Tales from the deck of Tortuga
Sunday June 25th 
It was a misty morning at the start of the day.
I had finished most all of my last to do projects about 9pm the previous night. The last things to take care of after the swirl of the emergency haul out (oh yeah that’s right, I had to haul the boat on Friday and splashed Saturday morning to fix my max prop that came loose and made it to the skippers meeting just in time!) were to finish installing the boom pieces and lines for the 3rd reef, get the dingy secured and remove the last minute things off the boat I didn’t need. The saying that getting to the starting line is the hardest part of this race couldn’t be more true!
The Admiral Dani and Sailor the dog we there in the morning as well as Jim from W32 Resolve and his sister came by to wish me well at the dock at Pier 39 along with Chris from the Pork Chop Express and his wife Charlotte who are my dock neighbors so we also got to wish each other a safe passage.
I wasn’t sure which head sail to start with as the forecast was for lighter breeze outside the gate. I’m so glad I didn’t try to fly a larger jib! It was breeze on getting out the gate. I had a terrible start and got caught in the counter flood current that had started to flow. I was trying to start with just the staysail to make it easy to tack back and forth as need, but then realized I had to get the jib up to get enough speed to make it across! The other 2 Westsails pulled away from me and made it under the bridge before me. The nice consolation were the pics Dani sent me of my friends from onshore who came out to GGYC and friends that came to see me off from on the water and the day before at RYC, THANK YOU!
It was a washing machine ride out with the last of the ebb pushing us out under the bridge and past point Bonita doing almost 9 knots! It lighted up a bit and I knew the breeze would eventually pick up so I was torn about expending the energy to put up a bigger headsail or not. I decided to leave as it was and made some decent progress in the lighter breeze and nap. I could see about 8 other boats just to the north of me so that was good. The breeze did fill in and we were bounding along at 6.5 knots later in the afternoon. it was a bouncy night with lots of shipping traffic and so I was eventually down to a double reefed main with the working jib and staysail.
A pesto margarita pizza from the oven with fresh basil topped off the evening!
Team Tortuga
Tales from the deck of Tortuga
Tuesday June 27th
Got some decent rest on and off throughout the night. Woke up early to light conditions and shook out the reefs in the main. Sleeping conditions are great with the port settee on the low side and a great place to nestle in. Some things are money well spent. ie the worlds most expensive sleeping bag from Ocean sleepwear. They make them for the extreme survival ocean races like Vendee type conditions etc. A nice thick fleece liner with an amazing outer shell. Doesn’t seem to mind if you’re wet. You’re still warm and cozy. I call mine The Revenant. If you’ve seen the movie, you understand.
Made some blueberry pancakes to kick off the day and then switched out to my super yankee and we’ve been flying along all day a 6.5/7 knots in 12/14 knots. Could use some more sun to top off the house bank. The new AP is a bit power hungry. Got the folding solar panels out on deck for goal zero battery that I use to charge all the devices etc. Hope I’m sailing down south enough of the high pressure zone. Can actually be out on deck today without getting soaked. A welcome change and I think we are out of the “windy reach”. I set up the Monitor Windvane to start steering this afternoon to give the AP a break and conserve more battery power. If the wind backs a bit more tomorrow I will fly the code 808.
Looks flat up ahead. Hope I don’t sail over the edge…
⛵️Team Tortuga
~~~_/)~~~
6/27/23
23:09
Tales from the deck of Tortuga
Monday June 26th
A rolly night dodging lots of shipping traffic. There are quite a few big container ships out just marking time and don’t answer their radios on 16 or 13 so you’ve got to try and pass safety while bashing along in the big seas and breeze. Working jib, staysail and double reefed main are the combo today. Tried to get some naps on and off keeping a watch. I do a deck walk (more like a crawl) in the am and before the sun goes down to check nothing is working loose of chafed. All good so far. Some of the wave trains are off the starboard bow and give a great smack and showering of sea across the whole deck. Amazing the force they have. Had a good breakfast burrito scramble with fresh spinach, tomato and cheddar. The sun came out for a few hours which was nice to feel the warmth and charge the batteries up. Have not seen any other boats in the fleet and AIS is not showing anything either. Hard to gage everyone’s position with the daily update since the pings are not all the same times. My emails to the RC email alias’s are bouncing from my IGO so there was a little swirl on my Pol check in but have that sorted now with Dave. If I was doing a LongPac race I would have hit the turn around mark today! Heard about Circe. My heart goes out to Tony. I can only imagine how hard that was to have to turn around after having to abandon the PacCup last year too. After the blood, sweat, tears and boat bucks that it takes to do this. No easy decision I am sure. Hope he is safe and back in the bay now.
Eggplant Parmesan and garlic bread on the menu for dinner tonight. Always fun trying to meal prep at 30deg of heel!
No sea monsters sighted yet.
⛵️Team Tortuga
~~~_/)~~~
Tales from the deck of Tortuga
Wednesday June 28th 12:25
It was cloudy with mist on and off through the night with the Wind gusting up into the teens. I had put a reef in the main to keep the weather helm to a minimum. I was still doing 6.5 with the reef. The house bank was down to 12.2 so I decided to run the engine in neutral for 45min before going to “sleep” (which consists of a series of 30 to 45min naps) That engine run took the house up to 12.7 so I called that good for the night. With the cloud coverage it’s not enough sun to top off the house bank and I don’t want to run it down too low. Before running the engine I discovered a coolant leak underneath the heat exchanger. I hope it was just the loose clamp I found. Lost about 1/2 cup of coolant in the small bilge under the engine. Man, a good mechanic is hard to find! who did such a shotty job?! Oh, wait. that was me.
I left the clean up of that for later in the day. Heard a VHF response from a container ship in the am, assuming he was responding to another racer, I saw him pass behind me about 3mi with the AIS alarm blaring. I find comfort in that annoying sound.
Looking at the daily gribs it seems like I was about to sail into a small high pressure zone in the am so I fell off course quite a bit and it seems like I’ve avoided that high pressure area and was still moving at 5.5/6knts. Took the opportunity to clean up the engine room mess and add more coolant with the mellower point of sail before hardening up again once past the last the small high pressure bit. Ive seen a few more container ships throughout the day with no name on the AIS ID. I thought I was out of most of the shipping lines but that’s not the case. I’ve been about to put up the Asymmetrical spinnaker a few times today, got the sheets ready and run and pulled the sail from the V berth but each time the wind starts blowing agin and we start doing 6.5+ knots and would be overpowered by it. There has been a parade of mini squalls all day where the wind puffs up and it gets cloudy and misty as it passes over which is helping my speed. Tortuga has been doing 150 mile+ days which is nice and my fastest time so far doing this race at this point. The other times I’ve sailed the race there was a wind hole for a full day on the day of the start off shore and another I sailed into a high pressure zone with no wind for a few days. I just need to keep the boat moving and not break anything except my own record for the crossing.
A mushroom Pizza is in the oven for dinner tonight. A pacific crossing menu that incudes Pizza multiple times a week is highly recommended! A pizza within a pizza sounds like a good idea = Pizza-ucken. Need to work on the name a bit…
⛵️Team Tortuga
~~~_/)~~~
Tales from the deck of Tortuga
Thursday June 29th
Its been super light winds all night/morning. At first light I got the Asymmetrical spinnaker up and going and we’ve been ghosting along about 3-5 knots. Treated myself to a toasted egg, avocado and cheese sourdough breakfast sandwich after getting the spinnaker all sorted. Last time that sail was used was on my friend Marks boat for the PacCup last year. We tested it for his boat but never ended up using it on the race. I thought I had made it around and out of the high pressure zone but no luck. I even noticed the barometer went from 1016 to 1020 when I was making my log entries this morning. I wonder how the other boats are fairing or if they made it more south. From what I can tell on the daily position report it sounds like there are a few boats much farther south than me. Probably in better winds I would imagine. Spent the afternoon with the Asym up and gliding along 3-4 knots. If the gribs I’m pulling are right, I’m right along then southern edge of the high pressure blob and should have some more breeze this afternoon. Kicking myself for not giving it more margin and heading more south. If this wasn’t a race, it’s down right pleasant! I don’t have to do parkour to make it across the cabin, I can just walk. What a concept! Took the opportunity to wash the dishes and was able to open the sink drain and it would actually drain. The Asym has been flying all day. The zone of the micro squalls the last few days is no longer. Not sure if that’s because I’m skirting the high or not. Will keep the kite up into the night if the breeze stays this light. I’ve got my mental fire drill all worked out if I need to douse it quickly. By 1700 we were back to doing 5-6knts right on course. 6 or 7 would be better, but compared to earlier today, I’ll take it! Really nice steady sun this afternoon for a few hours and it topped up all the batteries nicely. Got a couple emails from other racers and it’s nice to see how everyone is doing now we are in a more pleasant phase of the race. The last few hours before sunset it got really light and foggy. Was sailing along at 2-3 knots inside a cloud. The AP was barley doing any steering and it was eerily quite. The wind picked up after the “sun” went down and I was back to 5/6 knots. I could see a moon trying to peek through the clouds giving the sky a pale glow. With the slight wind increase the spin halyard started its squeak again and the sound reminded me of Sailor the Dog telling me it’s his dinner time.
Mermaids? None so far…
⛵️Team Tortuga
~~~_/)~~~
Tales from the deck of Tortuga
Friday June 30th
WWDKD? What would Dave King do? For those friends who don’t know Dave, he is the Westsail racing guru, having sailed and raced to Hawaii more times than I can count. His wisdom and words have been with me this trip with his main advice was, “if you’re not sailing at 7.4 knots, trim your sails”. well I’ve been doing plenty of that and trying to keep the boat speed up in the light air. I know the other Westsails are ahead of me at this point from the daily update, but Im still trying to do the Westsail family proud keep the boat moving as best I can and at least beat my previous best time doing the race of 17 days.
The Asymmetrical spinnaker has been flying for 24 hours now. Will likely be another at least another 24hours before the wind starts backing too much for that sail. Then will need to decide on flying the symmetrical spinnaker based on winds and squall frequency. No sun yet this am. Another grey day so far. Pulled another GRIB report and I really hope I’m out of the light winds now although there looks like another possible spot late morning for a few hours, looks too big of an area to try and skirt around. Headed down a bit more south. We shall see. Was a great afternoon and the sun came out for quite a few hours. The little squalls have become bigger and the one around 1900 decided I shouldn’t be flying the asym anymore. It was a good 36 hour run with that sail up. The squall didn’t look like much on the horizon but it was more windy that the others had been on the leading edge and we started rounded it up pretty quick. jumped into quick douse plan action and fell off 40deg, released the sheet and went forward to sock the sail. that worked well and got it all back on board with minimal drama. set the super yankee and staysail for the night and we are still bounding along at 6.5 knots. the sea state has definitely changed and there is a swell off the starboard quarter now rolling under Tortuga. The overall wind speed has increased to about 15knots too, so dare I say we are out of the lighter winds. I put the big clear drop board back in the companionway just in case we get a sneaker in the cockpit.
Had the first spectacular sunset of the trip so far along with a moon rise at the same time over my other shoulder.
Feeling like the planets are aligned…
⛵️Team Tortuga
~~~_/)~~~
Tales from the deck of Tortuga
Saturday July 1st
Really really frustrating morning, the wind shut down around 0200 – 0600. We were ghosting along around 3 knots for most of that time rolling around in the swell. The squall type weather affected the forecast of 15 knots I think. there wasn’t one particular squall, just a large patch of light winds, drizzle and rolly seas. Was felling really down about my position but got a note from Elizabeth Ann early morning and Gary said they were in the same weather pattern. so I felt a little better about not falling even farther behind, but not sure how much it slowed their lead. Had an actual visible sunrise this morning with a rainbow to cheer me up.
The last of the blueberries are gone, with a batch of blueberry pancakes to start the weekend off right. I bought super green avocados and haven’t been able to eat more than one so far. They’ll be great next week I bet. Only a few bananas left and the oranges and apples are holding strong. Have not started using the lemons yet so I think I’ll be able to avoid any scurvy outbreaks onboard. The wind filled in by late morning and started backing more, so I got the staysail down and poled out the super yankee to port. It’s Day 7 of being on a starboard tack. Been cruising along in the mid 6ks all day. Get bursts into the low 7s with the squalls passing over. Still too breezy for me to fly the symmetrical spinnaker comfortably. There was a period where it lighten up and I thought about it but will see what tomorrow brings. I can cruise at 6.5-7 with no fire drills and ride the squalls passing over with the current sail config. That seems to be working right now. I’ve been seeing lots of batches of old fishing gear and netting going past me today. Disheartening to see and certainly I would not want to get caught up in one of those floating islands of debris.
I noticed my bilge pump going off before taking my evening nap. I investigated further and found the starboard cockpit drain thru hull weeping around its base. There is no seacock or valve it’s just a straight thru hull that the cockpit drain hose attaches too and goes overboard just above the waterline (when not moving around). I tried tightening the hose clamps but seems like it’s weeping at the base. Possible the inner retaining nut is loose or something else is the issue with the thru hull piece. Not sure. I mixed up some splash zone did some boat yoga to reach it and put it in the affected area. It’s curing now and seems to have stopped the water. Will try a second application once the first is cured.
“If it was easy everyone would be doing it”
⛵️Team Tortuga
~~~_/)~~~
Tales from the deck of Tortuga
Sunday July 2nd
Was a rolly night and I started my day by checking out the splash zone epoxy repair on the thru hull. I think my first applications were not generous enough with it so mixed a 3rd batch and covered the whole area. Will check on it it a few hours after it cures more. A really beautiful morning although I spent it pulling myself in and out the engine compartment laying across the top of the engine while not trying to damage anything to reach the thru hull and apply the epoxy. Was trying to summon the energy to get the spinnaker back up and then the wind filled in and we are doing 7knts again.
Had our first squall downpour for a few minutes where it was raining hard. Nice to clean the decks and the sails off from the crusty salt build up. Right before that downpour hit, the wind went super light so were kind of thrashing around in the swells with no wind in the sails. Surprised how cool the temperature dropped while it passed over us. It’s been continuously raining most of the day now. Checked the epoxy repair and it seems to have mostly stopped leaking for now. The true test will be when at some point I’ll need to be on a port tack and that thru hull is completely submerged. For good measure I added a 4th layer in the evening so I really hope it holds.
I thought I had been resting up enough on the trip so far, but today it really hit me how tired I am from all the months of race prep and the crazy last minute haul out etc. Took a lot of naps today and kept the boat moving as best I could in the lighter airs.
It’s been a full week underway now from Sunday to Sunday. Should hit the half way mark tomorrow.
It was overcast and rainy all day but had a nice sunset. Thought I saw some small birds going in and out of the waves but the realized it was flying fish!
⛵️Team Tortuga
~~~_/)~~~
Tales from the deck of Tortuga
Monday July 3rd
We hit the 1/2 mark at 0630 SF time this am! Was nice to get to that milestone.
The wind got very light and shifty in the night so it was hard to find a point of sail that wasn’t thrashing around in he swells.
Finally found a good point of sail that was a bit higher than I wanted to head but it mellowed out things and I figured it would shift back. Finally got a few hours of sleep in the early morning. Today was supposed to be in a zone of about 12-14 knots of breeze but it was more like 5-8knots for hours this morning/early afternoon. Rolling around like that is hard on morale and the gear. Just trying to stay positive knowing my position in the race standings can’t be good unless this crazy light air stuff is spread through the course. Was getting ready to set the spin with enough breeze and then in a matter of 10min it went from 10 knots to 20 and we were barreling along at 7.5knts of boat speed. Had that boost for a few hours. it’s going to be a long last half of the race if the wind continues to be so much less than forecast.
Had my 1/2 way mark celebration with the presents, cards and pictures Dani sent along with me and some ice cream. The freezer isn’t really all that frozen since I’ve been shutting the refrigerator off at night to save power, with all the cloud cover we aren’t getting a full charge everyday. It was super mushy ice cream, but delicious nonetheless!
⛵️Team Tortuga
~~~_/)~~~
Tales from the deck of Tortuga
Tuesday July 4th
Happy Birthday America! Was another super light shifty wind to the start of the day. Was just trying to find a combination of course and sails to minimize the rolling in the swells. The wind finally filled in and we were 5.5/6 knots all day. I was feeling pretty lethargic and couldn’t motivate to get the spinnaker up. I smashed my knee pretty good a few days ago tripping on deck and it was sore, but then doing the thru hull repair I had to do some crazy boat yoga to get all the way over the engine and into the stern area. The only way to support myself and have my hands free, was to put all my weigh on my right knee. After doing that for a 4th time, I’d really done something to my knee cap. It started swelling and getting red. In the picture, its looking better than 2 days ago when it was a big red blob. Been icing throughout the day the last few days and taking it easy and that’s helping keep the swelling down. Maybe that’s why I’m feeling so run down. Anyway, It’s hard to move around right now so my moves getting around a bouncing boat are very calculated. Today was spent being mellow and icing my knee. Hoping the wind holds and we don’t start the day again tomorrow bobbing around for a few hours before the wind fills in, which seems to be the pattern the last few days. Still mostly clouds today but actually had a sunset for a moment.
Day 10 and still not shorts weather! I want my money back!
⛵️Team Tortuga
~~~_/)~~~
Wednesday July 5th
Another light wind start to the day. Looking at the weather forecast it’s going to be pretty light today and tomorrow. Usually on this part of the race it’s blowing in the high teens and gusting into the 20s and you’re basically holding on for the ride. That would have been fantastic this year but not the case. Feeling a bit better today although my knee is still pretty swollen and it’s a challenge to move around. If it continues to be on the lighter side maybe I’ll try to get the kite back up. Would be so much faster, but it’s a lot of foredeck work get the all spinnaker gear up and launch with limited mobility etc. Made contact today with the medical outfit the PacCup uses for medical advice at sea. Just to be safe on the safe side. The knee is definitely painful, but the swelling is more alarming, it’s also swollen off to the side of my calf, not where I injured it. The feedback from the Dr is I’m doing all the right things, icing it elevating it taking ibuprofen and trying to keep weight off it it. They had me draw a circle around the red swollen area with a sharpie to see what the progress is the next 12/24 hours. Great idea! So Taking it easy again and been doing a comfortable 5.5 knots pretty much all day. Great for cruising, terrible for racing. The ring that the topping lift and down haul attach to on the whisker pole decided today was its last day. Heard the pole drop and some chaos. Got some dyneema lashing and made a new loop and back in business. Was sunny pretty much all day and the batteries got over 13 for the first time the whole trip. Ended the day with a gorgeous sunset. As the sun went down I could see a series of squalls running mostly parallel with us all stacking up and making one larger black squall mass, getting bigger and darker and more ominous. I dropped the head sail to slow us down a little to try and let is pass and after about 20 min I also headed up about 40 deg for 30 min to let it pass. I didn’t want to take any chances of getting caught up in that one. It looked nasty! There was a large white light off in the distance to port. Assuming it was a commercial shipping operation of some sort. Didn’t see anything on AIS but with the amount of light, assumed it was still a good 5-10 miles away. Eventful way to end the uneventful day.
Singlehanded sailing takes a village. Dani helping coordinate coms with the Drs and my friend Jim sourcing all the parts I need for repairs HI, just another example of the team efforts. There is no “I” in Team Tortuga
⛵️Team Tortuga
~~~_/)~~~
Tales from the deck of Tortuga
Thursday July 6th
The most uncomfortably night of the trip so far. Near impossible to get any sleep with the crazy rolling motion side to side with the counter sea state colliding. Did slightly doze off for a bit to be shaken awake around 0530 with the sails slating terribly and doing about 2 knots. Could sort of make out the squall behind me headed our way and made sense being on the leading edge no wind zone. Calm before the storm! Well not really, but had a nice burst of speed for an hour and was doing 7.5knots. First time the chart plotter showed less than 100 hours to finish. 99 hours of miles on the wall, 99 hours of miles, take one downpour, pass it around, 98 hours of miles on the wall… Now THAT is a song I can get behind! If only that was a consistent boat speed. Back to light winds all morning and eeking out 5.5 knots. The swelling on my knee has gone down a bit, still swollen on the side of my leg though. It’s turning a dark red hue. Really can’t put much weight on it. Keeping off of it as much as I can. More light winds all day. Really hoping the gribs are right and we start getting into wind in the mid to high teens soon. Had a view to an amazing sunset tonight and a pesto penne with fresh spinach, tomatoes and olives for dinner.
The Kraken has not been sighted as of yet.
⛵️Team Tortuga
~~~_/)~~~
Tales from the deck of Tortuga
Friday July 7th
I’m no longer awarding the most uncomfortable night of the trip, as I had thought the previous was it, but now all the remaining nights want to win it? Nope. Sorry. No longer part of the Tortuga awards program, so you can all stop vying for it! I will say, there was a real moment of zen hand steering around 0300 doing a smooth 7.7 knots of boat speed as a squall was passing over us and the boat felt perfectly balanced while the rain and winds whipped past for about an hour. The winds, dare I say, have picked up a little this later this afternoon in more the 15 knot rage which is keeping us closer to a steady 6 knots of boat speed and which is bringing us that time to finish read out on the chart plotter so much closer! When we occasionally jump up to 6.5/6.7 of boat speed it actually becomes less than 72 hours! Thats only 3 more days of singing sea shanties, getting rum rations and carving exquisite scrimshaw art. Because of course that’s what I’ve been doing this whole time!
The red sharpie perimeter drawn on my leg has worked and kept the swelling from my knee from spreading farther. Every medical kit should have one of these magic markers. Still lots of icing, elevation and taking vitamin I. Had another great sunset, the boat was doing 6/6.5 with winds the high teens into the wee hours.
We are getting there. slowly, but we are getting there.
⛵️Team Tortuga
~~~_/)~~~
Tales from the deck of Tortuga
Saturday July 8th
The squalls continued throughout the night helping keep the boat speed up. Had just popped my head up the companion way to check the glowing sunrise happening behind us. No sooner had I done that AIS alarm went off. There was a boat headed our way on our starboard quarter. There was no name displayed for the AIS ID, but saw it doing about 9 knots so assumed it was a Transpac fleet boat. Hailed them on the VHF radio and sure enough it was SV Juno from the transpac fleet. Had a nice chat with them. The asked me what my wind speed instruments were reading. I said “light in the morning and windy in the afternoon.” “Oh, you’re a real Sailor” was the reply” I don’t have a wind speed indicator regardless. Haha. They passed me astern by about 2 mi doing 10knots under spin. Light air and rolly seas most of the day. Frustrating knowing that it’s normally much windier on this part of the course and I should have been making a lot better progress. The swelling of my knee cap has gone down but not the swelling of my leg around the injury. The Dr‘s recommend I start taking antibiotics today just in case something else is awry with fluid build up etc. Danielle had sent them a list of all my meds on board so I had what was needed.
Was hoping for a Mai Tai Monday arrival but will be more like a Tiki Time Tuesday one at this point…
⛵️Team Tortuga
~~~_/)~~~
Sunday July 9th
Had a clear sky for a few twinkling hours with loads of constellations visible before the light pollution of the moon rise. Steady breeze throughout the night with another beautiful sunrise. Had a few intense squalls in the morning with some rain. I’ve been able to keep my sails up and just drive the boat down as it passes over us. Saw. 8.4knots of boat speed for a bit as one was passing over. The swelling of my knee and the part of my leg that puffed up next to the injury has gone down a little. Hoping the antibiotics are doing their job. The wind was strong in the mid to high teens today until about 3pm and then it got into one of its light zone moods of 10-12 knots with rolling cross swells. Super frustrating watching the time to finish diminish when you go from sailing at 7 knots to 5 knots. It’s almost a day longer.
Made up a batch of pesto gnocchi for dinner as well as the next few meals.
I’ve been using both Pelagic autopilot actuators switching between “Cheech and Chong” as they have become affectionately named. Cheech is the standard size Pelagic that a I’ve been using at night, because it takes less power but he likes to talk and talk and is always telling stories. Chong is the heavy unit (heavy man, heavy) I installed it before this trip. He’s a lot less chatter, but you’ve got to keep an eye on him and his course sometimes gets cloudy. He’s tripped on the breaker a few times, but I’ve got on a new higher amp one coming to the islands. Far out man!…
⛵️Team Tortuga
~~~_/)~~~