Anduril Sailing Blog
Thursday 7 August 2014
Maui at Last
Nothing goes to weather like a 747! With Anduril on the hard at the KKMI ship yard in San Fran, the crew (minus Guy who had to return to work) flew to Maui to meet up with our families. Thanks to Steve Taylor and Sherian Bender from Lahaina Yacht Club who hosted a fun Mai Tai party for us at the Club. We were super pleased to be awarded the "First Boat to Finish / San Francisco" trophy at the Banquet.
Wednesday 16 July 2014
Almost at San Fran Party
Instead of a half-way party, we had our "Almost at San Fran Party" the day before sailing under the Golden Gate bridge. The waves and winds had abated so it was a very comfortable fun party. We enjoyed some beers, scotch, and white wine and exchanged boat gifts.
Emergency Steering System
The Anduril crew was amazing at coming up with our emergency steering system. After hoisting the storm sail and tricking the Auto Pilot system into steering us in the direction of San Fran until daylight, the crew brainstormed to create Prototype 1. We had an e-tiller that come with the boat but it required you to lay on your belly to steer. Luckily, the mechanism from the wind vane fit into the e-tiller and a custom solution was built. Check out Prototype 1 and 2. Prototype 1 required you to push with your foot to steer to port and pull with your hands to steer to starboard.
Aloha! Arrived in Maui!
The whole crew except for our Navigator are now in Maui. It is so good to be here! We walked into the Lahaina Yacht Club yesterday and had a big welcome and free round of drinks.
The boat is on the hard at KKMI and the repairs to the steering may take a few weeks. If anyone is game for helping deliver the boat from San Francisco to Vancouver please let us know. We had a busy few days in San Fran cleaning up the boat and finding new homes for the food we had left on the boat. Greg was handing our cheese and salami to the street people and the boat yard workers went home with the last of the frozen catered dinners.
The 3-4 days after our steering failure were very uncomfortable. We were on the edge of a gale and the waves were very confused and large. We settled into a new watch system with 2 people on deck at at time for 4 hours on and 8 hours off. Everyone was trying to catch up on much needed sleep. The situation below decks were getting a bit messy. The ice box drain plugged and was emitting a horrid smell. Our foul weather gear were constantly getting soaked with splashing waves and not drying out. Somehow we acquired a lot of water in the bilges and it got to the point were I had to put my boots on to use the head where the bilge water had a yellow (yuck!) tinge. We got to work and cleaned out all the bilges and discovered (my fault) that the tin cans of perrier, coke, and spritzers in the bilges were corroding and leaking contents into the bilges.
Be sure to checkout photos on this site that I will be posting over the next few days. Here we are sailing under the Golden Gate bridge.
......Alice
The boat is on the hard at KKMI and the repairs to the steering may take a few weeks. If anyone is game for helping deliver the boat from San Francisco to Vancouver please let us know. We had a busy few days in San Fran cleaning up the boat and finding new homes for the food we had left on the boat. Greg was handing our cheese and salami to the street people and the boat yard workers went home with the last of the frozen catered dinners.
The 3-4 days after our steering failure were very uncomfortable. We were on the edge of a gale and the waves were very confused and large. We settled into a new watch system with 2 people on deck at at time for 4 hours on and 8 hours off. Everyone was trying to catch up on much needed sleep. The situation below decks were getting a bit messy. The ice box drain plugged and was emitting a horrid smell. Our foul weather gear were constantly getting soaked with splashing waves and not drying out. Somehow we acquired a lot of water in the bilges and it got to the point were I had to put my boots on to use the head where the bilge water had a yellow (yuck!) tinge. We got to work and cleaned out all the bilges and discovered (my fault) that the tin cans of perrier, coke, and spritzers in the bilges were corroding and leaking contents into the bilges.
Be sure to checkout photos on this site that I will be posting over the next few days. Here we are sailing under the Golden Gate bridge.
......Alice
Saturday 12 July 2014
Anduril update Alice
I am leaning into the port side of the boat and using my abs muscles just to stay in position while I type. I put the pre-cooked Moroccan Turkey Meatballs in the oven to eat and will soon prepare the couscous. Yum!!!!
We just had our "Almost at San Fran Party" as opposed to the "Halfway Party". We enjoyed a wee bit of scotch and a few beers and white wine. We had great fun exchanging our half-way gifts. Photos to be posted later....
It has been quite the journey and experience. I will be so happy to arrive in San Fran, clear customs, and find a hotel, and dive into the shower. We are all a bit stinky at this point but I might even be worse than all the guys on the boat. With being sea sick for 3 days and the routine on the boat very busy with waves and good wind all the time, there was no good time for the basics of washing and changing clothes. The boat has been rocking and rolling so doing anything below decks is difficult. It is one hand for the boat and one hand to do whatever needs to be done. We lunge and swing from hand-hold to hand-hold. If you understand parrots, it is called parroting about the boat.
I am still wearing the same clothes that I started out in in Victoria. I haven't brushed my hair and think I have a good start on some dreadlocks.
We should be arriving in San Fran tomorrow morning and with a bit of luck we should be clearing customs, docking, and cleaning up. Our plan is to get the boat to a yard for repairs on Mondayand arrange flights to join our families in Maui.
.....Alice
We just had our "Almost at San Fran Party" as opposed to the "Halfway Party". We enjoyed a wee bit of scotch and a few beers and white wine. We had great fun exchanging our half-way gifts. Photos to be posted later....
It has been quite the journey and experience. I will be so happy to arrive in San Fran, clear customs, and find a hotel, and dive into the shower. We are all a bit stinky at this point but I might even be worse than all the guys on the boat. With being sea sick for 3 days and the routine on the boat very busy with waves and good wind all the time, there was no good time for the basics of washing and changing clothes. The boat has been rocking and rolling so doing anything below decks is difficult. It is one hand for the boat and one hand to do whatever needs to be done. We lunge and swing from hand-hold to hand-hold. If you understand parrots, it is called parroting about the boat.
I am still wearing the same clothes that I started out in in Victoria. I haven't brushed my hair and think I have a good start on some dreadlocks.
We should be arriving in San Fran tomorrow morning and with a bit of luck we should be clearing customs, docking, and cleaning up. Our plan is to get the boat to a yard for repairs on Mondayand arrange flights to join our families in Maui.
.....Alice
Wednesday 9 July 2014
Update from Anduril
Late last night we were blasting along in perfect conditions on the way to a 240 mile day when the steering malfunctioned. Since we were under spinnaker, losing steering authority led to the boat rounding up and all sorts of foredeck unpleasantness. It took quite an effort on part of all to establish calm and identify the cause of the problem. Unfortunately the cause is not repairable at sea and hence the decision to abandon the race was taken. We are now proceeding under reduced sail using a splendid emergency tiller that could pass for a bit of modern sculpture. The sea is lumpy and bumpy hence our ride, in contrast to the downwind sleigh ride of the last couple of days. Ironically the North Pacific high did exactly what we hoped of it - we were in a very nice position in terms of the race!
On the bright side, no one got hurt and we have a relatively short (350 miles to go) sail to San Francisco where repairs can be effected. Chicken corma dinner brightened up the prospects good deal!
Guy
On the bright side, no one got hurt and we have a relatively short (350 miles to go) sail to San Francisco where repairs can be effected. Chicken corma dinner brightened up the prospects good deal!
Guy
Bad News
Just received some bad news from Anduril:
Anduril has suffered irreparable damage to main steering and is abandoning the race. We are using emergency steering and are heading to San Francisco. All crew aboard are well and we do not require external help at this time. We will keep you advised of our situation.
The above message has been sent to the race committee. As things usually happen at sea it is 0230 in the morning. At least not raining! Despite the rather hectic situation imposed by losing the steering at high speed under spinnaker no one got hurt.
** I (Simon Harms) just spoke to my dad, Greg Harms, over the sat phone. He has assured me that everyone is fine and that there is no cause for concern. **
Anduril has suffered irreparable damage to main steering and is abandoning the race. We are using emergency steering and are heading to San Francisco. All crew aboard are well and we do not require external help at this time. We will keep you advised of our situation.
The above message has been sent to the race committee. As things usually happen at sea it is 0230 in the morning. At least not raining! Despite the rather hectic situation imposed by losing the steering at high speed under spinnaker no one got hurt.
** I (Simon Harms) just spoke to my dad, Greg Harms, over the sat phone. He has assured me that everyone is fine and that there is no cause for concern. **
Tuesday 8 July 2014
Day 4
Day 4!
Update from Greg:
The track set by our able navigator, Guy Druce, had us last night skirting the NW corner of the gale off of Cape Mendecino. Winds were up to 28 knots with a confused quartering sea. After suffering from a few round ups we decided to observe the old adage that a pressed boat is fast but a broken boat is slow - then shortened to a conservative sail plan for the night. Reefed main and #3 jib. We still surfed above 15 knots at times, but our braver competitors likely made up some time on us.
This morning found a more regular sea and we are back on kite and surfing along in sunny skies under 18-24 knots from the NNW. Layers of clothing are coming off and queasy looking faces and the weak appetite of some of the crew (writer included) are now a memory. The vast ocean filled with sail jelly fish is amazing. None of us have seen this many of these creatures on the NE Pacific before so the speculation is either El Nino or some other (hopefully not man-made) anomaly has produced this massive population explosion.
Things are all good here on Anduril and the routine of on/off watches is now well established. Getting off watch every 4 hours and hitting the rack is a much looked forward to reprieve. I am interrupting some rack time to write these words and will now retire to my smelly bunk, shared with brother Gord, who is on the opposite watch.
Greg
This morning found a more regular sea and we are back on kite and surfing along in sunny skies under 18-24 knots from the NNW. Layers of clothing are coming off and queasy looking faces and the weak appetite of some of the crew (writer included) are now a memory. The vast ocean filled with sail jelly fish is amazing. None of us have seen this many of these creatures on the NE Pacific before so the speculation is either El Nino or some other (hopefully not man-made) anomaly has produced this massive population explosion.
Things are all good here on Anduril and the routine of on/off watches is now well established. Getting off watch every 4 hours and hitting the rack is a much looked forward to reprieve. I am interrupting some rack time to write these words and will now retire to my smelly bunk, shared with brother Gord, who is on the opposite watch.
Greg
Monday 7 July 2014
Day 3!
From Anduril:
Day Three on the High Seas
A thoroughly entertaining day. Great run of 184.5 NM in good sailing conditions. A certain amount of friendly rivalry between drivers yielded some impressive speeds in surfing conditions (19.4 kts) but we are leaving the identity of the helm a mystery.
Another gourmet dinner though this one interrupted by a side dish of frantic foredeck action dealing with an angry spinnaker and recalcitrant main. Combined forces of many hands (fourteen actually) tamed the cloth beasts and the remainder of diner proceeded more or less as planned.
Other entertainments provided in the form of minor sail repairs. No shortage of things to do between catching up on some much needed sleep.
The sun has come out and the sea is a lovely dark blue. The jellies are all around the boat. Lots of food there for something or other. Given our longitude the ships time is now one hour behind Vancouver.
Guy
Day Three on the High Seas
A thoroughly entertaining day. Great run of 184.5 NM in good sailing conditions. A certain amount of friendly rivalry between drivers yielded some impressive speeds in surfing conditions (19.4 kts) but we are leaving the identity of the helm a mystery.
Another gourmet dinner though this one interrupted by a side dish of frantic foredeck action dealing with an angry spinnaker and recalcitrant main. Combined forces of many hands (fourteen actually) tamed the cloth beasts and the remainder of diner proceeded more or less as planned.
Other entertainments provided in the form of minor sail repairs. No shortage of things to do between catching up on some much needed sleep.
The sun has come out and the sea is a lovely dark blue. The jellies are all around the boat. Lots of food there for something or other. Given our longitude the ships time is now one hour behind Vancouver.
Guy
Sunday 6 July 2014
Day 2!
Day two update from Anduril:
Better progress today having left Juan De Fuca strait in our wake. Day a mixture of weather of various forms; fog (always a joy wondering what is hiding in it;) rain (resident architect Brett's companionway bubble invaluable) and various wind strengths and directions (try out those sail combinations.)
At least we are moving in the right direction at more than a sleepy snail's pace. Anything compared to yesterdays crawl is welcome! At this time dinner is being prepared and we are trying to make as much noise with the spinnaker as it snaps open in the waves.
Spent some time marvelling at the immense areas of these little jelly like creatures that have a tiny sail on them. At some places the sea was green with them as they have little blue-green tentacles. A couple of sightings of a large whale provided another example of why it is so nice to be at sea.
No mutinies, uprisings or keel-hauling to report as Anduril harbours a happy crew.
Guy
Better progress today having left Juan De Fuca strait in our wake. Day a mixture of weather of various forms; fog (always a joy wondering what is hiding in it;) rain (resident architect Brett's companionway bubble invaluable) and various wind strengths and directions (try out those sail combinations.)
At least we are moving in the right direction at more than a sleepy snail's pace. Anything compared to yesterdays crawl is welcome! At this time dinner is being prepared and we are trying to make as much noise with the spinnaker as it snaps open in the waves.
Spent some time marvelling at the immense areas of these little jelly like creatures that have a tiny sail on them. At some places the sea was green with them as they have little blue-green tentacles. A couple of sightings of a large whale provided another example of why it is so nice to be at sea.
No mutinies, uprisings or keel-hauling to report as Anduril harbours a happy crew.
Guy
Update: Day 1
From Anduril July 5, 2014
It's nearing the dinner hour and we are drift sailing off Sheringham Point. The grand and majestic forces that determine winds have cast misfortune today on our prospects of a quick sail out the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The forecast calls for continuing light airs for the next day. We are trying to keep the boat moving with not much flow to work with. Not the most pleasing of conditions, but the water is flat here in the Strait and at least the sails are not slapping in an ocean swell, so things could be a lot worse. Everyone is trying to get some short naps in before we start on watch rotations at 2000. Phil, Gord and Brett are the starting shift. Paul, Greg and Alice are the cross-shift and Guy, our navigator, is on half of each shift. Watches are 4 hours long. At dinner time each day we "dog" the watches so no one has to do the witching hour shift (12am-4am) twice in a row.
We had a nice send off in Victoria, with family from all the crew helping us to eat, drink, prepare and provision the boat for the trip. We took our team photos and said goodbye before casting off from Victoria's inner harbour at 0845. The fleet had a clean start at 1005 and an ebb tide to help us through Race Passage in lightish airs.
All is fine on the good ship Anduril, but no Orcs are being slain today. The larders are full and Gaylene has prepared the ships stores against the premise that we are Hobbits and will be eating 6 square meals a day. In an hour or two we tuck into the first of the delectable dinners that have been created to keep us all fat and happy in our adventures.
Greg
It's nearing the dinner hour and we are drift sailing off Sheringham Point. The grand and majestic forces that determine winds have cast misfortune today on our prospects of a quick sail out the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The forecast calls for continuing light airs for the next day. We are trying to keep the boat moving with not much flow to work with. Not the most pleasing of conditions, but the water is flat here in the Strait and at least the sails are not slapping in an ocean swell, so things could be a lot worse. Everyone is trying to get some short naps in before we start on watch rotations at 2000. Phil, Gord and Brett are the starting shift. Paul, Greg and Alice are the cross-shift and Guy, our navigator, is on half of each shift. Watches are 4 hours long. At dinner time each day we "dog" the watches so no one has to do the witching hour shift (12am-4am) twice in a row.
We had a nice send off in Victoria, with family from all the crew helping us to eat, drink, prepare and provision the boat for the trip. We took our team photos and said goodbye before casting off from Victoria's inner harbour at 0845. The fleet had a clean start at 1005 and an ebb tide to help us through Race Passage in lightish airs.
All is fine on the good ship Anduril, but no Orcs are being slain today. The larders are full and Gaylene has prepared the ships stores against the premise that we are Hobbits and will be eating 6 square meals a day. In an hour or two we tuck into the first of the delectable dinners that have been created to keep us all fat and happy in our adventures.
Greg
Saturday 5 July 2014
Tuesday 1 July 2014
4 Sleeps To Go !
4 sleeps to go ! Check-out Alice’s comfy sleeping quarters for the next 12-16 days.
Thursday 26 June 2014
Crew and Family Yummy Dinner
Thanks to Gord and Sharon for hosting a dinner for the crew and families. Awesome chocolate cake!!
Last Practice Sail before the Vic-Maui
We had our last practice sail last night in English Bay and it was a warm evening with a great sunset. We checked out the new #4 Jib and did some other important stuff but I was mostly enjoying the view and trying to get the hang of steering while the kite is up. Today was frustrating. I spent 6 hours sewing a piece of sunbrella canvas onto a big hunk of clear plastic to attach to our custom made hi-tech bubble dodger. It was a challenge for my Vintage Genie Singer sewing machine.
Thursday 19 June 2014
Two Weeks to the Dock Party
On a positive note, we are 2 weeks away from the Victoria dock party and refreshing Mai Tais. On a depressing note, the "To Do" list is still there with 26 fairly big items. The custom-made dodger needs to be completed and installed, the forward hatch cracked and needs to be replaced, and I have to sand and Kiwi-Grip the decks. The whole crew has been working diligently at the "To Do" list since last September, thanks to Greg's persistent project monitoring and tracking . We had a lovely practice sail last Tuesday where nothing broke and no new items were added to the list. Everyone has been asking me if I am getting excited. I think yesterday was the first day that I answered 'Yes' as I can finally see that the boat will be ready!
A Year of Racing
We had a great year of racing Anduril. In 2013, we sailed the Wednesday night races, Collingwood Channel, Round Bowen Island, Swiftsure, Ballenas Island, Summer Regatta, Howe Sound Regatta, Closer Regatta, and Round the County. In 2014, we focused more on getting the boat ready for the Vic Maui and raced two long courses: Southern Straits and Swiftsure.
Saturday 22 February 2014
Inaugural post on our Blog
We are in the winter doldrums, not sailing but definitely thinking, working (and of course spending as only a drunken sailor can do) on getting the boat ready for 2014 sailing. Tons of stuff underway. To mention only a few: 5 new sails ordered, an 8 man liferaft, two new water tanks, new satphone system, new computer and Expedition software, all manner of safety gear and about 125 "to do" items, from little to large - all in progress.
Never let it be said that getting a boat ready for offshore is a small undertaking. Ours was made just a wee bit bigger by the need (unexpected pleasure) to embark on a gigantic hull repair shortly after purchasing the boat and bringing her here to the West Coast. The balsa core in the hull below waterline proved to be wetted, with decay setting in, and of course that wouldn't do. So we ended up turning the boat upside down and basically gave her a whole new hull from the waterline down. Farr International was a great help with specifying the repair designs, Chris Small surveyed the work and Seaview Marine did the work in exemplary fashion.
Anduril now has a foam cored, extra strong, reinforced hull that is stronger, better and faster than before. Sort of like the six million dollar man, but way less cheesy, and anyway we like boats better than fake Hollywood robot men. So became Anduril: first broken, now reforged - she is the Flame of the West, glowing red by the light of the sun and silver by the light of the moon, just like JRRT said. Actually it would require some sort of goofy-ass LED system to accomplish such a thing, but with her new paint job she's definitely a sweet looking lass. She's an Orc head-cutter. Competition watch out!
We'll eventually get around to a post or two summarizing our 2013 sailing season. We had fun, we learned a lot, screwed up plenty and hoisted a few liquids in addition to the sails (too many or too few?). In the small racing pond up here in Vancouver we did OK, considering boat and crew were brand new. Sailing in 2014 is going to be all about Vic-Maui, so the local racing scene is going to take a back seat this year. But we'll be out for all the distance races, starting with Southern Straits and of course Swiftsure (may this year not be a drifter) before hitting the start line in Victoria the first week of July.
More bullshit to come. This place. This time. This boat.
Never let it be said that getting a boat ready for offshore is a small undertaking. Ours was made just a wee bit bigger by the need (unexpected pleasure) to embark on a gigantic hull repair shortly after purchasing the boat and bringing her here to the West Coast. The balsa core in the hull below waterline proved to be wetted, with decay setting in, and of course that wouldn't do. So we ended up turning the boat upside down and basically gave her a whole new hull from the waterline down. Farr International was a great help with specifying the repair designs, Chris Small surveyed the work and Seaview Marine did the work in exemplary fashion.
Anduril now has a foam cored, extra strong, reinforced hull that is stronger, better and faster than before. Sort of like the six million dollar man, but way less cheesy, and anyway we like boats better than fake Hollywood robot men. So became Anduril: first broken, now reforged - she is the Flame of the West, glowing red by the light of the sun and silver by the light of the moon, just like JRRT said. Actually it would require some sort of goofy-ass LED system to accomplish such a thing, but with her new paint job she's definitely a sweet looking lass. She's an Orc head-cutter. Competition watch out!
We'll eventually get around to a post or two summarizing our 2013 sailing season. We had fun, we learned a lot, screwed up plenty and hoisted a few liquids in addition to the sails (too many or too few?). In the small racing pond up here in Vancouver we did OK, considering boat and crew were brand new. Sailing in 2014 is going to be all about Vic-Maui, so the local racing scene is going to take a back seat this year. But we'll be out for all the distance races, starting with Southern Straits and of course Swiftsure (may this year not be a drifter) before hitting the start line in Victoria the first week of July.
More bullshit to come. This place. This time. This boat.
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