Pacific Cup – Finish and the Continuing Whirlwind…

Aloha!

It seems like it might have been a bit easier to keep up on blog updates out in the middle of the Pacific!  We’ve been in Hawaii almost 2 days now and have hardly had a chance to send a note that yes, we did indeed finish!

The amazing Leslie from Rockskipper took some photos of the finish that showed up on the Pacific Cup website – our “best” finish photo is below:

Sunburnt and rummy.

The finish line greeting party was absolutely incredible.  After we crossed the finish line (a feat in and of itself, as the wind nearly died as we were trying to make our way to the imaginary “line” that was made when we lined up some objects on the land), we were escorted by a USCG vessel through the narrow Sampan Channel into the inner harbor right as darkness enveloped the island.  The captain of that vessel was incredibly welcoming and friendly – “aloha” is a warm greeting here, and not just a cliche. We were passed off to another escort vessel at the Kaneohe Yacht Club after more motoring and were soon settling in to a Med mooring (anchor out in front, backed down to a dock) where it seemed as though throngs of people were waiting to welcome us in.  Indeed, there was a beverage cart where we were given glasses and a pitcher of Mai-tai’s and freshly-cut pineapple, and then other official business ensued – we had our Hawaii agricultural inspection to ensure no fresh fruit, veggies, or illicit animals were brought into the state, and we also had a follow-up Pacific Cup safety inspection to ensure we actually had brought a life raft, used jacklines, and had not touched our emergency water rations.  And then there were the kind people who just welcomed us to Hawaii – other sailors, the Kaneohe Yacht Club folks, and Pacific Cup Race Committee folks.  We asked someone about where we might find food, and an amazing woman named Marcy made pizza appear before us within the hour (we owe her big time).  It was such an incredible experience to have this kind of welcome.

We slept on the boat, utterly exhausted.  This did not stop me, however, from launching myself out of the berth in the middle of the night in some sort of half-sleepwalking state to throw open the companionway to check on things…pretty much like I did every night when we were out.

Since finishing, we’ve been in a happy routine of exchanging war stories with really awesome people and trying to get Shearwater in shape for our lovely delivery crew.  It’s busy, but we’re starting to think through what lessons were learned in hindsight, and what we might try in the future – more on that soon, especially as we learn more about what the talented folks in our division were doing that we were not doing…

We did a walking tour today of Coconut Island here in Kaneohe Bay where we learned a lot about various marine biology research projects (lots of large predator studies being done – super interesting work!), and we’ll be busy tomorrow with a Mount Gay rum party, and on Friday with the awards party (we missed the podium by an hour and change, unfortunately).  It’s been an easy transition from isolation, sleep deprivation, and weather challenges to trying to decide what drink to order at the bar :).

Thanks again for all the lovely comments and good thoughts – we’re grateful for you all.

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