(Dani) Hi everyone!
I am thrilled to report that Randy and Tortuga arrived safe and sound. Randy got a text from Dave King earlier today, and Tortuga (along with the other two Westsails) beat the previous standing Westsail record. Tortuga finished in 15 days and 18 hours! This beats Tortuga’s previous record of 17 days.
Thank you all for the support and sweet messages during this adventure
Cheers
From Randy and Tortuga 7/10 and 7/11
Tales from the deck of Tortuga
Monday, July 10thThe wind picked up through the night, and I was down to the double reefed main and pulled out super Yankee. We were ripping along at 7-8 knots all night. Had a few long squalls that helped with the increased winds. With the reefed down main, the helm was light but I think the small amount of sail up added to the increased yawning we were doing with the cross swell. It was laughable to try and get any sleep with the thrashing of the boat and swinging beam to beam. I managed an hour by wedging myself on the cabin sole between the settee and the life raft with some bean bags just because I wouldn’t go flying back and forth. Hula and Elizabeth Ann, the other 2 Westsails, have finished by now An amazing run those guys put in!! Hoping they both correct out in the top tier! It’s physically and mentally draining just sailing the boat with white sails let alone managing sailing with spinnakers for more speed with the large waves and squalls etc. day after day. Since I injured my knee I’ve basically sailing the boat conservatively and trying to keep it balanced enough to handle squalls with minimal intervention. Yesterday was the most deck work I’ve tried to do since the injury with switching the jib pole around and reefing etc and I can really feel the knee today. It’s hard to balance and not put weight on the knee etc.
We are in the home stretch now! If the winds don’t go light on me I should be arriving after midnight or so. We shall see. Lots of squalls on and off today. There were a few that looked pretty intimidating but were just a lot of rain and no crazy wind speed increases. ETA is now around 0200-0300!
Team Tortuga
~~~_/)~~~
Tales from the deck of Tortuga
Tuesday, July 11thOf course my finish had to be at 1 in the morning and rainy! I was so backward with the time that I thought it was actually was 3 hours ahead! Why would it be daylight, who needs that to see anything? Thank you to the race committee for being there in the wee hours today to help with the finish, getting the boat anchored, etc., and a big special thank you to my North Star Danielle for coming out for the finish and being there for me. This race is hard. It's hard emotionally and physically to get the boat ready and make sure you’re doing all the right things for a safe crossing. It's hard on your relationships because you have spent months just working on boat projects while putting other priorities aside. It’s hard financially, with the amount of money spent on gear or boat yard bills, etc. As well as there is all of this pressure that “Hey it’s a race, I gotta do well!” that pressure along with the hardships converge and create this fission of energy that produces something so special for the very few people who are able to do the race. You’ve got this priceless gem of a memory born out of all the difficulties and sacrifices it took to make this happen. There is a reason that some people sail this race multiple times. (Myself included) Perhaps it’s trying to do better over all time or sail faster than another boat. Or try the race on a different boat. But maybe it’s something more, the chance to challenge yourself personally and time to reflect on what’s really important in life. Feeling at one with the rhythms of nature and slowing down the pace of today's hectic connected life Regardless, We’ll all have something to remember now when we’re in our rocking chairs and say “Yeah I did that, I sailed my boat singlehanded to Hawaii, and what an amazing experience it was!” (“Oh no, not THAT story again!”)
Team Tortuga
~~~_/)~~