ALICE MARTIN

Sunday July 09, 2006 @ 02:32 PM GMT-08:00

Day 7 - still wanting.....
Lat:28.4423° Lon:-138.1010° Wind: NE 14.5 kt \| Temp:70° \|

Although the wind is a bit better than it has been, it's still light. Progress is steady but slow. At 11:00am today we our position was N28 31' 31" W137 37' 12" 177 miles in the last 24 hours, now 943 miles from SF and 1174 miles still to go. If things continue the same over the next 24 hours we should be half-way tomorrow morning - hurray!!!!

We heard in today's roll-call that one of the boats in our division - Cirrus - broke their boom during the night. They are continuing under spinnaker alone. It is fortunate that this course allows a boat to be able to make it all the way to Hawaii in that fashion. On Hooligan, things have been very quiet. We do an inspection every day looking for weak spots. So far everything has been fine. We find shackles working their way loose - tighten them up and put a wire-tie in to slow it down. Chafing doesn't seem to be a problem, we are experiencing some wear in the spinnaker and main halyards and in the spinnaker sheets, but all is OK.

It is 3pm now and we have been relaxing. The bunks are filled with off-duty crew relaxing, napping, reading or (in my case) lying back and listening to music. All is shipshape and we are settled down into our new sleep routines. Yesterday Bert took care of our menu - we are eating well on this trip. Today Rudy treated us to French Toast with fresh fruit for breakfast. Dinner is still come.

On the Race front, we are still 2nd behind Cali Girl. The Buffalo made a strong turn south and lost out overnight - now 5th, but we still have a long way to go. Our plan is to continue on the current track - heading almost directly to the finish. We are still looking for the trade winds - we see the clouds so maybe we are close!

Well that is it for today. We hadn't had any e-mail for the last 24 hours so we don't know if we are being sent any or if there is a communication problem. So let us know if these are coming through by posting some short replies to the posting.

Pray for more wind for us for tomorrow

Posted by alicelouise | Permalink | Comments [9]

Comments:

There were 2 comments to yesterday's posting. And I tried to post a third, but it seems to have gone walkabout.

Posted by Lee on July 09, 2006 at 03:05 PM GMT-08:00 #

Remember to face South and wave as the Class C boats pass about 20 miles to the south of you today! (politely wave please)

Aloha

Posted by Lee on July 09, 2006 at 03:14 PM GMT-08:00 #

We anxiously await your daily posts - they are great! We think 15 kts of wind would be good for you against the Cal 40's. Lon says when it starts to blow and the 40's start surfing, watch out.

Posted by Lon & Susie on July 09, 2006 at 03:26 PM GMT-08:00 #

Keep it up! We check out your progress every day and look forward to your posts. We'll have Rachel blgw out to sea for you.

San Francisco has been gorgeous, but the fog finally moved in today and may be with us for a while. The World Cup Final match was today (need scores? sounds like you have plenty of information access), and the Tour de France continues.

Alison and Zoe joined us at Mary Lee's house on Friday evening for a dinner party. Rachel and Zoe had lots of fun with all the new (to them) toys!

Fair winds,
Rene', Chris, and Rachel

Posted by Rene', Chris, and Rachel on July 09, 2006 at 07:11 PM GMT-08:00
Website: http://seahorsebelly.blogspot.com #

PS--Whoops, forgot about your Friday request for WC results: Germany played hard against Portugal and won 3-1, with Oliver Kahn in goal (who had a great game). The Final was Italy v. France. France went up 1-0 early on a penatly kick, but the Italians got it back not too much later in the first half on a fantastic header after a corner (or was it a cross? I think it was a corner...). 1-1. Then it was into extra time. France had more chances, but Buffon made a couple of good saves. Then Zidane inexplicibly lost his temper and head-butted an Italian in the chest (who must have said something about his mother). Red card! No goals in extra time, on to PKs.

Trezeguet, who had come on late as a sub and was a hero in 1998 when France won the World Cup, biffs his penalty, striking the crossbar! Big-time goat. All the Italians make theirs and win. Even with Zidane there to take one, I think Trezeguet would have been shooting as well, so maybe the red card didn't alter the result too much. Too bad Zidane ended his illustrious career with such a piss-poor showing of sportsmanship. That should haunt him.

Best,
Rene'

Posted by Rene', Chris, and Rachel on July 09, 2006 at 07:24 PM GMT-08:00
Website: http://seahorsebelly.blogspot.com #

Great to get your reports and glad all is going so well. All is ok here!

Posted by Nancy Bartlett on July 10, 2006 at 07:27 AM GMT-08:00 #

Thrilled to read the reports each day! Happy sailing. Miss you!
Kathy

Posted by Kathy Egli on July 10, 2006 at 07:38 AM GMT-08:00 #

Wow...Cirrus lost their boom. That's a bummer for them. Have you found any squalls? What is the night-time weather like compared to daytime?

Posted by Ali on July 10, 2006 at 08:50 AM GMT-08:00 #

Hi Ian and rest of Hooligans. Following your progress from Cheshire. Curious - how do you get home!? See you in SF in a few years. Cheers.

Posted by geoff and elizabeth kleu on July 11, 2006 at 10:18 AM GMT-08:00 #