Kaneohe Yacht Club is an incredible place. We were here just 10 weeks ago at the finish of the Pacific Cup, and to be back again feels great. We had loosely figured we would stop here for a night or two, but once we got here, it dawned on us, what’s the rush? Let’s stay for a few days; and that became a wonderful week. We are parked on the bulkhead, with a great view of Kaneohe Bay.
This place is equivalent to a high end resort, but we are paying $25 per night to park our boat here and have full use of the facilities (swimming pool, tennis courts, snorkeling off the dock, great hot showers, and more). On Tuesday, we took the #56 bus into Honolulu and back, so now we know how to move around from here, the next time we come back. We are welcome to stay for up to two weeks at a time.
We saw some good public art, like this statue of Father Damion in front of the State House (priest to the leapers, now a Saint).
We went snorkeling off the end of the dock several times and swam out to the coralheads that are all around the channel into the club. When the sun came out, we could see all kinds of coral and fish clearly. This time, we used my new phone with a waterproof case to take pictures. Several are worth sharing:
We have been very relaxed here, enjoying ourselves, our relationship and eating very well. I am not a one to take pictures of food, but Megan encouraged me to take a picture of the omelet I made. We also started barbecuing on the big open grill here.
While in Honolulu, we went to a pro tennis shop. I bought us both new Babolot racquets so we can start to play together. We played tennis twice, nice and easy. Megan is a former skier and volleyball player, has good hand-to-eye coordination and strong legs, so she can hit a natural forehand and serve. On Saturday and Sunday mornings, I joined the round-robin, drop-in tennis group. I held my serve and felt better the more I played. The mild trash-talking camaraderie of the tennis courts was fun.
However, I must admit I was surprised that I had been playing with Trump supporter. After playing two sets, I got ready to leave, and said we had a lot to do (snorkeling, Red Sox, and maybe watch some of the Presidential debate). He went into a rant on the political history of Hawaii, that it has been democratic the past 40 years; he is a default republican; that Trump has done lots of good things in his business career; the media is biased against Trump (who cares about an audio tape from 10 years ago). He will vote for Trump. I should have known better than to mention any political interest, as most sailors are libertarians.
Tomorrow we will sail back to Oahu. The Harbormaster called and he has a larger boat that needs to be on the C-dock, so he will be moving us to a new sip. He will meet us to guide us in and make sure the new slip works for us. We have some appointments and business to take care of in Honolulu next week. After that, we are planning to sail back over to Maui, Lanai, and the Big Island. We gathered more stories about places to go (3 Sisters and Manelee Bay on Lanai, and Kona on the Big Island). Apparently, the water can be rough around the southern tip of the Big Island where the volcano is now flowing into the water. We are not afraid, as Avion is a medium displacement boat, designed to sail in the waters of Denmark. We will go, study the conditions (trade winds and sea state), and find out for ourselves.
We have distilled many (at least 25) conversations about sailing around the islands of Hawaii into a sail plan. Starting on the docks of the Kaneohe Yacht Club, we asked questions and gathered local insights into places to go on a boat. Some of it had to be filtered through many years of sailing experience from old salts. The cross-referenced the best suggestions several times with Charlies Charts, along with several other maps and resources. The foundation of our plan is to participate in a race, The Lahaina Return Race, a downwind race from Maui to Oahu on Labor Day, Sept. 5th.
We leave at first light tomorrow to sail to Moloki. We expect to get to the small harbor of Hale-0-Lono by mid-day. The prediction is that the seasonal trade winds are returning, and we want to get ahead of that event. We hope to find 15 knot winds, versus the 25 knot trade winds that normally make the Moloki Channel a rough crossing. Once we are in the lee shore of Moloki, we should be able to relax and explore. Moloki is a 34 miles long and is rumored to have great natural beauty, and we will find out. We will then have the option of going to the island of Lanai, or the Molokini, the remnant of a volcanic crater. Lanai has an old barge harbor that is deep enough for Avion to enter, but the other 2 harbors are too shallow. We might just go straight to Molokini, as it is rumored to have great snorkeling. We will definitely go there.
The next big choice is where to go on Maui. We will probably go into Lahaina, and check in with the Lahaina Yacht Club and pick-up our tee shirts for the race. Apparently there are limited slips available in the harbor, so we might have to drop an anchor off the old Mala Wharf and use the inflatable to go ashore. The race starts from a harbor on the north-western tip of Maui, Honolua Bay, so we will go there one or two days before the race. It offers protection from the trade-winds and is supposed to be a great place to drop a hook.
The Lahaina Return race on Labor Day starts at 8:00 AM and is downwind to the Honolulu. The awards party is the same day, 12 hours later, at the Hawaii Yacht Club. The expectation is that you sail hard all day and then party. We will then return to our skip here at Kewalo Harbor. It is a fairly busy commercial harbor, but we have a good slip on the C dock, where it is quiet.
Needless to say, to be ready to sail tomorrow morning, we have done a huge amount of work. Good teamwork can be very productive. The list of things accomplished includes: installing new zincs (the first time I have ever done this myself), installing 2 new house batteries (the old batteries were not holding a charge, thanks you West Marine for free delivery), sending the main sail out for repair (several small holes from the upper spreaders) , purchasing 2 new jib sheets (solid red), purchasing micro-fiber sheets and towels (cotton never dries), filling-up the tank with diesel (and 3 jerry cans), carrying the propane tank to City Mill to be refilled (just 1.2 gallons but it will last 4 weeks), cleaning clothes (Megan found the “IDo Laundry”), and purchasing a bunch of food and fluids for a ten day trip. We are now ready. It is now time to get some sleep. Stay tuned.
We decided to move Avion over to a guest dock at the Wikiki Yacht Club for the weekend. The main sail is getting several minor repairs, so we motored from Kewalo Harbor to Ala Wai Harbor. On the way, we saw a big, thick and full-spectrum rainbow. We have been seeing them the past few days in the late afternoons while swimming; they have all been dramatic sights, with the clouds sitting high on the mountains, and Diamondhead in the distance. This time a true double-ended rainbow appeared with both ends visible. I was certain we would be able to find the pot of gold at one end. Here is the short video Megan shot of the rainbow with my editorial comments.
We will spend 3 nights at the Wikiki YC, and use the pool, take hot showers, and sit at the bar to watch some Olympics. (Can you believe Ryan Lochte?). We will return to Kewalo Harbor on Monday to prepare to sail to Molokai and Maui for 10 days. We are planning to take our time and explore the north coast of Moloki, while the water is flat. We have several leads on places where we can drop a hook and snorkel. The trip is motivated by the Lahaina Return, a downwind race from Maui to Oahu on Labor Day, Sept. 5th. Stay tuned.
I was very excitied to get the invitation last week to move Avion into “active” status for the 2016 Pacific Cup. The immediate logistics of the registration process are now well underway, so I can finally update the blog with the news, and start to refresh it with 2016 content.
I have been anticipating that Avion will sail in the PacCup2016 by making atrategic investments to make her ocean-ready. The biggest single investment was a new Yanmar engine, 3YM, and the systems surrounding it, including an updated fuel tank, new shaft, new cutlass bearing and new packing gland. While she was out of the water at Grand Marina, we replaced the rudder bearings, repaired the vang bracket at the base of the mast, and added steps to the stern. I also had the outhaul blocks in the boom replaced, and installed a new main halyard.
The big news is that Avion will sail double-handed. Megan and I have been sailing together for the past 9 months, and we are now actively preparing by racing and practicing. We completed The Great Vallejo Race ten days ago. This weekend we have 2 days of Safety at Sea and ISAF seminars. After that we have the OYRA/Duxbury race and the Spinnaker Cup to Monterey, and the OYRA/Farallones race. We have another 8 weeks to get ready!!!
Here is a picture of Avion while Megan and I were sailing her downwind, into the Oakland-Alameda estuary, under the big red, A3, asymmetrical sail.
The Pacific Cup starts the week of July 11th. There is more to come. Stay tuned.
I am writing now, finally, in Novemebr 2015, to finsh the blog for the 2014 Pacific Cup. Blogs are time-oriented, sorted by the most current at the top of the page. Blogs are great for provide a running commentart on an evernt, but not so good for looking back at an event after it is over. Thus, it is time to update and refresh this blog, to prepare for a new sailing campaign in 2016.
The last posting was by Jon in Nov 2014. It is avery personal posting in which he is trying to determine the meaning of the race, including his decision to propose to Lindi. However, this is not necessarily the most appropriate posting for this to be the posting at the top of the page.
So, here in November of 2015, I am writing a post to wrap-up the race and set the stage for a 2016 Pacific Cup campaign.
The 2014 Pacific Cup was a fantastic experience. We made it with no equipment failure and no injuries, and had a great time along the way. The crew of David, Nico, Jon, Kent and John Dillow really came together as a team. Results? We finished fifth in a divison of 7 boats, two of which did not finish. We might have been in the wrong division, as we were racing against lighter and faster boats, but so be it. I will address this as I look closer at the 2014 results and make an argumnet for an adjustment in 2016. Yes, I am seriously considering doing the Pacific Cup in 2016..
Many people provided support that make it possible; people like Kame Richards (sails), Gen Hansen (rigging), Peter King (electronics), Chuck (engine), Hugh Fields (early crew), Sal (safety equipment), Bob Grey (inspections), and many others along the way. Thanks to all of you. We also got a lot of support from my Encinal Yacht Club, and many friends at the Marina Village Marine Harbor, to mention a few.
Part of the readability of the blog was that it had four contributors. Jon, Nico, David and I each contributed posts to the blog via email send by satelite phone to the wordpress-hosted website. It made for good reading during the race. The content is still good reading, and I will extract it and prepare a cronological summary.
Looking forward, I am seriously considering entering Avion in the 2016 Pacific Cup. I am at another critical threshold stage of life. I need a challenge of my own chosing. I love sailing. So, therefore, do the Pacific Cup in 2016. I want to make this race about family, and might already have 5 crew. I have decided to re-power Avion with a new Yanmar 3 cylinder engine; this will extend Avion’s range on the ocean. I have met a female sailor who has provided new motivation for me to sail, and she wants to participate. I will make this decision by mid-December, and announce it on this web site to make it official.
I also plan to start my tomabbott.com web site in the near future. So, stay tuned.
A few old friends who followed this blog during the race have called to tell me they read every word, and found it fascinating. During the week before the race, Jon and I coordinated to set up this blog on WordPress. We both wanted to write about the experience of the race. I knew Jon was a good writer, as he can tell a good story, and that talent contributes to his writing. I expected I would write more than I did, but the 3 postings I did make during the race were from the heart.
The role of skipper was very demanding. I focused on the needs of the boat, including the following: make regular entries into the ship’s log, monitor the batteries, fuel and water, download GRIB files (weather prediction files) for navigation purposes over the satellite phone, and then analyze those GRIB files in our routing program, Expedition with my co-navigator, John. In addition, I occasionally got hungry and prepared a meal for the crew, or if it was dark and cold at night, I made tea or coco for everyone before going up on deck. The conditions during the day were more relaxing, and I found I would start to think about a blog posting. But at night, it was more of a challenge to get up, dress and get up on deck. After driving for an hour like a bat out of hell on a wavy surface, I was drained. Sleep came easily; the goal was to get ready to go do it again. My point is that my blog postings came from an insight, an observation, a desire to share, and they flowed easily, but I did not have the as much time to write as I expected. Knowing that everyone was contributing to be blog took the pressure off me. And once we started getting feedback that people were following it, it took on another dimension.
One old friend commented how curious it was that we were in a race a thousand miles offshore, and asked how did we make regular postings to a blog? We made the blog posting using email. Our primary connection to the Internet was the Iridium satellite phone, which provided voice, SMS text messaging and data transfer capacity. I have an account with Sailmail, which is an email service for sailors and cruisers, that compresses and encrypts emails and strips off attachments, so the email does not waste precious sat-phone minutes. I configured the blog up to receive emails with special tags, to indicate who wrote it, the date and topic, and to force publish it immediately. The resulting process of writing a blog was pretty easy; just sit down and write an email that tells a story, and send it to the secret address.
Now that Avion is less than 400 miles away from San Francisco, I must clarify to everyone that I am the owner, but not currently the skipper. I am back on land, and providing daily support, but the return delivery skipper is David. He has 4 other crew with him, Nico, Jon/Juan, Lindi, and Angie. David did a great job preparing Avion for the delivery while the boat was in Kaneohe Bay, and also during the delivery in his role as skipper. Avion is about to return safe and sound, with extra fuel and water. I am really proud of everyone involved for the extra effort of making the complete round trip.
This blog has been a rich experience. We have had almost 4,000 site visits since starting it. I might keep this blog going to provide a forum for ongoing discussion, analysis of the race, and a place to post pictures. It can also be a place to follow Avion’s new adventures in the coming years. For now, I just want to thank the readers, our families and friends. Thanks for your interest, and stay tuned for more. Tom
We are mow in the last 500 miles of this sailing adventure. We are sailing along at 7.1 knots in 12 knots of wind and the sun just set. We are sailing Avion at a course of 212 degrees for Hawaii as fast as she will go. We are each taking turns driving, as the boat cannot stop for a rest. We are adjusting to the weather conditions by changing sails to keep pushing forward. The level of effort and attention to detail is impressive.
Everyday the morning roll call we report our 8AM position. In the afternoon, there is a radio net on the SSB radio, and they give the place of each boat in each division in the fleet. We are no longer in the top three, but I no longer care about this external measurement. Avion is sailing her own race. She is an older boat with a crew new to this race, but we are the most motivated. We might not be first to the finish line, but to compete fairly and complete this event is an accomplishment.
It will be good to get to Hawaii. We are now looking at arrival in 3 days, on Tuesday.
Today the sun returned and we are ripping along under the red A3 spinnaker over bright blue water. This is the mythical blue water sailing that I have been dreaming about. This blue water does not have a proper adjective, but it is fair to call it beauty-fuel. The surface is shaped by the wind into waves that intersect with larger swells that come from storms 1000 of miles away. The randomly raise and pick-up the boat as the surge under and beyond. Clouds are dynamic and change shapes and colors as the approach. They move fast and bring wind, so they command attention. As they approach, they shape-shift, look like birds or anvils, or long reptillian birds flying by.
We are almost half-way to Hawaii, and near the point where we will be 1,000 miles from land in any direction. From my boat, with my crew sailing to this isolated point on the Pacific Ocean, I feel closer to nature than I have felt on land in a long time. I not feel insignificant in this magistry, but rather expanded and inspired.
It has taken a 7 days to get here, which is slower than we had expected due to the light winds the first two days. But “early” or “late” is a land-based abstraction with little meaning here. Now that the winds are blowing an average of 15 knots, I know we will get there. We planned on 12 to 14 days to reach HA, but provisioned for 18 days of water and food, so if we get to HA in 15 days, so be it. The parties will have to wait until we arrive.
All we do is sail, eat, sleep and repeat. This is a dream-like state. Of course, the sailing is intense and when the conditions change, we get to change sails which involves a lot of cooperation between the front of the boat (bow) and the back of the boat (cockpit), and very tight coordination on the halyards, sheets, guys and poles (spinnaker) to complete a sail change that enables Avion to be sailed on a specific heading. When Avion is properly trimmed for the desired heading, she settles into a calming and relaxing rhythm. Sleep comes easily. Eating is not always so easy for the cook, but we are eating prepared stews and casseroles, so all we do is heat it up in the oven. Served in bowls, a hot meal tastes great. Life can’t get much better than this.
Today was a special day. The sun came out and it warmed up considerably. We had a birthday on board, and we crossed the 130 degree W latitude line. As my more verbose crew might have already mentioned on this blog (I don’t know for sure, we don’t have internet access), today is Nico’s birthday. He is just 24 years old. He is our bow man, and brings constant energy and enthusiasm to the boat. He is constantly thinking about how to make the boat go faster. He is mature beyond his numerical age. I gave him a small bottle of Avion Tequilla, that we enjoyed during our first ocean sunset.
David showered showered with buckets of salt water and inspired me to do the same. Shortly after we crossed the 130 Latitude line and finally entered into the deep pacific, the winds picked-up to 10 knots and we got a boat speed averaging around 7 knots. After a day of relatively light winds, this was welcome. As sailors, we got excited by this increase in boat speed. We had much less wind during the day, and what we had was shifty, but we paid attention and made the most of every puff of wind (often lasting 3 to 5 minutes before dying out).
We flew the new S2 today, but it was too soon to hold the desired course, so we changed to A1.5. Avion is a unique boat in many ways, but especially in our sail plan. We carry both symmetrical and asymmetrical spinnakers. This gives us maximum flexibility in taking advantage of the wind. Most boats are designed for one or the other type of spinnaker, so this is a competitive advantage. Avion is a solid, medium displacement boat, so she is not the fastest boat in this race. But she has the advantage of being very stable in the water, and comfortable below, and stioll realtively fast. Someone recently said she was “cigar shaped”, in reference to being long and narrow. She has a deep keel and a blade of a mast, so is fast and stable, a good combination for a long ocean race.
The boat feels good. Crew have settled in and know where everything is. We are doing shift changes in 5 minutes versus 15-20 minutes a few days ago. There were no new issues or repairs today. We have plenty of food, water and fuel, although I think the cooler ice will only last another 24 hours. This race will take longer than the 12-14 days we planned for, but we should be able to adjust and handle it.
We only have email and text messaging access over the Iridium phone. I wanted to get data transfer functional as well, but it is just not happening. We have all adjusted to email as our means of communication, as it is working and reliable. I download GRIB files of the Eastern Pacific twice a day for navigation planning. The latest GRIBS suggest we will find some 15 knot winds to our south tomorrow, so we are heading that way.
Shoving off the dock to get to the start line at 10Am Tuesday morning was a magical moment. We transitioned from doing almost anything that needed to be done, to living with what you have.
My crew is a bunch of “can do” guys, and we had been working overtime for the past two weeks. Last minute projects included major upgrades to Avion’s 30 year old, raw water cooled engine (starter, water pump, external oil lines, 4 new mounts), installing a solar panel (85 watts), and installing an SSB radio. Crew had a session with my sail maker on sail repair, and putting a sail repair kit together. I also ordered a backup spinnaker pole and spare halyard from my rigger, and had to run over to his shop 1 hour before we left.
Regular ongoing last minute projects included a list of minor fix-its that had slipped to the last minute, including mounting a ladder, re-sewing the pipe berths to make them less deep, and installing a new “gusher” foot pump for the galley fresh water. We also had an appointment at the Berkeley Marine Center to clean and wet sand the bottom of the boat. On top of this was the fully planned provisioning the boat with food and water, medical kits and tools for 12 to 14 days. We each had our personal items to pack, and personal business to resolve for the next 3 to 6 weeks.
So, the day before we left, the boat was still a work in progress. I felt like we needed one more day. Crew were showing signs of stress; keys had been locked in a car, and people were not sleeping, to get things done. I was concerned, but everyone came through and delivered. We were fully prepared. The moment we shoved off from the dock, the boat was organized, equipment stowed. Everything was done that ccluld be done. Avion was ready and eager to sail.
Having light wind for the first two days was probably a good thing. It gave us time to get into a rhythm with the boat, settle into shifts, get sleep and eat. Day two started with a rare sighting of 7 other boats in the race, in a big circle around Avion. We all had the same conditions and ended-up in the same place, 50 miles offshore.
The wind finally picked-up Wednesday around 10PM as we had been hoping. Avion is now smoothly moving through the water on a starboard tack. Crew are chattering up on deck, happy in the wind. We are ready for the next challenge.
avionbianca 
