07/02/2023
Here's an update from our fearless Skipper, Russ!
We arrived in LA just before midnight on Monday, June 26th, 2023. We were very tired. The Marina had us booked into a slip that was 16 ft. wide for Blue Moon which is 16 ft. wide. That doesn’t work. It was late and dark. The slip looked narrow but I have docked Blue Moon in narrow slips before. I put my trust in the harbor master that they had chosen the correct slip, they had all Blue Moon’s specs just for that purpose. Well the slip looked too narrow, and it was. Blue Moon was too big for that little slip. There was a fine slip on the other side of the dock and with some nifty maneuvering and a few surprises we got Blue Moon tucked in, fed and watered, and shut down by about 2 am. We were met by a welcoming party with hamburgers, fries, shakes, chicken nuggets, and yes - waffles, strawberry’s, and whip cream. A hungry sailors perfect welcome, complete with fresh made Manhattans.
We fell asleep quickly and woke up at about 7 am to begin the work to get Blue Moon ready to cross the ocean in the TransPac Yacht race from LA to Waikiki. We had two days to get her ready after having just arrived from crossing the ocean from Hawaii. Things break when crossing an ocean. Whether it be accidental damage, wear and tear, or mistakes made by the crew, things break when crossing an ocean and those things need to be fixed before returning to the wind and waves. Blue Moon is tough though, and built for ocean crossings so she was still in good shape with few needed repairs. The refrigerator stopped working while we were sailing to LA with about 4 days remaining. The alternator mounting bolt had sheered off, and there were some minor oil leaks from fittings on the engine as well as a small leak in the shaft seal. Nothing major and most items were repaired before early afternoon on Tuesday the 27th. We treated Blue Moon to new running rigging, tuned the standing rigging, two new sails - a Genoa and a spinnaker, some cleaning up and organizing so she would be ready to go. The provisioning needed to be done at the last minute so that perishables would last as long as possible on the voyage.
The TransPac committee had us starting on Tuesday the 27th. These yacht races have several start days over the course of a week so they can group boats into categories with similar sailing and speed characteristics. The slowest boats start on Tuesday and the fastest boats start on Saturday. This creates an arrival schedule in Hawaii where the slowest boat arrive a few days after the fastest boats and we can all celebrate together for a few days. We were scheduled to start on Tuesday the 27th but that wouldn’t be reasonable given the work to be done to get ready to cross the ocean again. Upon my request the TransPac Committee kindly put us in a new class with a start date of Thursday June 29th.
The work to prepare Blue Moon for another ocean crossing was proceeding well. The riggers needed a couple days to get the new running rigging ready and once done they were to get it installed on Blue Moon. On the morning of our start date the riggers still hadn’t completed the installation of the running rigging or tuning the standing rigging. We had to pull out all the stops and call in reinforcements. We had a schedule for the day of the start that was set in anticipation that the rigging would have been complete the day before. It wasn’t and Blue Moon’s start date was in chaos.
The day started at about 6am when there were several loud knocks on the boat. We parked in a slip that wasn’t ours a few days earlier because Blue Moon couldn’t fit in the slip that was assigned to her. The Marina staff assigned a new slip but it was also too small. Apparently they don’t know much about boats at that marina, which is the stuff of constant banter and will be for some time. The slip we were in was to be occupied by another boat on the day of our start, but we thought that we would be gone by then. We weren’t. 6 am and the arriving boat wants us to move Blue Moon so they can pull in. So an early morning shift of boats had Blue Moon moved about 15 yards from where she was and ready for start day prep. The photographers were scheduled for 9 am, the TransPac videographers shortly after that, the last bit of time with internet to download weather files before we depart was getting shorter, the riggers needed to be herded like cats - except for Ben who showed his super human strengths. By the time the photographers and videographers arrived the boat was full with over 10 people getting everything ready. New spinnaker halyards, main halyards, furling lines, outhauls, jib halyard, new sails - old ones down and new ones up, standing rig tuning, water tanks being filled, old running rigging removed, sail locker hatch leak repaired, stowing all gear and provisions for conditions at sea - all the prep at once. It was a hell of a sight, absolute chaos to the observer but onboard it was more like planned out dance moves with everyone grabbing what they knew and getting it done. Right about at the 2 hr. mark after it all started it was quiet and most of the workers gone and workspaces clean and tidy. The riggers did an excellent job making the new running rigging, everything was stowed and ready. Blue Moon was ready to go.
We left the dock at about 12:20 to make the start line a couple miles away by 1300. We arrived at the start line about 1315, after having arrived in LA from Hawaii just two days before. The rest of the boats had already crossed the start line at 1300 so we were on our own at the start line. The Race Committee boat was still there as was the orange marker at the other end of the start line. Being short handed it was always my plan to hang back and let the other boats fight for start line position anyway. We sailed past the Race committee boat with waves and chears and of course a hearty blow or two on the conch shell. Photography boats, drones, and helicopters buzzed around us for about an hour while we trimmed the sails and rig for the light wind journey to the west side of Santa Catalina Island.
We’re on our way.
The Start
Russ
Sailing Vessel S/V Blue Moon is a 2003 Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 52.2. A 52ft sloop-rigged sailboat equip
