Thoughts from Captain Steve Hill from Coyote about the 2014 Pac Cup Race

Thanks Gary...

The PacCup races are so interesting, especially at night, every night is so different from all the others for me.

But the 2014 Pacific Cup race was so special, I will never forget.  TIki Blue, Tiki Blue, where are you.

The Tiki Blue vs Coyote Battle Royal was just terrific.....It must have been 5 days long, all I know is every time I came on watch, the crew would point in the direction where Tiki Blue was.  Some times this was in front of us and over the horizon (drat) and others it was on our port, or later on our starboard, oops then on our port side again!

I thought for sure, when we reached the "secret" jibe point, jibing for the finish, we would split up, and not see each other for the remainder....but was I wrong - EVERYONE jibed at nearly the same exact spot, and there we were neck and neck for the climax of the battle.

Then the last night was frigging crazy windy,,,,, Isn't it bizarre the winds we will fly spinnakers in out in the ocean on the way to Hawaii? I would not even think of putting up the kite in those conditions in SF Bay!  

Back and forth we went, you took off that last night, I thought you were gone for sure..... then crashed, put up your small kite, and we were able to keep up....The morning was light, so we were able to pull away, way away, way way away, and then you finished just 48 minutes behind us!!!???#$%##  

It was great fun, and most amazing.  Both of us from the same YC, and hell both from the same "C" fairway!

A race, and a fun time I will never forget.

Great memories,

Steve

Tiki Blue return completed in record 16 days

Tiki Blue return crew Captain Dennis Ronk (Pacific Cup Warlord) Joe, Andy, Michelle did a terrific job sailing her back and safely into RYC home port. Yes the Warlord and Andy bonded evidenced by the departing hug and kiss.. Funny!! Wives and husbands were there to great them. I enjoyed tracking and reading their blog posts. Yes I was NOT on the return trip but fooled a lot of people. Now lets get ready for 2016 Pacific Cup race to Hawaii. Cheers Gary

final entry

This is the final entry for Dennis and the Pac Back crew. We're less than 5 miles outside the Golden Gate. Seeing the lights of the city and all of the vessels around us makes it seem like Christmas. We've already opened our shared present - our adventure together. It has been a great trip - We've created memories that will last a lifetime.

Thank you to our spouses, family, and friends who helped make it all possible. Truly, we couldn't have done this without your support.

We're close to home and looking forward to seeing all of you.

This is the sailing vessel Tiki Blue - signing out.

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#3

We found a stowaway today among the lines on the cabin top. It was a little gecko that somehow came aboard while we were in Hawaii. Poor thing looked starved (don't ask - but we all agree he looked starved). He didn't scurry when we took a closer look - in fact, he moved toward us. We caught him up in a class, put in a couple drops of water and a few small pieces of cabbage and then set him in a safe place. Joe checked on him later and he had a piece of cabbage in his (her?) mouth! We saved him!

Sighting #3. About 10 dolphins, which were a different type of dolphin than earlier, playing off the port beam. This one I get to keep all to myself. Everyone else is taking their afternoon naps in preparation for that last sprint to the Golden Gate.

A little more than 70 miles to go. But hey, who's counting?

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Very cool

We have had our second dolphin spotting of the day! The firsts time was 10 or 12, including a mother and babe, swimming along side the cockpit and zooming toward the bow. The second was a pod of about 30 playing in the currents off the bow. They were leaping across bow, swimming underneath, playing in pairs and threes. Andy & Michele ran to the bow to watch them play (I mean, slowly and carefully with PFD's and three-point tethers clipped in at all times they made their way safely to the bow.). They were so close that you could hear them take in air when they surfaced. They stayed with us for about 20 minutes.

90 miles to go....

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Home stretch

We're in sustained 18-20 knots, 8-9 knots boat speed, double reefed, and 30% furled jib. One hundred miles to go and coming home as fast as we can!

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almost less than a day

We've decided to take a little side trip to Monterey before we come home...

There we we're, cruising happily along at 8 knots until mid-morning. Winds shifted and began to vacillate. The winds came up to 20+ with gusts up to 25. Rather than beat up the boat and ourselves, we reefed the main, furled the jib in a bit and turned down, pointing toward Monterey. It was still pretty rocky but manageable plus we were still traveling at 8+ knots. Around 15:00 things began changing back to where we want - slowly. The winds have been in the 16-18 range and we've been able to come up and point again toward home. All in all, this was a 160 mile day - too bad it wasn't all in the right direction. We're hoping this little foray won't change our arrival time too much and that we stay in the running for shortest return trip.

The interesting note of the day is the jellyfish - millions of them. We sailed for several hours today with jellyfish as far as the eye can see on both sides of the boat! The have little fins that stick up out of the water and act like sails. A couple were washed onto the boat during the higher waves and we got a chance to look at them up close. Under the sail, they were the same color of blue as the ocean. Pretty cool.

After several nights of cloudy skies, the stars are out in force tonight. We are again able to see the Milky Way in all its glory. We're hoping to catch some of the meteor showers but the moon is big and bright and overpowering the weaker stars.

Everyone is settling in for sleep, except the person on watch. We are under 200 miles from home. We're counting the time by "last times" - tonight was the last time that I had galley duty or tonight is the last time I will have to get up for the 02:00 watch. I will write one more blog tomorrow.

Tomorrow, we get to take showers! Ah, the little things that make us happy after 2+ weeks on a boat! We're looking forward to seeing our greeting party on the dock.

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