The Adventures Of Mr. Perfect

Video Madness!

2008-09-29T13:43:00.000-07:00

Finally, our video is up! Here is our video, in three parts. Hope you enjoy it. We'd love to hear your comments.

VIDEO

2008-09-03T08:22:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. I have edited together some of our video footage from the trip and will have it posted here shortly. I just need to learn to whole youtube embedding thing first. Keep an eye out.

Rich

Return trip photo annual

2008-08-25T13:43:00.000-07:00

The wheels are turnin' in our brains, but only enough to choose worthy photos. We will update with chatter about the trip home soon. Not much to say.

Observations will most likely consist of wild discoveries like, for instance, ohhhhh perhaps why one shouldn't read "Life of Pi" while on board a lifeboat sized sailboat with one other person. Luckily Rich wasn't Indian, i am not French, and both of us read "Call of the Wild" on the way home, so Tigers and/or Hyenas no longer frighten us in the slightest anyway, while Buck on the other hand...

We did have a Zebra (little bird) land unceremoniously on our boat; so that no one else asks us (i've had more questions about that bird than anything else), it was "Call of the WILD-ED". That means you place the animal, gingerly, on the side of the boat and thereby give it a choice. Either jump in the ocean or to stay on board with us. The idiot jumped.

This was our last view of Hawaii, Hanalei Bay on N Kauai coast. How in the hell are we supposed to leave when this is our last anchorage? You don't, and delay delay delay.

The first week out was rough. 15-25 knot winds out of the ENE, NE, or NNE, and we had to go due North for the first 8 days. I did not enjoy those days.

While sailing upwind the lurching, while more violent, is also more predictable. See mom, brushing my teeth with NO HANDS. Inevitably you crash.

Bow birth was a no go zone. All the upwind sailing meant that our minor leaks in the front became major irritants. Everything was soaked the whole trip home.

Some cool shots.

The north Pacific Albatrosse is one of the most incredible birds in flight. They absolutely scream along the waves, just inches from the water, swooping in and out of the swell and wind waves. Very impressive.

We named him "bird". Poor thing crash landed and was stuck with us for 3 days. However we finally decided it was cruel to subject it to the cramped quarters of Mr Perfect and set it free.

The GPS, on average, would stop working every 3 days or so. We found that if you stare at it and push buttons for an extended period it may start to work. Or it may not. Luckily we did have a back up.

Captain, looking serious. 24 days at sea doesn't make you crazy, does it?
Prune hands develop over time.
This was my view every time it was time to switch watches. How do you wake a man up that is sleeping that heavily? Don't worry, my conscience is clear.

In 38 degrees latitude (this dorky free Sailing mag from San Fran) some woman posted a photo of herself, naked, strumming a Ukulele in their boat. So if you think i'm weird, think again!
Lucky Rich. He had to see me in my underwear pretty much every day that was sunny. I finally did a wash. Most of our stuff was wet all the time as well, so once we were sailing downwind again we were able to dry out our stuff for the time being.

First view of land, juxtaposed with first realization Rich and I had that the motor won't run, we have no wind, we are almost home and now we have to sit here and wait for wind. We aren't happy, and neither slept for 30hrs at this point.

Picture of our sunrise while in the shipping lane. Also a lovely "reflective" photo of our route of drifting around the lane.

This was our view for the entrance to the Juan De Fuca. No motoring required for the entire trip home. Entrance to Juan De Fuca, wind dies, motor won't start, stuck in shipping lane for 12 hrs, then the current kept dragging us backwards out to sea again.

After we fixed the engine we were, understandably, very happy. The sunset was an added bonus.

Home Sweet Home

2008-08-20T06:53:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone! Rich here. Just a quick note right now to say that we arrived at our slip in the Point Roberts Marina at 9:30 Sunday morning to the applause of friends and family and a couple of bottles of champagne to help with the land legs. Thanks to everyone who came out to see us in. Down to the last mile there was still some uncertainty that we would actually get in as a thunder storm passed directly overhead when we were 3 miles out. Watching the lightning bolt down within a few miles of our ungrounded boat all that was running through my head was "at least we're covered by our insurance policy here!" Even inside the marina we almost got broad sided by a big power boat! (their fault, as it always is in the eyes of sailors). Anyway, we obviously have lots of stories to tell about the speedy return crossing (like the whale and the bird and the engine) and photos to post and will be sharing those with you in the near future. Right now Jeff and I are heading over to Vancouver Island to crash the Albin Vega rendezvous!

Home!

2008-08-17T22:21:00.000-07:00

the guys made it back to Point Roberts, their starting point, this morning at 930am! stay tuned for posts by the sailors themselves... yay!

Close, Yet Far

2008-08-15T11:20:00.000-07:00

two texts from rich:

to mom trawick:
"“outboard not running lite wind and adverse current. Waiting 4 tide change 2 sail into Neah Bay 2 repair. ETA?”

to me, lyndsay:

"NO IDEA ETA. STUCK IN SAME PLACE 4 HRS. MAY NEED TOW IN TO NEAH BAY ONCE WE GET THERE. RIGHT NOW ADRIFT IN SHIPPING LANE. STRESSFUL!"

close yet far!!!

A Little Bird

2008-08-06T08:21:00.000-07:00

A text from Rich: "LS I forgot to tell u i found small bird on cockpit floor early this AM. still alive but hurt or tired.its hiding out in small cave between gas can and icebox cover."

and another one later: "Bird is still here. I've checked him over nothing broken but think he has head injury all we can do is give him a place to try to recover"

A small bird finding Mr.Perfect in the middle of the ocean--- pretty amazing isn't it???

The Long And Winding (Ocean) Road

2008-08-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

The guys seem to be well on their way home! Estimated arrival time is hopefully around the August 20th mark.

The Journey Home

2008-07-23T09:40:00.000-07:00

after a few false starts in Oahu, the guys will be journeying home to Vancouver in the next day or so. upon leaving for home, 2 hours out from Honolulu a big wave crashed over the engine, flooding it and conking it out. so back to Honolulu to dry it out and fix it for the 30 days home. then, with engine dry, the weather reports dictated some ugly winds, so the guys decided to head to Kauai and wait it out for a few days. Kauai is known for being the least developed of the Hawaiian islands, and the most beautiful and lush--also one of the rainiest places in the world! SPOT won't be working until 200 miles out of Hawaii so i'll be updating positions here!

HAWA'II PICTURES

2008-07-20T08:40:00.000-07:00

hi! Lyndsay here. to view more pics of our days in Maui and Oahu, visit

HAWAII PICS by Lyndsay

"By Moonlight, We Ride!"

2008-07-19T16:08:00.000-07:00

Tonight we depart Hawaii. After making the most of the Island experience it's time to leave. All the fish and coral are starting to look the same and there is only so much "extreme snorkeling" that one can do. Our trip over here was a typical, uneventful trade wind passage (when we had wind). Let's hope that the trip home is as easy... We have opted to hire a weather router for the return trip as the weather patterns have been all over the place this summer (and we don't need any more big wind and seas right now). It does look like the fist week to 10 days of the trip is going to be a SLOG. Conditions are expected to be 20-25kts, at times gusty, from the ENE (we're going north, so it means upwind sailing, which is rougher, colder, but more exciting). BUT the big issue is the 6-9 foot seas with a period of 5-10 seconds. The waves aren't that big, but at 5 seconds apart, they're really close together, which also means they're STEEP (and uncomfortable). Good thing we have lots of Clif bars, because I don't think that we'll be doing much cooking. The other bit of bad news from the weather router is that he revamped our estimate time for the trip to take to the 30 day range. Hopefully the conditions allow us to go a little more quickly. Gotta go to the store to buy a few more items. Next post will be from VANCOUVER!!!!!
Rich

Maui is pretty good, pretteeeeeee good'

2008-07-18T14:23:00.000-07:00

Yup, now that we are stuck in Waikiki harbor and have explored some of Oahu, Maui looks better and better as the days go on. I think Oahu, while quite beautiful in its own right, is just too busy for the anti-social sailor, or me for that matter.
The Angelina Jolie shades are EVERYWHERE. I can see why they're popular though. If you're pretty, ugly, or ARE Angelina Jolie, no one can tell because they cannot see your features behind the see-through sat dishes on your face.

Anyway, sorry, back to positivism.

Ok, not yet. There are also quite a few weirdo transient sailors on our dock that are also making me long for normal people and normal conversation. Even half-normal would be fine with me...some of these dudes are FREAKS!!!

I miss Maui:
"Rich, uhhhh i think this Oatmeal is the best breakfast. Gee i don't know Jeff, there is nothing quite like a protein bar to start my day, etc." Conversation topics were becoming redundant. Good thing Maui was right around the corner.
Like Cook, the locals welcomed us with open arms.
(actually my first conversation was some local punk kid making fun of me for being a Mormon and carrying a bible...i was wearing a white button down and carrying a book. Funny kid.)
He may look like a mild mannered ukulele player. However, the second he takes his shirt off and lights some knives on fire........WATCH OUT! He burnt the shit out of himself too. What a dedicated performer.
This soggy dog was in need of a clean-up. I wasn't going to do it. Who can you count on to make you shave?
Famdamily. Look at that trim. It was time to get busy snorkeling. Sometimes there was a lava field in the way.
And more lava...
And then Lindsay was there. Good thing. Now that we found the water, we needed help finding some turtle action.
They were not hard to find, but always looked annoyed. Some Hawaiian hospitality.
I went on a hike in the crater.
Looks like a nice day to jump right in for a 5 hr tour, right?This east van "bottle lady" that followed us up the volcano was smart enough to just be STOKED on the view. She could sense the weather was turning.
It was nice for a while.I visited Bo Bo Fet's final resting place.And then the trail went down into the crater floor where, you guessed it, i was able to hike through some more lava. It was the coolest thing i have ever done, figurative and literal. It began to rain before i hit the lava field, and being at 9000 feet it was freezing and i had no rain coat. And the hike out was SKETCHY!!!
Rich found his own adventure on the Hana coast.A little cliff jumping was in order, but first he had to talk to the two chickens in front of him that it was safe. That's Rich, 3rd from the left, offering some advice. "Hurry the f%$# up" i believe it was.Hana coast.Look what we found hiding in someone's driveway. I wonder if they need any snorkel experts in "Baywatch Hawaii"?

Not so moderate an accounting...

2008-07-08T12:10:00.000-07:00

Day 1- Apparently Friday the 13^th starts 4 hrs early. We weren’t even out of Monterey bay when we were stuck in fog with a visibility of 200 meters. When night came it was really quite frightening, having just entered the shipping lanes and San Fran, only 100 miles north, is sorrrrrt of a busy port.

So what do you do in situations like that? Hey, “no problem” I thought, I’ll just switch on our trusty radar. Hmmmmm, where is it? I must have put it somewhere? Ohhhh yeah, they cost 2000 buck, so we don’t have one. That’s ok, I’ll just grab the ol’ “Collision Avoidance Radar Detector” and that will tell us if any ships using radar are in the area. Now I know I placed it somewhere near the stack of gentleman's magazines…wait a second, no, those cost 500 dollars, so we don’t have one of those either. We do, however, have a phenomenal 50$ radar deflector, so assuming it’s “deflecting” well, and that Vlad the Russian captain isn’t into the Vodka yet, is awake, and WANTS to avoid hitting us, well then they will HAVE to avoid us. After all, we might scratch their paint. Oh YEAH, I can always blow our fog horn or, errrrr no, that’s not a fog horn, it’s a conch shell. Shit.

No that’s not good enough. There must be another option. What’s that I hear? Someone else’s fog horn? Protocol states they are supposed to blow it every minute. I’ll just bring them up on the radio and let them know we’re here:

“Yes, hello, this is Mr Perfect (thrice)…Yes, you there, ahoy… huh, no, I am not kidding, our boat is named Mr Perfect. What’s that? Yes, I know he was a WWF wrestler. Yes, I know that he had a sweet gerry curled mullet, that he spat and swatted his gum from the turnbuckle, that his rival was Ricky the Dragon Steamboat AND that his signature move was the perfect plex. NO, we DID NOT name the boat after him. Why do I know so much about wrestling then? I spent my childhood in 80’s rural Canada pal, guilt by association. We’re trying to be ironic, actually, you know? A 27 ft boat named Mr Perfect, it’s IRONIC. Get it? Good.

Now, back to you blowing your horn like some bombastic fool. What’s your heading? This is ours. Where’s our horn blow? I am blowing on it right now, hear it? No? How about a Fox 40 whistle? No? Well that’s ok, this our heading and position, and you see that big blip on your radar? Yeah? Well that’s us, now stay out of our way, MAN, we’re heading to Hawaii! Yes, in a 27ft boat. No we’re not crazy, I already told you, we’re PERFECT!!!”

This is why Rich handles all radio communications.

The wind also died in this fog so we motored till we were free of it. The wind picked up and was fairly consistent until we were almost there….

Day 2- Scarrios, Alfagetti, Zoodles. It’s all I want to eat. The nostalgia is so thick I feel like I should be catching an episode of the Dukes of Hazard. They’re already dwindling in supply, what am I going to eat for the next 2 weeks?

Day 6- Chunky soup, primed rib and beef, it’s all I want to eat. Supplies are dwindling, whatever will I get addicted to for 2-4 days next? Anything that falls into the pot in the shape of the can is, apparently, alright with me.

Day 7- My Barometer is rising- By day 7 I wrote this in my college ruled notebook: Do you have any idea what it’s like to cook when every damn thing you put down, unsecured, falls on the ground? When you boil water and then hit a wave and the water splashes on your leg? When just when you think you’ve planted your feet properly to balance well enough to go “hands free” and try and slice or stir something you hit a wave and smash your head on, well, anything in the vicinity of the sink? Do you? Do you really? You’re rocking side to side for 20 days, every 5 seconds getting tossed; you know, it strains the patience, that’s all I’m trying to say. Dr Phil might claim I have some anger management issues when he sees what it does to me, and to Rich for that matter. I would take that arrogant fat bastard and shove him inside our boat so fast….well anyway, it’s tough to keep your cool, but you actually do learn to control your anger and to live with it, and even grow as a person with each mishap. The learning became so valuable that I’d might even go so far as to say I learnt to look forward to things going wrong. Sailing is just such an esoteric experience mannn.

Day 8- WHAT THE F^%$ is that damn noise- There is one other thing that keeps the pressure welled inside you, and that’s the odd noise that permeates the boat JUST when you’re falling asleep. The DREADED can of food that comes loose and rolls around just enough to keep you awake, but not often enough to justify getting out of bed and unpacking the storage until you find the culprit. Or that fork, that damn fork that just won’t stay away from the other metallic objects and makes that little “clink, 10 seconds, clink, 20 seconds, clink, 5 seconds, clink, wake up Jeff, clink”. My favorite, however, was the can of food that DIDN’T actually exist. It took me 4 days to find it, the SOB! One 2am sleepless night, jumping to my feet like a cat I sat poised over the main storage area with headlamp and all, ready to kill. You needed patience for this one though. It only happened when there was a decent roll of the boat. Could be 20 second intervals, could be 2-3 minutes. I didn’t care, I was going to win. It turned out that it was the door of the cockpit sliding in its grooves, which was close enough to the storage that it sounded like it was coming from all over the place. I shoved duct tape in there so hard that that piece of wood never knew what hit it. Victory.

Day 9-15 - Read A LOT. Showered A LOT. Nights became more tolerable with the increasing heat. I had now gone over 25 days without eating Island Farms ‘Moose Tracks’ Ice Cream. Withdrawal symptoms are getting worse. And people think heroin is tough. Bah.

Day 16-19- I think I’ll leave it to Rich to speak to the lack of wind because I’m still recovering from the frustration. In Moby Dick, H Melville has a quote though that I feel captured the feeling that washes over you when the wind, when it has been non existent for hrs on end, picks up again: “The crew cheered that so promising an event should so soon have falsified the evil portents preceding it.” He was referring to the abatement of a typhoon, but hey, no wind sucks as well folks.

I will however mention one of the strangest things that has ever happened to me, and has shaken my insolent atheism.

On day 18, after sitting and sweating for 8hrs with no wind we finally decided to try the motor for a while, if only to get some breeze (we were 250 miles out with only 50 miles of fuel left) and cool off. Somehow Rich was able to get a radio station from the Big Island (then about 140 miles S of us), a classic rock station no less! I heard him yell from the front of the boat “Hey Weaver, guess what song is on?” Now, the absolute second that I heard the chorus of “oooooooo Dreeeeeeamm Weaver, I need you to get me through the niiiiiiiight” i heard a breath taken in behind me. It was a giant Dolphin, almost as large as a killer whale (it was the bull). He swam around our boat to the chorus of “dreeeeeam Weaver”, then turned on his back and slowly crossed undeneath the boat, looking up at us. Was he smiling? If he had hands I’d swear he would have waved. Off in the distance we could see his “charge”, about 5-8 dolphins breaching and playing around. Pretty memorable.

And that’s just it. Even at my worst, whether it be no wind, overheating, underslept, lurching like crazy, and banging my head on things, some bird would chirp around the boat and chill me out. Although birds are all we saw until we hit the dolphins, there is something so comical and chilling about seeing a small bird flying around your boat while you are 1000 miles from any land at all. Sucks to be you bird, so what am I worked up about?

Most of the crossing, outside of the above mentioned funny’s, was just trying to pass the time however you could. Reading reading reading, audiobooks, and sleeping. We talked a lot as well, but could go for a full day or two with little to say, then lots of chatting. You have a lot of time to think, almost too much time, but are often too tired or out of it to come up with any really introspective first discovery’s. Still, it was some very valuable alone time.

Oh yes, to answer a popular question (you read all this probably just to find this out…sorry). This was my 6^th time on a sailboat, and I was never once seasick, and neither was Rich. He has also sailed more than 6 times.

If i have offended anyone of Russian origin, i do apologize most profusely. Not all Russian sea captains are drunk at night, only half off them are...ha! Pity me, I am but a simple 7th gen Canadian mongrel, i don't know any better.

Weaver's Index

2008-07-08T00:17:00.000-07:00

Number of books read: 7

Number of audiobooks processed: 8

Number of pancakes eaten: 53

Number of Zoodles animals murdered: 876

Number of bbq lighters Rich broke whilst angry: 1

Number of ships we saw between Monterey and BEFORE we spotted land: 2

Number of airplanes: the last 5 days, 30 each night.

Chance I will stub my toe or cut my foot while walking to the front of the boat: ¼

Number of times iadimate objects became the focus of scornful cursing: 100<

Number of times for the wind: 100000000000000000<

Amount by which a visualized steak outdid ice cream: 1/1

Amount steak outdid our popular Kraft dinner: every single time I ate KD

Amount of underwear brought compared with underwear required: 4, 20

Number of buckets of water dumped over my head: easily 30

Number of times pooping in a (different) bucket: too many…rocking boat…you don’t want to know....well, maybe you do, i don't know, some people are weird. Email me.

Weavers Index is, unfortunately, still an unregistered trademark

20 days, shoulda' been 18, 2000 miles later...

2008-07-07T11:45:00.000-07:00

And they're OFFFFFFF!!!!! Crash, roll, oww, spill, bang, creekk, THIS IS AWESOME!!!
The art of cooking pancakes is not to be taken lightly, and requires the utmost patience, understanding and experience. The water and powder mix must be stirred and your aim with the pam spray must be exact, and, ummmm...that's it.
Pseudo-Intellectual Urban Revolutionary, or PIUR, enjoys his leatherbound copy of the literary classic "Two Years Before the Mast". The question is, how long will, or even can, this look last at sea?
Whew, man o man, not long. However, in his defense, there was a very engaging article in there on "Race in America", as well as a very in-depth interview with Steve Carrell, and an amazing photo essay about "who was at Hef's house last month". So, I'd say he just has to answer for the Smurf theme.
Ohh deeaary me, now this is a simply refulgent setting....
Tie down the main sail when we had too much wind and were only running the jib.
I said, we TIE DOWN THE MAIN! Rich can do it without looking, what gives?
Paaaaaatience young Jedi.
Clouds are cooooooool.
The start of our doldrums 300 miles out. Just a head dunk for now, thank you, will dunk the whole bucket later.
Ahhhh the aroma of moldy water. Water bags got mold in them from all the hot weather, so had to boil water. No wind AND a boil water advisory, and NO Ontario PC politicians to blame for it. ARRRRRGHH.
Nothing else to do but read and sing: "He's a tanning, tanning, tannnnnning, he's tannin' machiiiiiiine, watchem' get down, watchem' get down...bom chicka bom bom chicka chicka...skin cancer might commme to take his lllllliiiiiife, but at least he'll be fullll, full of that viiiitamin DDDDDDDDD...
"Alright god, now listen up. I don't like you, and you sure as hell...ahh damn, sorry...don't like me, but have i got a deal for you. If you could make the wind blowww, well now i am not promising anything, but i just miiiight think about making an appearance in one of your worship buildings etc.. Cross myself, sing, throw holy water, Hail Marys, back flips (they did it in Blue Bros?), you name it, i'll do it. Whaddaya say?" BUT, the wind STILL didn't blow.

"Hey stereotypical image of god. Jeff says you are just some mythological creature, like Neptune and Poseidon, but i am not like him. I'm a nice guy. I need to get his crazy ass to land, he's losing it man. And me, well i am normally patient and collected, but this lack of wind is making me a little pissed off myself from time to time...so how about, ol buddy, how about some wind?"

"HA HA, he listened to me. The wind picked up last night and brought us in to Maui. God exists, at least for today!" I maintain it was because it was the night of Canada day.
Isn't wind beautiful? Yes, i know you can't see it, but i can.
Lahaina is a nice site on the best of days, buttttt ohhhhh baby, does it look good on July 2nd.

Lahaina nights

2008-07-03T20:49:00.000-07:00

We arrived at 4, or 5, or maybe it was 6 pm yesterday, it was definitely in the afternoon. I'm not sure what day of the week it was, i had to ask someone, but the date was July 2nd. i knew this because of Lindsay's flight arriving that night.

We've had some complications re our inflatable dingy being somewhat inadequate for our needs, namely that it it has a weight capacity of our combined weight, which would be fine if there wasn't surf and waves everywhere. And we planned so well. So getting to land was mental.

Long and short of it was, is, that i had drop Rich off at the dock, then take the boat back out and re-moor it, then paddle the dingy for 500 metres across the front of Lahaina harbour to avoid the surf, then down the middle of the boat channel in past the breakwater. It was a lot of fun, doing it with my hands as well because one of my oars broke in the first 5 minutes. It was getting dark too, which meant sharks would be coming in for dinner. It was also in front of the boardwalk and 10 patio restaurants, as well as many tour boats etc.., so i made a lot of peoples vacation photo sessions, and also gained the respect of a lot of surfers who gave me a thumbs up. Radical.

Anyway, we are going to Molokini island to get away from independence day tomorrow and will be back on the 5th, and will update the blog then.

Glad to be on land. Might end up in the drunk tank with the way i'm walking.

jeff

LAND HO!

2008-07-01T16:10:00.000-07:00

"LAND HO! CAN SEE MAUI WAY IN DISTANCE BUT F@*CKING WIND STILL FROM WEST! ONLY DCENT PROGRESS WHEN HIT BY SQUALL. VERY FRUSTRATING! HOPE WE CAN GET TOMORROW AM. POSITION 21 DEG N 154. 43 W." --Yes, the latest text from my usually ever-patient honey Rich Trawick! I leave tomorrow for Maui, YAY! Hopefully my scruffy bearded husband will be there too, and his trusty, likely scruffy and bearded first mate/groomsman Jeff! Stay tuned for pics of Hawaii adventures! I have this book of vintage Maui postcards that belonged to Mom Trawick's dad, I'm going to bring it along and find some of the spots in the postcards! Other goals in Hawaii-- to seek out the perfect Haupia cake (coconut pudding/vanilla sponge cake) so I can replicate it at home (and turn them into cupcakes!) , and to eat lots of shaved ice!

**** July 2: UPDATE: text messages on Jeff's US cell phone number now works!! Wind has picked up and if all goes well, RT will greet me at the airport tonight when I arrive!!!

250 MILES and NO WIND

2008-06-29T17:46:00.000-07:00

The boys are at a bit of a standstill, roasting in hot weather as they attempt to inch their way towards Maui! "250 miles left to Maui and there's no wind, sea is like glass. Currently motoring through the heart of the tradewinds! Damn U Neptune. SO HOT" writes Rich!

About One Week Away!

2008-06-25T13:55:00.000-07:00

Our boys will be in Hawaii in about a week or so! Beth and Aleck Trawick (also known as Mom and Dad) will be joining us all in Maui as well! Can't wait!

SIGN THE GUESTBOOK!

2008-06-21T13:26:00.001-07:00

rich has asked me to add a guestbook to this blog, so if you scan your eyes slightly to the right you will see a little linkeroo that will take you to a guestbook! for those who aren't on gmail or don't have the capacity/desire to sign up in order to comment, feel free to comment away at the old guestbook! most recent satellite texts from rich read as follows: "THINGS GETNG BETR ON BOAT. SLEEPNG BETR N GETTING USED TO DOING SLOWLY N CAREFUL N DEALING W LURCHING. WERE BOTH BECOMING EASYGOING". (please note that proper grammar is difficult in the satellite texting world due to 160 CHARACTERS MAXIMUM issue.) and another recent one:
"MADE GLICO CURRY 4 DIN LST NITE. DLISH!"

Middle Of Ocean...

2008-06-20T08:15:00.000-07:00

i talked to rich on wednesday! 8 minutes worth of satellite phone, i could hear wind and waves in the background, wasn't the best connection but nice to talk to him. here's where they are now:

NO Friday the 13th departure!!!!!

2008-06-12T16:55:00.001-07:00

WE LEAVE TODAY!!!!! Thursday.

Seeing as it's bad luck to leave on a voyage on a Friday (sailor superstition) AND this Friday is the 13th, luck would have it that our weather fax radio showed up TODAY, so we can leave ASAP.

The SPOT works till approx 200 to 300 miles offshore, so there will be about 10 days where Lindsay will have to be updating our position via google earth through our sat phone text messages.

No bad weather to be expected off this part of California too, it's all North of us, passed San Fran. Suckers.

Wish us luck...not that we need it, we have Rich.

Lee Jefferson out

p.s. we have an american cell phone now, which should work for most of this afternoon and evening, as well as the whole time we are in Hawaii. Cell number is 1-808-214-0837. No long distance roaming for us, this is the USA, and their cell phone plans KILL ours.

SNOOZ-FEST TECH TALK

2008-06-12T11:26:00.000-07:00

Hi Everybody!

First of all I have to take the opportunity to say thanks to all the great people in Monterey. This has got to be the only touristy town I've been to where there is no resentment towards tourists by the locals. Everyone has been incredibly hospitable and accommodating. Specifically, the crew of Mr. Perfect owes a huge debt of gratitude to Craig, a fellow Vegatarian in Monterey, Master of the mighty Tern, a real beaut of a '72 Vega. For any other Vegatarians out there, he says he is going to try to fly up to Maple Bay for the rendevous. Buy him a beer, he deserves it! Also, if anyone is ever in the Monterey area and need ANYTHING boat related, definitely go to Quarterdeck marine. It is shocking how nice the staff is and the lengths to which they go to get you the part. Definitely a huge difference from the typical West Marine experience (or worse yet, the gong show at Steveston Marine in Vancouver--minus the real nice older guy who works the hardware section).
In case anyone is wondering, we sheared the tapered stainless steel pin that is part of the rudder head attachment (it looked like classic stainless corrosion, but obviously wasn't helped any by the incessant yarding we were doing during the San Fran gale) and had to get a replacement, which Quarterdeck sourced and brought in the next morning. If you own a Vega and have a bit of play in your tiller, check this pin! It seems to be a common source of failure as Craig's turned out to be in two pieces when he removed his to get a measurement off of.

Tech: I've had a number of people asking me about the technical aspects of the trip and boat, so I'll do a quick once over here. Given that Jeff's posting is such a comedic powerhouse and covers most of the experiential aspects of the trip (with the exception of mentioning his "nudist" morning the I woke up to during our first day in California), I'll spend a bit of time going over the particulars.

The Boat: Mr. Perfect (our boat) is a 1971 Albin Vega (number 813), which is a robust Swedish made offshore pocket cruiser that is proving itself well worthy of this trip. I chose the Vega partly because of it's excellent reputation in print (see John Vigor's "20 small boats to take you anywhere") and partly because the surveyor I hired to go over a Contessa 26 I was interested in suggested, after discovering boat pox (among other problems), "why don't you get a Vega, they're better built, stronger, faster and more spacious. My friend just got back from circumnavigating a Vega and loved it." After hearing this and reading the book "Bersek" about a total nut named Jarle who sailed his Vega from Norway around Cape Horn (solo) and then to Antarctica (!!!!) when he was 19 years old (which EVERYONE should read if they can find it), I was sold! So I started hunting for Vegas and found a real deal in Galveston TX and ended up towing the boat back up to Vancouver (Point Roberts to be exact) on a trailer behind a 2500 turbo diesel pick-up (it's a long story...). Mr. Perfect had had all the regular Vega deficiencies taken care of (beefed up compression post, mild steel paddles in rudder replaced with stainless, bulkheads glassed in, chainplate angle iron replaced with 316 stainless steel) along with all new standing and running rigging, spars and sails (full batten main, to which I added a third reef point and triple stitching, storm jib, 110 working jib, 150 genoa and a screwball tri-sail which is easily 2/3 the size of the main and the reason I added the 3rd reef). All this stuff was added new in 2004 when the previous owner sailed a bit too close to a navigational piling in Pensacola Florida, caught a shroud and ripped the rig right off! Thankfully he was decently insured and his insurance paid for good quality stuff (American Rolly Tasker sails, US Spars mast and boom, and full sta-lok terminals on the wires).

The boat itself doesn't look like much, with a strange gray paint job that was shoddily done and a home-job interior that was obviously not done by a master carpenter, but everything works (almost) and it is STRONG. It will likely remain an ugly duckling for some time as my focus is more on strength and safety than cosmetics. In terms of safety, the boat carries a new Cat 2 GPS integrated EPIRB (McMurdo) mounted on the main bulkhead, a 6 man Plastimo Offshore liferaft that has recently been fully serviced, an extensively stocked grab bag with food, fishing gear, spacebankets, flares, VHF, handheld water desalinator, water, multi-tool, etc..., a well stocked (albeit, not extensive) first aid kit, our handy little SPOT which doubles as an emergency beacon, and a rented satellite phone for keeping in touch with friends and family and calling the coast guard if we ever need to. Aside from this safety gear, virtually the only other stuff that the boat has is a depth sounder, Garmin 182c GPS chart plotter, garmin handheld, si-tex weatherfax ssb receiver, simrad tiller pilot and our trusty Navik self steering vane. Oh yeah, and we're "off the grid" thanks to two 75 watt Shell solar panels bolted to the coach roof (power has never been a problem).

Mods to the boat, besides the stuff listed above, include the removal of the inboard engine and replacement with an outboard, the removal of the fixed head and replacement with a porta-potti (which has yet to be used--we use a bucket in the cockpit when at sea, but the advantage is that there are 2 less thru-hulls in the boat), removal of the 2 burner stove and replacement with a one burner Force 10 fully gimballed sea-swing stove. All in all the accommodations are pretty spartan but they work, providing us a place to sleep and eat in comfort.

Handling: We've now got almost 1000 miles under our belts since leaving Point Roberts and are getting to know the boat's character pretty well. Overall the boat is really fun to sail, being responsive and fast (for an old full keeler). Up wind it won't win any races with it's pointing abilities (it's not awful either), but it likes to lock in when you get the sails balanced and will track a straight line for miles. Off the wind is where this boat shines. We've found that at about 100 t0 120 degrees apparent, with the main reefed or spilled a bit and the head sail properly trimmed, we can easily maintain 6 to 7 kts of boat speed if there is enough wind. Add to this some surfing down the bigger waves and you can get 11 or 12 kts on the GPS. Our max speed to date, and hopefully for the trip, that is logged on our GPS is 17.5 kts. This was the unintentional result of getting caught just at the right point on a large cresting wave and getting carried down the face a little too fast! After this we put out our warps consisting of two 150' anchor lines attached by a 10' lenth of 1/2" chain, and 2 other long loops made up of extra sheets, docking line etc. Trailing the warps really worked well in that it held the boat back enough to allow the waves that would have carried it to pass by. In 40kt winds, we ran only the storm jib and trailed warps. Out boat speed was checked to the 3.5 to 4.5kt range and we only surfed to about 7kts down waves. This is a set up I would recommend and go to again in similar situations. In terms of steering in these conditions we found that the Navik does not do a good enough job in that it is not quick enough to counteract the "spin out" forces that waves put on the boat and we ended twisting around a lot and rolling back and forth as the Navik kept countersteering. Hand steering was the way to go, and we were able actively pick our way through the waves, choosing whether we wanted to avoid certain waves all together, to turning the boat to take the cresting waves dead on our stern, or try and "sap" them of their power with our wake (Pardy style). In all other conditions, except the really light air and rolling swell, the Navik did an outstanding job of steering and really became our best friend. When you use a bucket in the cockpit for going to the bathroom, you really appreciate not having to have your buddy hold the tiller while you use the facilities a couple of feet away!

In terms of handling the first frontal system we went through off the Oregon coast, the winds were from the south, so my concern was not loosing our mileage. Initially we started off beating to windward with 2nd reef main and storm jib, but as the wind increased so did our speed and the boat started jumping off the backs of the waves and pounding hard. We opted to drop the jib and try "forereaching" our way through it with reefed main alone, pinching the wind to keep boat speed down to the 2-3kt range. This did not work all that effectively as it required hand steering and was a bit much for Jeff at that point in our trip (I thought I destroyed his nerves for good). We tacked through the wind a couple of times unexpectedly and caught a few waves that didn't feel so good! I still think this is a good method to keep in mind, especially when trying to keep or gain mileage in moderate conditions, but is likely a better go to during daylight hours, when the crew is well rested and up to the task of careful hand steering. Next time I suspect we will try heaving to (although it is hard to get the Vega to stop it's forward motion) or heaving to with the sea anchor and a briddle line as the Pardy's suggest, or just turn and run across the seas at a slight downwind angle (feathering our stern into the waves as needed when combers rear up). I'll post our results here if we try any of these tactics.

Now, I have probably bored all the non-sailors to tears with this tech talk, so I'll wrap up. We're currently still in Monterey waiting for our faulty si-tex radio receiver to get sent back from the manufacturer (the hours we spent trying to get that thing to work, just to find out it was busted when we got it!!!! Never buy anything from Landfall Navigation!). It is supposed to arrive tomorrow morning in the UPS shipment, which is a day later than we would have liked, but hey, there are worse places to be stuck than Monterey. My only concern now that we will be putting to sea on a Friday!! (a no no according to old sailor superstition). Then again it is also back luck to bring bananas, women and flowers on board, along with a whole host of other crazy thing. I did place a coin under the main mast when it was stepped and poured some wine on the bow when the boat was launched, so hopefully that has put some karmic money in the bank! Off to the marine store for some odds and ends and then maybe the free maritime museum? aquarium? who knows...

Rich

Monterey photos:

2008-06-12T09:02:00.000-07:00

Arrived in Monterey Saturday afternoon. Sunday was a right off. Monday got up to some rental bike exploration. The bikes were LAME, but not too pricey, and got our semi-atrophied legs some exercise.
Rich spilling his burrito on a sun bather at "lover's point." We took no photos together.
His view of the kelp forests. Amazing diving, apparently, "down in Monterey".
Nice photo op, but we were at pains as to how to emasculate the pink flowers. Rich went for the "dude look" with the shades. You may have to enlarge to truly appreciate.
Jeff goes for the flex. Take that pink flowers, arrrrrrrrr!

This is what happens when a "liberal" buys an RV, they have to prove that they aren't republicans. My favorite was on the front, "Stop US Aid to Israel". I'd pay someone 10,000 bucks to drive that baby through Arkansas.

A surfer's truck. You're smokin' too much dope man, Bush has been in office for 8 YEARS!!!

17 mile drive. This is on the way to the worst place on earth...how can this be?
Pebble beach golf club...
I knew i had seen the odd douchebag around Monterey, but couldn't place my finger on where on earth they were coming from. You know, everyone has been so cool, so California:

"Gee Chip, the grass is looking marvelously green against the desert sand today, those pesticides and dyes are really doing the trick" "Yes Mildred, and this red vest sweater you got me really says "My wife bought me this". The Boys in the cigar lounge are going to LOVE it!"

Golf, destroying Monterey's water table, one sprinkler at a time. It's not as though we see "conserve water" signs all over town...oh, but wait, we do.

Hamilton (no shirt, but should have one on) meets Vancouver (North shore log ride) a la Pebble Beach. Not pretty, but had to share.
A very aptly named "Bird Rock".
Around the golf course, it's much like Horseshoe Bay, where the "contractor" population far exceeds the actual residents. All those bloody home reno shows i guess. Trade this space?
There are many Sea Lions just off the breakwater in Monterey Harbor. They bark incessantly. They also don't have to travel very far to get food. This gives them time to pursue other interests...
Like sailing...
Sleeping....
Drinking....

Having mucho children...
Or just chilling in a hammock.

Inside the mind of a sleep deprived Weave...

2008-06-09T09:46:00.000-07:00

We left last Wed, May 29th, and arrived June 7th.

Thoughts. We'll be in Monterey for some time due to bad weather, so this is long, so sorry if you wanted sound bites, there's only long drawn out stuff here.

I should say first, in particular for those concerned family and friends, that the Albin Vega is a remarkably seaworthy boat, and at no time did the boat fail us. It was built well, was in decent shape (for 35 yr old boat), and performed exceptionally. I marveled at how such a small boat could kick so much ass in rough conditions. In short, noting' to worry bout' man.

Note: There was a posting on the Albin Vega Association Website re "creaking wood", particularly in the kitchen, when heeling. I experienced this wood creaking for 10 days and can assure you that a) it's normal, or (b) we both need to re-glue our wood paneling. I would also be interested in other "Vegatarians" experience.

First couple days: Spent going back into Canada at Pender Island so we could cross BACK into the States to get a "cruising permit" for Hawaii. If you aren't US citizens you HAVE to arrive in Hawaii from a foreign port to obtain a cruising permit for the islands.

So, went to Pender, checked in, then went to Roche Harbor (San Juans) and checked back into US Customs, who of course didn't think that was suspicious at all, but searched our boat anyway. "So how much weed are you importing, gentlemen?" Our only real contraband included 1) 8 Tylenol 3's (that codene is corrupting Americas youth!), BUT, the 80 cans of Okanagan Spring Beer, 3 bottles of wine and 3 bottles of rum were considered essential, and therefore not dutified. The officer was great, actually, but said we were crazy.
Also got to see some classic yuppie coastal cruisers, my favorite being the faux french "chapeau" wearing West Van girl with her dorky boyfriend on his dad's 50 footer. I wrapped my sweater around my neck and pulled my socks as high as they would go, but she remained unimpressed. Maybe size DOES matter? (Boat size, perverts)

Next stop was Port Angeles and following day a work day, then left around 3pm and motored through the night to Neah Bay and started sailing. Marine store operator and gas attendant both said we were crazy.

Interview with the dolphin: My first night offshore was more than a little freaky. You cannot see 10 feet in front of you and have to go by the GPS. Lots of container traffic. Winds picked up off the Cape , we sailed for much of the day, then they died just in time for my first solo night watch. I was freaked out, lying on my back trying to catch any wind we could, forecast was variable to 5 knots (Hawaii here we come!!). It was freezing, no sound, and swell was rocking the boat every 30 seconds...very annoying. I became delusional, starting to think about possibility of a Moby Dick experience, then thoughts veering to the potential for maybe a mentally handicapped whale wanting to rub up against the prop of our motor, flipping the boat, and sending me into the freezing water, etc., with my imagination finally resting on Interview with the Vampire and the Lost boys ie. Vampires flying out of the air and plucking me from the cockpit, and promptly dumping me in the freezing water. Yup, you guessed it, i didn't want to go in the water.
The first dolphin that came up and took some air right beside my head made me jump and nearly scared me off the other side of the boat. I thought it might be Tom Cruise and L Ron Hubbard swooping for a little conversion to Scientology, and of course dumping me overboard if i resisted. "I believe it, humans descended from Aliens" i screamed. The dolphins ridiculed me, making their clicking noises as if to say "you descended from Apes stupid! Tom's insane, didn't you see him on Oprah. Now don't even get us started on Intelligent design!" Smart ass f&^%ing dolphin. "Now start enjoying our presence. Humans love this shit. Marvel at how bizarrely intelligent we ARE! Did you know our brains are as big as yours? I'll bet your dog knows nothing of evolution." The sarcastic buggers harassed me for over 30 minutes, splashed me a few times, and then booked it. They were right, though, I needed to toughen up, and the potential newspaper headlines of "man drowns after being scared off his boat by dolphin" didn't sit with me very well. And Tom IS insane.

My First Gale: Being a child of the 80's, "my first sony" is a slogan that elicits a warm fuzzy response of a child with their first stereo, of which my sister was one. I broke her stereo. Irrelevant, i don't know, i broke her Teddy Ruxpin too. What i do know is it might be bad karma, and seeing as Gales are generally unpleasant ensured i will not remember "my first gale" with similar affection. Oh yes, I've been on a sail boat 1, 2..6 times before this trip, never offshore, and never in waves higher than my knees. Sailing experience was 2 days in desolation sound in a much larger boat, and 4 days off Point Roberts in Mr Perfect, learning how to raise a jib, the main, tie bowline knots...the basics.
Upon entering Oregon we were greeted by another awesome and inconsistent forecast. The wind was forcast to be 20 to 30 knots, with frequent gusts up to 35. "Iron Mike", as the robot forecast voice is allegedly known, was starting to get on my nerves. Winds were so far either under 10 and variable, or now a f&*^ing gale. Thanks Mike.

Given my nighttime watch issues so far, the gale was at least nice enough to pick up BEFORE dark, but then really got moving just as Rich went to bed. From 11pm to 3am i held onto the tiller for dear life, rain whipping like hail pellets, 12 ft waves crashing into the cockpit and, oh yeah, the wind was out of the SW (we needed to go South) so i had to beat into the wind as best I could. The waves would every once and a while crash so hard, beam on, that they would force a jibe and i would have to gather enough momentum to turn BACK up wind to get back on the right tack. Awesome. The wind died down just as Rich was coming on watch to he could head straight into the waves and ensure all i heard, while trying to sleep, was what i perceived to be the bow splitting in two as we headed straight upwind. I had heard that Oregon was notoriously rough, and had now decided that I would just hate Oregon without reservation for the rest of my life. I wanted nothing more than to just get California where, undoubtedly, the sun would be shining and the weather much improved. I felt like i was in the Oklahoma dustbowl holding one of those leaflets re farm work in California. To Nor Cal!!

California: Man i was right, Cali does rock. We crossed about 1 in the morning, and the first two days of sailing were what i thought sailing was supposed to be. Fun. Beutifull view of the coast, and less sarcastic dolphins swam with the boat for quite a long time, in the morning, and then said "have fun down South, stupid." What were they telling me? Man they're smart.

As irony would have its way, upon reaching the coast off "Eureka" California, Iron Mike had some more bad news. For the next 200 miles it was forecast 20 to 25, gusting to 30, then 30 to 35, frequently gusting 40-45 the next. The wind WAS coming from the NW however, but the winds had already been blowing that hard further north for a couple of days, so the swell was going to be a LOT bigger. First thought...man I loved Oregon.

Next 48 hrs were...uncomfortable. As the wind picked up, the waves got back to the familiar 12ft, but were easier to handle because it was all downwind. Then they grew, 20ft, 22-25 in the end.

Note: I love the mountains, the hard, rocky kind that i can rip down on my bike in summer, skis in winter. However, the water variety are decidedly less accommodating, and rarely are they any fun. You can surf them sometimes, which is cool, but the big ones would rather see you surf sideways, which is...unnn cool.

There's nothing quit like a mountain, that you loathe and despise, coming at you every 30 seconds or so, for 28hrs, the odd one making the sun feel irrelevant to your warmth because it soaked you with frigid water. All you could do was reef the rudder one side to the other just as you would crest over a wave, trying to brake on top of it so as not to surf down. Looking for openings became a new sport for me, and after 1 hr of it i thought to myself "hey, i am getting pretty good, i could do this all night, it's at least been 4 hrs, right?" Bloody hell, that was a long day/night.
We bobbed up and down like a cork in a bathtub, watching the odd container ship (we were close to San Fran, so shipping was busy) go in and out of site because of the waves. At night i had our spotlight on the sails often, as you had to concentrate so hard on steering in the waves you would forget to look for ships. Neither of us slept, deciding to stick it out together. Rich had to do stuff all the time anyway, like streaming four 50ft ropes and a 40ft chain off the back to slow us down. Changing the jib and reefing the main in such conditions was a lot of fun too, but luckily we did it all before the monsters arrived.

San Fran area it got even worse. We could not go ashore anywhere either because all the ports had tiny entrance ways (the San Fran "bar" would have been suicidal), and you don't want to be near a rocky coast in those winds, so we had to keeping heading South. The next forecast area called for winds in the 40-45 range, and bigger swell. I wished Iron Mike were a human, so i could find him and kick his ass.

Monterey Bay: Entering was by sailing across monstrous swell on Saturday morning. The wind had died to 25-30, but the swell was absolutely HUGE, as if time stood still. Completely surreal. We would sail across a wave for at least 10 seconds before it fully passed us.

Monterey Bay was calmer, relative to the madness further out, but we saw no sailboats out for fun till we got within a mile of shore. We were welcomed on the dock by a gent from Monterey who, also owning a Vega, had been following us on the "spot" and knew all about the weather we had been in. He even offered us use of his car. What a WELCOME! That's been our experience so far with all locals (there are mostly tourists, however, but have met many locals), people are overtly friendly. Nice change from bad weather.

Today we are going to the aquarium. I am going to solve this shark and yellow question once and for all!
The weather is also not supposed to improve for some time, so we will probably get to know the area better than we had originally intended. The gales continue and will be offshore till at least Friday, forcast so far anyway, and not by Mike the prick.

Thoughts on the intrepid captain: My life was in his hands, plain and simple. Rich performed like i thought he would, and it's why i decided to trust him so completely with this trip. His sail change decisions, course, precision steering, "on the go" repairs (including our new best friend, the Navik wind vane), and just general demeanor evoked as much confidence and security in me as i was capable of feeling. When that failed, the rum came to the rescue.
Rich is a brilliant and fearless sailor, hands down. I was brave too, once i knew the boat wasn't going to sink all the time, but only because of Rich, his confidence and assured decision making. I am in awe of his abilities.

Popular Weaver quotes:
"Hey Rich, how do you work the E-Pirb again?"
"Hey Rich, could you pass me the rum?
Like Joey from the show "Blossom", i busted out more than a few "Wo", "Wo".
"Hey Rich, is that sound normal?" "How thick is the fiberglass?" "Tell me how well made Vega is, again"
"What's the worst thing you think can happen, right now?"
"F&^% you Mike"

PHOTOS!!!

2008-06-08T19:20:00.000-07:00

Rich and Jeff here. We finally made it to Monterey in tact and are happy to be on dry, solid land again (for a while). We're putting some photos up here quickly today and will follow up with more detailed personal accounts once we write them. Now, off to the bar!

Jeff: Man, the fumes from those moldy "used" survival suits is making me sleepy.
Rich: If you ever have to put one on, you're not gonna be complaining! (but admittedly they do stink. Bad). FYI, this is about the cleanest the inside of the boat ever got...

Jeff: Container ships, our number one enemy on this voyage, or so i thought.
Rich: Turning the posh Port Angeles transient dock into our work site. Repairing broken hatch board and mounting the very important storm boards over the big cabin windows (to prevent crashing waves from stoving them in).
Jeff: Now that the "storm boards" are on I have nothing to worry about. right.
Jeff: Port Angeles is the home of Westport boats, you know, the 50 meter, 40 million dollar boats that you dream of finding in your stocking every Xmas. I bet they don't need storm boards.
Rich: Apparently an Arabian princess from UAE was given one as her 21st birthday present. Tiger Woods has one too. I know where my penny jar money is going.
Jeff: This bumper could double as a "Sea Bob". We could tow it behind the boat and ride it for fun, or at least until we get eaten by a white pointer, like in Jaws 4.
Rich: Guess which one is going across the Pacific...
Jeff: You know, I never noticed how small our boat looked relative to other sailboats.
Jeff: Our first Gale off, off Oregon coast. Rich looks worried...that isn't good.
Rich: It was a cold front that passed through with southerly winds (impeding our progress). That look is contemplation on how to keep our mileage while fighting with the weather. Apparently going to bed and leaving Jeff to deal with it wasn't the most seaman-like decision in retrospect...
Jeff: "Hey Rich, is the boat supposed to rock this much?" I think I read somewhere that sharks like yellow.
Rich: "The boat's fine" (it's important to have unwavering confidence in your vessel to preserve your sanity). And yes, studies have shown that sharks are most attracted to the colour yellow.
Jeff: "Rich, are those going to get bigger?"
Rich: "Yes"
Jeff: The next morning. I had the night shift in that Gale and watched the Navik (our wind vane) rock side to side all night, but was too petrified to move and lock it off.
Rich: Some minor repair needed, but faced with losing "the Nav Man" it's importance definitely grew in our minds. I now tend to it daily, oiling the bushings, tightening the bolts, etc.
Rich: Drying out after our first gale and eating fruit cups, which now don't have the little cherries. What happened? Did the price of cherries spike?
Jeff: I wonder if my weather suit will smell any better after it dries out.
Jeff: "What do you mean the price of oil had its single largest price jump EVER?!!! SELL, SELL!!!"
Rich: Context: sat phone use 60 miles offshore.
Jeff: Funny how the only two times i ever saw a worried look on Rich's face i managed to catch it on camera.
Jeff: Expecting more heavy weather tonight. I cannot wait, but am really just crying inside.
Rich: This photo of "Mister Tomato" taken before the crying on the outside actually started.
Jeff: A more accurate reflection of my true feelings about the forecast.
Rich: note to self: include Valium in first aid kit for next expedition...
Jeff: Fun times.
Rich: At least I thought so.
Jeff: Rich's quote here was "I just love watching the waves, they're so fascinating". I felt less inclined to study the waves, but rather felt like hiding down below.
Rich: "wimp"
Rich: "The waves were this tall"
Jeff: That was a big one. The photos really don't do justice to the shear immensity of the swell, but we have video footage that will make your heart stop.
Rich: I estimate 8-12' for the first frontal gale and building up to 20' by the end of the full gale off California. Pretty impressive, especially when they crest and send a 4 foot tall mass of white water hurdling down on the boat and sweeping the cockpit (Jeff was inside crying inside...)
Jeff: My Orange suit was still soaking wet AND stunk as it was also "Used", so back into my shark bait uniform. Woo hoo.
Jeff: "Uhhhhh Rich, how do we work the EPIRB again?" Man o man, my nerves are shot....
Rich: "Don't worry, we're fine, the worst that could happen is that we get pooped and the cockpit gets filled with water. Just don't look behind you!"

Jeff: ...but this helps a little.
Jeff: Monterey...my sentiments exactly.
Jeff: Walking is the new challenge. I walked right into a school group on my way to the harbormaster/customs. Drunken sailor?
Rich: I never get seasick, but I did feel a bit queasy being back on land again.
Jeff: Yup, Monterey has it all, "Keytars" and oh so much more. This guy was awesome and finally drowned out the sea lions that are all barking on the shore behind him.
Rich: After a smoking electric blues number where he alternated between playing keyboard solos on the regular keyboard and guitar solos on the keytar, he busted a nice quiet latin number where he played the "accoustic" keytar. This guy definitely loves life.
Jeff: Life in Monterey harbor has a sliiiiiightly more relaxing feel.
Rich: We should be sailing!

June 7-- On Land! Made It To Monterey!

2008-06-07T15:53:00.000-07:00

Just got a phone call from Rich! It was great to be able to talk freely. They are now on land safely in Monterey... ! They filmed each other attempting to walk with their sea legs... They didn't sleep last night so they were on their way to find food, beer and then to crash out... In the next couple of days they'll be updating the blog themselves as the Monterey library has free wireless. Attached are pics of Jeff and Rich at Rich's sailor-themed 30th birthday party...!

June 5-- in California!

2008-06-05T09:56:00.000-07:00

Our boys crossed into California yesterday! A new SPOT capture shows their voyage over the last few days which is great to see. I can only imagine the waves. I feel nauseous thinking about it, though not as bad as my mom who got seasick from sitting in the cockpit docked at Point Roberts marina!

Have been receiving a message or two a day from Rich; apparently they had their first bout of bad weather two days ago but Mr.Perfect did "very well." Additional reports of homesickness and a beautiful California sunset logged via text message. The trip has officially surpassed the one week mark!

Albin Vega specs picture I found on the internet.

Off the Oregon Coast! June 2

2008-06-02T12:19:00.000-07:00

Reports of favorable weather and good winds. Making good time.

poor ChubChub. her fave guy RT is gone for the whole summer!

SPOT Screen Shot

2008-05-31T10:16:00.001-07:00

The voyage so far... click on it to enlarge.

Bon Voyage!

2008-05-31T09:21:00.000-07:00

Jeff and Rich moving into their new condo
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Rich and Jeff inside their new digs!
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Canned and dried food provisions... Jammed in every crevice!
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"Bin of Sin"-- junk drawer
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Original Albin Vega ad
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Rich and Lyndsay. Won't see each other for a while!
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The two sailors. Note Weaver's old school pink Pacific Produce tshirt!
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Leaving their slip at Point Roberts...
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One last look! Rich and I are waving to each other until we're both out of sight!
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Introducting... Mr.Perfect, Captain and First Mate! Destination: HAWAII

2008-05-26T16:47:00.001-07:00

Rich Trawick and Jeff Weaver are embarking on a sailing trip aboard a 27 foot Swedish-made Albin Vega (named Mr.Perfect) to Hawaii and back, leaving May 28 from Point Roberts, Washington, and returning mid-August! Visit this blog (updated by Lyndsay--no internet for these guys!) for updates via SPOT, so you can check out Mr.Perfect's geographic locations as they edge towards Maui. Also, updates will be posted via Lyndsay, Rich's lady-friend/wife, as she hears from Rich through satellite text messages and telepathic mind zoom!

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The Men Of Mr.Perfect: Rich and the Weave
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The inside of the cabin of Mr.Perfect. Rich demonstrates the lee cloth created from an old sail to keep them from falling out of their bunks during rocky times.
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Mr.Perfect docked in lovely Point Roberts, Washington on N Dock, where the people are awesome and the appetizers flow freely!
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Balloons mark the occasion of summer dock party at N Dock
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Rich out for a sail on his trusty new friend, Mr.Perf
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"Below is a copy of the tentative itinerary for trip to Hawaii. The itinerary can only be a rough outline of how things will progress as timing will change with good or bad weather and there is always the chance of boat maintenance or repair delays in Monterey or Hawaii." --Rich

Hawaii Trip Itinerary:

May 28 Depart Pt. Roberts
May 28 Arrive Victoria
May 29 Arrive Port Angeles
May 30 Arrive Neah Bay (mouth of the Juan de Fuca straight, start of open Pacific Ocean).
May 30-June 2 depart Neah Bay (wait for appropriate weather window)
June 5-9 arrive Monterey CA
June 9-12 Depart Monterey
June 30-July 2 Arrive Maui
2 Weeks or so in Maui, Kauai, Oahu
July 17-19 Depart Oahu
August 10 - 15 Arrive back at Pt.Roberts

Lovely Point Roberts at sunset
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Bilyana and Grant, sailing friends and N Dock neighbors in their Beneteau First 285!
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Dad Trawick pulling a classic Trawick move! (beer in hand)
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Family and friends wished the duo well-- including baby Brody with PMD
and sis-in-law Leanne!
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A month's provisions... !
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Lynds and Rich, Point Roberts evening

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