Illwaco, Washington to Victoria, BC. May 16th – 19th, 2024.
Crew: Kim, Mike, Ashlyn, Paul, Malek and Les
The delivery started early on May 12th, from Victoria, B.C., to Ilwaco, Washington. Conditions were rough through the Strait of Juan De Fuca. Large waves ranging between 6-12 feet high. Once we left the strait, the coast of Washington was a smoother ride. The delivery took 31 hours, and we were greeted by hundreds of seals at the mouth of the Columbia River.
We took some damage on the new carbon reefing system, but nothing the crew wasn’t able to fix!
Spent the week in the cute, small fishing town of Ilwaco, doing some repairs as well as enjoying the nature and art within the town.
We did some safety briefing with the lobster suits…I mean Immersion safety suits.
Then we were off, starting the race on May 16th, crossing the line at 10 AM. The crew was in good spirits, and we had decent winds.
After about 2 hours into the race, we had some decent-sized waves that we were crashing down into. I had just taken over the helm, some adjustments were made to the sails, and all of a sudden, we dropped off a wave and came to a halt! Our bowsprit snapped!
We were all quite stunned and quickly went to assess and work to obtain the bowsprit that was now dangling like a fish on a line. Don’t forget a quick photo op of the catch.
From there, the crew did some quick problem-solving.
Nothing a bucket can’t fix!
We continued on, sailing upwind was no problem as we did not need the bowsprit, and would not need it until we reached the straight and made our way downwind. It was an extremely rough night sailing up the coast towards Cape Flattery. Gale force winds between 35-40 knots, 12-20 foot choppy waves and a pitch black night ahead of us. Due to the high winds, we had only the mainsail up with 3 reefs, and we were still sailing 10- 12 knots with the sea state.
Nothing could have prepared me for how rough it was! The crew was seasick (myself included). The Hull wanted nothing more than to fly, so at times we had to dump the mainsail to flatten the boat as much as possible. The choppy waves on top of the huge waves were splashing over the cabin top and waterboarding us at the helm. It was crazy, to say the least. But Captain Kim was a trooper helming in these challenging seas all through the night.
Ah, look at that, we rounded into the Juan De Fuca Strait and started the morning off with easy sea conditions and sunshine! What a relief. The crew jerry-rigged up the spinnaker for downwind sailing. Who needs a bowsprit anyway? After passing Race Rocks, the wind picked up, and we were sailing at 20-22 knots straight for the finish line!
We were the second boat to cross the finish line at 2:37 pm. Greeted by the race committee in Victoria with hot towels and champagne.
It was approximately 29 hours of racing. A survival race and, as always, an adventure!