semper fi

Boot Camp

Anarchist Ronnie Simpson is our favorite Marine, and you might recall that a front page story about some of his incredible adventures recently led to a sponsorship deal for Ronnie's run at the 2010 Singlehanded Transpac Race.  Ronnie's latest update explains how he's at Boot Camp all over again...

It's been nearly one month since I left San Diego to start this whole adventure, and I feel as if I'm just now catching my breath. Two weeks after my story ran on the SA front page - just TWO weeks - I found myself in North Carolina looking at a raceboat, sitting on a trailer in a field. It was 50 degrees, it was raining, I was 3,000 miles east of California, and the only water to be found was the water falling on my head. My entire life had turned around in a matter of days; I ended my lease on an apartment, quit my job, and sold my glorious $1,000 Cal 25 of a yacht. So there I was, in North Carolina; kind of cold, kind of scared, kind of confused ... but more than anything, EXCITED!

Before me was the Jutson 30, appropriately named "Warrior's Wish", which is the boat I will race to Hawaii next year in the Singlehanded Transpac. "Warrior's Wish" was raced in last year's Singlehanded Transpac by owner Don Grey, who raced it to Hawaii and sailed back. After reading my story on SA, Don approached me with the idea of sailing his boat in the 2010 race, under the banner of non-profit wounded vet group "Hope for the Warriors," and of course I said yes.  So, there I was. In North Carolina. Looking at a boat. That was sitting in a field. 

Don immediately put me to work on prep. The work is largely left to me because Don is pretty busy running his company, but he helps me when he can. He basically gave me an outline of what needs to be done, and set me to my first tasks. First, I unloaded all of the gear from the boat and stored it inside the cool loft upstairs in Don's warehouse. Don built the loft specifically for me to store the gear while I work on the boat. I helped build some shelves, and then stored everything in there, all nice and neat. If Don's house wasn't so nice, I would want to live in the loft ... I love it in there. 

Once the boat was empty, it was time for me to get to work on the actual prep. I'm hoping to be done in just six weeks (including going home for the holidays), and the weather is less than cooperative, so there is little time to waste. Here is a little insight of what it was like inside my head for the first few days: "So, uh, where do I start? How do I start??" Having lost my last boat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean after a hurricane ripped the rudder off, I thought that the rudder seemed like a logical place to begin. On Day 2 of boat prep, I dropped the rudder out of the boat, which was not as easy as it sounds. You see, "Warrior's Wish" has a very deep rudder, and once you take into account that the post sticks out three feet above the top of the rudder, dropping the rudder while the boat is on a trailer might present a problem; something we would learn on that second cold and rainy North Carolina day.

Here is how we did it: We unbolted everything so that the rudder was ready to drop. Don backed the boat up to the edge of a hill. With the rudder hanging over the edge of said hill, we dropped it out of the boat. THUNK! the rudder landed in some soft NC mud. So I dig. And dig. And dig. It was as if I was digging a fighting hole. By the time I had a waist-deep hole, we were able to drop the rudder out completely. But we weren't out of the woods yet. The trailer was also stuck in the deep mud, to the point that no amount of 2X4's was going to save us. Don's 2-wheel drive Ford couldn't pull us out, but his trusty old 4x4 GMC was able to pull us free, and our first job was done without any damage. We were a bit dirty, but the experience helped to set the tone in this. No matter how careful you try to be, boat work always seems to be three times harder than it should be ...

As far as the rudder goes, we have ordered some aluminum tube in specific diameters so that Roush Racing's NASCAR shop can machine us a new lower rudder bearing, as Harken doesn't make that part anymore. (We're in the town where all of the NASCAR teams are based - actually pretty cool!) With my newfound affinity for rudders, I've stripped the rudder of paint, faired it repeatedly, epoxy-painted it repeatedly, sanded repeatedly again, done some repairs, painted some more, and sanded some more. I think it's finally ready for some bottom paint. I've never actually worked on a rudder before, or prepped a race boat for that matter, but Don has done both. He's built race boats and cruising boats, ran a sail loft, raced solo to Hawaii and Bermuda multiple times, and skippered on many deliveries. So, under his watchful eye, I've found myself on a very steep learning curve, without *most* of the learning mistakes that I would undoubtedly make if I were on my own.

Now on to the rest of the boat. Water seemed to be finding it's way into the boat wherever possible, so I went to work pulling off all of the deck fittings. I spent a lot of time filling old bolt holes, sanding and re-painting the deck with new non-skid, and then re-drilling and re-bedding all of the fittings and lifelines. It's been a lot of work, but Don insists that a dry boat is worth all of it; I tend to agree. We just finished re-installing the lifelines yesterday, as the weather has been holding us hostage indoors for all of last week. With a high of 38 degrees yesterday, we were forced to build a tent around the life lines and heat the entire area to allow the polysulphide sealant to cure. Seems to have done the trick!

We've also been building a custom dodger over the past few weeks, as Don feels the companionway is a somewhat weak and leaky area on the boat. It's been a really fun project; I learned about designing such a piece, creating a mock-up, performing the initial construction, laying glass, laying more glass, doing touch up work, finishing, etc etc. I've never really built anything out of fiberglass before, so learning how to actually custom-build useful stuff for the boat is pretty neat. We are nearly done with it, and I think it will look pretty nice and will be very functional once it's installed. 

Aside from everything I've mentioned, I've been organizing, inspecting, and repairing gear, running wires and halyards up the mast, (THAT was an annoying learning experience), doing some fairing work to the hull, doing some custom fiberglass work on the inside of the boat, and just generally going through everything on the boat before heading west. Don has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to boatwork and solo ocean sailing, so I am learning an absolute ton in many areas. This has already been such a great experience; I am learning about PROPER boat prep and how to do things the RIGHT way from an experienced boat builder and solo ocean sailor. One thing is for sure - we're being very thorough and deliberate in our preparations and we're not cutting any corners.

So, the boat work continues. In the next two to three weeks, I hope to be able to install two new halyards (main and masthead spin are showing a bit of chafe), paint the bottom, finish painting the deck, and do some more epoxy work. In one month's time I should be in San Francisco with the boat to begin my training for the 2010 race. I can't wait to sail this thing! I very much want to thank my title sponsor, "Hope for the Warriors", and the boat's owner, Don Grey, for affording me this incredible opportunity. I am currently working with some other sponsors which I will name when they are official, but I still need some more help to make this project become a reality. I have set up a PayPal link on my site, www.OpenBlueHorizon.com ; if anyone wishes to contribute to the project, they can do so there, and of course we are seeking more sponsors.

If you are interested in learning more about the non-profit organization that I am working with and how you can help other wounded Veterans, please visit www.HopefortheWarriors.org. Now to finish up that boat and get it to California!

[Katie Burns helped me edit this piece. This is your shout out!]