Race 2 - Day 1
Crew Diary - Race 2 Day 1
15 September
Well, well, well, my dear readers… Your trustworthy Seattle team sailors are back at sea. This morning started as I awoke at dawn to a beautiful sunrise. A fun day lay ahead as our spirited team was psyched and ready to get back to our mission of sailing around the world. I spent a moment remembering the delightful evening of sharing our last dinner on earth, well for a while, with many of our crew along with our new First Mate. Good food, good friends, and great laughs. Our crew spent the morning tackling the final provisioning and stowing of our personal affairs and preparing this yacht for 20 people to live together on this voyage for the next month. I mailed some final cards and letters, and many shared the final goodbyes with loved ones.
At about 2:30, we finally slipped our lines and actually began what will most assuredly be the most memorable ocean passage of roughly 5,000 miles. We motored out of the harbour to shake out our main sail and moved into our spot in the queue for our ceremonial parade of yachts. Back down the harbour past the marina, and the yacht club and on to the old town boardwalk. It provided many great photo ops and parade waves. We also got a good Seahawks cheer from some folks at the yacht club. We made our way out of the harbour and towards the start line of Race 2 of our ocean race, which was going to start with a sporting marker point match race. What a great way to start this leg. We faired somewhat competitively throughout the hard fought match race. With an unplanned extra set of tacks, our position did not improve and as we set out for the open seas we were trailing the whole pack. Although the seas were smooth and the wind consistent on this beautifully sunny day, we got ourselves set on a nice reach that we may be holding for the next week. All in all, a wonderful day of sailing, the crew had high spirits and positive attitudes, truly a great way to kick off this excellent adventure.
Your diligent author,
Captain Hawk