John's Home Safe and Sound 9/20 14:45PDT

John's Home!!! He was about an hour ahead of schedule for his arrival and almost caught his greeting committee unprepared. But we rallied and had boats out on the water and around 30 people at the dock to welcome our wayward sailors home. I was able to climb aboard Music a short way before she arrived at the dock and it was marvelous to be able to sail into the slip with John and crew. Gail

John here; While we pulled into our slip at Marina Village on Alameda Island, at about 2:45 PM, we passed under the Golden Gate Bridge at 13:33 PDT on Saturday, 09/20, officially ending our return delivery from Kaneohe Bay, Oahu. Why the Golden Gate bridge? - Because our "delivery route" started upon exiting the Sampan Channel, leaving Kaneohe Bay and ended at the Golden Gate Bridge. Here are some statistics:
Length of delivery: 16 days, 19 hours, 13 minutes. Length of route: 2354 nautical miles; Crew: Scott Saulovich - outstanding helmsman, sea \chef; Steve Jacobsen - outstanding helmsman / fish filleter/ dorado grill meister; myself, John McCartney - skipper/navigator.

Thanks to all of you for your support during the race, throughout my extended stay on Oahu, and over the course of all three delivery attempts coming home!! The total distance I personally sailed trying to bring Music home was about 3800 - 3900 miles, including the returns to Oahu. Special thanks to my lovely wife and personal support - Gail Lapetina!!

John's Almost Home!

Here's what we've been waiting for. John and Music should be back in the slip mid-afternoon on Saturday, Sept. 20. Wow - what a summer.

0900 Position 9/20
37.49N
123.05W

Distance to GGB (mile rock really) 30 NM

9/19 Update

Yippee - Music is only 168 miles from home as of 9am Friday morning. So I think it's fair to say they will be home sometime this weekend. They're showering and starting to straighten up the boat a bit and spirits are high.

Position: 9/19 09:00PDT

37.56N 126.03W

speed 5 knots, course 78 degrees

9/17 Report

John has less than 300 miles to go - yeah! Some of you have asked about an ETA but we sailors are a superstitious lot and don't want to jinx anything. So we're not prediciting an ETA yet. But I'm hoping it will be this weekend.

Music Position 18:00
38 27.832 N
130 50.493 W

HI Dear,

09/17; 0900 and we took down the spinnaker as we were getting lifted to the north too much, but we got about 100 miles out of it from 17:15 yesterday to right now - yeah. Part of the winds lifting us north were due to the low passing to the north and us still being south, but still slightly in front of its center. As it passes we should start getting lifted and be able to sail more to our destination, but that probably won't happen for several more hours, and maybe even not until tomorrow.

12 noon: So now its back to a double reefed main and furled genoa (to the second reef), 20-24 knots of wind, busy seas, and sailing on a close reach, but as close as we can to the GGB. Even so, we're still getting pushed north more than we want to. In the next couple of days, however, we will not always be sailing as fast as we currently are. And, while at this moment it doesn't look like the hi will reform in front of us, if we are still out here after the low passes, then we will most likely have to deal with "dirty air" from this lows passing.

1700: It's still blowing like stink (20-25 kt) and we've reefed the genoa to about 80% now and are still making 6.5 to 7.5 kt through the water. Next, we'll start spilling air from our main to slow us down. I sure hope this low passes soon.

1800: We just tucked in the third reef in the main and boat speed is still 6.5 to 7.5 - It feels slower though but the boat doesn't seem to be working quite as hard.

XXOOXXOO,
Me

9/16 Report

Music 24 Hr Run = 140; CMG = 1767 NM
2100 position 9/16:
38 12.350 N
134 05.493 W

It looked like for a while this morning that the hi was pinching off to the south of us but a little later it opened up again, and about noon the whole thing appeared to be moving due east as fast as we were motoring - again! Fortunately, mid afternoon we started getting little puffs of wind so we set the old 3/4 oz spinnaker and now we have about 7 kts boat speed for about 8 kts apparent wind. We're going to try flying the spinnaker for as long as we can, even into the night.

The best news of all is that just before 9PM, we made our final waypoint before the entrance to SF Bay. Next waypoint is at about mile rock or cliff house - 550M away. Keep your fingers crossed that we can keep moving.

Love,
Me

9/15 Report

John is still heading home, motoring through the high pressure area. The next few days will be interesting as the high pressure area re-forms and moves. That affects what his best course should be, but right now it looks like he'll just keep going on his current course.


Music 00:00 09/16
Position: 38 03.787 N 136 43.909 W


Music 1500; 09/15; 24Hr Run = 114; CMG = 1627 NM (noon HST 09/14 - 1500 PDT 09/15)
Note: All future 24 hr runs will be calculated at 1500 PDT.

Hi Everyone - it looks like the battery on the transponder may have quit. So it's back to Google Earth for the tracking. John is less than 800 miles from home and the SSB radio is now picking up California signals so he's definately getting closer. No turning back now.

Music 1200; 09/14; 24 Hr Run = 102; CMG = 1513

HI Dear,

We are still motoring but now our speed is up to between 4.5 and 5 kts, and we are now heading 90 deg, Magnetic (M). I have a couple of good things to report. First, see above (CMG = course made good). Second when we cross longitude 139 deg 40 min, in about 5 miles (at a little after 8PM) we will be 1/2 of the longitude home from Oahu. - Yea to both.

Also want to let you know that because communications (sail mail and weather fax) are now with California, we have changed our clocks to pacific daylight time. Our 24 hour run will be calculated at 3 PM tomorrow from noon today, but that is still only 24 hours as you know. For the rest of the trip our 24 hour runs will be calculated at 3PM to keep things consistent with the beginning of the trip.

I love you
See you soon.

time: 20:20 PDT
current position: 38 09.732 N 139 46.117 W

HI DEAR!!

Sure glad to be finally making some miles directly for the barn door! We started motor-sailing about 9:45 this morning. What a lift to our spirits, and mine in particular. Now we have something to celebrate. Depending on winds conditions ahead, however, we may still need to head for Monterey Bay so let's hope they're not as bad as they could be, or may be according to Simon. Simon's email last night recommended that we stay south of 37 deg north, or head to 40 north. Well, I decided to head due east from our current position and bail to Monterey if necessary, hoping that by heading east, we might beat the stronger winds expected. Net result? Potentially less than a thousand miles to go. If, that is, we don't have to bail to Monterey. Seemed like worth the risk to me. Sure hope it pays off.

As for our half way celebration, both Steve and I showered, and I even put on a fresh pair of shorts and a clean shirt. IT didn't last long though, as it was cold enough that I went back to the long sleeve tee and long pants I'd been wearing tthe past couple of nights. When it comes to dinner, however, I froze three steaks upon leaving Kaneohe Bay and we pulled them out of the freezer this morning, and will BBQ them. We will also reconstitute some dried shitaki mushrooms and sauté them, and round the meal out with fresh cooked potatoes and carrots. Libations include champagne and, of course, a bottle of merlot.

Considering the miles we've put down and potentially have left to sail, we're calling our shindig our "half way plus" celebration.

Love,
Me. xoxoxoxox

Music 1200: 09/13; 24 Hr Run = 156; CMG = 1411 NM
Position Report
Music: ; 09/14; 00:00
Current location:
38 13.854 N
141 00.990 W

9/12 Update

John is planning to start motoring almost due east through the high pressure area. So he re-activated the transponder last night and you can now see his track. Aunt J, Karen, and Tina - John says thanks for all your support. Here's his last update:

Hi,
Not much in the way of news today. Caught another dorado this morning. Our lure was out only about an hour and a half before he hit. It was a clean wound and he was so feisty that we decided to throw him back and proceeded to put our fishing gear away until we're hungry for more fish. (We hadn't put it out since we caught the big one which we finished eating last night.) I believe that today we are half way home, but we're not going to celebrate until tomorrow night when we should be in the high.

We turned on our transponder this evening and I saw the led go on so look for it tomorrow (today by the time you get this). Well, dinner is ready, chicken with a white cream sauce on spaghetti. It's close to my watch now, 2100-00:00, and it's also getting cold out so despite the fact that we are approaching the hi, I have been wearing a fleece vest on under my light fouly jacket the past couple of nights, and will be wearing fleece long-johns under my pants tonight too.

We have seen no ships since leaving Hawaii, but in last 3 hours the AIS has shown us 4 different ships within 10 miles of us, so we must be in the middle of a cross roads for the north pacific shipping. Fortunately, it is almost a full moon and that moon is up most of the night.

We will try to make as little northing as possible for the next few day as we make our way into and through the hi. Wish us luck.

Can't wait to see you. I miss you sooo.
Love,
Me xoxoxoxox

Music 1200; 09/12; 24 Hr Run = 155; CMG = 1255 NM
Position Report
Music: ; 09/12; 2100 Current location:
37 56.482 N (approx equal with the middle of SF Bay!!!!) 144 22.567 W

9/11 Update

Position Report
Music: ; 09/11; 2100
Current location:
36 44.789 N
147 27.178 W
Current boat speed: 5.5 - 6.0 kt
Winds: 08 - 12 kt
Heading approximately 050-060 deg magnetic
Same Waypoint: 38 03.677 N 144 11.723 W; distance: 173 NM at 2100 position
Note: we'll probably pass close to our waypoint if winds don't change.

Busy Night / Busy Day

Gail here - John is about 1/3 of the way home. He has about 1,500 miles to go which will take about another 12 days. Right now he is deciding whether to sail further north to go over the high pressure area or start to motor through the middle of it.

Dear,
During my off watch, midnight to 6AM, I got about 4.5 hours of sleep - not bad. But was the boat ever busy! It looks like we picked up an odd assortment of debris while sailing last night. Fortunately we felt no bumps or knocks on the hull. So, what did we get?? To begin my 6-9AM watch with, we got to clear about 4 ft of what looked like old style fishing net from the Duogen propeller. Then, when the sun got higher, I spotted something that looked light blue trailing in the water off the stern. I removed my sunglasses to make sure it wasn't just the effect of my polarized lenses, and yep, it was still there. And, forward of the light blue was a sort of tanish looking line. Hmmm.

Since a breakfast of French toast was just being served, we ate, then went to work preparing for a snorkel dive to check things out and remove the offending whatever. We hove to, and 20 minutes later in my best imitation of James Blond (according to Scott) I was ready to jump in. Less than two and a half minutes later we had about 30 feet of a light weight synthetic net onboard, which is now dried and will come home with us so someone else isn't at risk for snagging it. When did we pick up that net? Last night? The night before? Who knows? Fact is we'll never know.

Yesterday the boat was moving frightfully slow on anything other than a beam reach that sailing was sooo frustrating. It is true the winds were light 8-10 kts apparent, but unknown to us, could this net have been more balled up on the propeller, thereby also contributing to our slow progress? - Possibly! But we'll never know. Fact is it's gone now and the winds up. And, even though we're sailing deep, we're booking at about 6 to 7 kts in 8 to 11 knots of apparent wind.

In the process of cleaning up after my swim, I spotted a 10 inch squid on the port mid deck by the galley port light. In its death the poor squid slimed the entire area with its inky camouflage - Yuk. We got most of it off but some will need to be cleaned dockside.

Early this afternoon the wind clocked aft and for a while the seas were quite confused and washboardy, but then a new wave train started flowing with the wind so by dinner we found ourselves flying along at 7 to 8 knots with the wind slightly aft of the beam. A really sweet ride considering that we are only flying white sails.

With a 2/3rds moon in the eastern sky, our dinner of Mahi Mahi tacos accompanied by a bottle of chardonay was enjoyed by all. The chef? None other than Scott. Not only is he a great sailor, but an awesome cook as well!

Music 1200; 09/10; 24 Hr Run = 133 NM; Course Made Good = 945 NM
Music: 21:00; 09/09
Current location: 35 57.004 N 149 58.151 W
Current boat speed: 7.3 kt, Winds: 12-15
Heading approximately 060-070 deg magnetic

Monday, 9/08 Update

In reading yesterday's post and comments - I realize what John is saying might not make alot of sense to some of you so I'll try to do a bit of translation. First, the "grib" file is the weather data that John is able to download via the SSB radio (the wonders of technology). This gives him a forecast of the high and low pressure areas and wind direction and strength. High pressure areas usually have very light wind so sailboats try to avoid those areas. The low pressure areas have the wind, but the direction of the wind really affects the course you are able to sail. If you look at the Google track to the right of this posting - draw a straight line from Hawaii to San Francisco. Now compare that to John's track. You will see he is heading almost directly north. He is trying to get over what is called the Pacific High which is a large area with little wind. So he sails north before he can head east. He is effectively sailing 2 sides of a triangle. The sooner he can start heading east or northeast the better because then he is sailing towards the coast. He has sailed almost 700 miles due north and is really looking forward to making that right turn towards home. I hope this helps make some sense of his updates - if not I'll be happy to explain it more in an email. Gail

Hi,
Immediately before noon we caught a 47" dorado, otherwise Mahi Mahi as they're known out here. This is the single biggest fish I've ever caught!! Steve took a couple of pictures so I've got to get the camera home safely for proof. Then Steve filleted it and it's in the refer and freezer. We also get sashimi for lunch. Additionally, we are making water today to freshen our port water tank. We continued our northerly trek as the winds had not yet backed to the east as suggested they should by the current grib files. According to gribs this should start anytime soon. About dinner time the winds veered a bit to the east so we were able to establish a new waypoint, given below. Hopefully they will continue to veer and we'll really be able to head northeast so keep your fingers crossed for us. I was on watch 6-9PM HST and it was absolutely gorgeous out with relatively quiet seas and the moon just half full and coming from our starboard stern. Near the end of my watch I listened to Diana Krall which filled the time quite nicely.

All my love xoxoxo

Music: 00:00; 09/08 (midnight)
1200; 09/08; 24 Hr Run = 153 NM; Course made good = 685 NM Position Report
Current location:
33 26.543 N 154 50.898 W
Current boat speed: 4.5 - 5.5 kt, Winds: 8 -12Kt; oscillating from 40-60 deg apparent.
Heading approximately 10-25 deg North. New Waypoint: 35 01.500 N; 154 19.225 W ; distance: 96 NM

Sunday, 9/7 Update

Position Report: 00:00; 09/08 (midnight)
Wind filled in last night at about 15 - 20 kts, but we have missed the window of opportunity to slide northeast at 30 deg as I suspected. Trades have, and are, continuing to fill in, and the best we can do is continue heading north to about 36 deg. According to the latest grib files they should get lighter as we head N. The weather fax doesn't look all that good right now, particularly for Ada Helen, but the Hi should move south and west and that will benefit us in a few days if it does.

This will get posted sometime in the middle of the night when transmission is the best so my position reports will be slightly different than the body of text.

Love,
Me

24 Hr run: 134 NM; Course made good: 532 NM
Current location:
31 17.068 N 155 10.543 W
Current boat speed: 5.8 kt, Winds: 12-14
Heading approximately 355 - 10 deg North, magnetic
New Waypoint: 33 00.00 N; 154 12.000 W ; distance: 111NM

Saturday 9/6 Update

Time:Music 2100; 09/06 Saturday
Today's conditions: Light air 7 to 11 knots apparent, mostly on the nose which means the boat is close hauled and going slow, about 4.5-5 knots, direction 355-360 deg Magnetic. We just crossed into latitude 28. At least it's not so hot here as down at the lower latitudes toward Hawaii. I really look forward to when we can start making some easting!! Dinner tonight: Dorado

Start of our track is just outside (north) of the Sampan Channel coming out of Kaneohe Bay.
Time at that point was 15:15 09/03; daily run to 12:00 09/04 = 135 NM All other daily runs from here out will be noon to noon Daily run 09/04 - 05 = 141 NM Daily run 09/05 - 06 = 122 NM (actually 122.5) Course made good: 398 NM

Time:Music 2100; 09/06
28 31.279 N 155 34.861 W
Current boat speed: 5.3
Heading approximately 355 - 10 deg North, magnetic
Waypoint: 30.00 N; 155.00 W; distance 95NM May pass west of waypoint

Dorado!

This morning, winds grew light then died all together so at about noon we started the iron genny and motored for a little over 6 hours. Shortly before cutting the engine near sunset we caught not one, but two Dorado within 25 minutes of each other. The larger of the two became an appetizer of sashimi followed by the main course baked on the BBQ, and was enjoyed with a bottle of chardonnay. After dinner was prepared, we went back to sail so we could enjoy dinner without listening to the engine. Dinner itself, was enjoyed under a nearly half moon while listening to San Juan Suite, and watching the stars come out. Ahhhh!!!

We are now making our way North under sail at about 4 -5 knots, quite slow. But it is so beautiful out here under these conditions, my description cannot possibly do justice to the moment. Well, I've got to get back up on deck now as I'm on watch.

Love to all,
me

Music Position 2100; 09/05
26 31.159 N 155 55.523 W
SOG 4.5 kt

Friday Position Report

Music 03:00; 09/05
25 01.949 N
156 52.878 W
Current heading 030 deg
Current speed: approx 6 kts
Waypoint: 30N 155W

I just came off watch (00:00 - 03:00) and for the first time the entire trip listened to my Ipod. Relatively flat seas, no moon, the Milky way spread from horizon to horizon, while listening to "Master and Commander" sound track and "Musical Evenings with the Captain". It doesn't get much better than this. Despite all the troubles of the two previous delivery attempts I couldn't help but just sit and enjoy the moment.

Love,
me

Now We Are Three

Well, it looks like we'll be ready to go in a few hours. Yep, time for another attempt. This time we are a crew of three. My friend, Steve Jacobsen, Scott Saulovich, and myself. This is our third attempt, and it is the third of September. Sure hope all the threes gives us an edge. After all, 333 is rather biblical. Aside from having a strong team (Steve did the race with us, and Scott proved himself last delivery attempt) we have Monty. Who's Monty? Monty is our windvane self steering unit which we deployed on our last attempt North, and worked rather well. We'll also give Music a traditional Hawaiian boat blessing just before we leave.

Wish us luck, we could really use it.

Skipper John

PS - we don't know the state of the battery in the transponder so I will delay activating it until we are further out in the Pacific. I'll be sending Gail our daily positions.

Gilligan's Island

Hi friends and family,

I always wondered just how come Gilligan's Island's, "Professor", took something like 12 to 16 years to get them rescued when it, the real Coconut Island, is less than 2 miles from the north shore of Oahu. Could he have been chasing Marianne for all those years, or was it a time/distance warp? Anyway, after having sailed approximately 1200 miles to essentially go from Kaneohe Bay to Honolulu and back, a round trip distance of about 70 to 100 miles depending on which way you go around the island, all I can say is that there appears to be a distance anomaly around the Hawaiian Islands that puts anything the Bermuda Triangle can throw at you to shame. Well, maybe that's not quite right, but you get the idea. Another movie I'm reminded of is "Ground Hog Day" where Bill Murray goes through the same day, time and again, until he finally gets it right. Maybe we'll finally be able to "Escape Hawaii" when we finally get it right. Hmmm - could that be another movie? - I sure hope not.

Here's another thought: Our first delivery attempt we made it a bit over 400 miles out before turning back. Our second delivery attempt we made it 200 miles out before turning back. Considering this, if we go nowhere, we'll actually be making progress without touching a dock line. Now that's efficiency in travel!

The good news is that our crew requiring medical attention is at the hospital and being treated as we speak. We're dock side at Kaneohe Yacht Club and figuring out where to go from here. Well keep you posted.
Saturday, August 30th, two thousand what???
Kaneohe Bay, Oahu.

Skipper John

John has turned back towards Hawaii again. This time due to a medical issue. One of the crew - not John - has a swollen leg. They don't know how serious it is and John decided to head back to Hawaii. He's treating the person with bed rest and antibiotics and if there is significant improvement in 24 hrs they will turn around again and continue on their way.

I'll keep you posted.

Here are some position updates from John. The transponder is now working. Even though the wind is lighter that the first attempt, it seems the seas are not helping to make it a more comfortable trip. Hopefully when they get futher away from land things will settle down a bit.

Position 2300 HST; 08/27
23 31.505 N
158 22.765 W
Course approx 360
current speed 5.8 knots

Update from earlier Wednesday.
We are 75 nm north of Oahu and it is 1700 on 8/27. Really uncomfortable with winds 17 - 22 and lumpy seas.
position 1700 HST: 22deg 51.4 min N
158deg 2.33 min W.

The Return Begins - Again

John and crew left Honolulu at 8:23pm PDT on Tuesday, Aug. 26. The transponder hasn't been activated yet, but we should be able to see their signal on Thursday. It takes a while to get the signal synced up. The good news is that conditions should be milder for the first week than they were on the 1st return trip. This will give them a chance to more easily settle into their routines.

There are 4 total on the return crew, including John. The other folks are Jay Bryan, a friend from our yacht club, and Scott and Tarnia. Scott was refered to us by another friend from our yacht club, and Tarnia's info I found on the Pacific Cup crew list. We were VERY lucky that these folks had the time available and were able to get away on very short notice. It looks like everyone will get along well.

Thanks to everyone for their continued good wishes. I don't know how often we'll get updates from John and crew, but I'll post them as they come in. The link to the tracking site is on this blog site as well as a link to Tarnia's blog site. Tarnia has a personal transponder and her uncle will be updating her site as he gets position updates.

A quick update. John has his new delivery crew together and should be starting the trip home early Tuesday morning (Aug 26). He'll turn the transponder on again so we can track his progress. The new crew seems like a good bunch of people and should get along well together. There will be 5 total, which is good in that it gives John the flexibility to not have to stand a specific watch and he can handle things as they come up as well as the navigation and checking the weather. John should be home by mid-September.

Hi everyone - a quick update on John and Music. Music's repairs have been completed and she is in a slip at the Waikiki Yacht Club. Nothing serious was found which is good news. We've been working to get a new delivery crew together. The original crew had to head back to their respective homes and jobs. We have a few leads on crew so hopefully John will be able to start the trip back by the end of the week (Aug. 22/23). He'll turn the transponder back on when he starts out again so we can track Music's progress home.

A few folks have asked how John is doing. He is doing well and is in good spirits. There is some disappointment in the delay and he was hoping to be almost home by now. But these things happen and he's making the best of it. Waikiki Yacht Club is very nice so he has a good place to spend a few days. There are a few small projects he wants to do before starting the return trip, like re-bedding a hatch so it won't leak. I've passed on all your best wishes to him and he appreciates your thoughts. We'll let you know when he starts the trip home.

Music in Honolulu

Music arrived in Honolulu Monday late afternoon. She will be hauled out on Tuesday and we'll see what repairs might be necessary. We'll keep you posted as to when we plan to renew the delivery back to San Francisco. Thanks for all your kind thoughts and wishes.

Music's Arrival in Honolulu

From: Music
Sent: Sunday, August 10, 2008 7:22 PM

We should be in Honolulu at the boatyard late tomorrow afternoon. Saw what was most likely a sperm whale early this AM. Hal saw it first and just missed seeing it breach. When it was about 100 yards off of our port beam, I saw it rise vertically out of the water about half its body height and slid back down. Then it positioned itself with its tail toward us and slapped the water until we couldn't see it any more. I could be mistaken but I think it was not happy, believing us to be intruders.

Karen asked how long it takes to go 160 nautical miles (NM). Well the short answer is that it depends on the conditions and how fast you are moving. On this point of sail, a beam reach, it takes us about 24 hours in 20-25 knots of wind. Going North a few days ago, when the seas were large and confused, it took us an eternity, even if it was only 24 hours.

For Dive Buddy Jeff: Good one about being marooned!!! - You obviously know my sick sense of humor!!

Sea Bird

We had a sea bird land on our bow pulpit yesterday afternoon - got several photos. Landing the first time took several attempts, but eventually the bird made it. After that, it would rest a short while and fly around the boat and land again. It got successively better with each attempt. We had a really nice sun rise this AM and very few squalls last night. The weather is definitely milder - yeah. But we were not successful at running the water maker yesterday, most likely due to being on port tack and heeling just a little too much. Rudder seems to be managing OK for now. ETA for Oahu should be about sometime Tuesday morning. Love, John

Music heading back to Hawaii

I wanted to let you all know that Music is heading back to Oahu. She got hit with a rogue wave last night and it has affected the steering. Sometimes it steers normally and sometimes it gets very stiff. John went over to see if something was jammed in the rudder or if it was visually damaged and couldn’t find anything. He’s been in contact with Jim Jesse and Svendsen’s boat yard and they all agree something is going on, but nobody seems to know what. So the crew decided it would be better to head back while they were still close to land. It’s a tough decision for all of them as it was a hard 400 miles they just sailed. We'll keep you posted.

Position Report: Midnight 08/08

Position: 27 deg 16.37 min N; 156 deg 42.30 min W;

20-25 kt winds all day and evening; yuck!!
Slowly and very wetly crawling north. Tonight we started getting squalls right after sunset.
Everything is wet below decks - isn't life fun.
Guess we're paying for the down wind fun we had on the race. Hope things quiet down in a day or so, but for now we're growing webbed feet and gills, just like in the movie "Water World".

Right now, we are about 350 NM north of Oahu and these conditions are supposed to continue until approx. 30 deg North, or about another 160 miles.

Love, John

Transponder is now working

Music finally got the transponder activated so we can now track the return voyage. There is a new link for the return on the right side of this blog. They are in the Return 1 group. Please continue to send your comments to them - I know they really appreciated hearing from you during the race and this is an even longer trip.

They are making progress, but it is still windy and uncomfortable. Their plan was to head north to about 39/40 degrees (about even with the Calif/Oregon border) and then motor a few days through the high pressure zone and then hopefully start sailing east. For those of you unfamiliar with weather systems- there is a large area of high pressure, called the Pacific High, that basically doesn't have much wind. During the race they stayed below the high, now they have to get over the top of the high before they can sail east to San Francisco. So the return trip will be longer in both miles and days.

When conditions settle down I expect to get more updates from Music. Currently it is just position reports. I try to send them a little message every day so feel free to pass on your comments any time. Aloha, Gail

The Return Begins

Music left the fuel dock around 2pm Tuesday. The wind is building for a few days - at least according to the kite boarders and they would know. We didn't activate the transponder until just before they left and it appears we didn't do it right. I've sent them the info about how to activate so hopefully we can see their progress in a few days.

Here's the first update:
Sent: Wednesday, August 06, 2008 4:11 AM
Hi Dear,

Position:
22 deg 38min N; 157 deg 44 min W;
I'll check the transponder tomorrow. Close reaching and uncomfortable, but reef main and stay sail doing well and still giving us approx 6 kts tonight.

Love,
Me

Team Trophy Award!

Congratulations to Music on being part of the Team Trophy Award! Teams consisted of 3 boats from the same yacht club and the trophy went to the team with the best performance. The Encinal Yacht Club team took 1st! Besides Music, there were 2 Cal 40s in division A that took 1st and 3rd. A great race for all.

We're doing a final bit of prep for the return trip to San Francisco. John plans on leaving Tuesday, Aug. 5. There will be 4 people on board for the return - John, Simon, and Steve who were race crew and our friend Hal who is flying in Monday to help. We plan on updating the blog during the return and they will have the satellite transponder so we'll be able to track them. So check back in a few days!

About the Crew - A real team effort!!

From boat prep to finish, our Pacific Cup 2008 campaign has been a team effort all the way. Everyone contributed to our success. And, not just crew either! Those spouses who had the time or could make the time also helped out. Here's a bit of the story. If someones individual contribution is not mentioned here it was not omitted by intent but by accident and through the shear volume of effort that went into boat prep, the race, arrival in Hawaii, and post race activities as well.

Music's crew
Music's crew was 50% Canadian and 50% US. Three quarters live in the Pacific Northwest and only 25% are local to San Francisco. Our Canadian contingent regards our US contingent as "honorary" Canadians, and in that we are honored. Half of my crew and I met racing on other (big) boats such as Kokopelli 2 (actually Kokopelli squared) and Marda Gras, both Santa Cruz 52's. And most of my crew and I came to know each other and became friends while Music was berthed in Bellingham, WA.

Boat Prep
Because Music is a 20 year old boat, boat prep took on a life of it's own. Despite the fact that Gail and I had made many upgrades to Music over the years, and had already done many tasks necessary to make Music ready for the ocean, Music needed a lot of work, a lot of work. Everyone contributed as much as possible, but because most of our crew are from the Northwest, the lions share of prep fell to Gail, George Bean and myself. Even so, those from out of town who could help put in as much as they could.

John and Sharon Denny from Brentwood Bay, just north of Victoria, BC, for example, came down for a 9 day period and helped get us through one of the toughest projects: removing and rebedding the jib car tracks.

Steve Jacobsen and Bob Peters, Seattle/Tacoma area, made multiple trips down over the months of boat prep. Kim, Georges wife, became a boat widow bceause of all of his unremitting help. Even my wife's fingerprint are all over Music in terms of boat prep. From designing and sewing sheet bags to hanging curtains seperating the galley and navigation areas form the main saloon (sleeping accomodations for most of the crew during the race) Gail worked tirelessly to help make sure Music was ready for the ocean with a few creature comforts.

Simon Walker and Lesley Hesford, both from Victoria, came down over an extended weekend in June to assist with installing the Duogen, a combination wind and towing generator used on the race. And, Simon came back down a week before the race start to help with "final" boat prep which itself took on a life of its own.

Provisioning
Menu planning, provisioning, and cooking was handled almost exclusively by John Denny and Gordon (Gord) Irving, both from Brentwood Bay. Gail assisted with buying unrefrigerated vegetables locally, a suggestion by Diana Jessie, one of our boat neighbors. Those vegetables were a real blessing on the race. Because they'd never been refrigerated they didn't need refrigeraion and lasted throughout the entire race, only suffering minimal spoilage.

Additional Help and Mentor
Jim Jessie, Diana's husband, with his 70 plus years of boat work and cruising experience was a constant source of information, and his knowledge and skills were an invaluable resource throughout our boat prep.

Navigation
Our navigator, Simon Walker, trained in meteorology in college, and who now works in avalanche forcasting and control in British Columbia, downloaded and analyzed grib files (wind and wave forcast files) throughout the race. He worked absolutely as hard as possible to postion Music where we could take best advantage of the existing conditions. Additionally, Simon was the main driving force behind making the most of our sail inventory and keeping Music moving regardless of changing wind direction and force. It is largely through Simon's efforts that Music finished as well she did in the standings!

Watches
For those who know ocean sailing not much needs to be said here, but for those not familiar with it, you sail 24/7. No stopping, no anchoring. The boat simply keeps moving around the clock. This means you sail in shifts, or watches. Due to their prior ocean experience, Bob Peters and Steve Jacobsen were watch captains, and watches were split into "Port"and "Starboard". Each watch consisted of a crew of three. Additionally, watches rotated in 6 hour increments during the day and 4 hour increments at night.

Simon and I had our own watch schedule, which ran mid watch to mid watch, splitting the port and starboard watches in half. This meant that during watch change someone was on deck who was familiar with the existing sea conditions and was able to drive the boat while the new watch which in many cases was waking up had time to get oriented to the conditions on deck before taking the helm.

My Role
Aside from assiting Simon with navigation, my role was really making the numerous repairs (and in some cases over seeing the repairs) necessary to keep the boat sailing. In many cases we were able to avoid large repairs by addressing them while they were still small. In the case of significant repairs, the repair was really a group effort, and those repairs were monitored daily for the duration of the race.

What does it all mean?
In the end, as mentioned in the beginning, this race was a total group effort. We could have never made it to the start line without everyones sweat effort. And, we could have never had the kind of race we did without everyones contribution on the water. Not one of us stands out above the others in terms of effort and self sacrifice. I am proud to say that over the years I came to know a group of really great sailors, and that in the period leading up to and throughout our race it was a total team effort all the way! Because of this I am proud of our entire team. They all deserve a huge round of applause and heart felt thanks!!

Music's Crew
Port Watch

• Bob Peters - watch captain
• Gord Irving - crew, health and safety officer, chef
• Lesley Hesford - crew

Starboard Watch

• Steve Jacobsen - watch captain
• John Denny - crew, chef
• George Bean - crew

Simon Walker - navigator
John McCartney - Skipper

Helms Persons: Everyone
Slackers: None

Thanks For Your Support

Well, we've arrived!! Thanks for all of the incredible support and interest in our little mission to sail from San Francisco to Kaneohe, Hawaii. Never in my wildest dreams would I ever have thought that this adventure would have sparked such interest in so many. Thank you everyone for all your thoughts and wishes. You have no idea how much this means to my crew and me. I am so lucky to have come to know such an aminable and quality group of sailors as those onboard Music for this race. Time to get some rest, and dinner. Love to all, Skipper John

PS - special thanks to Kristi, sister-in-law to George, for establishing this blog for all of us. Fabulous!

The Finish

Music finished at 13:03:06 on Sunday, July 27, elapsed time of 12 days, 2 hrs, 33:06 minutes. They were part of a Pacific Cup record in that they finished 30 seconds before Vallis. There's never been a finish that close in the history of the race. Vallis is in Division A so doesn't affect our standing, but it was exciting for the race committee. The crew is now getting settled in our rental house, enjoying the beach, and trying to get their land legs. More later. Thanks to everyone for their ongoing support and wishes. And special thanks to Wyoming Karen (John's sister), his sister Sheri, and niece Tina who sent a beautiful boat lei.

25 Miles to go

Music did her 25 mile check-in at 9:40 HST, estimated finish time of 12:40 HST. No update from Music last night - but that's to be expected. They're busy, busy, busy holding onto a tight second.

Music Sings

Music made their 100 mile report at 11:18pm Saturday. Estimated time of arrival at the finish line is now Sunday at 11:30 Hawaii time. Go Music Go!!!

Mr Toad's Wild Ride

This will probably be a lag of a few days until the next blog posting. The wives are heading to Hawaii this morning (Saturday) and we expect Music to finish on Sunday. Here's the latest from Music.
Sent: Saturday, July 26, 2008 12:18 AM

Hi everyone,
Well, were coming down to the wire. We just passed our 300 miles to go mark. time right now is 11:30pm, or 23:30. Bob, Lesley and Gord are on watch, we have our 1.5 oz reaching spinnaker up, and I am at the nav computer. We just finished making about 25 gallons of water. Late afternoon, the head tore out of our 1.5 Oz running spinnaker so after retrieving the halyard, I got things sorted out for the repair and handed them off to Gord, who at watch change this evening, handed them off to George who finished the repair about 10 PM.

The skies look like we are potentially in for a wild night of squalls! As I write this I can feel the hull speed increase and boat motion pick up signaling the beginning of a another 20 minute "Mister Toad's Wild Ride". But then, that's why we came! You just don't get to drive like this on San Francisco Bay!

Tomorrow's dinner may be the last of the race. If we can manage about 200 miles by this time tomorrow night, we may just arrive at the finish about daybreak Sunday morning. - Admittedly, optimistic, but theoretically possible.
Well, I have to get on deck as things are really heating up now. Hopefully, I'll have a chance to post this in a couple of hours.

Thanks for all of the support, thoughts, prayers, wishes, and love,

Skipper John

In The Groove

Greetings from 24.01 N 149.26 W. We are now approximately 513 NM from Kaneohe Bay and "trundling along" (as Simon calls it) at 7 to 8 knots.

We had our second whale sighting last evening just before sunset when we encountered a sperm whale cow and calf swimming north across our course. They got within 50 yards of our bow before they spouted one last time and dove beneath us not to be seen again. We prepared for an evening of squalls by peeling to our heavier 1.5oz Pineapple spinnaker from the light air spinnaker we were flying. We gybe'd to port after the peel and prepared for a stormy night. Instead, we were treated to a partially clouded sky with a million stars of all types twinkling in the night sky. The sky show continued with the moon rise that bathed Music in moon beams. A magical night.

At the shift to the mid watch, the retiring port watch reported sighting the lights from three boats, probably fishermen. After a while one of those lights didn't look quite right and we looked at the unknown target through binoculars. Out of the gloom a boat appeared, one mast forward, one big mainsail - no spinnaker. It was our arch nemesis! 'Checkered Past', the Wyle Cat that we have been battling for first and she's slightly behind us! In the dark she passes less than a quarter mile to our stern. We watched, as she made her way south, eventually to disappear over the horizon. The next morning's position reports confirm this. We are still officially in second place, but Checkered Past's lead is now razor thin.

Dawn brought the only squall of the night. We gybe'd again to best run out the storm which brought much rain and wind. Another squall threatened later that morning but we successfully ran that one as it passed to the north. Overnight, Music developed a nagging groaning sound emanating from somewhere in the mast or rigging. So captain John again ascended "Mount Music" to inspect and tighten any loose rigging (and to possibly relive his previous career as rock climber and mountaineer extrodinaire.) The sound appears to be of no consequence and is probably coming from the spinnaker net vibrating and causing a harmonic on the head stay.

Checkered Past made a brief appearance on the horizon in the morning and hasn't been seen since. The trade winds of the morning faded into a gentle breeze by afternoon which also brought on blistering sun and heat to those in the cockpit. Eventually the sun turned behind the spinnaker and brought on the much needed relief and also brought out the ukulele played by Bob and accompanied by Leslie and John D on vocals. Chef Gord prepared a marvelous stirred fried beef and vegetables on rice along with a coleslaw salad.

We are eating dinner in the cockpit, listening to Hawaiian music. Our thoughts turn towards the finish in a few days with it's promise of showers, clean clothes and ice cream and cool drinks. This experience has been wonderful and in a way we don't want it to end, but it also brings out feelings of longing and missing our family and love ones. Hope all is well with you as it is well with Music.

George


Note to Kim,
Saw the notes from Kristi, the Thiemans and the Richard Beans. Tell them thanks for the kind words and can't wait to bore them with all my sea stories.

-Love George

Busy 24hrs

Greetings from 145-1/2 West on the blue path to paradise!
Yesterday's light air frustrations and maintenance business were offset with grins and baths. The full sun roast was delayed until late afternoon when a few minutes was all that it took to dry off. Sun screen shortage is not a problem yet. Another excellent offering from the galley studs, Thai tinged chicken stir fry...superb.

Some days you eat the bear, some days the bear eats you. The Starboard 2200 - 0200 watch finished off with our first squall, moving right-to-left (not the norm) at about 20 knots with rain. They gnawed on that one for awhile with great boat speed and the aftermath of light air wasn't bad, by our standards, so we did most of the eating. Port watch followed suit with a left-to-right pup with less punch. We chewed that one up easily but the bloody thing got in a good swipe of a parting shot on us with the lightest stuff to date, 2+ knots. Port retired at 0600 only to be back up for a gybe at 0730 as another, wet and blowy one rolled over us. Then it was gybe, peel a kite, gybe, peel....call out the bandits!

The view from the back of the boat during these intense duels with the elements is a beautiful thing, decades and thousands of miles of sailing savvy are obvious as the dance before the mast plays out. Voices are loud, sure, they have to be in the noise and urgencies but never without purpose and when Music has settled back into her ways the damage and injuries are minimal, heck, Gord looks to be over today's already! None of this is lost on the cockpit, we focus on every cue from those voices in order to help make their execution of our maneuvers safe and successful.

As I write Port watch is back on and the maintenance continues but at least it is lower key and Starboard watch gets some well earned rest. Running at 6 - 9 knots on or about the rhumb line, full sun, enjoying it for now, will remember it late tonight, perhaps. Our nemesis, Checkered Past, is over the horizon at present, we are solidly holding second place in Division. Music continues to graciously and forgivingly do all we ask of her.

To our loves and accomplices back home, we miss you and look forward to our next meeting.
Aloha! - Bob Peters

JM note: Because the boat is constantly moving, the ocean is a VERY wearing environment. Things that stay solidly in place dock side, or even bay or coastal sailing don't get a rest out here. As such, lots of little things pop up that may never had, had we not done this race. Plus, we are pushing Music hard! Not over pushing, or being reckless, but just plain sailing hard. That means more wear and tear on the boat. All this takes it's toll, but so far, as Bob said, Music is VERY gracious, and resilient. Thanks for all of the greetings and well wishes - sure brings a smile to us. With luck, we'll be in Kaneohe in 4 or 5 days and then we'll rest. For now it's race, investigate, repair if necessary, eat and sleep. I couldn't have asked for a better crew!! This is and has been a total team effort - all the way. We'll got to get some rest now. This will go out when we connect with SSB to sailmail. Can't be sure when that will be, but it will happen most likely tonight.
Love to all, and especially my darling wife, Gail. - John

The Race Is On

Hi Gail, sorry for the lack of report yesterday -- it was a busy one! Peeled spinnakers to the new 3/4 oz and the sun came out for late afternoon for the first time. Galley boys did a beautiful roast beef with roast veggies, spuds and red wine. During dinner suddenly "SAIL HO!!!" -- Checkered Past closing in from the North at a constant angle of 315 (virtually a collision course). With some unstable air around (vertically developed cumulus cells) we elected to peel back to the 1.5 oz Pineapple in case of squalls later in the evening. While this was going on Checkered Past crossed about 1/4 mile in front of us after about 1130 miles of racing! Game on . . we gybed onto port board both to protect the left hand side of the course which we think is favoured for now and to be on port in case of squalls at night. Lots of black clouds around moving in the veered flow but no real action out of them; we sailed all night in sight of Checkered Past, and this morning they're still there on our starboard beam 5 or 6 miles away. IT'S A RACE! Cirrus and Kokomo are now about 40 or so miles astern but still very much in the game.Gotta go -- daily gribs are in and time for some tactical head scratching. More later -- you'll hear from George and J McC about how stoked they were with the 1/2 way goodies.Cheers,Simon

Followup from John McC.
Simon pretty well filled you in on the uninvited guest crashing our half-way celebration. You should have seen us! In the best tradition of Jack Aubery, Master and Commander, when the enemy (our competition) was first sighted on the horizon, the binoculars came out and the intruder was accurately identified. Dinner dishes and leftovers were stowed in a flash. And, as Simon said, the 3/4 OZ spinnaker was peeled to the Pineapple Sails 1.5 oz kite, followed by a quick gybe. Had this been back in the Aubery days, we would most assuredly have fired a shot with our bow chaser cannon as he crossed our bow. But we are, of course, more civilized now.

A New Perspective

Kristi, Kim's sister, has combined Music's positions with a Google Earth view. Absolutely amazing.

Ok, I'm at it again. I have all the points logged into google earth now. This is an excellent image that give perspective to the enormity of this endeavor.K

The sailor said " Brandy, you're a fine girl" (you're a fine girl)"What a good wife you would be" (such a fine girl)"But my life, my lover, my lady is the sea"

Mid-Ocean Contact

I was forwarded this email from Le Flying Fish, in the double handed division. They had a brief conversation via VHF with Music. It sounds like our crew is having a better time of it than these two. Le Flying Fish is a Moore 24, that's right 2 guys are sailing a 24 ft boat to Hawaii. No wonder they sound so tired.

Sent: Monday, July 21, 2008 1:45:00 PMSubject: Day something or other
Aloha Dan,I'm kind of loosing track of the number of days, in fact, anything not relating to the boat or sailing has been forgotten. I don't remember what I do for a living or what country I live in.Today it's warm without sun. The wind has been dying all over the area. This is kinda good as that is why we went so far south. Hopefully the guys up north have even less wind as they are closer to the high pressure system. Us being south give us more wind, but allows us to move at a slightly better angle without getting to close to the high to quick. It kind of hurts to have had to travel so far south, but hopefully, for the reasons given it will pay off.Yesterday, we saw another racer. It was Music and they were going NW while we were going SW. It was nice to see them and to talk to them on the VHF. They told us that they were ready for their half way party and that they were going to have roast beef. Lucky them. We'll I may not have chosen roast beef for the half way party, but I'm sure it beats freeze dried food.we also had a bird try to land on top of the mast, but it was moving too much and the wind indicator was too pointy for him; too bad has it would have been nice to have his company.Some of the boats are having difficulty charging their batteries because the sun has consistently refused to make himself available. This means that the boat, Elise--an Express 27--that was doing our communication relay to the communication vessel had to "hand us off" to another boat, XL--a brand new Antrim 40 design. The good thing about our SSB being down is that we use very little power, so we are not affected too much by the lack of sun.Wishing for a bit more sun and wind,JP

s/v Music Update, Monday, July 21

Today's message from Lesley.
Sent: Sunday, July 20, 2008 10:06 PM

Hi! Here we are out in the open Pacific, about a third from our Hawaiian destination. The nearest land is the Moonless Mountains on the seabed below us, and underwater Mt. McKinley, which I think rises from about 5000 meters below sea level to 2500 meters below. Not much chance of hitting it, I don't think...

We're now at 29'03" North and 138'20" West, and the layers of wool and Goretex we've been wearing constantly are gradually coming off, revealing us in our unwashed state. Most of us have managed to have bit of a wash under the shower bag on the foredeck, and to do some laundry, and socks are flying like pennants from the lifelines. The Bad Hair Contest is temporarily on hold. (I'm disappointed, as think I was winning.)

The colour of the open ocean water is amazing as it breaks alongside the boat, like a gemstone of deep indigo blue. So far we've seen flying fish (hilarious to watch) and an albatross. There were many whales on the first day out of San Francisco, but not one since - though another boat, No Ka Oi, reported during check in today that they had hit one. Fortunately there was no damage to boat or creature, and the whale just gave them a disgusted look and swam away.

Now that the first few days of queasiness or seasickness have passed for all of us, and we are more used to eating, sleeping, changing and moving about in a small box that is tossing around constantly, life on board has settled into a routine of watches, rotating through the days. We are still getting used to sleep deprivation, surviving on an hour or two of sleep at a time. I've found it hard at times, especially when steering in the dark under spinnaker, as so much concentration is needed.

Our cooks, John D and Gordy, have out done themselves on the provisioning, and we're feasting on such things as Italian sausage pasta and salmon burgers. The anticipated tuna dinner hasn't appeared yet, as no fish seems willing to sacrifice itself for our dining pleasure. We live in hope.

The race is a close one in our division, and we're hoping that our competitors to the north fall into the Pacific High, or at least slowed by lighter winds and higher pressure, while we avoid it with our strategy of going farther south. I'm eager to see tomorrow's position reports. We've had a frustrating day or two of occasional lighter winds, as we sail across a ridge of the high, but hope that soon we'll be in the area of blue skies and line squalls.

Love to all,

Lesley

s/v Music Update, Sunday, July 20

Please feel free to post your comments on the blog for the crew to read. Just hit the "Comments" button at the bottom of the day's posting, type in your message and then press the orange "Publish comment" button at the bottom.

Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2008 10:30 PM
Today's update is coming from John Denny.

We had another great day today starting with Lesley getting top honors with a speed of 15.6 k just before our watch at 10pm last night, the bar is set another notch higher. Wind was up for a while during the night which made for interesting driving, sailing deep with larger cross seas lots of rolling with a temptation to over steer. Another boat was sighted just before dawn which kept us all on high alert through the morning, at the 9am role call we determined it was "TIKI BLUE" a boat in a faster div. Roll call also determined we were still in the running for first with "MUSIC" being the southern most boat, we feel this will be to our advantage due to what we hope to be better breeze and the ability to heat it up and sail faster. We spent the day sailing fast,playing bad ukelele,fishing (with no luck yet), doing laundry and having showers. We are now all clean and fluffy with the boat looking like "Hop Sings" laundrymat with all our nickies adding 1500 sq ft to our down wind sail area,it added at least 1 kn to our speed . Salmon patties (in lieu of fresh tuna) for dinner has now fortified us for gybing practice later this evening.

s/v Music Update, Saturday July 19

Received this last night from Music. This will explain why they've dropped to 4th place. It seems to be a really competitive division. Hopefully they'll be in 2nd or 3rd tomorrow now that they're back to full speed. They call John the lazarette lizard because he spent so many days curled up in the aft lazarette (storage locker) while we were getting the boat ready. He's about the only one, besides Lesley, who could contort enough to get back there. That's from his climbing days and the flexibility he developed. Sounds like they've gotten everything taken care of and they do an equipment check every day to catch just these types of things early.

Sent: Friday, July 18, 2008 9:36 PM
Subject: July 18 - Fix it Friday

Hi Gail, we miss you!

Skipper has elected to have a different crewmember write each day . . so today it's me -- Simon. Thanks for your updates and encouragement. Great to be hanging in the front of our pack, but it's close racing. Today our first and biggest repair was to reinforce the steering quadrant where a crack was developing. We slowed right down, sailed under main alone for one hour with minimal movement of the steering wheel while John "lazarette lizard" McC applied magic potion and hardware to the offending part. We managed to keep going about 5 knots while all this was going on, but it no doubt ate into our 30 minute lead over Checkered Past (or Wylie Coyote as we call 'em).

Next up, the lazarette lizard insisted on being hoisted up the rig for an inspection -- good thing as there was some more work to be done to arrest some chafing action in a few spots. The lizard and George then retired to the forward head to make some water. In the meantime, John D and I sent Gord up the rig again to rerig the topping lift in external mode to stop the chafe. Improvising all the way but we're back up to full speed. Lesley stepped in as guest chef while all this was going on and we had an awesome chicken curry and rice dinner accompanied by our first beers of the race so far.

Tomorrow we intend to catch tuna -- we'll let you know how that goes. Great sailing so far, wish you were here!

To Bill from Bob: "Roger that -- we'll get there fast and then take it slow!"

JM Note:
HI Dear, basically we've had our share of repairs but have still kept on racing. Hope we continue as lucky!! As for this crew, well, I couldn't have asked for a better bunch. We're all getting along great and the teamwork is awesome!! I don't foresee any issues either. They're all fantastic. Tell Kim the next time she sees George, he's going to be a different man. He loves it out here and he remains a real asset and fits right in with everyone else.
Got to go,
Love me.

s/v Music Update, Friday, July 18

The crew was still 1st in their division as of this morning, but some of their competitors are coming up fast. Their rank in the fleet will start to slip as the faster boats have started the race. We have a few messages sent from the crew. Keep praying for wind. Music is a relatively heavy boat and she does better in winds of 20-30. She slows down in light air and that’s when the others will make up ground. Here are the updates:

Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2008 2:14 PM

Dear Gail, please forward to Kim.

Been a busy past few days. Wind is everywhere from the teens to mid twenties. Waves aren't especially big, but Music has been on a constant heel and the boat motion has been quite lively to boot. Yesterday we did a spinnaker launch at dawn and a takedown in late twilight both when was off shift so not much sleep or journal writing either. Music is holding up well but there are always things to fix and tweak. Looking forward to seeing you again and if our luck holds up (we could be in second place right now)perhaps a little sooner. The crew has all been great and I'm having a grand time. Love to you and all the family. Bye for now.

Love, George


Sent: Friday, July 18, 2008 1:56 PM
Ahoy!

Three minutes ago (7/17) I found out I was giving the daily report, so this is my maiden voyage.

We have been making great time and crew spirits are very high. Daily activities, other than sailing Music fast and in the right direction, include checking for unusual wear and tear, chafe and investigating strange sounds and we jump right on them.

We put up the brand new 1.5 oz reacher kite at day break and later in the afternoon switched to a bigger 1.5 oz kite which we can sail deeper. We have been on a starboard tack since an hour after the race started and may be for quite some time.

Today we passed a singled handed TransPac sailor and we spoke to him over the radio. He sat for two days off the Farralon Islands. The food is great and very well organized so huge kudos to Gord and John D.

We have not seen any biologic's other than some birds but we are always on the lookout.

Gray skies fair wind but the wave action is not very consistent yet so sometimes the helm is a challenge, but everyone is up to it.

Best wishes to all and big kisses for MamaBear.

Steve Jacobsen aboard the S/V Music

s/v Music Wed, July 16 2:19 PM

Thanks for the email last night. We seem to be doing fairly well and set a spinnaker this morning at first light. Now we are on a screaming reach, averaging 8-9 kts. A couple of minor issues have popped up, but nothing significant and those have been dealt with. Duogen seems to work well to present, but sail mail, and downloading gribs and weather faxes take quite a bit of power so you may only hear from us every couple of days. Just know that we are all ding fine and no one has gotten sea sick.

Next time, one of the crew will send.
Love,
Me

s/v Music Pacific Cup 2008

Music is on its way to Hawaii in the 2008 Pacific Cup! This blog was lovingly created by George's sister-in-law, who is increasingly obsessed with this race and enjoying every minute of the excitement. I "watched" the start using the webcam at the top of the Exploratorium in San Francisco. These pictures are captured from that web cam. At last post, Music was 3rd in its division and 6th overall, but many many nautical miles to go!