By Peter Salsbury When we entered Longboard in this summer’s Transpac, there was no doubt in my mind how we were going to get the boat to the start line - it had to be an offshore passage with old friends, giving the boat one last test, and experiencing the thrill of sailing Longboard downwind in the ocean. So I set out to find the best delivery crew I could and completely lucked out. Stewart Jones volunteered immediately - a key part of our crew for 7 years now, he couldn’t make the race itself but really wanted to be part of the delivery. Paul Bieker, the designer of Longboard also jumped at the chance - he’d only been on the boat once since it launched in 2012 so a great opportunity to sail his creation. And an old friend, Darren Burns, also signed up - Darren runs a top Farr 30 program in Vancouver but had never been offshore before so this was a special experience for him. Stewart, Darren, and I left West Vancouver Yacht Club on Monday, June 24th and powered all the way to Anacortes to clear customs, pick-up fresh groceries, and pick-up Paul. After a nice dinner at Paul and Charlene’s house, we headed out the following morning. We were greeted with a sunny, flat calm day and ended up powering all the way to just before Sheringham Point before a nice high teens NW filled in for a traditional beat out of the strait. As always, by Duntze Rock the wind disappeared and we then powered for the next 19 hours - strait offshore! Bruce was helping us with our weather routing and due to a low pressure ridge located off the WA and Oregon coasts, he recommended we target a waypoint 125 miles offshore - basically a course which seemed like we were going to Maui, not California. Just before a nice NW filled in, we felt like we had some weed on the drive unit so Paul dove over with a knife to clear it - the water temperature reported to be quite warm which was a good thing given he had no wetsuit on. For the next 4 days, we had the easiest offshore sail one can image - relatively flat seas and a NW wind of 7 to 11 knots allowing us to jib reach or fly a delivery kite with only a few short powering stints. The weirdest thing was the large amount of milled logs 1 foot in diameter by 6’ to 20’ long which scattered the ocean all the way down the coast - it was like a Panabode cabin shipment fell off a ship 5 years ago judging by the growth. We were constantly dodging them and the first night hit one pretty hard while powering. Whales and porpoises were abundant which was great to see but surprisingly few birds seem to be around - maybe it was because our route kept us about 135 miles off the coast until we got south of San Francisco. The last few days, the seas really start to build, disproportionately to the strength of the wind which was hovering around 20 knots. Finally, we were experiencing a true offshore sea state and Longboard was really enjoying it. On our approach to Pt Concepcion, the seas continued to build and the wind started to get into the high 30 knots and, unfortunately, we ran over some kelp and seaweed which clogged up the rudder really slowing the boat down. So, when we got those nice puffs which allow the boat to take off down the waves, it didn’t! The result being breaking waves pooping the stern and landing in the aft cockpit area - not a very comforting feeling. The biggest seas and highest winds were rounding the point itself where the wind accelerates along the coast and the ocean floor shallows up considerably - we had a pretty hairy few hours with Paul driving, Stewart trimming the J4 (no main up at this point), and Darren looking astern calling the waves and gusts to prepare Paul for how he needed to set the boat up on the waves. I stuck to the laptop below calling course changes to allow us to dodge commercial traffic and oil rigs. Once again, AIS is the most brilliant invention ever in these conditions. After getting behind the lee of the point, we backed down under sail, cleared the rudder, got the main back up and had a nice sail north of the Catalina Islands overnight arriving on Tuesday morning, 7 days, 2 hours after leaving Anacortes. The offshore passage helped us find a few key issues we are now addressing before the start of the Transpac race - it’s great to find these things out before the race, not during the race. So, the longest delivery to a start line was a huge success - Stewart, Paul, Darren and I completely enjoyed one another’s company and it was really rewarding for Paul to see how great his little 35’ offshore passage-maker is first hand. Thanks to everyone who sent us nice notes along the way - we all appreciate it. And a big shout out to Bruce Hedrick who sent us weather advice twice daily - you made it easy, Bruce - thanks so much! Our start is next Friday, July 12th - we are all looking forward to sending Longboard flying downwind to Honolulu!
As of this writing, Longboard was getting free from the coast at 8.1 knots. We’ll be watching for when the wind goes aft…..