Transpac 2015 Start, It's Rough Out There

It's that time again---Transpac 2015! And Team Sleeper is baaaaaaack!

Today's start was a wee bit exciting per the Transpac website...

"The start with 22 boats did get a little crowded today, with a minor collision incident occurring in the starting area, with Ron Simonson’s Jeanneau SO44 Sleeper seen to be doing some penalty turns. But they have some time and space now to make up any lost time with over 2000 miles to go."

You can read more at the Transpac website... 

The wind is looking good the start...

More news and updates as they come in! Check back soon!

Sleeper due in

Hey everyone,

The Sleeper delivery crew should make port sometime this evening.  They are caught in a bit of a dead spot at the moment which is slowing them down but we still expect to see them around 9pm this evening.  More details to come.

News from the high

Good morning friends
Hopefully the last note from the pacific high....ground hog day like adventures.
Yesterday was amazing...again..we stopped to swim for 20 minutes.  We took gopro video (available later) of our antics.  Flips off the bow, swan dives off the cabin top and some general relaxation in the clear blue pacific ocean...in bikinis and board shorts.  Gonna miss this.

Amazingly, Madie was almost not going to swim since we had spent the first two hours of our daylight shift combing, washing and conditioning her mane...but she yielded and was the last out!  Stuart was at the helm when Rebecca jumped in after throwing out safety lines but miscalculated how fast 1.5kts was in swimming speed and for one moment was swimming for her life (:-) then Stuart turned the boat to her, we hove to and she grabbed the safety line.  Very funny moment captured on video but I will need help editing it for effect.

Once back aboard we continued our motoring journey and worked on another set of tan lines.  Rebecca cheated and normalized to one set of bikini tan lines.

As the sun set, stunning us again with colors and clouds, backed up by spectacular stars and the new moon slice (bowed and wished for love and happiness to come to you Nyati) we donned our foul weather gear as it got quite wet and chilly.  The girls are holding out and still barefooted.

We wish y'all were here with us.

Wind starts up again tomorrow if my software is correct and then we have a straight run to San Pedro.  Perhaps there by Wet Wednesday racing series...at least we hope to come through the harbor with our Boat decals and Vector 450 crew shirts on...YES Terry the decals are still on and we have video from the water level to prove it!

8-10 update

Hi Friends
We just found out that Rebecca was a smoker and is now free of that .... for now.  Congrats.

A slow day through the high but nice and warm.  The evenings are chilling down and we are all in foulies but with no shoes.

Everyone has weird tan lines from their different levels of dress during the day.  We hope to get photos for you all to see it first hand.

update 8-9

Hello Friends
Well Trevor told me that when he raced the big boat to Hawaii he caught Mahi Mahi off the back of the boat, 25 ft line in the face of the following wave and well Trevor we have done that too.  3rd fish in 1800 miles...not such a good average but it sure made for an exciting shift change.

Seems our best time is from 10-11 in the morning.  The SKP lure was out.  Madie was driving and I was trimming.  Everyone else was below making yummy oatmeal with raisins and walnuts.  Madie heard the bungee pop and I turned to look and saw a 3ft Mahi launch for the lure and hit it...FISH ON. Then the chaos to get a camera up so we could capture this moment properly as we hadn't in the past.  So Becca made it up to capture the finale of bringing the beauty aboard.  Rick and Stuart then proceeded to follow Trevor's reco to fillet the fish, no deheading or gutting, and we had two 3 lb fillets shortly.

Peter treated us to dinner of fresh backed Mahi fillets with tortelli with Pesto.  Then back to shift work.  Wonderful finish to a slow day of motor sailing through another high.  5 kt winds all day.

Today started with the winds coming up to 12 so the engine is off and Madie is at the helm trying to coax 7kts of boat speed.  Wish us luck...
Cheers
Sheri

Thursday 8-8 update

Hi Friends
What a show last night was for meteors.  We saw all kinds.  One was so bright with such a long burn time that we all thought it was a flare or fireworks.

Today finds us moving around another high so we will probably motor most of the day but if we can sail we will try.  We have 70 gallons of fuel left so plenty to get across a 200 mile high.

Cheers

Position: 35 14'20.82 N,  136 42'11.40 W
Course: + 143, Speed: + 7

Update from the delivery crew:

Hi Friends
The ocean has turned more familiar...darker in color with more texture.  The skies still swell and squall but with less commitment and luckily we have avoided most of the squalls for the last two days.  Everyone getting comfortable with reading where they are forming, where they are going and devising the sail plan to escape with the boat safe and sound.  Great team work.

Music libraries are a daily discussion topic....and ever changing through the night shifts with the girl and boy teams showing disparate tastes, although Madie and Becca know a broader spectrum of music than would be anticipated by their ages.

Food stores were well provisioned so we are still eating well. Good thing as we have been skunked with catching fish for the last couple days.

Still seeing lots of trash.  Yesterday proved to be the saddest sight with a 6 ft ray appearing to be tangled in a line with a net.  The ray flopped on the surface showing us her white cream belly and wing tips as she tried to free herself.  A painful example of the nature of the impact the trash is having on our ocean.  Please donate to your favorite organization or go out and clean up your favorite beach.