Elise Quote of the Month

"This boat is amazing and such a pleasure to sail" - Dayne.

If you have any quote that you'd like to submit to this blog, please write to us. Since we might be overwhelmed by requests and faithful to our fairness principles, we may not be able to post all of them on the blog. If it seems to you that the quotes do not reflect a balanced point-of-view and may be slightly skewed toward the extraordinarily positive end, it will be the product of randomness.

Elise Cruise Last Day

Beautiful winter sailing on a clear crisp day...What is the secret of such felicity?
Here it is - but don't tell anyone please.

Elise Cruise Day V - Fast, Food and Fix

After two days of sailing blind, we decided to fix the masthead fly. I walked into the store and asked for two of those as they weren't on the shelves. The store clerk looked at me, raised his eyebrows and said "how many masts do you have on your 27-footer"?

I will now carry a spare masthead fly at all times.
We were pretty well equipped and we didn't need any ice this time around. Ambient temperature did the job!
Little frog is sailing the boat fast.
Trimming the sails really nicely.
We could have been heading to a new adventure out of the gate - but we had a prior commitment so we sailed around the Bay instead. The amazing Cirque du Soleil was calling for us. We would sleep in our own bed that night but we would go out again the following day...Only to find very little wind and motor around...We were invited at a Holiday Party in the evening but we would go out again the following day...to take Elise out of the water!

Elise Cruise Day IV - heading toward Clipper Cove

There are sacred moments in life. This was one of them.
We anchored for the night - we were carrying a really light racing anchor so the only conditions it would work in would be very little to no wind. These conditions were met that night and it's fun to try out Elise under every possible sailing situation. Anchoring is definitely part of it, even during races! The wind was moribund but not completely dead when we got into the cove, so we could anchor under sail. We will have to use the engine in the morning to leave the anchorage.
After a day of cleaning up, we didn't have the strength to replace the masthead fly, so we decided to fly the spinnaker without it. Actually, during this "cruise", I floated the kite several times (flying it without the pole), did a lot of light air upwind driving and downing trimming/driving to trim - so I got a very very nice feel for the sails. Feeling them react and sense every move at the tip of your fingers is quite magical. Whenever I was in charge of a sail, the outside world would disappear. I would concentrate on the slightest detail on the sail and make sure that it'd be kept happy and full.

Sailing without a masthead fly teaches you to use the gentle touch of the wind on your face to find out about its direction and guess its speed.
Floating the kite really helps you during gibes as for a short moment, the chute will be flying loose. I felt such a strong communion with the sails and as an extension with the wind.

At sea, your life revolves around very basic things - driving and trimming, a little bit of navigation, satisfying the most basic biological needs such as eating, going to the bathroom and sleeping. A little bit of cleaning up here and there and that's pretty much it. It is so simple that it is extraordinarily relaxing.

Elise finally free again after a night at anchor at Clipper Cove. The anchor is left on deck to dry as there is little to no wind early morning as we are heading out for a breakfast at Sam's in Tiburon.
Nathan is getting ready for bed.
Nat is preparing the "bedroom". Since we were not at sea when night closed in, we used the V-berth at the bow. During the Pac Cup, we will be using the quarter berth to port which is the one that won't be acting as our sail storage room.
A nice celebratory dinner on Elise. We had other dinners and lunches on board, primarily underway. This one was at anchor. Little frog is enjoying our little Cotes-du-Rhone red.
We have a nice table, nice food, comfy settees with our cruising cushions and wine. What more could we ask for? Heating? Nay...

Elise Cruise Day IV - Clean up

It was decided that while I would drive to get a new masthead fly, the boat needed some cleaning...Nathan did a great job at taking everything out so things could dry and air out...We used Heather's present to funnel air through the cabin.
Foul weather gear, radar reflector, anchor and anchor line, rags, dock lines, motoring cone and anchorage ball, buckets, etc...everything was taken outside and we recharged the batteries with our two solar panels.
Elise looked pretty clean. Here's our bags, coat room, living room and emergency storage (you can see Elise's EPIRB)
Our communication center.
Sail storage room.
The other half of the sail storage room as the genoa doesn't fit into one picture.
But it was all so worth it. Nothing can capture the beauty, peace and magic of a night on the ocean.

Elise Cruise Day III - Back to the Bay

On the third day, we rose again and ascended into the Bay. My digital camera may be waterproof but it's not an expert at taking night shots...Artistic proof posted above. And no, this is not the effect of alcohol.

Elise was definitely ready to go for another ocean leg.
Nathan so not much.
Still we decided to leave and return to the Bay or head out to the Farallones, it would depend on how long things would take. We weren't looking forward to gibing back and forth from the Farallones without a masthead fly though, so we were tempted to get back to a place where we could replace the critical item.
What started as a nice downwind got quickly converted into a typical HMB-SF wet upwind...We noticed a couple of holes on the spinnaker so I went below and applied some sail tape to it...It was so bumpy though, that the only stable place I could find was sitting on the floorboard. I tried to find a nice flat surface to put the spinnaker on and the nav table, or counter near the sink seemed to be the only option. Despite my best efforts at keeping everything nice and tight, there's a little fold beneath one of my bandages...Yikes!

I was trying to imagine heating up water for a cup of coffee...worse, pouring hot coffee into a mug without serving the bilge at the same time...This is going to be hard, we definitely need leecloths...

Little frog was pretty happy on the way back - on our nice little cruising cushion. This cushion will prove very useful I am sure on the way to Hawaii, as two weeks on fiber glass will probably turn out butts into hard steel...

Flying colors...
Getting ready for another cold and windy night. There was no swell and the seas were not choppy. Getting closer to the gate, we had a mirror-looking water AND wind, enough for us to sail, it was quite a rare combination.
The wind died right at the gate so we had to start the engine 15 min away from the Saint Francis YC. We were planning on going much further but given the (late) time, the fact that we were a little cold and the availability of a sauna and hot shower at the club, we gave in and gave ourselves a luxury pre-night, even if going back to the home port before the end of the cruise sounds a little weird...

We parked Elise right next to some huge floating RVs getting ready for the lighted boat parade and playing Christmas songs, so we even got entertainment for the night! - and that shower must have been one of the best one I have ever had!

Elise Cruise Day II - at Half-Moon Bay

Wiping out the waterproof charts, got a little wet. See what's hiding behind the gas cans? It's the BUCKET!
Green energy boat...
Reading with little frog.

The day after, we woke at the crack of dawn, around 10:30am, looked up at the mast and saw that the VHF antenna might require some work. The radio was still working so perhaps it was only cosmetics. In any case, this might need a little examination.

We headed out for a nice warm breakfast at Cafe Classic, and as we were walking back, Nathan suggested to use this day for repairs, including sleep repair. In other words, some farniente in Half Moon Bay. The weather was beautiful and the air warm enough to spend a day outside without any problem.
The only problem I had with this cunning plan was that it didn't seem to include sailing at all. We compromise on an afternoon of sailing and the rest of doing nothing.




We concluded this wonderful day with a very festive dinner - the best oysters ever!!!
Living dangerously...
In the afternoon and until dusk, eg until the solar-energy-powered Taktik ran out of juice, we played around in the Bay with Elise. We set, jibed and doused many times, switching roles. There was just a nice little breeze and the whole experience was just extraordinary. I had never spent much time in Half Moon Bay and it is a beautiful bay - so long as you avoid kelp forests and rocks.

We also practiced something that we actually need to practice before the Pac Cup: retrieval of a man who has fallen overboard. We determined that the weather was a little too cold to be our own guinea pigs so we used a baby fender instead. Nathan innocently threw the victim overboard and I had to retrieve it. The OCSC method of figure of eight was a bit long and was taking the boat a little too far away...so we opted for a faster method. All of these retrieval techniques are based on the same concept. The boat sails below the victim and then head upwind to stop the boat. There is indeed only one direction a sailboat cannot follow - that of the origin of the wind so putting your boat head to wind is a good way to stop it since I haven't yet seen boats that were equipped with brakes. The idea is to stop the boat right next to the victim.

We haven't lost the fender - in fact, I think that we retrieved it every time. We did this little game quite a few times, it really was a lot of fun!



In the morning or what was left of it, we decided to take a look at the "damage". We were faced with the decision of who would go up the mast. I looked at the combination of Nathan-my biceps and got the feeling that hoisting Nathan wasn't going to be a fast business. So I went up there and with a pair of pliers could straighten up the VHF antenna again. There was nowhere we could buy a new windex fly in Half-Moon Bay so we decided to sail back the following day with yarn attached to the shrouds to give us the wind direction.
Playing around in Half Moon Bay.

This cruise also taught us a lot about power consumption of lights, instruments, etc...and in the morning, we recharged the battery with a big solar panel. We will buy a MUCH bigger one for the stern of Elise for the Pac Cup but if this one can keep up with our luxury habits, then we should be in good shape when I bring the 150 watts stereo ;-)
Our electrical grid is a lot of loose jumper cables right now, so we use manual switches as per the picture above...
The beauty of being in a harbor, even if it is right next to fishing vessels that attract a lot of seabirds who think that Elise is a toilet, is that you can take a hot shower in the morning AND you have plenty of time to dry up your towel - or T-shirt if you forgot to take your towel...
Nice view. Can you tell the difference between this picture and the other one? If so, you win an Elise bucket experience. I was using a rock-climbing harness - picture this in the middle of the ocean with a kite up!
Hanging out...

Elise Cruise Day I - down to Half-Moon Bay

Searching for clouds
Benita Point Take I
Benita Point Take II
Slick foredeck. The yellow line is the jack line. We chose yellow because everything else that's not white on Elise is blue. This color choice creates a harmonious environment which encourages a "let's not kill each other yet" atmosphere among the crew.
Driver Take I
Drive Take II

We left mid-afternoon and set out for Half-Moon Bay. The wind was on the light side but enough for an extremely pleasant sail. Just not enough to fill France so we used our lighter kite. We started upwind but the seas were not choppy past the gate so it was a very dry ride. It became a little cold and wet at night - primarily because of condensation.

It was an interesting and useful experience to have dinner and use the bucket at a 30 degree angle and in the dark for the most part.

It is truly magical to sail into the sunset and I feel so privileged to be able to face the beauty of the coast as it goes up in "virtual" flames. It was the first time that we would be sailing downwind at night. As soon as we could clear Pillar Point on a point of sail toward Half Moon Bay, + or - a few gibes, we set the spinnaker. I need to do a lot more double-handed spinnaker practice.

Setting up the spinnaker on the foredeck isn't different from a crewed event since we were still running the halyard right off the mast (that's the line that is attached to the top of the sail and hoists it when we pull on it). For the Pac Cup, we were thinking of having the option to run the halyard aft into the cockpit so we can hoist and douse without having to spend too much time on the foredeck, a more precarious location. The driver has to take care of pre-feeding by pulling on the guy and dealing with the sheet to trim and open the spinnaker, so it's a few more lines.

After we hoisted the spinnaker, we dropped the jib. We used only our #3 despite light conditions because it is a lot easier to tack and this was a cruise so less hassle was better than speed. That's also pretty easy to do double-handed, not much difference except that the driver will be handed over the halyard and will control the sail as it comes down. In a fully crewed event, our pit person would do this job.

Dropping the spinnaker is no different either since the work is done by the foredeck person. The only slight difference is that we keep the forehatch sealed at sea so we need to gather the spinnaker through the companionway. We can do the "letterbox" trick which consists in pulling the spinnaker between the main sail and the boom. It helps it collapse and allows the trimmer to collect it in very safe conditions. You can also gather it behind the shrouds and under the boom.

Things become interesting as you give the spinnaker...in the dark. You can see surprisingly well on deck. It's white and reflects any light it can get and with a clear night, the moon and the stars are good General Electric material. However, it is really hard to see a dark-looking line on a black water background. Looking down from where I was standing, I couldn't see the sheet which I was supposed to grab. I was waving my arm in the air in its general direction, thinking that I would bump into it. I had to kneel down so I could look at the sheet on a sky background. It is lighter and the line is visible against it. It is also a weaker position in terms of strength and doesn't allow you to bend over easily to grab the line. Glad that I got to practice this first on Elise in light air :) Anyway, after all these contorsions that must have looked quite funny to Nathan who was driving, I finally got hold of the line and more or less jibed the kite...Single-handed, the foredeck person needs to do a couple of extra things
1) give some slack on the foreguy
2) pull in the sheet (twings)
3) hand over the sheet and the guy to the driver who will keep the helm in-between his or her legs...It's a pretty inelegant driving position and I am sure the source of endless jokes...A conversation I do not wish to fuel at this time :)

It took forever...probably twice or three times as much time as what it would take during the day...Ahem. Nathan was pleased with my "performance". He has more experience with offshore racing than I do and he has done the Pac Cup. When I tried a similar crossing, I crossed the path of a crossed whale, remember?
Nevertheless, I don't want to be the fifth wheel of the carriage. I want to be fully part of the team and do everything that's required to get us to Hawaii fast. If I need to set and douse the kite 100 times in a row, and do a sequence of 20 jibes, I will do it. Whatever it takes.

I must be the most unlucky person when it comes to masthead flies...I am not quite sure what happened but within seconds, our masthead fly really did fly - that is away from the masthead - and our VHF antenna, on top of the mast had a funky 45 degree angle...Our assumption is that a bird tried to sit on the top of the mast and got a little surprise upon landing. I feel like I spend my life replacing wind indicators. When I bought the boat, there wasn't any; we broke one on the trip back from Monterey - on the trailer; the replacement piece that I bought was defective and lasted for only a few hours in the Delta Ditch Run...
Jibing in the dark without a masthead fly to help you is quite a feat I must say...Masthead flies typically do not break just like that, so we were not carrying spares. On the Pac Cup, I will travel with 5 or 6 of these windex arrows...
I guess that the good news is that bird Vs boat, the boat wins.

Near Half-Moon Bay, we had to consult the charts more than once as we identified the channel to navigate clear of the reefs and breaking waves over the rocks. The wind died right as we got near the harbor, around 9:30 or 10pm. The engine took some time to start and died after we got inside the first breakwater. We were dangerously drifting toward the second breakwater but Nathan had the foresight to prepare the anchor so we threw it out to immobilize the boat. It turned out that the safety plug got unplugged...

It took us a little while to find our slip given the vague directions that we got over the phone from the harbor master but we finally touched land, or rather a floating dock, closer to 11pm. Wet, cold, tired, hungry and delighted. There was no food available at that hour...so we dined on microwaved food at a gas station food mart...sitting on the sidewalk facing the pumps wasn't quite my idea of a romantic cruising evening but hey - if the engine hadn't started, we would be surviving on cold food and drink anchored in the middle of the harbor.

Elise December Cruise - preparation

Christmas frog traveled with us.
Lunch on deck prior to departure.

I like to take my winter vacation when there's no one else around. That way, you can feel like you're sailing on virgin ground 20 minutes away from the Club. The vacation started with a nice Christmas Gospel concert at the Symphony and put us into a very festive mood. The next day brought us back on Earth as we prepared food, clothing, gear and planned the trip after looking at the weather forecast. The first couple of days were supposed to be blessed by 10-20 knot winds so we decided that we should head out to take advantage of the breeze!

Finally, on the Monday morning, we were ready to leave. As you can see below, we travel light.


Really, not much. France is nicely packed, offshore flares, food and drinks, lifesling and MOB pole, our sailing gear, sleeping bags, books, magazines, camera, baby wipes. The strict minimum.

We needed to set up a couple of extra pieces on the boat to make it offshore ready. We take it out when we race around the Bay because it's heaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaavy.
1) flares, drogue, emergency navigation lights, harnesses and tethers etc...are all required
2) jack lines around the boat so we can clip ourselves onto something solid at night or if things get a little rough. That way, if we do go overboard, we most likely only break a few ribs and dislocate our shoulder.
3) lifesling + strobe + MOB pole all attached and ready to be thrown into the water if the jack lines don't do their job
4) extra gas...it's wintertime and it could get very light so we took three full gas cans with us
5) a lot more food and water, just in case, even though we were planning on breakfast and dinner ashore
6) up-to-date charts + GPS

We also took out our racing sails and replaced them with our cruising sails (and our nice new #3 jib).

I wanted to spend this time, the planning, provisioning, setting up of the boat (we did re-seal the end of the shrouds, check the battery, etc...) are helpful. Nathan had gone offshore on Elise already but I missed all these opportunities over the past year. Before I go on the Pac Cup, I want to know every inch of the boat. In an emergency, I don't want to have to use the GPS to locate the flares or run out of food in the middle of the Pacific - and I would like to select the wine. It forced us to plan around the weather forecast, use this knowledge to determine our sail inventory, etc...

There is only one way to get to know Elise - it is to spend a lot of time with her. On deck and sail-related activities are only one aspect of long-distance sailing. We also need to arrange for as comfortable as possible a hotel, and a safe haven.

As I lovingly dressed up Elise, the wind gently invited us out for a magic evening sail.

Private Lounge

Something is wrong with this picture. Something's missing. Can you guess what it is?
No? OK, let's get closer. And now?
The wine!!!! But of course!

Great Pumpkin

There was so much wind on that day (so much that the race got cancelled) that crew must hang on tight in order not to fall overboard.
Nick: "When I went to Tahoe, I fished a trout this big"
Parking lot
Train and Good Samaritan Elise.
The committee boat is skillfully navigating between boats.
Impressive. A spinnaker up in this much wind.
Nat eating (we needed a lot of energy to fight the rough weather conditions) and checking out competition. Always good to check what other women are wearing, they may have some good ideas.
Escapade not escaping the parking lot black hole.

No second thought about double-handling

After a week's cruise on Elise, I think that I may be a little tired. Wet gear, food that doesn't taste quite like food, a bottle of wine that's half empty but plenty of toilet paper left. Or should I say "bucket paper"?

I guess that I was a little "ripe" too, despite my best efforts with baby wipes, onshore facilities, etc...For the first time in my life someone said to me "you need a shower" and meant it.
I also need a hot drink and real nice porcelain throne...

Remember, Elise has no running water, no proper galley, no heating, no stove, no table (we used the cooler), no standing headroom - not even for me. It doesn't sound too luxurious and yet I had a fabulous time. All of this may have gotten in the way of this test of character and since there wasn't much else to do, we ended up sailing :)

There may be two of us on board but doublehanded racing is taking turns at singlehanded racing. With some exceptions, we will be alone on deck while the other will try to get some sleep, eyes closed, bundled below on the quarter-berth and listening to the gentle drip of water through the cabin top slider, or the waves crashing against the hull. There is nowhere to hide and nowhere to go. We each need to do our share of the work and do everything - we are both tacticians, bowman, driver, navigator, trimmer and rail meat. Our combined skills will hopefully build up to a full complement of crew.

And knowing that there is someone else on board is very reassuring...

With some much to do and with responsibilities spread across two individuals, we have to accept that the boat will not go as fast as it can when it is fully crewed. Our reaction times are delayed, weight doesn't balance the boat well and may even force us to reduce sail area way before we would think of doing so with a full crew. Manoeuvres are slower as some of the things that can happen in parallel with a full crew need to happen sequentially.

Having said this, I believe that short-handed sailing makes you a better sailor faster. Each outing teaches you something new that you will have to deal with as no one else is around to help. And it's a lot of fun.

Above or below, there is no privacy. The majestic bucket sits facing the companionway :) The only way we can get some privacy is by splitting up, one person above deck and one person below deck with a closed companionway hatch. This may have some drawback as above deck it could be cold and wet and below deck at times, it might be a bit harsh on your stomach.

Still - I wouldn't have given up this experience for anything in the world. More detail to follow on our little adventure.

Midwinters Photos - Courtesy of Dayne

Chinese theater: a genoa works very well as a screen for some shadow-based story-telling. Since most boats are not going at some hat-loss-under-you-have-attached-it prone speed, there's plenty of time to enjoy the show.

Nathan looking at the gate thinking "It's big"
Heather and Amy looking at the gate thinking "It's beautiful"

No comment.

This could just about work as the Blue White and Red flag...

"If you're going to San Francisco, remember to put spinnakers in your hair..."

Amy: "we need to tack, this side is really bad for my tan"
Nathan, checking the taktik "Ooo, that's beer speed"
Heather: "do I really want to go scuba dive in Antartica? Pretty cold here too"

Barbie and Ken's boat

Happy Sailing Greetings

Dear, Chers, Queridos Beethovens

Thank you for your support throughout 2007 - I wish you all a wonderful Holiday season and a very happy New Year!
Merci pour votre support tout au long de 2007 - je vous souhaite d'excellentes fetes de fin d'annee et une tres bonne nouvelle annee!
Gracias por su apoyo durante 2007 - muy felices Fiestas y un prospero Ano Nuevo!

Pacific Cup DH Elise Crew (and substitutes)

The first Berkeley Midwinter race this year (Nov) had been canceled after the Busan oil spill. For December 8, we were looking at a good-sized fleet of Express 27's (14, with our own start). In attendance were Nat, Nathan, Heather (bow), Dayne (trim), and Amy (trim).

The Berkeley Circle venue includes a start/finish mark in the center and eight turning marks evenly spaced around it (the center being designated "X" and the surrounding marks "A" through "H").

This month, the course was a twice-around windward-leeward. The wind was very light in the morning, and we needed to motor over, but it picked up enough by start time to avoid a postponement. We flew the #1 for all upwinds.

Our start was reasonable but we had a very slow first upwind, arriving at the windward mark at the bottom of the pack. We were trying out one of the "new" mainsails (nice 3DL, used very little but we haven't practiced with it). The shape was much better than our dacron main but it took a little while to find the new groove. Upwind sailhandling (trim, tacks) was good but it just took us too long to get up to speed.

The rest of the race was very light, with a few puffs rolling down on the next upwind but the spinnaker legs being characterized by very hot angles just to keep the kite full (~90 apparent). Our sets, douses, and gybes were very good. Downwind the key was maintaining pressure in the kite.

Upwind there were tradeoffs between the bands of wind rolling down the course and the current relief available on the shore side of the course.

(W-L being respectively between a buoy out towards the center of the channel from Pt. Richmond, and the base of the Berkeley pier).

After the first upwind, the leaders had pulled seriously away. For the rest of the race, we were mainly competing against Dianne, Wile E Coyote, and Opa!. Wile E earned a a bit against us on the downwind, but traded places back and forth with us on the subsequent upwind as the wind shifted back and forth. We were much faster on the second upwind, but by then the leading cluster of boats was about 15 minutes ahead and totally out of reach. On the second downwind, the wind was starting to drop again, and we were finished early (course shortened) at the leeward mark ahead of only two boats (one of which had DNS'd). The first downwind, we had gone a bit further to the right (stbd tack) before gybing over and gained from the hotter angle versus Diane and Wile E, but the second time we were a bit inside and stayed roughly even.

Our downwind speed was pretty good. Our upwind speed has improved a lot since last year's midwinters. The test comes next month when we try again having learned our trim lessons with the "new" sail.

Live Aboard

Is this a Saint Francis Yacht Club burgee up there?

Big mac and cheese

A friend happens to be a broker for this particular association...coincidence :)

France opening up its wings

A Monet-like photo

Reverie

On Thanksgiving week, Nathan and I decided to sail Elise for a few days. We had a triple goal. 1) have fun, 2) test out the work the boat yard did and 3) experience living onboard Elise and the challenges that are associated with that!

On 1), we didn't do too badly. Absolutely no wind the first day and light but nice breeze on the second day. Sun on the first day, no sun on the second day. Still, it was great to hang out the first day. We had nice and light food, white wine for the evening, a beautiful starry night, high quality books and magazine. It was nice to be away from email, phone, etc...

2) Mixed results there: the authohelm seemed to be working, although at times it seemed to be losing track of where it was going. We tried it only in compass mode (not in wind mode since there was no wind the day we tested it). We are not sure that the boat yard re-sealed the attachment point of the shrouds to the deck and it looks like there is a bit of moisture coming in that way. Not hard to fix but it was supposed to be done. We are missing a turning block now on the outhaul which used to be there, the boom bail has a funky look now as well, it's seriously bent in one direction, not quite sure how that happened. It definitely was straight when we took the boat to the yard. The 3-way switch for the tricolor is not installed so we don't have the option to use the anchor light or the strobe, just a really bright set of nav lights, plenty enough to illuminate the masthead fly which is very helpful. Nathan rigged something to get power to the NKE instrument panel. It looks very cool. Well, not very exciting to notice that you are doing 5 knots under engine, but cool anyway. We had a big non-flexible solar panel and it managed to charge the battery faster than the autohelm and instruments would drain it during the day. Plenty of power left at night to run the lights and communication equipment. We are planning on having an even bigger one for the Pac Cup.

We had one extra gas can to make sure we could survive in no wind for a little while. The engine is still a pain. It's really hard to start, I managed to start it three times over the weekend, had to give up once and Nathan rescued me. However, we have to unscrew the cap, lean over the stern and pour gas directly from the can into the tank. It is unstable, polluting, inefficient and sometimes ineffective. So we have decided to buy a new engine, with a fueling tube that we can connect directly to the can. It should pump gas as required. Safer, greener and we are less likely to lose the cap or run out of gas. We will probably sell this engine as soon as we have a replacement.

3) on the last front, Elise was actually a really nice hotel, much more comfortable than a tent. Entertainment options were limited to reading and looking at the stars (wine is not entertainment, it's a biological necessity). We will bring music on the Pac Cup so that will be another option! Sleeping on lifejackets spread over the bow area was comfortable and cold. We have two portable-battery based lights and 2 boat-battery-powered lights. We used only the former two on that occasion and had to cram ourselves close to the entrance to get enough light to read. On the Pac Cup, there will most likely be only one of us below at any given time so there should be plenty of space. Also, we will use the quarter berth only for sleeping so no moving of life jacket, sleeping bags, etc...The ceiling is so low on Elise that standing up with our back against it is a good way to keep your balance. We also spend some time trying to figure out where the food and water would go, and frankly, I am not convinced we have a solution yet. We took care of the most important item though. The bottle of wine will live under the floorboard. No risk of stepping on it, breaking it, losing the wine. Also, it will be red, that way, it's OK if it gets a little warm...

And then of course, there is the bucket...we took it outside at night to get some privacy (we were moored in a rather deserted area of the Bay) and below deck during the day for the same reason. Remember to empty the bucket on the leeward side...Elise and the rest of the crew will appreciate not being sprayed by the result of your performance.

There is a mirror on Elise which turned out to be very useful. There is no running water but we will have water bladders so that'll help. In any case, we'll have to accept that showers will have to be improvised in a squall as rain is the only source of running water we will have available during the race!
Baby wipes baby wipes baby wipes. Light and ooooooooooooooooh so pleasant.

I can't wait to install the stove. During that cold night, a hot cup of tea would have been the perfect ornament for my reading apparel.

Shake out

Chatting with Zeus

San Francisco Skyline

The hero of the day. No surrender in sight.

The color-coordinated crew. Remember, Elise is a stylish boat.

Yesterday, Dayne, Stephanie, Nathan and I went out on Elise. It was just the perfect day. Low clouds, a twilight kind of haze throughout the day.

...and WIND.

We put up one of the sails that we hadn't tried before which turned out to be a #2 and France proudly represented the frogs. Still a little issue with the outhaul and we need to replace the turning block which Svensen's apparently removed before next Saturday.

Elise sailed extremely well. Light as usual, she was on a roll upwind and just took off downwind. We covered a lot of ground in just 3 hours of sailing. All the way down to the Bay Bridge, up toward the tip of Angel Island, up Racoon Straits, then onto the city front, a little bit of Fort Mason and back home. Dayne and Stephanie are both considering becoming Beethovens and I was so afraid that there would be absolutely no wind and that we'd have to say "OK, so here, imagine a spinnaker, a triangular kind of sail with a nice curve. And when she helms a little bit it would feel like that, and this is the backstay that you can use to depower the main on any other day but today really, etc..."

It was Dayne and Stephanie's first time on Elise. I am going to quote them...

Dayne: "it really feels like sailing, not like some of these bigger boats when you have to wait for 5 minutes before you think you can notice the effect of the change you've just made"

Stephanie: "I love this boat. The helm is so nice, she's gentle, responds so well and yet feels very stable."

I am NOT biased. Elise is a great small boat with offshore capabilities. She's stable like a keelboat and drives like a dinghy :)

Wine and Cheese with Catherine

A few weeks ago we took Elise and Catherine out for an afternoon sail. The winter is the off season for racing. We use this time, to get a lot of wine and cheese work done, we look at any maintenance item or repair the boat needs, and this year, any new piece of gear we need for the Pac Cup, we ask around to find out who would be interested in becoming a Beethoven, we race in the fun and relaxed MidWinters and we can do a bit of practice. Wind is light so it's good to start practicing in those conditions. Once all the moves are automated, we can move onto performance training.

Wine and Cheese are Elise is nice if people don't get too wet which can happen if the wind is fairly strong as Elise is fast and has very little freeboard. Spray may add flavor to the cheese but will definitely spoil the wine. And I am doing everything I can to keep Elise's deck free from wine stains ;-) Downwind would work as the boat is much flatter but in this case, we could do wine and cheese regardless of our point of sail!

Attached the beautiful pictures Catherine took along the way and Nathan's new haircut.

Healthwise, I am doing great. I feel phenomenally good and I will finally start working on a serious project at work. We premiered "Life Vs Life" at Google with everyone participating in the project. The cats are healthy and the weather is beautiful. I couldn't wish for anything more!

I wish you all the most pleasant weekend.