OUR SECRET WEAPON:THUNDER CHICKEN

Day 9th – July 15th

2 am on deck – an uneventful watch with the exception of a deep sea vessel
that passed Turicum’s stern not too far in the distance. We first saw a
single light appearing every now and then over the horizon, then a second
white lite and a red light at which point we knew it was a large boat. From
the time we first saw the vessel until she crossed our stern less than half
an hour passed. This is one of only handful of big ships we spotted since
being off-shore.

6 am – the smell of fresh pancakes greets us as we get off watch. What a
treat.

We just passed another interesting way point. The point where we were the
furthest from land on this trip: More than 1,000 miles from any land: Just
over thousand miles to go to Hawaii and over thousand miles off the coast of
Southern California. This is a long way from anywhere.

The afternoon greats us with splendid weather, a nice breeze and we even saw
the first flying fish. They carefully avoided  landing on deck, wisely so as
they might very well end up in a frying pan. The sea color changed from a
very dark blue to indigo with sprinkles of white caps.

Sailing in the trade winds comes with a new weather phenomena: Squalls.
Black clouds and rain repeatedly approach Turicum and each time we manage to
keep them on our port corner for a while we get a nice boost with wind
speeds of typically 20 to 25 knots. A light sprinkling of rain is a welcome
cooling off after baking in the Pacific sun.

Everybody was looking forward to homemade Shepherd’s pie yesterday. What a
treat . . . . with full bellies we head for our bunks.

I suddenly woke up as I got tossed violently from one side of the bunk to
the other. Immediately, I noticed the motion of the boat was much stronger
than usual and from the voices on deck I could tell the wind picked up
considerably. No sooner did I get my eyes open as I heard John yelling “ALL
HANDS”. Out of our bunks we jumped, get our PFDs & harness on and half
asleep we struggled on deck while Turicum is rolling fiercely in the waves
kicked up by a stronger than usual squall. 30+ knots and big waves threw
Turicum almost out of control. The spinnaker pole dipped into the water and
once again, Jake (the downwind running spinnaker) jumped free of the pole.
Unrestrained, his big shoulders would fill with air and then collapse with a
painful bang each time, having us worried he would get shredded to pieces by
the gusts or wrap himself around the forestay.

With all crew on deck, Jake came down, up went our genoa and on we sailed
under control again. A job tremendously well done by our foredeck crew John,
Mike & Dave. A quick damage assessment showed no harm was done and our
skipper decided to get our secret weapon out: Thunder Chicken. A strongly
built, narrowly cut spinnaker - perfect for these conditions. No time was
lost and up goes the new sail.

Red watch gets down for some well-deserved rest and Black watch takes over
the deck. For the first hour or two the wind stayed around 25 knots and then
settled around 20 kts making it a comfortable ride. The squalls kept on
coming, but none as dramatic as the one that brought down Jake.

It’s 2 am now and we hand over the cockpit to Black watch. Good night.

Aloha!

GORGONZOLA, CRAB AND REINING IN JAKE

Day 8th – July 14th

Last night was uneventful. It started with a clear sky but soon clouds moved
in and once again we sail in darkness. The wind diminished and boat speed
dropped to less than 5 kts at times. The wind was not strong enough to keep
the sails filled and they violently smashed back and forward as Turicum
swung from one side to the other in the Pacific swell. Painful.

Off duty at 2 am, trying to sleep, but the lack of the usual noise from
water rushing by Turicum’s hull and constant flapping of sails resulted in a
restless night. 6 am, on deck again, still dark but there is change in the
air. The wind picked up, hesitant first, but within the hour it blew at 20+
knots and once again Green Meanie pulled Turicum through the water at an
average of 9 kts, every now and then surfing down a wave reaching 14+ kts of
boat speed. Life is good, and after a tense night, the smiles were back on
our faces. On we go.

Today is a big day: Half way point. 1,154 miles to Hawaii. But before we got
there, we changed the spinnaker from Green Meanie to Jake. We were running
deeper and deeper and Green Meanie does not like the wind from that angle so
up went Jake. Jake has broad shoulders, it’s a big sail, and will carry us
for the next little while as we position us for the optimal angle in the
trade winds. The sail change went smoothly, but then we had to change the
topping lift on the pole which snapped earlier. Normally this is an easy
task, but when you are trying to fly a spinnaker, dead down wind, without
the pole in a moderate swell while re-running the topping lift, is a rather
interesting exercise. A couple of times, the spinnaker wanted to wrap itself
around the forestay, but our skilled trimmers managed to keep it flying.
Jake kissed the forestay a few times, trying to wrap his big shoulders
around it but the afterguard would not let it happen and reigned in Jake,
forcing him to keep pulling Turicum through the water.

Pleased with our work, we headed for our bunks, after all, we were already
more than an hour into our resting time. But it was not to be. Another bang,
and Jake managed to wrestle himself free from the pole. Our skipper, not
pleased with the state of affairs, rushed onto the foredeck and grabbed Jake
by his big shoulders. Jake struggled, violently trying to pull himself free,
but he was no match for Gunnar who put the reigns back on Jake and once
again Turicum is under control. The crew was amazed, Gunnar breathless and
on we sailed.

5 miles to half-way point. Too tired and with only two hours to rest before
getting on deck again we went straight our bunks instead of waiting for the
half-way point to come up.

It is a tradition to celebrate the half-way point with a special dinner. Don
was organizing that. Little did we know that Don was not only a superb driver
but quite the chef too. As appetizers we had plums, filled with gorgonzola
and wrapped in prosciutto followed by a cold avocado soup. Delicious. Don
then pulled out fresh crab cakes from the oven and our main course was
lobster tail with risotto. After the main course we had to gybe the
spinnaker and then sat down for desert. First things first, after all we are
racing!

Thank you Don and your family for a fantastic half-way dinner. It could not
have been more delicious!

6 pm , up on deck. It was another black night. The wind picked up and peaked
around 25 knots. Running downwind with the waves tossing Turicum around we
struggled to keep things under control. Depowering the spinnaker helped a
lot and we were not losing much speed. After about an hour of intense
sailing the wind settled down to below 20 knots and we were again fully
trimmed, on course at maximum speed.
I should not forget to mention: We are now sailing in T-shirts at night.
Loving it, every bit!

10 pm – back to our bunks, tired, but pleased with a fun day and good crew
work and steady progress along our course. Good night.

Aloha!

CHASING THE WAVES WITH GREEN MEANIE

Day 7 – July 13

After a wonderful day of sailing in the sunshine yesterday the wind started
to get soft. The speed of Turicum travelling through the water dropped and
we were losing some miles to Kinetic and Red Heather, our closest
competitors. We got some more weather information and it looked like it
would be soft for a while.

In anticipation of the wind veering we hoisted Green Meanie, our workhorse
spinnaker at watch change just after 6 pm yesterday night. The first hour on
the wheel was painful with boat speeds as low as 4.5 knots. It was driving
with fingertips to keep the boat at least exactly on course. No stars
yesterday. It was pitch black and no visual references. We could not even
see the bow of the boat. It’s “flying” by instruments. A wobbling compass
and a wind indicator that nervously pitches from one side to another as
Turicum rolls in the light swell makes this no easy task.

All of a sudden we feel some rain drops, the wind picks up and Green Meanie
started to pull Turicum ahead. As the boat speed picked up, a smile appeared
on Gunnar’s face. The crew hustled down below to get the rain gear. It’s our
first squall, not dramatic, but enough to wake up Turicum from her lethargic
pace and once again chased the waves towards Hawaii.

Later the wind veered even more and we adjusted the sails accordingly. As
soon as Turicum found her rhythm, Gunnar who then went below deck to check wind
forecast and course, stuck his head up with a new course and we adjusted
sails accordingly.
6 am, Red Watch comes and deck and it’s time for us to catch some sleep.

The morale onboard is awesome as Mort continues to quote Monty Python lines
and we engage in huge belly laughs. John suspects these movies had a big
influence on Mort’s childhood. Watches often become philosophical as 4 grown
men huddle together in the cockpit on each watch and at times struggling for
a topic of conversation. John, educated us in the history of mankind and how
we evolved to gain our present day intelligence???

The temperature onboard is quite warm. We sleep with just shorts on and no
bed covers. Catching naps on deck is the best way to keep from the heat below
decks. Keep in mind all food is boiled on the stove top or a lasagne takes
1.5 hours in the oven. Also we run the engine twice a day for one hour to
charge batteries and to make fresh water. Don earned a rather nasty scrape
on his shin but just some lost flesh in the episode. Nothing to worry about and
all in all just the normal cuts and bruises occasionally suffered from a
typical day of sailing.

Other things that occupy our time include John sorting out the candy in the
treat bag and determining which candy we don’t like and which ones we will
fight for. Terry dropped his finger nail clipper in the head (toilet) and
had to go fishing with fingers and pliers. That was not fun and involved
much bleaching afterward.

Time for meat balls and spaghetti now before Red Watch goes on deck to
report for duty and Black Watch gets a few hours of sleep before the grave
yard shift.

Aloha!

IN HOT PURSUIT

Day 6 – July 12th
We got up on deck at 10 pm for the graveyard shift. Coming on deck a star
lite sky left us breathless. The Big Dipper and Polaris to our starboard and
the tiniest of crescent moon was glowing orange just above the horizon on
our stern.

To stay on course I put a star between mast and the starboard shrouds and
kept it there. The slightest deviation from our optimal course is instantly
visible – no instruments needed. The winds diminished a little bit but
Zelda, our light A-sail is pulling Turicum along steadily at an average of 8
knots.
It’s a wonderful night and Turicum enjoys dancing with the stars, getting a
little nudge every now and then from one of the waves pushing her to pick up
the rhythm a bit.

2 am, time for us to get some rest before a new day will start at 6 am.

It is now 8 am and we are cruising along our course. The sun is up, the
foullies come off and sunscreen gets lathered on. Two of the on watch crew
get the “tough” job of hiking to windward, their face in the sun. It is hard
to see if they pay close attention to sail trim or just drift off into
dreamland.

I have not introduced the team yet. On black watch we have Gunnar, skipper
and fearless leader, Dave, Mike & Christof. On Red watch there is John,
watch captain, Mort, Don and Terry. While Red watch is made up of Vic-Maui
veterans, Black watch is the rookie team with only Gunnar having done
Vic-Maui. Other than for a brief moment during watch changes and for all
hands on deck manoeuvres we hardly see the other team. Currently Red watch
holds the 6 hour record of 57 miles. Black watch is only two miles behind.
(Red watch would like to add we have the all out 2012 Vic Maui World Speed
Record on Turicum of 16.3 Knots by two stellar drivers Don and Mort). We
hope the tie can be broken.

We have now logged 950 miles since the start in Victoria and have just over
1,500 miles to go to Hawaii. Light winds are in the forecast until we will
hit the trade winds a few days from now. The crew is in good shape, really
well fed (we had chicken “a la parmesana” with pasta yesterday), thanks so
much to Mort, Marie and Ede for the grub and we are in hot pursuit of
Kinetic who is currently leading our Division.

We are feeling like it is time to get to business on this race and Terry
yells to Mike “DRIVE IT LIKE A RENTAL”.

Lunch time, back later.

GREAT TEAMWORK AND A SHOWER AT LAST

Day 5 – July 11th

2 am, get out of the bunk and on deck to start our watch. It’s a quiet
night, but we are still making good progress. Driving the boat at night is
magical. It is pitch black and only the glow of the instruments penetrates
the darkness. The occasional bio-luminescence sparkles in the wake coming
off Turicum’s stern. It seems like she knows her way and only small inputs
on the helm are necessary to encourage her to surf down the odd wave and to
not stick the bow too much into the wind.

The day awakes to a grey sky and a light drizzle. A lonely Albatross greats
us as we are carving through the waves.
It’s almost 6 am and time to get off watch and we are looking forward to our
first shower of the trip, when suddenly a bang made us look forward, only to
see our genoa falling into the ocean. Up on the foredeck we go, retrieve the
sail from the water and up she goes again on the second halyard. Only
minutes are lost, but we are now short one halyard.

The old halyard looks a bit tired and we decide to use a new halyard
instead. After talking through it carefully we send Dave, our mast climber
up the 55 ft stick to re-run our new halyard. We take down the foresail,
turn downwind to square the boat with the waves to minimize swing at the top
of the mast. Luckily the sun is out, the seas are not too heavy and the
entire operation takes less than 20 minutes from the time we lowered the
foresail and run it up again on our new halyard. A text book operation -
great team work everybody. Once again we are on course to Hawaii – more than
600 miles in our wake and just under 1,700 miles to go.

For those worried about Hurricane Emilia: We have been carefully watching it
and it will not be a factor on our course.

After a well-deserved pancake breakfast it is now time for the shower  and
a nap.

Aloha!

CHAMPAGNE SAILING

Day 4 – July 10th

We are just getting off the morning watch. We had a fantastic run: 55 miles
in 6 hours. We are pleased with our position and progress. The other watch
still holds the current record of 57 miles, but we are working hard on
beating this. It is a friendly competition we run between the watches.
Within each team, we take half hour to one hour turns on the helm and run a
little competition as well. This keeps us on our toes and is fun.

The food is delicious. Yesterday we had meat pie with mixed veggies and
today we will have home-made lasagne. Each night we get a little goodie bag
filled with chocolate bars, Twix, OhHenry, Mars, Sneaker etc. There is one
for each night, to have something to look for at midnight. The bags are so
generously big, that they provide little sugar boost throughout the
following day. We are on a “chocolate trip”.

No wildlife today, but sailing was awesome. Our skipper coined it “Champagne
Sailing” – I could not agree more. The last hour on the helm was
exhilarating. With 20+ knots of wind from our quarter, Turicum is doing an
average of 9 to 10 knots with speeds up to 13+ knots. I get off the wheel,
soaking wet from a good work out, but with a big smile on my face.

Time for another chocolate bar and some sleep before the next roll call in a
few hours.

Only two hours into our resting period it’s all hands on deck. The wind
picked up to close to 30 knots and we can’t hold our course anymore using
the spinnaker. Down comes Green Meanie and up goes the Genoa. Turicum is
back on course with only minor loss in speed. We chopped off the ends of our
spinnaker halyards as they were showing chafe damage from two days of
working hard.

On we sail, less than 2,000 miles to go.

P.S: If you have some questions for the crew, post them on our blog and we
will do our best to answer them!

Aloha!

TRANQUIL AND MAGICAL

Day 3 – July 9th
We are still moving well and over the past two days “Family Affair” has been
in our sights and at one point within a good golf shot from us. But they are
nowhere to be seen now as they took a gybe heading to the coast this morning
and we logged over 200 NM yesterday thanks to some hard work by everyone!!
We have a great team.

All is well, no one sick, eating and sleeping lots. Already we are enjoying
the tranquility of offshore sailing. It is quite magical. Yesterday there
were dolphins playing in our bow wave and today we see a shark. We just got
our weather fax and happy with our position. Onward we go.
It is now 10 pm and our watch gets on deck again. It is pitch black outside,
not to cold and the wind about the same. After having lost sight of “Family
Affair” we now can see the light of “Red Heather” just above the horizon to
our east. The other watch is resting now after having carried us on our
course southwest towards Hawaii.

Checking our optimal course again, then back on deck. Just as I am writing
this the boat heels over more than usual. We are trying to sail a fairly hot
angle to stay on our intended course. It appears our wind increased a bit
and we are sailing just about on the limit for this sail in terms of wind
angle. Better check in on deck.

Aloha.