Yep. I’ll be the first to admit it. I failed at the first stage of the R2AK this year. I’m home in Seattle after a big weekend. I feel like someone’s been jumping on my chest. As I’ve promised, I’m doing a full write up of the day. What went wrong, what went right, and Read More…
Tag: Minnow
Last minute shakeups, but I set sail today!
Whew! Well plan is I set sail in the next two hours. I decided , at the last minute, to make drastic changes. i have never been 100% happy with my mainsail; it’s so heavy a material that it really only develops shape and works well in 15-20+ winds. After sailing in the Sloop Tavern Read More…
Electronics, winches, and Boom tents, OH MY!
Prep continues here at Team Hodge. The Sperry flag from 2016 will be returning, reincarnated as a boom tent. This really has been George’s project; since he ends up staying at the boat alot at events like this he wanted some shade. We just need to add some grommets and some straps to hold it Read More…
Countdown to 2017 R2AK
Shesh. after a layoff at work taking a big bite out of my R2AK budget, I’m finally back to getting prepped for R2AK. Sadly, i had to curtail some of my bigger ticket modifications. I’ll still have oars, and not a new Hobie Drive. I’ll also still have the same set of tarps for sails. Read More…
Preparing for 2017
Well, I’m in it again- I’ll be doing the first leg again in 2017. I’ve begun re-evaluating what worked and didn’t last year. The oars have got to go. While I previously have carried oars on the Minnow, it does not row well. With the flat bottom, it does not track well without input from Read More…
R2AK leg one – The Recap.
Whew. While alot of my new friends are either in Johnstone Strait or preparing to enter the Seymour Narrows, my race ended a few days ago, in Victoria. It’s been a few days, I’m back in Seattle, and have finished my first shift in the shipyard after living on the Minnow for basically a week. Read More…
I made it in.
That’s the short story. A tactical error stretched my time to about 20 or 21 hours; i’ll write more once I get some sleep in a real bed for the first time since Sunday.
Let’s do this thing.
Its 4 am. In two hours the gun goes off and I’m on my way. The tracker is up at http://leg1.r2ak.com. There’s 35 miles to Victoria, we’ve got a full set of sails, half a pack of beef jerky, it’s dark out, and we’re wearing sunglasses. Hit it.
Arrival in Port Townsend.
Wow. I’m here. On the starting line two days before the gun. Sitting in a cafe where I can see semi-famous boats and people I’ve only known thru their own online logs of their journeys that brought them here. I’m thinking back on all the ups and downs since I got the crazy idea to Read More…
To meet the Sea….
I’ve heard it said that the sea finds what you did wrong; So with that in mind I set out to meet the sea. Last weekend, I sailed from Shilshole to Port Townsend as a shakedown trip for the R2AK run. I figured three days living on the boat would point out any problems with the Read More…
Almost ready to go
Yesh. Two weeks left till i leave. And… I think I’ll be ready. I’ve been a bit of a slacker on posting updates lately, as i’ve been so busy. but progress has been made. I have my new Ocean Rodeo Ignite drysuit. This thing is great. Decided to take a shot with the boat on Read More…
Monkey tested, Monkey approved.
I did a shake down overnight trip to Poulsbo to test some of the new improvements and changes to the boat. The winds were from the south, witch made for a fast 3.5 hour passage with a fast yet leisurely reach across the sound. It was an event for the cruising set at the CYC Read More…
Electrical system is done!
So, today and yesterday we got a double dose of good weather here in Seattle. I managed to make some significant progress I managed to get two costs of paint on the coamings and the areas that needed touching up, I got the Andersen bailer installed, and the electrical system completed.
Hatch coamings are in!
Today, I managed to get up to Sea-Mar before they closed and get some hardener. From Harbor island to Fisherman’s terminal in 25 minutes! Once I got home, I got to work in the back yard, moving along with the hatch replacement. I’m happy to say the coaming install went well.
Slowly making progress… and I have a new sponsor!
Work is progressing, slowly.
And the refit begins….
So this Friday I finally started the first round of upgrades and improvements to the boat. I pulled it out from under the tarp, stepped back, and took a deep breath.
The long to-do list
So, here’s a start of a run down on what i’ll need to do to get ready to go.