Sunday, November 30, 2014

Limitless



As I was closing my first long run since I decided to get ready for the Big Island Marathon, as usual my mind was wandering around. A typical side effect of being "In Flow", where you do not feel tiredness, but invincible or limitless.
I do not meditate - at least , not the sitting Buddhist mediation - but I can imagine that the being in flow is pretty close from meditating. Thoughts come and go, they do not stick, and it feels extremely good. I guess the drawback of running to reach this state of mind is that usually it does not stick that long , and every half an  hour or so, you will go down, lose the flow and start to feel the pain of running. Well, how do you want to appreciate the ups if you do not have the downs.

Nice news shoes for a new challenge
Old ones were damned done 


It reminds me this dumb movie about body builders that feel invincible, smarter and ended up almost killing a guy to steal from him and impersonate him. Training hard and succeeding in your training can actually bring you this state of mind. Which is a great confidence booster and helps you in your day to day life, job and such. That's another nice side effect of the fitness life style. Obviously, you do not want to succumb to this feeling entirely. 


Dumb and Dumber

Thinking back about my failed "attempt" of Solo Sailing last month, it really showed my limits. I could have stretched those limits, but  this is when it was getting tricky, if not dangerous. It is good to be reminded that we are not limitless, first to constrict  our always developing ego and second to give us new challenge and to go over our boundaries.
Now, with winter coming in, I am pretty sure that Mother Nature will remind me of my limits in pretty obvious way. When the waves will reach advisory level on the North Shore, there will be plenty of room to reach and meet my fears.
Good. 
Exciting times.


Saturday, November 29, 2014

Thanks but no thanks



Life goes on. We have been blessed by wind and waves for this Thanksgiving week-end. As we prefer vegan turkey and going out than sitting 4 hours at the table, I was able to catch a good session while people were swallowing tons of food.
Always funny to be on diet during the holidays season. Not my fault if most of the races here are early winter.

Grey sky, but white caps

The local eye can see the white layer of the breaking wave on the outside, which always means more than 6 foot of waves. Which is usually the presage of a pretty good session.
I took this picture thinking about this post 'Thanks ! Thanks !", which was totally appropriate for Thanksgiving day.
I guessed someone decided it won't be that easy.


Shredded in half.
It stuck together because of the pad that I glued with 3M-5200.
This glue is amazing....

Ten minutes in the waves, getting back in the rhythm after so long - I have been quite busy fixing boats - little jump - and , Voila ! I heard those boards were quite not as strong as they should have been , with only one layer on the bottom... Cheap, cheap .... Session's over.
Now, today, I ended up to pick my other board, 4.8 Skater, which is really fun in 2-3 footers on shore, but that good in big roller cross wind. Try to hold your line on the face on the wave while Ice Skating on soap. You got the idea. It was fun though.

Well, thanks gosh, it is the Black Friday week-end, i.e., all the surf shops on Maui are fighting to cut us deal to buy new gear. And, no there is no F-One re-seller in Hawaii.
Right now, I am looking at this beast from our preferred star - our daughter go to the same school - Robby.

A piece of Art.

 The thing is, I was already on the market for a long board - my transition to getting old for the winter surf season.

Made on Maui


Argghhhhh. Choosing between the two will be hard.

Surfboard porn.


I might Ask Santa and take both.
Why, don't you believe in Santa Claus anymore ?


Tuesday, November 25, 2014

New Challenges



As usually, I cannot really stay still. I need always something to drive me on.
As the boat will be not in Maui for another 4 months at least, I decided to go back in shape (yeah, I know, I took a 4 or 5 pounds since last year) and to start toward one of my personal running goal, i.e. run a marathon on each Hawaiian island.
The only one that really fit the bill in a time frame that is acceptable, is on Big Island, and it looks like a cool one too.




March 15th , 2015


I decided to use my previous training sheet, maintain a rough 28 miles a week until 2 months before the race, and then go up in mileage.

28 miles/week.

As for the diet, the recommended maximum is 500 cal / day outside the last phase of preparation, and no more than 200 cal in the last weeks.
It should bring me back to a light 145 pounds for the race, or less.
My usual tactic is simple, maintain an intake around 2000 cal/day, which is more than I need without training but matches my eating habits - it might be while I am gaining weight when I am not training intensively - and do a sport activity almost every day - usually 500 to 600 calories.
It matches one hour of training / day, running or swimming.
I will assume kiting and surfing fits this bill too.
Long run just add to flavor, as usually, you burn 2 or 3 times this amount.

I am in way better shape than one year ago, when I started for my first marathon, then I expecting to be able to go under the 4 hours for this one, but I do not set this as a goal - yet.
I stick to my principles.
Don't hurt yourself, Don't walk and finish it  :)


Saturday, November 22, 2014

At Sea




This is a text I wrote when at sea.Not sure, a couple of weeks later, that I am still aligned with those thoughts, but at the time, I meant it.
Maybe this is the 'offshore effect'.
It gives some insight of my mindset after the 2nd day, which was a little rough, with big swell and a bit of wind.
And some context too why I did eventually decide to go to Mexico instead of crossing.

At Sea, the sunset and sunrise are events you cannot miss.


Where I fail.
It is all about comfort. Mostly zone of comfort.
Still, if you manage to sleep correctly, everything is easier.
That's where solo racer stand up, they go beyond their limits. This where i realize how hard it must be to race solo.
Now I do have the basics skills to handle the boat alone, still a solo passage seems beyond reach.


This one, the light is weak, quality bad,
but I like the colors.


Yesterday night was a good example.
During the day the swell was up, maybe 4 to 6 meters, with a beam wind of 25 knots. Direction was good enough, I was running downwind, which is usually quite a fun ride. And it was... During the day.
At night, somehow I lost confidence in the windvane to steer right. I tried to steer myself but was so tired I barely could keep my eyes open. Which remains less an issue than when you drive a car, as there is nothing to hit in the ocean. Still maintaining course in the dark is important, but even the tiny red light of the compass was flashing me.
I had to rely on the windvane then. Now going down to sleep for 45 min, even extenuated became a very stressful experience. I knew the boat was alright, the vane was steering fine and the weather not even that bad.The chance to get knockdown by non breaking waves of this size were almost null.
But I never been there. Never experienced it. Never went through it.


Overcast sunrise

Now in the dark, all sounds are extraordinarily amplified. A sailboat is extremely noisy. There is no soundproofing. A wave crashing on the hull seem inches away - and it is. Perfect setup to create scary fantasies.
Of course, everything ended up fine. I eventually fell asleep, knocked down.
By the stress and the tiredness. And the boat took care of itself.


Living heeled.
I had fog for almost a complete day.
Lesson learned. As I am constantly out of my comfort zone and cannot rely on someone else to backup me, I end up tired very fast, which create situations that could end up more dangerous than they actually should be. Which is obviously an issue when you are at sea - weeks from any land and comforting support.
Only spending time and building new metrics for my comfort zone will allow me to relax, trust the boat and the gear, and get proper sleep.
And there is no shortcuts for this, neither should it be.


We cannot really feel the size of waves
But it was between 3m and 6m.
It is just too early to do this passage solo.
The boat could certainly handle it, but I don t think I could, in case of non perfect conditions, which is probable on a long passage like this. I need more experience, in the literal sense of the word, to adjust my metrics related to awareness, danger, comfort.


Maybe it was a little late in the season,
but it was pretty chilly all the time.

I would most likely survive it though. But the learning curve would be so steep it could be traumatic, and in any case, no fun at all.
And what's the point if there is no fun.




I almost changed my mind the last day, when the conditions turned out better, and the sun was shining. It is obvious now that my psychological state relate directly to my level of tiredness and the sea condition.
I do believe I will do this passage solo one day, maybe the solo-transpac or something.
But as always with sailing, it is all about timing.
This time was too early.





Friday, November 21, 2014

Jungle




You must be kidding me.
In one month (and a couple of weeks), the grass grew up to the hip.
And it is not even winter yet.

Flourishing Hawaii
I am glad to be home, and after being on the boat so long, I realized it was good to be ashore time to time.
Actually, I understand better the people who spend a lot of time on the boat, but still keep somewhere a place they can come back time to time.
Living on a boat (a small boat) is a little bit like camping. Going to the shower, to the bathroom, is an adventure. Doing groceries. Bringing back groceries. Cooking. Sleeping when there is wind, or rain. Or when it is cold. Or hot.
You get the point.
It is exhilarating as everything needs full attention. It is very Buddhist, in some way.  You always are focused on exactly what you are doing. nothing more , nothing less.
But that makes it quite exhausting too.
We are used to comfort and amenities. I still believe we adapt extremely well.
The human nature.
But for now, I am enjoying the comfort from home - if gardening and mowing the law matches this definition.


Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Coming Home


After what feel like forever, I am on my way home, to our tiny island in the middle of the pacific, and unfortunately, by plane. (and plenty of bus, this was Mexico after all).
This is rather disappointing, to come back by plane.
I was so excited about doing this passage.
But there is a time for everything.

Last sunset in Mexico
What eventually decided me to come in Mexico, rather continue toward Hawaii, was not -maybe should have been - the lack of medication, or autopilot for the windless days, or the overall lack of solo training to handle the boat.

It was more the psychological factor that I was not ready, and did not prepare for it.

Size does matter.
I prefer them small.
If I compare to the marathon training of last year, they said, the psychological factor is half of it. Usually, your body, if you train accordingly will be able to take it. To be precise you train up to runs of 3 hours, roughly, and usually finish them pretty tired, and the marathon would be actually more than 4 hours. Then there is definitively a big gap between where you left the training and the distance you will actually run during the race.

Baja to San Diego by bus
What they explain is what will make you fail or succeed on your first marathon will be the psychological aspect of the race and the fact you have to be convinced you can and will achieve it.

After 3 days at sea, solo, I realized I was not ready psychologically. I did not prepare for it. And was full of doubts. I am convinced I could have done it, but it would have been painful and unpleasant.
A little like a marathoner that limp and walk the last 4 miles of the race. He will finish it , but will not be that happy about it - compare if you end up running. And he will be in pain.

I never walked while training, and did not walk for the marathon itself.
I bailed out the passage because I do not walk.
When I will do this passage solo, I will be ready for it, and that will be an exceptional experience.
No walking.
And fireworks at the finish line.


Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Winterizing


As I planning a bus/plane marathon to go back to Maui in only one day of travel (Ensenada is only accessible by Bus, and indirectly from US), I am cleaning and ordering the boat.
Idea is to keep the boat in Baja Naval Marina until spring, March/April, which is the next good weather window to do the passage.

Before the hurricane season, and after the winter storms.

Damn huge 130 Genoa,
Stuck.

The big items was to try to remove sails. I never did it before, and wanted to be sure I could. Specially, after I relaized - at sea, of course - I could not drop the Genoa.

Another mast climbing, quite easy this time, helped by a fellow cruiser (who invited me later on for a day sail aboard a almost brand new Beneteau 43' - Another standard).
However, clumsiness or unlucky, it is not as easy as you think to work from the top of the mast, even in calm winds and in a marina,  I got pinched pretty badly with the falling furler.


The picture does not really showcase the actual size of the pinch.
This morning the bruise is the size of a small plate.


No consequences this time, but It made think about the always possibility of dumb accident at sea, which can become extremely problematic if far from the coast, and really dangerous if solo.
To be reflected on.

I really need to improve in packing my sails.
Well, for now, that will do it.
Anyway, today is paperwork - Yesterday was National Holiday and everything was closed,
washing down the boat and a long run to the beach of Ensenada.
Feeling almost like vacations :)

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Mexico


Don't have too  much time, but I love what you did with the blog during my sail.
I am not sure there is anything to add :)
I know for sure I can travel the entire world, my blog will be well maintained !

In short, all is well, the boat behaved very well during all the trip, and I learned a lot in those 4 days
solo at sea.
Lots to reflect on too.

But now, I am enjoying few days in Mexico.
And prepping the boat for winter as well.

Waking up,
it smells like fish...

Small Touristic town

Mexico is always colorful

Wandering around

Big heads from the revolution

It happens that Monday is a holiday in Mexico. But I should be able to make it back by the middle of the weel, if the paperwork goes well.
I will need as Tourist Visa, Immigration, sign-in for the boat, ... Without speaking any Spanish, it might be tricky.

I promised I ll do a couple of posts on the "passage". I do have few pictures as well.
Lots of water.
Tons of water.

Well, offshore at sea, there ain't much except water.
Lots of it.

Day4- Land!


He made it!
Olivier brought the boat last night to the marina of Ensenada, Mexico where she will stay until spring before the passage.
He did this trip solo and I am so proud of him! 


Saturday, November 15, 2014

Day3- Log


All is well, getting closer to the coast of Mexico.

Here are the logs from Yesterday and this morning:

11/14 12:43pm Sun, wind and big surf on weather channel this afternoon. Cannot ask for much more. Starting to get used to live attached to the boat. Like a life line. Sign?

11/15 6:33am Last night at sea. This one was quite a stress but eventually slept few hours here and there. Now wind and waves are down, and I am heading for Ensenada.

11/15 8:35am Actually I won't be able to make it before sunset even motoring. Then I am gonna take my time and aim for tomorrow morning. Few wind, waves and lot of rocking.

Track map




Wind map


Friday, November 14, 2014

Day2- Log


Olivier is doing well. He called me on satellite phone last night. Everything was going as good as it can be in the Pacific with good swell and wind:)
Here are the logs from yesterday and last night:

11/13 5:37pm To beat the weather is really exhausting. Specially when it is cold, wet and grey. Decided to go easier for the night, a beam to the south. Not too tired, managed to grab a nap inside this afternoon. Decided to reach 32 lat and aim East Mexico. That should total 4 days offshore solo. Now I miss Maui's sun.

11/14 6:43am Heading to the cost since 4am. Hard to hold East because of sizable swell. But surfing is fun. Good night of sleep, changed strategy. Now sleep all night by sliced of 50 min with watch peaks in between. Wind strong now and clear sky. Hopefully plenty of sun later on to warm me up and charge the batteries. Moral up.

Track map at 11:00am




Wind Map.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Day1- Log


Olivier left around 2pm PST. The condition were great with a light wind. Here is his log:

 11/12 6:08pm Wind died at 1800 as expected. I am motorsailing without autopilot but the boat is so well balanced I barely touch the wheel every now and then.

11/12 6:14pm  Swell is picking up. I hope to catch wind past the islands during the night. Watch strategy is to not sleep tonight but at sunrise when i can be seen better.

11/12 7:44pm Wind is back with a vengeance. Reefed #1. Still reaching pretty hard. No moon, plenty of stars. All dark but beautiful. Still impressive , sailing blind.

11/13 7:14am First night at sea as solo.There were wind and waves, some action. Mostly reefed all night. Managed to sleep 2 or 3 hours which is surprising good.
Feeling some dizziness but no sea sickness so far. Stayed mostly in the cockpit, it was wet and cold night. Not ready for the cabin just yet.

11/13 9:19am No wind, drizzling, Steaming full west. In full weather gear.

Here is the track map at 12:00pm


And the wind map at that time:





Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Extra Ball


Or extra balls :P

Mexico !!!!
It has been a while I wanted to do a real solo trip, with several night at sea. See how I handle the watches, the stress, the sleeping, the sea sickness, the solitude.
I could take the easy route, along the coast and stop along the way.
It will be simpler, and safer.

Let's pretend ....

Instead, I am gonna pretend I am going offshore, for 2 or 3 days, we will see how much I can handle.
Idea is to go as much as possible to the West, wind and swell permitting.
Then, When I reach the latitude of Ensenada, I go full east, motoring if needed, as usually the wind goes lighter closest from Mexico.

Over there, I drop the boat for winter, rebuild a crew, and in spring, we try it again, certainly from San Diego.
Spring is the best season to do the crossing, if you can leave early enough to avoid any hurricane warning. Overall, we would have lost 4 or 5 months.

But at least, for a bit, I will be able to pretend I am a famous solo circumnavigator.
Right now, I am dealing with paperwork, trying to find a slip in a marina in Ensenada, and dealing with insurance paperwork. Of course, my Californian insurance do not cover Mexico.

And Mexico, it is a little bit like vacations...
Even if it became the backdoor of the US.

As Ready as can be


Not sure when I leave exactly, I am kind of anxious to move on now.
Just in case, here is the link for the trip.

https://share.delorme.com/OlivierVandenBos

The good news is I have so stressed by this past week events, than leaving solo for one week at sea seems almost reposing.
And actually, it might be.

Bernard Moitessier is remembered primarily for his famous 1968-69 Golden Globevoyage, in which he blew off a chance to win the first non-stop singlehanded round-the-world race and kept on sailing halfway around the world again to Tahiti to "save his soul."


Some get totally addicted to the solitude at sea.
And who knows, maybe I will not stop, like Bernard....
And end up in Hawaii :P



Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Game Over



Yesterday night, my whole crew bailed out.
Cook, Doctor, Navigator, Watchman.
Alright, this is only one person.
Still.
Not that it was unexpected. I had some funky feeling about this a while ago, and played with the idea of recruiting another crew.But it was very very late in the process, and I wanted only people I could trust completely.
Well.
Two days before the departure date, it is a real bummer.
It is true that the weather is really sh**ty this year, and it would have been quite a though ride, specially for rookies like us.
I am still convinced it was doable and safe. Funny and pleasant, maybe not.
One lifetime adventure, certainly.
In those conditions, it would be foolish and really sketchy to do it alone.


She was ready to go 


Damn, I learned a couple of lessons from this.

- Until you are self sufficient, you have to pick your crew very very wisely. I mean very very.
Make sure that expectations, risk level and comfort level are aligned. At the first sign of misalignment, split.
I sailed with my crew (+1) but did not act when I detected misalignment (-10). Thought it might go through. Well, it didn't.

- Have a plan B. Boats are all about redundancy. If you need a crew, it has be to be redundant.

- 3 crews is a certainly the minimum if not solo. 3 allow a balance and momentum in the group. It allows some kind of weighting of decisions and inertia.
2, at least, when you are not a couple, is easily prone to the fracture and opposition, without a 3nd opinion.
Odd numbers seems better to me. Oddly.

- Simplicity of communication is  a must have. People who are particular will be hard to deal with. Just don't. Really.


Now, options are quite limited.
But as always, I have a plan B.
And actually I am quite excited about it :)

Monday, November 10, 2014

D-Day - 2 : Up and Downs


When I thought I was done with the critical stuff, ... Did I talk before about the emotional roller coaster ?
On the good side, I finally got the WeatherFax system to work.

Weather Fax Setup

On the bad side of things, I realized my alternator is not charging my batteries anymore. I can only suppose I tripped on a wire by accident somewhere. The alternator is working fine, which is good, but somehow the juice does not go back to the batteries.
I have the electrician coming tomorrow morning, in case I don't find it myself tonight.

Of course it is ugly and corroded, but so far, it was working.
I think.
Well, there is always a backup plan , which would be a small gazoline generator, Should not be longer to get than another trip to Costco. 
Let's cross fingers.
Has been a while they all been crossed in every yoga boat direction possible.
Gosh, I am extenuated, and the trip did not start yet.




Sunday, November 9, 2014

Day D - 4 : Do you want to live forever ?


The actual yelling was way more colorful, it seems.
" "Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?" from Daniel Daly.


Shame on me, I only knew the Starship trooper version.

Come on you apes, you wanna live forever?

I really like this saying as it both remind you , that you won't live forever anyway, and that you might have to do something inspirational do get remembered forever.
Obviously, this is not my goal, I am not that narcissistic.
However, everything that makes sense for me now, I had somehow to take risks for it.
And at the moment of truth, moment of jump-in, I usually think about this phrase.

Do not get me wrong. There are risks and risks. I firmly believe that the risk of being lost at sea during this trip is infinitesimal. Specially if you take the precaution to stay attached to the boat at all times.  The risk of being hit by a storm that might actually sink the boat is almost null.

However, loosing the boat at sea is more probable, even if the probability is really low, in my opinion. And the main reason is that crew usually breaks before the boat. And call for a rescue.
Then, you actually sink your own boat, for it non to become at hazard at sea.

Fears ? Yes. I strongly believe - this is a common saying as well - that fear is good. This is what makes you feel alive and what will makes you stay alive in danger. However, you do not want to succumb to it, and this is when you need some courage to go over it.

Most of the "achievable dreams" take risks to reach. By their intrinsic nature. You do not have to try for it, but if you do, you  will have to take some risks.
Hopefully calculated risks.
but risks nevertheless.



Saturday, November 8, 2014

D-Day - 5 : This is the final countdown



The focus is now to load the boat with food and supply, and for this to organize things a little better.
My strategy was to reorganize the huge space under the cockpit, ideally to move all the sails from under the v-Berth into this space,
And create some free room for the trash to come.

First, I had to mount blockers on the hull, as I did not want to drill directly into it.

Quick Epoxy glue for the initial setup

Stick It, and let it dry.

Another epoxy mixture,
I thought last time was the last time !

It is ugly, no time to sand.
But it is hard as steel...

Now I can drill into the blocks,
and add the nets,

Eventually, I am surprised how much stuff I can put.
There is even free space !
Now, that I have free room, timer to run to Costco
and grab the "survival package"

Still plenty of room left here too.
I am gonna get another 6 gallons of water tomorrow

Once I moved all the sails under the cockpit, I had plenty of space for the food and water. This is not the final list of groceries, but the backup, in case the trip takes longer than expected.
I counted around 80 meals - won't be good, but it will work, and 12 gallons of water (on top of the 90 we carry in the tanks).
We are almost ready for an all around the world !

I took the time for a very nice sail this afternoon, mostly to test the engine consumption.
I motored in the same direction for almost 2 hours using different engine regimes.
Now, I have to do the math and find the ideal ratio distance/consumption.


SoCal does not get better than this.
Notice the extra diesel jerrycans...

The downwind sail - after 2 hours of motoring - was gorgeous.

This is not final final round, but actually, I could leave now.
The boat is ready.