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Decisions

Warren Holybee

Active Member
Registration is open for the 2018 Pac Cup to Hawaii. I *REALLY* want to go.

But I also *REALLY* want to do the Baja Ha Ha this year and the puddle jump after. I'm leaning towards this, mostly because I am land sick and feel a need to quit my job and say goodbye for a while.

I can't do both. Otherwise the ideal plan would be to do the Baja Ha Ha, then return north for the Pac Cup, then cruise from Hawaii. But that would require a whole lot of money I don't have to equip Eliana for the Race while I was doing the Baja and not working.

I suppose it is a slim chance that anyone from the East Coast would want to join on the Pac Cup, and help fund and bring along equipment. Hell, join me for the Pacific Cruising as well!
 
Hi Warren. I am truly itching to do the Pac Cup too. I've been slowly overhauling everything on Zia. New sails, AIS, 4g radar, instruments, sensors, canvas, sat phone, ISO life raft, etc. the only big ticket items I'm missing now are a wind vane & water maker, and those aren't required. It's all very nice gear & based on what I want, not on 'cheapest available'. It's our passion & not entirely rational ;-)

My wife & I just took the required 2 day safety at sea seminar.

My goal has been to do it in 2-3 years. I'm kinda stuck working a job (which fortunately I love) in the near term, and getting a few weeks off at a time could be tricky, but possibly doable.

I love being out at sea & voyaging. My wife loves coastal and has been in heavy weather all over the world. This summer she's gonna try out some real offshore.

We are also interested in the Ha Ha & our boat (with previous owner) 'won' in its category.

We should stay in touch. Could be some 'synergies' (cough!)
 
Yes, let's stay in touch. Zia is much better off than Eliana on the big stuff. Of your list, all I have right now is the wind vane. If I already had all that I would do the Pac Cup for sure. If racing, I would probably skip the windvane, and watermakers are not allowed in the Pac Cup. But all the small stuff totals thousands too.

Another spot I want to sail is the San Juan Islands. That is a tough trip north for me. Have you been?
 
I've sailed up to the San Juans on other people's boats, but not on Zia. It's a very beautiful place. The whole pacific northwest is really incredible. Big mountains, big waters & interesting islands/shorelines. Volcanoes, icebergs, whales & bears.

We are taking Zia up to the San Juans starting in May, then Canadian Gulf Islands and on up to Desolation Sound this summer. We are just starting to gather a crew together for pieces of the summer, starting with trip up the coast Memorial Day weekend (weather permitting!). If you're interested in going we might have some space.

My general plan was to go north again the following summer (2018), possibly to Alaska (we moved down here from Alaska).
Then the summer after that (2019), make a left turn & head south, and dink around the SF Bay area. I got to sail around Sausalito last year and really loved it.

Alternative A would then be down to San Diego (we've sailed a lot there). Then the Baja Ha Ha.
Because it's such a slog to bring a boat north up the coast, I'm thinking we'd bring her home via Hawaii. Ride the pacific high. Cabo to Hawaii, Hawaii to Astoria or Seattle.

Alternative B would be Pac Cup, and return to Oregon.

If I can only win the lottery, we would start this next week!
 
Just a thought, since money seems to be the only problem, have you looked into a Go Fund Me campaign? I did a quick search and there are over 97K campaigns just for sailing. Many, maybe most are for non-profits, but others are personal sailing goals.
https://www.gofundme.com/mvc.php?route=category&term=sailing
https://www.gofundme.com/evermoorepaccup

If you wanted to write about the race or make a video, you might try Kickstarter.com in the documentary film category.
https://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/film & video/documentary?ref=discovery_overlay

And, Indegogo...
https://www.indiegogo.com/search#/?q=sailing

You get the idea. Check out Crowd Funding sites and see the campaigns currently working and see if you can create one, too.
 
Well F*ck it. I just paid the registration. I will have to figure out the rest at a later date, I suppose. Perhaps I will sell my house.

Helene, I have considered a Go Fund me, and may do that, but doubt it will yield very much.

Mark, I very well be able to join you in May, at least for 2 weeks if it works that you can pick me up and drop off at a port with an airport. Or even an island I can ferry to. I am now officially looking for crew, btw. ;)
 
Very cool, Warren! I admire your decisiveness. I was gonna say you might be the first Morgan 38 to do the Pacific Cup, but I did a search and apparently a 382 from Hawaii won their category a while back. Wonder if there are any others?

I'll send you a PM with my cell number. The plan is we'll take Zia down the river to Astoria earlier in May. Then on Memorial Day weekend (5/26) we will hitch a ride from Portland to Astoria, load up & leave. Offshore up to Neah Bay, maybe Port Angeles, then San Juans. If you wanted to try that it'd be about a week, leaving Portland, and flying out of Seattle or maybe Anacortes.

I'm a mapping nerd, so here's a map I made of my last sailing trip from Portland to San Juans.

upload_2017-3-10_16-20-34.png
 
Mark

On the Astoria to Neah Bay outside passage, what are the prevailing currents. And what kind of winds can you expect for the time of year?

Jim
 
Hi Jim, sorry, just saw this.
Surprisingly, there is not a strong prevailing current on the Astoria to Neah Bay leg. It actually does some switching around/swirling. Most likely wind is from the northwest, on the nose (of course!).

Two weeks now until Zia gets her new radar & we will be ready for some voyaging. It's been a lot of prep!
Latest hiccup is the NavPod we ordered for the chartplotter & instruments is now backordered 6 weeks. That's impacting our departure so I'm making one out of fiberglass.

Might be really nice looking. Might be hideous, but I know it'll at least be functional.:)
 
IMG_7621.JPG

Hi Jim - thanks for asking ... I'm very happy with my home-brewed NavPod. To buy the off the shelf Navpods would have taken two different units & cost over $1k. My thing is a color that matches my canvas and takes about 1/3 less space. I love it!

My wife says she loves it too. I've been putting a crazy amount of work on Zia. You'd think we were planning to circumnavigate. Just my OCD blossoming, I guess. It took me about twice as long as it would take me now because I was learning along the way.

We start down the river next Friday. Very excited. I need to get in touch w Warren, I never followed up.

The big mad rush now is to get my refrigerator done. We have a very nice new Cool Blue 12v unit with holding plate. I don't know if I can get the fiberglass box done in time, though. Ah, the hardships of life ;-)

Cheers
 
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Mark

The pod looks great! Nice to have all that info in front of you. I'm sure you saved big bucks with it too! Have a wonderful journey and keep the board updated on your progress. We all would love to enjoy the trip with you from afar.

Jim
 
WOW i'm really impressed with your planning and Fiberglass skill . That really looks first class ! Good for you . Zia is a lucky Morgan , to have you . !
 
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