Closing the Circle

On the Trailer in the backyard of Chuggy's new Office.

As chance would have it I found myself on the Duke Point Highway, among the Ferry Traffic, around 2230 on Tuesday Night. As I proceeded I came upon a strange contraption making it's way down the highway and it took a minute before I realized that it was Chuggy with Narrow Escape in Tow completing the final leg of their 2009 Transpac journey. Remember in April of this year they did not have a boat! With how much got done before their start date, in the short time after the buying decision was made, it might better be described as an epic!

I remember the way I felt after completing the 2003 Transpac in the Baby Dart. A terrific amount of work and sacrifice goes into putting a boat from Nanaimo on the starting line in Long Beach.

So for me the time after the finish in Waikiki was also a time filled with emotion measuring the experience and estimating the value of fulfilling a lifelong dream.

Some of you might be surprised to know that the extent of my Ocean endeavours in the future was far from certain for a while after the race. But about a month after completing the race - back home - the momentum started to grow and it became clear to me how much I looked forward to getting out there, in the company of good friends, again.

So I am not be surprised to hear the race crew express how they have quenched their ocean racing thirst (except for Roscoe he would head back out there again tomorrow).

As time goes the power of the experience and the wonder of the ocean grows in our memories. So while no one is talking about it much right now I will be surprised if we don't find each of our race crew back out there on that ocean again seeking victory on the course and harmony with their world.

Since I wasn't out there this time it is a lot easier for me to become nostalgic about their accomplishment and look forward to my turn again - coming soon.

And having had a major hand in putting that little ocean crossing package together in the first place I find it satisfying that it has now crossed that stretch of ocean three times with almost no breakdowns or even wear and tear. On the other hand that might just be testament to the proper execution of a good design!

Narrow Escape is a 1982 model year. I bought the boat in 1992 so even though I don't know the boat's entire history after all my blood, sweat and tears that went into its renovation and in consideration of all the memories the crew and I have made on board it is also pretty exciting to have the Baby back in, what I will always consider, it's home port.

No one knows what the future holds and Team Narrow Escape's plans remain fluid at this time. But with the same degree of certitude that the sailors ocean racing careers are not yet over I am pretty sure that Plan B/Narrow Escape/Baby Dart has many more crossings left in her.

Racing across an ocean among friends is a life enhancing experience and anyone who gets a chance should take it. Talking about it, reliving it or planning the next time are all part of the joy of it.

Chuggy is hosting an informal debriefing reception at his new office at 2214 McCullough Road, immediately off Northfield Road, in Nanaimo commencing around 1600 today. We will have some beers and maybe order in some Pizza.

Captain Chuggy says: "the More the Merrier". I hope he means it because he knows not how vast and wide my Plan B Blog audience is!

The boat will be on hand for tours.

Anyone with an interest is welcome. I hope you will stop by, introduce yourself and share your ideas.

Shaping our future ocean racing endeavours begins tonight and we have many and great plans to form!

End Transpac 2009

Blogmeister, Cap't Billy- Out.

Decommisioning for the Long Trip Home

Hawaiian Waterways Fraught with Danger and Regulation.

With getting the boat taken apart for the Matson Trip home being one of the last structured activities of Chuggy and Roscoe and Evil and Doug's 2009 Transpac effort they thought a little sightseeing might be in order.

The boat lift is no longer located in the Ala Wai and so a short deliverance around to the commercial basin was in order. Navigator MacArthur promulgates the possibilities. Go by sea of take the scenic inside route. Our boys had seen enough ocean and decided to take the inside channel.

At the end of which was a low bridge (marked clearly on the chart had anyone bothered to look!) restricting their passage. Then things started to go bad.

It was at this time that a nearby Tug Boat notified them that the Harbour Traffic Controller were trying to raise them on the VHF. Of course being sailors they were not running the Radio.

Of course being ignored affected the Harbour Polices' disposition when they showed up shortly thereafter.

They were directed to a nearby dock where Five-O is waitinmg - no really Mcgarrit and Dano. It is described to me that there are some aspects of Aloha that are not so well known by tourists and certainly this categorization applies to the "Aloha Police".

After submitting to a Body Cavity search and a little friendly Waterboarding and threatened with fines the size of which would resolve the entire American Bailout spending they were released to go on their way - but around to seaward of the Commercial Basin.

Apparently everyone knows that the commercial basin is for commercial shipping ONLY and there was a sign about the size of a toaster at the entrance to this affect that everyone onboard missed.

Even after this encounter no one is completely clear about what our brother Americans are so worried about but when the Coast Guard showed up - no really - and found Plan B loaded to the teeth with. . . wait for it. . . Safety Gear - maybe better than their own kit - I think that put them over the top and things started to thaw quickly after that.

Because of Roscoe's vast experience and well just because he's Roscoe the whole "take the mast down get the boat on the trailer" procedure took only an hour. The Longshoremen commented that they never had a sailboat lift go so fast or well.

And good thing too. After all the excitement they were about ready for a Mai Tai and Mrs Cutler had found just the place just around the corner. It was a joint and a classic Tiki Bar (picture above) and I would tell you all about it but in order for it to maintain the status that makes it so appealing it needs to also remain a bit unknown. Sorry.

Cap't Blogmeister.

Awards Banquet

Position: now measured by range and bearing to that Cafe serving life saving Kona Coffee. It's still sunny. Does it seem really bright to you?

Amid Pomp and Ceremony in Flip Flops (Aloha Style) here above is pictured our crew, up on stage, receiving their accolades and awards while basking in the warm admiration of their fellow racers.

Well sort of.

Apparently there was a little bit of results/awards confusion in our teams favour and for a short moment it looked like Chuggy, the now abbreviated crew and their Hawaiian Beauties were all in danger of getting the Cane.

In the end Chuggy's acceptance speech was not truncated and things were worked out to everyones' satisfaction.

Cap't Billy

Transpac Act Two: The Aloha Parties

Don't know where they are and probably they don't either. It's Sunny.

Oh the Aloha Parties and Tradition.

What a great way to smooth the race crews transition back to land mammals.

One after the other enjoyed with family and amid the camaraderie of their fellows under the warm Hawaiian skies.

When I went we had some old Tee Shirts. Apparently Chuggy has a slightly more upscale haberdasher!

Blogmeister

It's Official and Written in the Records Books!

49.11N, 123.59W Wind 17 @ 270, Bar 1020, Cloud Cover 10 percent. Distance from Finish 2332NM.

For Transpac 2009 the Final Results are posted.

As the race has evolved over the last 100 years Transpac has struggled to find a way for a bunch of boats with very diverse speed potentials to all arrive in Hawaii around the same time. Of course the only way to make that happen is to stagger the start dates with the slower boats heading out first and the faster boats starting later resulting in finishes that occur over a a shorter span of days.

One problem with that is while elapsed times are adjusted for handicap boats on the course early sail in different weather than later starters.

The weather over the course between Southern California and Hawaii gets to be very reliable in the summer. I read somewhere that the Pacific High starts to get setup in it's normal position around the beginning of July. You can almost set your Oceanus Timepiece to it! It might be more clear to say don't start the race before July 1st because it is very likely the weather will not be here before then!

While later starters enjoyed ever improving conditions that made for less distance sailed and even record times for the big boats (rich guys can even buy the weather it appears) those among the first start, six days before the sleds, endured three very slow days in the first week at sea.

Based on the random nature of luck and reflecting their clean living our team headed out on the first start and the long slow route.

Narrow Escape hates light going worse than most ever other sailing design! And while they suffered greatly during that period (every sharp implement had to be hidden from Chuggy) your correspondent is advised that a new oversize 3DL main, which was kind of an afterthought, reduced the pain measurably.

Conditions in the last half of the race were everything the brochure advertises and memories of the previous calms were quickly forgotten.

After they got back into the wind they went to work on their handicap deficit. The restart that occurred out there meant they had about 2/3rds of the race course to make up all of their race time. I thought it was fairly impressive how they consistently pulled back ground (ocean I guess) lost.

In our collective experience, and not including 2001 where we did the short course (Catalina Race), in 2003 we went the wrong way but the winds on the right course were good. In 2009 the winds did not show up for a few days and they covered a lot of extra distance to get there. I can't help wondering how we, and that boat, might fair if our Transpac Stars ever aligned. 2011 anyone?

I like to say that their results don't tell the whole story. They were just a little behind still when the race track ran out that's all!

Blogmeister

Starting Up the Big Wind Up

49.11N, 123.59W Wind 17 @ 270, Bar 1020, Cloud Cover 10 percent. Distance from Finish 2332NM.

My reporting has been neglected and I need to get to work closing down (closure of?) the Plan B Blog.

I have not wanted to use bandwidth while waiting for Notice of my Pulitzer Prize but after a month and still nothing I need to resign myself to the obvious - passed over - again!

While our team celebrated being back on land, and among their loved ones in paradise, those of us still on duty at Plan B World Headquarters were sweating out the corrected time results still at play with the Hounds still at sea.

It was frustrating for us because of reporting delays originating at Transpac.

But as most of you know now, and unfortunately for our team, the Hounds managed a narrow (get it) margin of victory.

All of the shorebound team join with the Race Crew in congratulating them on a fine race.

Blogmeister

Double Down on Narrow Escape

Cap't Billy's math looks good to me. At this point, it's too close to call. I just don't know what information/data can be considered valid. Too many delays and unknowns. The good news is they still haven't posted a 25 mile time for Bloodhound. Cap't Billy's breakdown shows that the 'hounds need to be at the 25 mile point just after 1300 HST or 1600 PDT. Well, that was over an hour ago and still no time posted. Does that mean they aren't there yet or is it just a delayed posting? It is definitely going to be a close one.

All I can say is I am always amazed that two boats can race over such long distances and their corrected times end up being so close. Those handicappers must be doing something right! Whatever happens, it looks like both boats were sailed extremely well. But my money is still on Narrow Escape.