Blue Moves-Wednesday-August 16th- 1200hrs-Home again!!!--Great job Crew.

Blue Moves 2 Daily Log, Day 16 and Final Entry of the Vic-Maui Return


10:30am Wednesday August 16th
Straight of Georgia,
Vancouver, BC
Sunny and Warm

LAST 24 HOURS BRING WORST CONDITIONS YET; BLUE MOVES 2 ARRIVES IN VANCOUVER

Hi All,

Arriving into the the Straight of Georgia brings an incredible feeling of accomplishment and relief, bringing to an end the Vic Maui race and return trip that began over 4600 nm and 45 days ago.

We arrived in Victoria last night just before midnight, and after filling the tanks and celebrating with a few exhuberant greeters, we headed north through the Southern Gulf Islands towards Active Pass and the Straight. Of course, at 6am, just when you begin to relax, Active Pass gets very active and throws a few fish boats and two or three ferries in your path to keep you on your toes and remind you that you are still on the ocean.

The previous night - our last on the open ocean - brought more than what was expected; about 100 nm out the winds had been rising all afternoon exceeding the predicted weather; by sunset we were seeing 38 knts and 12 foot seas. Very often the rolling wave would block out the evening sun. Through out the night the winds and seas grew making for a very wild down wind ride - we were confident, but cautious because although the boat was strong and we were proceeding under very reduced canvas, the motion was very violent and every so often the boat's stern would get kicked over by a wave, laying us over on our side and dipping the boom into the water. This is a considerably dangerous situation - it puts considerable stress on the rig and could break the boom, but luckily it only ever skimmed the surface, came up dripping and continued driving us towards the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The wind and seas continued to grow, and by 3am we were riding through huge 1/4 mile-long wave troughs with 18 foot seas and 45knts of wind. These are the conditions you read about, where things get very dark in the bottom of the troughs and the ocean foams with breaking waves and wind blown water.

Suddenly, amidst the apprehension we hear from on deck the cry of "Comet Dolphins!" We knew what this meant; when the night is dark, the boat's wake and waves glow with phosphorescence. If you're lucky and dolphins are following the boat, you get to witness a light show like none other. Speeding dolphins light up like underwater comets with a 20 foot glowing tails as they stream a firey yellow-green trail beside the boat. You can see them coming from a hundred yards away as they speed up to pass us and then lead us at our bow. They would then peel off toward the stern, dive underneath the boat and then do it all over again. This is an amazing sight. We clipped our tethers to the port side jack lines and gathered at the bow to watch the show. After a few moments, on the horizon, a huge and cresent moonrise began, and within minutes the dolphins peeled off and disappeared. Only 20 minutes with the dolphins, but it entirely changed the mood of the storm - although the wind and waves stayed with us through the night it seemed effortless after watching these creatures play with us, and by morning the winds had dropped, the seas became flat and we could see the western shore of Vancouver Island.

Back and forth across the North Pacific. What an experience. Our deepest thanks and appreciation goes out to Marque and Vicki for letting us share their boat and their adventurous spirit, and best wishes to Marque's sister Lee who inspired it all.

The Crew of Blue Moves 2
Fraser MacMillan
Brian Lasley,
Coco Hess, and
Duane Elverum

Blue Moves-Arrives in Victoria and heading for Home.

Picture shows Go Nakumara our Japanese gem!.
Go started racing with us March 2006. He always added great humour and a respectful outlook to the crew and prepartions for the Vic-maui race. This was Go's first time off-shore and with the support of the crew and his positve approach he handle it with courage and learned a lot from his fellow mates. It was great to have Go apart of the crew to see his smile and determination to become a great local racing crew member and experienced off-shore sailor. Glad you were a part of the team. Look forward to sailing again soon.

Pictures shows John Verver and his wife Sue.
John started sailing and racing with Blue Moves in January 2006. He has been a solid and dedicated sailor that added a calm overall approach to the race. John also donated a prize for out ticket draw. We sold tickets so people could win one of several donated prizes with all proceeds going to the MS Society. John and Sue donated a weekend from their B&B. They stared Bumbleberries last year on Gabriola Island. John also organized his company ACL to make a donation and become a Sponsor to our Vic-Maui MS campaign. Thank-you John for all you have done for Blue Moves. We advertize your company 'ACL' on the side of our boat proudly and look forward to sailing again soon again. John will also be preparing for another exciting adventure next year. He will be racing around 4 sectors of the world on the world race 'The Clipper". Good luck John-They are lucky to have you as crew.

Click on pictures to enlarge.

Tuesday-August 15th -late night.

Blue Moves arrived in Victoria around 2330hrs and dropped off Fraser with Family and friends. Now heading for Vancouver for her final stop until we decide which adventure to do next. Stay tuned for the update as Blue Moves arrives home after their exciting and inspiring adventure.

Blue Moves-Intense 40 knot winds

Picture shows Ryan Robertson. He was our first recruit for the Vic-Maui race. Ryan started racing and sailing with Blue Moves November 2005. He was a positive and strong part of the fundraising campaign by organizing a fundraising event at the BC Hydro building where we sold tickets so people could win one of several donated prizes. All proceeds from the tickets went to the MS Society. Ryan also put together a great Sponsor from Xantrex. His postive and outgoing approach assisted us throughout the busy winter of crew trials,boat preparation for the off-shore racing conditions along with all the local racing and weekend practising that lead up to the Vic-maui race. Great job Ryan!-So glad you are a part of the team.

Click on picture to enlarge.

Blue Moves 2 Daily Log, Day 15 of the Vic-Maui Return
1:30pm Sunday August 14th

Lat 48 40
Long 128 44
24 hour leg: 174nm
Sunny again, 29 knts true out of the NW, gusting to 40 true
Heading 72 degrees magnetic
Course over ground 76 degrees magnetic

Hi All,
The last 24 hours have been somewhat intense with stern winds gusting as high as 40.6 knots although sub 20's were predicted. The waves have been cresting at about 10 feet and we've had a few breakers splashing over the port quarter, but for most part the ride has been reasonably comfortable. In the next few hours the wind prediction calls for 25knts, but our experience has been that winds can be underestimated by as much as 50%; this could mean winds possibly gusting over 40 knts.
As I write this sentence the wind is gusting to 34 knts and the food hammocks are swaying violently. During lunch prep we mis-timed the opening of one of the lockers, and the complete contents of dishes, plates and cups flew across the cabin and onto the sole. Simultaneously one of us is usually sliding backwards while trying to walk up uphill back to the galley. This move is called the Michael Jackson.
At the moment were flying a #4 jib and a double reefed main pretty much completely depowered and we're still able to average 7.5 knots, although the speedometer shows 9.79 knots at the moment. That feels a bit fast under the circumstances. The barometer continues to drop and we expect the worse is yet to come, so we've run a line back to the cockpit that allows us to release and set the second reef to save us from having to go on deck during the night. Should be interesting.

Talk to you tomorrow,
The Crew of Blue Moves

Blue Moves-Happy Birthday Coco!!

Picture shows Coco dancing after finishing the Swiftsure race May 2006. Hope you had a wonderful birthday Coco, while sailing back from Maui

Click on picture to enlarge.

Blue Moves 2 Daily Log, Day 14 of the Vic-Maui Return
1:30pm Sunday August 13th

Lat 48 31
Long 132 50
24 hour leg: 175nm
Sunny FINALLY, 15 knts true out of the NW
Heading 66 degrees magnetic
Course over ground 72 degrees magnetic

CREW CONFUSED: WHAT'S THAT HUGE BURNING BALL OF FIRE IN THE SKY?

Hi All,
We have emerged from the fog to find ourselves basking in the sun just 315 nm from Cape Flattery and 367 nm from Victoria, basically aiming right at the Strait. We had a very fast night on a port tack flying the jib furled to a #3 and a single reef in the main. The winds are coming from behind us to the left and should become heavier tomorrow and move forward as we near the Strait, hopefully allowing for two very fast days heading home.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COCO!
The big news on board is that today is Coco's birthday, so late last night the crew sent her a collective email greeting via email, and along with plans for a special birthday dinner, Brian administered a shoulder massage and the crew has repaired and returned her favorite coffee mug, which the crew broke several weeks ago. It's her special day.

That's all for now,
The Crew of Blue Moves 2

Blue Moves-Almost home!

Pictures shows Tim O'Connell. Tim has an extensive racing and off-shore resume. Tim started sailing with Blue Moves February 2006. He joined our team as Co-Skipper and Navigator adding his advice and assisting with all the boat upgrades required to convert Blue Moves from a casual cruising sailboat to an off-shore racing machine with quote from Tim 'Blue Moves is now showing attitude'. He was also our Navigator extraordinaire during all our racing leading up to and including Vic-Maui 2006!!

Tim is one of the Sponsors in our MS campaign. Tim's company 'TEK-DEK' added thier Logo on a new Spinnaker for Blue Moves and also advertised on the side of the boat.Look for Blue Moves sailing and racing around Vancouver proudly showing the
'TEK-DEK' Logo.

Great job Tim-Thank-you from Blue Moves.

Click on picture to enlarge.

Blue Moves 2 Daily Log, Day 12 of the Vic-Maui Return
1:30 pm Friday August 11th

Lat 46 29
Long 140 05
24 hour leg: 169nm
Overcast and cold, Wind 21 knots true out of NW
Wind on the beam in heavy and rolling seas
Heading 10 degrees Magnetic

URGENT CREW MEETING CONVENED TO DISCUSS WINES STAINS ON DECK


Hi All,
681 nm to go, and our ETA in Victoria is currently Tuesday, August 15 at 4pm - 4 more days.
Last night after filling up we hoisted the big jib on the furler and currently sailing it furled to a #3 with a single reef in the main.
This has allowed us to cruise along at more than seven knots for the last 24 hours and we're making good time as we slowly alter course to the NE and aim roughly for the middle of Vancouver Island. Closer to land the weather information has the wind coming from the NW at over 20 knots so the plan is to aim higher than Victoria and slowly turn down to keep the wind slightly behind us.

In general during the return leg we've found that the wind blows over 50% harder than predicted by the weather information. A prediction of 20 knots off the Island could easily mean 30 as we found to be the case during the blow the other night. The thinking is we'd rather have this behind the beam than in front of it, so aiming high gives us some choice as we near the Cape Flattery.

We're getting wind predictions twice a day now as we get closer to the heavier winds off the cape.

That's all for now,
The Crew of Blue Moves 2

Blue Moves-Day 11 of return journey-Home in Five days.

Picture shows Maiah-The youngest sailor on Blue Moves II. She enjoyed watching her Daddy( Marque) race Vic-Maui and also learned some of the Hawaiian dancing and how to make flowered Lei's.

Click on picture to enlarge.

Blue Moves 2 Daily Log, Day 11 of the Vic-Maui Return
1pm Thursday August 10

Lat 44 15
Long 142 18
24 hour leg: 85nm
Overcast and cold
Wind is 15knts true out of the NW.
820 miles to go.

VIC MAUI RETURN FLEET'S TRIPP TEASE DISMASTED

Hi All,
Things aboard Blue Moves 2 continue to go well, but last night we heard that Tripp Tease had been dismasted a day earlier in the same blow where we saw gusts of 36 knots. They were well north of us during the blow, but the next radio check-in had them SSE of us by 80 nm. During check-in we'd heard that they were able to contact a passing commercial boat and obtain 70 gallons of fuel. They have a sat phone and can receive on SSB, but can't transmit. Tripp Tease is a Tripp 40 mast head sloop out of Comox. There will likely be more news on the Vic Maui website.

We've just completed our 3rd refueling totalling about 65 gallons, giving us 36 gallons now in the tank, and 20+ on deck.

Just over 5 days to go.
Cheers for now,
The Crew of Blue Moves 2

BLue Moves-Day 10 of return trip-Stormy weather on my mind!

Pictures shows Fraser-famous for climbing the mast and also known as 'Skywalker' during the Vic-maui race. Fraser is also assisting with the return delvery of Blue Moves. Fraser has already been sailing off-shore for 7 years with his family and also has quite a strong reputation as a talented racing sailor. Fraser joined Blue Moves April 2006.

Click on picture to enlarge

Blue Moves 2 Daily Log, Day 10 of the Vic-Maui Return
8:45am Wednesday August 9th

Lat 42 44
Long 142 48
24 hour leg: 95nm
Overcast, 14 knts true out of the east

BLUE MOVES 2 TO STORM: "THANK YOU SIR, MAY I HAVE ANOTHER"

Hi All,
Just after sunset last night we moved through the western edge of a low pressure system carrying 30+ knot wind coming straight from Cape Flattery. We eventually settled on a port tack under the #3 jib and completely depowered double reefef mainsail, and aimed us directly for Oregon. After getting the weather update that indicated several more days of heavy weather in that area, we tacked back north and beat into heavy seas for 12 more hours. We are just leaving the system now, winds down to 15 out of the north east, and we're back on track to join the rest of the fleet.

We were continually taking waves over the bow, causing the boat to leak from the deck vent under the solar panels. This continues despite a mid-storm installation of the dorade vent. The seemed to help somewhat, but the leaking continued, right onto the nav station, laptop and electrical panel. We constructed a tent of white plastic garbage bags to keep things dry, but then we suddenly lost all navigation data input to the lap top. After several visits to the data input drop down menu inj MaxSea, we now have almost everything operating again. Thanks for the last minute lesson in tracing data input Tim.

877 nm to go and still heading north for more more day,
The Crew of Blue Moves

Blue Moves-Now cold and wet!! Closing in on the other race boats returning to Vancouver.

Picture shows 'Coco' in the center. Our token female sailor. Coco raced to Maui and has also been a strong asset in assisting with the return delivery of Blue Moves.
Coco started racing with Blue Moves April 2006 -including Swiftsure.

Click on picture to enlarge.

Blue Moves 2 Daily Log, Day 9 of the Vic-Maui Return
1pm Tuesday August 8th

Lat 41 19
Long 144 36
24 hour leg: 164nm
Wet and foggy, 16 knts true out of the SW
Heading 22 degrees magnetic

BLUE MOVES 2 BACK IN FAMILIAR TERRITORY, ROCKS THE RHUMB LINE ONCE AGAIN, FEELING GOOD, BUT RUNNING LOW ON MUSIC.

Hi All,
A lot of changes over night; the fog rolled in, the rains came, we're now sailing (or motor sailing) wing and wing on a port tack at about 6.5 knts heading straight for Victoria. Yesterday we re-installed the headsail furler and have the #1 out on the pole. The rest of the fleet is about 200nm north of us heading about 35 degrees magnetic.
We're making good time and, but music selection on board is becoming grim. The crew now prefers to take turns listening to a can of chili clunk back and forth somewhere inside the food locker. Another enjoyable alternative includes listening to the marble roll around inside a can of spray lube somewhere in the tool locker.

ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT
Blue Moves 2 has established a fully operational environmental protocol, including solid waste stream reduction and separation, food grade waste composting, and indoor air quality monitoring. To date the crew has generated 3 bags of landfill garbage, 2 bags of crushed recyclable plastic waste, and one bag of recyclable paper waste.
Incident Report: Under the Toxicity Provision of the Environmental Protocol Blue Moves 2 is obliged to report that the crew is still recovering from the effects of a sizable liquid alcohol discharge, occurring at the mid-way point of the current leg, approximately 24 hours ago.

It is officially cold and wet now.

While we're motoring we're running watches of 2 hours on and 6 off and the extra sleep is really welcome. Things aboard are going very well and the trip has been a lot of fun so far - and going very fast. We've been checking in every morning with he return radio net, and just like the race, everyone (Red Heather, Tripp tease, Freehand, Kahuna and Antares) went east while we went closer to the rhumb line. Hopefully we'll meet them all when we pop out of the high and we'll all cruise in together. Tim has been providing valuable weather info and I've installed a weather fax program and we've been getting all the pacific info for wind and waves - very helpful along with the gribs. The computer system is working perfectly and we haven't had a single computer crash since Tim left the boat. Hmmm....
Great news about Marque's talk/presentation and another donation for MS.

According to Maxsea, we should be home in about 8 days (Victoria) and then on to Vancouver after an overnight in Vic harbour.
Marque was right about the cockpit gauges but we still can't find the reason for the intermittent lack of charging otherwise. One time the Xantrex showed no charge with the cockpit gauges off and one time it showed no charge while they were on - the search for a loose wire continues.

What a great adventure for all of us so far - it means a lot that I've been able to make your boat my home for these past weeks - Hope things in Vancouver are going well.

Talk to you soon

Until next time,
The Crew of Blue Moves 2

Blue Moves -Half way home!!-Watch out for Fog.

Picture of Duane-He raced to Maui and is also incharge of return delivery of Blue Moves.Duane has been sailing/racing with Blue Moves since December 2005. He has been an important part of the race campaign- dedicated to delivering the boat most weekends to WVYC to add more work to the boat. He spent a lot of time organizing and researching details to assist with the boats transistion from a casual local sailboat to an off-shore racing machine. Great job Duane -could not have done it without you. Your dedication and great humour will always be remembered.

Blue Moves 2 Daily Log, Day 8 of the Vic-Maui Return
6:30 pm Monday August 7th

Lat 40 04
Long 146 43
24 hour leg: 160nm
Overcast and warm, 15 knots true out of the south west.

BLUE MOVES 2 HALF WAY HOME!

Hi All,
As of 10am today were officially half-way in less than 8 days and now move out of the high under spinnaker on a port tack, and our ETA in Victoria is currently August 15 at noon. The rest of the Vic Maui return fleet is north west of us and we hope to merge with a few of them as we start heading NE towards the Stait of Juan de Fuca tomorrow. All of the boats north of us report cold weather and heavy fog, meaning that the shorts will soon be replaced by poly pro and wet weather gear. We've just entered the edge of the fog now (8:30 Vancouver time) and moments after turning on the radar it picked up a container ship 10 miles off (invisible to us) then within minutes it emerged from the fog 7 miles off. Radar ON.
We have now refueled twice underway (adding 45 gallons in total), and have more that half of our deck fuel remaining along with the now full tank. We've been keeping a detailed fuel log and are finding that our fuel mileage is lower than originally calculated; Just under a gallon/hour rather than the 1/2 gallon/hour from our pre-race calculations.
The weather continues to cooperate and many thanks to Tim for ongoing weather routing advice and information.
Thanks to Marque and Ryan for the electrics suggestion - the charging readout problem at the Xantrex is intermittent, but generally fine, although the cockpit gauges are working now.

Until Tomorrow,
The Crew of Blue Moves 2

Blue moves -progessing home nicely.

Picture of Brian Lasley-He joined our crew for the return delivery of Blue Moves.

Blue Moves 2 Daily Log, Day 6 of the Vic-Maui Return
9:45am Saturday August 5
Lat 35 34
Long 150 57
24 hour leg: 145nm
Clear and Sunny, 11 knts true out of the east, doing 6.7knts with the #1 and a full main.
ENTERING THE HIGH
The wind has been dropping for the last 10 hours and the edge of the pacific high (a windless area about 700nm wide by 300 nm high) is now one day away on our present course. We've had 6 great days of sailing averaging 6.1 knots towards Victoria. (We've actually set our destination way-point as Fraser's house on Prospect Lake in Saanich, because that's party-town in 10 days, marking the conclusion of the Vic-Maui-Vic 2006 - a total of 4616 ocean miles in 6 weeks).
Last night at about 11:30 pm Fraser and Duane were witness to a rare appearance of the mythical and much sought-after albino Moonbow. This rare atmospheric condition occured when the almost full moon was quite low in the sky behind us, refracting in vapour against the dark cloudy sky in front of us. It first appeared as a portion on an arc above the horizon, then grew over 10 minutes into a thick white moonbow arching across the horizon from our beam to our bow.
No wind tomorrow, no log.
Talk to you in two days

Homey, McGyver, Faustess and Puff Daddy

Blue Moves-More pictures!!! Blue Moves gets standing ovation at awards night for their campaign for MS. Also win two more awards.

Click on pictures to enlarge.


Blue Moves get standing ovation at awards night for all their efforts to raise money and awareness for MS. They also win best Dock greeting party along with best Boat banner.

Pictures are of crew, friends and family at the awards night, the banner, the standing ovation along with Julie Leis and the wonderful greeting team.

Congratulations to everyone. Great job done by all!!

Blue Moves-!!Finally Pictures have arrived-!! Finishing the race and Arriving at the Dock party.

These are pictures of the arrival of Blue Moves at the Lahaina docks after finishing the Race to Maui.
There was a great dock party as the crew and boat pulled into the Lahaina dock. There were other teams from participating boats, family and friends's that flew in to Maui especially to meet the crew and our wonderful greeting party lead by Julie Leis. What a fantastic job they did!! Making fresh flower leis's for the crew, tasty local food and strong Rum Mai Tai's.

The crew was greeted in style!! with lots of excitment,emotions, hugs and kisses.

After all....... Blue Moves won the award for best dock party and greeting upon arrival after finishing the race!!

Special Thank-you goes to Julie Leis and her team:
Lisa and granddaughter Elaina, John, Ara, Nancy, Ken, Steve and everyone else that made the arrival for Blue Moves such a wonderful experience- creating memories that will last forever.
'Thank-you Julie' for making our memorable and thoughtful Blue Moves Banner and scrap book with all the Vic-Maui race newspaper clippings from the Maui newspapers and event pictures.
You have touched us all and your care will always be remembered.

Vicki and Marque Thompson

Blue Moves-Day Six of return journey-Some Fresh fish and wine please!!

Pictures show-Crew at the Vic-maui awards and celebration dinner party for all race boats.Tim and Fraser(top)-Marque and Brian-our return crew member. Brian flew in to Maui to help bring the back to Vancouver. Also-Duane sitting with some of our special greeting team.

Blue Moves 2 Daily Log, Day 6
1:15pm Friday August 4th

Lat 33 14
Long 151 48
DTG 1508
24 hour leg: 154nm
Mostly Sunny, 15 knts true out of the north east.
Baro 1024.3


MAHI MAHI OFFERS SELF FOR THE GOOD OF THE CREW.

Hi All,
We caught our first return fish yesterday afternoon - a Dorado - and cooked it up in some onions, wine and lemon served over rice (Thanks to Tim for the fishing gear). Brian 'The Rookie' Lasley, who eats no fish, gave the crew a lesson in speed fileting a Dorado under sail.

We motored for an hour or so yesterday and half that today, but otherwise the winds have been great. Presently we're moving straight north at 7 knots under #1 jib and full main.

Yesterday Duane removed, redrilled and epoxied the wooden rails that hold the companionway hatch and crew rewarded him with 1 crisp Steinlager for his work.

This morning we were finally able to check in with the Vic Maui return fleet, and most appear to be about 2 days north or north west of us (Antares, Freehand, Tripp Tease, and Kahuna) Red Heather is a day ahead of them.

4:20 At the moment Fraser's repairing the chafed luff of #3 getting ready for hoisting.

1/3 the way back - that's all for now,
La Cru

Blue Moves-Day Five return trip-Still breaking speed records.

Pictures show the Blue Moves Arrival in Maui and crew celebration as they arrive at the dock.Click on picture to enlarge.

More pictures to come. Stay Tuned.

Blue Moves 2 Daily Log, Day 5
9:45am Thursday August 3rd

Lat 30 43
Long 152 23
24 hour leg: 175nm
Partly Overcast, 18 knts true out of the east.

WIND AND SPEED CONTINUE TO HOLD, BUT BLUE MOVES 2 NEEDS MORE POWER!

In the last 24 hours we've been breaking all of our previous speed records averaging over 7.5 knts with the #3 jib and 2 reefs in the main. Late last night the winds were gusting to 30 and were wishing the main had a 3rd reef.

Yesterday during charging we suddenly lost power to the fuel and rpm gauges in the cockpit and the alternator stopped producing output. About 20 minutes later power mysteriously returned ruling out a blown fuse, but has the signs of a loose wire or an alternator on the way out. Does anyone out there (Marque, Tim or Ryan) know where the spare alternator is? Used to live under the nav seat, but we've turned the boat upside down with no luck.

In other news Fraser and Duane have set some blistering new records for putting a reef in the mainsail before a squall (58 sec.) and shaking it out afterwards (52 sec.)

Cheers for now,
The Crew.

Blue Moves-Day Four of return delivery -Squalls and warm rain

Pictures show-Blue Moves crossing the finish line in Maui.(note the white buoy reflects finish line) also Marque and Ryan upon arrival at the docks after they quickly jump in the water to celebrate. The whole crew went for a swim with champaign to celebrate the arrival.

Stay tuned- more pictures to come.Click on pictures to enlarge.

Blue Moves 2 Daily Log, Day 4
10:45am Wednesday August 2nd

Lat 27 53
Long 154 46
24 hour leg: 158nm
Clear and Sunny, 18 knts true out of the east.

AND NOW THE WEATHER: SQUALL, SQUALL, SQUALL, NO SQUALL, BIG SQUALL, SQUALL, SOME SQUALLS.

We're 460 miles out of Maui and well into the trade winds blowing out of the east at a steady 17 knots. Yesterday and last night brought several squalls and a particularly heavy afternoon rain for 20 minutes giving us a chance to shower and collect water in the reefed mainsail to wash some clothes. Beautiful to see, these rains flatten the seas and transform the surface into a kind of smokey vapour

If email seems to be arriving slowly, we've reduced our email transmissions to once per day sending and receiving at 10pm when the radio propagation seems to be strongest.

The crew of Blue Moves 2
Homey, McGyver, Faustess, and Puff Daddy.

Blue Moves-Great sailing and too much e-mail fun.

Pictures show- Blue Moves departure from Lahaina,Maui-setting sail for Vancouver. Ryan and Thea waving good-bye.
Click on pictures to enlarge.

Crew Comments:

Blue Moves 2 Log, Day 3

Lat 25 30
Long 154 26
24 hour leg 173 nm

9:45am Tuesday August 1st
Partly overcast, 18 knts true out of the NE, gusting to 23

STELLAR 24 HOUR OF 173 NM, BUT BAD BOY OF THE PACIFIC BLUE MOVES 2 CONTINUES TO ANGER SOME WITH UNRULY BEHAVIOUR

Hi All,
Blue Moves 2 well-earned reputation for playing hardball has come back to bite them just 2 days into their projected 17 day return passage from Hawaii. Late last night crew received a stern reprimand from Sail Mail headquarters in Palo Alto, Ca for exceeding allowable email air time. Similar to a yellow card in European football, reprimands can lead to a 3 day suspension of email service which is used for both weather information and personal correspondence. When questioned, individual crew members were baffled until the youngest member of the crew, Fraser Eric Kenneth McMillan, 18, stepped forward to claim responsibility for his 'internet cafe' style of use while most crew slept. "Fer shizzle ma whizzle.", he said. "Yo dawg - ma goyle needs what I gots so I bin dialin' her in the dark-like" Still baffled, the remaining crew has suspended McMillan's SSB privileges indefinitely until they can decipher what appears to be a confession.

Personal messages from the crew will be reduced, and family and friends are asked to keep messages short. Plese refer to the daily blog for news and updates as well as greetings from crew,

In related Blue Moves 2 news, they continue to fly north at 8 knts with the #3 jib and 2 reefs in the main. The seas have been relatively flat allowing the very fast 24 hour distance of 173 nm overnight.
Lightning storms moved east across the bow throughout the night and early this morning a fishing trawler was seen heading south 2 miles to the east.

The winds are predicted to hold for several days.

The crew of Blue Moves 2

Blue Moves -First Day - Smooth sailing for return journey

Return delivery -Crew Comments:

Blue Moves 2 Log, Day 2

Lat 23 21
Long 155 45

1:30pm Monday July 31
Clear and Sunny

AUTO VON HELM LOGS IMPRESSIVE FIRST 24 HOUR LEG AT 135NM

Hi All,
We couldn't have asked for a better start to the return crossing - the boat is performing beautifully, the auto helm drives perfectly, the seas are flat and we've been cruising along at over 7knts for most of the last 24 hours. The day before our departure one of the race boats returning to Vancouver had been 2 days out of Hawaii and was forced to return after encountering heavy seas and 35knt winds. Things have really settled down north of the islands now - last night was squall-free and clear.

Overnight the winds have shifted from 15knts NE to 10knts SSE, allowing us to continue heading comfortably north with the wind now slightly behind us. According to the the weather information we're receiving daily via Sailmail, we can expect these conditions for the next 2 or 3 days before the winds build slightly. Our general intention is to head north for a few hundred miles, then turn right around/across the high.

Race co-skipper and navigator Tim O'Connell has been providing helpful weather routing for us from the TEK-DEK head office in North Vancouver, allowing us see the big picture of Pacific highs and lows. Please keep it coming Tim.

Crew is well and settling into small comforts; Chef Coco Hess continues to astound us with culinary delicacies heretofore unimagined; sailing ultra-pro Fraser has fine-tuned the boat for a balanced helm, keeping things easy for the auto helm and keeping us rocketing along; Brian's looks at problems and they suddenly go away, and Duane continues to nap on demand.

Tonight, with luck, we'll feast on fresh mahi-mahi.
That's all for now,

Coco, Fraser, Brian and Duane

Blue Moves-Sets Sail again!! - Back to Vancouver-Sunday July 30th, 2006

July 30-2006- 1000hrs Hawaii time(1300hrs Pacific)

Blue Moves is on the 'Blue Ocean Move' again.

Four Crew set sail this morning from Lahaina Harbour with relaxed smiles.
The crew sailing her back to Vancouver are:
Duane Elverum, Coco Hess, Brian Lasley and (Skywalker) Fraser!!.

They left under clear blue skies- moderate winds and a good surf!
The Crew will be sending updates for the Blog over their next 2-3 week trip.

All supporters please stay tuned for added pictures!!! and updates this coming week.

Good Luck-to the return delevery crew. Hope your adventure back to Vancouver will be just as exciting as the outbound and the swells and weather patterns won't effect your sailing conditions too much by the Hurriane last week.

Stay tuned!

Cheers
Vicki Thompson

BLue Moves-Mission accomplished!!

Blue Moves arrives close to scheduled ETA at 0935hrs Hawaii time(1235hrs Pacific Time)-(1535hrs-Eastern Time)Friday July 21st, 2006.

Crew Comments:

Well we arrived yesterday with great fanfare.
The Commodores of the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club and Lahaina Yacht Club along with Pamela Bendall (co chair of organizing committee) arrived by a rigid inflatable to meet us at the finish, along with a cooler and a case of beer !!!

We had a rousing round of beers and cheers, while sailing under our remaining Tek-Dek sponsored spinnaker (on its last legs with a hole in it!). During the festivities, the boom gybed and knocked young Fraser Skywalker's head into the next galaxy, but by that time, he was feeling no pain anyway ! He was fine, once we popped his eyes back into his head ....... just kidding.

We reached the main quay in Lahaina harbour about an hour later with more fanfare and about a hundred people (other competitors skippers and crew, family and friends, and the greeting party organizers from Lahaina Yacht Club) on the dock with food, maitai's and beer. There was much spraying of beer and champagne along with compulsory dunking in the harbour's 78 degree F water for all the crew. As the crew stepped ashore for the mayhem of family hugs and kisses, we were shore the earth moved. After 19 days at sea, the boat was much more stable, however with champagne all over the deck, it was very slippery, making it appear that the crew had had too many maitai's !!

Anyone would have thought we had won the event, but that's what all boats receive at the end of the Vic-Maui Race. After all, anyone that reaches the finish, irrespective of the race standings, is a winner.

It was a great moment, which after 2 hours, gradually died down. We all went off to our respective shore facilities, showered, slept and met for dinner a few hours later. I managed to get my laundry done too which was an extra bonus, and I am sure made others aorund me happier too !!

Today we cleaned out the boat and started the preparations for the return trip, overlooking the breakwater which faces west towards the islands of Lanai and Molokai. All the hatches are open with a cool breeze blowing through the boat.

Tonight all the crews will be attending the Awards Banquet and final celebrations bringing the Vic Maui 2006 Race to a close.

Well that's it for this race from your correspondent, however we would all like to thank the sponsors for this MS Fund raising effort, the crews and the families and friends for their support and welcome in Lahaina, and last but not least, all of you that have followed our progress and responded with much wit and encouragement on the website's blog.

Thanks again and Aloha, Mahalo.

Report back to Blog over the next few days and weeks for updates on the weekly parties and awards for Blue Moves. Pictures will be added and progress reports on the crew that will be sailing the boat back to Vancouver.

Journey will still continue for Blue Moves 2.

Tim "Red Beard" O'Connell
Co Skipper and Navigator
Blue Moves II

BLue Moves-Their last night at Sea before crossing the finish line.

Our present ETA in Lahaina is approximately 8:30am July 21, depending on the wind.

Today was eventful: we tore both the symmetrical spinnakers. The Tek-Dek asymmetrical spinnaker was torn a day ago but repairable and is being saved to be hoisted before we finish
We are sailing under the #1 and full mainsail. It's 18:00 Hawaii Std Time (21:00 PDT) and we are probably going to have another night of strong squalls for our last night of the crossing.
Last night we had in a row with winds gusting to 28 knots and a lot of warm fresh rain. Occasionally the quarter moon shone through the clouds with lots of phosphorescence in the wake.
The dawn was spectacular with the sun shining through the remaining squall clouds on the horizon.

Young Fraser Skywalker spent 10 minutes at the top of the mast while we were under sail, taking some great pictures and short video clips.

We were buzzed by a low flying US Navy Recon prop plane at about 14:00. It circled around at less than 1,000ft.

It must have been a strange sighting for them, seeing four pirates waving from the deck: the Master Duane's dark side team wearing Rambo styled black bandanas and arm bands, joined by Red Beard Naviguesser Tim, complete with headband, eye patch and cutlass.

I can imagine the Pilot's radio call:
"uh...Maui Coast Guard Radio, Maui Coast Guard Radio, Maui Coast Guard Radio.....this is Navy Recon whiskey india mike papa two niner three.... over"
"Navy Recon ...this is Maui Coast Guard Radio...over."
"Maui Coast Guard...please advise the dept of homeland security that we have spotted what appears to be a small invasion force of pirates numbering 4, heading for Maui. Hosatges may be below decks. We report their positions as 22 degrees 30, 155degrees three niner.....on a heading of 200... over"
"Navy Recon this is Maui Coast Guard.....we will relay your message and ensure a suitable reception. Thank you Navy Recon this is Maui Coast Guard Radio standing by"

As our fleet's communications vessel Kinetic finished early this morning, the roll call was supposed to be initiated by the Lahaina Yacht Club on either of two frequencies. None of the remaining fleet could contact them so Pass Partout took the lead and held roll call with a followup email by satphone to the race committee in Lahaina.

We will be arriving about 8 hours ahead of the other Beneteau "Freehand" with Norena of Wight to follow about 2 or 3 days later.

A hearty chicken and spinnach currey has just been served by team Dark Side and we are now cracking open the barrel of rum arrgggghhhh.

95.5 nautical miles to go to the finish. We will probably smell the earth and vegetation about 20 miles from the island.

That's it for our last night.

Thanks to all of our shore support and followers for their many emails of congratulations for getting to Maui in the good ship Blue Moves II.

G'night me mateys

Blue Moves will make revised race deadline. Should cross finish line Friday 0800hrs

Comments from Family,Friends and Sponsors waiting in Maui:

Blue Moves continues to make good time. They have blown out their second last Spinakker. Now only on white sails-so their speed has slowed slightly.

Still anticipating their arrival 0800hrs. Crossing the Vic-Maui finish line before the second deadline.

The crew are still pleased with their decision to start engines to get out of the 'Dead Zone' of no wind earlier in the race, causing them to officially withdraw due to race rules.
Blue Moves continues to race against their own best time and pushing the boat as hard as they can to meet the Deadline.

Good job!!!! Blue Moves -we are all proud of you.
What a competitor ...what a team......

Look forward to seeing you Friday morning at the finish line with lots of party treats!

Love from all the Family,Friends and Sponsors waiting in Maui.

BLue Moves-making record speed and could make new Vic-maui deadline

We were having another good run yesterday and again last night under spinnaker with winds between 15 and 25 knots.
The crossing wave patterns made helming difficult on the rhumb line course of 206magnetic.
At 9:15pm, the winds increased to over 30 knots and while Bluemoves II set its highest speed to date of 10.2knots, it was getting hariy in the waves. We decided to drop the spinnaker as the wind increased to 33knots. All hands manged to get the chute down in control, but in the process the port side spinnaker sheet went under the boat, round the keel annd snagged on the prop. We couldn't move it so decided to winch in the slack and sail through the night under a reefed mainsail, still doing 8knots. The tight spinnaker sheet vibrated under the hull as the water rushed by with a deep moaning sound. Very eerie.

As the sun came up, we were in the cockpit discussing a plan to solve it (i.e. dive under the boat), when a Mahi Mahi finally took the lure. Duane and Ryan reeled in a 20lb fish and proceeded to kill it. The cockpit looked like a scene from "Psycho" as fish blood splattered everywhere. Gutted and cleaned, I started to prepare a breakfast of sauteed Mahi Mahi and scrambled eggs while the rest freed the spinnaker sheet.

During the gutting, we all shared some fresh raw Mahi Mahi dipped in Kikkoman soy sauce......delicious.

We got underway again with the #1 genoa up on port tack, doing about 7 knots.

About an hour ago with Marque on the helm, John's watch hoisted the asymmetrical spinnaker again, boosting our speed to 8knots to 8.5knots.

During roll call today, the remaining fleet on the course were advised that the race committee has extended the deadline to 23:55 on Friday July 21. DOH.....
We only retired because we would not have made the original deadline due to our time in the doldrums. Since we motored for 24 hours out of the duldrums, we have been on track to finish well within the new deadline. The announcement was too late for us. The rest of the fleet that were similarly going to miss it, now have a reprieve.

Oh well.....

That's it for now.
Tim

Blue Moves-picking up speed again....Still racing to the finish line as if they are still competing.

Great sail yesterday through last night. Best run yet of 172 miles with the Tek-Dek sponsored asymmetrical spinnaker up, beam reaching down the rhumb line in 15 to 20knots of wind.

There was a golden sunset with a ball of fire sinking below the horizon, casting gold light through a line of cumulus clouds. A 3/4 moon came up on our port quarter shining through the occasional line of squall clouds.

Yesterday morning we found two small fresh squid on the decks, unfortunately too small for a Calamari appetiser so they have been added to the lures being towed behind.....still no luck with fishing....

Saw a line of garbage all day ranging from plastic peanut butter jars, plastic bags, fishing floats, knots of polypro rope to semi submerged 50 gallon drums.

The albatross has finally gone, the wind is back and life is good.

Early this morning we saw a valuable glass Japanese fishing float go by, but by the time we realized that it was glass, we had hammered by at 8 to 9 knots and lost it. DOH These floats fetch thousands at auction.

Our present ETA in Lahaina is about mid day on July 20, but that can change. We will provide our "official" ETA to the Lahaina Yacht Club when we are within 24 hours of Lahaina.

When we retired, we estimated that we would have to motor for 300 miles or 2 days before reaching wind that would carry us fast enough to Maui to make the party, but more importantly take us far enough into the trades to sail and thereby conserve fuel for recharging batteries for the remaining miles.

As it turned out, after motoring for only 1 day, we got out of the doldrums. We occasionally reflect on how we missed the opening through the large "zone fo death" by only a few hours. If we had have snuck through, we could still be in the race with these great winds. The rest of the fleet reported during roll call, winds that were about half what we have on this final leg.

we are still sailing the boat as if we are still in it and having a blast. We would really like to see us converge with some of the other boats coming from the east. That would be a fun finish.
We have just under 600 miles to go now and sailing fast.

Chat to you all later.
Tim.

Racing boat-'Kinetic'-sends a message to Blue Moves

July 15th-Message from racing competitor- Skipper of 'Kinetic' David Sutcliffe.

Kinetic-David Sutcliffe send the message to Blue Moves:

The BM2 team has already impressed the fleet with the great pre-race prepartion, incredible efforts to attract wide ranging Sponsorship for a worthy cause(MS)and a very gutsy tactical move early in the race to go West over a weather obstacle-one Kinetic debated making the same move at the same time, but decided we were in a position already too far to the South to try it.

We have been hoping ever since that your boldness would allow you to win your division.

I salute you for taking the risk. Making the more bold tactics has already drawn attention...... lots of attention to BMII and then also for to MS-for that you should all be very proud.

If you need anything between your current position and the dock in Lahaina please let us know.

David Sutcliffe-Skipper Kinetic.

Special message from Blue Moves -Skipper-Marque Thompson

July 15th -0900am

From Skipper-Marque Thompson:

This morning came crunch time. The wind has improved after everyone had done Fraser's wind chant standing on their head at the mast.....but not enough to get us to the Vic-Maui Race deadline for July 20nd.

One of our goals was to raise awareness to the plight of those with MS. We each gave it our best efforts and were not found wanting which in itself I find quit remarkbable. Eight strangers gathered together only knowing each other for a few months, under extremely close and sternious conditions getting along -what a great group of people we have collected.

Reflecting now, as we just start the engines, I think how fortunate we the crew are. Unlike MS or others with debilitating diseases we can turn on our engines when we choose.!!
Life would have become considerably more difficult for us with out this option.....I appreciate that now even more than ever.

Thank-you to everyone that has participated in our campaign and especially to my wife Vicki. This also comes from the whole crew-Great Job!!

We will motor 330 miles and then switch back to sailing through the trade winds and sail straight into Maui-Lahaina.

We will cross the finish line in time to see everyone and are proud of all the crew efforts.

Lot of Love-See you all soon.

Marque
Skipper-BM2

BLue Moves-Decide to motor and sail to make Race deadline

July 15th- 0600AM

Crew Comments:

After a night of milling around we finally have the wind direction needed to head for Maui-However the wind speed will likely remain under 10 knots for the next couple of days.

We have decided to turn on the iron wind and motor for the next 400 miles until we get some wind and enjoy the remaining sailing.

The race deadline is July 22nd. If we remained sailing we could be out here for weeks. We decided to motor and sail in order to arrive before the deadline and still be a part of the celebrations with all our family, friends and the Fleet that finish in time.

Blue Moves- In the "Dead Zone"

Friday evening-1930hrs -July 14, 2006

Crew Comments:

The forecast was right: no wind or what there will be, will be from all directions. We have flown two different spinnakers and a genoa, reefed and un-reefed the mainsail and stayed within 10 miles of the start of all these activites.

We have seen some interesting sights:
-One Dolphin screaming by as if in a hurry to get somewhere-didn't stop to take a look.
-One Whale -didn't stop to take a look.
-One tern - didn't stop to take a look.
-One Albatross -that has been around our necks for days.

When a javex bottle went by, we thought we ought to put a message in a bottle for the next Vic-Maui crew that attempt this route. We are sure it will still be here in the.....wait for it........ZONE OF DEATH.

Duane entertained us with his creativity by making a squid-like lure out of our remaining 2 hooks. This enticing lure was sent on its dinner date with a fish, wearing a fetching polka dot ensemble made of various of electrical and duct tape.

After sitting for most of the day, imagining the fleet flying towards the finish, enough was enough.....we ALL had to do Fraser's wind dance which entails standing on your head at the mast, and singing a haunting wailing sound (very mystical). With this ritual recorded on various cameras and DVD's, we processed to have a feast of tortalini and mixed veg.

While finishing what was probably our last supper racing and within 30 minutes of the beguiling chants, the wind came up from the forecast direction for this time of day!!!

Realistically,we have 983 miles to go and less then 7 days to do it. If after tomorrow we haven't moved, we need to do an average 7 knots for the rest of the trip to make the cut-off time.

A stark reality after all the hard work and affort of the crew to get this far, however we have had something more than the race to motivate this voyage.

If we decide to call it a day tomorrow we have enought fuel to motor to the trade winds and the sail the rest of the way.

That's it from the good ship Blue Moves 2 for tonight.

BLue Moves still first in their Division-Sailing to stay away from the Dead Zone!

Thursday afternoon-1335hrs-July 13, 2006

Crew Comments:

We had winds under 10 knots most of the night and morning, with patches of 4 to 5 knots. Flying the new asymmetrical TEK-DEK Sponsored spinnaker made a big difference. We could keep the boat moving at approximately 75% of the wind speed straight down the rhumb line again. The crew was awesome, trimming right on the edge the whole night as if it was a 2 hour day race.

There were a few squalls early this morning but now the sun is up, and the sea the same blue as the sky. Earlier a young albatross effortlessly gave us an aerial display of swooping below the tops of the waves with its wing tips just off the water and soaring up a crest, then banking and diving into the valley of the next. Incredible fredom without flapping its wings once.

Considering the average wind speed was low, since noon yesterday we have made approximately 121 nautical miles straight at Maui, passing the halfway point at about 0300hrs. I am sure that some of the speed can be contributed to our own wind, given the last two days' menu of chicken curry, mexican refriend beans in burritos, and baked beans.

If we can do another 120 miles at least today, the risks of becoming becalmed in the approaching high are reduced.

The fishing lines are out and hopefullly we will catch a Mahi-Mahi or Tuna. We have a book running on that too, settled in Happy Hour rations.

For some strange reason skippers Marque and Tim have taken up talking with a thick Cornish accent, ooohing and arrrrggging at every opportunity to keep this motley crew motivated and rattling the odd cutlass. The scurvy knaves should be 'appy we shared some precious supplies we 'ave in the 'old, special like for ye capn's table arrrgggh. 'Twas surely a sight to spur 'em on for the Treasure that lie ahead to be plundered arrrgghh.

Coco has refused to have her head shaved as a mid-point initiation. John Verver and I are obviously exempt from this ritual sincee arrrgggghh, we has no 'air. To make amends 'er sins, she's doin a mghty job eith fodder for her shipmates.

Ok.....that's it on the goodship Blue Moves 2. Will toss you another message in a bottle laterrrrr as we approach the treacherous dead zone, known to swallow ships whole, never to be seen again arrrggghhh.

Co- Skipperrrrrrrr and NaviGuesser "Red beard" Tim

Blue Moves-Light winds and one crew walks the Plank!

Thursday-July 13, 2006- early AM-0230hrs

Crew comments:

Winds were generally light today under 10 knots and we were still heading down the rhumb line.
Daily roll call was very interesting as much of the fleet had light winds too. Compared to our last day's run, only two of the faster boats in the Division 2 ahead of us had better daily runs.

We had a fishing line out today and caught a decent sized mahi mahi. As we reeled it in the thoughts of stirfry had everyone salivating, however just as it was being pulled onto the transom, it got away. One of the crew came very close to walking the plank and losing rum rations for using catch and released unbarbed hooks. He will have to sit and watch us eat the next one!!
Two lines then when out, one with the barbed hooks and the other with the unbarbed. There's a book running which line catches most.

As I write, we are moving fast at 8.5 knots as one of the frequent squalls moves through. If we can average a minimum of 120 miles a day for the next 2 days, we can possibly get ahead of the high pressure area developing right on our path. This new zone of death, will probably cover an area of ocean 500 to 700 miles west and east, and 10 miles north to south. Once through, we should have a clear path to the trade winds and some consistently faster daily runs. If we miss it, we could be out here for months!! As is typical of this crew, we decided to take it on.
No Guts.....No Glory.
Duane's "A" Team from the dark side are driving and constantly trimming every ounce of speed from each little gust as squalls past.....another one has just arrived and you can hear the sound of wind singing in shroud and water rushing past the hull as the boat heels over and accerlates. There are occasional whoops and yeehah's coming from the cockpit and we put miles in behind us

These rain squalls are much warmer then the ones we had a few days ago, and quite refreshing.

We are only 4 miles from the halfway point and no doubt we will be celebrating later in the morning when all the crew is awake.

Well back to the grind stone of hecking recent weather charts and forecasts to plan alternatives in case we need an escape route from the upcoming dead zone.

This is an incredible chess game!

Blue Moves-Up and Down-Up and Down

Wednesday night-1930hrs-July 12, 2006

Crew Comments:

Up and Down, up and down. Today we struggled to get to 4.5 knots, looking to arrive in Maui sometime in November!
There is a big no wind hole appearing in front of us and we're hoping to skirt around it.
Pray that it evaporates and keep you fingers crossed, everyone back there, and wish for wind!

We almost caught our first fish today only Ryan's pangs of guilt, ( barbless hook) allowed the bloody thing to get away!....Too bad, when food runs out I've just decided he'll be the first one we eat!

We had the boat up to a new record speed yesterday, Please make a note 8.96 knots under white sails( reefed main) not too shabby.

The weather is fantastic, water temp 21.5C.

That is it for now....Bluemovies out.

Blue Moves -Making up lost ground and are now 1st in Division three and 4th overall.

Wednesday PM-1230pm

Crew comments:

We are virtually becalmed again doing 2.5 and 3 knots. Wind under 5 knots slightly forward of the beam. We are having a tough time keeping the assymetrical chute flying with the boat rolling around in the left over waves from last night. Trimming and trying to keep on course is tougher then sailing in a gale.

Sun is out and it's 21 degrees C (71F) with 1230 miles to go to the next way point set in the middle of the channel west of Maui.

John's watch is on deck with Marque working hard on the trimming. Young Fraser " Skywalker" is trying to muster some of the Force on the helm. We need another one of his wind dances soon.

Not much else to report except that I fell down the campanionway last night, cutting off my ear, breaking two legs and one arm.....seriously.........I have a large headache to go along with the crumbly knee and sloppy conditions......can't wait for Happy Hour and the "A" team rum rations they owe me!!!! Arrggghhh.

Must go, we have another weather prediction downloading now. Will update after roll call.

Blue Moves back in the lead for Division 3.

Wednesday AM-July 12th -0130hrs.

Crew Comments:

We have had an incredible day.
Winds on the starboard beam, 15 to 20 knots , and tight reaching over some big criss-crossing waves. There has been constant attention to keeping this sails powered up to the extent we have been rotating the mainsail triming job every 15 to 20 munites to ensure we stay fresh and
focused.

The boat speed has been sustained at over 7 knots with some peaks if 9.2 knots.

John Verver's watch that includes Go Nakamaru and Fraser McMillan, holds the inter-watch speed record at the moment, with top speeds of 9.2 knots (John) and 8.97 ( Go), with ace "Young Skywalker" Fraser McMillan trimming to acheive these speeds. Fraser's own speed runs on the helm have been impressive too at sustained speeds of 8.8knots.
A protest has been lodged by the "A" team ( Duane Elverum, Ryan Roberstson and Coco Hess) that these records were attained while driving further off the wind and not on course. The "A" team Master Duane wearing his dark cape has been heard to mutter "the force is strong with yound Skywalker....we must bring him to the dark side"

Amongst gruff grumbles from the dark side "A" team, Judge Marque Thompson rejected the protest and the records stand (for now).

Refusing to take this whomping laying down, the "A" team has adopted a practice every 10 minutes, of asking each other " how can we make the boat go faster?". They have engaged the services of the old salt "Red beard" Tim O'Connell who charges an exorbitant fee in the form of "A" team happy hour rum rations and is heard to bellow " get ye up on that foredeck and change headsails.....ye urchins".

It's dark and now John's team are on watch. We have covered 80 miles in the last 10 hours and is we can sustain it, we will be in for a 190 miles day which we desparately need to converge with the fleet further down the rhumb line and hopefully maintain the lead on our division.

The wind has been steadily aft and we are set-up for hoisting a spinnaker at any time.

We ate very well today: meat pies from Windsor Meats in West Vancouver-Caulfeild, with baked beans for lunch/dinner, and chicken curry also from Windsor Meats with popadums for dinner.

We look forward again to the morning roll call to find out who's where.

Good night from all the crew.

Blue Moves-Winds turning is their favour

Tuesday early AM-0335hrs

Crew comments:

The wind is still up between 20 to 24 knots, and we are sailing with the #3 jib and one reef in the mainsail. The driving rain we experience earlier has stopped and althoughwe have low cloud all around, it must be thinning out as the light from the moon has brightened the sky behind the clouds. Atleast it's easier to steer around the waves when you can see them. There are still a few surprise waves that occasionally wash over the decks. The long awaited veer in the wind has been gradually taking effect and turning us back towards the course of 216 magnetic that we need to get away from the low pressure centre.

The continual pounding has loosened a shelf in the lazarette that some of the extra plastic diesel fuel tanks were tied to. At 0100hrs " Doctor" Duane crawled in to the locker armed with drill and nuts and bolts, assisted by Coco, to make some temporary repairs to secure the cans from leaping getting airborn. Refinements will be made when we have some daylight.

Morale is still high and everyone is very focused on sailing fast, but safely.

The dawn can't come soon enough!!! Coffee and breakfast would be welcome.

Blue Moves still searching for wind to get on the Rhumb line

Monday night 2230hrs

Crew Comments:

Zues and Neptune and a few others must be up there looking down and saying
"There's no way we can let them get there on the rhumb line. Let's plonk this local, deepening low pressure area here, and local high that usually sits there....that'll get 'em".

Every weather prediction file we have downloaded for the last few days for this area has been wrong while being right for the east side of the high that usually sits roughly to the south east of us.

The forecast for this evening was for winds on the beam, 10 to 15 knots to allow us to sail directly for the finish 1,447 miles away. What we have had for the last 8 hours are winds on the nose, 20 to 25 knots with building short steep waves. It seems that a little area of slightly lower pressure to the west of us has decided to become an identifiable low system with counter clockwise wind flows. Since we are to the east of its track, we have headwinds. We can't tack to the west because it is there and it would also mean going back on ourselves slightly. We can't run east as this puts us three days behind. Tonight we simply have to keep beating into it until we work our way sout south east enough ( about 100 miles) to evetually get the winds on the beam from the south side of the low.

Problem 2: the forecast for one day SSE of us shows another center of high pressure building right on our track with a clockwise wind flow!! DOH

To get by it, we will have to stay on the wind and go over the top of it and west of it eventually pick up some wind that might approach "normal" patterns for this area.

It's like running a slalom course between highs and lows except the gates keep moving just as we get there.

Except for being becalmed for a day, we certainly can't complain about not having enogh wind, it's just not from the direction of the forecast.

Spirits are still high, however occasionally someone asks in a little voice: "Are we nearly there yet Dad?"

So....time to study some more weather predictions. We'll chat to all in the morning.

Good night from the crew.

BLue Moves-winds picking up again after a hot day of becalmed

Sunday night-2230hrs

Crew Comments:

After a hot day becalmed, swimming 650 miles from the nearest land, and generally relaxing,the wind picked up and again we are straight down the rhumb line with low clouds and a fine drizzle. Visibility is down to perhaps 2 miles. We had two huge container ships pass us within half a mile today and so tonight we'll turn on the radar to let any others know we're here in this poor visibility.

We have about 15 to 17 knots at a true wind angle of 60 degrees off the port bow, and going well on a course of 210 magnetic.

It looks like we'll have this for the next 6 hours with a gradual turn to the west as we join the new wind from the starboard tack in the early morning.The forecast shows 3 days of close reaching on starboard tack down the rhumb line again. If it holds, we may have an outside chance of still placing well in our division.

None of the crew regret taking the adventurous path down the rhumb line. It's exposed them to some hard conditions they will never forget, and very demanding conditions of keeping the boat moving in light wind of sloppy ocean swells. We are working hard with continual trim adjustments to make up for the time we lost today, and the morale is incredibly high.

The dawn will hopefully bring the wind we need to work our way back into the race.

Good night from all the crew.

Blue Moves-Becalmed on the rhumb line.

Sunday-July 09, 2006-1436hrs

Crew Comments:

Well the high risk strategy has taken its toll. We have been becalmed on the rhunb line for 8 hours and the forecast looks like more of the same for the next 24hrs. Last night's weather forecast showed us getting 15 knots straight down the rhumb line, which we did have for a few hours, but after 0200hrs it started to fall apart. I downloaded the latest weather at 0700hrs to be greated by the news that we will be here atleast another day. We need to start thinking abut conserving battery power and water as we still have 1580 miles to go.

We took the opportunity to drop sails and swim. Fraser has demostrated his dive from the lower spreader and Ryan, his back flip off the stern pulpit. The water is so clear that you can see the sun's shafts of light disappear deep down, like something from the movie Abyss.

The wind is still almost zero. We had scrambled eggs, bacon and raisin muffins for breakfast. We have officially opened the casino in the cockpit to be followed happy hour. Spirits are high and everyone is in the cockpit at the moment playing cards and having a laugh.

Wisk us luck with the wind!

BLue Moves 1st in their Divison-weather systems changing rapidly.

Saturday night-2355hrs

Lat 41 degrees 59.8 minutes North, Long degrees 55.2 minutes West.

After the heavy storm we received a new weather prediction covering the next 5 days and since changes in weather are occuring quite rapidly, set a 2 day game plan, and modified it as we download more current weather. The predicted weather for today from 2 days ago, along with the updates, didn't happen and so our 2 day route plan was wrong.

The reality was that our actual weather became less favorable while the fleet's weather improved giving them fast sailing and big mileage days.

Today's prediction has been equally difficult, however tonight, we are experiencing the winds shown on the latest weather model. We are moving fast down the rhumb line while a large front of omnious black clouds off starboard beam has worked its way towards us. The moon is poking its way through occassionally lighting up the deck and sails. Winds might get up to 20 knots but we need this to try and stay in the hunt. It will be tough to save our hanidcapp on Voodoo child, Trip tease and Kahuna, but tonight's run will be much better than yesterday's.

One of today's charming chores was to solve a problem with a backed-up head. With the job completed there was much relief among the crew!!

Duane, Ryan, Coco and Marque are on watch at the moment with Duane on the helm.

We are 6 miles East of the rhumb line on starboard tack, tight reaching with 15 knots of wind, and heading srtaight at Maui with 1630 nautical miles to go.

The crew would like to thank the many supporters that have sent encouraging e-mails.

Blue Moves-Boat took a beating and held up very well.

Blue Moves now 5th overall and 1st in their Division.

Crew comments:

July 08, 2006 1830hrs.

We are all fine, a little lumpy and bumpy-the boat handled the beating very well-just one casulty: the bathroom mirror in the forward head. One too many slams!
Nearly everyone is now used to sleeping somewhere between the sheet and about 12" off them.

Just had a great meat pie and beans with the whole crew in the cockpit, Duane is driving, so lots of good chat and humour.

What an extreme change in the weather: right now the temperature is 70 degrees F , the oceans slight and a deep topaz with clear blue skies tempered only by the distant clouds of the low pressure system we left behind us.

Saw our first whale and dolphin today.

Blue Moves continue to beat 30 knot winds and Big waves.

July 07, 2006-1832hrs

Crew comments:
Roll call was interesting with atleast half the fleet reporting winds under 7 knots. We have had a spectacular day of continued beating into 30 knot winds and big waves, however we look forwad to some forecasted relief in the next 6 hours. The winds should drop to around 20 knots and turning more south-south westerly.When that happens, we will be tacking back onto starboard tack. over the next 3 days, the winds should ease onto our beam. We are looking forward to less punishing run with the new spinnaker up.

We have had an annoying leak whick was dripping water onto the PC. I am now enclosed in a cocoon at the Nav station to dry and keep it dry.

Dinner is on and we are having Lasagna. Cooking while heeled over 20 degrees and bouncing off waves is challenging.

We have no choice but to tough this out. The crew has really come together and is committed to driving hard into these seas to gain as much advantage while the majority of the fleet has a lot less wind. This is what ocean racing is all about!!

Love from all the crew to their respective families and friends.

Stormy night for Blue Moves

Crew Comments from last night sailing.

Position on July 07, 0846hrs Lat 43d 31.6 N, Long 132d 23.1m W Pressure 1019mb.

What a stormy night. We have been on a charge beating into 30 to 35 knots of wind and fantastic waves. Very majestic.
This once casual little Beneteau 393 dockaminium babe, has matured and is showing some attitude!!
We are flying the #3 with two reefs in the mainsail. She's well balanced and doing about 6.8 to 7 knots straight at Maui.

The crew had some tough watches last night. John, Fraser and Go were on from 1800hrs to 2200hrs, then again from 0200hrs to 0600hrs, joined by Marque at 0400hrs. They're having a well deserved sleep until they are on again at Noon.

Duane, Ryan and Coco are on deck right now having a bast ( literally), and enjoying the experience. While I write, we occasionally have a wave wash right over th eboat. Feels like Cape Horn. The temperature is still about 17 C.

We wonder what the rest of the fleet are doing. The forecast for them yesterday and last night looked like winds under 10 knots. Roll call will be even more interesting today. We are so far West of the rest, we hope we will pick them up on the SSB radio.
If not, I'll e-mail Kinetic with our position and ask them to broadcast to the fleet and e-mail us the fleet positions.
Well that's it, must get some coffee going.

Love to all from all the crew.

Day Four-Blue Moves in the lead.

Blue Moves in the lead.

Crew comments:

July 06th, 2006-Position at 1820hrs.
Latitude 44 degrees 6 minutes North, Longitude 130 degrees 30.5 minutes West.
Roll call was very interesting today. Our move towards the rhumb line with more wind, albiet on the nose, has kept us moving more directly towards Maui. Other than Cassiopeia, Voodoo child, and Horizon it seemed that most of the fleet met much lighter winds and we think we gained some ground, at least for now. Antares surpriesed at our postion since they asked Kinetic ( Communication Vessel) to confirm. That caused a chuckle aboard Blue Moves II with a round of high fives.

It was a sunny with consistent wind between 12 and 17 knots and the boat was meeting it's target speeds for the wind speed. It feels like the boat has come alive after all the work to bring it up to an offshore racing standard. Last night we had a half moon dead ahead with a silver road laid out in front and a few billion stars.

We were visited by a whale in the night which was curious for a few minutes and took off again, along with a very noisy sea bird that flew around us for hours.

Despite being sunny today, the wind is cool and the temperature is around 17 degrees. The further we move south, the lighter blue the sea becomes. We had the fishing line out a couple of hours ago and within 30 minutes we had a big bite which cut the steel leader cable. We are now down 1 tuna lure.

Today we redistributed the dry ice and checked the freezers. Food looks OK and we had Buffalo cheesburgers in a pita for dinner.

Tonight we will probably meet 20 to 25 knots of wind from the low pressure area to the west of the rhumb line. Between us and the fleet is the high pressure area showing large areas with low or no wind. At role call, many boats were reporting winds under 5 knots while we were enjoyed our 17 knots heading straight down the line for Maui. All weather systems are quite volatile but we are guardedly optimistic that we will have good wind for the next 700 miles.

Morale is high with some hilarious inter-watch rivalry to keep the boat moving fast.
Crew sends love to all friends and family.

Day Three-Blue Moves 2-currently in second place for Division Three

Day Three

Crew comments:
Position: 45 degrees 10 minutes N, 128 degrees 02 minutes W.

The winds have ranged between 10 knots and 15 knots and we covered 155 miles approx. in the last 24 hours.
We flew the new TEK-DEK assymetrical spinnaker most of yeserday evening, beam reaching in 15 knots which during the night, turned into a tight reach.We have been on the #1 Genoa and Main Sails since dawn and are now close hauled in 16 knots of wind and going towards the rhumb line. Seas are what you would find in the Georgia Straight. The sun is out with a few rain squalls coming through from the west.
Since we are towards the back of the fleet, the weather systems are offering us different opportunites rather than follow everyone's wake, we are breaking away from the rest of the fleet and heading for the west side of the rhumb line where the winds are projected to be 25 to 30 knots of power reaching. We have a small 12 hour opportuniuty to get through a light patch of wind and into those winds. It's unconventional for this race but we are going for it.

Everyone is motivated to keep trimming and keep the boat moving. We not only having a race against the other boats, but a race against time to get to where we need to be to pick up the right entry points into incoming weather patterns.

Food is good. yesterday we had brunch: scrambled eggs, ham and cheese between big slabs of bread. A hearty meal. Last night was Lasagne and today will be a Mexican cuisine which will help us through the light winds areas!!!

No signs of wildlife yet, although the colour of the water has changed to a clean "royal blue" and as we move further south, we hope to land the odd Tuna or Mahi-Mahi.

Fraser set a boat speed record of 8.03 knots-so the challenge is on!!

Vicki would also like to add that the radio broadcast update today mentioned that Blue Moves 2 is in second place in Division Three.

First message sent at 9:51pm Monday July 03rd, 2006

We had our first message sent at 9:51pm Monday July 03rd, 2006

Crew comment:
We are making great progress with some boats behind us and some lights ahead of us about 10miles.We will be around the corner in about an hour and on our way.The winds have been a solid 25 knots but the forecast 40 knots gales have not happened yet.If they do, we should be round the first mark by then heading about 200 degrees magnetic.
Everyone in good spirits.

• Watch #1 on deck-Duane, Ryan, Coco with Marque.
• Watch #2 are getting ready for their watch at 0200am-John, Go, Fraser with Tim.
• Kettle is one-the adventure begins.

Love to all,
The Blue Moves crew

Blue Moves 2 set sail 1000hrs Monday July 03rd.

Blue Moves 2 set sail 1000hrs Monday July 03rd.

Beautiful blue skies and 25 knots of wind.
Crew was excited, prepared and relaxed. Looking forward to their 17 days of adventure.

A large group of family and friends were in Victoria to see the crew off. Thank-you to everyone involved with our campaign. It has been a complete success.

Stay tuned for more updates.