Saturday I woke up early and hiked up to the Rocky Bay Cafe for one of their fantastic breakfasts. Then back to the boat to get ready. My start was not until 1215, so I had lots of time to rig the boat and kibitz with old friends and new acquaintances. I left the dock in plenty of time to get the sails raised and tweaked before my start.
It did not seem to be as crowded or as hectic in the starting area as I remembered. The line is set off the north end of Brown's Island. The wind had actually filled in at about 8 knots from the North. As the first start went off at 1200, the fleet split with half going counter clockwise and the other half going clockwise. About the same happened at my start. I decided to go counter clockwise as my detailed analysis determined that that was the way to go. Yeah Right!
I started on the boat end of the line and had clear air soon after the start. It was a close reach that got wider as I closed on the entrance to Upright Channel. Soon I put up the spinnaker. As this fleet entered Upright Channel, the wind shifted to the south requiring a jibe. The wind also lightened and the run to the east end of Shaw Island became a game chasing puffs and trying to sail hot angles to keep the boat speed up. I closed with the previous class of boats.
I sailed with the spinnaker up Harney Channel to the halfway point near Blind Bay. Here the wind shut off and the boats that sailed the opposite direction were sailing towards us with spinnakers, classic convergence zone. The boats sailing toward us sailed right through the zone and we stopped.
As the group of boats I was sailing in drifted around, some friends on "Wild Rumpus" (Santa Cruz 27) noticed that I was alone ask "Are you sailing singlehanded?" And my smart alec answer was " No, I am using both hands!".
After about an hour of drifting around in the heat, some boats started escaping into the new wind near the western side of Blind Bay. One boat got a little close in and hit a rock real hard. I followed them over that direction almost hitting a rock I could see just below the surface. I had to tack around it after I saw it. Really scary!
The wind picked up to about 9 knots for the beat across West Sound and into Wasp Pass where it lightened. In Wasp Pass, the current was adverse requiring lots of tacks. I managed to close with many of the boats ahead. After clearing Wasp Pass, I reset the spinnaker for the reach to the finish. Near the finish, it appeared that the wind was coming forward, so I took the spinnaker down early. Perhaps a little too early as the wind lightened and I struggled to finish. As I motored into the docks, I started noticing a lot of the boats that went the opposite direction were already finished. I did not think much of my chances for a good placing.
I cleaned up the boat some and went to the club house for dinner and the awards. I was very tired and dehydrated. I drank lots of water and when I tried to use the utensils, my fingers cramped. Finally the awards were read and to my surprise, I got third place in my class! Cool! And someone ask "Were you sailing singlehanded?" and the announcer said " No, he was using both hands!".
San Juan Island Yacht Club puts on a great race and post race event. They are always friendly and seem happy to see me. The complete results are here: Shaw Island Classic 2012 Results
After the party, I finished cleaning up the boat and changing mainsails. I turned in early, but woke up early in the morning to be underway by 0551. The weather was sunny with light winds across the straits and building some as I arrived back in Puget Sound. I put up the mainsail to help boost the speed and I played the currents right. The entire delivery back only took 8 hours and 35 minutes. Pretty fast! Pretty hot and tiring too!
Through the Port Townsend Canal on Thursday.
Point Wilson on Friday. Heading out to cross the straits in the fog.
Port of Friday Harbor.
Friday Night concert at the port.
Sailing up Upright Channel with boats behind.
Sailing up Upright Channel with boats behind.
Sailing up Upright Channel with boats behind.
Great pics and congrats on placing so well!!!
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