Sail Cutthroat

Sometime in Early March…Maybe around the 8th or 9th

I’m counting down, I just don’t know where I’m starting from…not a good sign as you might have guessed. You may have been wondering where we are and what we’re up to as this very cold and nasty winter persists in most of the United States. I apologize for the lack of frequency in my updates over the past couple of months. But how many times can I write about beautiful weather, warm water, Puerto Vallarta, whales, turtles, family and friend visits, and this perpetual vacation mentality while most of you continue to slave away. How about just one more time???

Actually, it amazes me how busy we continue to be. This week, PV is hosting the J24 World Championships. That’s a very quick, small sailboat - actually there are 70 participants from all over the world trying to kill each other out on the race course.

They are docked right in front of our slip and the entertainment value of watching them leave around noon and scream back in around 6PM is priceless. The Vallarta Yacht Club is hosting this event and they need lots of help from the locals (yes, that’s us). We volunteered to be one of the spectator boats which means we take out people who want to watch the races. These are mostly families of the participants and corporate sponsors. Today is one of our days to do that.

The “todo” list for getting the boat ready to depart for Hawaii continues to grow. We chip away at it daily and life is pretty much consumed with lists and parts. Actually, we’re doing pretty well with it and my comfort level is high (right now). We break the boat into systems and determine what needs to be done. There’s no shortage of qualified experts in all areas right here in Puerto Vallarta. They are either Americans, Canadians, or Europeans who have been here for years.

Engine - oil and filter change scheduled for next week. We also have a real diesel guru coming over to check it out.
Rigging - had a rigger come over from North Sails to check that very important part out and to reinforce some worn areas on the Genoa jib. The sail is gone to the sail loft to get fixed. They also discovered a large gap in the gooseneck which will get fixed in the next couple of weeks. To do that, we need to pull the boom away from the mast and add some bushings and spacers.
Provisioning - we continue to add the things we think we will need by way of food and parts. Fortunately, our boat neighbors have a car and have been willing to haul things for us. We have a lengthy spreadsheet for both food and spare parts that we use as a template for filling these voids. The crew has also been queried as to what they prefer to eat and snack on.
Medical - since we have to prepare for just about any contingency, we have a lot of “parts” here. Fortunately, one of our Crew, John Mirus, is a qualified EMT and has provided much by way of supplies and will keep us all healthy along the way.
Abandon Ship Bag - yes, this is the worst case scenario, but important to prepare for that contingency. Another spreadsheet. There will actually be two bags and they will be strapped down on the deck and will be tied to the emergency life raft.
Radio and Weather Procedures - remember Radio Robb? He’s back!!! And he’s been very helpful to all the Puddle Jumpers. There are many communications resources available using the Single Side-Band Radio and tapping into the internet through the radio. This is where I’ve spent most of my spare time. Knowing when the nets operate and on what channel is essential from a safety standpoint while out at sea. Identifying which of the plethora of NOAA reports are appropriate for our passage has also taken an enormous amount of time. Grib files, weatherfax, establishing direct communications with other boats…the list goes on and on.

Routing - as it turns out, this is the easy one. Get out of the Bay, and go due West - 270 degrees. Actually that may vary a little based on where the trade winds seem to kick in soonest, but this is generally a rhumb line passage. From the grib file downloads the trades seem a little greater somewhat south of our location, but we’ll continue to look every day and make our final course decision as we get close to our departure date. Hawaii is at pretty much the same latitude as Puerto Vallarta - just 3000 miles further west.
Waxing and Varnish - since boat work is very cost effective here, we will get the cabin top waxed one more time and have the bright work done again. Remember, we’re on that cruising budget…and of course the bottom will get cleaned just before we leave the dock.

The Puddle Jump Group has been very helpful in our planning. Even though we’re not headed for the South Pacific (this year), much of the thinking is the same and has caused us to do some critical thinking in ways we may have missed without the benefit of this group environment. They are starting to leave this week and we wish them well on their passage.

We’re getting very excited about this trip and looking forward to the adventure ahead. We’ll do one more brief update before we leave and then it will be back to our daily update while we’re underway. The website also has a link to see where we are and will change to reflect our new position daily. How cool is that?

I’ll add some more pictures to the website in the next few days.

Love to all,
The Cutthroat Crew - Roger and Elise