Hey guys,

I sent you all an email but I thought I'd post the info here as well and get a discussion going.


Here's a quick checklist of things you should have by now:

• Harness


• PFD


• Sailing gloves (weight lifting gloves work too)


• Tether


• Strobe attached to PFD (this is a night race)


• Small durable flashlight (or visor with head lantern)


• Whistles on pfd are nice, but not required


• Non skid/non scuff deck shoes (Al's deck is very shiny white and we don't want to scuff it up)


• Knife on person (preferably serrated in the event that you need to cut yourself, or someone else free from a line under load)


• Warm clothes (layers are best)


• Some kind of rain resistant outerwear (foulies are best, but can be expensive)

Here are some other things to consider:

• Motion sickness prevention - I've found that I'm pretty susceptible to motion sickness so I'm bringing dramamine and wristbands


• Pack as light as possible - the boat can get extremely messy extremely fast when you are running in and out of the cabin looking for things in your pack


• Practice your knots -- should know a bowline and cleat hitch at the very least... practice them A LOT... practice them upside down backwards and forwards

Add anything you like as these are just my ideas stemming from my limited offshore experience.

Monday 5:30 is good for me Chris. Deb and I will be heading down to Florida on Tuesday Morning to take care of some "stuff" that came up. We'll be back on the 23rd so every day after I'm open.

Saturday evening would work for me. Wayne is heading up north for the weekend and won't be able to make it. Don't know about Paul. He's been crazy busy also.

Nice write-up on the stuff and yes we need to think about the bow pulpit and where to run the jack-lines, etc..

My boat isn't set up for optimum racing positions. We'll have to do some head scratching.

Al


I'm heading out to the boat in 15 minutes but have a meeting at 7:00PM so I can't stay long.

Saturday night works for me --- I'll have to clear it of course, but I think the wife is sympathetic to my lack of recreation lately.

I wanted to let you know also that ldauman has purchased airline tickets and as far as I know will still be joining us. This makes 5 for crew which is a good number given the size of your boat.

What are your thoughts on a dinghy? It's a race and I don't think many people bring dinghies along. I like having a backup with Lake Michigan's water temperatures, but then again we'll be among a lot of other boats so rescue is typically not far away... provided we can stay in front of a few boats.

Chris, I think I'll be taking the dinghy but deflated and in the case. I have a battery powered inflator for it. It takes about 5 minutes to pump up.

That's how we traveled home from Detroit. It's not a life raft but does provide an option.


I'll be on the boat Saturday from about noon until dark. Everybody is welcome to come out.

I'm cleared for Saturday. I'll probably stop down around 1 or 1:30 PM Saturday. See you then!

I will be back in town Monday so I could make it in the evening.

Wayne I plan to be out Monday evening if the weather is decent.

It looks like Chris and I will be out Saturday afternoon.

Monday should work for me as well. If we can get Paul out we'd have the majority of the crew together for some good practice...

Sounds like the planning is going well. I fly in on the 25th around 8AM so I won't be in until pretty close to the wire. Might have time to skim in a practice sail somehow to help get familiarized with terminology and such.

I bought all the gear listed, so I think I should be in good shape from that end. I'm actually feeling a little like a kid on Christmas right now...ready to get out and play with my new toys.

Really looking forward to this and appreciate you all letting me join in on the fun!

Hey guys,

I just got back from a day working on my son's house.

We discovered some "interesting" framing done by the prior owner.

The project is taking way more time than we planned. At the moment we have a temporary wall holding up the second floor. We need to get the new beam set ASAP so that means tomorrow.

Sorry but that precludes my getting to play on the water.

Deb and I will be back on the 23rd so any/every day until the race is good for me.

Al