Captain's Log

August 18, 2002

Hello All,
 
BTC Velocity after an enjoyable sail from Bermuda is now in Newport, Rhode Island.
 
In this update:

Shooting Stars and Shooting the Breeze
Inclination and other tests
Final preparations

Shooting Stars and Shooting the Breeze: During the passage from Bermuda to Newport with my friend Beau Evans we were  treated to an awesome display of shooting stars that surpassed any other I have seen in past offshore passages. On almost each of the 4 nights we were at sea there were no less than 10 per hour. Moving at many different directions across the skies with long bright tails covering almost all half the sky. Just amazing. There is too much light on land to see these shooting stars clearly, but when sailing offshore there is only the stars and the moon at night, beautiful.
 
Beau Evans is very knowledgeable about stars and he provided a commentary on the skies and constellations, from descriptions like " can you see the tea pot ?? see how its pouring water into the tail of the Scorpion and the steam is rising off .  It was a pleasure to have him on board and as we say in Bermuda " shoot the breeze " ( talk and chat constantly ) during our 4 day passage.
 
Inclination and other tests: After the complete inversion and self righting test that BTC Velocity carried out in St. George's there were 2 more in the water tests, as well as a host of measurements that still needed to be done. My friend Derek Hatfield, who also is a competitor in the Around Alone Race, and I flew in a official measurer from Canada to carry out and witness the tests on our two boats.
 
As you can see by the attached picture we pulled BTC Velocity to a 90 degree angle and then attached a gauge at the tip of the mast to measure the effort being exerted to bring the boat back upright. The obvious idea here is to see that a boat entered in this challenging race has the correct geometry to right the boat should a big wave ( or more than one !! ) try to knock me over. We passed.
 
Then my water ballast tanks were filled on one side and measured with an inclimeter, emptied and then the other side was filled and measured. The rule states that the boat may only heel a total of 20 degrees when all ballast is used, effectively 10 degrees on each side. This rule is also sensible, as if a wave or sail maneuver causes the water ballast to be on the incorrect side I could be ' pinned down ' and not be able to get the boat upright if any more than 10 degrees of effort is holding BTC Velocity down !!
 
Lastly the boat was weighed ( 9,700 lbs ) mast measured ( 57 feet ) and numerous other calculations, some of which I wondered about their use were done. So its kind of like my boat has been for an annual physical, been poked, prodded and measured but the good news is we are healthy and ready to race !!!
 
Final Preparations: BTC Velocity will be hauled out of the water on Monday and I will spend the next 3 days wet sanding the bottom of my boat to get a smooth finish. Then I will apply the fluorescent paint to the keel and rudder, pull the mast out for a thorough check, put it back, and then re launch by Friday ready to put all the gear back on board and have the final review by the race officials at the beginning of the following week.
 
Preventative maintenance on my water maker, heater, engine, electrical system and a modified storm jib, calibration of sailing instruments, liferaft servicing and just a few other bits should keep me out of trouble until the race starts now only 27 days away.
 
Can not wait to get on with race and stop all this preparation work. I have always been told the hardest part is making the start line. I really believe that to be true.
 
Regards to all
 
Alan S. Paris
BTC Velocity