Mark, day 10: "I hate it when this happens. This is how it ALWAYS goes. Just when you start to like something, it tells you that you are in *@#% Ghana!"
(Referring to hand held Garmin that, interestingly, placed the boat in the Gulf of Ghana instead of the Pacific)
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Little known fact:
Friends
Friday, July 25, 2014
The Byodo-In Temple
The meaning of aloha
ALO HA: means "the breath of life."
Aloha is a way of living and treating each other with love and respect. Its deep meaning starts by teaching ourselves to love our own beings first and afterwards to spread the love to others.
Aloha is sending and receiving a positive energy. Aloha is living in harmony. When you live the Spirit of Aloha, you create positive feelings and thoughts, which are never gone. They exist in space, multiply and spread over to others.
sent from my mobile phone.
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Monday, July 21, 2014
PAc Cup: Sail Her Like You Stole Her
However, I think we stole Mr. Toad's wild ride. It is squally, rainy, windy, and the seas are confused. But this horse is burning back to the barn. We are tired of being beaten up by the weather and cranky spinnakers, and tired of being wet. Water is now dripping through the companionway hatch onto our bunk. We are in sit or crawl mode. Helming is more important than it's ever been. We are on a mission.
We look forward to those mai tais at Kaneohe yacht Club, hugging our family and friends that will greet us there, a much needed shower, and to sleeping in a bed that is dry and not constantly moving. I, in particular, am looking forward to NOT seeing Willem Dafoe (in Klaus Zissou attire) and Hunter S. Thompson in my dreams.
Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night.
Team War Pony
(for the record, I currently hold the speed record of 15.40 knots (with the new A2))
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We look forward to those mai tais at Kaneohe yacht Club, hugging our family and friends that will greet us there, a much needed shower, and to sleeping in a bed that is dry and not constantly moving. I, in particular, am looking forward to NOT seeing Willem Dafoe (in Klaus Zissou attire) and Hunter S. Thompson in my dreams.
Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night.
Team War Pony
(for the record, I currently hold the speed record of 15.40 knots (with the new A2))
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Sunday, July 20, 2014
Pacific Cup: Strange Days/Are We Ourselves?
We have had several days of 1 hour on/1 hour off and shared night watches when things became more difficult than normal. Sleep deprivation plays with your mind. Our brains try to make sense of the endless horizon by making clouds look like the SF cityfront or add masthead lights that look just like we are parked off Saba Rock (BVI) Torben and Judy. Spinnaker sheets look like eels, shadows like people.
Being underway at sea, the boat is quite noisy (some more than ohters). You can hear the ocean rushing by the hull, the bang of a cross wave, the creaking of the mast, the hum of the rudder, and the squeak of the tiller (and sadly, at times, the slatting of the sails when there is no wind). We both have mentioned that we thought someone was talking or laughing or that a foreign radio station was playing. Clearly this is not the case. Or is it??
Helming at night with a cloud covered sky ( or a massive black squall), you can become disoriented and steer in the wrong direction. Sometimes, it feels as if you are going in circles. Again, this is not the case (except for my intentional windhole donut many days back).
At 0400, waking up for watch after maybe one hour of sleep, you forget where you are and just want to stay in bed. It takes a few minutes to get our brains in gear and get back to work. The trippy dreams don't help. I'm sure Freud would have a field day with mine.
At night, when you do see an object, such as a fishing boat, it takes awhile to really assess what it is. Are the lights actually there? How many boats? How big? Maybe there really is a Mid-Pacific Starbuck's barge (LOL)? We heard that Rim Pac is currently underway (think: Battleship), so we are especially keen not be to shot out of the sea.
As a side note, we still haven't showered. It's a good thing there isn't smell-o-vision.
The boat is relatively dry inside(from my Team California days, I have specialist bilge skills). Outside is another story. War Pony is all cockpit and when you are planing, quite a firehose of spray pours over the bow. I previously have said that sailing in the Southern ocean is like sailing through Hell's washing machine - but sailing War Pony is like sailing INSIDE Hell's washing machine.
Tonight for dinner will be Backpacker's Pantry Jerk Chicken with rice. I keep telling myself that everything tastes better at sea (except for cabbage)....
Nearly there, Team War Pony
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Being underway at sea, the boat is quite noisy (some more than ohters). You can hear the ocean rushing by the hull, the bang of a cross wave, the creaking of the mast, the hum of the rudder, and the squeak of the tiller (and sadly, at times, the slatting of the sails when there is no wind). We both have mentioned that we thought someone was talking or laughing or that a foreign radio station was playing. Clearly this is not the case. Or is it??
Helming at night with a cloud covered sky ( or a massive black squall), you can become disoriented and steer in the wrong direction. Sometimes, it feels as if you are going in circles. Again, this is not the case (except for my intentional windhole donut many days back).
At 0400, waking up for watch after maybe one hour of sleep, you forget where you are and just want to stay in bed. It takes a few minutes to get our brains in gear and get back to work. The trippy dreams don't help. I'm sure Freud would have a field day with mine.
At night, when you do see an object, such as a fishing boat, it takes awhile to really assess what it is. Are the lights actually there? How many boats? How big? Maybe there really is a Mid-Pacific Starbuck's barge (LOL)? We heard that Rim Pac is currently underway (think: Battleship), so we are especially keen not be to shot out of the sea.
As a side note, we still haven't showered. It's a good thing there isn't smell-o-vision.
The boat is relatively dry inside(from my Team California days, I have specialist bilge skills). Outside is another story. War Pony is all cockpit and when you are planing, quite a firehose of spray pours over the bow. I previously have said that sailing in the Southern ocean is like sailing through Hell's washing machine - but sailing War Pony is like sailing INSIDE Hell's washing machine.
Tonight for dinner will be Backpacker's Pantry Jerk Chicken with rice. I keep telling myself that everything tastes better at sea (except for cabbage)....
Nearly there, Team War Pony
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Friday, July 18, 2014
Not Included
Things that we DO NOT have on board:
head
galley
mattress
chef
floorboards
teak/nautical couch pillows/brass lamps
plates
heating/air con
dry clothes
fresh meals {freeze dried menu)
cabbage (Shana's rule)
tv
facebook
timesheets
ProLaw milestones
shower
mirror
makeup
hairbrush/comb
a change of clothes
beer ( :( )
sleep
insomnia
an R5 spinnaker that is not permanently attached to the bottom of our headstay
the Kardashians
@$$hole$ (see above)
anything cotton
politics
religion
racism
sexism
hate
Other than the beer, it's not a bad place to be!
----------
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head
galley
mattress
chef
floorboards
teak/nautical couch pillows/brass lamps
plates
heating/air con
dry clothes
fresh meals {freeze dried menu)
cabbage (Shana's rule)
tv
timesheets
ProLaw milestones
shower
mirror
makeup
hairbrush/comb
a change of clothes
beer ( :( )
sleep
insomnia
an R5 spinnaker that is not permanently attached to the bottom of our headstay
the Kardashians
@$$hole$ (see above)
anything cotton
politics
religion
racism
sexism
hate
Other than the beer, it's not a bad place to be!
----------
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Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Days 7 & 8 digging deep
We put up the kite (R5) a few days ago and really made some great ground, hitting speeds up to 15 knots and some serious sustained planing. THe boat hasn't been dry since (wet boatitis!). Sadly, yesterday, the R5 gift wrapped itself around the headstay so badly, it had to be put into an induced coma and bagged on the foredeck. After hours of attempting to untangle the wicked mess, it was simply lashed down and the jib top (thank you Jeff Thorpe at Quantum) went up.
The entire process was a bit soul crushing. The past 6 months of crossfit and "making deposits to the bank of soul" helped me through this ordeal(thank you Mauricio and Leslie at Cypher). It is still trying out here, the winds are higher than forecasted by Expedition and the sea state is quite lively. Night watches are long and filled with squall after squall.
Helming 12 hours a day on thw same tack day after day is going to make my left arm bigger than my right - like a bus driver with one tanned arm! My hands are blistered from the heaving handed helm. Mark, is gritty and hasn't complained at all. He is one tough guy.
Sleep deprivation is also taking its toll. Our short term memories are failing. We have to read things twice, we can't remember what we did yesterday. I have heard that sleep deprivation is a method of torture used by military forces. I believe it.
Thank you so much to Ben and Lucie for our race start gift and to Alex and Alex for our half way party surprises. The nav station is decorated with your messages. We feel loved and supported.
Peace and Love, Team Warpony
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The entire process was a bit soul crushing. The past 6 months of crossfit and "making deposits to the bank of soul" helped me through this ordeal(thank you Mauricio and Leslie at Cypher). It is still trying out here, the winds are higher than forecasted by Expedition and the sea state is quite lively. Night watches are long and filled with squall after squall.
Helming 12 hours a day on thw same tack day after day is going to make my left arm bigger than my right - like a bus driver with one tanned arm! My hands are blistered from the heaving handed helm. Mark, is gritty and hasn't complained at all. He is one tough guy.
Sleep deprivation is also taking its toll. Our short term memories are failing. We have to read things twice, we can't remember what we did yesterday. I have heard that sleep deprivation is a method of torture used by military forces. I believe it.
Thank you so much to Ben and Lucie for our race start gift and to Alex and Alex for our half way party surprises. The nav station is decorated with your messages. We feel loved and supported.
Peace and Love, Team Warpony
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Sunday, July 13, 2014
day 6
Good news! We finally found solid wind and are not sailing toward the Galapagos/Japan. I sure hope the race tracker didn't capture my "donut tacks" - the winds were so light at one point, I had to do a few donuts to get on the proper tack and go west. Two container ships did witness said donuts (they call us WAFIs for a reason).
Sadly, we are seeing even more garbage. In any direction, you can see plastic. So sad. So wrong. We reported to NOAA the location of a giant piece of wood - a trip killer.
Last night's sunset was unbelievable. The clouds looked Raphaelian and the sea turned a reddish purple - like black currant jam. The stars were out for a bit with a huge moon.
Our boat speed is up and so is our spinnaker. This morning Mark woke me up well before my watch to get the kite up - like a boy on Christmas morning staring at his presents - or, more like poking a bear. I am NOT a morning person. Once the kite was up, the fun began. We are moving along and having fun driving this crazy bus. It was so hot today, I drove in my underwear (with lifejacket and safety lead).
We have accepted the watch system with limited sleep but the dreams are simply crazy. As tired as I am, I just don't want to have any more crazy dreams. I am sure there is a book about sleep deprivation and insanity!
As we are on separate watches, Mark and I share a bunk and a sleeping bag. The bunk is a pipe berth on ropes and pulleys to gimble it so that you don't fall out when the boat is heeled one way or another. The sleeping bag (from my Clipper RTW days) has two layers of removable fleece and a waterproof exterior. This is my first ocean race with an actual pillow (instead of my rolled up midlayer) - on this trip, good sleep is a necessity. To get to said bunk, we have to do sort of a limbo to wedge into it. People of Tim McDonough or Gary Boell stature would not like it very much. The bunk is conveniently located under the helmsman in the cockpit so that the on watch can just knock irritatingly to wake up the off watch.
Thanks again to Alex, we are loving the CDs you gave us.
Peace and Love, Team WarPony
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Sadly, we are seeing even more garbage. In any direction, you can see plastic. So sad. So wrong. We reported to NOAA the location of a giant piece of wood - a trip killer.
Last night's sunset was unbelievable. The clouds looked Raphaelian and the sea turned a reddish purple - like black currant jam. The stars were out for a bit with a huge moon.
Our boat speed is up and so is our spinnaker. This morning Mark woke me up well before my watch to get the kite up - like a boy on Christmas morning staring at his presents - or, more like poking a bear. I am NOT a morning person. Once the kite was up, the fun began. We are moving along and having fun driving this crazy bus. It was so hot today, I drove in my underwear (with lifejacket and safety lead).
We have accepted the watch system with limited sleep but the dreams are simply crazy. As tired as I am, I just don't want to have any more crazy dreams. I am sure there is a book about sleep deprivation and insanity!
As we are on separate watches, Mark and I share a bunk and a sleeping bag. The bunk is a pipe berth on ropes and pulleys to gimble it so that you don't fall out when the boat is heeled one way or another. The sleeping bag (from my Clipper RTW days) has two layers of removable fleece and a waterproof exterior. This is my first ocean race with an actual pillow (instead of my rolled up midlayer) - on this trip, good sleep is a necessity. To get to said bunk, we have to do sort of a limbo to wedge into it. People of Tim McDonough or Gary Boell stature would not like it very much. The bunk is conveniently located under the helmsman in the cockpit so that the on watch can just knock irritatingly to wake up the off watch.
Thanks again to Alex, we are loving the CDs you gave us.
Peace and Love, Team WarPony
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Saturday, July 12, 2014
WAR PONY Pacific Cup Days 3-5
Whew! We've been busy trimming, helming, and trimming to get out of the wind holes and into the breeze. Things are warming up and out clothes are finally drying out. The sea is an amazing deep blue and the clouds are clearing.
We've seen a few albatross (Sooty?) and a fin whale followed for about 30 minutes the other day (will post photos later). We had a few blue sail jellyfish hitch a ride on our foredeck. Sadly, there is a lot of plastic out here. MOst of it looks like fishing balls (rubber, one glass),broken up fishing crates, and plastic bottles. I even saw two little tires.
Mark is really great at fixing things and sorting issues. He tinkers when the wind is light (as the Vallarta Race Deceptionistas might remember...). We are still eating our vacuseal dinners heated via jet boil - a great system, but freeze dried meals are in our near future. We don't mind, it's so beautiful out here.
The boat is still relatively dry and the boat smells are probably 2 out of 10. Fair warning to the Ag inspectors upon our arrival!
We are acclimatizing to the 2 on- 2 off watch system but we are both having crazy dreams. No worries, we haven't gone Crowhurst yet and we still love each other. We are so tired, the pipe berth seems comfortable!
Peace and Love, Shana and MArk
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We've seen a few albatross (Sooty?) and a fin whale followed for about 30 minutes the other day (will post photos later). We had a few blue sail jellyfish hitch a ride on our foredeck. Sadly, there is a lot of plastic out here. MOst of it looks like fishing balls (rubber, one glass),broken up fishing crates, and plastic bottles. I even saw two little tires.
Mark is really great at fixing things and sorting issues. He tinkers when the wind is light (as the Vallarta Race Deceptionistas might remember...). We are still eating our vacuseal dinners heated via jet boil - a great system, but freeze dried meals are in our near future. We don't mind, it's so beautiful out here.
The boat is still relatively dry and the boat smells are probably 2 out of 10. Fair warning to the Ag inspectors upon our arrival!
We are acclimatizing to the 2 on- 2 off watch system but we are both having crazy dreams. No worries, we haven't gone Crowhurst yet and we still love each other. We are so tired, the pipe berth seems comfortable!
Peace and Love, Shana and MArk
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Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Pacific Cup Days1 and 2
First, we would like to thank all of friends and family for their support, well wishes, cookies, and half way party presents. And a special thanks to Alex and Melinda. The solitude and lots of time to think without distractions makes you realize (again) how important friends and family are.
We had a blazing start with 20 + knots out the G8 only to find it super light outside. We expected initial light conditions, but not like this - and the forecast doesn't look to improve any time soon. The actual wind direction is also not what was forecasted - which hopefully explains our current position and track. We aren't alone - we can see about 8 other boats close to us, which is rare for this stage in the race. It is damp, overcast, and drizzly, but we've seen fin and humpback whales, dolphins, a few sea birds (no albatross, Ian), and lots of little jellies with a "sail". It is also fairly dry down below. The jetboil (galley) and bucket (head) are working quite well.
These first few days are always rough. We are acclimatizing to life 24-7 bouncing about at an angle, damp clothes, lack of sleep, heavy foulies and safety gear. Our muscles ache and our heads are foggy. THese are the also first memories to be forgotten once we hit the violet blue waters, the starry nights, and the warm tradewinds.
Peace Out, Shana and Mark, Team War Pony
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We had a blazing start with 20 + knots out the G8 only to find it super light outside. We expected initial light conditions, but not like this - and the forecast doesn't look to improve any time soon. The actual wind direction is also not what was forecasted - which hopefully explains our current position and track. We aren't alone - we can see about 8 other boats close to us, which is rare for this stage in the race. It is damp, overcast, and drizzly, but we've seen fin and humpback whales, dolphins, a few sea birds (no albatross, Ian), and lots of little jellies with a "sail". It is also fairly dry down below. The jetboil (galley) and bucket (head) are working quite well.
These first few days are always rough. We are acclimatizing to life 24-7 bouncing about at an angle, damp clothes, lack of sleep, heavy foulies and safety gear. Our muscles ache and our heads are foggy. THese are the also first memories to be forgotten once we hit the violet blue waters, the starry nights, and the warm tradewinds.
Peace Out, Shana and Mark, Team War Pony
----------
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Monday, July 7, 2014
Friday, July 4, 2014
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Tesing 7/3/14
Test 7/3/14
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