Day 8 - SQUALLS!!

Team Tiki has finally entered the squalls zone.  These short 'storms' bring occasional rain showers as well as bursts of wind up to speeds of 35+kts, making boat handling very challenging amid the sea state.  We sailed most of yesterday with the 1.5oz spinnaker and made great progress.  We doused the spinnaker at dusk and sailed with the jib to give the crew a 'breather' from the interactive problem solving on the spinnaker pole and adjusting to driving in squalls, heavy seas, and the joys of not being able to see much in the darkness.  We covered over 190 nautical miles, which was not too bad given the circumstances. 

We popped the spinnaker this morning at day break and continued down the race course.  New speed records are being set almost every hour.  So far, Tyler Troxel holds the record of 16.6 knots!!  Who knew this was a flying tiki?  This speed record, did identify another 'problem' area as we lost the main sheet block where it attaches to the traveler, allowing us to adjust mainsail trim.  Some quick thinking and deck scrambling by Mark resulted in a repair in less than 15 minutes.  The crew is quickly becoming accustomed to driving "fly-tiki" in these very exhilarating conditions.

We are anxiously waiting for the warmer conditions further south on the course.  We hope to be out of our foul weather gear completely and into shorts and t-shirts as we approach the finish line in Kaneohe.

Another major milestone was passing of the HALF WAY POINT in the course! 



ARE WE GOING INSANE OUT HERE?
OK here is a crazy Tikian idea we need some sober shore side folks to chime in on.  Here it goes..  When we are sleeping -- oh I mean trying to sleep -- one's body is constantly flexing to remain in its berth or to prevent ,for example, oneself from arriving on top of one's berth mate un announced - which from the viewpoint of some could raise some questions.

Back to the constant flexing point  --  I noticed when I went cruising for a year,  I got in really good shape -- but being 31 years old helped too!.   I think this was due to the 24 hours flexing -- even when asleep.  So the idea is to build a bed that rotates right and left, forward and backward and emulates the constantly undulating platform we call a sailboat.  It will be an exercise machine.  We could have states that mimmick various races and include sex toy features. 

Any takers?