May the race begin

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Tuesday, July 12th 2016

Up and about early to secure the jack lines, remove the anchor and to use a land loo (life’s little luxuries so many take for granted!)

There was a sense of calm among the crew of Rapture and rightfully so, a lot of hard work has gone into getting organized for the PacCup. Any oversights at this point can’t be blamed on the lack of prep. However, silly things can happen, for example I realized at 7 am that I’d left my credit card and ID in the pocket of the shorts I’d been wearing yesterday and that while they are safely stowed in my laundry basket, it won’t help me buy a Mai Tai in Hawaii…although my chances of getting carded these days are pretty slim!

One of the competing yachts in the fleet had 2 crew of its 6 crew drop out 24 hours before the start. Thank goodness our people are committed and a real team. It never occurred to me that someone might actually have a change of heart but here was proof that it can happen.

Another yacht has a 9 year old girl on its crew, now that’s the way to spend your summer vacation! I bet she’ll have some stories to tell when she goes back to school.

We left the dock at Berkeley on time and headed to the St Francis Yacht Club for our 10:40 am start. The San Francisco waterfront looked absolutely stunning this morning and having sailed on the bay many times, the feeling today was very very different. To be part of the fleet jostling around the starting buoy was both exciting and emotional and to know that we are going to be out on the ocean with these other yachts for the next few weeks yet we would lose visual sight of them within a few hours is hard to get your head around. The ocean is just so….vast!

3…2…1 and we were off. We were not at the front of the fleet but being at the back was a magnificent sight and a great photo opportunity.

Stan had given Mary some flowers to throw overboard as we went under the Gate, a superstition which is supposed to help the yacht find its way back home. A lovely gesture but I’m glad Rapture also has good navigation tools, just in case the flowers don’t work out.

We were given a phenomenal send off from numerous whales just after heading under the Golden Gate Bridge; a spouting spectacle, an abundance of breaching and a teasing of tail flips. There must have been a dozen or so out there. The last one we saw swam right up alongside Rapture. I’m sure I heard him say “Bon voyage”

A couple of hours out and we started our watch schedule. 4 hours on then 8 hours off. Sounds like a doddle but that’s not necessarily the case; it can take 30 minutes to get geared up before your watch, then afterwards another 30 to get out of your gear, re-hydrate, eat some food, vomit with seasickness, sit for 10 minutes to see if you’re going to vomit again, then when you think you’re in the clear, crawl to your bunk whilst being thrown into walls and doors (I have found that door handles cause particularly viscous bruises) to get as much sleep as possible before you start again. Welcome to the fun race to Hawaii!

That being said, the seasickness should hopefully end soon. Greg and Mary haven’t been afflicted. Susan has a little, but keeps on going with a smile on her face. I’ve been better than anticipated but it’s still not pleasant. Poor Mike has suffered the most, he wins the award for being a one man vomiting machine!

Stars and stripes sailor
Stars and stripes sailor

I had my first watch from 3 pm to 7 pm. The conditions were spectacular. At the helm Rapture felt like a stallion galloping through the waves. Those below deck likened it more to a bucking bronco! There was still occasional container ship traffic and we were on a collision course with Polar Discovery, a freighter considerably bigger than us, but Greg got on the radio and we each changed our course so that we crossed paths with a very safe 3 mile buffer.

After my watch I put a lasagne in the oven to cook dinner for everyone. It smelled great and tasted great but not so good when it came back up. I should have had dried crackers tonight!

I haven’t been able to function well below deck without feeling sick and disoriented so just putting a lasagne in the oven is a process; go below and turn the oven on. go back above deck for some air, go below and fish the lasagne out of the fridge, go back above deck for some air, go below and put the lasagna in the oven, go above deck for some air….you get the picture – what at home would take 2 minutes, on a moving boat takes 15!

I managed to get some sleep in between my day watch and night watch and before I knew it my 2:30 am alarm was telling me to get dressed and get on the helm. I had a great night watch; pitch black dark, stunning stars, a phosphorescent steam behind the boat.

It was much warmer than I had anticipated and it wasn’t too uncomfortable when the waves dumped on me a few times. Rapture felt like she was flying, she’s been doing a pretty consistent 7 knots and we’ve had 20-25kt winds. Mother Nature is doing her best for us. Hopefully just a couple more days of being bashed around and then we can change our heading and sail down wind which will be more comfortable for everyone.

Got word at the end of my watch that one of the yachts lost its mast and rigging during the night. Devastating for them but thank goodness it happened when they were only a day out and have some hope of getting help. A sobering thought to take to my bunk and I’m glad to say that the only casualty on Rapture’s first day is a broken toilet seat!!

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