Pac Cup Blogs

Lining up Pyramid Rock (the sign for our finish...)
We have dropped the chute (spinnaker for non-sailors) and are now beating up to our "escort boat". The boat will tow us all the way into Kaneohe...

We can now distinguish details. It was blowing really nicely on that day! Remember it is the day when I did 9.72 knot average speed and 16.2 (or was it 16.1???) record speed. And the swell was just PERFECT for surfing. Some serious fun to be had in that race...

We start to see land...After 15 days of blue blue blue...This really shows how isolated the islands are. We sailed past Maui (about 40 miles East of the island) but since our 'horizon' was about 4 miles away, we never got to see the island.

A good reason to have the blues...
A great picture of Nathan. He looks so happy!

OK, the bow wave is JUST starting...
It will also be visible on the side...

In our last episode, the valient crew of VALIS was about to partake of a spaghetti dinner. What amazing exploits are in store for them in the next exciting episode?
Actually, not much happened today (sound familiar?). We had some minor squalls in the night, but nothing that required any sail-changes. We are sailing under a cold front, so there was frequent light rain, and occasional moderate rain. When dawn broke, we took it on faith that the sun was up, since the sky was completely overcast. We spent the morning sleeping, talking, and sailing.

Major wind shift! We spent several hours motoring last night and early this morning, waiting for the wind to pick back up and begin coming from the west. Around sunrise it did just that, and we have been sailing since then. It has been totally overcast all day, and a little cool.
Dinner last night deserves mention: The two Pauls prepared a pot roast, using some pre-cooked beefalong with a mixture of spices, potatoes, onions, carrots, and celery, all cooked in a french onion soup base. This was a great meal to have in the now-cool evening.

It's official. I have chosen sides. The Volvo Ocean Racers no longer have to worry about which team the editorial might of EVK4 SuperBlog is backing. It hasn't been easy. I have reasons to root for most teams but it came down to two.

Puma v. Green Dragon

My sailing-challenged almost-3-year-old son agreed to go sailing on Sunday! Hallelujah! I was going to get him into the fold and have a whole family of sailors. He's slowly getting over his fear of transportation. He goes on BART now, will ride the Little Train, and even agreed to enter an airport a few weeks ago. As soon as he's sailing, he'll become the perfect kid.

It started at 6 pm and went for 18 hours - a gale storm. We saw steady winds 35-40 knots. We tore to shreds the number 3 jib. We currently have the storm jib, which we should have had earlier but by then it was dark and very windy. It has finally slowed down 20-25 knots. We are all sore and tired. The computer got wet so I'm not sure it I can send updates.

Becky
N 40.09.995 W 146.09.023

Not much to report here. We are currently (6:00PM PDT) at latitude 38 deg 24min N, longitude 129deg 04min W, sailing seven knots on a course of 060deg magnetic. We are about 750 miles due west of Occidental (Hi, Mary!). The winds are favorable and moderate, and the seas almost pleasant.

06:30pm

Still a bit foggy, but a nice view of the Farallons. Always interesting, especially for those that have not been here before.

25 miles to go.

- JDG

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45 Miles to go

Boatspeed = 8 knots

You do the math....

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