Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutesMidnight Friday night and just about to come off of a 4 hour watch when the winds really started to build and the sails were becoming overpowered. I stayed up to help Mike and Greg make some sail adjustments so that we could sail smoothly through the night. Best laid plans and all that… We…
Eat, sleep, sail, repeat
Estimated Reading Time: < 1 minuteBeing in the cruising division of the Pac Cup we are not racing. Well, not officially. However there were squeals of delight yesterday when we heard we’d moved up from 7th to 4th. So, imagine our excitement this morning when we found we are in 2nd place. Rapture is very definitely a cruising boat and…
May the race begin
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutesTuesday, 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 night before departure
Estimated Reading Time: < 1 minuteSunday, July 10th 2016 The Bay Area couldn’t have been more beautiful this evening. As we checked off any final to-do’s and organized our personal belongings aboard Rapture, it was one of those rare, balmy nights with clear skies and a soft breeze. The sound of people all around squeezing every last drop out of…
Whales and otters and turtles, oh my!
Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutesWe woke to a gloriously sunny morning in Capitola. After a hearty breakfast, we departed south for Stillwater Cove off of the 18th hole at Pebble Beach. Crossing vast Monterey Bay under engine power we were treated to an exhibition of wildlife that could rival any day out at the aquarium; otters, seals, dolphins and…
A seductive sail south
Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutesHaving successfully stolen my husband from me for the PacCup in 2014, Greg and Susan were now trying to tempt me to join them for the 2016 race. Picking a long weekend in June, we made our plans and dropped the anchor at Cone Rock just as the sun was setting on beautiful clear night. Cone…
A day in the clouds
Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutesThe Belmar just keeps on delivering. We had a fantastic breakfast, the tastiest eggs I’ve had in years, scrummy bacon, fresh pineapple, homemade granola drizzled with local honey and the best banana cake ever…what a feast to set us up for the day! We were on the first tour of the day at Monteverde Cloud…
Luxury in the clouds
Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutesNo sign of the volcano this morning, we were lucky to see what we did yesterday. We had an adventurous 3 hour drive to Monteverde on mostly unpaved roads. It was bone shaking but not nearly as bad as we’d been warned. Mike had a hotel in mind (The Belmar) so we rocked up on…
Arenal reveals itself
Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutesWe opened the curtains this morning and saw a little more of the volcano…it’s teasing us! We drove to the park and spent a few hours hiking the trails. We saw lava flows, amazingly huge fig trees and our first coati which we were very excited about, little did we know that within 24 hours…
Thermal baths and creatures of the night
Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutesBack to the dirt field and corrugated shed that is Drakes Bay airport. The scenic 45 minute flight back to San Jose was a trip highlight in itself, it felt like quite the adventure flying over the rainforest in a little prop plane enjoying the stunning views below. Back in San Jose, we picked up…