A couple of days, a couple of Mai Tais

Synopsis, -- Hale’s perspective

OK – sitting in Lahaina after consuming more Mai Tais in the last few days than is prudent and looking back at things.

This race was struggle that was engaged in and defeated by a group of individuals whose input at various levels continuously conquered everything that was thrown up in our collective faces in an attempt to defeat us in spirit and purpose.

1 week prior to the start of the race, Turicum had no keel, no mast and more importantly no interior framing structure.
The people at Straits Marine worked tirelessly with the help of some incredibly skilled craftsmen they were able to bring in to assemble Turicum in a very short order and have all the work done in the available time.
Yes, there were a few leaks in the water system and some other picky bits but what they were able to accomplish was fantastic.

Our crew were not to be outdone.
They cleaned out a ton of fiberglas grindings that were in the boat and were coating everything. They also painted the bottom (the original reason the boat was hauled) and waxed the topsides.
They spent hours loading all the gear that was necessary along with stowing all of the food during the early hours between Turicum going into the water and heading for Victoria and the start.

The start of the race was a simple matter of – find the wind; lose the wind. Very frustrating to pull miles ahead of our competition just to have them sail up beside us with the next puff of wind.
Even when we got out of Juan de Fuca I managed to screw up and find some dead spots that my satellite information wasn’t showing.

We quickly came to realize that if we chose to run the west route, our outcome would be based on the lack of Trade Winds. My review of the available information indicated that winds to the east of us would stay soft so we planned a course that would give up distance early but would allow us to reach across the lighter areas toward the end of the race rather than trying to run downwind.

All of the course planning aside, small problems popped up to raise the stress level.
First, we found that we were running only on house battery #1 and it was starting to fail. Then the battery isolator that distributed power from the alternator went up in a cloud of light and heat. (very warm navigator’s seat it was located under)

The next issue was the spare 25 gal water tank that was filled in Victoria turned out to be empty. Apparently a leaky fitting.
Hey – our trusty watermaker would take care of that BUT the failed isolator allowed the start battery to draw down to the point where the engine wouldn’t start.
No problem – by linking the start battery with the house battery, we had just enough power to crank the engine and then by bypassing the isolator, we could charge the batteries (using a jumper wire for the starting battery).
Oh, we also found that the connections on the #1 battery were crap and with new connectors and some cleaning everything was back on line.

BTW did I mention that the fuel gauge was showing that we were almost out of fuel? Opening up the top of the fuel tank spilled some fuel but proved that the gauge was wrong and did wonders for my blood pressure.

The last little issue that we have to deal with is the broken shroud.
Unfortunately, during the takedown of the mainsail, after crossing the finish line, we had an accidental gybe that ended up breaking an intermediate shroud.
We have people coming to look at it today and have talked to people in Oahu how can make up some new parts.

We have our fingers crossed.

This race is never for the faint of heart.
It is not a down wind drag race like Transpac or Pacific Cup where you get the biggest baddest down wind sled you can and then go out an kick ass.
With the Maui race, some thinking is required – there is strategy – get it right and you do well, get it wrong and it’s out the back door.

This year we had a group of people who didn’t have the fastest boat or the best prepared boat, but we had a mostly cruising crew that worked tirelessly and their efforts paid off.

Good Guys DON’T Finish Last

Cheers,
Turicum