Spinnaker start w/10 knts but it petered out completely before the end. Tons of people retired and it was canned. Was already fully dark before I could start driving home. Bleh. We managed well for being only 5 w/1 very new crew though. Wind was light enough that jib was easy and I was able to help out on main during downwind legs.
Century Club: Rebekah Bromwell
Sunday, May 4, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
Pouring rain and gusty to start. Pushed back starting call half an hour. Rain cleared up but decently high wind still for first race. We didn't do too badly. I struggled to release the lazy side wraps with so many on and wet heavy lines though. Also I screwed up in race 2 by not understanding that getting the Spinsheet up to Chris was my job and a couple boats got past us. :-/ I did feel good about my role in getting the spin clew over when jibing though.
Am extremely bruised on knees and shins and some inside arms (how?) and hip. Ordered kneepads and arnica gel, lol. Also pretty bummed there wasn't more footage of the J105 class races in the video and photos after the event.
Saturday, May 3, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
Day 1 ended early. We retired from race one and went home to fix the jib and discuss how to do better tomorrow. I think mayhem forcing an abrupt tack right at the beginning (which was actually going pretty well) really kind of ruined our day. They protested relentless and race committee penalized relentless 30% but that doesn't really help us since we retired.
Also I think I need knee pads.
Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
Got to meet John and the crew on Chessie. (AYC Wednesday night race, a first for me.) Was not on spin trim, just jib, which was neat because I am actually pretty decent at it on other boats. I liked the J105 set up, and I am looking forward to Saturday! (NOODS) Wind was pretty light, 6-8or so mostly. Beautiful evening, great sunset.
Friday, April 25, 2025 to Sunday, April 27, 2025
Number of days:
3 days
Quite gusty this afternoon. Very very shifty in front of dominos as well, not ideal. Was able to get through almost entire SH list, but only as practice and not while being observed. :-( Have to demonstrate tomorrow in worse conditions. 12-15 SSW ish but bouncing around everywhere. Low 70s.
Early morning at the docks was beautiful though.
Day 2 was bananas. Mega gusts and downpour hit right after we came in and started presentations.
Day 3 even crazier wind. Actually could not take boats out. I didn't think conditions could kick up as much as my cruising check out, but clearly was mistaken. Didn't get a chance to do last quick stop check so have to schedule that soon. :-( otherwise everything good.
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
Had a lovely evening sail on Akimbo. Wind was 5-10, E, mid 60s. Just a couple of hours but very pleasant.
Batteries were low and the radio did not work at all, so need to look into that.
Monday, April 21, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
Met early at DSC to get a ride over to Marinemax on Hoss, did last touch ups w/Albert, splashed Sun, drove back to DSC and couldn't NOT keep the bow straight while docking w/Josh waiting to catch me. Super embarrassing. I hate driving that boat so much. Anyway, it's in good shape now. The knot meter had a micro dribble coming through but Albert greased & tightened it so hopefully that's all set.
Then I took #4 to practice SH Robert from noon to 4. Wind was ESE ish, 10-12 or so. My POBs went great for a change but upwind docking remains extremely stressful. I keep clenching as the bow gets close to the dock and I am internally screaming as I turn up and try to scramble forward. I hate it so much.
Saturday, April 19, 2025 to Monday, April 21, 2025
Number of days:
2 days
Incredibly exhausting. Pics say it all. Scraped and sanded bottom, did 3 coats of paint. Waxed/cleaned & buffed topsides, etc, etc. 2 days working at the yard, and tomorrow will paint the patches under the stands and splash and help get it back to DSC.
Thursday, April 17, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
Tom, James & I took Akimbo to fill up the fuel tank and were very surprised to only get 12.8 gallons in, when we thought it was only had 3-5 gallons in it, and every piece of documentation says it is a 36 gallon tank! Everyone always said to never let it get below half, which I thought was because we didn't have a gauge, or possibly due to some kind of condensation issue, but LO! It all adds up now! If we did have just a couple of gallons left on Sunday, it makes sense that the little hit of sediment at the bottom of the tank got shaken up and clogged the primary filter. We then added 3 gallons of Tom's rescue diesel, and changed the filters, and then it ran beautifully. So with the top up today, that puts us at ≈2+3+12.8 =17.8 AND, we crawled down into lazarette and measured the exterior of the tank which volume was a maximum possible total of about 26gallons, but we estimate the thickness of the tank, etc, would reduce that by 20%, which is very very nearly the 18 gal that came standard with the boat. I am so curious where this 36 gal number came from, and how many times getting below "half full" (hah!) resulted in a confusing failure. Anyway, now we know. And everything is clean and running great.
We pumped out the black tank as well so everything is good to go for the season. Tom straightened out the twisted wires behind the ignition and tighten the starter, so we thing the tachometer will stop flaking out now as well.
Wednesday, April 16, 2025
Number of days:
1 day
I did test the bottom of the tank and found no water, and just a bit of grime, nothing crazy. I guess the gunk that came out the bottom of the strainer had been there for a while building up. Added a teensy bit of biocide and called it good. Will fill the tank soon. Anyway, cleared out the starboard lazarette and found a rusty umbrella (wtf) at the bottom back, topped up the coolant and re-re-re-scrubbed the diesel drips off the cockpit. Still very gusty today, but sunny and beautiful so was nice to be on the water, though tied up. Need a nap now.