Day 7 - We turn for home - Bugs

Wednesday began with concerns that we had covered too little ground in the
first six days. Last night we broke through a cold front coming down from
the north, and there was no wind behind it. By morning, still moving slowly
in light air, we realized that decision time was upon us.

Fact: We have come about 775 miles in seven days, an extremely slow rate of
progress. The High that entrapped us makes any thought of a prize silly.
Fact: there are still almost 1450 nautical miles to go (about 1650 land
miles - like New York to Denver?). At any reasonable assumption based on the
weather maps, this will mean sailing for another eight to ten days, or more.
Fact: We have full food rations for only six days, including today. We have
emergency food for four days. To have a margin of safety, we would need to
put the crew on reduced rations to continue. Fact: We are carrying enough
fuel to make our fresh water and run our electric systems, with a reserve
for motring under power, for a bit over ten days.

So we had to recognize that any really competetive racing had disappeared in
the slow days of near-drifting in the High. If we contintue, it will be
somewhat pointless, and carry a risk that we could get ourselves in trouble
with food, fuel, or water.

"Sail fast, be safe, have fun," is how co-skipper Bill Hubbard said it.
"We're not sailing fast, it wouldn't be safe to continue, and it won't be
fun to go hungry or thirsty to finish at the tail end of the fleet."

So at 1625 today (Wednesday) we turned the boat around, called the Race
Committee on the high frequency radio, and notified them that we withdrew
from the race. Nobody was happy about the decision, but everybody agreed it
was the right thing to do. There's always 2009!

There are two possible ports to return to. The better one is San Francisco,
the boat's home port. But the wind patterns may be too directly against us
to make that practical. If so, we will head for Santa Barbara. Either way,
we expect some rugged days in 25-knot wind before we are home. Perhaps five
days to port -- arriving Monday -- is a reasonable guess at a return date.
Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, we have already rejiggered the boat for cruising. Most of the
highest-tech racing gear is put away, bunks have been rearranged, and
thoughts of food rationing have been gleefuly abandoned.

Bugs