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Blog from Red Sheilla

by Jim Innes, July 17th, 2012



Here's notes to let everyone know what's been happening with Red Sheilla.   We've been hanging north of the rhumb line from Neah Bay to Maui as there has been better wind angles for our boat.  The high seems to have settled in a huge way behind us.  We were sailing along the other night under the small kite (spinnaker) and just after a very big long surfing session at 12+ knots of boat speed (in the dark of course) suddenly the spinnaker dropped down in front of the navigation lights and we ran over it with the boat.  It was a eerie sight as Tori, Patrick and I were the only ones on deck.  The spinnaker left it's head at the top of the mast but the rest of it was suddenly in the water behind us.  It took about an hour to retrieve it and get our small headsail hanked on and going once again.  With that small headsail we were very slow moving until daylight.  It became clear that it was too rough for us to sail with the very small jib and too lumpy sea conditions to sail with the big spinnaker (plus we'd blown out it's snuffer in a previous takedown).

Out went the call for our very own Betsy Ross and Tori stepped forward and started sewing.  She spent literally ALL day restitching the genoa leech that we had blown out just after Race Rocks (back near the start)   We needed the big sail in these conditions.   She hand stitched about 30 feet of the back edge of the sail using a leather palm and doing her best sailmaker imitation belowdecks in the rolling seas.  It was 8-10 hours of concentrated effort on her part.

After spending all afternoon sorting out the spinnaker snuffer socks (removing the good snuffer from the bad spinnaker and vice versa) we suddenly were in business once again with a big light air chute (spinnaker) ready to use PLUS Tori completed the genoa hand stitch repair just in time for happy hour.  It made for another slow night with the small headsail but we were able to launch the big genoa again this morning.  Been making nice progress directly towards Maui with some 880 miles to go BUT we're sailing back into the light air south of us once again.  We'll spend the rest of today hitching to the west for a while and then south again zig zagging towards Mai Tais.

We have a GREAT crew...really enjoying everyone and our watches pass by quickly.  Many many times we've had all hands on deck to sort out our various mishaps with nary a complaint.  Our third day of morning scones and todays fresh bread are also contributing towards good moods all around.   Some of us are even warming to the thought of spam sandwiches!  We still have fresh veggies and good salads.   Spinach was the only casualty so far in the veggie bin.  Rumor has it there is ice cream cake in the freezer that was supposed to be at our half-way party.   (It got a little rough that night to continue celebrating).  That might show up at lunch time here in another hour or so.

We are eating well...perhaps too well.  Doug's thai curry was awesome last night.  We're not on our original schedule but we are having an AMAZING time out here.  Looking very forward to seeing everyone in Maui when we can get ourselves there.  Think of us on the westerly hitches as they're tough on our spirits...but our moods are high as kites on the southerly legs.

Gotta go put more sunscreen on...rumor is there's sunshine ahead (it's been 10 days of cloud cover so far...we're looking forward to a starry sky here soon as well)

Best to you all..we miss you.  Thanks for your encouragement for us to get out here and have this experience.  For some it's no doubt hard to understand but it is a fantastic experience for us. We look forward to sharing lots of photos, some video of our new dance (the "Egyptian Helmsman").  We might get it choreographed in time for the awards banquet!

Robbie, Tori, Jim, Patrick, Doug and one wayward Australian (Keith)

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