St. Augustine, Florida to Thomaston, Maine…including a Solo

Just yesterday, May 12^th, I completed a seven day sail with my coach and project manager, Fred Bousiere, leaving from St. Augustine, Florida to Thomaston, Maine. This is where the Kiwi Spirit was built and where now some work will be done on her (more on that later). The voyage from St. Augustine was not great, as we followed a storm that had wreaked havoc on the east coast just days before with record rain falls. Therefore we had the ocean swells that linger after a storm but with little of the wind, without which a sail boat goes nowhere…so we used the engine. When we reached New England we took a short cut through the Cape Cod Canal. There I dropped Fred off and did a 24-hour solo sail.

Next month I am entered in a sail boat race titled “The Newport Rhode Island to Bermuda One-Two.” The “one” in the title stands for one sailor solo sailing down to Bermuda and the “two” stands for two sailors sailing on the way back. To qualify for the race you have to complete a 24-hour solo in the boat that you will be entering in the race. During the solo, I tried to take naps throughout the night of no more than thirty minutes in order to check on the sails. But I just could not sleep even though I had practiced it for days on end and had been successful. The reason was simply that I was too close to land, and had I fallen into a deep sleep and not heard the alarm, or the alarm had malfunctioned, I would have clearly ended up on the rocks of New England. Last night I finally slept.

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Off to Maine but weather held me in St. Augustine

Unusual weather patterns in St. Augustine this past weekend held the Kiwi Spirit in St. Augustine a few days longer than planned. Winds were out of the northeast at 20 plus knots and we had had torrential rains with street flooding.  Such winds blowing against the Gulf Stream, which we must cross as we go north, whip up huge and dangerous seas. So we waited. Now that we are headed for Maine, we are back on schedule for work to be done which includes putting electrical motors into the winches to improve sail handling. Also, we will relocate the radar from the radar arch to the front of the mast. On the arch the radar’s view was blocked by the boom and mast, both of which are made of carbon fiber, which is a strong and light material, but one that the radar cannot see through. These changes are necessary before I begin the three races in June and July that will further develop my skills and further define the changes to be made before the beginning of the circumnavigation on November 30^th.

Follow me on Yellow Brick, which can be found here, and watch the progress up the coast to Maine.

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My website is now up and running

Finally, at last, the web page that should have been up last November is now up and it’s my intention to blog at least once a week.

What Are the Plans Going Forward?

Firstly, Kiwi Spirit is an awesome boat. She is 80% ready to race and I am 75% ready to race. During December we sailed from Maine to Antigua. I had some excellent professional sailors on board trying to “break the boat.” They failed. However, one night when I was off watch and sleeping below, we actually hit 27.1 knots (about 30 mph) coming down a wave. Only one person on board had ever gone that fast and he was an America’s Cup bowman.

Recap of the last few months

January and early February/March: I was hiking in New Zealand, attending physical therapy conferences and by mid February I was back to Antigua, after attending the Miami Boat Show, where the winds were strong and steady most days. In Antigua I was taking sailing lessons from Fred Busier, who was my instructor and now my Project Manager. Fred is an experienced transatlantic solo sailor.

April: I did some sailing, and had time for a quick trip to New Zealand to celebrate the 100^th year of Physiotherapy, where I delivered the banquet address. I then headed to Sacramento, California to help defeat a bill put forward by chiropractors that would have removed the right for a physical therapist to perform spinal manipulation. For years chiropractors have attempted to intimidate physical therapists in California in this regard, but now they have lost the vote 6 to 1. They gambled and lost, and I can’t help but to feel sorry for them. At one time they outnumbered physical therapists but now that has changed as they struggle for relevance in this evidence-based world of health care.

Rest of the Year

May: The Kiwi Spirit sails to Maine where she will get back to the boat yard to have electronics placed in the winches, problems with the autopilot fixed and solar panels straightened out. Such problems are not unusual in a custom boat.

June: I will depart Maine for Newport, Rhode Island, where on the 8^th I will sail solo in the classic Newport to Bermuda “One-Two” where I sail down to Bermuda solo and then come back with a crew member. My son, Alan, will be the crew. Alan has solo circumnavigated the globe in 2002 in the multiple stop around alone. He is experienced and an inspiration to me.

July: I will start the Marblehead, Massachusetts to Halifax, Nova Scotia – some 300 miles. I may still participate solo in this sail, if the rules permit. Then the boat goes to the builders at Lyman Morse, in Thomaston, Maine, to be stripped of most, if not all furnishings, toilets (heads), to get into its circumnavigation mode.

September: On the 21^st, the Kiwi Spirit returns to St. Augustine, Florida and prepares for the solo circumnavigation. I shall be training almost every day and night fine tuning the boat and myself.

October and November: The training continues, with the last week adding in a few parties.

Noon on the high tide, Saturday, November 30^th the event begins – Solo, non-stop, non-assisted circumnavigation by the oldest person ever to have attempted and to set a new record from St. Augustine to St. Augustine, as well as to break the existing Bermuda to Bermuda record. The goal is to be the first to circumnavigate from start to finish entirely green – no hydrocarbons! I can’t wait. I will be towed to the start as the engine will be sealed as will be the small amount of emergency fuel.

At noon on Saturday, November 30^th, the Kiwi Spirit will cast ashore its dock lines from St. Augustine, Florida, the nation’s oldest city, and set sail to circumnavigate via Bermuda and back to St. Augustine. The City of St. Augustine will also be celebrating its 450^th anniversary and plans quite a party. If weather permits, I shall sail from the dock but fully expect that without an engine I may need to be towed to the start line, which begins one half mile out to sea. 

 

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My First Week of Training

Some of my friends are amazed to hear that I am spending a month in Antigua learning how to sail. After all, they know I have been sailing most of my life and so why do I need lessons? My best answer so far is that while my friends have also been driving a car most of their life, if they suddenly received a race car and had six months to prepare for Daytona - would they not also need to take lessons? We should hope so.

Since arriving here seven days ago we have gone out six times. Fred Boursier has joined me as a coach and I believe his extensive experience will help me prepare for the overall mission. We depart the dock around 9:00 a.m. and return around 4:00 p.m. There is work to be done before leaving the dock, such as preparing lines, tensioning back stays, removing sail ties, attaching the mainsail halyard and all manner of tasks that mean that once we get out there we are ready to start sailing. Then when we get back there is more work to tidy up the boat - the lines, wash downs and maybe a repair or two. In all it’s a long day! After dinner I spend at least two hours studying the many manuals that come with all the electronics. Each day I tackle a new task learning more.

On a typical day we leave the dock and first motor to deep water. While still in the bay we lower the keel from its 8'6" up position to its 14'10" position fully down. Dockside there is not enough water to keep the keel down. Once the keel is down we head out of the harbor to the seas, which have been steady at about 20 knots each day (22mph). Then it’s time to hoist up the mainsail and this takes an effort given we do not have power on the winches. Here we are going to make a change! We will install motors, which will be powered by my solar panels and hydro generators.

The record I am after is held by Dodge Morgan who circumnavigated the globe non-stop in 150 days. He used a mast furling unit on his mainsail and he had electric winches to drive his headsails and to trim them. I shall now do the same, as we have seen that even with two men on the grinder, it is at times very difficult to hoist the mainsail.

This does not change the records I am after:

• Oldest to circumnavigate
• Break Dodge Morgan’s record from Bermuda circumnavigation to Bermuda
• Establish a St. Augustine to St. Augustine circumnavigation via Bermuda
• Green - no use of hydrocarbons 

I will send news of my training now that I am in a routine here in Antigua and testing both Kiwi Spirit and myself to prepare for the ultimate voyage.

Cheers,

Stanley

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First to Circumnavigate Completely Green is Wide Open

The festive season is behind us and I hope all is well with you and yours. Mine was spent on the South Island of New Zealand, up in the mountains. My wife Catherine and I hiked an average of at least an hour a day including some 18 hours over three days on the renowned Milford Track. So much for sail training! Now it is time to get back to the sea, and my goals aboard Kiwi Spirit.

As I prepare for my solo circumnavigation there are a number of records that I will be able to challenge. Amongst these are:

1. Oldest to have circumnavigated non-stop (by some 18 years)
2. Fastest in a cruising boat – the record is 150 days and I am shooting for 120-days, from Bermuda back to Bermuda aiming for Dodge Morgan’s record from 1986
3. New record to be established from St. Augustine, Florida and back again via Bermuda (no-stopping there)
4. First ever green using no hydrocarbons, no gas, no diesel. Not even propane or butane.

A year ago I listed those four, but soon thereafter I learned that the forth one might fall to another sailor named Javier Sanso. He was racing in the Vendee Globe round the world race for out and out professional sailors from Les Sables d’Olonne, France and back to Les Sables d’Olonne again. His boat named “ACCIONA 100% Eco Powered” set out from France along with a fleet of some 19 other boats. Accidents and incidents soon took the fleet down to 11 boats. Two collided with fishing vessels, another lost a mast, several have lost keels, and now only a few days ago Javier racing ACCIONA lost his keel and the boat turned upside down. The skipper made it to his life raft and has been located and rescued. 

I can only offer my commiserations to Javier and be grateful that he is alive. That is all that matters.

Solo sailing is a challenge of engineering, navigation and sailing. Where else can you be for weeks and indeed months on end entirely dependent on yourself and your preparation? If the boat is built too light in order to go faster, then there are engineering compromises that can result in failure. So far almost half the boats in the Vendee Globe race have retired, and this is not unusual. Historically less than half the boats that set out to go solo, non-stop around the world make it. To my supporters and those following my blogs, please keep this in mind and know that I will be preparing to survive even if my boat goes down.  Navigation is important of course, as well as choosing the fastest route given the weather. Managing sleep deprivation is vital. Falling asleep at the wrong time and ending up on the rocks (as has happened to many an exhausted solo sailor) would be devastating. And finally, the sailing itself – staying on board and managing to stay safe despite what will undoubtedly include challenging weather, are all challenges I will face aboard Kiwi Spirit when I leave for the grand challenge on November 30, 2013.

I am sorry for Javier and pleased he is well. Now I can keep that challenge on my record list to be the first ever to circumnavigate completely green. I will study hard to master my energy systems and those lithium ion batteries that have recently been a problem on Boeing’s Dreamliner. I look forward to being back in the game after the holidays and will soon share the upcoming schedule.

Cheers to all,

Stanley

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Support Physical Therapy Research! Kiwi Spirit is a personal challenge for me and I am funding the project myself. I am however, interested in promoting physical therapy research. You can join the Kiwi Spirit adventure by sending your name, or company name, around the world with me. Learn more at  http://kiwispirit.kintera.org. All donations go directly to the Foundation for Physical Therapy! Continue reading this post...

Kiwi Spirit Unleashed

St. George’s, Bermuda

Just a few days ago I headed offshore aboard Kiwi Spirit for the first time, sailing some 800 miles from Newport, Rhode Island to the beautiful island of Bermuda. Following the launch and christening of Kiwi Spirit at the Lyman-Morse Boatbuilding facility, we did test sails and moved the boat to Newport, but these were short coastal trips.

During the sail to Bermuda, there were two incidence, both involving the spinnaker (the large headsail used for light wind conditions). When we first hoisted the spinnaker, it became entangled around the luff rod. Once that was fixed, we sailed for more than two hours with the spinnaker in place and sailing under a slightly reefed mainsail. At 3:00 a.m. it was all hands on deck! The tack line (that holds the spinnaker to the bow sprit) chaffed through and sent the spinnaker flying, now only attached at the masthead and the trimming sheet. We wrestled the sail back to the deck and it was smooth sailing from there. 

In 24-hours we covered 238 miles, averaging 10 knots (or about 11 miles per hour). My fastest sail ever! At one point we reached 27.1 knots. This boat is just awesome! We did see another boat and learned it was a 75-footer. They were under sail and also using their engine. We held our own on the Kiwi Spirit (being a 63-footer under sail alone). Wow, do we feel good!

There are of course several things to tweak on the boat after her first major offshore sea trial. But we are a program in motion, and plan to depart Wednesday morning for Antigua. I will do a bit of exploring tomorrow on the island, as it is a place I lived for a few years. Bermuda is also special as it is where I will sail from St. Augustine, Florida next year to start my solo circumnavigation of the globe. I will attempt to sail non-stop and unassisted from Bermuda to Bermuda, challenging the record of American Dodge Morgan set in 1986.

Please feel free to follow our progress via the GPS satellite tracking at: http://my.yb.tl/kiwispirit.

Also, like us on Facebook so that you can get all the latest news, photos and video: http://www.facebook.com/uofstaugsolo

Cheers,

Stanley

 PHOTOS BY BILLY BLACK, WWW.BILLYBLACK.COM

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Kiwi Spirit Learns to Fly

Perhaps it is finally sinking in that I have a powerful boat and a grand opportunity to make it famous. Only two weeks ago Kiwi Spirit departed the shed at Lyman-Morse in the slings and eased her way into the water for the first time. It was a memorable day and kudos go to the designers at Farr and the construction crew at Lyman-Morse who have helped over the last many months to make my dream reality. I have many goals, but to put it simply I intend to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the globe using only the wind, water and my own perseverance to finish.

On November 7^th, Kiwi Spirit left the dock and headed into the waters of the Gulf Of Maine for trials. There was a light breeze, barely enough to produce the occasional white cap. We began at a steady 10 knots and we topped out at 12+ knots. She handled well and performed magnificently. On board was a celebrity list of the yachting community: Bruce Farr of Farr Yacht Design, Mike Toppa of North Sails and Mike Feldman Of offshore Spars. The builder, Lyman-Morse, was represented by Drew Lyman and a whole team of sailors, riggers, and electronics experts. My son Alan was also on board (he sailed solo around the world in the Around Alone Race of 2002-3). Together this collection of professionals provided me with the information and support I needed.  One by one the sails and systems were hoisted and tested and all worked beautifully.

Two days later we headed out again setting sail in cold and icy conditions. It was so cold that after an hour at the helm my upper lip felt like I had dental anesthesia and was slurring my words. But the boat, and it’s about the boat, performed flawlessly. She sailed steadily at 10 knots and occasionally at 12 knots, a full 30% faster than my previous yacht which was a Farr-60 built in 1998 - such is the improvement in yacht design and build over the last fourteen years. Kiwi Spirit’s hull is a blend of carbon fiber with fiber glass, and sports a carbon fiber mast and boom. Measuring 63-feet in length she is just half the weight of my previous boat. For any non-sailors out there reading this, weight is important when it comes to speed. The same wind will propel a lighter boat faster. Kiwi Spirit is fast!

On Saturday we had another magnificent sail. Temperatures here in Maine were in the 30's and 40's with fair to strong winds. We tested a few more systems including the water ballast tanks that are the equivalent of twenty men sitting on the rail. Why do they sit on the rail?  if you look at pictures of big racing yachts, there is often a number of crew sitting on the edge of the windward side of the boat, in an effort to right the boat to expose more sail to the wind and hence to sail faster. My goal to sail Kiwi Spirit solo means I have to replace the twenty men with tanks full of water to achieve the same righting moment.  This is an elaborate pumping System to fill and move the water between the four ballast tanks. Training makes these complicated devises intuitive and I have a lot of training ahead!

As we put Kiwi Spirit through the paces I am consistently impressed. We will certainly make some changes and additions based on the initial trials on the water. The team I have worked with to create this magnificent yacht is amazing and I look forward to all the training ahead. We aim to leave Maine for Newport, Rhode Island Saturday morning. Please stay in touch and I’ll keep feeding stories of our adventures off the boat as we test all the features of the new Paris-63. You can stay informed with shorter posts on Facebook and also see some wonderful videos by Billy Black on YouTube.

Cheers,

Stanley

 PHOTOS BY BILLY BLACK

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