ALLURE DAY 7

ALLURE DAY 7 - PARTY ON, BUT LEAVE THE SHOE CLERKS AT HOME

Surprise party! Last evening at cock-ta ta ta tail time the crew of the good ship Allure were treated to a little bit of the islands all the way out here. It was the half way party and many thanks to JoLinda and all the hot wahinis got a lot of laughs and good cheer. What did you get in your party bag, little Tommy? Well, we got booze! And after that, lots of crazy bandannas and hey ma, look at my new teeth. That airplane size bottle of rum and tropical juice hit the spot. I was going to only use one-half at the party and save it for tomorrow, but I got carried away with myself, the first time in my life, and drank the whole thing at once!

Little things make the difference, thanks a lot to all the gals for putting this together. JB

So, Navigator here! Day 7 saw winds return steadily throughout the afternoon and by midnight we were sailing in 25 knots. A few early evening small squalls came through and while gibing back to starboard after its passing, the main boom preventer hung up preventing (imagine that!) the boom from passing and the gibe had to be aborted. The light A4 spin wrapped and so the fire drill began. 30 minutes later we were on starboard pole with the heavy A4 (right sail for the building wind). That FU cost us about 2-3 miles of distance we could have made. The rest of the night was delightful. The seas were still small, so surfing was intermittent, but the ride was on. Driving a SC 50 in 25 kts of breeze is first a blast! For those who have never done a Transpac describing it is tough. It is a little like being in a controlled slide of a car. Things seem ok, until they aren't, then it can mean a round-up. A discussion of round-ups needs a mai-tai in hand. So ask me some time.

Since Belle Mente has now finished and captured the Barn Door, all tracker positions are real time, meaning there is no more delay. At 0600 this morning we saw where all are competitors were and more importantly how close we all are on corrected time except Horizon who continues to be uncatchable at this time. More on that tomorrow.

One of the blog commentors asked "What are iridium files?" mentioned in Gowies Day 3 blog. Well, they are just any download that comes across the satellite phone (Iridium). We receive GRIB files from the National Weather Service and/or the US Navy. These are weather files that give current and future wind velocity and direction in a graphical form that we can display on the Pacific Ocean chart. These files can also be used in routing programs to help the navigator decide where to go for the best wind. We also receive Transpac position reports, and the tracker feed that tells us where the other boats are. This file is basically a bunch of numbers that make little sense until they are loaded into a routing/navigating program (we use Expedition). Once loaded in the yachts track and name appear on our chart. Very handy tool. Other questions are welcome, just may take a little time to respond as we cannot see the blog directly.

ALOHA, from a happy crew

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