An Epilogue

Block Island Race Week has been over for a week now. We've had just enough time to do all our laundry, dry out the foul weather gear, and catch up on sleep missed over the week. We put in a few hours on Apparition as we prepared for Block, delivered the boat, and (most importantly) racing her. Fortunately we found that she is just as tough as ever. 30 knot winds and 8 foot seas off long island might as well have been 10 knots in power boat chop in the Chesapeake - the boat behaved itself just as well.

I suppose we learned a few other things over the week: Keith's a good cook too - we better keep him around. We also learned just how much pressure a chute can hold on a close reach in 25 knots of wind. Unfortunately, we were also reminded just how good the other competitors are at BIRW.

Apparition will now go in for some repairs. Over the next 6 weeks, she will have her engine replaced and the chain plates will come off to be re-bedded. Some more minor repairs are probably in store as well. There always seems to be something small that needs fixing. Rest assured, we'll be back out there racing on the Chesapeake this fall.

Thanks for following our blog about our Block Island Race Week adventure. Perhaps we'll blog about our next big racing event. Until then, I hope all your starts are clean.

Main Sheet
Marshall

All is Well

Apparition made it home last night at Midnight and all is well. They dropped Jim off in the C&D canal just like they did last time, but that didn't seem to add too much to the time for delivery. Leaving at 9pm on Friday, that means they made the delivery in about 51 hours. They beat us again, dang!

Looking at the results, I can see the final count shows Apparition finishing 6th out of 10 in the class. the J/100 managed to get a 1st place in the race around the island on Monday, so they got 5th place over all even though we tied in points. That makes sense, though. It's pretty hard to get a 1st place.

Congrats to all our competitors. It was some tough racing out there and they definitely earned it.

Fuel and drop

Captain reilly gave me permission to jump ship at summitt north marina and took on 10 gallons of fuel. They are off and bound for annapolis. Safe trip gents. jim

Had a little too much fun trying to take the inside channel right when depth guage crapped out. We then took the long route around cape may, lost some time. We are now at 3905915 7512136. Heading north against a knot of current. Gizmo says 230 am in annapolis. Delivery crew out.

Ac in sight

All is well, we came through some wind and weather last night, but managed to miss any rain or storms. Just had bout 40 dolphin hang out with us. Crew is well fed thanks to keith and the beef stew. We can just make out ac and think we will turn the horn at cape may after 3 am.

On the way out

Looks like the storms are moving out and the crew is on their way home. 9:00 and we are approaching. The cut to block island sound.

Enough rain I'm leaving

I think this rain is starting to mess with me. Race week is over, but now rain wants to stop me from going home.

If Sean and the delivery crew are smart, they will wait out the storms before leaving. want to take bets?

8th and she's done!

Well, that wraps up the week of sailing. We went out this morning hoping that there would be two good races, but the wind didn't want to cooperate with that. Slow winds to start caused some delays getting under way and then excessive agressiveness in the classes caused delays getting our start underway. Strong winds at our start calmed to a drifter by the first downwind mark and then shifted about 180 before we finished.

We probably got an 8th for today, but we beat the J/100, so we probably tied in points for 5th over all.

One More in the Books

Day 4 is in the books. Looks like we picked up a 6th in the light air.

Too early fothe tent party, but the dock party has started.

Finally!

Racing is on. The fleet is hheading for the cut.

Still Nothing

Still waiting for the wind to do something.

No Wind - Postponed Ashore

We're in postponement until at least 11am, so we're eating ice cream.

picture

6-3 Getting better

There was just lots of fog yesterday. Reasonable air with moderate shifts.
I think we finally got something going with boat speed. As the air fell out, we changed to our new light-medium #1 and the boat did quite well. First race, we finished 6th, but we did much better the 2nd race coming in 3rd!

No air today. We'll whav to see if we can race.

5-8-7 Ouch!

Not the best day we have had on the water, but at least it didn't rain hard. No protests, thank goodness.

The Swan 42s put on quite a show with 4 general recalls in the last race.

Welcome to the Washing Machine

They are calling for 15-19 knot winds with rain all day. RC just said we are going to have three races today. Good thing we washed all out clothes last night.

Big Party

The party is packed tonight for what appears to be Heinekin Night. Results show that we got a 6 out of 10 for today. Tim Wilkes Photography has some good photos of us, though.

A Day Only BoatUS Could love

That was a lot of wind out there. We did the race around the island clockwise today and wow! There was 20-25 knots for most of the race with some really big rollers coming in from the NE. The first upwind was a good indicator of how choppy it could be. After the mark we tried a chute, but that proved to be too much. After several broaches, we had a complete blow-out.
The rest of the race offered a few nuggets of hope for the rest of the week. We had some good speed off the wind and lots of point when working to windward.
After the race was over, the wind picked up to 30 knots adding lots of fun to the sail take-down. BoatUS circled around the fleet like a casket maker at a gunfight.

Day 1 - Calling for round-the-island

For the first day of racing, the racr committee has chosen to do the round-the-island race. Still not sure if we are going clockwise, or counter. The Farrs are all freaking out trying to decide on d2/d3 settings.
Weather forecast is calling for 25-30 from NE. It's going to be a fun trip for us!

Storm Fronts

The tent party is about to start, but storms are moving in. Seems like a good time to send someone up the mast. Could be fun!

Clean and Tuned in

We were having gusts to 30 today, but we still needed to get out and practice. Everything went quite well! Lots of good down wind work with the heavy practice chute and lots of tuning in the #3 for good upwind speed.
Coming in to the Salt Pond, we stopped off at the moorings to have the professional divers clean the bottom. Since we have no anti-fouling paint, it was quite dirty. Looks like were ready to go.

Happy Father's Day!

Crew has arrived

Most of the brain trust is finally on the Island and has started drinking ahead of the predicted rum front. Fortunately there is also food being prepaired. I still anticipate an Advil morning.

Sunset Saturday

We haven't cleaned the boat yet, but we took showers and put away delivery sails. Everything else is drying, so why not enjoy the sunset while drinking mudslides!

We're here! We came into the salt pond about 4:54 and threw lines to the dock hands right about 5:13.
Turns out that we still like each other.

So close - Rain stopped

We're passing Montauk. Only 15 miles to go.

Land and Sun again

Well, we finally made it back in sight of land. last night was interesting: heavy rain, low visibility, and it blew 25-30 until about 3 am. The boat zipped right along 7.5 knots with the #3 only sail up.

About 12 hours to go!

At 0700 Friday June 19, Apparition was at 40d 27m33s north ,72d36m29s west

After enduring winds 25-30 knots until 0200, they are now motoring along in fog with the wind at 5 knots. All ok. ETA 1900 today.

Lots of wind, lots of waves, lots of rain

1900 position report:
Marshall called in by satphone -- all are well. Position 39d40.5N 73d36.3WOff Barnegat NJ along the rhumb line from Cape May to Montauk. 120 nm to go. Wind 25 to 30 from south, sailing under #3 alone. Rainy. Only 15 min sunshine all day. Sailing along -- ran the engine only about 1/2 hour today, plenty of fuel and food, all are healthy, no issues, no messages. Planned arrival Block Friday afternoon.

Out in the Atlantic

Good morning, this is the shore crew (Mariana) with an update. I had a message this morning that said: "Hi, it's Marshall. grbhjrdfdlkrtjszdliuj. We're in the Atlantic. dgjlgkjdfogijdkgj. We crossed into the Atlantic at 5:50am dfgfdkjfgkf repeat at 5:50 gdkjgkljdlkfgj. I am running out of gdgfdgsdgkj reception gfdfgdsgfdlkjfglkj."

With any luck they're still well south of this torrential rain we're getting here in Easton.

More Rain Please

Past Reedy Point at 6:40 and have just about completed our tour of industrial DE. Looking foreward to rain all night.

In the Canal

We made it to the canal at 4:25 under #3 and full main. all looks good! We spent the day listening to Jonny Cash and cleaning hand-guns while it rained.
Keith is picking up our spirits by cooking some stew. More rain in the forecast.

Adventure Started

We pushed off from the dock at 10:13 and all seem well so far. The crew is already complaining about the draconian skipper, so I have them cleaning the head. If my next message is from the life raft,assume they grew tired of me.

Updates on the road

We're getting ready to leave for Block Island, but we will still have updates. I plan to have updates from my phone (like this one) and we have a shore team who will keep you up-to-date on our location during deliveries.

Rest assured that, if a crew member decides to join a reggae steel drum band, you will here about it here.

Throw off those dock lines

There is just a little over a week to go before the crew starts arriving in Block Island for the race week. Apparition will be leaving on Wednesday, June 17th, at 10 am. We're hoping to catch the currents up the Bay and then down Delaware Bay. That should get us into Block Friday evening sometime.

Several of the boats from Annapolis did the race up to Newport. That's certainly a good way to get your boat north, but it does use up crew. In our case, we only have one full team with spares, so we don't have the crew available to do two major regattas back-to-back. I know my job wouldn't be too excited about me taking three weeks off from work.

The delivery crew is ready to go. This weekend will be all about loading the boat with the last of the gear and packing all the stuff we'll need for the week. Keith is busy cooking and freezing the meals, so we will at least eat well on the trip up. I think Keith said there would be lots of beans and broccoli.

Monsters all over the course

Looks like there will be good representation at Block Island. There are currently 165 boats registered to race including a new monster entry from Steve's alma matter Kings Point. Looks like the Kings Point Sailing Squadron is bringing a new boat for them: the Storm Trysail Transpac 65 named Vanquish. I can't even find pictures of Vanquish racing, so she must be very new.

Once again, we will be on the Red course with all the big boats meaning that we will start last and that all the big boats will slalom through us like an obstacle course. It's lots of fun being on the same course as all the big guys, but it is a little humbling when you think you going fast down wind and a boat passes you going 20 knots!

We will be in the IRC 35 class and there will be some great competition again. Our old friends and fierce competitors on Lora Ann and Troubador will be out there as well as two X-35s and two J/35s including T-Bone from Annapolis.

I noticed that there is a Swan 42 with the name Apparition. Back off, buddy! We had the name first!

Check out the scratch sheets here.

Last practice race - test patience

Ouch! I guess summer is here. This last weekend's Ted Osious Memorial Regatta was a test of just how much you are willing to tolerate. Can you concentrate when the wind drops below 2 knots while the current is over 1 knot? What if the temp gets over 85º with sun?

Well, it was a drift-fest out there. We drifted around the windward mark loosing everyone, but passing boats in fleets in front of us. Just when the boat got moving, power boats on the run to St Michaels would throw huge wakes killing any chance to gain.

Drifting down to the leeward mark with barely enough wind to keep the spin open will also drive you crazy. Many boats gave up and just tried to fly jibs hoping the velocity headers were really new wind. We made it past the leeward mark and somehow managed to round in good position.

Then the RC took pity on us and abandoned. Since many boats were not able to overcome the current and were being drug down the bay, it was a welcome relief to fire up the engine. 35 horse power diesel will really change your outlook on life.

So no finishes to report, but we were able to change the boat over to delivery mode. Delivery sails on and racing sails stored. Only 10 days left until Apparition heads north for Block Island!

Race to St Michaels a success

Saturday we had the Race to Se Michaels and we managed to get Second out of the 16 boats racing! Not bad, but there were still many anxious moments during the 20-mile race.

Our initial thought coming off the line was to cross the Bay to get into the current in the channel heading south. Seemed reasonable - current is going south and we want to go south, so get into the fast current. Is the past year's, we have alternately tried the old advice to "Go East Early" and to grab the Thomas Point jet. The jet moves so fast that it suck you in luring you to the relatively slow currents and eddies off the mouth of the West river. The current on the Eastern Shore can move fast down past Bloody Point, but the winds can get flakey.

So we headed East looking for deep water and strong currents. It seemed like most of the classes before us did that, so maybe wisdom was on our side. Unfortunately, John White decided to take the jet testing our resolve to find the current. White managed to split the fleet taking half the competitors with him making it very hard not to cover.

Fortunately, neither east nor west paid off. We crossed tacks again just before Bloody Point showing that we had only gained about 10 to 15 boat lengths - just about what we would expect. White kept up the pressure by driving shallow while we stayed out in the deep water. It seemed to be working for him, but it wasn't clear if wind or current was helping him. As we headed up Eastern Bay, the strong reaching wind definitely favored White as he passed us and lead the way into St Michaels.

We were able to add reasonable distance to the lead to the next boat allowing us to correct comfortably into 2nd. The great wind and favorable currents allowed all the fleets to finish very early and partake in the party at the Miles River Yacht Club. The Cal 25s and the Catalina 27s seemed to be having the most fun, but we did our best to hold on to our party credentials. Excellent time was had by all, but the delivery home Sunday morning was a bit harsh on some of the crew.

One Month to Go

It’s one month until the north-bound delivery crew pushes off from the dock to take Apparition to Block Island. After a winter of planning and a spring filled with prepping and practicing, we are finally at the point where we can panic.

Okay, maybe panicking is not in order. After all, we did spend all that time planning and prepping for just this event, so maybe it’s more about letting the action start. As we switch gears for Racing at Block and the deliveries to and from, now we only have to deal with the unexpected.

Steve already found one unexpected hardware issue. It turns out that 20 years on the transmission was just about all it was ready to take. In a preemptive joust with engine problems, Steve decided it was best just to replace the transmission. That’s probably for the best because I’m not really a big fan of dealing with transmission issues 40 miles off the coast of New Jersey. Of course, prefect weather and we’ll not use the engine until we are docking in the Great Salt Pond. But deliveries never seem to be about perfect weather.

I did notice crew this weekend talking about the logistics of how to feed everyone and just how everything will get to the island. The juggernaut that is Apparition Racing will soon start it’s trek. Fortunately the vessel Apparition moves at a much faster pace!

Annual Spring Regatta

This weekend on the 16th is the Sailing Club of the Chesapeake's 60th Annual Spring Regatta. The weather looks like it might cooperate, so it should be a good race. And, to increase the morale of the crew even more, the dock time is not until 0945! Allowing the crew to get that extra hour of sleep will make a huge difference when it comes to changing out the headsail for the third time.

But you never know when there might be hurt feelings. Our crew mate, Sean, has provided us with an outlet for just this occurrence - the Hurt Feelings Report. Now I have a place to write down just how I feel. You know any opinion of mine will include some version of "Don't touch my runners!"

Sean also included some description of what to do with the completed form. Let's just say that you should file it with the appropriate authority.

Swatties like us!

Our very own pitcrew, Arlene, got a very nice write-up in her alma mater newsletter, the Swarthmore College Bulletin:

Read the article here

It turns out that Arlene is not a slacker like the rest of us. Besides praising her achievements, the article has some very nice "awww" stuff about meeting Steve our illustrious leader and helmsman. They even manage to make it sound like we know what we're doing!

Unfortunately, she gave away our secret weapon - the Snickers bars. It's nice to know you can placate an ornery grinder with a tasty treat, but you don't want to tell the world about it! Oh well, we need a new secret weapon now. Maybe KitKat. No one will suspect KitKat.

AYC Spring Race Wrap-up

Well, the racing on Saturday was everything you would expect from a light-air shifty day where it threatened to rain.

Strangely there were only 5 boats registered in the A2 class for the AYC spring race. I don't know where everyone from the previous race went, but a few of old nemesises from last year returned to cause trouble. John White was back with his converted Beneteau and they were (as usual) on their game. Saykadoo was back out and she managed to shake off the cobwebs they had last week. Then there was Aunt Jean who came out to school us all in the first race.

In the first race, we managed to get ourselves pinned out at the start, but no worries. There are worse things than being 30 seconds late. Unfortunately, we found out too late that there was fresh air just hanging out in Whitehall Bay. It certainly looked like it was coming to us, but nope. Aunt Jean seemed to have remembered this scenario from the past and just sailed over to it. No matter that she over-stood the mark - she had air and beat us all to the windward mark by 10 minutes. Definitely a smart play for them - not so good for us.

Second race went fairly well. We managed to find the air, play the shifts and even managed to switch gears as the wind got fluky. Everything went reasonably well except Saykadoo was on fire. We simply couldn't reel them in and she managed to finish before us.

It was a small fleet, but there were no slackers. We finished 4-2 and ended up 4th. Even with a respectable 2nd, we couldn't break into the top three. It's a tough crowd out there. Saykadoo had a 3-1 and ended up 1st, so they must be happy.

Well, we did learn a few things and the practice for Block certainly won't hurt. Our spinnaker work is starting to look professional, so now we can work on down wind speed. Lastly, the beer at the dock was very cold and that always helps to heal sailing wounds.

AYC Spring Race

Ah ha! It's time for the first race of the season by Annapolis Yacht Club. This race is usually interesting because we will have two or more races.

Multiple races usually means shorter legs, more crew work, and less time between races for lunch and re-hydration. Since we usually only have one race a day, this regatta gives us a better feel for how we will do in Block where we will have multiple races each day as well.

Now that we're in May, hopefully we'll see more of our usual competitors. Of course they are calling for showers and thunderstorms - that may be all the competition we need.

Lubed up and ready to race

Steve and Arlene were busy on the off-weekend again. There is still prep work to do for Block, so any off-weekend is a good opportunity to catch up. last weekend, they:

• replaced bearings in genoa cars; McLubed all other cars (including spin pole hoist)
  
• replaced battery charger and cabling to batteries
• Replaced house and engine start batteries
• checked engine and fuel system -- will have mechanic go over it prior to Block
• inspected fuel and water tanks
• AB washed and dried the kite Big Red; returned to boat

It will be nice to have new batteries for the delivery and it certainly helps for racing where we hope to get a full day of instrument use out of them (as well as keep the after-race beverages ice cold).

McLube is our friend - More McLube. Maybe we should McLube the people on the rail. They have SailKote and HullKote, they should have CrewKote. It would make tacking more exciting! (like we need more excitement). Big Jim says he's a fan of "lube", but I'm not sure he's talking about sailing.

Less than 2 Months

It's less than two months to the start of Block Island Race Week XXIII. In a press release that came out yesterday, they are reporting that there are 125 boats registered now and they are expecting 150 or more to be the final count. That’s over 1500 sailors!

It looks like there will be enough boats for one-design starts for NYYC Swan42s, J/122s, J/109s and the J/105s, Beneteau 36.7, Farr 30 and Farr 40 classes. Plus they will have classes for IRC and PHRF boats. Of course, we don't really know where Apparition will end up in the classes, but we usually race IRC at Block, so we'll be in there somewhere.

For those of you who want to keep up with all the videos, Rolex is working with T2Productions to have a broadcast of the day's events on-line each evening at 9pm. Let's hope they get a shot of us with sails full and our fingers out of our noses.

What a Ride!

Our first day out on the water this year was an interesting trip! The winds were down to less than 3 knots before the races could get under way and then slowly built to about 15 knots at one point. It was good practice to have us go through all the gears as pressure built up.

The racing was interesting. Good starting lines, but there was a pesky ship in the starboard layline for the windward mark. Not to mention that there was a fishing tournament on the Bay - fishermen were all over the course with trolling boards out. We did our best to miss the fishers, but you know, when you have 50 sailboats coming at you, you might find fishing less complicated elsewhere. Always exciting to have an obstacle course, though.

Our races went well. We had good starts with speed hitting the line. We had great windward legs managing to catch shifts and point a little better than our competition. On our second windward leg of the first race, we noticed an offset mark. Not good. We didn't see it the first time up, but it must have been there. Fortunately, no one else saw it the first time up and only us two leaders saw it the second time. No one protested, so I guess it's all a wash now.

Off wind, we couldn't seem to get our speed up and that hurt. The Midshipmen were out in force to represent the Academy, so they could pounce on us just when we were most vulnerable. Navy did quite well. They didn't get distracted racing each other and they able to lay in wait for our errors.

The results are in. In the end, we missed 1st place by 15 seconds (corrected) in the first race and 22 seconds (corrected) in the second. Not too bad for a bunch of old people who haven't raced in 6 months. We did take the gun for both races which is some consolation. We finished 2-3 for a 3rd over-all.

NavySports is telling a different and bigger story. They say that they fielded 5 boats who all finished in the top 7. While technically true, it's misleading since there were two classes and none with more than 8 boats. My Mom could have come out in an A0 boat and gotten 7th place.

Navy did the job, though. Jason Mazzoni and his crew on Integrity did an excellent job. We're keeping an eye on them from now on.

NASS Spring Race 4/18

Just a couple days away from the first race of the season. Naval Academy Sailing Squadron is having it's annual NASS Spring Race this coming weekend and we're scheduled to race on Saturday.

Unfortunately, we have a dock time of 0815. We still need to put in battens, put on runners, and (most likely) tape the spreader ends. Then there is the shaking out of cob webs and, of course, reminding most of the crew which end is the "pointy end".

The weather is calling for 12 knots with gusts to 25. At least it will be sunny. Current water temperature at Thomas Point is 49.1º. That spray is going to be shocking!

Walker Tango Ranger

I was looking at the building Beneteau First fleet at Block this year (wondering why I'm seeing no names from Annapolis yet) and I noticed an interesting entry: "Tango" - USA 258 sailed by no less than Chuck Norris. Okay it's probably not the same Chuck Norris, but that doesn't make it any less amusing to me.

Tango raced in the 2008 Chicago-Mac Race, so she's not just some local coming out for a sail. I wonder if he is related to Dick Norris of Annapolis fame. But back to Chuck Norris jokes.

There's a great Chuck Norris website of supposed "facts" about Chuck Norris. www.chucknorrisfacts.com
Current favorite:

"When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris."

We could even get that on a shirt!

Apparition is nearly Ready to Race

Steve, Arlene, and Keith were down at Apparition over the weekend getting her ready for the racing season. There are still a few rigging and tuning things to do, but they accomplished quite a bit:

• Inspected steering system
• Tapped hull below WL, rudder & keel
• Replaced fasteners on binnacle guard
• Replaced checkstay shock cord; inspected and repaired other shock cord
• Installed new sheet bags
• Inspected & Loctite on all lifeline threaded fittings
• Replaced all lifeline lacings
• Replaced traveler adj line w/non hockling line
• Labeled halyard clutches
• Spring racing sails aboard
• Installed halyards, topping lift, vang, foreguy. etc.
• Cleaned and lubed headfoil and main tracks
• McLubed and taped everything
• Installed deck blocks & mainsheet
• Serviced bilge pump; dewinterized fresh water system
• Installed Ockam jumbos on mast
• Cleaned deck & flushed all travelers and deck gear
• Washed topsides
• Replaced o-rings all tank deck fill

Apparently they also washed down the interior because it "tasted salty". There are many things wrong with that statement. The most obvious is that I've met the crew and I have no intention of tasting anything that is not sanitized and hermetically sealed.

Arlene also sewed a fancy new pocket for a VHF in the main sheet bag. How many minutes will it be before someone puts a water bottle in there? If winch pockets are any indicator, there will be one in there before we get to the boat!

Coming Back

The southbound delivery crew is also signed up and ready to go. Two years ago, they broke all kinds of personal records by delivering the boat dock-to-dock in just over 44 hours! That's some serious speed. With the distance of about 325 nautical miles, that means Apparition's average speed was 7.4 knots! I think it took us about 58 hours to get up to block that year, but we had the same strong winds on our nose.

I seriously doubt they can make that good of time again, but you can be sure skipper Sean will be trying to beat his record. The crew should be well advised to do sightseeing in Block because there will be no slowing down on the return. The crew coming back is:

Sean Reilly - Our most experienced blue water sailor, Sean has done several trips to and from Bermuda including a double-handed race back from Bermuda a few years ago. He's also delivered boats (including Apparition) up and down the East coast.

Jim Comegys - Raced to Bermuda in 2008 and has delivered Apparition back to Annapolis from Block before. Jim is a long-time crew member of Apparition and is definitely the muscle in the middle of the boat.

Keith Scala - He's doing the delivery up to Block, racing for the week, then delivering back! Hopefully he will not be tired of us by he time he gets home. Keith is regular crew on Apparition when racing off Annapolis.

Tom Reilly - Sean's father was somehow coaxed into helping deliver Apparition back. We all look forward to stories of who was really in charge of the delivery home. My prediction is Sean's Mom. Sean didn't fall to far from the tree - Tom lots of experience racing and cursing.

Now the delivery crews can move on to important tasks like what to eat on the trips.

Another Monster

It appears that another monster racing boat has registered for Block Island Race Week. It's the Custom Tripp 75 "Bella Pita".

Looks like the downwind legs will once again be punctuated by harrowing crossings with giant a-sym boats moving at 17 knots with their proboscises/battering rams extended. Keep an eye on your aft quarters - they're coming for you.

Everyone needs Swag

We're moving up to a new level of swag this year - new Henri Lloyd tech tees. Very spiffy!

You need to look good to feel good, and feeling good is important to doing well. Let's hope the new shirts will give us that boost we need to climb the ranks. At least we'll feel cooler.

Now if we could just do something about our ugly mugs, we might look good at the party too.

Going up!

The northbound delivery crew is ready to take Apparition to Block Island. Last year, Apparition decided that 19 years on a fresh water pump was enough and gave us engine trouble before we even made it to the Bay Bridge. A few hours later after hopping around Annapolis for parts, Steve had us back under way to Block.

This year there will be none of that nonsense. Well, at least the fresh water pump has another 18 years before it fails again. The crew heading north this time is:

Marshall Patterson - twice delivered Apparition to Block plus many more deliveries up and down the East Coast, a couple races out to Bermuda, and a few Gulf Stream crossings out to the Bahamas.

Greg Foster - twice delivered Apparition to Block plus many years of living aboard, cursing around the Bay, and racing on Log Canoes in St Michaels.

Keith Scala - first open-ocean experience, but has experience racing and sailing in Block Island Sound and Buzzards Bay. Keith is regular crew on Apparition when racing off Annapolis.

Andrew Geffken - new to blue water deliveries, but many years racing for Dartmouth Sailing Team, racing on LI sound, and racing on Log Canoes in St. Michaels.

The crew is set and the work has started!

Busy Weekend

Steve and Arlene were quite busy this weekend. Apparently they put the dehumidifier aboard, cleaned and lubed the halyard winches, loaded the new checks, runners, jib sheets and spin guys aboard, dried the Ockam dessicants, put the spin pole and wheel back aboard, and vacuumed the interior. Impressive considering the desk is a good 12 feet up in the air at this point.

Other activities included patching the holes from the old sheet bags, inspecting and inflating all inflatable vests for 36 hrs, installing water activated lights on 4 of the inflatable harnesses, getting the MOM (man overboard module) inspected and repacked, and reserving the sat phone.

I think I watched some sports.