary sailors onboard!

Blomeister

Gremlins of the LBC

1800PDT, 34.18.9 N, 119.45.5 W, Wind SW 7 Gust 9, cloud cover 10 percent thin marine layer. Start time plus 111 hours.

In other news Evil's long anticipated visit to Avalon on Catalina Island may be in jeopardy.

As you may know it came as a bit of a surprise when Chuggy discovered that Plan B was scheduled to start the race 3 days earlier than expected. Not only crimping some travel arrangements less time for preparation meant less time for crimping some wiring on board!

The complex electrical heart of Plan B has gone through a few iterations since it left the loving care of yours truly in Canukistan. Some of the modifications in the interim were not performed to standards and when you through in a little hard service along the way well you get the idea some work was required to get the systems on line and talking to each other. Now you wouldn't think that would pose a problem with a journeyman electrician on board but after a communication with Evil just now, as near as I can figure, all he got done today was to break the depth sounder! Barkmulch had it working perfectly yesterday? I understand Chuggy will be giving the boys a little pep talk regarding the abundance of accomplishment and the direction!

Some problems remain to be sorted with the radio also. This is very important because without the radio there is no e-mail and without e-mail I will be out of work while the race is in progress - and there is some silly rule about a working radio to be eligible for the race too. And time is getting short so like Neil Young says, "in the fields of conductivity it's ploughing time again" - or he says something like that.

So Evil's trip to Catalina hangs on some wiring resolution and production tomorrow!

Blogmeister reporting.

Safety First

Because a strong culture of safety exists on board random drills may be conducted at any time.

But in this case the photograph above is not entirely about a drill.

The tireless crews home while in the LBC is the Marriott Residence Inn. The Inn have a great package that, beyond just accommodation, includes a buffet Breakfast and Dinner making meals a breeze and gets them out the door in a hurry in the morning. Occupancy at the Inn also includes a complimentary happy hour between 1700 and 1900 each night - so sort of more like two hours - I like that about Mericans.

Chuggy noticed that Roscoe can be a little pekid in the mornings and began to wonder if his healthy, Farm Boy, constitution was offended by the "enhanced" atmosphere that sometimes pervades the Los Angeles area.

The test above is to determine whether Roscoe's morning condition (and some hope his disposition) is improved by the removal of man made supplements in the air body.

Results so far have been inconclusive. What happens is that he just hyperventilates and passes out. At least that stops the conjecture about the air quality!

No correlation is drawn, however, between the Marriott's Happy Hour(s) and Roscoes's a.m. condition!

Cap't Billy

Blogmeister

*****Hacker Blogger Alert*****

OK Captain Billy here just checking to see if I can actually get on this Blog to post because I will be updating those Bloggees who might check in here periodically. I will return to the picture above in a moment.

I can see that DCB, in some circles known as Barkmulch, has been providing boring coverage so far.

However your new correspondent is in touch with the Narrow Escapers - some less narrow than others - Plan Bees - daily - so check back here regularly and I will give you the real low down - complete with some colour and flavour!

Questions I get from the LBC usually begin with "what were you thinking when. . ."

And so begins some careful and sensitive splainin by yours truly about some complicated and delicate but absolutely necessary onboard system mostly far beyond the scope of the new onsite installers understanding. In spite of that they often prevail and meet with success.

I have just sent the Electronics Tech Support Team a note about setting up the computer/instruments interface so that they will be able to display Targets/Polars and Angles developed by the Computer on deck. Only it's been so long since I concerned myself with such things I can only barely remember how to get started with it. I expect that will be the subject of one of tomorrows telecon.

On another subject I want to spend a little time now on stowage space - or the lack thereof. Space onboard is always at a premium on the Narrow Plan B. The Badger will tell you that a tidy Dart is a happy Dart. So coming up with a storage plan and making sure everything gets put back where it belongs so that everyone else can find it again is paramount..

A picture is worth a thousand words. The one above, from the last crossing, is intended as a guide to assist the onboard team when it comes to carefully arranging items in an orderly way!

Less than a week to go!

We now have just a few days left to go. The Pacific high is setting up nicely for us with some strong winds close to shore. We are hoping for good wind in the first couple of days because our sailplan is tilted toward the downwind part of the race and Narrow Escape has never been mistaken as an uphill climber.

Among many many other preparatory activities the skipper has been able to add a couple of decals (pronounced (dee-cal). We have our homeport on the stern and big maple leaf at the front of the boat to cut the waves.

This morning we are all getting checked out on the watermaker. That installation was completed yesterday afternoon and our guy is going to come back this morning to show us how it all works. We have told him to make sure he installed this equipment as if our life depended on it (which of course it does).

Crew Assembles in Long Beach

Last night Ross and I drove up to LAX to pick up Greg and Web. The boys had had a glass of wine (or two) on the plane and were easy to spot at the airport. After collecting the team and checking in at Base Camp Marriot we ventured our for a delicious dinner and planning for the next week. Fuelled with a couple of Mai Tai's we decided that we were going sailing today.

At 10:00 a.m. sharp we set sail with all our sail inventory loaded on board. Keep in mind that none of us ocean travellers had even seen most of these sails before. First up was the new mailsail which had been ordered to had some extra horsepower to the boat. Raising the main had an effect similar to a solar eclispe and we knew that we were in for a ride. With Skipper Chuggy at the helm we all felt confident that we were in for a grand afternoon of sailing in bright sun and about 18 - 20 knots of wind.

Over the course of the afternoon we were able to launch and retrieve all of our asymmertrical spinnakers the #3 jib, and jibtop. Our list of boat adjustments is getting much smaller. You will see from Greg's smile that this was a good afternoon.

Tomorrow is safety inspection day.

It is interesting to realize that it is still less than a month since we bought the boat... a lot has happened over the past couple of weeks!

Mahalo,

The team of Narrow Escape

Last Thursday we took a moment to have a quick sendoff dinner at Greg and Troyanne's and had a sumptuous feast of Tuna Helper and Instant mashed potatoes -- and some other stuff.

Ross and I are in Sausilito now waiting to pick up a Pactor Modem at Farralon Electronics. Once we have that in hand we will complete the journey to Long Beach and begin boat prep in earnest. More to follow.