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Epoxies |
4pm
UTC (8am PST), Pos: 19 07N 105 37W, Wind: 318 deg @ 8kts,
Well, it seemed to take forever, but we are finally sailing for Panama. It was quite a logistical task to get fuel and food aboard since the keel depth of Ocean Planet prevented us from tying up at a dock. Also, there were lots of other errands to run picking up things like better fuel jugs (the ones we had were leaking), more storage bins, checking in and out with the Port Captain, getting papers stamped by Immigration, etc, etc. No big hassles, but time consuming stuff in Mexico where patience is a virtue. (I can hear all of you who know my patience level chuckling...) There are still many misc details to do, but we can work on those while underway. In fact, Greg is wiring up and mounting new cabin fans (invaluable feature!!) while I am writing this. Anyway, OP is chock full of food and junk (er, supplies) for the 7-10 day trip to Panama. I'm really looking forward to seeing the canal again. In 1974, my Dad took my brothers and I through on our old sloop the "Sara B." I don't remember as much as I wish I did, so this trip should reawaken many memories. We
left yesterday at 3 p.m. (5 p.m. PST), and as soon as night fell
the dolphins were back to greet us. OP is very happy to off anchor
and is very relaxed at 9 kts in 9 kts of wind. Our Big "Borland"
genniker is flying peacefully on our custom Forespar carbon bowsprit.
We might put the full size kite up later, but then again, we are
not racing Look forward to regular updates on this little jaunt to Panama, our canal transit, and our bash against the trades to Antigua.
Heading South
Great morning dolphin show, while Hank was frying up a canadian bacon breakfast. One of the best jumps was only about 35 ft off the port bow, right in full view: a good 7 ft of air, full twist, big splash. We gave him a high score: 8 for technical (good "backside grab" landing), 7.5 for presentation, and a 10 for proximity which weighs heavily in our scoring system. Made good time last night in a nice NWesterly, right on on desired course at 10+ knots until early morning. Then we had northerlies at 4-6 which is pretty much what is here now: Friday, March 8th 1557 UTC, pos: 15 09N 100 05W, wind from 300 @ 4kts. Speed 6kts @ 85deg. Temp 85 @85% humd, pressure 1010mb. The seawater temp is 83F!!!! Still a bucket bath is refreshing. Then we rinse with plenty of fresh water from our Spectra watermaker. Looks
like the big winds in the Gulf Tehuantepec have died, we will entering
the area tomorrow sometime. I actually hope it does blow a fair
bit as OP and I are getting tired of light air and need some action.
Besides it should be a reach where we can really haul along, but
it looks like it will probably be anticlimatic...
Saturday at Sea Ahoy there!
Hot! hot! hot!! The wind has petered out for now so we have been motoring pretty steadily since last evening. With the engine running it is extremely hot inside the boat. Fortunately, Greg has successfully rigged air fans in each quarterberth and at the nav station. At least moving hot air is better than still. Big winds are now predicted for the Gulf of Tehuantepec, so I have made a heavier reefing strop (broke the old one on the way to San Diego), rigged the staysail stay and will hank on the stysl soon. We have elected to stay close to shore for crossing the gulf, where the winds will be greater (up to 40kts!) but the seas smaller. Another reason for this is that the winds are likely to be easterly south of the gulf and we would like to stay upwind and close to shore in case we need to stop in somewhere for more diesel fuel. I had a feeling the wind we had a couple of days ago was too good to be true... We are having a good time, with the guys doing a lot of reading and storytelling. The best ones I will have to take to my grave....just kidding! Hank has been carefully doing some navigating and research on the options on where we might stop to refuel. Nice to have his 50+ yrs of experience aboard, he questions everything I do which keeps me honest! Ocean
Planet at 1637 UTC (8:37am PST): Bruce,
Greg, Dave, Hank, and Howard,
The Gulf of Tehuantepec
The Gulf of Tehuatepec, along Mexico's most southern coastline, is legendary for screaming northeasterly winds. These winds push from high pressure in the Gulf of Mexico over the low and narrow land to the Pacific side. There are generally two schools of thought regarding how to sail across this feared and respected gulf of angry water. The most common is to stay right along the shore where the wind is fierce, but the waves have not yet built up. The other approach is to pass three hundred miles or so to the southwest of the gulf where the wind and waves have dissipated. Yesterday afternoon and evening we had ZERO wind and had to motor. Due to the lack of wind, we decided to head for the Guatmaluan port of Quetzal just on the other side of the gulf to refuel, as to take the outside route would be too much distance. Also, curving inside along the shore would also add a lot. I talked on the Satphone earlier with weather router Jan Brandt (who has graciously donated his assistance for this trip), who said the winds were likely to blow up to 40kts inshore and 20 way outside. After some discussion with our our crew, we decided to just go for it across the middle and bear away if it was too nasty. Around 10 p.m. local time, a very light breeze finally started to blow. I had been moving from place to place on deck trying to find a cool place to sleep, but my watch started at 10 anyway so I gave up. The wind picked up enough to cut the motor and in minutes it was time to reef as I had already rolled up the working jib and hoisted the staysail. Greg and I started to put in the first reef then changed our minds and went for the second. After I accidentally hooked in the tack for the THIRD reef, we decided that was even better! We also filled the port ballast tank to the brim. Good thing we did cause it started to howl. The waves built quickly and were breaking all over as Ocean Planet charged ahead at 13-14 knots on a close reach. I was really nervous about breaking something as this was OP's first big blow, so we bore off 20 degrees to put the apparent wind just aft of the beam.
With just the storm staysail and 3rd reef, we started screaming along at 15-20+knots as the wind built to 35, then 40 kts. We saw a reading of 49 once and steady low 40's, so I'd call a pretty solid 40. Ocean Planet was under autopilot the entire time in complete control in nasty 10 ft quartering and side seas and hit a high of 23.8 kts and spent long spells at 17-19. Water was flying over and down the deck with considerable force so we used our harnesses and stayed clipped on with tethers. Yes, I was a bit scared, but what a blast! OP could have carried more sail and gone a lot faster still. Our new unstayed Forespar bowsprit (now matching our unstayed Composite Engineering mast), has an upward angle that worked like magic as we could dive into a wave in front of us without worry. I am SO glad that two of our build team, Steve Rander and Willie Waddell, drove down from Portland while OP was in the boatyard. They once again performed miracles to finish in time and it has really paid off. If you don't have Steve and Schooner Creek Boat Works (www.schoonercreek.com) build your next boat, you are making a big mistake! Of course in the morning the wind died completely leaving an irritating swell and forcing us to motor again. But we had crossed almost all of the gulf in one night at incredible speed. This is a great boat, and it's a good thing she motors well too as there is no wind once again. One of the many reasons I am sailing Ocean Planet to the start of the Around Alone is to be able to test the boat in situations like last night. Nothing can replace time spent at sea, but we are really short on time (the start of the AA is Sept 15th!), and we need to raise a lot of $ just to make the start. If you want to see what it is like to exceed 20 kts under autopilot or steering with one hand, consider joining us in Antigua for Antigua Sailing Week (April 28-May 4) as a supporting crew. Respond to rumbleseat@earthlink.net if you are interested, and Jeanie will forward it to me. Bruce,
Greg, Dave, Hank, Howard,
Ocean Planet Update, March 14, 2002 We are now reaching in a light westerly off Costa Rica, after a night of bashing to weather across the Golfo de Papagayo. Pos: 09 30N, 085 13W. Temp 91F, pressure 1008mb. You heard on my last update that we were stopping in Guatemala for fuel. It turns out that we had more of an adventure there than I expected. On Monday, the 11th we approached Puerto Quetzal, the main Guatemalan shipping port on their Pacific Coast. We have books on many of the Central American ports, and knew that it was a good harbor for our deep draft, but had no idea what logistics we might face with customs and getting supplies. Surprisingly, a few miles from the harbor, we came across another sailboat (skipper John Malone of Vancouver, BC) that had just left the port. We talked on the VHF, and he gave me some pointers on working with the port captain, immigration, and the man to talk to for getting fuel and supplies. That man was capt "Big Al," a well traveled American who has the giant salvage tug "Megaton" and a big floating drydock in the harbor.
Big
Al was every bit the character our sailing samaritan described,
and more. His center of operations, the 220 ft. We bought Al dinner at one of his favorite local restaurants (the owners of which were of course good friends of Al's), and had too much beer to drink and stories to hear and tell before stumbling back to the water and the boat. BTW, the anchorage was in a tight security naval base so the boat was safe for the few hours that we were gone.
We
pulled out of portal Quetzal on Tuesday morning after getting clearance
from the port captain. What remains with me from our visit is how
very lucky we are in the US for our standard of living, but also
how impressed I was with the Bruce, Ocean Planet, Dave, Greg, Hank, and Howard.
Another Day in theTropics Ocean
Planet update, March 15, 2002
With steely resolve, we bypassed the Costa Rican port of Puntarenas yesterday. This was despite our somewhat lengthy discussions about the legendary beauty of the women of CostaRica. The truth is that although we have had to motor some, we have enough fuel left to get to Panama even if the wind quits permanently, so there was no real reason to stop. We'll have to go sight seeing there some other time! Last night was absolutely beautiful, sailing on flat seas in a light westerly with porpoises putting on hourly shows. There was an amazing number of fishing boats pulling their nets along, so we had to divert around a few. They must have wondered who in the heck we were. We are again motoring into a light headwind and in the usual oppressive heat. This morning's entertainment included seeing a brief waterspout (unfortunatly, not a drop on us!) in a big rain squall a few miles away. Also, we snagged a fishing line and float, and I had to jump in and cut the lines away. There was a nasty looking hook on one end that I cut before it got any ideas about who was in charge...and no fish, drat! Anyway, time for a nap on deck, too hot below...I don't how our AMD powered PC survives this heat, but she keeps on chuggin. Just like Ocean Planet. Below
is a modified shot of OP's designated swimmer drying Bruce, Dave, Greg, Hank, and Howard
Ocean Planet has arrived in Panama!
Stay
tuned for a full update later this afternoon, gotta clear Here's some pics for now... Bruce and Team OP....
Ready to run the Canal Now, where was I? Last report was a quickie, and there was a lot left out about our last few days. The
last couple hundred miles were mostly upwind. For the last hundred
miles you sail almost due north to get here. An It sure is nice that Ocean Planet is good upwind for an Open 60 (at least we think so!). That last beat was a piece of cake. The water was relatively smooth (a result of a 1-1.5 knot current running with the wind against us), so it was a good chance to check some tacking angles and speed data. Here is one performance snapshot:
In
10-12 knots true wind, Ocean Planet sails upwind with the ballast
tank full at 8.5-9 knots and tacks thru 75 degrees. We
are tied to a mooring bouy in front of the Balboa "Yacht Club,"
which isn't really a yacht club but a fuel dock pier and a Panama
is a fascinating place. The city here is far busier and modern than
most Americans would think. The city skyline We are going through the canal tomorrow, all the paperwork and detailed measurement inspections are finished. I'm glad I took the recommendation of my friend Robert Flowerman to call Agent Peter Stevens of Delphino Maritime to smooth up this process. Peter took care of the running around so that I could concentrate on getting the boat ready. One thing that requires special attention is the mooring lines for the locks. All yachts are required to have four lines at least 125 ft long to hold the boat in the huge locks. I brought along a whole spool of new Samson '2in1' 1/2" nylon rope just for this reason. This rope by Samson is very well priced for the level of quality and smoothness. It's going to get a workout tomorrow, but should still be great to use for our Caribbean style mooring comingup in Antigua.
I
still need to read up on some of the procedures, but we will have
a Panamanian pilot aboard too. There is a real-time website Right
now the rest of the crew is ashore sightseeing while I'm here writing
to you and working on budgets. Yesterday we went Greg stops me before it's too late. Howard
had to fly off home this morning, so our crew for tomorrow's canal
adventure is Dave Olson, George Luna, Greg Btw,
Greg Nelsen has become sort of a revelation as a sailor on this
trip. He is big, strong, has figured out all the boat
("Sir") Hank Grandin was the senior member of our trip to Panama. At 75(!) and still going strong, he has a ton of great stories and experience. He is certainly set in his ways, initially not trusting such new-fangled gagdetry like our Nobeltec navigation software. But after running out of space for his notes on the paper charts (see attached pic), he finally succumbed and sat down at the Nav station to use "that @#%%%!! computer." He liked it even more than he admited.... More
news and pics of the locks tomorrow, I promise! Thanks for following
and being patient. I like getting the emails Also attached is a shot of one of the panga drivers who took us to shore and back. The Balboa YC fuel dock is in the background. Later,
Bruce
Ocean Planet is now in the Atlantic. It was very different going down in the Gatun locks compared to going up in the Miraflores and Pedro Miguel locks. I got a funny feeling looking out over the water and land in front of us, like we were on a giant wave about to come crashing down on it all. Going down, the freighters go behind rather than in front like before so the view ahead was pretty cool, aside from my giant wave 'vision'. Once we got in the lock it looked like it was scraping on the sides, but they fit better than they look and the control system is quite secure. Of course there are accidents (you saw the wreck pic earlier), but considering the close quarters that the giant freighters have to maneuver in, it is amazing there aren't more. Over the last month on this trip, it has been very hot with hardly a drop of rain. So it was fitting that the instant we exited the first chamber in the Gatun locks (and officially entered the Atlantic in my opinion), we were greeted with a torrential downpour! We were drenched. And here is my Ocean Planet for the trip to Antigua, Serge Martial, Greg Nelsen (just can't get rid of this guy), and our fellow SSS member (the Singlehanded Sailing Society of SF Bay) George Luna: After exiting the final locks we motored over the Cristobol Yacht Club, but it wasn't deep enough for us to get next to anyone. We needed to drop off Hank and Dave so we hailed a good samaritan cruiser going by in his inflatable with his family to help us out. They came right back out in the pouring rain after dropping off all but a driver and then we said goodbye to Hank and Dave. The great thing about sailors from all over the world is that always help each other out, no matter where they are from on this big ocean planet... Now we are anchored out in the main harbor with a lot of interesting yachts around. Tomorrow we'll get a better look at them in the light, and I'll go find immigration so that we can check out of the country. There is still a bit of packing and organizing to do since the trip to Antigua will be quite rough. I'm not looking to beating against the trades but I guess I'd better get used to it. I'll try to get a note out tomorrow, if not you'll here from us soon after we depart. Bruce, Ocean Planet
BOOM! BANG! Slosh, slosh.... We are pounding away against the caribbean tradewinds. Even on a relatively smooth sailing boat like this one the ride is rough. Last night I lost George's excellent ceviche that we had for lunch, but I'm a bit better now. Poor Serge hasn't been able to keep anything down. At least he drinking water to stay hydrated. The wind was over 20kts for much of the night, but is 16-18 kts now, not too bad if you have to go into it, it could be much worse! We are sailing north, anticipating a left shift sometime, then we will tack. If no shift then we'll be almost all the way to Jamaica and keep the big islands to the north of us. Ocean Planet at 1530 UTC (7:30 PST): 11 47N, 79 59W, course 010-015 @ 7-8kts, wind 050-060. We're holding back to keep the pounding down! Bruce, Greg, George, & Serge
250 down, 984 to go... At least it's less than a thousand miles (as the crow flies)of beating left. We had a windshift a little to the left last evening, so we spent last night on port tack going east. Now we are heading just east of north again on starboard tack. The ride over the waves is more comfortable on this tack so we have opened up the speed to 9+kts. Our Position: 13 23 N, 78 21W, course 0-10, spd 9-9.5kts. OP is sailing herself under autopilot the whole time, we just press the buttons now and then. I have given the autopilot the same name that my dad called the self-steering windvane on the boat we went cruising on when I was 14 - the boat was the "Sara-B", and the vane was called "Elbeauregard (say elbow-regard) Calpepper the 3rd." So if I refer to our 5th crewmember El B, you'll know who I'm talking about. Anyway, we are hanging in there, I'll send some pics tomorrow..... Bruce, Greg, George, Serge, and Ocean Planet
Flop, flop...
We are now 434 miles from Panama, but still have 934 miles to go to Antigua... when you have to go upwind you can never go straight where you want to! Our position at 1546 UTC is 16 26N, 78 13W, course 35-40 mag. at 9kts, wind is 85-90 at 16-18kts. About 95 miles ahead of us is Jamaica, which we want to get closer to, but first we must get around a giant reef south of Jamaica that is almost 100 miles across. Fortunately, we are far east enough so that if we tack to port for a few hours we can tack back and clear it. If we were racing, we wouldn't be this far north. We are going to go along closer to the big islands and try to get a smoother ride. Serge make some delicious chicken last night, which was the last of our fresh meat. It's the cans and freeze-dried from here on out! I am getting into the groove now, eating more and having fun driving through the waves. We also saw our first freighter since Panama this morning. It crossed just a mile or two front of us. Antigua seems like forever away, but this is what it takes! Attached is a shot of the main with one reef, the same setting since we left Panama, and shot of Serge about to get soaked... Bruce, Greg, George, Serge,
Bangin' thru the Caribbean
Ocean Planet report, 1430 UTC March 26, 2002 Position: 17 49N 73 49W (just south of Haiti). Trying to get east, and of course the wind is 20 frm the east.... Been out of touch for a few days, it's hard to type upwind. Today is Tuesday, right? Let me back up a bit. Sunday night we sailed right up to the lights of Kingston, Jamaica before tacking away. It was weird to see so many lights of a big city after no land for several days. A few miles before we snagged a low budget small fishing float assembly. I stopped the boat and drifted sideways while George was able to pick up the string end that had two small plastic water bottles. He walked the line forward and was able to pull up the other end which had a styrofoam float. The float now has a new identity as Marley, our new temporary mascot (and pal for Wilson) for the trip. By the time the sun came up, we couldn't see the land so no official "land ho" until last night (Monday night), when we went by a strange unnamed (on our charts anyway) island. The island is about 30 miles west of Haiti, and is about 2 miles long. I told George I'd sell him the island if he would build us a nice dock there, he's thinkin about it. Besides, he needs a new home for Marley...
Well, got close enough to sort of see the island (a couple miles) at night so that was our first land sighting since Panama. Then the fun really started. We tracked a couple slow moving freighters on radar that apparently couldn't see us (we were right next to the island, after all) that kept getting closer and closer. One (the big one of course) was headed right for us and wouldn't respond on VHF. It was getting pretty scary so I announced on the radio that we were taking evasive action by heading straight west (the ship was going south). The ship must have heard me and gotten confused since HE then turned hard west and was still heading right at us! It seemed like he was hunting us down...but we did a 180 and headed east and watched him go right by us. Very eerie. Anyway, the plan was to sort of get in the lee of Haiti for a respite from the waves for a while. This worked, except of course the wind also quit which left us powering through sloppy rollers (we were powering during the dance with the freighter) much of the night. This morning the wind and waves (bigger than ever) are back, and we are working our way around the southwest side of Haiti. Saw two big Orcas ("killer whales") earlier, very impressive but we missed with the camera. We hope to cut in closer to shore today (behind a point to the east) and hope to get smoother water. Right now this plan may be backfiring as the waves are pretty cruddy. When we pound down it sounds like we are going to destroy everything, but the only thing really hurting is the silly humans in this rocket. Humans from the Ocean Planet, Wilson, and Marley
Back in the Open OP Report, Wednesday (March 27th) Evening Last night and this morning, we saw the last of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. We sloshed around in variable winds and slopped about 10 miles offshore as we motored east and watched a big lightning and rainstorm hit the shore. In the morning, we sailed out past Capo Dominico (or Capo Beata, depending on which chart...) back into the wider expanse of the Caribbean. Our timing wasn't bad as the winds and seas have let up quite a bit.
We are sailing Southeast at 9+ knts in 10-13kts of easterl wind, anticipating a right shift for tomorrow.....we'll see how well the weather predictions do. It sure is nice to dry out and clean up as some stuff got pretty messed up slogging away during the days of banging away. Some cans of beer left over from the Pacific trip (I should have thrown the away), stored up in the sail locker popped open (?!) and the beer mixed with seawater sloshing around to create a yeasty soup. Yuck, never again. My mental lists of jobs to do and improve on the boat are growing ever longer, and it was long already. I sure hope we find a sponsor for the Around Alone soon and can hire the support we need to get ready. Time is running out and if we don't raise the bucks soon we are hurtin fer certain. To miss the Around Alone would be a big blow in preparing OP and me for the 2004 Vendee Globe. But for now, Antigua Ho! Hopefully, we'll get some more supporting crew for Antigua Sailing Week to show up and raise the funds to get us to Charleston, and then Newport. I've always wanted to do this event and it will be a blast. Let's hope we don't break anything expensive! Position at 2050 UT (12:50 PT): 16 2N, 70 41W. 510 miles from Antigua! Speed 9kts, course 125 (we just got a big left shift as I am writing this). Bruce (Haji), Greg (Friar Tuck), George (El Diablo), Serge (Saaayyyyrrrrrgggg), and Ocean Planet (Wylie's Wocket!)
Beautiful Day A beautiful day on the good ship Ocean Planet.
Smooth seas, no pounding, the boat sliding effortlessly along at good speed (OP is lethal in light air upwind). We listened to music, read, talked about everything and nothing...makes me forget the bashing a few days ago. I even put new strings on the guitar and played some tunes! An ocean passage is such a wide ranging experience, from the most miserable (wet, bruised, smelly, and worried) to the most wonderful (gorgeous ocean, idyllic sailing, making music, beautiful sunsets). Such a dichotomy. Position at 2322 UT (3:22 PST): 16 43N, 68 14W. Course 050 speed 8kts, wind around 105 at 6kts. We are 811 miles from Panama (measured in a straight line), with 368 miles to go to Antigua. I wish everyone as nice a day as we had. As hard as the world can be, we must always appreciate the good days we have on this ocean planet. Bruce, Greg, George, Serge, Wilson, Marley, the teddy bear, and the boat of course.
Almost There
Ocean Planet: Panama-Antigua Report, the last night! Position @ 2320 UT (3:20pm PST): 16 28N 62 56W, speed 9kts, course 96 deg. Temp 87, press 1011mb. Well, the days haven't been quite as gorgeous as when I last reported, but not far off. We did have to motor most of the day yesterday, which results in an infernally hot environment inside the boat. Today it's been about 50/50 motoring/sailing, and we are scooting along under sail at the moment with the working jib at 9kts in 8kts of wind. If we were racing, we'd have the light genoa up, but hey, this is fast enough. The last two days have been pretty lazy ones. Aside from cleaning a few misc details, we mostly read and nap while the autopilot drives. When the wind gets up to 6kts or so (and with a decent angle), I unroll the jib and shut down the furnace . . . I mean the motor. Greg will laugh at me since I will continue to fight to keep from turning the engine back on until we are barely crawling. But mostly we rest up for the nights which are far more interesting. After the marvelous sunsets, the wind seems to come on a bit more steady, and soon there are rain squalls to look out for. They are a mixed blessing; the wind changes all over so there is a lot of trimming or tacking, but at least there's wind! Sometimes the boat gets a nice rinsing too. We have a full moon later in the nights and the moonlight off of the puffy clouds is spectacular.
Early tomorrow we will arrive in Antigua and another voyage is under our keel. It will be exciting to get there, but we will be kind of sad the trip is over. This is a great group, and we have had a good time getting through the rough first part of the trip to the easy sailing we have now. For our last afternoon at sea, we took some shots goofing around on the mainsail. Haji, Friar, El Diablo, Savoir Faire, El B, Wilson, Marley, and Ocean Planet
Antigua Arrival Monday morning, April 1, 2002 Position: 17 00.83W 61 46.22W (The Falmouth Harbor Marina Dock). Early yesterday morning we arrived at this beautiful island in the caribbean, after the most eventful night of the trip. We expected the last night to be more light air with a lot of motoring, but as I heard someone once say, "One of the surest signs of potential bad weather is the presence of suspiciously good weather... The last few nights we dodged a few rain squalls here and there, some of which had some lightning, but nothing nasty. Saturday eve we worked to weather in a nice breeze we passed about 10 miles south of the (erupting) volcanic island of Montserrat on port tack. We alternated between Port tack, which headed us towards the French island of Guadeloupe to the Southeast, or starboard tack which took us north towards Montserrat. Antigua was (as usual, dead upwind) to the northeast.
We watched the radar constantly to monitor for squalls coming towards us, and there were monstrous cruise ships going by now and then. The ships look like small cities (I guess they are) and are hard to miss by eye but the radar lets you see exactly which way they are going. We could see the occasional flash of lightning ahead which worried me more than a little... Slowly, more and more of the sky got blacker to the northwest till all the stars and even the moon were gone. The rain signal on the radar was getting so wide that we couldn't decide which way to go around. Eventually we went to the right (on starboard tack) since I didn't like the idea of getting pinned against Montserrat to leeward, there was more room on the right between the storm and Guadeloupe. Unfortunately, this meant cutting through a corner of the rain signal that was now nearly black on the radar.... As these things go, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that of course the storm continued to expand till the signal return was a full ten miles or more across, with new appendages forming on the back (northwestern)side. Soon we were deep into it. The wind picked up to 20-25, which isn't all that much but there really wasn't time to reef so we rolled up the working jib and cracked off to an 11kt reach so we would be going across the path of the storm in an attempt to escape to the right side. Did I mention the torrential rain that frothed the water white around us? This was easy to see since every 5-15 seconds there was a convenient nearby lightning flash to illuminate and blind us. Now is as good a time as any to mention to you that one of the hundreds of little jobs left to do on OP is to run a grounding system in the mast for lightning..... In other words my stress level was getting up there as I visualized our mast getting vaporized and blowing a hole in the boat... Greg took the soggiest job, in the cockpit while I looked after the mainsheet from the vestibule where I could the radar in the nav station (which was also being intently stared at by Serge and George). Greg kept reassuring me that the lightning wasn't really all that close until one let off almost next to us (about 1.5 secs sound travel). "Okay, that one was close....." But we did make it out the right side and we were paralleling the storm system on our left. We now were concerned about running out of room eventually towards Guadeloupe and we desired to cut back north towards Antigua, but of course didn't want to go through the cauldron again. A cruise ship was paralleling our course (we couldn't see his lights now, just the radar blip) to the southeast between us and Guadeloupe. After a while we all noticed that the ship had turned 90 degrees to the left to cut behind us towards the north. We soon noticed that a space was opening between two big rain zones and that the ship was cutting through. I was kinda chicken that we wouldn't get through fast enough, but the wind had shifted right some more and we would have a good angle close reaching to the north. We tacked, dropped the main, unrolled the working jib and took off at 10-11 through our gateway. Much to our relief we made it in a couple hours. I hit the hay for a nap and the guys kep blasting towards the barn. They tried to wake for a reportedly good view of the volcano and lava flow glow on Montserrat to the west, but apparently I was out cold they gave up... We zoomed into the harbor sunday morning, pulled up to the Falmouth Harbor Marina where OP will be berthed through Sailing Week. Suddenly we felt very tiny compared to the mega-yachts. Mind boggling wealth is on display here, I feel very out of place! But I'll have a month to get used to it. Perhaps I can wash the decks of one of these monster boats for lunch money. Take a look at this shot of a Perini Navi ketch. The little light blue canoe on the right is Ocean Planet. Gotta go! Was just invited to view the J-boat "Endeavor", yahoo! Later, Bruce Fun(d) Racing in Paradise!! Hi
again from ASW, where fast is fun! Yesterday we were back racing after a much needed lay day for looking after the boat. The race venue had the boats out in the big ocean for 36 miles of offshore bouy sailing! It was a long and tiring day from a grinder and trimmer's point of view (Mark's, that is!). It was also a costly day from Bruce's point of view, as we ripped a big tear in our main during a jibe (Ouch!! The tear seemed to start from where the sail comes against the pusher vang, so we will likely need some more protection there). We reefed the main to hide our tear, but we had our big mamba running kite back from the rasta-loft and didn't lose much speed. In fact, the reefed main proved a bit faster upwind which was nice to learn. Our crew did great today, the jibes were crisp, our tacks snappy, and everyone had a great time. Bruce was proud of us! (It's true, I'm really impressed with how much everyone has learned. What a great bunch.) The bad news is that we are not going to race the final day as we don't want to make the mainsail worse. There is a Doyle loft in Tortola (these guys are all over the world!), so Bruce is taking the boat there Sunday to get it fixed. Maybe today I'll wander down and see if Pyewacket or another super-spendy-go-fast boat needs railmeat. Maybe that little Antrim 27 needs a fourth soul, or that Swan 70 might need a waiter or dishwasher during the race. Maybe I'll just stay ashore or help with polishing the winches on the J-class boat Shamrock! (He's dreamin, he'll be working on the website all day....;-)...) Yesterday's course had two long windward/leeward legs of seven miles each, with two legs of some kind of crazy but fun reaching (Yahoo!) and sailed though the other classes. Offshore a bit, we were able to get some ocean swells working for us, but with only 18 or so knots of wind, we didn't get any big ramps, but we did see 14's on the knot meter off the wind, which I seem to have started taking for granted. (We can go faster downwind if we dump all the water ballast out, but it takes a while to fill back up and the runs are quickly over, so we leave it in.) We also seem to sail above nine knots upwind nearly all the time, with about a 25 apparent wind angle. We tack though bigger angles than the other boats in our class, but we're an Open 60, and are WAY faster than all of them downwind....I hope I can get Bruce to do Transpac some day! (We'll see....who's up for TP in '03??) Stan Honey, the famous tactician for Roy Disney, was talking with us on the dock after the racing today about Pyewacket's speed, taking angles, etc. Much of this is proprietary, and I could have my Disneyland pass yanked for passing this on, but Pyewacket goes to weather in the 10's, and only drops to eight knots during a tack!!! Watching it looks so clean when they tack. The boat absolutely rocks! And get this, they are starting a NEW boat that is 86 or so feet long. The current Pyewacket is 75 feet long. (What a well run program, it sure would be nice to have 1/4 of that kind of budget!) Today is a day of cleaning up to prepare the boat for Saturday's Open House. Bruce will be greeting folks and showing off Ocean Planet, trying to drum up support to get her to the start of the Around Alone singlehanded race that starts this September in New York. Bruce needs to find more donations and a major sponsor for this effort, so he can compete against the heavily favored and sponsored Europeans. This is America's first serious effort in the Open-60 singlehanded around the world since Steve Pettengill won 2nd place in the 94/95 BOC. Bruce wants to do one better and pull off a win! (Steve Pettengill is one of my heroes, I hope I can sail as well as he did in 94/95!) Remember that we have a $50,000 matching grant put up by a group of our supporters, which we can only receive if we raise an equal $50,000 by June. So if you want to see Ocean Planet in the race, now is the time to help out! Also appreciated are leads to corporate entities that could use the international exposure that we have to offer in the Around Alone. Go to either our donation page or email Bruce Schwab for corporate support information. Mark and Bruce Ocean Planet in Charleston! We're here! Late Sunday night (or actually at about 2 a.m. Monday morning), Ocean Planet and her crew arrived in the wonderful town of Charleston, SC. Our arrival back in the US of A was made even more exciting by a fantastic greeting by fellow singlehanded sailor Brad Van Liew, who zoomed out in the pitch darkness to greet us with his new speedboat, even bringing cold beer! If you don't knowBrad Van Liew, he was the only American finisher in the last (98/99) Around Alone, becoming one of my heroes in the process. Brad is also preparing for this year's race entering Class 2 in his 50 footer, and becoming sort of the"scout leader" for the few other Americans in the race. He just landed a big sponsor (I'm not at liberty to say who), so with Ocean Planet as the only American boat entered in Class 1 (the high profile "Open 60" division), I should be next, right?
The sail to Charleston was the best trip on OP so far, with moderate broad reaching almost the whole way. The last day slowed down with light air, but 1300 miles in 5-1/2 days was so relaxing after banging upwind to Antigua from Panama, and then Antigua Sailing Week! We had a great crew aboard, including Kevin Flanigan, the man (along with his lovely wife, Shauna) who is mostly responsible for making it possible to build Ocean Planet. Kevin really cares about the ocean and gets as bummed as I do when we see trash in the otherwise perfect sea. We hope to make a difference, so please rememberto keep our ocean planet clean. Today we are pulling the rig out here at Charleston Boat Works and hauling out today or tomorrow. It seems like just yesterday that we were out of the water in Alameda, but that was more than 10,000 miles ago! There is a LONG list of stuff todo to get ready for my transatlantic qualifying voyage, and I need to be ready to go by mid June. Let's see, that gives me....ONE MONTH??!! Yikes! All volunteers are invited (begged?) to help out, as I need all I can get to pull this off. Hopefully, we will meet our matching grant offer put togethery supporter Hank Grandin.....so we can pay the yard bill! Please join me, Kevin, and all of our supporters in this (final?) effort to make the start of the Around Alone. If we can get OP ready so I can complete the qualifying sail, we are bound to land a sponsor! And I promise to get a haircut...;-) Bruce Workin' Hard in Charleston . . . The latest news from Ocean Planet, June 9, 2002
I've been back in Charleston since last Monday, my week home was short but sweet. It was good to see Jeanie, our goofy cats, and to fit in a classroom seminar in between going through the mountain of paperwork and emails . . . Good news: Big thanks to everyone who pitched in to help make the $50k matching grant organized by Hank Grandin and our supporters!! We just made it, and the pledges are coming in just in time to help get us back afloat . . . Speaking of the boat...no, we haven't sunk...;-) In fact, Ocean Planet is high and dry in the boatyard getting ready to head for the Azores. This will be a singlehanded trip, as it is my transatlantic qualifying passage for the Around Alone, required of all the skippers and boats. The only skippers who are not required to do the qualifying trip are those that have already soloed around the world, if their boats have been around too. I am finishing and modifying a lot of things to get ready, including new runners and staysail stay using Samson Ropes new "Lightning" Vectran/SK75 blend. This great new rope provides the durability of SK75 (spectra/dyneema) with the no-creep characteristics of Vectran. After the qualifier, I will also be upgrading some sheets and halyards to the double-braid version of Lighting: Validator SK. (check out www.samsonrope.com) Doyle sails has installed new Lighting double luff ropes in the working jib and gennikers in addition to repairing and customizing our mainsail. The double ropes in the luffs will twist less when furling, which is a big deal on our "soft" luff furling sails. Other projects include: Improving the keel wedging system with additional wedges for fore/aft rigidity (design upgrade by yours truly, with approval by our Guru, Tom Wylie). Raising the foredeck hatch 4" to reduce water coming in while open (less bailing after sail changes!). Thanks to JB Currell and MAS epoxies for helping out on this and other tasks (www.masepoxies.com)! Customizing our Nexus Instruments configuration so I can switch between the masthead and radar tower wind transducers (www.bruntonmarine.com). Installing more custom titanium handrails made by Jeff Daniels of Metropolis Metals (these are SO cool). Upgrading our LED cabin lights to the latest by Don Mcleish and Berkeley Point (www.berkeleypoint.com). Fixing our SSB radio (always great consultation from Don Melcher at HF radio on board (www.hfradio.com) and Marilee at Waypoint (www.waypoints.com). Designing and installing our emergency transom rudder system (thanks to expert fabricator Erich Chase!). There are a hundred other projects under way, but it's time for bed and my brain is requesting sleep. In the attached pic, you can see how we can slide the keel up to the boat, so it can sit closer to the ground while we are working. Sure beats climbing up a teetering 18ft ladder. If the pic is confusing, don't worry, the keel system is semi-secret anyway.... Bruce and Ocean Planet. Ocean Planet Update, June 23, 2002 Better late than never! Ocean Planet and I are FINALLY ready for my singlehanded transatlantic trip to the Azores! I will leave tomorrow evening or Tuesday morning. We went for a test sail yesterday (in torrential pouring rain), to have a look and most everything is ready. Well, almost ready. Tomorrow morning we will still have to mount the housings for our new transom/emergency rudder system. It won't be completely finished, but I will be able to test it out and finish it in Newport before the start of the Around Alone.
My goal is to get to the Azores safely, while testing a number of things we just changed: new jib luff ropes, backup autopilot, improved solar panels, some new Samson running rigging, different gear storage system, changed foredeck hatch, and a dozen other things that I can't remember right now.... In the Azores, a few crew will be meeting me on the island of Faial, for the trip to Newport. I hope to get to Newport by July 20/24 or so. There will still be number of projects to finish while in Newport, and time will be short, but for the moment all my attention is on getting going on this qualifying trip and raising the approximately $10,000 for the last installment of the Around Alone entry fee that is due July 1st. We made enough in donations and matching grants to cover the prep for the qualifier, but not the complete entry fee...one week to go! We can pay it later but then there will be a late penalty of about $7,000...ouch! Anyway, Ocean Planet is looking good and that helps me forget the financial stresses. It will be GREAT to actually get sailing and get reacquainted with her and see how she likes all the little changes. Here she is, impatiently waiting for me to quit working on her and go sailing: Bruce and Ocean Planet. Believe it or not (after so many delays, I hardly do), I'm off and runnin to the Azores. Left the Charleston jetties behind a little more than an hour ago. Smooth seas, close reaching at 10kts in a 12-14knot southerly, it seems too easy to be trusted. I'm taking it easy for now, with a double reefed main, and the working jib. I'm sure it will get interesting once I get into the gulf stream. I can already see some gnarly looking thunderheads in front of me...better rest up. PP: 32 39N 79 38W Will try to do somewhat regular updates, thanks for following Ocean Planet. Bruce Ocean Planet at Sea Update: June 26, 2002
Position at 2318 UTC: 34 11N 75 14W. Wind southerly at 12-16, course 075 at 10-16kts. I am just a little over 24 hours and 250 miles into my trip to the Azores. I was going to really take it easy for a couple of days, but something changed my plan . . . . .another sailboat! Ok, it was just a cruiser, but I couldn't resist putting up the small genniker and blasting by them. Another reason is that I need to get NE soon enough to latch onto the bottom of a low pressure system tomorrow that should give me a big push across the pond. Conditions are great right now, and last night the thunderstorms were quite mild, just a lot of rain. But things will get more interesting as we go along. Aside from the task of sailing singlehanded across the Atlantic, one of the requirements for the Around Alone is to take and solve a few celestial sights to prove we can do it. Of course, you would never need to unless all your GPSs' fail and you run out of batteries for the handheld, but it is a good exercise anyway. I started working on some today and was reminded that it has been a long time since I last did it. Taking the sight with the sextant is fine but messing about with the books and worksheets is a drag. I sure have been spoiled by my Nobeltec navigation software!
Thanks to everyone who made this qualifying trip possible. We raised just enough funds to get out of Charleston! Hopefully in the next few days some more good news will come in the mail at the office, and we can pay the last installment of the Around Alone entry fee (due July 1st!). All I can do now is sail safely and learn what I can from this trip. At least I'm eating well. Stay tuned tomorrow for an announcement on nutrition... Bruce and Ocean Planet
Zippin Along Ocean
Planet Qualifier Update June 28, 2002 Now we're havin fun. This is the first chance I've had to sail solo on the boat in good running condtions. We're zooming along even though I'm not pushing it and am sailing a bit undercanvassed. Right now we have a double reefed main and the working jib (which is relatively tiny on this boat). Had the small genniker up the second day out, but had a bad roll-up putting it away that evening. Looks like it needs to be modified with less roach (extra sail area in the back of the sail) in order to roll up better. I definitely want to have that sail dailed in before I use it again if I want to avoid another foredeck wrestling match. There is another sail I have yet to buy, a special reaching/running jib made from Doyle Sails new OceanWeave cloth, when we can afford it.....
Everthing seems to be working well, so I've been trying to stop worrying about everything and get some rest. There was a spell last night of 30kts where we were flying, but noise and motion was making it hard to sleep so I cranked up the stereo to partially drown out the wind and water. Not sure how much it helped sleep-wise, but at least I started to relax a little.....;-) Bruce
Ocean Planet Update June 29, 2002 Pos @ 1130UTC: 37 04.7N, 61 17.7W Course100mag~84true, @ 11-13 Yesterday and last night was a balancing act, trying to find the most comfortable yet fastest course between the semi-stationary front just to our NW and the higher pressure to our SE. Left (north) = more wind for a faster trip, but also adds risk of squalls and breaking something . . . Going fast helps us stay in the wind longer too, so with the small genniker retired for now, I'd put up our next lower gear, a light upwind Doyle D4 roller jib. I was feeling kinda guilty for taking it so easy with the working jib, anyway . . . Well, of course, not long after I got going nicely the wind decides to pick up (as it gets dark, naturally) and the tall dark clouds that had been about 40 miles to our left started encroaching on my territory. They also decided to illuminate themselves with lightning (which always gets my attention). I didn't need any more convincing to head for the foredeck and test out the efficiency of the custom rolling luff rope I made for this sail (a different setup than our working jib and gennikers). It works quite well, so we hunkered down with just the double reefed main keeping both jibs rolled up. I also headed up (more south) enough to keep the menacing clouds at bay. Now, if I was racing, my approach to this whole equation might be different, but we're not. The main idea is test some stuff out and get the qualifier done safely.
BTW, do you know what the most important tool for celestial navigation might be? No, it's not the sextant (the device used to measure the altitude of the sun). It is an ERASER!!, and I forgot to bring one. Which is a drag since I have to make my own plotting sheets (uh, forgot those too), to truly finish a few sun sights I did. Laugh all you want, it's not as bad as when I did my qualifier for the '96 singlehanded transpac on"Rumbleseat," when I forgot my sleeping bag and matches for the stove....:-) In any case, it is beautiful this morning; 20kts of wind, the clouds have retreated, and we are easily rolling along at 11 to 15kts with the working jib and main. Perhaps it is time for me to roller the bigger jib back out . . . a surefire way to encourage the wind to pick up. Bruce and Ocean Planet
On a High (pressure) Ocean Planet Update July 1, 2002 Much slower going now as we enter the western side of the Azores high. Funny how much things can change in a couple days, but that's what wonderful about the ocean. It's not exciting sailing, but it is BEAUTIFUL out here. Perhaps I could have gone further north to stay in the wind a little longer, but the high should squish south in a day or two and I should be fine. Right now I have the full main and light roller genoa up, Sam Bush on the stereo, and just finished a bath and general cleanup around here. I think that's why they put these big patches of light air in the middle of the ocean, so we can get organized again. Great idea! Finally saw some freighters last night, three at once, then they were gone. They must travel in schools around here.....;-) That's it for now, I feel a nap coming on....but maybe I'll put the kite up first... Bruce
Ocean Planet Update UTC Time: 02. July 2002 18:56 LAT: 39,01.65N LON: 045,45.47W Course: 90mag (72 true) @ 10-12kts, Wind SW at 12-15. Pressure 1025mb It's late in the afternoon here, but only 10 a.m. back at my home in Oakland, California. It's amazing how often, even in the middle of a sail change, my mind drifts to our backyard and the garden with Jeanie's carrots, onions, tomatoes, artichokes, oranges, lemons, and more. Sheesh, if I get homesick here in the North Atlantic, I'll be even worse in the Southern Ocean! Oh well, I think it makes me sail faster.....;-) Last night was fun as I saw a little sailboat just before dark. I did a few tacks (I was sailing upwind in light air at the time), to get closer and they called on the radio . . . in Spanish. We couldn't communicate very well, too bad, but I think they are headed for the Azores too. I was going to sail close by and see them in person, but it got dark just a little too soon. Just after the squall (more like a mild front, really) came by, there was a nice southerly wind shift and it was "Adios, Amigo" as Ocean Planet happily took off down the track. This is a treat after a day of messing with spinnakers and taking reefs in and out. The wind has held all night and so far today, which is great as I try to work north a bit to have a better angle to the islands. The "Azores high" is going to take hold, and we are likely to skid to a crawl again if I don't play it right. It has been good practice messing around with the SSB radio and weatherfax software again. Of course, one can just go online with the mini-m and download the faxes without any static from the NOAA website, but it costs about $20 a page with the slow (2.4k!) link at $3 a minute. The SSB will pay for itself soon! Oh, oh, rain squall coming, that's it for now. Bruce
Independence Day at Sea Ocean Planet Solo to the Azores Udate July 4, 2002 40 02N 37 10W 1235 UTC Not a bad feeling, to be at sea on an American Open 60, on Independence day. It is absolutely gorgeous out, not too hot and clear. Although the wind is light and the sailing isn't super thrilling, it is very satisfying to be able to slide along at 8+ knots in 6 kts of wind. Ocean Planet is fantastic to sail solo in these conditions, and what a ride it has been the past two years to get here.
The Azores port of Horta on the island of Faial is now 407 miles away which seems close after going 2000 so far from Charleston. I should be able to spend a couple days looking around there before a few supporting crew arrive on the 10th to help me sail to Newport. Now that I've gotten used to being on board myself it is going to mighty crowded with crew! The past couple days have been really easy; hardly ever touching the sheets, plenty of napping, and some good reading. I've been re-reading one of my favorite books of my youth, "The Dog Who Wouldn't Be" by Farley Mowat. I highly recommend it along with "The Boat Who Wouldn't Float," both are true stories and are hilarious. The freighters going by must be wondering where all the laughing is coming from.... I also recommend the Nexus instruments and the Doyle sails you'll see in the attached pics. That big roach main is SURE nice when it's light like today! Happy Fourth of July! Go Lance Armstrong! (In the Tour de France.) Bruce
July 5, 2002 Pos: 39 34N, 34 28W @ 12:28 GMT
Whew! After "parking" for some time last night and going into a scheduling panic (worried about meeting my crew in time, getting to Newport ASAP, etc), the wind is back, and I don't mean the "wind" that results from too much freeze-dried food....:-) I don't know if you have been following the weather, but there was a good chance I could have been swallowed up by an expanding Azores high. To avoid getting stuck, I have been working north and east the last few days, but still had to jibe. North again early this morning. It is strange to head 90 degrees from your destination at 2 kts, but if you can reach wind, that is the thing to do. Apparently the high is moving west a bit so that helped too. So at the moment we're back on track at 9-10 kts in 8 kts of wind. If you are wondering why I am so easily freaked out by any delay, check out the schedule we are facing in order to make the start of the Around Alone; (this is assuming we raise enough donations and/or sponsorship by August 1st).
This gives us only four weeks in Newport to complete the boat before August 23rd when I will attend my brother's wedding in Seattle. I know what your're thinking, but the race rules require that the boats be at the race village docks and be pretty much ready to go by August 27th. Sounds impossible? Does to me, too, but if you told me two years ago that we would build an Open 60 primarily from donations, and that I would sail it singlehanded to the Azores, and be qualified for the 2002 Around Alone....? I say we have a chance. In fact, while I was writing this I was even able to go up and put a reef in, so perhaps the wind is back for good. The race for the race is on. Now, will somebody please find us a big sponsor already.?.? Sailing fast and fast talking, Bruce + Ocean Planet
From Horta, Faial, in the Azores!
What an incredibly wonderful place! From the stunning green hills and volcanic mountains to the enchanting little town chock full of sailors from all over the world. I feel like this place has been waiting for me. Approaching in the late afternoon turning to dusk, I pushed Ocean Planet on a tight reach (just off of close hauled) at 10-11kts across a nearly smooth sea, trying to make it before it was too dark. This was achieved and I dropped the main, rolled up the jib, emptied the water ballast, and motored slowly towards the unknown harbor as I dashed in and out of the boat rigging my anchoring system. I assumed I would have to anchor outside the harbor since my charts showed the marina was not deep enough for our 15 ft. draft. The light was fading, but a marina bristling with sailboat masts and the smells, music, and energy of a bustling little town beckoned me closer. There was a particularly tall mast just past the main marina and I ventured in to see if it was a deep draft boat. She turned out to be Chippewa, a Swan 70 that we had raced against in Antigua! They assured me that the "water was fine" and we happily rafted up alongside where I was promptly greeted with a cold Corona by the friendly crew. The next few hours of sailing stories and discovering mutual acquaintances was a perfect ending to a wonderful trip. Today I checked in with the port captain, customs, and immigration, which turned into a delightfully long conversation with the port captain who exclaimed as he read our ship's documention: "Oakland? I just returned from there!" Turns out his soccer club was sponsored by the government to spend several weeks in California. He loved it and we talked of Yosemite, and the Golden Gate bridge for some time before some other sailors came in to register and we had to finish our business. The are sailors here from all the world over, and they are already streaming by to see Ocean Planet. Most of today was spent meeting people and showing the boat. Tomorrow I will tell you more of the flavor of Horta, a centuries old port and meeting place for the sailing travelers of this ocean planet, earth. July 11, 2002, Pos @ 2240gmt: 35 29N 30 23W. Course 245T at 9kts.
Off to Newport!
With a combination of reluctance and anticipation, we set off for Newport, RI, USA yesterday afternoon. This time I am not sailing solo, but have a crew of a few supporters including a very key one, my Mom! I am a bit apprehensive about subjecting her to the rigors of ocean sailing (my dad is the sailor), but she has been contributing to the cause and really wanted to go. The other crew are supporters Lydia Vargas of Valpraiso, Indiana, along with Edie Felix and Rich Jones of Portland, Oregon. After falling completely in love with Horta (even though I hardly left the marina), it was tough to leave so soon. I could spend forever there meeting sailors and sightseeing! But if I'm going to make the start of the Around Alone, Ocean Planet needs to get the boatyard, the sails to the Doyle loft, and a million other details that need to get done. Oh yeah, there's also the small detail of raising the money to pay for all of it....preparing for and doing the qualifying trip completely drained our funds. It is good that I have a crew now, for I will be spending a lot of time on the satellite e-mail looking for $!
There are two basic ways to sail to Newport from the Azores: North, over the top of Azores high which is the shortest but primarily upwind, and South under the high which is longer but easier. Not wanting to risk breakage (40kt winds are blowing on the north side) and create even more work to do, we are taking the southern route. We headed straight south out of Horta last night and are continuing to dive south to pick up some NE winds in the next couple days, I'll keep you posted. Please send us any ideas and/or sponsor leads (I have some helpers to follow up since I'm out here....), time is running out! Bruce, Ocean Planet & crew.
Ocean Planet Update July 13, 2002 Pos: 32 01N, 34 30W@ 1252gmt Late yesterday we finally got south enough to get some nice NE wind. Today we are happily gliding along with our big kite at 10kts. It just might be some karma payback for a good deed yesterday as we were motoring out of the Azores high.... Several times a day while at sea you will see some junk in the water. It is always a little disheartening to think that some people will toss plastic into the water where it will float forever, or worse, choke a turtle or bird. There's not much one can do, but yesterday we spotted a larger than normal pink spot a few hundred yards away and decided to investigate.
We discovered a big plastic fender with a bit of sea life growing on it. Supporting crew Edie Felix of Portland volunteered to fetch and clean it so I backed up slowly and she hoisted it up. Quite a little cosmopolitan society of creatures had attached themselves to it, tempting us to make a soup.....but we set the hordes of little crabs free and scraped off the barnacles. Nice fender! The wrong color for Ocean Planet, but hey, great price. Perhaps I can sell it in Newport to a nice mega yacht....;-) Under the Doyle big top (our masthead spinnaker),Bruce
0630 gmt, July 19 Pos: 34 39N, 57 38W Sorry to be late with the updates, but we've had a busy couple of days. Right now it is the middle of the night, and I just finished filling in for my Mom for her watch. I was up most of the day beforehand, but she is still seasick and needs a little help. Let's see, where did I leave off.....oh yes, we were about to cut through the big front that had established itself between us and Newport. Well it was quite exciting, with a full-on"white squalls" with 40+kt gusts and torrential rain. I was snoozing when the first one hit, which resulted in a torn working jib before I could get up on deck and furl it. So we are down to the staysail and light genoa for upwind work. I hit 17kts with a double reefed main only in the middle of the first squall. This afternoon we sailed clear of the front, which was spectacular to see, as there was this huge wall cloud structure that I had never seen before. As far as the eye could see, there were these walls or blocks of clouds hanging from an overcast complete with a few funnel clouds, and nearly clear sky on the other side! Of course now it is really light and we are going upwind with staysail and full main in 4-6kts of wind. I sure miss those downwind trade winds already, but it looks like at least one other front to play with before Newport. The other thing I miss is some sleep, that's where I'm headed now.....between floating on both watches, standing in for the sick crew, doing the sail changes, a lot of the cooking, and piles of emails organizing our arrival in Newport, I slept more on my singlehanded trip!! More soon.... Bruce, onboard chef and creator of "Pasta Planeta" July 20, 2002 Pos: 34 56N 62 04W at 1146gmt Last night we had a major gift with a moderate SE to S breeze allowing us to sail straight west almost all night. A big improvement over the motoring we did most of the day! But that's all we're gonna get, now we're headed back to a NW course and the SW wind is going to steadily build as we close in on the next front and the notorious Gulf Stream. I'm definitely learning a lot about Atlantic weather, way different than the eastern Pacific that I'm used to. Kinda fun really, until you blow out a sail or two.... Unlike the crew, I haven't been seasick (yet) on this trip, but I've come down with some kind of bug and have a splitting sinus headache that makes writing a real chore. So here's some pics from the past few days instead.....;-)
Bruce and Ocean Planet
Visitation 1200gmt July 22 (Monday morning) Just cleared the north wall of the Gulf Stream. This ocean"riverbank" is a notorious place for big squalls when fronts are near, but luckily we went through what was left of the front yesterday well south of the GS. So last night was a combo of motoring, beautiful light air reaching, and constantly checking the radar for the rain signatures which barely appeared. Other travelers in these parts are nervous, too. For the last day or so we have been followed by a little swallow who must be pretty lost. He (she) lands, preens, and hangs out for a while in different spots. Then back into the air, wheeling about looking for the bugs that one would think would be following such smelly humans...;-)
Actually, the crew has been cleaning up often, keeping my Spectra watermaker busy, which is no big deal. The watermaker draws such little power per gallon that I don't even turn the engine on to run it anymore. What a great unit. Nothing beats a few jugs of fresh water after a salty sail change... The boat is doing great, although my list of things to do in Newport is getting imposing. Going to need all the help we can get when we arrive tomorrow. More later, Bruce, Ocean Planet, crew, and aviary friends
Ocean Planet Arriving in Newport Important
Ocean Planet Update Today, Ocean Planet arrives in Newport, the host town for the Around Alone race headquarters.
It is now make or break time for fundraising. I have only one week to raise the funds to pay urgent existing bills, and to decide whether or not we can finance the preparation to start the Around Alone. There are several sails needed, a lot of rigging, mechanical, and electrical work to do for what is the longest race on earth. This is an extreme event, and yes, I'm terrified of the safety consequences of not being ready, and we won't be ready without the $ to do it. It is incredible that Ocean Planet has come this far with only donations (a heck of a lot of them!), supplier sponsors, and volunteer help. I began this project with the goal of representing a major sponsor or two, but amazingly we have found a way so far without one. There is no one more surprised than me to be on the East Coast with a custom Open 60, and to be the only American boat entered in Class One of the Around Alone. From the beginning we have had a great team, they and others are ready to go as soon as we get the funds to prepare. BUT A LOT HAS TO BE DONE, RIGHT AWAY!! Several projects on Ocean Planet that have been postponed until now, for financial and developmental (always test before finishing!) reasons. It has been an exhausting balancing act trying to keep the boat on schedule to be a viable entry, and at the same time sail her to Newport. I have used every trick possible, and I am proud to say the end result is a great boat, and several lifetimes worth of goodwill, friends, and supporters that I am determined not to let down. There are so many people to thank for getting us this far (take a look at our contributors page on the website!), but here are a few I really want to give special thanks to: Kevin and Shauna Flanigan, who created and gave us the Ocean Planet name, and the spirit of being at one with our oceans. Their contribution has been huge both spiritually and financially, and there is no way the boat would have ever hit the water in Portland without them. Philippe and Sonia Kahn (www.lee-kahn.com), who gave us a huge push early on. They are also committed to having a clean and safe planet for us to live on. The hundreds of other contributors to The Made in America Foundation. So many of you were already great friends, but amazingly so many more that I didn't know before. They have donated their hard earned dollars to create an all-American boat and dream. And a very special thanks to Adrien Fournier, who was a rigging client of mine when I came up with this crazy idea. He was the very first person to contribute financially and become personally involved to get the project going. He even came to Portland to work on the wiring and other endless projects himself. Thanks Adrien, it's all your fault! To all of our official supplier sponsors who have pitched in. In today's economic environment it may be considered risky to put product and/or $ into such an extreme dream, but if there is ANYTHING that will pull the U.S. out of any downturn, it is the spirit and drive to do something productive and difficult, because it simply IS WORTH DOING. That IS the American spirit and what has made our country great. People should take note of these brands and appreciate them sticking their necks out for me! And to Jeanie, my sweetheart, who knows that no matter how far away I sail, I will find my way home. So to all: Please don't let us fail now. We have worked so hard, but I cannot make the start of the Around Alone without some more help and an influx of cash..... Consider this: The Sept 15th start of the Around Alone from New York is exactly one year, to the day, after the attached photo was taken by Latitude 38 during our tribute sail for the 9/11 tragedy. We really should be at the start. Thanks
everyone! Ocean Planet Update August 2, 2002 Burnin' the midnight oil in the Mecca of American Yachting.
Here in the land of (past) America's cup glory, alongside the late Peter Blake's huge "SeaMaster," sits the only U.S. entry in class one of the Around Alone. She is getting a lot of attention from the yard (Newport Shipyard) and some great helpers of mine, but yours truly, the skipper, is in a bit of a daze. Sometimes I think it might be interesting to list all the individual ongoing projects in one of these updates, but each one is a long story in itself (possibly entertaining, depending on your point of view). My helpers assure me that I'm actually more organized than I feel, but the fact remains that we need to drum up a pile of dough to make the start. Right now I'm up in the boatyard's "crew lounge" hammering out e-mails and phone calls, which is nice since it's air conditioned in here. I need to focus on fundraising, but it is SO hard for me to stay away from the boat since I am such a mother hen! A lot of the boat is different and custom so I need to answer questions on the fly as everyone comes by or calls on my phone. When I can go by the boat, I accost onlookers, inform them about the coming race, myself, and shove donation forms in their hands. The reactions vary from total disinterest to enthusiasm. Now and then I get lucky and some have helped out. The time to help is NOW! Some supporters asked me whether we were going to do another "matching grant" effort. Time is so short that I don't have time to organize it, so all I can say is SEND MONEY NOW OR I WON'T MAKE THE START. SERIOUSLY, WE NEED ABOUT $95K IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS. So, only 95 people need to send in $1,000....;-)! A few folks that had been holding back came thru recently, so I keep telling myself it is possible. With all this stress, good thing I have been taking my Mariner's vitamins! Also a big help is the prototype "Prometan" energy and protein bars (see www.intensivenutrition.com). Key helpers, Bam Bam (aka Andrew Oleksiak) and Quinn Olsen have headed back to Charleston, SC, to other biz, but they will be back in a couple weeks. Agnes Powell (who usually works on better paying gigs than this one) is here for another week to help on PC, wiring, and other tasks. A lot has to be done by the boatyard here now, which is going to be expensive. Bam Bam, Quinn, and Agnes are working for next to nothing. Newport is rather touristy, but an atmosphere of sailing character is everywhere. For example, I was sitting in restaurant soon after our arrival when I looked on the wall next to me to see a drawing of the smiling caricatures of the Titans of buoy "yachting": Ted Turner, Ted Hood, Lowell North, Dennis Conner, etc. Day chartering is evidently booming here with rides on various craft like the replica of the famous schooner "America." Also here are countless restored 12 meters along with several of the mega yachts we saw in Antigua. Hopefully I can meet some of the owners....we need to shake some change out of this town! Big thanks for the hospitality of Billy & Joyce Black, who have been letting me crash at their lovely house and raid the fridge...;-) We'll have some of their pics up on the site soon.... Hangin'
at the sailing bars and playing guitar for tips! 08/03/2002
Dream Take a Lot of Work . . . Ocean Planet Update Aug 10, 2002 Nice progress is being made on our good ship Ocean Planet. Here is a brief rundown of what is underway to get ready:
Painting: The bottom has been sanded down and a coat of epoxy paint sprayed on. When that is sanded, we can then spray on the bottom paint. Most of the bottom will be blue except for the required (by the Open 60 class rules) fluorescent orange that will be on the keel, rudder, and 2sq meters of the hull. On the topsides we are laying out the hull numbers, a real drag as we have to shuffle some of our logos a bit. Another rule to be met is we have to paint a big spot or block on the deck of a bright color, and I am having trouble picking a good location... We have moved the mast step fwd 3/8" to rake the mast more and remounted the deck bearing housing to align with the new angle. I moved the step a 1/2" back in Calif. but didn't change the deck bearing then so it was definitely time to do it. Attached are pics of the step/bearing and the deck bearing, both were made by Jeff Daniels of Metropolis Metals in Alameda, CA, who also made all of our custom titanium stanchions and chainplates. The rudder bearing housing is ready to go back in and be set tighter in the hull, as there had been a bit of slop there. While we were at it we cleaned it up and put in new roller bearings (thanks to Phil at PYI for a new set!) to replace the ones I dropped all over when I dropped out the rudder....;-) The engine servicing is underway, the engine control panel has been moved to the vestibule (it was getting soaked in the cockpit), and I'm looking at a way to adjust the throttle at the engine without going outside for charging when it's nasty and cold. Still fiberglass work to do to plug the hole where the panel came out, but it will happen (always too slowly for me....)
Mast: Our awesome freestanding/rotating mast by Ted Van Dusen (http://www.composite-eng.com/) has been getting a lot of stares while it is lying down. It very simple but so different from regular masts that even experienced sailors scratch their heads while checking it out, which gives me great satisfaction... I predict that someday most boats will go to freestanding spars. Anyway, we will soon be installing new halyards and running rigging by Samson ropes, using the latest Validator SK and Warpspeed lines (http://www.samsonrope.com/home/recmarine/index.cfm) great stuff! I'm also working with Samson on a new low-twist rope for luff ropes on roller furling code zeros and gennikers. Sails: All of the sails are at various Doyle sail loft locations where they are rushing to fine tune them and repair anything they find. If the fundraising goes well, we really need to order a new working jib, reaching jib, and storm jib made from Doyle's new breakthrough durable cloth called"OceanWeave." Electrical: For the southern ocean we are installing a special compass (kind of like a gyrocompass, but different) that will work there. Configuring the wiring and NMEA data transferring systems has my brain in a knot, but thanks to the help from the folks at NEXUS (http://www.bruntonmarine.com/) I won't blow a mental fuse. Also going in is a new PC with an ATHLON 2200+(1800mgz) CPU, I'm really excited about this one, I can't wait! This kind of CPU performance is what I need with all the applications I run on the boat PC. (http://www.amd.com) Supplies: We have gone through all of our crud (tools, extra ropes, blah, ba-blah) and organized it as well as possible so that we can find stuff when we need it in the coming rush to stock the boat for the trip. We'll get the food later but I know I'll be bringing a big box of Prometan bars! (www.marinersvitamins.com) All of the above projects represent a fraction of all that is really going on, too much to list everything... I have been "dialing for dollars" which has been going pretty well. Last week we were a good $95k from being able to make the start, but now it is down to about $80k! Mostly it is our existing supporters that have been closing the gap, but I'm hoping that we will keep getting more attention here in Newport soon and raise some "new money." Next Tuesday I'm doing a talk at the New Bedford Yacht Club which is a really nice place with a great junior program. Almost reminds me of my home club, the good ol Encinal YC in Alameda... Special thanks to New Bedford YC member Victor Pinheiro (who I met in Horta in the Azores) for setting this up, and for loaning me his car while I'm here. Brave guy. You may be getting a call from me soon, so have those checks and credit cards ready....:-) WE CAN DO IT! It sure would be nice to get enough for the start ASAP so that I can actually prepare myself for the race. I should be studying weather software (like the 'Force 4' routing software that I have by David Brayshaw's 'Local Knowledge'), etc, etc. I like to be prepared and time is running out so the sooner the better. Goin
for it in Newport,
Ocean Planet Update August 15, 2002 She still floats!! What a relief to feel the boat in the water. Just the soundof the little harbor waves lapping at the transom makes me feel better. Of course, the boat is dirty and there's still a ton to do. But if we hurry wejust might get Ocean Planet weighed tomorrow, along with the mast (part of the safety rules process). Hopefully we will also step the mast tomorrow, so we do the 90 degree inclination test and the 20 degree heeling test. The "90" test is to provide data to calculate the "AVS" or Angle of Vanishing Stability which has to be the minimum of 125 degrees (or was it 127? Itdoesn't matter since OP's AVS is near 147!!). The "20" is really a test tomake sure that you don't heel more than 10 degrees each way with all of your water ballast and/or canting keel (depending on which you have) fully transferred to one side or the other. It's dark now and I was out driving and running errands for much of today so I'll try to send some pics tomorrow.... Yes, I'm a nervous wreck sometimes if you were wondering. LESS THAN A MONTH TO GO BEFORE THE START OF THE AROUND ALONE!!! Thanks to all of our supporters new and old! Only about $60k to go to make the start! Keep 'em coming!! I'm going for it on the boat prep, so if we run out of time before we raise the $ it's going to be a dicey situation with the bills .... But I have faith, ya just 'gotta believe' after having been so lucky so far. If you are near Newport this weekend come on by, we could use your help! Big thanks to Mariner's Vitamins for the Prometan bars, as they keep megoing when I don't have time to stop for a bigger meal. Actually its been a good time to test out the new formulation. Verdict: They work, and they taste great (seriously)! Try some out and don't forget to take your vitamins! (www.mariner'svitamins.com) More info and pics of the boat soon, I promise....hey, wait a sec... I just noticed a good shot and went outside to get it. I know you're not supposed to have the flag up at night but I'm glad I did now.... Bruce
Ocean Planet Around Alone Update August 22, 2002 Last week I hooked up with journalist, Tom Meade of the Providence Journal, who wrote this nice piece about Ocean Planet. He tells it like it is about the need to raise more $, but I want to officially say that one way or another I'm going to be on that starting line! Below is an article that came out yesterday in the Providence Journal: "It's all hands on deck so he won't fall short Bruce Schwab is relying on friends and family to support his single-handed adventure in next month's Around Alone race. 08/20/2002 BY TOM MEADE Journal Sports Writer "Dialing for dollars and playing it by ear." Bruce Schwab NEWPORT -- Most of the skippers in the Around Alone race are counting on large corporate sponsors to fund their race around the world, but Bruce Schwab is relying on friends and family to support his single-handed adventure. The California sailor has raised about $1.4 million, spent about $1.6 million, and says he still is "dialing for dollars" to finance his participation in the race, which begins Sept. 12. Schwab, 42, is the only American in the big-boat division of the race. His shore crew consists of volunteers devoting their vacation time to preparing his racing yacht, Ocean Planet, for the race. On the return trip from his qualifying passage from the United States to the Azores, he sailed with two contributors from the Pacific Northwest and two of his most stalwart supporters -- his cousin Lydia Vargas and his mother Anitia Jimenez. "She stood all of her watches except one, when she was really seasick," Schwab said of his mother, "but she was always out there, the whole time. . . . I think she was surprised by how much movement there always is. There are times when you can't stand up, you're always being thrown about. I think that surprised her. On the other hand, now she has a feel for how I approach things, and what I know, and how tied in I am with this boat, so she probably feels that I'm safer now." Seven skippers remain registered for the race, officially starting Sept. 15 in New York City. They are scheduled to sail 50- and 60-footers. George Stricker retired from the Venturer class, crippled by insurmountable problems with his boat, said race spokeswoman Mary Ambler. In the 50-foot class, Bob Adams, Adam Lambert and Viktor Yazykov had to retire because they were unable to raise enough money to compete. In one of his frequent reports to contributors, last Saturday, Schwab said he still was $85,000 short of making the start. The skipper has issued an open invitation for everyone to visit Ocean Planet at the Newport Shipyard, take a tour, and perhaps leave a donation behind. The boat was designed and built for four years of racing around the world, first in the Around Alone, a stage race, and later in the 2003-2004 Vendee-Globe non-stop race around the world. Tom Wylie designed the boat and Schooner Creek Boat Works of Portland, Ore. completed construction on April 5, 2001. British single-handed star Ellen MacArthur christened the boat. Ocean Planet is narrower than other Open 60s, designed to be fast in a variety of conditions. The boat may be quicker getting to the Doldrums than its competition because it's better sailing upwind. It's also fast on the run, but probably will be slower when it's reaching, Schwab concedes. The keel blade is made of welded steel with a removable bulb. The upper part of the keel comes through the hull and out the deck like a daggerboard. The mast is an unstayed, round, rotating braided carbon-fiber tube fitted into titanium butt collars. There are about five feet of the mast's base below deck, supporting about 80 feet of mast above the deck. Lying on saw horses at the shipyard last week, the mast was attracting a lot of attention. The sailplan is a fractional rig with the jibs on free luff roller furlers, allowing for very fast sail changes and easy spinnaker jibing with no headstay, Schwab said. Runners provide headstay tension and rig stabilization. The water-ballast system uses only two tanks. Below, wood veneers give the boat a warmer feel than many other ocean racers with their sparse, black caverns. Schwab's navigation station has a race-car seat that swivels, allowing him to face the windward side of the boat and use either of two computer screens. When MacArthur was christening Ocean Planet, she teased Schwab about having installed a "sissy-ish toilet instead of using a bucket, like the rest of us," but Schwab is a stickler about environmental responsibility and the ocean. Inside the sail locker, the toilet has a pull-down safety bar, like ones on roller-coaster cars. Between the companionway and the cockpit is a vestibule that allows the skipper to go in and out without allowing the weather to get inside. Behind the boat is a foundation Schwab spawned to get American youngsters excited about short-handed adventure sailing This week, crews were sanding the bottom of Ocean Planet, preparing it for the flurescent-orange paint job race organizers require, and a friend was working on the rigging as Schwab worked the telephone, "dialing for dollars." The skipper is scraping. In Newport, he is staying at the home of marine photographer Billy Black, and he's driving a truck lent by Victor Pinheiro, a member of the New Bedford Yacht Club whom Schwab met in the Azores. He's counting on a last-minute surge in contributions to get him to the starting line in New York, and is even offering a berth in the prologue race to anyone who contributes $10,000 or more. In one message to supporters, Schwab said he might have to play his guitar for tips in sailors' bars. As the start of the race comes closer and preparations become more frenzied, Schwab appears to be calm. "I'm playing it by ear," he says. Bruce Schwab
How
to REALLY prepare Ocean Planet Update Workin' Away in Newport, August 20, 2002 I just recieved some great advice from my friend, Tim Kent, who is on his way back from the Azores on "Everest Horizontal." He is also entered in the Around Alone, in Class 2 (40-50 ft). Anyway, this is going to be my new training schedule to get ready for the race.....;-) 1. Sleep on the shelf in your closet. 2. Replace the closet door with a curtain. 3. Six hours after you go to sleep, have your wife/girlfriend open the curtain, shine a million candlepower flashlight in your eyes, activate an air horn, and yell "Roger Blough to the sailboat approaching my starboard bow!" 4. Run into the kitchen and sweep all the pots and pans onto the floor after having previously covered the floor with BB's. Maneauver as fast as possible between the cupboards trying to put it all away. Must also be done at night, with clenched flashlight in teeth. 5. Tether yourself to a four wheeler, jump into a swimming pool, and have your wife/girlfriend drive laps around it until it runs out of fuel (the 4 wheeler, that is.) Should be be done at night, in at least third gear, while wearing strobe and blowing whistle. 6. Every time there's a thunderstorm, go sit in a wobbly rocking chair and rock as hard as you can until you're nauseous. For full effect, wear the dog's hidden fence electric collar, and go out to the mailbox and back 7. Put lube oil in your humidifier instead of water and set it to high. 8. Leave a lawnmower running in your living room for several hours per day to simulate recharging. 9. Have the paperboy give you a haircut. 10. Store up garbage in the other side of your bathtub. 11. Wake up every night at midnight and have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on stale bread, if anything. Cold soup, or canned ravioli are optional. 12. Set your alarm clock to go off at random times during the night. When it goes off, jump out of bed, get dressed as fast as you can, and run out into the yard, adjust the tension on your clothsline. 13. Once a month take every major appliance completely apart and then put them back together. Do this in the dark with a flashlight clenched in you teeth, and your wife/girlfriend occasionally dropping a plate onto the floor behind you. 14. Use 24 scoops of coffee per pot and allow it to sit for 5 or 6 hours before drinking. 15. Install a fluorescent light on the bottom of your coffee table and lie under it to read books. 16. Raise the threshold and lower the sills on your doorways so that you either trip of hit your head every time you pass through one of them. 17. Lockwire the lugnuts on your car. 18. Tether yourself to the hood of your car, and use your hacksaw to cut off the luggage rack, while your wife/girlfriend drives down a two track, at night, in the rain. That ought to keep me busy for a while! Thanks Tim, and hurry up to Newport! Bruce
Ocean Planet Around Alone Update Sept 1, 2002
As the other boats entered in the Around Alone arrive with their busy crews, I'm feeling quite alone even though there is a constant stream of visitors. It is intimidating to watch 4-5 experienced pros scurry about on the hot Euro 60's looking after the scores of details it takes to get a boat ready to race around the world. What remains to be done on Ocean Planet is within reason, but there is no way to prepare too much. I'm a total "worry wart" about preparation, and I want to finish up soon enough to take a breather before the start of the race. To start exhausted would not be a good idea. With the Sept 15th start in the busy New York Harbor, there won't be any sleep for a while until well offshore...and I don't think I'll sleep much in the prologue. There's no one here to help me right now, so HELP WANTED! After flying back from Seattle last weekend, I was so busy for a few days that I spaced out about taking my vitamins and sure enough, now I've gotten a lousy cold and feel like hell. Oops, I should know better and now is not a good time to have my head feeling like a water balloon. Yuk! But even though I feel like sleeping, I couldn't resist going over to greet Simone Bianchetti who arrived today on "Tiscali," and Bernard Stamm who came in yesterday on "Armor Lux." Tiscali is the ex-Whirlpool that was raced by Catherine Chabaud in the last Vendee. Also here is "Garnier," which is the ex-"Aquitane Innovations" that Yves Parlier raced in the last Vendee, heroically finishing with a rebuilt mast that he repaired himself while at anchor. Due to arrive tonight is Emma Richards on "Pindar" (the ex-"Gartmore"), who will be a big attraction. Everyone is wondering when Graham Dalton will show up with Hexagon/HSBC, the newest boat entered in the race. In fact, they may be quite late and there is the possibility of a time penalty. This issue is a hot topic of discussion here and also whether technically Dalton finished his qualifier before Sept 1st......The politics in the America's Cup has nothing on the Around Alone these days! Anyway, I hope he gets here quick as I want to check out the boat.....;-)
These boats are awesome machines and will be tough to race competitively against with the budget we've had (or NOT had, I should say....) to work with. But Ocean Planet will have her moments, and I'm really here to learn and gain the experience I need for the 2004 Vendee Globe, our long term goal. Of course, one of the BIGGEST reasons to do any of this is the wonderful characters that you meet along the way. The other skippers, their support team members, the guys in the yard, the race organizers, and those who have raced (or tried to and didn't finish) are the most interesting folks you can imagine. Last night was a BIG party at former AA (BOC back then) competitor Tony Lush's house in Jamestown. So many cool people were there! I didn't feel well and was going to go home early, but I couldn't pass up the chance to meet and talk to as many as I could. Then my friend Joe Colpitt handed me his awesome carbon fiber guitar......I might as well tell the truth, we played and sang music in Tony's living room until late.... then it was up at 5 a.m. to get going on the boat and rigging. No wonder I'm tired! Bruce
Liability Insurance Threatens Around Alone! Ocean
Planet Update Sept 7, 2002 Trouble, big time! After a frantic worldwide search by many insurance brokers on behalf of the race organization and the competitors, the only policy that has been found for the required $3,000,000 liability insurance has a premium of nearly $17,000!! This is for each of the six boats still needing the coverage. We are one of those boat! The race rules require that each yacht carries the $3M liability insurance irregardless of whether or not they have "Hull" insurance on the boats themselves. Insurance for the boats (in my case, Ocean Planet) have not been found at all except through IMOCA "sponsor" (ha!) MMA of France who offers "Hull" coverage with a premium of 17% of the boat value. This means the premium for Ocean Planet would be around $170,000 for the race!! This is a dicey situation for me and the other five boats that need to cough up the $17k for just the liability insurance only, as that amount seriously detracts from the budgets for supplies, sails, preparation, etc. THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A LIABILITY CLAIM ARISING FROM ANY RACING ACCIDENT DURING THE 20 YEARS OF THE AROUND ALONE, yet due to the post 9-11 tightening ofinsurance underwriting, the relatively small marine coverage market has almost totally dried up. I will do whatever I have to, to be on the starting line, but I really hate to borrow more money just to pay this extreme premium. If there was ever a time to pitch in (I know, you've heard THIS before...) this is it. Or if you know anyone that can knock some sense into some insurance underwriters, there are six boats who will buy insurance from them if they can offer a reasonable deal. And insurance on the boats would be nice too!!!! Oh, by the way, Ocean Planet is ALMOST ready to rock.... Working at it! Bruce
Final Week and Prologue Start Info! Ocean Planet / Around Alone Update Sept. 8, 2002 Below is the latest press release and schedule from the Around Alone race organizing team. (FYI, still working on the insurance issue! Can ANYONE find the racers lower liability only rates? No race liability claims in the 20 year history of the race!) 8 September 2002 Newport,
RI - Media Alert MONDAY 9th SEPT, 11am – 3pm, Newport Shipyard: Medical / Safety Briefing The Around Alone skippers will all go through a medical and safety briefing before the start, parts of which are open for the media. Come and find out how a skipper deals with vital medical procedures when they are the only crew onboard! Contact Mary Ambler, Media Manager on email: mambler@clipper-ventures.com or telephone on cell: (401) 524 3513 to register your interest for more details. MONDAY 9th SEPT, 6 – 8pm, Clarke Cook House: Media Party! The Clarke Cook House in Newport, RI is hosting a special party for media and the Around Alone teams in honor of the race. This will be held in the Grille Room, where there will be an open bar and hors d’oeuvres provided. We welcome you to come and join the Around Alone community in a relaxed atmosphere, and meet all the skippers for one of their last nights on land. Please RSVP by 9th September to Mary Ambler, Media Manager, by email: mambler@clipper-ventures.com or telephone on cell: (401) 524 3513 TUESDAY 10th SEPT, 11 – 11.45am, Newport Shipyard: Around Alone Press Conference & Photocall After the mandatory Skippers’ briefing prior to the Prologue Race, all the skippers will gather for one time only at a pre-race Press Conference and Photocall. Figures from past Around Alone/BOC Challenge races will also be present, and two unique trophies for the race will be presented for the first time in public. This is your final opportunity to ask questions to all the competitors directly and catch them on film altogether for one time only! TUESDAY 10th SEPT, 12pm, Newport Shipyard: HSBC Photocall There will be a photo call following an announcement on Monday, September 9, of a major development in the HSBC Global Education Challenge, the official online education program of Around Alone 2002-2003. The program is spearheaded by HSBC-sponsored round-the-world sailor Graham Dalton, who is competing in Class 1 with his 60-foot solo racer Hexagon. 40 students from Bain Middle School are visiting the Around Alone fleet at the Newport Shipyard on Tuesday and will be asking skippers their questions during the press conference. TUESDAY 10th SEPT, 7pm onwards, Newport Shipyard: Welcome to Skippers and Pre-Race Send Off Dinner The Around Alone has named Newport, RI the official home port for the 2002-03 Race. The Rhode Island State Yachting Committee and the Newport Shipyard are hosting a special occasion for you to meet and greet the skippers before they set off on their round the world adventure. A Champagne Social will be followed by an aromatic and succulent clambake with a cash bar. Cost of attendance is $100 per person, and as seating is limited and it is invitation only please RSVP quickly via Email: muffin@aqis.com THURSDAY 12th SEPT, 8 – 10.30am, The Mooring Restaurant, Sayer’s Wharf (on the Show site): Newport International Boat Show Press Breakfast & Private Boat Show Preview The Producers of the Newport International Boat Show, sponsors of the Around Alone Prologue Race Award, cordially invite members of the press to a Continental Breakfast and Private Boat Show Preview from 8am on Thursday 12th September, the morning before the Around Alone fleet set out from Newport, RI. Located just next to the Newport Shipyard, there will be time for journalists to get in a sneak preview of the Show before heading out to watch the Prologue Race start at 4pm in the Harbor. Please RSVP before 10th September: (401) 846 1115 Or to Mary Ambler, Media Manager, by email: mambler@clipper-ventures.com or telephone on cell: (401) 524 3513 THURSDAY 12th SEPT, 4pm – off Fort Adams: The Around Alone Prologue Race! Starting
procedure - The starting line is between the special flagpole flying
a yellow flag on the west side of the Fort and # 11 Green Bell buoy
off the Dumplings. The Newport Artillery Company is providing the starting cannon and Governor Lincoln Almond will be the Honorary Starter of the race. Race information will be broadcast on Ch 72 VHF. A US Coast Guard patrol will be present. Watch the start – For anyone going out on their own boats, a series of small orange marker buoys will be laid off the east side of the channel and spectator boats are encouraged to keep inside these marks to permit the competitors a clear channel for the start. Excellent viewing of the race start will be at Fort Adams State Park in Newport and Fort Wetherill in Jamestown. Additional information about the race can be obtained by calling 619 - 0555 Media Boats – if you haven’t already registered for a media boat, but you are still interested in coming out to watch the start, please put your request in to Mary Ambler, Media Manager, as we will be finalising numbers and co-ordinating this on Monday 9th September. The Official International Race Guide is also available in the media centre and free for journalists. Team 1 Newport are selling Official Around Alone Race Merchandise in the Newport Shipyard and online at: www.team1newport.com Don’t forget to come down to the Cox Business Services Media Centre at the Newport Shipyard. Media going to the Shipyard need to ensure they register there first, and bring your business card or press pass with you for ID. There are several computers installed and plenty of workstations to use, thanks to Cox Business Services. NOTES: For
more information on Around Alone 2002-03, contact: Around Alone 2002-03 will gather in Newport, Rhode Island (USA), and depart for a crewed prologue race to New York on 12th September 2002. The start will be given on Sunday 15th September 2002 from New York. The race takes the fleet from New York to Torbay (England), then Cape Town (South Africa), Tauranga (New Zealand) and Salvador de Bahia (Brasil), before returning to Newport in April 2003. The official entry list of competitors consists of 13 competitors from 10 different nationalities; 7 in Class I and 6 in Class II. Visit the official web site: http://www.aroundalone.com
Ocean Planet is made possible by donations to The Made in America Foundation, and also by our suppliers: |
AMD | Doyle
Sailmakers | Forespar
Composites | Infomatrix
| www.lee-kahn.com
|Nobeltec | MAS
Epoxies | |
