All Is Quiet On the Pacific Front
Monday, July 25th, 2016 – Race Day 50
WEATHER: Crews have been enjoying 10-15kt out of the ESE today which will gradually back to the ENE over the next few days at similar strength.
As the saying goes, no news is good news and today has been one of the quieter days here at race headquarters. The seas have calmed. The storms have moved along and out of the way of our rowers, and communications have been minimal, which is a good thing. It is, as they say, a slow news day and that is OK.
Last night, our amazing crew on board the Support Yacht Galen Diana took the opportunity to spend the night with one of our crews – Sons of the Pacific. Here is their report.
“Last night we pulled in behind Yves as darkness covered the ocean. We spoke to Erden who was on the oars while Louis was at rest. Erden took a brief break from rowing to say hello and chit chat a bit about the weather, their ETA to Diamond Head and the positions of other crews.
Erden is completely aware that there is still a race for first place in the Classic Pair contest. With Row Aloha well within striking distance and Fight the Kraken not too far behind, navigating the entry point to the Molokai Channel in the optimal position is critical. He estimates they are on plan for a Thursday afternoon finish.
Erden asked what our plans were for the night and we told him we were going to stay with them all night. He was really happy to hear that. Erden wanted to save his power on his VHF radio so we maintained radio silence for the remainder of the night and just stayed behind them about a quarter mile so they could see our anchor light as they rowed, with the comfort of knowing where we were through out the night.”
As an aside, we have had the pleasure of having Louis’ mum Polly here in Waikiki. She mentioned to us that Louis had texted her this morning and said what a comfort it was last night to see the white light of the support yacht out there, keeping a watchful eye for the night.
Skipper Rod Mayer’s report continued with:
“In the twilight hour of 0530, we could start to clearly see Yves. As the morning light increased with the sunrise we were able to capture a partial rainbow behind Yves with Erden in the photo.
We broke radio silence with Erden around 0645.
Erden: Galen Diana, Galen Diana this is Yves over.
GD: Yves this is Galen Diana over.
Erden: What’s for breakfast?
GD: Eggs, Oatmeal, Mahi Mahi, cereal. How about you?
Erden: Cereal
Erden seemed pleased with his breakfast cereal and we bid him farewell for the time being. We let him know we were heading North to Row Aloha and would catch up with them again later along the way.
The current weather has been a mix of sun, light rain, sun and rain again on the horizon. It looks like another hot day on tap reaching 85 degrees. Wind has been light at 10-14kts out of the ESE. Swells down to 2-4 feet with a medium chop on the ocean surface.”
With their morning breakfast exit, we thought that this might be a good time to ask our other crews what’s for breakfast. Row Aloha replied “I will take the kim chee fried rice with two eggs for Rick and one loco moco and two each hawaiian power bars to go (spam musubi) for Todd” We are not exactly sure what some of those items might be, but it does sound good! Perhaps Greg Vlasek of team Moana Uli Rowing will share the SPAM he received upon arrival as a special gift from his sisters!
PREDICTED ARRIVAL 07-25-16 @ 21:00 PST
CREWVMG RECENTVMG START
UNFinishedFinished
OHFinishedFinished
MUFinishedFinished
SOTP29-Jul30-Jul
ALOHA30-Jul30-Jul
FTK30-Jul02-Aug
GREAT PACIFIC RACE STANDINGS as of 4:00 pm PDT
1 Uniting Nations: FINISHED – 39 Days 9 Hours 56 Minutes
2 Team Ocean Hearts: FINISHED – 46 Days 17 Hours 47 Minutes
3 Moana Uli: ROWING – FINISHED – 48 Days 2 Hours 40 Minutes
4 Sons of the Pacific: ROWING – 178 NM to finish, Rowed 2240 NM
5 Row Aloha: ROWING – 196 NM to finish, Rowed 2239 NM
6 Fight the Kraken: ROWING – 282 NM to finish, Rowed 2137 NM
Endurance Limits: RETIRED – Rowed 241 NM
Endurance Limits USA: RETIRED – Rowed 207 NM