Black Feathers
7:00 p.m.
Lat/Long: 28.45N 140.38W
Distance to Finish: 1092 12 hour mileage: 64
Course: 250 degrees true
Speed: 5.8 knots
Date: 7/23/08
He had a quite a day. This afternoon a squall appeared and in the mist he noticed a spinnaker. It turned out it belonged to one of the crewed Pacific Cup boats. The skipper called Robert and told him there is a fleet of 47 Cal 20's in Portland that are watching his progress closely and rooting him on. He gave Robert his phone number and when Robert gets to Kauai they plan to get together.
I spoke with Brad of Business First in Twain Harte. He and his wife, Lin, did an awesome job with all our TransPac clothing items. Today, Brad was in his front yard and across the street he overheard two of his neighbors talking about "that dude that is out there in the middle of the Pacific in a 20 foot boat."
Black Feathers
7:00 a.m.
Lat/Long: 29.21 N 139.37 W
Distance to Finish: 1156 miles 12 hour mileage: 64
Course: 250 degrees true
Speed: 5.6 knots
Date: 7/23/08
Robert was a bit tired this morning because he had a bit more wind than usual, but he was happy because of the miles he made. He believes he will be at the half way point about 10:00 p.m. PDT this evening. Tradition is that the skipper receives a gift to open halfway. I gave him one and he gave me one. So this evening we will both have a gift from each other.
At this point, Robert has 7 other boats within 50 miles of him, some just ahead of him, some behind him. Talk about the Little Engine that Could! He's doing fine.
Onboard he has a gimbled one-burner stove which the Race Committee required, HOWEVER, they can't make him use it. He doesn't use the stove at home, he certainly isn't about to dig out the stove in those tight quarters! So Pam, thank you VERY much for the chocolate covered coffee beans. He is enjoying those and the coffee candy I gave him. BUT he is really looking forward to a cup of coffee and a BEER! Usually he takes some rum or some other adult beverage onboard with him and has a shot each night as his treat, but this time he opted to forgo the weight. So he has a stove, coffee pot and coffee pods that he's not using. Guess what will get shipped home to make room for the rum on his return trip!! What is a sailor without his rum.
