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Epoxies |
Ocean Planet in the Around Alone(?) Saturday, December 7, 2002 0430 gmt Boiling over in Cape Town!
It has been well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit the past few days here in Cape Town. The nearly impossible workload along with the heat is wearing us down as we struggle to get Ocean Planet ready for Leg Three. Add to this the financial worries that are also reaching the boiling point. My ability to juggle the costs to prepare the boat and pay urgent bills is being overwhelmed. On the bright side, we are getting a lot done. One example of the finished projects is the mainsheet turning block padeye on the deck at the mast. This padeye is indestructible Titanium, custom made by supplier sponsor METROPOLIS METAL WORKS. The bolts were sliding through the wood on the deck (and then leaking) as this padeye takes loads up to 10,000 pounds! So we needed to bond on G10 (dense fiberglass) plates to the deck to spread the load out and then thread the bolts though them. Check out the attached pic to see the nice job done by volunteer and supporter Stephen Hodges. That padeye is not going anywhere now! Even though we received a big donation from Kevin and Shauna Flanigan (again) for our new main and working jib, there are so many other bills that are overdue that I may not officially be in the race for long. These costs have been piling up, from well before the start of the race to the stopover in Brixham, and include crucial items like our communication expenses to send you these updates. It is expensive to send them from the boat and we owe well over $10,000 to Stratos to keep the service going. This is just one of many bills that effect my ability to continue. If you have been following and enjoy the updates, it is time to do something if you want keep getting them. I have been crunching numbers trying to find the absolute minimum to make it through the next two months to New Zealand, and I can pull it off for about $55,000 (of course our total bills are several times that). I'm sure you have noticed my constant hinting in my updates, but I have to lay it all out now. This is what we need to raise in the next week. It is crazy to borrow any more money than I already have...I'm crazy enough to race solo around the world, but it's really tough for me to push hard and risk the life savings of others. Most of our loans are secured by the boat, which is not insured! My talented and devoted helpers, Ashley Perrin and Jason Winkel, have been working for practically no money, and yet I do not have the money to pay them. They are not wealthy and have had to run up bills on their own credit cards to get supplies. I have not had any income myself for over a year, my partner Jeanie has been paying all of our bills at home (my health insurance, etc.) for me. We have worked hard to find a big name corporate sponsor since the beginning of Ocean Planet two years ago, but it is your donations and product support from our supplier sponsors (along with a lot of free work from very talented people in the US and Brixham) that have built the boat and delivered us to Cape Town, South Africa. This is an incredible adventure, but very, very hard. I will not quit, but if I don't pay some big bills like the Stratos account, not only will the updates stop, but I will be disqualified as the rules require these communication systems on the boats. Only with your help can I complete the Around Alone. Bruce Ocean Planet
Update Wednesday, December 3, 2002 1330gmt
Although I'm still on a high from my fantastic experience with the WWW.EDUCATION.HSBC.COM school visit, the pressure is growing on me on the hardworking Ocean Planet team. We are facing an incredible rush to get all the projects done in the next ten days. Ashley, Jason, Stephen, and me are really cranking, along with various subcontractors. Here is a quick rundown of what is going on and you will get an idea of why donations are so important now to help me get ready for Leg Three. All the talented marine helpers here are giving us great deals, but your help is vital to get this stuff done and paid for! Seriously. Sails: The new DOYLE D4 main and jib are on the way and we are keeping our fingers crossed that they get through customs as there has been trouble with a lot of stuff we have been waiting for. All the other sails are getting checked over and there are a few changes here and there. Once the mainsail is here there will be a big project assembling and installing the new battens and getting the sail on the boat. It takes at least SIX people to carry it! Mast: Changing the masthead light, installing cushion guards on the halyard swivels (they tended to bang hard on the rig when hoisting the gennikers), raising the mast to install some metal shim material at the step for a better fit, modifying our NEXUS MRC mast rotation system for the wind instruments, new halyard bags at the deck, etc. Boom: Finishing some carbon work on the pusher vang crossarms that we didn't have time to do in Brixham, rerigging the vang control lines and misc rigging. Installing YOUR company logo or name on the side of the boom..... General Rigging: New working jib furling line, new webbings and lashings on our custom FORESPAR COMPOSITES bowsprit, reinstall the repaired genniker furler, new genniker sheets tweaker lines, service all rope jammers, add cam cleats to hold lazy genniker sheets, replace mainsheet bridle, modify radar tower support lines..... Electrical/Mechanical: Servicing the computers (I beat up the new laptop pretty good), new LED running lights, service autopilots (primary and backup), service the engine, finish fuel transfer system from keel fuel tank to main fuel tank, mount remote NEXUS autopilot controls into each quarterberth bunk (I can't WAIT to use those!), install new diesel heater (fuel system, wiring, ducting.....big project), service winches, etc. Structural/Physical: Redo sealing system for working jib chainplate (was bailing out as much as a gallon a day from the very bow of the boat, which has some impressive G forces in rough waves). Reinforce inboard end of bowsprit housing, replace broken stanchions with new ones from METROPOLIS METAL WORKS, install grabrail inside under foredeck hatch, improve sealing on the hatch itself. Yow! This is so much stuff and this isn't even all of it.....but we will make it. Your support is truly vital right now, if we can get ahead of the list I would like to visit another school or some kids here, we'll see how it goes. A little bit about the environment here. I am amazed at how similar it is here to my home in Northern California! The kelp in the water is the same type, the seals (who swim about the harbor) look the same, there are great white sharks in the ocean here, and lots of whales too. Add to all this the fog rolling in off of the famous Table Mountain (they call it the "tablecloth"), and it's not hard to imagine this being near San Francisco! Of course the reason for all this is that Cape Town is nearly the same latitude (the distance from the equator) as my home on the other side of this huge Ocean Planet. It's kind of like a parallel dimension....only it's SUMMER here!! Back
to work,
Saturday and Sunday, November 28 & 29, 2002
After a quick meal and warm greetings, I met my volunteer host Glen Langston, who is graciously putting up me and the Ocean Planet team of Stephen Hodges, Ashley Perrin, and Jason Winkel in his lovely house in the hills above the city. Glen has followed the race online and emailed offering to help, a perfect example of the goodwill that makes it possible to overcome fiscal reality and stay in this great race around the world. I slept (on a bed that didn't move!) till early in the afternoon and then we went down to meet fellow American Brad (Van Liew), who invited me to a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner with his family, complete with turkey, stuffing, and all the trimmings! It couldn't have been a better time, or more appropriate, being on the same day of finishing the longest single-handed trip of my life. Even this experience was topped yesterday (Friday), when I joined fellow skippers Graham Dalton, Emma Richards, and the inspirational HSBC Global Education Challenge team (www.education.hsbc.com) for a trip to a school outside of town.
As we drove out through the outskirts of Cape Town, I saw the immense challenge this country faces in bringing economic hope to the vast poverty stricken shanty towns I watched stretch out past the car window. The contrast of the beautiful city to the miles of heroically assembled lean-tos and shacks built from second hand corrugated sheet metal and scrap wood, really struck home the contrast between rich and poor, here and the world over. I was conscious of the enormous turkey dinner still in MY lucky stomach... The Education Challenge roadshow was set up here as a way to reach a number of kids who don't have much access to computers and thus the education website. How difficult, I thought, to try to explain us crazy sailors on huge expensive boats to them. I needn't have worried, as very talented show emcee Sky captured the kids initial interest with a catchy and positive freestyle Rap ability (yes, Rap can be quite positive, you know!). Sky got the kids to dance, sing, and generally excited, then they watched a great video with exciting sailing shots and little quotes from Graham, Emma.....AND ME!! Believe me, I didn't ever dream I'd be in an inspirational video and Rap show in South Africa. There is no end to the wonder of where life unexpectedly leads us, that's for sure.
We then had a great question and answer session with the kids, whose questions were universal and relevant. At the end, I made a point to tell the kids how important I thought they were, right here in South Africa, and asked if I could have my picture taken with them. The show ran a little late, and I was hours overdue to meet Steve and Jason who had just flown in to start work on the boat. But as we drove back to Cape Town, I took a look at the picture of me with the kids at the school, and realized that my time there were some of the most valuable hours of my life so far. The problems facing me to prepare for Leg Three do not seem nearly as insurmountable as they did a few days ago. I can't thank that little girl rapper enough. Bruce
28th November 2002
It was in a gloomy pre-dawn light that Bruce Schwab finally sailed his Open 60 Ocean Planet across the finish line in Cape Town this morning. Earlier the skies had been clear and Bruce reported seeing the spectacular sight of Table Mountain from afar, but no sooner than he had cross the finish a light, persistent drizzle started. It was a wet ending to a long, arduous passage. Schwab is a quiet, soft spoken Californian who freely admits that he is still getting to know his boat. The Around Alone is only the first of many long distance races he plans to compete in, and so he is using this event to learn how to get the most out of himself and his boat. The fifth place finish in Class 1 does not bother him. "I knew leaving England that I would be behind the other Open 60s," he said. "I still had work to do on my boat after replacing the boom, and once I stopped in Spain I was out of contention anyway." The rest of the leg was spent in a close race against fellow American Brad van Liew on Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America. "I enjoyed racing against Brad. He is very experienced and helped a lot with weather and tactics. It was great to have someone like him to race against. I look forward to the next leg when I can get back in the mix against the rest of my class and really show them what Ocean Planet is capable of." During the leg Bruce would send a daily update that gave us a small insight into his moods and frustrations. He was one of the few skippers that regularly attached images to his emails and from the logs and images we have been able to get a look at life on board Ocean Planet these last six weeks. Bruce’s last log of the leg was one of the most thoughtful. It follows here in full: "After roughly 6,000 miles, my longest single-handed trip so far, we are 120 nautical miles from the Leg 2 finish in Cape Town, South Africa, a famous place I have never been before. The trials and tribulations of this trip, along with the emotional ups and downs, have been many, but they are not what is foremost in my mind at the moment. Despite its great distance from Europe and the western world, South Africa has a history closely intertwined in the economic and social fabric of modern civilization. Before the Suez Canal, many thousands of sailors traveled (and perished) around the capes of Good Hope and Agulhas on what was for some time the most important marine trading route and landmarks. The Dutch, and the long time rulers of the sea, the British, controlled the passage of vessels at this important stopover, and thus a great bulk of world trade from the far East. Other European nations were forced to use complicated land trade routes through many other countries which could be equally difficult and perhaps even more costly.
Unfortunately, a long legacy of racial strife between European colonialists and the native Africans has become sort of a microcosm for the rest of the world to watch. First in fear of ever increasing bloodshed, and then in wonder at the success of persistent heroes in bringing about a surprising peace. I for one have a great interest in this place. Who hasn't heard of, and admired, the great long story of the life of Nelson Mandela, perhaps the most well known of those who have brought great change here? Sure it's not perfect and many ominous problems exist, but this is one of the most important places on earth to study and learn from as to how our Ocean Planet can (and cannot) work for all of us who live here. To arrive here after such a long voyage puts me in touch with the sailors and travelers who have gone this way before. Ocean Planet (the boat) is thankfully much safer and faster than the ships of the past. Can you imagine the wonder of a 17th or 18th century sailor if aboard this boat, at a pace of 12-14kts, under autopilot, while the skipper is below typing out historical musings.... I should make landfall late tonight or early tomorrow. The wind near shore reportedly is dropping off so it's hard to predict, but after so far, being this close seems like I'm almost there!" Now that Bruce has arrived on these fair shores we look forward to more stories, and more importantly, the hearing the new songs Bruce will have composed on his long passage to Cape Town. The sun has even come out to warm the day so all in all the future looks bright for Schwab and Ocean Planet. Brian Hancock
Wednesday,
November 27, 2002 After roughly 6,000 miles, my longest single-handed trip so far, we are 120 nautical miles from the Leg 2 finish in Cape Town, South Africa, a famous place I have never been before. The trials and tribulations of this trip, along with the emotional ups and downs, have been many, but they are not what is foremost in my mind at the moment. Despite its great distance from Europe and the western world, South Africa has a history closely intertwined in the economic and social fabric of modern civilization. Before the Suez Canal, many thousands of sailors traveled (and perished) around the capes of Good Hope and Agulhas on what was for some time the most important marine trading route and landmarks. The Dutch, and the long time rulers of the sea, the British, controlled the passage of vessels at this important stopover, and thus a great bulk of world trade from the far East. Other European nations were forced to use complicated land trade routes through many other countries which could be equally difficult and perhaps even more costly.
Unfortunately, a long legacy of racial strife between European colonialists and the native Africans has become sort of a microcosm for the rest of the world to watch. First in fear of ever increasing bloodshed, and then in wonder at the success of persistent heroes in bringing about a surprising peace. I for one have a great interest in this place. Who hasn't heard of, and admired, the great long story of the life of Nelsen Mandela, perhaps the most well known of those who have brought great change here? Sure it's not perfect and many ominous problems exist, but this is one of the most important places on earth to study and learn from as to how our Ocean Planet can (and cannot) work for all of us who live here. To arrive here after such a long voyage puts me in touch with the sailors and travelers who have gone this way before. Ocean Planet (the boat) is thankfully much safer and faster than the ships of the past. Can you imagine the wonder of a 17th or 18th century sailor if aboard this boat, at a pace of 12-14kts, under autopilot, while the skipper is below typing out historical musings.... I should make landfall late tonight or early tomorrow. The wind near shore reportedly is dropping off so it's hard to predict, but after so far, being this close seems like I'm almost there! Bruce and Ocean Planet
Sunday,
November 24, 2002 1700gmt
As fast as we went yesterday afternoon and evening, Brad on Tommy Hilfiger went a bit faster. Power reaching in a breeze like that is the very best point of sail for the wide Groupe Finot style boats like his, and his is the fastest Finot 50 in the world. But still I was disappointed, with Ocean Planet being a 60 footer and all. Some of the features to make her faster in those conditions have yet to be installed, but you can only do what you can afford to do. It's better to be here in the race than to sit around forever waiting for loads of cash to make everything perfect... But if I was a little disappointed at last night's report, this morning REALLY knocked me down. The speed producing northwesterly on the edge of the advancing high pressure passed me by (along with a front and a ton of rain) late last night, and I screeched to a relative crawl. I figured Brad would slow down soon too, but the 40 mile or so lead he had turned into a hundred as he wound up hanging to the wind for several more hours until the morning. Brad emailed saying that that happens down here a lot with the moving weather patterns as a few miles can turn into many. Still I think I need a new rabbit's foot. Anyway, right now it's nice, sunny sailing upwind in light air. Even though 8 knots is a far cry from the 14+ we were doing yesterday, at least I'm still making progress. Which is good since I don't have an excessive amount of good food left. I'll be ready for a change in diet in Cape Town as I am getting a little tired of pasta, that's for sure. Plugging
away,
Pos:
36 19S, 01 18W If only THIS would last! Just have to make the most of it as the wind is going to be dying off again late tonight/early tomorrow morning. But in the meantime, Ocean Planet is lovin it and this is what it's all about! Brad is just a little ways ahead, and he and I trade fun emails several times a day. Neither of us have a good reason to press TOO hard as the race is scored by points, not time, and he has a big lead on Tim in Class 2, and I also have a huge lead on Tiscali. He knows I am partially handicapped sail-wise for now and I need to be careful to keep the main intact until the finish of the leg, otherwise it might not be so even. But nevertheless, there is the issue of who buys the beer in Cape Town....;-) New Doyle D4 main and jib coming into Cape Town!! Wahoo!! A ton of work to do there, but that sure is a big thing to look forward to. Trying
not to giggle,
Wednesday,
November 20, 2002 1145gmt Several first time experiences through last night and today. Our first brush with a South Atlantic low pressure system was sort of a bust, as I wound up too far north and missing the bulk of the breeze. The weather files I had did predict less wind up here but I had heard that you could usually count on a fair bit more wind than the files show. This looked like a good chance to save some miles, and besides a jibe to the south would be at an ugly angle probably crossing behind Brad. Unfortunately, for once the weather file is exactly correct. This was confirmed by Brad's fantastic speed in the south and an email confirming he has 30-35kts to my 20. Oh well! At least there's a good chance I'll be in the wind longer up here as the low passes below us.
Second first: Just as I was lying in the bunk to take a nap, things got strangely quiet and the speed plummeted from 12 to 8 kts. Unfortunately I knew what had happened, that we had snagged some major flotsam of some kind. Sure enough, a peek over the side revealed a huge dark wad of heavy rope or netting, now having slid down to pile up just above the keel bulb. Initial luffing up and sailing sideways had little effect. So I had to bear away again, roll up the reacher, and REALLY stuff it up to sail as much backwards as possible. Just when I resigning myself to lowering all sails and a cold swim, the devilish wad of junk floated up to weather of the boat and came loose. I tried to get a pic of it but we were drifting away too fast for a good one. I decided not to send the one I have since it didn't do the dark blob justice. Third first: As much as I enjoyed watching the acrobatic brown birds the other day, they paled in comparison to: my first Albatross sighting. WOW!! There was no mistaking this fabulous creature, first for it's enormous size and wingspan (easily over 6ft) and also it's spectacular speed and aerial ability. I was so amazed by the spectacle I hooted and hollered for a good while watching it's maneuvers around the boat. It didn't stay long and soon jetted away along the long ocean rollers that they seemingly use like magic for speed and lift. The distances these birds can cover must be vast, even without ever flapping their wings. The wind is picking up some, thank heavens. Just hit 17kts...attached is a pic of 13kts or so. Note the logo for Brit supporter Richard Clifton's CADCO on the boom: Still room available! Get your name or company name on the boom (and help us pay for it), for $1,000 per foot with a logo on both sides. If you hurry we can get it put on in Cape Town. You'll be on our (very visually striking) new boom next to the a new logo for the fantastic official education website for the Around Alone: WWW.EDUCATION.HSBC.COM And ya never know, it might just show up in an update, like CADCO...Thanks Richard! Bruce
Friday,
November 15, 2002 1230gmt
Still very nice sailing, although the wind is slowly lightening. There is a bit of wave slop, not much, but it includes a sometimes ominous swell from the deep South. Seems there is always something brewing down there in the weather. Our time will come before long to test ourselves there... A refrigerator freighter came by rather close yesterday, but no worries as we talked on the VHF radio. They were apparently pretty much empty except for ballast as they were heading for Brazil to dry-dock and fix something on the propellers. Now those are big propellers! See attached pic for a shot of them going by I am still having a rash of flying fish suicides, including a really big one I found on the aft solar panels, big enough to eat but I found it too late after it had begun to roast on the hot panel. Phew! When unreefing the main, I found another (see pic, just behind the patch in the sail): To all of our classroom followers, including Mrs. Thomas's 5th graders, Bain School in Rhode Island, and Eden Park School in Brixhan, and on www.education.hsbc.com, I want to talk a little bit about navigating and charts:
Take a look at a big, flat map of the world, then look at a regular round globe. The globe is more accurate since the world is round. Now look at the flat map again. Have you ever wondered why Greenland is so huge on the flat one, so much bigger than on the globe? Look again and you'll notice that ALL of the stuff far north of Greenland, and even the stuff down south (see how Antarctica is way bigger than it's supposed to be) is way too big. The reason for this is that in order to get the ROUND earth to lay out flat for viewing on a map, they do what is called a "Mercator Projection," where the top and bottom of what you are viewing (in this case the Ocean Planet, Earth) is spread out or stretched to lie flat. If you are looking at a map of a smaller area, like one of your town, they also use a Mercator Projection, but it is not visibly distorted since the earth is nearly flat in small sections anyway. Now here's a weird thing about Mercator charts: Let's say I'm heading straight south (well, actually that's what I'm doing). If you look at a flat map, it looks like I'm not getting any closer to South Africa as I go, but really I am! Notice how the Meridians (the lines on the Earth that go up and down on both maps and the globe) are straight on the flat map. But look at the globe: ALL the Meridians meet at the north and south poles, so they get closer together as you go north or south. So if you look at the globe and see that I'm heading south, in reality the distance to Cape Town, South Africa is getting smaller. It would better of course if I headed straight there, but the wind will be MUCH stronger to the south so we go down there to get going really fast. If I went straight I'd get stuck in a big area of light winds and it would take forever...Sometimes you can't go straight where you want, but if you're smart you can get there faster anyway. That's
it for today!
Ocean
Planet in the Around Alone Update Continuing to claw southwards about 500 miles off the coast of Brazil. I am gaining slowly on Brad. He sent a note a little while ago that said he had bad windshift last night, so he is sticking sail needles in "Brucie voodoo doll" to make sure I get the same windshift...:-) If we can keep up the pace, we should have 12/13 days to go. Frankenstein (the mainsail) is hangin in there. I went for a little aerial trip yesterday to trim off a big piece of stickyback material that had come off and was tangling in 3rd reef block. I clipped tether onto hefty lazyjack and climbed straight up to the 3rd reef line. It as over in a minute and easier than I feared, But Frankie's lookin pretty ragged, missing two battens and has a lot of soft spots. However, he's better off than Igor, our working jib and our oldest sail. had to retire Igor from use today due to a nasty looking split up near the head. I've been pushing pretty hard, but mainly it's just the miles and years adding up. Also, the abuse from Leg One when the boom broke and I had to use him in way too much wind which didn't help. Thankfully we're getting replacements for both sails in Cape Town. They never were meant to go past Leg One, being the original sails that were used to deliver the boat to the start. So right now we have one jib, the staysail to use from 8 to 50 kts upwind, with the lt. genoa for under that and an atn gale sail for a storm jib above. Far less than ideal for racing fast. Ideally, I would like to add a furler for the staysail and a separate stay for the storm jib for Leg Three, but it doesn't look like we'll have the money or time. We still need to figure out how to pay the bills for Leg One. I borrowed $10k for the entry fee, credit cards all maxed prepping boat (about $40k owed there), new boom $20k, etc. Also the communication expenses to send these updates has run up to over $15k, ($10k still owed). I don't know how long I can put off these bills off and afford Cape Town prep for Leg Three, but that's what we're going to do, somehow. Stay
tuned,
Ocean
Planet Around Alone Update I spoke too soon on being clear of the rain and wind vacuums. Apparently Neptune didn't like his scotch (or he wanted more?), dealing me 3 hours of light rain, mist, and no wind last night, or really, early this a.m. I guess that is what I get for assuming. Today is pretty, with some puffy clouds that are fairly benign, but are causing some wind shifting. Just keep adjusting and tweaking trying to keep the big girl rollin. Many correct guessers of the composer of my guitar tune to Neptune. I look forward to a group tribute sail to this late, great, guitar music composer when back in the U.S. A hint for those still wonderin - he passed away in Portland, Oregon just last year. Perhaps Neptune wanted me to stay and play some more? Bruce
Ocean
Planet Around Alone Update About an hour ago, Ocean Planet, the boat, crossed over to the southern half of the ocean planet (3rd stone from the sun) that we all share and inhabit together. I hope Neptune enjoyed his shot of good single malt scotch as it is the only one I brought. Also, I tuned up the guitar and played "On the Sunny Side of the Ocean" by one of my favorite guitar composers. Guess correctly who the author of the tune is, and get a ride on Ocean Planet (when she's available). Hope not too many get it, so we have enough room...:-) Till
later,
Ocean
Planet Around Alone Update Still wriggling around the squalls, and have managed to avoid the big ones. If favor of their smaller offspring at their towering feet. It is really warm here, which is what fuels the ominous storms as vast cubic miles of warm, wet air that rises into the cooler stratosphere and then condenses. The big ones blot out the daylight even when the radar can't see them at 36 miles away. In between them it is very light air. Should escape soon, which will be nice. Mini-m still kaput. Bruce
Friday,
November 6, 2002 1210gmt Hurray!! Sunshine and no monster thunderheads in sight. Early this morning we escaped the last of the rainy clutches of the ITCZ, doldrums, or bozo zone. The final analysis is that my easterly dice roll was a flop, but I don't regret giving it a shot, what the heck. I did wind up losing a bunch of miles to Brad Van Liew, but that is no dishonor as he is the most experienced American (glad he's in Class 2), and the only returning veteran of the 96/97 race. Good decision, Brad! He may have gotten enough to hold me till Cape Town, but we'll see about that, as Ocean Planet is cookin' now despite it being upwind. Bit by bit the wind should shift left and we can start to really move. The big problem is getting weather info, with the mini-m dead I can't download data files (or send pics). This is a bummer, but will have to go by the "seat of the pants" as they say. Frankenstein (my nickname for our patched up mainsail) is holding up and only about 3,800 miles to sail to Cape Town. Later,
Lookin for the Door to the "Zone" Sunday,
November 3, 2002 1500gmt Still moving well on the good ship Ocean Planet today. Snuck in a gybe last night as it started to lighten up, and I knew we needed to get west and stay in the breeze. I was very careful and the main is none the worse for the jibe. I have put up the heavy reacher for added speed since it is fine to sail a higher (more westerly) course on this jibe to stay in the wind. If I was pushing harder it would be the big genniker instead of the reacher, but this is fine and we're better prepared for the squalls that may start soon. The big question, and what matters the most, is positioning for the weather and crossing the infamous ITCZ (Inter Tropical Convergence Zone), or the "Doldrums." I have already got into the habit of referring to it as "The Bozo Zone." The Bozo Zone is a lot narrower further to the west so that it is usually best to try to cross there. We have to sail further to get there, but it beats getting stuck in the often vast area of no wind alternating with vicious storm squalls. If you are following the class two positions, note how far east a lot of them went yesterday and the day before. Now they are paying for it by coming out on a bad angle and they have further to go to get to a western crossing point for the Zone. Brad Van Liew has been a bit smarter I think and he keeps opening up his lead on them. Of course, he must be smart since he keeps winding up going almost the same way as I do! Great minds think alike....;-), but don't think I'm getting cocky because it is still possible we could get stuck in the Zone and the others could still catch up! I just made a batch of "Potatoes Planeta" one of my favorite quickie dishes: big batch of instant potatoes, salsa, olive oil (lots), parmesan cheese (lots, too), garlic powder (good thing I'm singlehanding), and some tuna. Mix it all together and you have Potatoes Planeta! And of course several times a day I take my Mariner's Vitamins (www.intensivenutrition.com), to make sure I don't miss any important minerals, etc. So long for now as it's time to eat! Bruce
Friday,
November 1, 2002 1230gmt Just when I thought everything was finally getting dialed in...... Over the last few days, I have been doing a lot of jibing. It is fairly easy on Ocean Planet with the unstayed rig, so when a windshift would make the other jibe a faster course, I'd go for it. The jibes were going so smoothly I experimented with a few tricks to speed up the process. Here's the normal jibe scenario:
This was great until a jibe last night....when the genniker sheet (the one I was releasing) flopped itself impossibly, amazingly, around the lower tip of one of the pusher vang struts. Before I could tell what was happening, the boom came flying across as usual, but taking the genniker sheet with it. I still had a couple wraps on the winch when the line was instantly loaded, across the boat, the genniker sheet put enormous load across the upper lifeline and took out three (titanium!) lifeline stanchions in approximately half a second. (Note to Self: Self, install bungee cord under boom from the tips of the vang struts, so a sheet won't flop around the tip when jibing.....) Sigh! Sorry, there's more: Later last night the wind picked up to the upper 20's (of course the weather files predicted 20....). So first I reefed the main, then I rolled up the genniker, and lowered it down the foredeck hatch. Now we were in our patented "main only" mode, running really deep with a little windward heel (some water ballast in the windward tank), and going 11-17kts right on course. Nap time. Of course the wind shifts, and it's time to jibe again an hour later. This time it's simpler, no genniker at all, but a lot windier. I'm worried about the vang load when jibing, so I ease it some to let the boom come up some. Perhaps too much. As the wind caught the leech of the main, with the vang line looser, the boom rose up giving the leech a lot of slack which resulted in more batten compression on the top of the sail. So much so that right before the boom started it's flight across I heard the unmistakable sound of battens snapping. After jibing and cleaning up, I shone a light up to see that the top three battens broken near the front. (Note to Self: Self, don't ease the vang line until the boom comes across the boat....) Let's hope the sail doesn't rip where the battens are broke for a couple days, when we'll be in lighter air and I can see about repairing them. Sigh! Again! We're
still going like a bat out of hell, though.
Tuesday, October 29, 2002 1000gmt Pos:
29 58N, 12 39W
It has been beautiful out here, but a lot of work last night to keep moving. There were a lot of windshifts and the wind speed varied from zero to 15kts. I used the light genoa, big genniker, working jib, and now have up both the working jib and heavy reacher. "Heavy reacher" is misleading since I use this sail for a lot of different things from light reaching (like now) to heavy running in 35kts+. But all the work pays off as Ocean Planet is really good in light air. She rewards you with a lot of miles if you look after her! This morning shows we gained a lot on all the local boats (which we should, being a 60) which is always nice. Brad Van Liew will take a while to catch as he got a big jump on the others before I caught up and is in different weather to the west. It will be fun to chase him! His boat is as fast as a 60 reaching but doesn't like to go upwind. The dolphins came to visit for a while yesterday, and they always have a blast. One came up and said he liked our AMD logo, and would only use an AMD powered computer himself.....;-) Our most interesting recent visitor was a tired little bird that kept trying to find a place to rest on the boat. If I was anywhere on deck it would only try to land in really precarious spots, and wound up in the water several times! I thought it was a goner until it finally sat on the cockpit floor in exhaustion. There was another, healthier little bird flying around too, at times both were on the boat. The tired bird went hard to sleep even through a couple of sail changes, and I had to be careful not to step on it! Finally, late at night when it looked too soggy and bedraggled for me to bear, I gently caught it and brought it below and into a little bowl/blanket house. I kept it covered all night and put a little granola bar in the bowl. But I don't think it was really hungry, given all the poop it dropped in the bowl....
So this morning I uncovered our now rested little friend, who slept a bit more, then went on a tour of the inside of the boat, even chirping a few times. Eventually it went out the open foredeck hatch, to sit and sing (and poop) on the staysail bag for a while. Then it was off to who knows where. Nice to have a visitor. The Canary islands are coming up, more tactical brainstorming and traffic dodging tonight! But I feel like I'm getting in the swing of things. Just a little reminder: Ocean Planet has some big bills to pay before we leave Cape Town. Fortunately, gracious supporters Kevin and Shauna Flanigan have (once again!) pitched in to order our desperately needed new mainsail!! But there is lot more to be done for the Southern Ocean: autopilot work, new electrical wiring in the mast, renew all rigging lashings, finish the boom, and lots, lots more. It will be time to get serious for the really rough stuff (as if Leg one wasn't serious enough already). I have assembled a good team for Cape Town (Ashley Perrin, Jason Winkel), but we have to fly them and pay them enough at least enough to get by. There are also some heavy duty loan payments that are due...sigh...but somehow we will do it, we have so far, against all odds! Thanks! Solo
Sailing in the Atlantic (except for the odd guest or two),
Saturday, October 26, 2002 1215gmt Pos: 38 08N, 09 58W Ahoy from Ocean Planet! We are still off the coast of Portugal, fighting to get across a ridge of light air to better winds. If we can latch on to the wind on the other side in time, we can try to hang on to some easterlys for a while and get cooking to the south before the winds get messed up again. Last night was a long night consisting of a mix of tacking on shifts, bobbing around with no wind, dodging boats, and no sleep. A couple of times some big fishing boats passed so close we shined lights on each other and waved. To give you an idea of my navigation routine, attached is a pic of my laptop with the Nobeltec charting software running. It's a little blurry in the pic, but if you look close you can see the waypoints that I enter with the positions of the other boats (the 40's & 50's for now).
A few
times a day the race office sends out everyone's positions, so I like to
plot them out to look at them. This is pretty easy and fast with the Nobeltec
software. Then I can put a weather overlay on the chart and check out what
the predicted weather is that the other boats have and analyze who I think
is going the right way or not. If someone goes particularly fast or slow
for
Hope
everyone is doing well out there, talk to ya later.
Ocean Planet AroundFriday, October 25, 2002 1230gmt 39 37N 09 31W
Hello from the good ship Ocean Planet!! We are back in the race, but have a LONG way to go to catch up! The reality is that the four leading 60's are out of reach, and poor Simone on Tiscali is waiting for replacement mast, so my job is simply to get to Cape Town in one piece. Of course there are my pals on the 40's and 50's who left Bayonna the day before I did....my job should be to catch and pass them ASAP! Right now I am right by some islands off the coast of Portugal. One of them reminds me of the Southeast Farallone island at home in California. I may cut inside the islands (plenty of water) to save a mile or two and avoid the constant "rush hour" of freighter traffic in the shipping lanes outside of them. Barely escaped Bayonna as I was ready to leave the morning after the other guys left, but was awakened by (once again) the sound of howling wind and rain. It looked like our Spanish Paradise might turn into a prison, but the wind abated enough in early afternoon for the Monte Real Yacht club to tow me out and get going. Just finished one of my favorite boat meals: instant mashed potatoes with salsa, garlic, olive oil, pepper, and a ton of parmesan cheese. Sometimes I throw in a can of sardines, but I would only recommend that for sardine lovers only....;-) Getting close to the islands, and the radar shows a boat nearby, so gotta run. Later,
Ocean
Planet Around Alone Update
Here at the Monte Real Yacht Club in Bayonna, Spain, there is only oneAround Alone entrant left at the dock...ME. One by one, the 40's and50's left today, while I once again am sorting out the things that worryme for the rest of leg two (2.2 we are calling it now, 2.1 was the raceto here....). I have been working like mad with little sleep while I try to sort out somecomputer issues for the past couple days, while running out in betweenrainstorms to work on the boat. Today the rain has abated, so here's what I've been up to today:
Mind you, I'm not complaining and have no right to! Reading the storiesfrom the class one skippers in front of me makes me VERY thankful that Istopped here to fix things up. Beats breaking more stuff or tearing the mainsail. I feel this is all part of the process to prepare for the Southern Ocean after Cape Town. It also has been fantastic to spend alittle time with the other skippers, virtually by ourselves. What agreat group of guys! All that stopped here are counting our luckystars, especially while enjoying the huge steak dinner that the MonteReal club gave us last night...yes, I even feel a little guilty! I also feelreally bad for Simone on Tiscali. I certainly hope he can find a replacement mastfor his that broke. That must be really tough to deal with. Time for me to run. Although Ocean Planet is faster than the boats thatleft a couple hours ago, I'm very stressed about being behind. The nextmessage from me will be after I leave, either later today or earlytomorrow. Here is a pic of the deck ding (caused by the furler drumhitting the deck when the working jib hit the water...long story), andme getting ready to go up the rig. Sailing
soon!
Wednesday,
October 16, 2002, 1251gmt Took it real easy yesterday and last night as I needed to recover physically. Feel better now, eating and getting strength back, but it will be a day or two before I'm 100%. Which I'll need to be as the approaching low pressure system is a replay of the big low we had coming over on Leg 1. Only even more wind is predicted this time. I'm going west in an attempt to go over the top of the low, which is a lot further but I should be able to make up a lot of the distance by going a lot faster than beating my brains out going between the low and Europe. Even if I lose some, I want to avoid any early breakage this early in the Leg. I'll have to be careful, since even though I should be able to stay off the wind, there will be a LOT of it. Even though I've been trying to take it easy, there is always sail trimming and misc stuff to do, like killing all the darn flies that try to get a free ride to the Southern Hemisphere. About an hour ago we snagged an assembly of fishing stuff, consisting of three big fenders and a flagpole with lights, tied together with rope. It took me a half hour of messing around, finally sailing sideways and backwards to get the line on the surface so I could grab it and cut it. Glad that's over! Another complication is that my sat-c terminal (one of our required satellite email systems) is acting funny. I can receive but couldn't send while logged onto the east Atlantic satellite, the one that should work the best here. So I logged onto the west Atlantic satellite and now I can send.....doesn't make sense, hope I can figure it out. Tomorrow should be lighter air, before getting blasted on Friday. So hopefully I can fix a few things like the working jib which blew open on the furler, resulting in a very frantic and exhausting takedown with it almost being lost in the water. I think the sail is fine, but I have to remember to roll it up tighter next time. Later,
Ocean
Planet Around Alone Update Start of Leg 2 After several days of manic work, I was still out at the end of the boom, at the dock running reef lines when the other boats set off, but I did get out about four hours after them and began chasing. Last night was horrid. A nasty low moved through and pummeled us with changing and often violent winds. Damage was limited, new boom now thoroughly tested, but I'm exhausted. What a basher for starting a long trip. I'm totally trashed from getting out of the channel. Was never sick on Leg 1, but puked guts (and brains?) out this time. Dropped main in big blast this morning and basically slept all day. Just re-hoisted (3rd reefed), but will be 1/4 throttle till I feel better. It's a long way to Cape Town! Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to get me on my way. Especially Ashley Perrin who impressed everyone with her hard work and organization To Ted Van Dusen for getting the boom done in record time, John Zisa for pulling off several miracles to get it to England, Andrew Roberts and my cousin Lydia Vargas for getting the boom to Brixham from London and working for days on the boat, Stephen Hodges (of Sacramento) who showed up and played a crucial role doing many tasks, to the wonderful people of Brixham and Tor Bay. To name just a few who worked tirelessly to help me: Calvin and Jane Moulder, Malcolm and Janice Cooke, John (a great fiddler, too!), Richard, Stuart, Roger, Reg Hill, Commodore Chris, and many others. There is no place that could have been better to be for the stopover. Time
for a nap,
(Due
to technical difficulties, this is at least 24 hours old.) Hi everyone. This will be a short one, as I am pretty beat. The start of Leg Two was postponed for 24 hours till noon tomorrow (Monday) due to a vicious low pressure system that came through. Good thing as there was no way they would have gotten us off the docks, it was howling! In fact, this evening there was panic on the docks as the wind clocked (and built up to around 50kts!!) to the worst direction possible for the marina sending in sizeable waves right into the docks. All the boats raced to rig extra docklines, fenders, as the boats reared up and bashed against the pontoons with terrific force. It got so bad that Reg Hill, the area head for HM's Coast Guard made the call to activate a large group of guards to come down and help. Ocean Planet is fine, but today was wild as we struggled in the wacky weather to get ready for the start. I am lucky that there was a postponement since we had so much work to do. But we are getting close. There is still a lot to do so making the start tomorrow (if not postponed again) will be tight! But it is more important to have the boat really ready to go than to start in a compromised state and risk losing time dealing with things that aren't right. It's a long way to Cape Town! There is so much to tell about what has been going on.....maybe I'll have more time to write after I start! About
to pass out. More soon, I promise, (I talked to Bruce this morning (11 a.m. PST) and he told me he started about three hours after the start.) Please stay tuned for more information from Ocean Planet
Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2002 Here we are in the land of "Mad Dogs and Englishmen," but us solo sailors are the nuttiest folks around these parts.
It's a flurry of activity here. Up early for food shopping, at "cash and carry," sort of a mini version of the Costco stores we have in the states. My"donation can" on the boat was fairly successful over the weekend, so at least I'll have plenty to eat! We had a crowd of volunteers on the boat all day, and it is hard to keep it all organized but I am making headway. "Mayors luncheon" at the Brixham YC at noon, then back to the boat. The boom was waylaid in France, but should be here tomorrow. The reinforcements for the water ballast tanks are still being made, so that looks like tomorrow, too. Hull dings got another fill of epoxy, and work continues on the running lights, new SSB radio antenna, Iridium phone installation, sail repair, misc. rigging, blah, blah, blah . . . I spent the afternoon sorting the food out and packaging it into the storage containers so we can load them straight on the boat when the time comes. We have been storing the food and some other stuff in a shower stall at the marina, really nice of them to let us do that...see attached pics, they are a little silly, but the shower shot just cracks me up. Kojiro (Spirit of Yukoh) and Alan (BTC Velocity) finally made in yesterday, I'm SOOOO glad that I'm on a 60 footer.....I made up a funny song for Koji that I hope to play tomorrow night at a big party that is being thrown by Pindar (Emma Richard's sponsor) on their converted trawler(?) I have met Andrew Pindar, really nice guy, and totally committed to getting the most out of his investment in Emma and sailing. Nice to see it being done the right way...while we scrape away! I'd be totally hosed without the many talented helpers here in Brixham, here's a few: Malcolm and Janice Cooke, who are putting me up. They know everyone and are really involved in the club. Calvin and Jane Moulder have been working like crazy on the boat, and Jane drove me to the store today. Calvin is no sailing slouch, having been second in the Fireball worlds back in the 70's.....and they made us dinner tonight! In fact, I'm on Calvin's computer right now.... Supplier Sponsor highlight for today: Schooner Creek Boatworks! Ocean Planet is one of the toughest boats ever built, and Schooner Creek pulled it off against all odds (and lack of funds). There have been amazingly few changes or modifications, given the record short time they had to finish the boat last year before we sailed away from Portland. When you need a miracle (or just a nice boat), give them a call. $ countdown to stay in the race: Need to raise $20,000 (minimum) by next Wednesday to make deposits on sails and misc. bills. This is serious: I'll be in Leg 2 no matter what, but if we don't get new sails (main & working jib) for Leg 3 we won't be in the race. Doyle Sails are giving me the best deal possible....we can do it with your help! Gotta
run,
Friday, Oct. 4, 2002 First off, sorry to be slow on the updates. The past two days have been a blur, but we are making headway in the race to get ready for the start a week from Sunday. There is so much to talk about. I don't know whether to give you a report on the other racers arriving, the wonderful little town of Brixham and the people here, or the details of our struggle against the forces of financial reality and time. The latter is the most important in my mind right now, that's for sure... Here's what's happening on the boat: Ashley Perrin, talented organizer and sailor, has been my "right hand" organizing much of what follows below and the talented volunteers from Brixham. She is a childhood chum of Ellen McArthur and a lot of that talent must have rubbed off on her since we would be sunk without her. Boom:
Electrical: Mechanical/Structural: Sails:
Doyle sails has been fantastic, picking our whole pile of sails and driving them (and me) to their loft in Southampton yesterday to go over the sails and find a way to repair them and make it to Cape Town. It won't be easy, as the main was really battered in the boom incident and the working has just spent too much time in the sun. But Phil Bennett at the loft is really talented and has some great ideas on how to do it. There is a MAJOR issue though. There is no way that these two sails will make it past Cape Town and through the Southern Ocean. This is the minimum assuming that we don't damage any of the others on Leg 2. So we need to order a new main and working jib WITHIN TWO WEEKS to have them shipped to Cape Town in time. Doyle will give us a great deal but it will be at least $35,000 said and done in Cape Town. We simply cannot borrow any more, so we need to raise enough for a deposit by the start on the 13th or we will be out of the race in Cape Town. That's the way it is, so when your parents aren't looking, please empty all the cookie jars and send it to us. The sooner the better. Here is a pic of a very special boat "Suhaili." This is the boat that first sailed non-stop, solo, around the world. The organizer of this race, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, is her owner and the man who did it in 312 days in 1968. Think about that for a while. Let me tell you, he is a character to meet, too. Bruce
Tuesday, Oct 2, 2002
After a long, murky day with several dead wind areas, Ocean Planet and I arrived at the finish of Leg 1 in Brixham, on Tor Bay in England. Several RIB's waited patiently for me to jibe slowly towards the finish in very light air. One was driven by none other than Pindar star (and 4th place class one finisher) Emma Richards! It was a great greeting and there was a rousing welcome at the fantastic Brixham Yacht Club who served me a great fish & chips dinner. Much better than my recent cooking.... This a great town and a great place for the stopover, much better than I expected. The warmth of welcome and the several talented volunteers who showed up this morning speaks volumes about the long local maritime history.
I am very proud to be here after what has undoubtedly been the toughest sail of my life. Over 1,000 miles upwind without a mainsail is not something I'd recommend to you for entertainment, but I must say, that having been through it I feel more qualified for what is to come and that is a good feeling. Not to say that I still don't have my fears and worries, but I'm a better and more experienced sailor for it. My "qualifying" sail to the Azores was an easy trip but a logical first step. Now all we need is to get the boat and sails ready for Leg two.... Here are some pics of the gang attacking the mainsail and 20 minutes later.....fast work! Also, the beautiful Emma Richards who came by to say hi. As the only female and only British skipper in the fleet, needless to say she is very popular here in Brixham! Many, thanks to all of you who made this possible, I can't thank you enough. More
tomorrow....
Ocean
Planet Around Alone Update Sheesh! Got stuck in a big wind hole near the Eddystone rock and lighthouse. This was of course right about the time that the British military was issuing warnings that live test firing would be taking place RIGHT THERE later in the morning. Yikes!! So with the lousy wind I had to back track a few miles just to get out of there. This put me conveniently right in the shipping lanes where the freighters zoom back and forth while you crawl at 4kts....but now I have wind! About 30 miles to go to the finish off "Berry Head" near Brixham! A few had asked for pics of the boom, here's a couple.... Bruce Ocean
Planet Around Alone Update Getting closer to England! I can tell because it's raining. Constantly. I've finally escaped the clutches of the low pressure that has been torturing me for days. Now I am still close-hauled, but the wind is lighter so I can us bigger headsails. I have to be careful, since headsail is designed to be used with the mainsail for a particular wind range. So without the main we are low on power and have to use the next bigger headsail that you would normally use for a given wind strength. Last thing I need to do is blow up one of them! I discovered that one of the brackets holding our big alternator to the engine has broken. Probably while charging last night. I can use it, but it's not a good idea so I'm afraid I'm going to turn off this PC to save power for now. So I'll only be checking email a couple times a day till the finish. If you need to reach me right away, the satphone will be on all the time, those of you who might need it should already have the number. I'll try to fix the alternator bracket but the main thing is sailing to the finish. It looks like Emma Richards on Pindar has made a brilliant comeback from way back to pass three boats to take 4th place! Good show Emma! The Brits are going to be quite excited to see the home girl make good. I doubt if any beer will be left in town by the time I get there....;-) Supplier sponsor highlight for today: Metropolis Metal Works! Jeff Daniels and crew at Metropolis are responsible for all of Ocean Planet nifty titanium stanchions, pulpits, chainplates, and a horde of really tricky custom stuff like our mast step and deck collars for our rotating mast. I sure wish that I had Jeff make the alternator bracket!!!!! That's
it for now, back to sailing,
Friday,
Sept. 27, 2002 Doing the hokey pokey: wallowing, crawling, inching forward, with the staysail only. With this setup, there is a lot of lee helm and it is impossible to point very well into the wind. I can wish for the main with a third reef, but that won't happen till leg two! Unfortunately, this present course puts me in Ireland....the much longed for right shift in the wind won't be until Saturday at best. Being a racer at heart, it is quite frustrating to watch the other boats sail away to the finish, when I know I'm on perhaps the fastest upwind boat in the fleet. But I'm playing it safe and sticking with the staysail as the conditions are very rough. Every few minutes a breaking wave crashes over the boat sending water across the deck and cockpit. I'm very happy with our "vestibule" cockpit design. Even in this extreme stuff I can leave the companionway hatch open for ventilation and no water gets inside! Right now I am using only about 2/3's of starboard ballast tank in order not to put too much water pressure on my repaired leak. In England we are going to beef up the whole tank bulkhead on each tank just to be sure. Bernard Stamm on Bobst Group/Armor Lux was first to finish already with Theirry Dubois on Solidaires second. It is a tight race for third (since I'm not there....), but I think Patrick De Radigues on Garnier has been sailing very smart and will get it. Tiscali should be close behind and the Hexagon and Pindar will duke it out for fifth and sixth. I've got seventh in division locked up....har!!, but seventh across the line will most likely be Class 2 star Brad Van Liew who has left the rest of his division hundreds of miles behind with his boat "Tommy Hilfiger's Freedom America." Way to go Brad! It was a little frustrating to have him pass me, but he knows that with Ocean Planet armed with her mainsail it would be a different story. The pounding and slamming is intense as I tap this out. It is hard just to stay in the nav seat, let alone type! Spent a lot of time on the satphone today, planning out things in England, not looking forward to the next phone bill, that's for sure.... Later for now. Going to finish my (freeze-dried) dinner and crawl around looking for water in the boat. I like to keep the water on the outside. Bruce Please
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Thursday,
Sept. 26, 2002 I got an email from Brad Van Liew this morning (aboard Tommy Hilfiger's Freedom America in Class 2), wondering where I was going, "Portugal or somewhere warm?" So I filled him in on last night's ballast tank leak and my (successful for now) fix (highly edited, but no point in starting from scratch....). Yo Dude! Yeah I know it must look strange on the position report, but last night I sprung a leak in my starboard ballast tank where an errant screw (missed it's target inside the tank) had been replaced with epoxy. Some pressure in there, it was squirtin' pretty far, like getting a knife cut on the old Monty Python show.... So I dropped the working jib (turn downwind again) and went on port tack to fix tank. First I take a nap, then get out all the stuff to work with. I had everything but a thickener for the MAS F.L.A.G. (Filleting, Laminating and Gluing) epoxy resin I have. I get started and coated the drilled out hole with the resin first and then went searching through the boat for something that might work. Potato flakes? No good, wouldn't dissolve. Powdered milk? Nope, too chunky. So, you know what makes good emergency epoxy thickener? Fine ground anise seeds! To warm it up and speed the cure, I taped one of those chemical hand warmers on it which seemed to work. So by this morning it had pretty much kicked off and now I'm back on starboard tack doing the staysail-lee helm-extra water in the leeward tank dance tryin' to go SOMEWHERE. I'm not puttin' that working jib up till it's down to 20kts. That was insane yesterday. Thought I was gonna wreck the boat for sure. Which is why I'm gonna be way late to England unless that right shift coming is better than I see now on the weather info. Could be though, I'm bound to be due for some luck soon. Later, Bruce
Ocean
Planet Around Alone Update Ok, here's the story of the day: To start with, after spending last night crawling along with the staysail, today I couldn't take it anymore and rolled out the working jib and started cranking. This was dicey since it was very windy for the sail and a stupendously thrilling ride with long falls off waves resulting in horrendous crashes onto the water waiting at the bottom of the trough. Even more exciting, flying directly into the next wave coming, with the combined speed of the boat and wave making for bone crushing, nerve wracking, ear splitting smashes that have to be heard to be believed, but it was better than sitting there with the staysail, which is only slightly better than being hove to. Keep in mind that if we had the mainsail and boom still intact we'd have a lot more different "gears" to adjust to the wind. Well, I was having second thoughts on the whole working jib/crash banging, sitting at the nav station, gritting my teeth, trying to hang on approach, when I looked down and I saw a thin stream of high pressure water squirting across the cabin near my feet.... There was a mounting screw for the ballast tank bulkhead that had been put in the wrong place a long time ago. Last year we took out the screw (which was leaking then) and filled the hole with epoxy from the inside of the boat, but didn't go inside the tank. Somehow the epoxy didn't stick well enough or broke loose, when all of a sudden it start peeing across the inside of the boat like a brand new baby boy. The resulting fire drill was having to bear away, drain the tank, hoist the staysail, and properly roll up the working jib. Then try to get going again, which was basically impossible on starboard tack, without the use of the ballast tank to give the boat power upwind. Obviously we should have done a better job and epoxy/glassed over the screw hole from both sides. Oh well! It may have been fine for a long time if not for the extreme pressure produced inside the tank from the serious pitching of the boat in the heavy seas. This was especially so with today's wild ride, which is as hard as I have pushed the boat upwind so far. But that's why I'm here in this race, to learn as much as possible, hopefully to still finish and have a good leg or two along the way. This is the only way to have a shot at doing well in the Vendee Globe. I just didn't expect to learn so much so soon....It's going to be a real struggle to fix whatever I can out here, get to England, and then pull off a heap of miracles to make the start of leg two. At the moment I've tacked back to port and am heading mostly south. On this tack I can use the ballast tank (with the staysail, no more working jib till the wind is consistently under 23kts). The ride is still horrible, the waves here are big, and have an attitude of disdain for us silly solo sailors. I'm going to try to get a bit south, the wind models I have the wind clocking to the right some tomorrow, then I can tack and sail low enough to keep moving towards England. I may try to fix the tank leak tonight, which will be tough but I have some MAS epoxy and supplies with me. We'll see. Wish me luck! Bruce
Tuesday,
Sep. 24, 2002 Pos:
47 46N, 24 52W, Wind 30-40kts from ESE. You may have heard this from other boats in the fleet, but this is not what you would call idyllic yachting. With the wind waves from the current wind going against the swells from several days of northwesterly's, the ride is, well, hideous. Ocean Planet is better that most in this muck, but without the main (which would be triple reefed) the going is slow. Actually, I was going quite fast for a while by using the repaired working jib, but it is just too much wind to risk blowing it up. Then if we get moderate winds between here and England I would be helpless. So the staysail is up now, which is a tad too small for the wind but safe. We're going slow, but we're going. Getting the working jib properly rolled up required turning downwind for a good 10/15 minutes, eating up hours of windward work, instantly. But it looks like a good roll so I can leave it up without it opening up in the wind which would be a destruction derby in short order. It's dark now, which is nice in that the seas are less intimidating when you can't see them! Talk
to you more tomorrow,
Ocean
Planet Around Alone Update For me it was a long night last night and today, preparing for the worsening of the weather tomorrow. Even if I have the extra complications from a broken boom I know I'm not alone as surely the other skippers are working to get ready too. Even though the fleet has had some rough stuff so far, it has been mostly off the wind. With the low pressure center having moved south, the counter-clockwise rotation of the wind around the giant low will sweep southeasterly across the remaining amount of Atlantic that lies before us. The two leaders, Bernard Stamm on Bobst Group/Armour Lux and Thierry Dubois on Solidaires will spent much less time in the yuck, they are so far out in front. Their leads are well earned from both impressive speed and good tactics. I think that Thierry made a particularly good recovery from a not so hot position early in the leg, but they are probably beatable. We have a saying in boat racing that "the rich tend to get richer" and some of the distance they have is from better conditions once they got out in front. From a pure speed viewpoint, Bernard has a really fast boat, it is no mistake that he holds the transatlantic monohull speed record! Last night I patched the working jib that had gotten torn in the broken boom cleanup process and tried to improve the messy roll up furling job on it. There was no way to unwrap the whole thing inside the boat so I just got it as good as I could and then tied a lot of yarn stops around it to keep it from unrolling as I hoisted it back up. It still was messed up and it took a while and a couple climbs up the staysail stay to yank it around and get it to unroll properly. But it is up there okay now so I can use it upwind over the next few days when the heavy reacher comes down tomorrow (tonight?). One of the projects in England is making a new luff stay for the working jib from a new rope I've been working on with Samson Rope. The luff stay needs to twist less in order to get a better rollup when it's windy. Too bad about the boom, I'd be very close to the 2nd pack and would likely do really well on the final upwind stretch where we are better than the other 60's, 3rd in the leg would have been a real possibility....will have to wait till the next leg... I've been on the satphone organizing all the stuff that needs to happen to make the next leg. Things are getting lined up, but need to find about $100,000 to pay for it all. I hope they tip street musicians well in England, I've got my guitar with me...what a challenge it is just making these starts!! But first, 1,000 miles of Atlantic to go....much of it upwind. Bruce
Ocean
Planet Around Alone update
Yikes!! As if we hadn't had enough fun, the low pressure that has been proving this breeze is going to turn and head south across our path. The race is on to pass underneath it beforethen or we will get a major pounding of heavy north and northeasterlies. Of course I don't need any convincing to move along. I hope to get to Torbay as soon as possible and fix this boat up, but there is a still long way to go, a good 1,300miles straight which will be more like 1,500 in reality. On a good note, competitor Graham Dalton on Hexagon hasoffered to have his shore crew help me out in Torbay, thanksGraham! He says he'd rather beat me on the water than on theshore...now that's competitive spirit! I've seen his guys inaction and they are tops. Keep your fingers crossed for the whole fleet, especially the40's and 50's that are further back, they might be facing atough time. My mentor, Brad Van Liew on Tommy Hilfiger, is notfar behind and looks the best positioned. Not surprising as heknows what he's doing out here. Brad is the only one enteredthat did the last race in 98/99 when he was on Balance Bar. Hesent me some great words of support yesterday when he heard of my busted boom, which helped my spirits. Anyway, here's what things look like today.... Bruce
Ocean
Planet Around Alone Update I don't know whether to blame myself or the sequence of events, but the result is the same: the boom is broken and we face a mountain of work to finish leg one and prepare in time for leg two. It will take more than dolphins to cheer me up now, I'm afraid. After holding back a bit for most of the race, but still within reach of good placing, the expected big following winds looked like a good time to finally open the throttle and see how Ocean Planet measured up with the top Open 60's. I looked at several different weather sources to assess early on what to expect, it looked like 35kts, tops. So as the wind increased I already had a reef in the main to go with the heavy reacher/runner jib. I had seen close to 35kts with this set up before and it seemed okay with a little to spare. You saw our little "surfing" movie, at those speeds Ocean Planet is under great control, even if the sound is unreal. But the wind kept picking up. At 35 kts steady the boat was flying at a steady 16 to 20 knots with several bursts to the upper 20's characterized by the unearthly shriek of "speed howl" from the keel. It was too much, too soon and I had to decide whether to put in a second reef or roll up the heavy reacher. I went with the latter, and discovered that the boat handled beautifully sailed "laser style" with enough water ballast to heel a bit to windward which resulted in a nearly neutral helm even at the still scary speeds. Since our rotating mast has no shrouds, I can let out the sheet as far as I want which makes it possible to use the main alone like this for heavy running. I was worried about the load on the boom in that much wind the second reef would have been much better, so I let the vang tension out a fair bit to allow the main to twist and reduce the vang load until the wind started to go down. Except the wind didn't go down, it went up. At just over 40kts, I was below as the boat went on a tear to 28kts with a deafening howl. I was scared and thinking about how I wouldgo about putting in a second reef in those conditions. I guess Iwaited too long and my hand-wringing was put to an end by a load (and I mean LOUD) explosion that I felt straight in theheart, I knew exactly what it was. I wish I could say I remember the exact sequences in the next following hours I went through to try to get things under control, but it is a blur to me now. In the process I had to cut away the outer part of the broken boom and let it go to keep it from taking out the lifelines, stanchions, and holing the boat. Part of the process was I had to get the boat sailing again fast enough to reduce the apparent wind so I could work on the flailing parts and mainsail. There were a lot of stressful moments hanging over the side cutting lines and rigging lifting halyards but I was tethered on (nearly) all the time. I am so tired now it is hard to even type or walk around, but at least now things are under control and the(damaged) mainsail is safely on deck, the remaining part of the boom stabilized and we are sailing at a good clip with just the staysail up. It is dark now, so no pics until tomorrow. Which is when I get on the phone to figure out how to afford a new boom, new (or repaired?) mainsail, etc, etc, and get it all to England and installed on the boat for leg two. Now would be a good time for a sponsor to fall out of the sky..... Time
to sleep for now,
Saturday,
Sept. 21, 2002 A surfing movie by Bruce Schwab Cowabunga! Surf's up as we are driven by strong southwesterlys swirling around fast moving low pressure sweeping by to the north of the fleet. Don't try this at home, it's fun but scary. The "speed howl" inside the boat is deafening. Gotta run and keep a close eye on things, hope nothing breaks! Bruce Sponsor Mention of the Day: Doyle Sailmakers. When you need fast sails that last. Mine have lot of miles and are still race ready. Thanks to Bill Colombo of Doyle Sails, San Francisco and the rest of the folks at Doyle. Bruce Schwab
Crossing the Grand Banks! Ocean
Planet Around Alone Update Friday, Sept. 20, 2002
Well, one of the things I was dreading turned out to be a great experience. Crossing the legendary Grand Banks, one of the most famous areas of sea life and infamous for storms and lost ships. The Grand Banks is a vast area of relatively shallow water, where both warm and cold ocean currents meet. The amount of fish here was so vast that they were thought to be impossible to overfish. Of course, over time mankind's fishing capability became so efficient, with huge dragging nets that could literally sweep the ocean floor, the once unlimited supply of cod now has to be monitored. From what I hear the fish are coming back, though....which is good, I love cod! We crossed over just the southern part of the banks, entering from the west as night fell. The edge of the ocean shelf where the super deep water (over 10,000 ft!) rises up to only a couple hundred feet. There were several huge fishing ships, as big as freighters, working near the edge of the banks lit up like cities. Fortunately they were mostly fishing on the edge so after I went past them I didn't have to stay up all night! The waves were somehow different, and there were birds everywhere. The wind slowly died (as expected) by this morning when we crossed over the eastern edge of the banks. As I went up to take the first reef out of the mainsail, the clanking of the winches as I worked somehow alerted all the dolphins (porpoises?) nearby and they came flying towards Ocean Planet from all directions. They seemed especially happy (they always are) and crowded around the bow to guide us off the banks, or at least just to say hi and do what dolphins do best, have fun. I have been very tired since the start, but there's no way the dolphins can't cheer you up, so I spent a while on the bow hooting and talking to them. They like to turn sideways and look at you when you are there. So I took this little movie and a picture of them for you, enjoy! I almost forgot that I was out here for a boat race..... Bruce
Ocean Plane Around Alone Update Thursday, Sept. 19, 2002
Ahoy everyone! I'm proud to say that after several days of munchies only, I finally fired up the stove and made some good pasta. It was delicious, but you wouldn't want to smell my breath, with all the garlic I put in. Well, the initial jump that I got on the bulk of the 60's is evaporating in the steady close reaching we've had. This is where the wide boats (all of them are wider than OP) have a big advantage. Someday when we can afford to "finish" Ocean Planet and implement her final features, she will be just as fast reaching (or very close). She is already VERY good in light air and good upwind which I hope to utilize more as the race goes on. Also, I have to admit that I'm not pushing super hard yet. Hexagon is not far away, in fact my radar transponder is showing that someone has a radar on around here . . . could be Graham but I can't pick him up yet. Wait, there's something on the screen....let me go outside and look. Nope, just a small freighter...but Graham IS supposed to be close! By the way, here's where we are right now: 43 11N, 52 08W. Heading is 85 mag (or 67ish true) and we are going 10-12kts in 12-15kts of northwest wind. The air pressure is 1013 millibars, a lot higher than yesterday. Well, the pasta was great, but what for dessert? I have apples, oranges, bananas, trail mix, nuts, dried fruit, peanut butter, and of course chocolate...perhaps a little of everything? We'll see... Here's a pic for you. I won't send one of me until I can wash my hair! Bruce
Bang!
Smash! Wham! Yucko!! Sharp seas and the wind almost on the nose making for a rough ride. Banging around so much I'm surprised that I haven't gotten seasick! But I'm fine except that we aren't going very fast in this junk. Right now I have the staysail and double reefed main up. The boats further north must have a better wind angle since they are hauling on the position reports . . . A little reminder: Financially, Ocean Planet and I just barely made it to the start. Since we are without a title sponsor, almost all of our support is by contributions to The Made in America Foundation. Without continued support, it will be impossible to finance the necessary work in England and especially Cape Town. Most of our supporters have given their all, so hopefully new folks will pitch in now that the race is underway . . . I hope so, anyway! Thank heavens for our supplier sponsors! Special Mention for Today: MAS Epoxies, who supplied resin to build the boat, including the special "infu-res" that our spar builder (Ted Van Dusen) used to make our amazing freestanding mast. That's it for now, I'm going to TRY to take a nap.... Bruce Schwab
Ocean
Planet Around Alone Update Ahoy all, and especially Shalyn from Missouri (see below). Ocean Planet is bounding along now at 12kts, now on port tack as the wind has switched to the north. I tried to position to spend as little time in the "bozo zone" as possible as the lower end of the low pressure trough finally went by. Watch out for ace Swiss sailor Bernard Stamm on Bobst Group/Armor Lux and Frenchman Thierry Dubois on Solidaires, as I think they made some good moves and are going really fast in first and second place. I'll try to hang onto third as long as possible! Shalyn's note below has got me dreaming of life in the Midwest . . . . Shayln, you sound very gifted indeed! No, Jeanie and I don't have kids, just our two cats Francis (named after two famous sailors, singlehanded hero Sir Francis Chichester, and yacht designer L. Francis Herreshoff) and his sister, Raisin. They would be scared of your dogs, but would love to meet your rabbit! If you get a chance check out the race education website, www.education.hsbc.com, it's pretty fun. I'm proud to say I passed the test on the north star Polaris and I now qualify as an official Navigator...;-) Well it's starting to blow harder, and I need to check things out and take a nap, too. Sponsor Mention of the Day: Our cool unstayed carbon fiber bowsprit by Forespar Composites is doing great! I've been flying the reacher off it almost all the time since the start. Later, Bruce
Ocean
Planet Update and Hi everyone, It has been more than 24 hours since the start of Leg One from New York. The start was very intense since I was very nervous, and we all had to maneuver in very close quarters in the harbor. I did a very conservative start with the mainsail alone just to leeward of the bulk of the fleet and waited a few tacks for things to open up before unrolling the jib. After that, OP and I did well and slowly moved up to the front of the fleet! In fact, in the light air just outside the shipping channel w passed Bernard Stamm on Bobst Group to be in first for a little while. Ocean Planet is really good in light air, so I had an advantage. Where we are not so hot (yet) is on a windy reach, so when the predicted southwesterly wind came up Bobst and Graham Dalton on Hexagon came steaming by and slowly pulled away. This morning they were pretty far in front of me (the three of us are staying a bit further south than the others in the fleet), but I'm not pushing that hard as there is a LONG way to go... Jerry (and Spencer?) from Anne Thomas' 5th Grade Class asked how I sent the little storm video from Newport. I took the movie with a little digital camera that loads the movie file onto a floppy disk. Then I transfer the file from the disk to my computer where I send my e-mails from, and attach the movie file to the e-mail update I send to home. From there, my girlfriend Jeanie sends it out to our mailing list of everyone who has signed up for the updates. That's how it gets to you! And yes, there were people inside the boats when they were rocking around at the docks! In a way it is safer out here if there is a storm since there is very little to run into, only a few freighters and boats.....;-) More tomorrow.... Bruce Bruce
Schwab |
Ocean
Planet finished Leg Two of the Around Alone in the very early morning
on Thursday, fittingly on Thanksgiving Day. I was met by a very friendly
group, including Leg One and Two winner Bernard Stamm and some of his
crew. It was a beautiful approach to the finish, in very light air with
a fascinating view of legendary Table Mountain and the nighttime city
lights illuminating a transparent layer of foggy mist just above the
city. Once within a couple miles the mist descended and effectively
turned into a light rain soaking everything and everyone, but failing
to dampen the spirits of myself or my welcoming party.
If
you read my update the night before the finish, you know how significant
my arrival by sea to South Africa is to me. Part of being involved with
the Global Education Challenge is bringing the Around Alone race and
its life lessons to kids around the world, but I'm learning that we
also bring back lessons for all of us from the kids and places themselves.
Part
of the show was asking some kids what their dreams were to become when
they grow up, and to emphasize that they can do what if they work hard
enough. I had to think to myself: I wonder if I would have the capability
to work my way up from a lean-to shanty to meet my dreams, like we were
telling these kids. What an immense challenge. Then Sky and Graham,
moving through the audience, asked some kids what their dreams were.
A tiny little girl confidently stated that she was going to be a successful
freestyle rap singer. Sky asked her if she wanted to come up to the
stage and perform and I was amazed at her confidence in her emphatic
"yes"! This tiny girl with an electric smile was handed up
on stage, handed a relatively huge microphone and gently urged by Sky
to give it a shot. We were then all stunned as this miniature dynamo
tore into an inspired, happy, musical rap about who she was, her class,
her teacher, her family, in clear English. With surprisingly few words,
we knew so much about her in mere seconds. I was (and still am) so blown
away by her performance that I realized there is absolutely no telling
what talent and inspiration may come to the world from humanity's poorest
places if there is hope and a positive attitude.
