You can check out the whole image gallery from the sailing trip here.
Luckily, our boxes of gear from our main sponsor, Columbia Sportswear, had arrived during the week and we were able to test out some of our fair weather gear, like the sun hat Stacy's wearing. We decided to place the Columbia logos prominently on either side of our main boom.
The new sail is a modified Spinnaker, which due to the arcane race rules does not count as a true Spinnaker, so we remain in the "Cruiser-Racer" class. It's a colorful sail, and I'm hoping to find a way to get some photos of Rhiannon under full sail during the trip. It will likely involve a short hop on another boat, or at least a run alongside in the Zodiac.
After our test sail, we got the whole crew together on Saturday for a fantastic meal cooked aboard ship - if we can keep up that level of cuisine, nobody's losing any weight on this trip!
Along with the sail testing, we spent the weekend mounting and wiring up two solar panels to help keep the batteries charged, and two safety floodlights for working at night, outdoor speakers for our listening pleasure, and generally doing a bunch of stowage planning for the trip.
During our test-run, we identified several items that we want to modify before the race, so the to-do list isn't yet getting any shorter. With just a shade over two months until we shove off, good planning and hard work are essential!
Just as happened with the Alcan Rally last February, as we make definite plans and prepare for the journey, it all becomes more real each day.
 |
| Test Sail Image Gallery - November 21, 2008 |
