I wanted to watch the arrival of ALULA, the chair-bound boat, last night but when it got a bit dark I gave up, thinking the live video wouldn't amount to much. I forgot that it doesn't get dark until very late in Ketchikan. Oh well, I watched the video this morning. It was nice to see Mark again, obvious on the boat as it came in because he never stops moving. I was surprised to see three on the boat because when I was at Pt Hudson I thought I...
It's Day 18 of the race, and some of the smaller boats have crossed the line. In about an hour or so the boat with the chair-bound guys will cross, with my friend Mark on board lending help. They're disqualified from the race for losing a crew member, but they appealed for help to reach their goal anyway, and it looks good for them. They're a crowd favorite, even with their misfortunes, so the Race Committee is tracking them as if they're still...
I was heading to Seattle for Mazie and Amos' birthday party when the Hood Canal bridged closed. It was stuck in the open position. The bridge is critical to getting anywhere from the peninsula, even access to ferry boats. They manually cranked it down so there's a roadway now, but now we've got a broken bridge.
Stories are coming in. Apparently Mark's boat suffered some damage and water got into the dry sleeping gear, making it quite uncomfortable. Then, weather and seas combined to do some serious damage to the front of the boat. Well, he made it; whether it's worth barging the boat back to San Francisco, I'd wonder. Remember the team of chair-bound guys? They had a lot of problems early on, barely making headway. When they got to Campbell River...
As of today, the State of Washington is now completely in control of the "legal" cannabis market. Anyone near the plant requires a license issued by them. All pot dealers must report every sale and send one-third of their money to the state. All others are now members of the "black market". Well, except for a tiny few. Washington now has a medical marijuana law that if it were implemented ten years ago would have been impressive, but now is...
Mad Dog Racing won the race Thursday morning in 3 days and 20 hours, beating the record by a day and a half. I'm sure even the winners would admit they had some astounding luck on their side, in addition to a fast boat and excellent skill. Today about 6 boats crossed the finish line. My friend is about to cross in about 4 hours, the last of the similar, fast, trimarans and catamarans in the race. He should have done much better, at least stay in...
I was lucky enough to be staying at Point Hudson when the race boats came in, so I had a chance to meet a lot of the contenders. One that was particularly remarkable was a team of wheel-chair bound vets. They had a notably fast boat, the same as my friend's Mark's boat. It looked to me that they would be worth watching, and I do. They're not doing well. The paddleboards, the rowers, and the windsurfers are way ahead of them, they're the slowest...
A few boats have withdrawn, a few seem to be having problems, no boat has suffered serious damage, and no one has been injured or killed. Winds allowing, it looks like the leader will complete the race in four days, breaking the record of five days. A large field will complete in five or six days, and the remaining fleet will complete within 28 days. My friend Mark is up there with the top 10 (well, he's tenth right now) and making excellent...
I'll be talking about this a lot. I went down today to see off my friend Mark and hopefully meet his crew of two. Did that and noted that Port Townsend had blocked off more streets than I've seen, for the pre-race party occurring now. See r2ak.com and head to race bios for an amusing time. I've been trying to come up with a one-liner about this race. The creator of the race calls it "Iditarod with the chance of drowning". It was great to look...
When Washington and Colorado legalized marijuana they set up regulatory systems for "retail", or "adult use", or "recreational" growing, processing, and selling cannabis products. Unlike Colorado, Washington did not have a regulatory system for "medical" marijuana which meant they had to develop the retail system from scratch. In January of 2015, Washington set up a medical system to take effect on July 1. However, the system is built in such a...
Despite the rain, that was a fun stay at Point Hudson. I'll be going back a lot the next few days to watch the preparations for the race to Alaska. I turned down a trip on Mark's boat yesterday, though it was a gorgeous day. You see, race boats are designed for efficiency of systems, not human comfort. The deck was covered with essential working things of metal, which wore out my feet like I was walking on cannon balls. My feet are still sore...
I offered my help to Mark "for 45 minutes" and after 5 hours we got the mast up and the boom and mainsail on. The mast was easier than I thought because it is carbon fibre, light weight. Likewise the tiller and rudder, and the oars. If you go on a 750 mile sailing race without a motor, rowing might get you out of trouble. It's also good for when the wind dies to nothing. So I've earned my spot on the crew. Well, maybe a ride around the bay....