Thursday night was exciting aboard RB with unfortunately quite a bit of sail damage. The number three got washed overboard when the wind piped up and the nose buried in a large wave on a surf. It is beyond repair onboard at least with two large holes and the bolt rope is well and truly tattered. The old North Sails large kite also exploded beyond repair so we are down to frankinkite (the one I have put the tack and head back on) and a beautiful new large UK kite with great shoulders that roll to weather and give us amazing VMG.

The last two nights have been beautiful with a small crescent moon and stars that show through between squalls. We have had some very nice sunrises with the suns rays streaming through the clouds in shafts of light and rainbows being created by the rain under the squalls. Last night as the sun went down there was a yellow brick road in the sea to follow created by the moon reflecting on the sea. It also lit up the tiny droplets of water on the lifelines making them look like little drops of gold.

The Dove chocolate saying of the day is ‘People matter more than things’ not really something you can argue with!

It is hot hot hot down below and still damp but yesterday the boat looked like a laundry as everyone stripped off and had salt water baths and washed their clothes with some nice smelling soap.

Now coming to the title of the blog which was voted upon aboard!

Everyone still has the worst case of monkey butt they have ever encountered and I commented the other morning that it felt like I had the Himalayas on my arse! – not attractive I know 🙂 Also the sea state does look like a mini mountain range with two different swell sets so much nicer than the short chop around the british isles. When the wind stays up we are able to keep surfing at 10 knots+ continuously when it drops to 14 knots it is hard to keep the spinnaker full as you start surfing on the waves faster than the wind backing the spinnaker.

This afternoon we dropped the large spinnaker we had hoisted this morning and changed out the spinnaker halyard as there is quite a bit of chafe and we only have one halyard. I have rebuilt the old one so we can change out in a day or so. I really don’t want to deal with the halyard breaking and having to go up the rig to sort it all out. Before leaving SF I put two padeyes at the top of the rig so we could hang a block off and rig an external halyard if the internal one broke.

Anyways it is time to sign off and get some sleep as last night was not very conducive to it with the French contingent being French and crashing every time they were on watch and I was off!

Last night Wayne and I were on deck and I started to hear the familiar noise of dolphins jumping around the boat. They really are beautiful at night looking like torpedoes with the phosphorescence weaving around the bow and darting towards the keel. Something that has been very noticeable this trip for me is the lack of wildlife which is very saddening.

This morning the head of the spinnaker exploded so I had to go up the rig to bring down the corner after we all pulled the spinnaker in out of the water. So todays activity was a 5.5 hour sail repair luckily the wind was maxing out at 20 knots so we were able to hoist the old large spinnaker and keep on moving towards Hawaii.

We continue to play musical bunks but are now in a new watch rotation so I haven’t had to move once an hour like the beginning of the trip.
One of the crew and I got into a system of sleeping head to toe in the weather bunk with him leaving after an hour to go on watch! Amazingly the smell of each others feet has still allowed us to sleep. This is preferable to the leaking back bunk that Olivier really doesn’t seem to mind.

I lay down below laughing at the conversation on deck several times in the last few days. When the two Frenchmen are up they speak French interspersed with English terms so it sounds like blah blah blah true wind direction blah blah blah velocity made good! David went up at some point and said seeing as he hadn’t looked in a mirror lately feel free to tell him if he had a massive zit or something!

The Dove chocolates have little ‘sayings’ in them one yesterday created some funny conversation – Love comes naturally if it is a two way street – one of the crew commented I wish I knew that earlier I thought I could just pay for it! The sexual innuendos are also starting. A pertinent one is also Be extraordinary in the ordinary things of life – just doing simple things like washing up takes a lot of effort on a boat and makes you look extraordinary. I hope the guys do as much cooking and cleaning ashore as they do onboard if so their partners are pretty lucky women.

I need to sleep as have spent my last off watch sewing away so have been up for 8 hours when my body is use to lots of catnaps.

Sorry for the crass title but David just keeps on giving me great ones! During the day with the spinnaker up we are having some great sailing with continuous 13 to 14 knot surfs. The sun just started to come out and we have been gybing this morning around squalls which come through with about 27 knots of wind. The compass in the back is now leaking making that bunk even more miserable but the port one which was a nice one for a while is now getting a steady pour from the chainplate. I have got to the point where I put my feet in plastic bags before putting them in my seaboots and resorted to my drysuit a few days ago. Last night we had a little half way party with what the guys concluded was a great pinot noir. The dinner was a mexican theme which matched the southerly heading – home made chicken tomales. We followed it up with a pound cake given to us by another boat for 1/2 way with canned blackberries in syrup and canned cream.

Olivier told me in all seriousness this morning that he had come up with a great design for new foulweather gear which includes a pump system to dispense monkey butt powder continuously to your arse! We are really in an interesting sport with our topics of conversation. Wayne mentioned that the pucker factor of keeping the spinnaker up in the dark nights was a little bit much. Anyways I am going to stop my blathering and get some sleep as I only have an hour and half left off watch.

Good night!

Wet wet wet everything on RB is soaking the berths everyone’s foul weather gear and there is a run on the monkey butt powder.David complained as yet another side wave blasted us that every cup of coffee tasted like it had been made with salt water! Top speed was 19.4 with the spinnaker up and we were having a lot of fun until the tack blew out. Three hours later we had sewn the tack back onto the kite and were ready to hoist. Olivier did a great job with the sailors palm after I started to fall asleep. Lots of other boat jobs have been completed including re rigging the backstay and repairing a small hole in the main which was caused when we were reefed and the top spreader punched through it. The food continues to be amazing I don’t think I have ever been on an offshore boat which had sticky rice and pork wrapped in palm fronds on the menu. The dessert of choice this last few days has been trader joe’s chocolate ganache with mousse filling. We spent the night without the spinnaker up with just the main as it allowed us to sail closer to the direct course to Hawaii. This morning we felt some vibrations on the rudder so I stuck my head over the stern while the guys did the mainsail repair and saw two large strings of kelp on the prop shaft so we had to back down to get rid of it. Seeing as I had dunked my head in the water I decided it was time to wash my hair again so I am feeling very much more human with dry clothes and clean hair and I even much to the guys incredulity shaved my legs! Still cloudy skies and no stars at night but the water is getting warmer as is the air temperature.

Anyways time for some sleep.

Everyday the anglo-american side of the crew has to explain an english word to the french contingent. Yesterday it was subservient. As the whole conversation developed one crew said well not like my partner she isn’t a wallflower and the other was like nor like mine she is pretty strong willed.

Yesterday with the brief sunlight I washed my hair on the transom which felt great and that started a rush of preening amongst the crew. The brief sun was very nice before we were plunged into a deep sea fog as a result of warm air mass hitting the cold water. Last night a fine mist set in soaking most aboard to the bone it was noticeable when turning the maglite on for sail trim as the water droplets glinted in the torchlight.

Also yesterday Delicate Balance went storming by and I had a brief conversation with a friend aboard on the VHF unfortunately for them they have no instruments and are having problems with downloading grib files with their sat phone. It made us a little envious aboard seeing them come from the horizon behind to beyond the horizon ahead with ease!

When I asked David if he was enjoying his first ocean race his reply was yes but I am not going to make a career out of it. The next I heard from him was this mornings sarcastic comment well at least we have the sun out! This in response to coming on deck to a slate gray sea and monochrome white sky. We asked the navigator if we were in the North Sea as it definitely doesn’t feel like the fun race to Hawaii with blue skies and seas that are promised,

Our top speed yesterday was 14.8 with a reef in the main and the blast reacher. We have put reefs in and out over the last 24 hours depending on the wave set and wind speed if done at the right time it really doesn’t change our boat speed and also stops us from throwing Wayne out of the starboard bunk!

My brothers mother in law made a great hot milk sponge cake which the crew devoured along with all the other great and copious food we have on-board so despite our drop to 6th place the mood aboard is not that bad.

on the VHF unfortunately for them they have no instruments and are having problems with downloading grib files with their sat phone. It made us a little envious aboard seeing them come from the horizon behind to beyond the horizon ahead with ease!

When I asked David if he was enjoying his first ocean race his reply was yes but I am not going to make a career out of it. The next I heard from him was this mornings sarcastic comment well at least we have the sun out! This in response to coming on deck to a slate gray sea and monochrome white sky. We asked the navigator if we were in the North Sea as it definitely doesn’t feel like the fun race to Hawaii with blue skies and seas that are promised,

Our top speed yesterday was 14.8 with a reef in the main and the blast reacher. We have put reefs in and out over the last 24 hours depending on the wave set and wind speed if done at the right time it really doesn’t change our boat speed and also stops us from throwing Wayne out of the starboard bunk!

My brothers mother in law made a great hot milk sponge cake which the crew devoured along with all the other great and copious food we have on-board so despite our drop to 6th place the mood aboard is not that bad.

It doesn’t look clean like this now!

Last night the sky finally cleared and we had a beautiful starry night making it easier to drive using the stars instead of looking at instruments. With beautiful sunny skies and a few puffs of clouds the mood on the boat is much lifted.

We went from 1st in division to 2nd overnight but how can you compete against 25+ more feet of waterline length when reaching. The colbalt blue seas have little wind waves on top of long ocean swells which make surfing possible. We have had the blast reacher up now for over 24 hours – Slyvain at UK did a beautiful job designing the sail.

Another of todays victories is Olivier unblocking the head which was out of use and as it was under so much pressure no one wanted to be at the receiving end of a brown geyser! The sailing is truly spectacular and yesterday David saw another whale diving in the sunset. All we need now is a full moon to light up the night sky. The food continues to amaze with a mouthwatering beef stew which melted in the mouth and last night a seafood chowder. The solar panel is now working wonders charging the battery so we only need to charge one hour per day in stark contrast to Myles and I having to charge every 4 hours on RBI.

It was a slow start to the race with the now familiar slatting of sails starting off Point Reyes after a promising start in the bay with the number 3 up and 19 knots of wind.

I went off watch shortly after exiting the bay and awoke to be told there had been dolphins visiting that quickly got bored.

More amazing was something I had never seen before 1000’s upon 1000’s of 2 foot round jelly fish with 10 foot long tentacles stacked as far as you could see down and on either side of the boat. Interspersing the massive fish were small 4 inch long clear jelly fish with small tentacles and the internal body organs looking like planets in a solar system joined together by clear jelly! Another time I came on watch I had just missed a pod of whales moving along at 180 degrees towards the coast. Last night we floated in breeze from 2.5-8 knots working our way very unusually north until we were off Bodega Bay. RB crew is getting into the rythmn of the race and we are steaming along in 9 knots of wind still dragging the stern so there is a lot of very good food cooked by Wayne’s daughter and son in law to consume.

Friends of Rhum Boogie and Her Crew

This coming Wednesday, July 7, Rhum Boogie with skipper and crew cross the starting line and race from San Francisco to Hawaii in the 2010 Pacific Cup.

Who’s aboard?

Wayne Lamprey – owner/skipper

Olivier Laparra – on his third Pac Cup, Ashley Perrin – inveterate sailor/adventurer,

Mathieu Peyron – stepping up to navigate, and David Krausz – making the move from round the buoys to ocean racing.

The race – the Pacific Cup. Each year racing sailboats cross the Pacific from California to Hawaii. On odd-numbered years, the race is the Trans-Pac and the start is from Long Beach. Even-numbered years, the Pacific Cup starts in front of the St Francis yacht club just off San Francisco’s Marina Green and boats head out the Golden Gate to cover 2070 miles to Kaneohe on Oahu. The web-site for the Pac Cup for more information is here: http://pacificcup.org/

Following the Race – and Rhum Boogie. The boats – about 60 in all – are divided into divisions based upon performance and each division starts on a different day. Rhum Boogie is in Division C and starts on July 7 at 12:45. Here are the division splits and the boats in each: http://pacificcup.org/2010/divisions There are nine boats in Division C, each with a different performance handicap, the number in the far right column. Rhum Boogie according to the computer and rating gurus is the “slowest” boat in Division C. You can track our progress – where we are in the Pacific – as each boat will have a transponder on board and the location of all the boats will be shown here: http://pacificcup.org/2010/divisions Per the ratings, Rhum Boogie should be behind all other boats in Division C. The real result won’t be known until handicaps are applied and so-called corrected times are calculated. Over the course of the race, 2070 miles, the difference in handicaps in Division C between the slowest boat, Rhum Boogie with a rating of 566, and the fastest boat, Andromeda with a rating of 528, amounts to a lot of time, 21.85 hours to be exact. That means that if Rhum Boogie, a petite 33 footer with a crew of five, finishes less than 21.85 hours after Andromeda, a stately Swan 59 with a crew complement of eleven (!!), Rhum Boogie beats Andromeda.

The fastest boats in the fleet are Pegasus and Limit – large, fast big-budget boats from California and Australia respectively. They are in Division E and start on Saturday the 10th. Despite our three day head start, these boats will likely get to Oahua before poor Rhum Boogie. A photo of Rhum Boogie on the Bay is attached.

The Start. The race starts in the San Francisco Bay just in front of the St Francis Yacht Club and our start is at 12:45. We will be docked at the St. Francis the night before and will shove off by 11:00. You can join family and friends if you wish on the race-deck at the St Francis to watch the boats cross the line as the starting gun is fired. (Stride with confidence into the club and tell them you are there for the Pac Cup start.) The other option is to watch the start using the St Francis “race-cam,” that is pointed right down the starting line. Here’s a link: http://207.150.197.186/ Rhum Boogie will be the boat with a red hull, sail number 33007. (The far end of the line will be the favored end, so expect the boats to crowd there.)

Once we reach Oahu – 10 to 14 days from our start – the Mai Tais flow, the luaus commence, we party, relax and enjoy Hawaii.

Aloha, Wayne

I leave on Wednesday for Hawaii on Rhum Boogie a 33 footer. You can track us at http://www.ionearth.com/2010/pacific-cup/