August 11, 2008 (From the Skipper!!)

Hello from Kauai,
Things have settled down now that the race is over, the boat is on its way back to San Francisco, and Ruben of Sparky has made it safely into Hanalei Bay. I have had a chance to catch my breath and begin to reacquaint myself with my wonderful wife, Jeanne, who has done a beautiful job in keeping everyone informed on what was transpiring with the TransPac.
So much has happened since that fascinating morning of July 12th when so many family and friends came to see me off at the start of the race. As I sailed out of the slip, it seemed so odd to be joining such a varied group of boats. I have a great picture of Black Feathers (a 20 footer) crossing tacks with Dogbark (a 60 footer) as we all prepared for our starts. So much time and preparation goes into an event like this that it seems unreal when it is actually happening.
The first three days of the race were very strange. We had some good wind the first afternoon, but then we were stuck in very light winds, and nobody really knew where to go to find the real wind. After day four, we were all moving well, but on some very different paths to Hanalei!
Black Feathers was a bit south of most of the boats which was not originally intended. I got into some very stiff winds and felt the safest point of sailing was in that more southerly direction. Off I went for a day and a half with a double-reefed main heading a bit too southerly. During these days I took on quite a lot of water as it splashed across the bow and trickles shot through the little cabin. It was then I knew for sure this would be a wet ride.
By day six of the race I had made it to a point where I had hoped I would be in order to follow a pre-race guesstimate at what an ideal route might be. Once on this Hanalei, I kept it all the way to the finish. Twice I was passed by racers competing in a different Hawaii race and they gave me much appreciated encouragement. They had all sailed Cal-20's in their past and truly applauded my efforts.
The halfway point (1060 miles into the race) was reached on the eleventh day. A wonderful tradition designed to lift the spirits of everyone involved in a TransPac race is the giving and receiving of a half-way gift. I had no idea my gift from Jeanne would be so powerful. She had written a small book of the mystical story of a knight and a mermaid. As it was intertwined with many elements of our actual lives over the last four years, its emotional effect on my was profound. There is a bronze mermaid awaiting me at home to complete my half-way gift...it was much too heavy to make the trip. My gift to Jeanne was a silver charm of a small sail boat, not unlike Black Feathers, which came from my mother's charm bracelet.
The boat was moving well and a comfortable daily routine had settled in. The next day all was fine until late afternoon when the self-steering went crazy and I could hear an ugly scratching sound at the back of the boat. Black Feathers had broken her fairly new, high-tech, fiberglass rudder. It snapped off at the waterline. All TransPac boats are required to have an emergency rudder. Most of these rudders are smaller versions of the actual rudders and nobody want to use them. Fortunately for Black Feathers, I had her original 1961 all mahogany rudder which had resided the last five years in Jeanne and my living room. It was a thing of beauty once I had sanded off some 45 years of paint! This full-sized rudder was my emergency rudder and after a short, but stressful struggle to get it in place and attached to the self-steering, we were off and running again. It functioned beautifully the rest of the trip.
There are many moods to our Pacific Ocean. It can be bright and warm and welcoming, and there was some of that - particularly during the last fourth of the trip. It can be bumpy, overcast, cold and a bit hostile - and it was, particularly in the first fourth of the trip. But EVERY NIGHT, it was magical! Once the sun goes down you can't see the water unless the moon casts its glow, but with the many overcast skies there was little evidence of our moon. So there you are moving through a corridor of darkness where the 5-6 knots of speed feels like 50. I would find myself standing in the hatchway area with 10 foot of boat before me and 10 foot behind me, holding on as the boat would rock from side to side and the wind whistle through the rigging as we shot across the water towards Hanalei. If any person could not find such an experience magiical, I'm afraid they are missing much of life's fascinations.
For the last half of the race I intended to go as fast as I could without breaking the boat or getting hurt. I had heard about Sparky, the second smallest boat in the race, getting dismasted 670 miles from the finish by an unexpected squall. Each racers heart sank as they realized what a difficult task Sparky's Skipper, Ruben Gabriel, would have in attempting to get some type of emergency rig standing so he could limp to the finish. Ruben rose to the occasion and brough her in after 11 very difficult and emotion-filled days - a truly splendid accomplishment which will be remembered and admired by all.
About 200 miles from the finish a rather amazing thing happened. It was nearing dusk and there were many sea birds flying around the area as Black Feathers headed west. Every time a bird would fly close to the boat to check us out, I would attempt to encourage its friendship with whistles and welcoming gestures. Having never had any success with this approach, I was astounded when not only did an albatross do serveral slow and close fly-bys, but then actually landed on my solar panel! Finding the solar panel slippery and unstable, my visitor jumped on to an adjacent rail with its funky but reliable webbed feet and settled in - not only for the night, but for the next two days! I enjoyed and photographed my feathered friend until the morning of my arrival when, at the Kilauea Lighthouse (a well-known bird refuge) he rejoined his bird friends just as the sun was dawning. I had 6 miles to go.
Black Feathers crossed the finish August 1 on a glorious sunlit morning. We had done well in this unique race coming in second in our division and 8th (out of 22) in fleet. Division first place went to Wildflower who took First overall on corrected time.
My reunion on the beach of Hanalei with my wife, Jeanne, in my arms, and surrounded by my son, Winston and his wife, Sarah (with their soon-to-be-born son, Sebastian) and my daughter, Kendra, with her best of friends, Bill, was a thing I had envisioned and anticipated for weeks. It's as good as it gets...!
The original return plan was for me to sail Black Feathers home to California, however, during the ride to Hanalei, I realized sailing her home would be anti-climatic and unnecessary to accomplish my goals with the TransPac. So after a few days of cleaning her up, I sailed Black Feathers to Honolulu, a short but rough passage, and she is now on a freighter headed for San Francisco Bay. I was able to return to Hanalei in time to announce Sparky's finish over the VHF from the Princeville Bluff. A great end to a super adventure.
I thank you for joining me on my adventure. Your good wishes and prayers were with me and greatly appreciated. And, of course, I am so pleased that you could follow Black Feathers through the tremendous efforts of my wife, Jeanne; my son, Winston, and Drs. Charles McKelvey and Phil Grossman of Twain Harte Family Dental.
Thank you all.
Robert Crawford of Black Feathers

August 11, 2008

 

A few more tidbits for you...
Ruben and Robbie (Sparky) got engaged day before yesterday at the Kilauea Lighthouse (the first light he saw coming in from sea)...her ring has a blue stone to signify the color of the ocean.
It appears Ruben will be giving Sparky to Mitchell Boy, the young man who provided the Zodiac escort service to each of the incoming skippers. AND Skip Allan/Wildflower is offering to help Mitchell with the rigging of the new mast.
On a not-so-bright front, Jeanne Socrates headed "home" sailing Islander late last week. She got 300 miles out to sea and discovered leaks and was unable to get the bilge pump to work so she returned to Hanalei. Jeanne will be flying back to the UK tomorrow and it appears Barbara will sail Islander home herself. What a saga!
Most of the skippers have sailed away from Hanalei at this point...Kali O Kalani is leaving with her new owner today. Harrier will depart tomorrow, and Skip will depart Wednesday. Feolena will be departing Tuesday or Wendesday. NaNa is still here. Everyone else left in the last few days either to sail back or to be shipped from Honolulu. Ragtime! started for home, but Bob Johnston missed his family and decided it was worth the money to head for home, so he changed course and went to Honolulu where he anticipates either selling or shipping his boat home.
I will be sending out Robert's summary of his TransPac later this evening.

August 7, 2008

Sparky crossed the finish line this morning at 9:37 a.m. (and 12 seconds) PDT. Robert and I were up on the Princeville Bluff to record his finish, along wiht Becky and Joshua Seagal of Sunquest. Skip Alan/Wildflower went out to meet him, as Skip has done with many of the incoming skippers. Skippers and their wives still here in Kauai were all up at 5:00 a.m. eagerly awaiting his arrival and standing by.
As soon as Ruben crossed the finish line, Skip hooked up a tow line and started leading him in... Ruben's wonderful girlfriend, Robbie, went out in the Zodiac to meet him along with Chris/Carroll E and the camera crew, Jonathan and Christine. Mitchell was the Zodiac driver.
After he was presented with his lei, they tucked Ruben into the Zodiac and headed for Hanalei Beach where we were all waiting eagerly...along with his parents and brother...who had been flown in by Robbie as a final surprise for Ruben.
Ruben looked very tired and a bit bewildered. He has lost quite a bit of weight...I would guess 25 pounds, and his hands will probably have some scars from the many cuts, but he was in good spirits and very happy to be here. He got a cheer as he reached the shore and lots of hugs once he stepped onto land. Tears were plentiful.
This evening we will have a great TREE to celebrate his feat, complete with lots of pepperoni pizza...which he has requested. The General, Ken Roper of Harrier, is having a bar-b-que at his house after Tree. Ken Roper was dismasted several TransPacs back and made it in his last 300 miles with a jury mast. Ruben did 600 miles and was wise in his decision to contact the General for advice.
Several people who saw Ruben's makeshift mast were quite impressed with the engineering feat. I can tell you from the bluff at Princeville, he had the appearance of Huck Finn. Not an ideal sailing situation, but certainly an accomplishment to be admired by those in the know.
So, the 2008 TransPac is now officially over. All that is left is the friendships and the memories and the deep appreciation of all the support we have all received in our adventure.
Thank you.
Over and out.

Jeanne

 

Comments from Charlie McKelvey:

We hope you have enjoyed Robert's (and Jeanne's) solo sail!!  As we blogged these comments from Jeanne's daily emails we felt we were right there  with all the sailors. 

Take a minute and sign Robert's guest book and thank him for such a great "true life" adventure!

For those of you who are interested:  Gloria and I are leaving for Egypt on November 12 and returning December 2nd.  As with our spring dental mission trip to India, we plan to blog our way through the country.  If interested, check us out!

August 6, 2008

O.K. so much for getting here and THEN our vacations starts...
As you know, Robert finished the race on 8/1, placing 8th in the fleet on corrected time. Islander came in at 12:30 p.m. on the 1st barely missing the noon deadline to be in the official count, and after not hearing from her for a number of days. Sunday, August 2nd was the Awards Banquet at the Princeville. The food and atmosphere got rave reviews...so I guess it was worth my hassling them as much as I did!!

Islander has been repaired and Jeanne Socrates/Neirda will be sailing her back to San Francisco beginning this afternoon.
Ruben Gabriel/Sparky is due in tomorrow morning at dawn. He has a jury mast up to 15 feet and is making about 100 miles per day. A number of the skippers and their wives will be here to greet him and have "tree" with him tomorrow. Robbie, his girlfriend, who is beyond compare when it comes to being supportive, is planning a pepperoni pizza fest for him...that's what he's been missing.

Now to Robert's present adventure. As you know Robert decided NOT to sail Black Feathers home. Ruben is going to donate Sparky when he arrives in Kauai so his space on the transport ship became available so Robert took it, BUT that meant we had to go into overdrive...we had to get everything off the boat, clean the boat, do laundry, weatherproof his foul weather gear, and repack the boat and get him on his way to Honolulu at O'dark hundred yesterday morning. The trip to Honolulu equals two trips to the Farrlones...it is not a walk in the park. It can take between 23 - 33 hours. He called last night at 9:00 p.m. and he was having a very rough time of it...Black Feathers was slamming repeatedly as he tried to speak with me. He said he was very glad he didn't have one of his loved ones onboard. I reminded him he did have one of my loved ones onboard!!! He called this morning at 8:20 and he had no wind and was motoring. Tom Kirschbaum/Feral and his
daughter were making the same trek with his boat...Feral and Black Feathers are to share a transport container. I just received a call from the boat loader and he had heard from Tom. Tom said he could not make it in and the boat loader was going out to retrieve him (I believe that may because Tom does not have a working motor). Larry, the boat loader, called Robert. Robert had already passed the place Larry is picking up Tom, so Robert is back tracking to meet them. Robert will have to drop his mast and lock things up to get her ready for her journey home, then he will turn Ms. Black Feathers over to Larry. Larry will take Robert to the airport...AND THEN we can start our vacation!!!! AND the really good part is...Robert will be here to welcome Ruben.
A little side note...John Hayward/Dream Chaser had his brother, John and John's wife, Susan, as his guests here in Kauai. Susan and John live on their boat in Panama and have done so for several years. A wonderful couple. The night of the banquet, they came to me with a lovely mola, a colorful hand sewn work of art...reverse applique' created by the Kuna Indians in Panama. They said they had brought it from home knowing they would meet someone special along the way to give it to. They chose me. I was very touched and can't wait to get it home, frame it and hang it. I'm hoping John and Susan will come to Mi Wuk to visit...then you will all get to meet these very special people.

Many of you have sent emails in the past couple of days, but I'm going to let Robert open them and respond to you in the next few days. Just know all your support has been incredibly precious to us.
Take care,
Jeanne

August 2, 2008

Sorry I wasn't able to get an email out to you since yesterday morning, but we have been a bit celebratory since Robert's arrival.

Robert came across the finish line approximately 7:10 a.m.

Hawaii time (10:10 a.m. PDT) yesterday morning. It was a glorious sunrise and then a tiny twinkle appeared and it was Black Feathers coming into Hanalei Bay. He was being "chased" by no wind, so he made it in just in time!
So to the ratings. After the handicaps were applied, Robert placed second in his division with the only boat ahead of him being Wildflower who won the entire race on Corrected time. AND Robert/Black Feathers corrected out ahead of Hecla, Warriors Wish, Anklebiter, NaNa, Dogbark and Dream Chaser. So the bottomline is Robert sits right in the middle of the fleet rating wise...AND as we all know he is the tiniest boat to have ever done this race. Believe me when I saw the tiny speck that came around the point into Hanalei Bay gave me true perspective of how tiny Black Feathers is out there.
We are all pulling for Sparky. Ruben was able to extend his jury mast up to 12 feet, BUT having a no wind situation he is still about 400 miles out. Yesterday he did 7 miles...as of this morning he had done 21 miles in a 12 hour period. He has plenty of food and water onboard, but the hope for his arriving this Monday is gone. There are a number of the racers and their families who will be here through the 7th, some until the 9th, and of course Robert and I through the 25th...so someone will be here to celebrate his accomplishment when he arrives. We are hopeful he will get more wind soon and come in this coming week.
Islander/Barbara Euser called her husband on her cell phone this morning at 9:00 a.m. Hawaii time as soon as she got close enough in to land to do so. She should be in by now. We hope to see her at the Awards Banquet this evening. This was to be my last TransPac update, but I know many of you want to know about Barbara and Sparky, so I'll keep you posted. Let me know if you wish to be taken off the list.
AND now to the albatross...No, Robert did not name his friend, but since it landed on the Sunsei Solar Panel and rode there the entire time, I think Sunsei would be a good handle. After a 24-hour stay, the bird took off, did two laps around the boat and then came back and settled in for the rest of the voyage. It didn't not take its leave until the Kilauea Lighthouse which is right around the corner from Hanalei Bay. Robert was disappointed to see it take flight, but did get quite a few photos.
More on Sparky tomorrow.

August 1, 2008 Day 21 8:00AM

He's making his way in. He called at 8:08 PDT/5:08 Hawaiian time and he was 9.5 miles out making 5 mph. He should be less than 2 hours away.
In about 20 minutes Winston, Sarah and I will head for the Bluff. He should come into view about 20 minutes before he crosses the finish line.
There is some concern for Sparky because although he now has 12 feet of mast, the anticipated 5 mph winds may cause him to lose speed and not come in on Monday.
There is still no word from Barbara Euser on Islander...the hope is she will appear on Monday also, but it is based on a position report that is over a week old. Please note she had the same communication issues in the 2004 TransPac and showed up fine. There has been no distress call from her EPIRB to the Coast Guard.
Today's TREE at 5:00 p.m. is going to be the BEST one because Robert will be there. His plan is to take his broken rudder and the skippers will perform an "autopsy" on it in an effort to determine what happened.
We are off to the bluff with lei and an ice cold beer in hand...and we know you are all with us!
Hugs

August 1, 2008 Day 21 7:00AM

Black Feathers
7:00 a.m.
Lat/Long: 22.29 N 159.14 W
Distance to Finish: 16 miles

12 hour mileage: 60 miles
Course: 250 degrees true
Speed: 4.5 knots
Date: 8/1/08
Well, here I am again. The times in this email are going to be stated in Hawaii time, which is three hours EARLIER than PDT.
Robert made good mileage last night, however, as he gets closer to Hanalei the winds are dying down. The grids are showing 5 mph winds heading this way shortly so he is doing his best to scoot in before he is becalmed out there. How's this for an exciting finish folks!!!
If he can maintain his current rate of speed, which has dropped from 5.2 knots to 4.5 knots, he should cross the finish line at 8:00 a.m. The Distance of Finish of 16 miles was taken at 3:40 a.m. this morning.
Carroll E came in an hour early yesterday, early afternoon. Feolena and Sunquest came in last night about 5:00 p.m. nine minutes apart. Kali O Kalni was due in at 7:00 p.m., then it was pushed to 8:00 p.m. He called at 8:00 p.m. and he was four miles out. I was on the Princeville Bluff until 8:40 p.m. and he still had not appeared around the point. They are either blessed by the winds or at the mercy of the winds as you can see.
Robert said it is very black out there right now.
Sorry I didn't think to ask about the bird this morning. Not sure if it's still onboard or not....but we all are, virtual rowing is allowed!
During the night I went to www.crawfordkin.com and read all the guestbook entries. Your comments are beautiful and Robert is going to be overwhelmed, as I was. If you haven't already done so, but would like to add to the guestbook, you can either follow the instructions Winston sent, or send an email to Winston and he will post it for you. He says the process isn't all that user-friendly.
Pam, Winston will post the "note for Robert" that you sent. Thank you.