EOD 5 – We lost what?
July 10, 2022
It’s been a busy day on Raku…early this morning we held a team meeting at 0130 to discuss weather and whether we should jibe. Then, we ran into another something that was really vibrating at the keel, so we took the kite down, and backed down…and successfully removed ourselves from a 6 foot piece of 2-inch rope that was likely part of a net.
The day has been beautiful, and our jibe to the south seemed to be doing what we expected – helping us avoid a lighter air patch. We started seeing 15 knots and more, and when Justin saw 22 knots, he called me up to switch the A2.5 down to the A3. We got ourselves sorted, but just as we were about to take the kite down, we rounded up, and ended up taking the kite down from the round up (messy and not recommended, btw). We got it down, and then rerigged to get the A3 up. Justin popped his head out, and announced that we lost our tack line! Dang it. We moved our secondary tack line to the primary spot on the starboard side, and got the A3 back up. And the breeze promptly eased to low teens, so we took that kite down and put the A2.5 back up. It’s been a busy day, and our 24 hour mileage will likely show these shenanigans. It’s a long race, though, so we’re keeping focused on what’s next.
Other than that, we’re doing well. This afternoon we puzzled some more on whether to go west or south. Many pro’s and con’s were weighed and then to make things easier we found ourselves in a gift header, pointing right and Hawaii. So, for now, we’ll go that way! I saw a large pod of dolphin that must have been fishing as there was just tons of splashing and commotion. Justin pointed out a beautiful bird that wasn’t an albatross, shearwater, or storm petrel. We’ve seen some really blue skies, but there have been light gray overcast mostly. And it is warm – very, very warm. Our ice is melting in the cooler, so we’re enjoying cold water while we can.
But all good on Raku!
The day has been beautiful, and our jibe to the south seemed to be doing what we expected – helping us avoid a lighter air patch. We started seeing 15 knots and more, and when Justin saw 22 knots, he called me up to switch the A2.5 down to the A3. We got ourselves sorted, but just as we were about to take the kite down, we rounded up, and ended up taking the kite down from the round up (messy and not recommended, btw). We got it down, and then rerigged to get the A3 up. Justin popped his head out, and announced that we lost our tack line! Dang it. We moved our secondary tack line to the primary spot on the starboard side, and got the A3 back up. And the breeze promptly eased to low teens, so we took that kite down and put the A2.5 back up. It’s been a busy day, and our 24 hour mileage will likely show these shenanigans. It’s a long race, though, so we’re keeping focused on what’s next.
Other than that, we’re doing well. This afternoon we puzzled some more on whether to go west or south. Many pro’s and con’s were weighed and then to make things easier we found ourselves in a gift header, pointing right and Hawaii. So, for now, we’ll go that way! I saw a large pod of dolphin that must have been fishing as there was just tons of splashing and commotion. Justin pointed out a beautiful bird that wasn’t an albatross, shearwater, or storm petrel. We’ve seen some really blue skies, but there have been light gray overcast mostly. And it is warm – very, very warm. Our ice is melting in the cooler, so we’re enjoying cold water while we can.
But all good on Raku!
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