At is 6:40 pm and I thought I would craft the position update before it became totally dark out.
We rose early this morning (read 6:45 am) and we grabbed showers before the crowds hit. Showers where you can just stand in the water, not have to worry about how much water you are using and you don't have to put in quarters either. In the near future, we will have navy showers on the boat.
We left the dock about 9:30 with the other 170 or so boats for the parade by Shelter Island, complete with the San Diego Fire boat spraying water everywhere and some other local sailboats parading as well, cheering us on. We passed a boat named "Stress Reliever" and they were definitely not relieved as boats were not as careful as they should be about the other boats in their vicinity, or should I say that not everyone was minding the rules of the road. Luckily we made it safely to the starting area for the 11:00 am start. The winds were light so they called for a rolling start, meaning everyone would motor at 6 knots or less until there was enough wind to sail and then they would start the rally. We all headed towards the Coronado Islands. At noon, 1:00 pm and 2:00 pm they continued the rolling start. Now it is after 6:00 pm and we are still rolling, motorsailing with just the main. The winds are now 5 knots from the west north west or a broad reach if we could sail. Hopefully the winds will fill in tomorrow.
We have seen whale blow and lots of Dahl porpoises, many of them jumping and leaping as they passed through the fleet in numbers over 50. Occasionally we would pass a sea lion who would lift his head to look at us and then quickly dive down under the surface.
We are all feeling well, munching on granola bars, hummus and flatbread, apples and peanut butter. Dinner was a bowl of pasta salad that Rich had made yesterday.
I am not sure how many of the 170 entries are still out on the water. One boat dropped out at the very beginning with a shaft problem. This afternoon we saw another boat heading back with their main draped around their cockpit. We suspect they lost their main halyard. Knock on wood, all systems are go on Windarra.
No worries,
Elaine, Rich and Dan
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment