Day 1 24-hour report

We made 220 nautical miles for an average of 9.2 knots.

Day3 - Noonish - Bugs

I am sure that by now everyone has discovered that the satellite tracking
system does not work. It seems not to have been tested . We understand that
the Race Committee is posting positions once a day based on our 0600
reports. Great.

Jay Sacco's first report told you about the terrifying start. Let me tell
you about the Curse of California: kelp. Kelp is a long, thick variety of
seaweed that is ecologically very valuable. It is the spawning area of many,
many types of fish. It is also the spawning ground of many a sailor's
curses. Some of it gets loose from the bottom and floats up to the surface.
Because it is so long and somewhat sticky, it can wrap itself around
sailboat's keels and rudders, crating huge drag.

To most of us East Coast sailors, kelp is a non-existent problem. But off
the Pacific coast, it is a never-ending source of problems. We were advised
by the West Coast sailors in our crew to stop the boat and drive backwards
for a short distance to clean off any kelp we might have picked up on the
7-mile run to the start. We did it. But about thirty minutes into the race,
we started losing speed compared to the boats around us. Two of our West
Coast crew leaned far over the side and looked down. There was something tan
around our keel, and big. So we stopped the boat, set the sails to go
backward, and saw a big yellow-tan blob float off in front of us. Then back
to business, racing. We lost perhaps a half mile of distance in that
episode. Just the breaks.

The boat is settled down. We all know how to handle the sails, who has each
job, how the meals appear, where to sleep.We can focus entirely in the
racing.

To the average urban dweller, "weather" means will it rain? How hot will it
be? How humid will it be? What's the pollen count? To the racing sailor,
rain, humidity, temperature an pollen are completely irrelevant. Only the
direction and force of the wind mean anything. The wind is our engine.

Steve Steiner, our navigator, knows as much about the weather in this race
as anybody. He's done this race four times before, including winning the
race once, and has sailed over 250,000 miles. He has been analyzing the
weather since long before the start.During the first day, he explained to us
with a weather chart exactly why were enjoying a fine, strong breeze. "There
is no explanation. This wind should not exist. We're in a high. The wind
should be light. It's just happening." See how valuable it is to have an
experienced navigator?

We do have a strategy. Right now we are second in class and third in
fleet.There are two competitors from our division about 30-40 miles north
and slightly ahead. The rest of the fleet is south of us, including most of
our class. So now we are aiming further south to stay between the bulk of
our class and the finishing line. We are leaving our two competitors to the
north in the expectation that their wind will become light sooner than ours.
Time will tell.

Thus far we have had 24-hour runs of 220 and 218 miles. A splendid
beginning. The race has three main stages left: about 200 miles to the
tradewinds, then 1500 miles in the tradewinds, and the final hundred miles
in the wild and wooly approach to the finish line along the coast of
Molokai, where boats surf down 12-15 foot waves in howling winds.

Health report: three of the crew came down with heavy colds just before and
just after the start. They seem to have largely gone away.No bangs, scrapes,
burns, or punctures yet. So far, so good.

Food report: Robin Hubbard played den mother to us, preparing pre-race food
and party-makings. And she prepared eleven full dinners that have been
frozen and packed in dry ice. First night: a wonderful quiche in two
styles -- with steak, and with salmon. Second night: a memorable paella with
giant shrimp and scallops. To die for (not of). You burn a lot of extra
energy in a race like this, so Robin's copious and wonderful dinners are a
marvelous addition not just to our calorie intake, but to our enjoyment of
the whole Transpac experience.

Our electronics seem to be working perfectly, thanks to Jay Sacco's
month-long prerace preparation. We get government weather charts and
forecast as easily as you turn on your TV at home. For you techies, we have
moved out of the range of close-to-shore Globalstar, and are now using an
Iridium phone.

Bugs