Race to Alaska Escort Boat Service: PT to Victoria 6/4/15

NORO LIM · Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2015 9:21 am Post subject:

Harvey,

Thanks for the great first-hand account! For one thing it explains a lot about the strange "courses" of some boats as shown on the SPOT map! Even this morning there's a boat or two (maybe just the device) still out in the Strait.

I drove up to PT and checked out the boats Wednesday. What an amazing collection of crafts and characters. I saw "Sleepy C" looking good at the dock, but you were away from the boat while I was there. I envy you the chance to be involved.

Regards

ddenver · Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2015 10:12 am Post subject:

Great job Harvey! You did well sir.

Take care,
Dan, Tanya, and Hannah on C-Renity (for now anyway)

hardee · Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2015 2:50 pm Post subject:

Bill, Sorry I missed you.

Dan, Thank you for the compliment.

It was a very busy 2 days. I did see Randy (Raven) there on the dock. One of the entrants had some family connections.

Brook on Ticket was there too, with some photo dignitaries aboard. I hope he chimes in with his experience there too. It would be nice to hear how some of the rest of the race went.

George, I found "Mail Order Bride". Nice trimaran, but never saw any of the crew. I did talk with Boatyard Boys, a nice young crew from Canoe Cove, all in it on their own with a beautifully redone smallish ocean rower.

There was an incredible variety of boats with almost every one having some capability of sailing, and every sailboat had capability of row or peddle propulsion. That was due to the Victoria Harbor regulations, (No sailing inside the harbor.) There were several Montgomery's, 15 and 17 and a West Weight Potter. The smallest sail boat was a Scamp at 11 feet, and some inches.

In answer to the tracker comment. There were some who did not complete the course and camped along the way. Legal, but some of them chose to take a DNF (did not finish) and were retrieved from where ever. One SPOT escaped the boat and floated to Smith Island on it's own. Maybe it had good sense. I do not know if it was retrieved or not. The inactive SPOTS were turned to gray on the tracker. They seem to still be on the map at the last reported site.

It was a great opportunity to learn, and I do it because I'm out there to learn what I can. I would highly recommend taking a similar opportunity in your area if one presents.

You always have control of your boat. There was one time when the Race Control asked me to "catch up to the pack" but looking at the conditions, (that long rough rip and that would have meant leaving Siren Song alone on his tow job) I asked to decline that opportunity. Hey, I'm a volunteer and for my pay, I go when I want right. With in reason, and it was not reasonable to comply with that request when they had vessels much closer. A bigger boat than mine had already moved off station due to concerns about the sea state.

In 6 years of race support, this has been the biggest race, the roughest conditions and the most organized support. The Race officials did a good job of foreseeing almost everything, and having necessary support in place. It will be interesting to get the feedback after the final debrief, after the whole thing (Ketchican) is completed.

The Victoria start is Sunday at noon. Keep an eye out on the tracker at

http://tracker.r2ak.com/

Harvey
SleepyC Moon

AstoriaDave · Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2015 3:00 pm Post subject:

hardee,

Thanks to yourself, other volunteers, and the superb job of planning, the leg to Victoria came off with minimal mishaps. I am very impressed. I was rooting for the Soggy Beavers, a mostly Canadian team of six, paddling an outrigger, who finished 20th, behind a ton of sailboats.

If the wind blows, the trimarans will wipe the fleet cleanly ... and when does the wind not blow on the Inside Passage? Especially when they can go outside, via any route.

An interesting event, one I hope they continue.

hardee · Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2015 3:10 pm Post subject:

Dave,

Thanks, It was my pleasure.

The Tri's are going to have a good run. There is a foiled cat in the mix and there are 2 proas. If the wind blows, it might be a short race, then again, a super sized, stable high pressure could make it a whole different race, as in 2 guys rowing a 30 foot cat for 750 miles is going to be really tough.

There are two check points, both on the inside, so no, they cannot go up the outside. Seymore Narrows and Bella Bella are both check points, with a VHF call in to Vessel Traffic to confirm position via radar and SPOT "check in".

It will be fun to watch. Stay tuned and as Paul Harvey would have said, "for the rest of the story."

When I asked Dan, the Race Boss, if he had given any thought to an R1AK #2 his comment was to the effect that not even, until this one is all said and done and on the book. Doing the math, I think it did turn a few $$ for the Maritime Center though. That may have some influence.

Harvey
SleepyC Moon

ghone · Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2015 3:30 pm Post subject:

Great report Harvey! The breeze sorts them out quick
We just had the start this morning of the Van Isle 360
Same NW wind in the low 20's was going to give a tough beat to the first port
Lots of racing this week
I saw Wayne and Janine of mail order bride here, ( they started the van isle 20 years back) I assume they'll be back to Victoria to restart the Race to Alaska tomorrow
George

AstoriaDave · Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2015 3:42 pm Post subject:

hardee,

Agree the checkpoints prevent going outside Vancouver Island. After Bella Bella, they could, however. Be a real gamble. For sure, none of the paddlecraft or rowed vessels will go outside.

hardee · Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2015 3:53 pm Post subject:

Here is a link to the Port Townsend Leader, the local paper which appears to have the best coverage of the race I've found so far. (I even so a bit in the new York Times --- but it was all just copy from the R2AK web site.)

The Leader link:
http://www.ptleader.com/news/race-to-alaska-from-pt-to-victoria-in-hours-minutes/article_32c03258-0be5-11e5-82e3-9722f2dab04c.html

Here is a link to a video of the start:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV18eJWluiI

And here is a YouTube link to some great video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49wiOqTRfVY&list=PLRmI2nCuMeG993quCaaHz9HK9RXna4TF5

George, thanks for the update on MOB crew. I had talked to some of the Canadian support folks who were headed back to Victoria and then on to the VI360. As you said, "lots of racing going on now".

I'm going to be off the site here for a bit, some pressing business so will be following on the tracker site but no access to the brat site for a bit. You all keep these folk in mind, prayers, good thoughts or how ever your prefer. They are going to need it.

Harvey
SleepyC Moon

thataway · Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2015 7:24 pm Post subject:

Harvey, Thanks for the first hand reporting. Sounds like exciting times! Thank you for the great narrative and a job well done.

It will be interesting to follow the next leg of the race. I am betting on one of the Farrier Trimarans, My thoughts are that they are fast in wind--any wind--and can be rowed if necessary. Also they have enough amenities, that the crew can be reasonably comfortable, and with a crew of 3, they can get adequate rest, and still be able to sail the boat to its potential.

Is there any summary of the various blogs, or communications from the boats as they do the next Leg? I am aware of the "Small Craft Advisor" forum. I understand that the racers are renting SPOTS from a YC, and not allowed to use their own, or in-reach. It would be nice if some were able to text (as the In Reach SE does with 160 character text messages).

I believe that there are 29 vessels on the next leg. It will be most interesting to hear and see the tales!

AstoriaDave · Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2015 10:30 pm Post subject:

Bob,

No summary I know of. The Soggy Beavers, a crew of six paddling an outrigger canoe, has one up here:
http://www.canoetoketchikan.com/#!Next-StopKetchikan/cxgd/55737fb80cf2312d7971ee3c

I guess this will work better. http://www.canoetoketchikan.com

The brothers Henry have done serious long distance paddling ... not familiar with the other four.

I'd judge they are the team to beat amongst the non sail crowd.

SeaSpray · Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2015 1:00 am Post subject:

Sounds like a great experience for you - glad it all went well.

I looked through the list of boats but did not see a West Wight Potter. I had one of those and would not do that trip if I was offered the $10,000 up front.

It is interesting that I know one of the participants. Mike Higgins is from the Bay Area and I have paddled with him in a club outing. I am not surprised that he was drawn to this event. Mike has paddled the entire west coast from Washington down and maybe all of Baja. That was done over a number of years. I would not be surprised if he finishes the trip, but I don't expect a win! (Sorry Mike).

SeaSpray · Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2015 1:33 am Post subject:

The Tracker site is very interesting. You can pick a boat and replay the run and the time is displayed. Maybe everyone already knew this.

It looks like it took Mike's Kayak about 12 hours to get to Trial island where he made a stop before going on to Victoria.

Paddling 30 plus miles in one day is not for me, but I wish him luck.

hardee · Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2015 11:31 am Post subject:

Bob, Sorry, no summary that I know of. The closest, best to that would be the tracker page. It would be great if there was a central communication page with a daily log entry, but I don’t think that was ever put into place.
The number of boats for the rest of the race is about 29. I don’t expect it to go up, but until noon today, it is still possible for that to change before the start. The type of boat or which one will be the winner is up for grabs, but I agree, ability to be reasonably rested and still functioning at a highly competitive level is going to go to the larger boats, which are also structurally more likely to withstand the possible heavy abuse this race could present. That also gives better capability to run 24/7 to the finish. It will be “interesting” to say the least.

Dave, Thanks for that link. Those are some real tough guys, and I hope they finish well.

SeaSpray, The WWP was in the display at the beginning on Wed, but I think it went into the did not start group. I have to agree, I wouldn’t have tried it either. I used to sail with a group of WWP’s and Montgomery’s and it seemed like there was always something to fix there.

It’s going to be fun to watch this, and it would be fun to be along for the ride on the sweep boat, which by the way is a Cutwater 28.named “Cruise On”.

I was quite surprised and somewhat disappointed that there was almost no mention of this race, or coverage of it by any of the “local” TV news. Have to give credit to Fox, they had a brief mention, but nothing from the 3 Seattle area channels or the NorthWest Cable News channel. I do now that from my perspective it was really hard to get any photos that are of any consequence. It was a very busy day just holding on, steering and doing the radio comms, but it was a very worth while day.

Harvey
SleepyC Moon

AstoriaDave · Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2015 11:46 am Post subject:

Harvey,

Do you think those larger sailboats will sail up the narrow parts of the Inside Passage in dead darkness? Wonder if they have radar. Would those solar panels have enough sustained power for that?

That six man outrigger places a crew member on the trampoline -- I suppose a really tough cookie could sleep out there ... not me!

hardee · Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2015 11:59 am Post subject:

Dave, Good question. I don't remember specifically looking for radar, but I would not be surprised. Lots of sailboats do, and I do remember seeing lots of solar panels. I looked back through my pictures but can't be sure. I do remember talking with one of the crew on one of the bigger cats and they were emphatic about running 24/7 to the end. If they can make it in 7 days, they will have good moonlight, and very short nights.

One of the equipment requirements was to have a radar reflector on board.

Harvey
SleepyC Moon