avionbianca   Blog for s/v Avion

Completed the Return and Some Final Thoughts

Saturday 8/16/2014

I can’t end this sailing blog without some closing thoughts about how this adventure affected me.   Soon I will go back and read all of the postings that were made but right now I want to reach down into my soul and see what impact this experience has had.   However before I get all psychological on you I would like to share the final leg of the journey.

At the end of my watch as we approached the Farralon Islands, 25 miles outside the bay, I briefed David on the conditions and course we had followed since he went down.  The GPS was showing us 4.5 hours from the Islands and we had set a course a few degrees south to avoid any potential hazard.  This is the time of the trip to be overly vigilant in watching out for things that go bump in the night.  The weather had quickly deteriorated; it is amazing that we went for shorts and t-shirts to multiple layers and foul weather gear in just over a day.  I was wearing the same gear I would wear while snow machining in the mountains of Wyoming in subzero weather.   Mark Twain sure got it right.

I stripped out of my wet foulies and one of the base layers and crawled into my bunk and pulled the blanket over me hoping to get some sleep because tomorrow was going to be a very long day.  I always know when I get a good sleep in when Angie has to wake me; however this time was an exception.  I woke right before my shift time was to begin but thought it was earlier, I got up hit the head and went right back into my bunk.  Angie promptly leaned into my nice comfy cocoon and said, “what the hell are you doing, it’s time for your watch”.  My response was that I had no idea what I was doing where I was or what time it was.  She politely explained that I was on a sailboat just outside San Francisco and handed me a hot mocha, what a gal.

I climbed into the cockpit, sipping on my coffee while Nico explained the multitude of lights that greeted me.  The San Francisco lights in the distance were obvious but all of the others were a mystery to this sailor that a few minutes ago didn’t even realize he was a sailor.  I sat down and listen in fascination as Nico pointed out each light.   “You can see the light bucket light just off our starboard bow.  If you look closely you can see the main channel red and green lights slightly to our starboard.  We will be staying just port of the green lights so we will stay clear of all of the ship traffic.  I’ve been monitoring Channel 12, vessel assist and there are 3 inbound ships and will shift over to Channel 14 as soon as we enter the channel.  The difference is channel 12 is for traffic outside of the channel while 14 is inside.  The boat off of our starboard, see at about 4 o’clock, is going to be taken on a pilot captain shortly so I am staying way clear of that so I have adjusted our course about 5 degrees to port.  You can see the pilot boat coming there at about 2 o’clock because it has a white over red light.  Now if you look off to our port after quarter you will see an inbound boat that we can ignore because it is only doing only 8 knots and is too far out to catch us at that speed.  I am concerned about the articulated tug and barge that has been chasing us for a while.  You can tell that it is an articulate tug rather than a barge in tow by the combination of lights.”

I was following him up to that point. I said, “what the hell is an articulated tug and how do you know that when I can’t hardly even see it.”  He proceeded to explain the various combination of lights to designate the different type of vessel, this over that and position of lights on starboard and port depending on the function of the vessel or the response an oncoming vessel has to have.  I was thinking I need to take a coastal navigational class and Juan was thinking that his time cruising in Mexico was a piece of cake compared to this; all he had to worry about was avoiding a few pongas that could do very little damage to his solid little sailboat and that the icebox was adequately stocked with beer!

We managed to avoid the multitude of traffic going and coming through the channel and passed under the Iconic Bridge at 3:50 A.M.  It was the quintessential Golden Gate Experience without the 20 knots of wind.  The fog covered the tops of the towers, the traffic moving across the bridge, the strobe off Alcatraz under the bridge, the new smells from land, both earthen and industrial, the vessel traffic, and the twinkling lights of The City all combined to provide a pleasant transition from the simple solitude of the journey to the complex realities of civilization.

The next two hours were consumed by the gentle passage through the bay.  Having no waves to contend with and very little traffic this early in the morning resulted in a pleasant final leg of our journey.  Once Avion was safely tied to her slip Juan found a care package left by our good friends Al and Michelle.  To think they were there when we departed, they were there when we arrived in Hawaii and now they were there in spirit to greet us upon our arrival with this wonderful care package.  I can understand why they weren’t physically there because Avion doesn’t know how to make landfall during the daylight hours; two trips to Monterey, one to LA, the arrival at Hawaii and now the return all were during the wee hours of the morning.   The care package was perfect.  It had beer, of course, but it also had stuff that Michelle knew we would have been deprived of late in the crossing.  Fresh chilled fruit and vegetables, milk, non-soggy chips with fresh guacamole and salsa, and red meat!  As the sun slowly lighted the sky and as live-a-boards in the marina started to wonder down the docks we received some interesting looks with all the empty beer bottles and wine bottle sitting on the dock box at 7 A.M.

So what were my most compelling thoughts of the adventure.  I’m glad I did it but I probably will not do this particular trip again.  The main reason for wanting to have this adventure was to learn more about sailing and about myself.  Sailing so I will be better prepared for cruising and for me just for self-actualization.  As I stated at the start of this blog I like to test my will and this trip definitely pushed it close to its limits.

The reason I am planning not to do this trip again wasn’t because of it being too much of a challenge, it’s just that I want to put that energy and expense into preparing my boat and myself for cruising.  This was the reason for the trip and one of the reasons I asked Lindi to marry me.  After the four year adventure with my late wife I have always wanted to go back.  The primary problem was that I never had a desire to do it by myself, so I have been searching high and low for that special person that will both put up with me and who has the same objective of wanting to go cruising.  Lindi has always had that desire and she also loves the Wyoming Mountains where we plan to stay when we are not cruising.  The strangest thing about that is that she is willing to put up with me, and for that matter Juan!

When I was cruising I was successful not necessarily because I had a great skill set but I knew my limitations, which were great.  Lindi and I want to go North up into Canada and possibly Alaska and that experience will require having much less limitations.  The only way to gain the necessary knowledge is to expose yourself to the elements which require you to become more proficient.  The racing aspect makes you push the envelope and find out stuff like it is okay to broach; the question isn’t if you broach, it is how effectively you handle the boat in the recovery of the broach.   Going both ways, to and from Hawaii, required a full set of skills.  The downwind focus on headsail changes and steering techniques to gain the best performance possible verses the upwind strategy of keeping the boat comfortable but  making good way without always in the need of the engine.  The biggest issue is anticipating what can go wrong and have contingencies and skills ready to solve them.  Of course you can’t anticipate everything that can happen but there is a lot that you can.

The knowledge obtained about the mental and physical aspects of endurance sailing was enlightening.  I have always maintained a fairly healthy lifestyle with my biking and sailing.   I have done endurance type of events that I think I was better prepared for than this event.   I knew I had to work on my upper body but didn’t do as much as I should have.  I found the race to be easier physically that the return.  The boat was flatter so moving around was easier and the times that required strength and cardio were few and far between.    The difficulty physical on the return was constantly supporting yourself do to the listing.  This was comparable to doing short sets of pushups all the time while moving about the boat.  Another lesson learned was the understanding for the need for flexibility.   Moving through the obstacles like mainsail traveler and constant clipping and unclipping harnesses were difficult at times and required twisting and turning that a yoga instructor would be impressed.  I am not flexible to say the least so this was a constant challenge and coupled with too much body weight made for a difficult journey.

As for the mental aspect I didn’t have much issue with the race, I knew what to expect and had mentally prepared myself for it.  The return trip was a different story.  It started out rough, the listing, the swells and the nausea all took their toll.  After the first few days I was a little concerned about what I had gotten myself into.  Lindi on the other hand seemed always in good spirits and gave me the impression that she was having a wonderful time.  This along with the great attitude of the other crew members gave me the courage to fight through the period of adjustment my body was requiring.  After 4 days I was well adjusted and was able to handle the routine without a problem.   However about 3 days from the completion of the return, after the winds picked back up and Avion was back in her 20 degree list I told Nico at the beginning of one of my shifts that I was ready for this to be over.  After talking to him a few days later he said my comment both surprised him and concerned him.  He said he talked it over with David to see if there was anything that they could do to make the trip easier for me.  A while later when David approached me asking if there was any shift changes that I may want I told him I was fine and didn’t need anything changed.  It turned out to be a short term minor adjustment to my will and all was soon back on track.

I now have another fabulous life experience to add to my collection.  This will be an adventure that will always be with me and I am so happy I was able to have this experience.  I would like to close by thanking both of my skippers; Tom for the race and David for the return, you kept me safe, and happy for 4,140 miles.  Thanks to my race team, Nico, John and Kent, and to our return crew Lindi and Angie.  Avion was amazing; she safely took us to Hawaii and back without incident.   Thank you for all of the positive feedback from those friends and family that followed us on Yellow Brick and the log; this made the trip even more special.  Mostly I want to say how happy I am for the experience and the fact that I now have a strong loving mate in Lindi to help me realize my next adventure.  You will be hearing more from us as we go out the Gate and turn Right.

Thanks,

Jon