Busy Friday and Friday Night Boat Races

Today was a busy day. I suppose this is what most people think us retirees do every day!

I was up at 0600, made breakfast and read the newspaper. Following breakfast I spent some time on the computer working on some sailboat handicapping stuff. Then off to the home gym and weight trained for an hour. Finally off on one of the road bicycle for a 19.5 mile ride.

I returned in time for lunch and since I was going sailboat racing at Port Orchard, made some eats for later in the evening. I left the house about 1330 and went to the boat. I spent some time cleaning the boat and was underway by 1500 for the 1-1/2 hour delivery to Port Orchard for a 1800 race.

The racers started arriving and it became quickly apparent that the race committee was not going to show. So, a start/finish line was established and one boat sounded the starting signals.

I had a great start and tried to navigate the calm areas on the way to the first mark. I held the lead although "Falcon" was close to me at the first mark. I was not worried about them as they are in a different class. "Tantrum II" and "Tantalus" rounded the weather mark several minutes behind me.

I set the spinnaker and had a fast run even though the wind was only about 6 knots. I worked on sailing at the boats "target speeds" and gained more on the field. At the leeward mark, I had a clean spinnaker takedown and had a easy beat to the finish. Since I was the first boat to finish, I had to take my time and the times of the boats behind. I easily saved my time on "Tantrum II" and was ahead of "Tantalus" (we rate the same). I probably saved my time on "Falcon" and was 1st overall.

I managed to get away from Port Orchard at about 2030 and was back to Brownsville at 2100 after a nice motor back in the dark., arriving back home at about 2130.

Now, does that sound like I stayed busy enough? Oh, and tomorrow I will probably go to the car show/flyin at the Bremerton Airport.

Friday the 13th.

Yeah, so what. It is Friday the 13th. Just another day. But today I felt well enough after three weeks of coughing, congestion, ear aches and sore throat to get out and go for a bicycle ride to the boat and back. And then cut some brush back from the neighbors property line. We are into a stretch of warm weather now and it really is too hot to work out side very long.

But the real reason for this post is that I have past two years since my first post in this blog. I say past, because the actual anniversary date was yesterday August 12th.

40th Shaw Island Classic

So, what defines a "classic"? Longevity? Uniqueness? The San Juan Island Island Yacht Club call their around Shaw Island Race a "classic". I suspect that more than just the longevity of the race, the unigueness of the race and the suprise outcome has a lot to do with the title "classic".

To get to the start of the "classic", I left Brownsville early on Thursday with my destination of Port Townsend. I left early to avoid the worst of the currents. It was a sunny day and I motored to Boat Haven Marina on the west end of Port Townsend. To avoid adverse currents in Admiralty Inlet and to shorten my course some, I went through the Port Townsend Canal between Hadlock and Indian Island. I rarely go through this canal and it always makes me nervous going under the bridge even though I have several feet of clearance with my mast. I walked uptown to the used book store and found a couple of books.

Friday, I was underway at 0600 to take advantage of favorable currents. It was fogging in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and I could hear the fog horn of an outbound container ship. I picked him up on radar and when he passed ahead, I could visually see him. It was very rough for the first few miles with the strong ebb current against the swells in the strait. The wind came up after about an hour and I put up some sails and secured the diesel. The jib got stuck in the prefeeder and it took me about an hour to free it up and finish hoisting the sail. I sailed all the way into busy Friday Harbor where I tied up in my reserved slip at 1100.

On saturday, my start for the "classic" was 1215. There was virtually no wind, constant rain and of course strong adverse current. I chose to go counterclockwise around Shaw Island. Almost all the boats chose that direction. I hugged the shore until I finally got flushed passed Turn Island and remarkably, there was wind and I was able to get across San Juan channel and entered Upright Channel with about six other boats. Boats had started dropping out as soon as 15 minutes after the start, so the few of us in Upright Channel were the remaiders of the 65 starters. The wind died again and we short tacked up the Shaw Island shore. A shortened course finish was set up at the halfway point on the northeast shore of Shaw Island. Unfortunatly, even though I was leading my class, the time limit expired with about 300 yards to go. One boat that sailed clockwise did make the finish before the time limit expired.

I motored back to the Friday Harbor marina and found my reserved/paid for slip occupied by a large powerboat. I called the Port on the VHF and they moved the boat out and I got my spot back. I was cold, soaked through and hungrey. The nice people at the port refunded my entire two nights of moorage fees and the reservation fee. I was totally shocked and thought that was way beyond what they should do. At least now I could afford breakfast again!

After a early breakfast at the Rocky Bay Cafe, I was underway at 0700. The wind came up some in the straits and I got a couple of hours of sailing in before the wind died. I motored the rest of the way home arriving home at 1600.

Total distance for the weekend: 154.7 NM

Going through the Port Townsend Canal.

Moored in Friday Harbor
I wonder if Guiness knows about this?

Not much wider than a doorway.

Mainstreet Friday Harbor

Port of Friday Harbor marina.

Course for Saturday from the start at Browns Island untill the time limit expired at 1700.

Whidbey Island Race Week-2010

Whidbey Island Race Week is the third week of July and is five days of sailboat racing, partying, pranks and silliness. It has also been referred to as "Adult Summer Camp".

This year I had the privilege of being invited to race aboard "What? A Tripp!" a Peterson 37. I have never raced on this boat before, but skipper Gary invited me about a month before. This boat and crew have a great reputation in Puget Sound for being a very competitive boat, so I quickly accepted and packed up my sailing gear.

The format for race week is 9 classes of one design keelboats and tightly grouped classes of handicap racing. Races are held outside of Oak Harbor in either Penn Cove or Saratoga Passage(depending on wind direction). We raced in class P3. This class is sometimes referred to as the "Furniture 40" class because it often consists of older somewhat heavier boats in the 35-43ft range. The class was not that large, a couple boats dropped out just before Race Week started, one from some damage and lost and destroyed equipment and rigging incurred a few weeks earlier. The class was still very competitive.

The first day of racing on Monday was a bust. The race committee waited most of the day for the wind to fill in and then set a fairly long course which we could not finish. The rest of the week the wind filled in enough each day to get in 11 races in four days, three races a day on Tuesday through Thursday and two on Friday. The racing is usually multiple laps of tight buoy races. The RC does a good job of trying to keep the starting line square and the marks directly up and down wind.

My job was to work in the pit. I tailed halyards during hoists, set halyard tension, raised and adjusted pole height, dropped the spinnaker and adjusted the foreguy. It was a lot of fun working with a well trained crew. I was a bit insecure at first(and did trip one halyard inadvertently the first day), but felt like I did my job well and added to the effort.

The entire week, our chief competition was "Shoot The Moon" a Peterson 40. We virtually matched raced them the entire time. They owed us a small amount of time. We started the week leading them for two days, but then they had a run of firsts, often correcting on us by only 5 to 20 seconds! When it was over, STM beat us for the week by two points. Our score of first and second place finishes was very respectable, but STM was just a little bit ahead.

The post race partying was typical with bands, dancing, award presentations, volleyball and something called a "Bacon Off" which would be sure to be a artery clogging event! Thursday night is the boat "renaming" night. A few of our crew participated late at night.

Thanks to Gary and the rest of the "What! A Tripp?" crew for giving me the great opportunity to race with them and providing me with a place to sleep and eat.

Results can be found here: http://whidbeyislandraceweek.com/results_2010.html

Boats racing in Saratoga Passage on Thursday.

My ride for the week.

Boats at the dock.

One of the boats that was renamed on Thursday night (AKA Teddy Bear).

Friday's crew on "What! A Tripp?". We were missing two people, one who was taking the photo and our sewer rat who slept until we needed him.

Motoring out to the start.

The fleet motoring out to the start.

Spinnakers racing in Penn Cove.

Spinnakers in Penn Cove.

Over The Mountains.

I have been watching the weather(and my busy schedule) and chose today to take a motorcycle ride to central Washington and back. I rode over Chinook Pass, through the Yakima River Canyon and I90 over Snoqualmie Pass to return.

The weather was perfect. It was a little cool on the western approaches to Chinook Pass, but as soon as I crested the summit, it warmed up. The traffic was light on most of the ride and even the boring(to me) I90 highway over Snoqualmie Pass was pleasant. Even the ongoing construction was not disruptive.

I have not been on some of these roads in a long time. Probably the last time for the Yakima River Canyon Road was the late 1960's.

I made a side trip to Roslyn(where "Northern Exposure" was filmed) and a quick stop at the Factory Outlet Stores in North Bend.

The traffic through Tacoma was stop and go and by the time I got home in the afternoon, the temperature was warming up. I was tired by the time I got home.

Total riding distance: 360 miles.

Mt Ranier and Lake Tipsoo. The lake is still partially covered with snow and the parking lot is completely plugged with snow.
Mt Ranier.

Looking east down the valley from Chinook Pass.

I am not a senior! I'm not, I'm not I'm not!

I need to confess. I have been in denial for a long time. And I need to come clean and finally admit that I am a SENIOR. That is a hard thing for me to do. I still feel young. I probably need help coping with my denial!

About 20 years ago I discovered bike racing. I was 35 years old and the cycling federation called the racers over 35 "veterans" implying our years of experience. There were some fast guys in that category. I was not that good at road racing, I am a bit large to fly up hills, but I do have good endurance. I was good at mountain bike racing and in another off road event called cyclocross, I had a national ranking one year. I quit racing about 10 years ago.

Last week at the bread store(where I claim a discount for being a Se----), I noticed an add in the window advertising the Bremerton West Sound Senior Games. I knew of this from past years, but had never entered. They offer many sports including basketball, tennis, track and field, horseshoes, disc golf, swimming, cycling and many others. The criteria is an age of 50 or older. I started thinking this might be fun and the only thing I could do was cycling. So after an email to the organizer to determine that I could still enter, I submitted my entry fee(including late fee).

I researched the times for the last two years in the cycling time trial and knew I had my work cut out. These are some fast guys! A Tuesday practice of the 7 mile course did not inspire much confidence. My practice time of 21:13 was much slower than most of the riders in my 55-59 year category. So, I installed my old aero bars and rode a couple of days to make sure I could control the bike safely. I have not used aero bars in at least 15 years and never on my current road bike. I was surprised that I was stable.

Saturday, the time trial was at 1330 north of Poulsbo on the Big Valley Road. I was intimidated by the number of high end carbon fiber, aero shaped time trial bicycles. These guys looked formidable. And here I was on an aluminum tube framed bike with add on aerobars!

The participants started at one minute intervals. I started in the second group for the 55-59 year olds. I got up to speed and dropped down onto the aero bars. I stayed down on the bars all the way to the turn around. I was able to really keep my speed up and my breathing under control, but thought I should have been able to get to the turnaround sooner. The return is up a slight hill. This concerned me the most. I got off the aero bars and rode on the hoods to keep my chest open so I could get plenty of oxygen. I surprised myself by keeping up a very fast pace. I passed one rider at the top of the hill and one guy from behind passed me. I went back on the aero bars and stayed on them until the finish. I posted a 19:29 which was good enough for second in my age group. I was extremely happy. The guy that past me was in my group and set the fastest time of the day in the 16-17 minute range! He was one on a specialized time trial bike.

The organizers of the Senior Games sponsored a dinner Saturday night for all the participants. It was fun to meet up with some of the people I have not seen in years.

Now I can get back to being in denial: I am not a senior! I'm not, I'm not I'm not!

Website for the games: http://www.ci.bremerton.wa.us/display.php?id=679

After the time trial.
Great looking group of cyclists!

Craig(75-80 year old group) and I with our 2nd place silver medals.

Cruise to Liberty Bay Fireworks-July 3

Poulsbo, Wa is a quirky little town on the shores of Liberty Bay. Poulsbo is decorated in a Scandinavian theme probably because the early residents were Scandinavian. The town has many shops and a "to die for" bakery. Also for a small town, they put on a killer fireworks display! The fireworks are on the 3rd of July. This allows people to watch fireworks on the 3rd and then go somewhere else to see lesser fireworks on the 4th. The fireworks are shot from a barge anchored in the bay and boaters from around Puget Sound plug the bay to watch.

My yacht club(West Sound Corinthian Yacht Club(WSCYC)) usually schedules a cruise for the evening. Since I moor about five miles away, I volunteered to go early and stake a claim on a good spot near the "line of death" around the barge. Later arriving boats were told that they could then raft up to me and with additional anchors set we could be secure for the evening. Also, an evening pot luck diner and breakfast pot luck are planned. In the past we have had large groups of boats and a large variety of good eats.

I arrived at about 1223 and anchored in an open area near the buoy line. Boats started showing up a couple of hours later, first Emerald Lady and then Sea Rose. Toward evening other WSCYC boats showed up and anchored near us, but would not raft up with us. Hmmm! Whats with that? More boats showed up and rafted with the second group. Oh well the three boats in the WSCYC raft and one more that showed up later shared our culinary creations and had a good time.

The fireworks were awesome! Not a long display, but lots of energy. And the night was clear and calm giving us a great view.

In the morning, the three boats in the WSCYC raft(one left in the evening), again shared breakfast and everyone had plenty to eat. The wind was light out of the south. I sailed away from the raft and had a good beat out of Liberty Bay, thru the narrow pass near Keyport and home to Brownsville. Lots of boats leaving at the same time created quite a traffic jam near Keyport.

Next year I will let someone else pick the anchoring location.

Short video of some fireworks.