Racing at last

Mother nature threw us a curve ball as we approached San Francisco in
the form of a wind hole, this meant that we were delayed another day
getting into port since we had virtually run out of diesel and the wind
gods had let us down again. Thankfully, Cape Breton put to sea with
emergency supplies - beer, food, cigarettes and of course, the vital fuel
that would propel us under the iconic Golden Gate Bridge.
The race was then on to get into port before the tide changed, if we
missed the tide this would have meant which another 5 hours out in the
bay!! At 05.00hrs on the 19th we
passed under the Golden Gate bridge and docked just before 06.00, Anna
along with other crew relatives were shouting words of welcome from the
breakwater. Once we tied up we waited nearly 3 hours until the immigration
officials arrived. After a few beers we were eventually cleared and
headed off for a well earned shower and a shave. We had given
ourselves the chance of making the race start (18.00hrs on the 20th)
even though we had many jobs to complete before we could sail - water
maker, generator, new main sail etc etc.
And so, on the 20th we prepared ourselves for the start, the sun was
shining but there was a stiff breeze with gusts predicted at 40 knots as
we got out into the bay - no change there then!
As the gun went off, with collective team adrenaline pumping through our
bodies we headed back under the Golden gate bridge for the next
installment of this ultimate white knuckle ride.
There was much debate amongst the rest of the fleet as to how the Team
Finland crew would perform after being at sea for 35 days and without any
"downtime",well, we made our intentions very clear by heading the fleet
after 24 hrs. We have had the predicted battle with Spirit of Australia
for the lead in this race, at the last reported positions they were 4
miles ahead of us as the fleet race towards the scoring gate.
After a few problems with our spinnakers - we ripped 3 of them, we managed
to secure 2nd place through the scoring gate and earn an additional 2
points, unfortunatley the Aussies pipped us and therefore extend their lead,
the good news is that we are well and truely back in the race!
The weather has turned to clear blue skies and light winds which will
present all of the teams with the challenge of keeping these 35 tonne
monsters moving.
Love the comments on the blog, I can only access them when we reach dry land
but keep them coming.
All is well on TF.

update

Day 33 into the passage across the mighty North Pacific and we are
getting closer to hot showers, decent food, a good nights sleep and
hooking up with loved ones.
In the end this trip has become more of a test of survival as the
weather and defects in the boat take their toll.WE have less than 400
miles to go and we have the prospect of a really fast turnaround so
that we can make the revised start date for the next race.
Really looking forward to seeing Anna on the pontoon as we arrive but sad
that Charlie and Debbie have had to leave due to our late arrival.
There is alot of work to do on the boat before we set off again - New
Generator and Water Maker need fitting, holes in the main sail need
repairing, boat needs to be deep cleaned and shopping for the next race
needs to be done.
It is very difficult to comprehend the vastness of this ocean, since we
left Yokahama I have not seen another vessel although we were graced
with an escort of whales one night and we have seen dolphins playing
around the bow of the boat - magical moments.
The weather has really played it's part, we have had everything from
driving rain over a number of days when everything is forever wet,
severe winds touching the 50 knots and monster seas where there really
are waves the size of houses.
Seem to be spending along time on the foredeck, this is the high octane
area where it all happens and one often gets airborne whilst being
continually wet as waves break over your head! That said, everyone is
encouraged to take part in all roles, helming this monster at night using
instruments only can be a bit daunting especially when you are crashing
through waves on the bow.
Sleep has been difficult, but it is amazing how much "abuse" your body can
take. Water rationing has meant no washing and the hair is looking good
after 30 days at sea. We all smell but we seem to have become used to the
aroma that drifts around the boat, not sure how people on shore will
react?
Should hit San Fran on the 18th with a bit of luck when we can reflect on
this journey over a beer or two.

Fwd: news

-- Original message --
From: <ianfarrer.Cv5@SkyFile.com> "ianfarrer"
To: annafarrer@hotmail.co.uk
Date: Friday, 02 April 2010 02:25:40
Subject: news
>Been off line for a bit due to sustaining a head injury, nothing
>serious, just flew across the boat whilst down below at 04.00 and hit my
>cheekbone on a wall! Very sore but no lasting damage thankfully.
>Good 24 hrs, sun is shining and have seen pods of dolphins whilst
>driving and last night at about 02.00 we had 4 whales shadowing us for a
>few miles, they were only 50 metres off the starboard beam and the moon
>was full - great sight.
>With the sunshine we are managing to dry out some of the kit, my boots
>are dry for the first time in 2 weeks.
>Life on board revolves around the watch system - 12 midnight - 04.00 on
>watch, 04.00 - 08.00 off watch, 08.00 - 14.00 on watch, 14.00 - 20.00
>off watch, 20.00 - 24.00 on watch.
>so eat and sleep then back on watch, seems to work once you get used to
>the system.
Since I last wrote the above we have again encountered very heavy
weather, we have been doing our best to avoid hurricane force winds but
we have been beset with driving rain over the last 4 days and the wind
has been a consistant 25 - 30kts from the north, conditions have been
very harsh as we all suffer from freezing wet conditions with no way of
drying kit out.
Generator still out of commision as is the water maker and we have now
run out of wet wipes (our only form of washing) so boat is getting very
smelly.
We still have just under 2000 miles to go but we are all pulling
together to get to SF as quickly as we can for some decent food and rest.
On the food front, we are allocated £3.50 per head per day for the
provision of food, you can imagine that pasta & rice seem to provide the
base for most meals and we add strange things like hot dog sausages to
give it some flavour!!
The race start has been put back to enable us to get there and do repairs
and replenish the boat.
Hope all is well with you and yours, I will send another update in a few
days or so