A Limerick
For Becky and the Captain
By Becky Lathrop
not an English major nor a poet

From Tacoma to Frisco she set sail
Seven days with hardly a gale
Through the needs of the crew
Whether blankets or stew
Queen Becky was there without fail.

In the Pacific Cup they enter the race
Becky and five Dicks set the pace
They make Kaneohe Bay
Where their friends they say "hey"
All are happy to finish fourth place.

In a week Becky's back at her post
This time she knows she must give it her most
The fisherman says no
But Becky she goes
Out where she knows there's no coast.

Oh the days on the sea they are long
Even with stories and song
The minutes they try

All it well on Tiki Blue. Wind is down to 12k to13k and they are eating again.

pos 1800 hst 8/25/08
lat 25deg 57'
long 155deg- 27'
course 005 deg
wind 12 -13 k @060 deg
speed 6.5k
24 hr run 150 nm
300 nm from Kaneohe

Tim will try to re start the tracker, fingers crossed

Both photos were taken by Peter Lyons from Lyons Imaging (www.lyonsimaging.com)

No change from last time - still waiting to have a fine needle biopsy of the nodules on my thyroid scheduled. They found a couple that are bigger/differentiated and active and that don't look like the usual dead cysts that develop there very regularly. Should be fine though still...

Dealing with various side effects...all annoying but I guess a small price to pay to be sailing around...

Please click for a great whale video. We raced against Valis in the Pac Cup and I had a great time following both their trip there and back via their blog. Through the magic of the internets, I know a couple of guys on their boat and met most of them in Kaneohe. But there is no way I would have predicted that they would have the encounter that is in that video without one swear word. Sheesh, what I would have said would not be suitable for a family blog.

As we were approaching San Francisco on Friday, , about 40 miles due west of the Golden Gate Bridge we encountered a very friendly pod of dolphins.  They swam alongside, crossed our bow, and jumped regularly.  We were taking photos and this video when we brushed against the side of a whale.  It was a fairly gentle bump, and I don’t think either the whale or VALIS, were harmed.  The whale was definitely not amused, though.  After the impact it slapped the side of our boat above the lifelines with it’s flukes.  As you can briefly see in the video, there were two whales swimming side by side.  Credit must be given to crewmembers Oliver (who can be heard shouting “Hard to port!”), and Aaron, who rushed back to the helm to turn away from the collision, likely p

Tiki Blue is underway at current position of 25.47 - 155.54. Tim (skipper) spoke with Dave Nottage via SSB (Kaneohe) and indicated they are sailing 20 - 30 degrees depending on squalls. Wind is very nice at 75 deg at 15 to 20 knots. Current conditions are too bouncy for dinner so crew is on weight loss mode waiting for calmer seas. Flagship website is not showing any tracking so we are not sure if the transponder is on, however Tim says they turned it on properly. As a secondary tracking measure they have SPOT on board and I'm tracking them on that site which I will link to this blog if the Flagship device does not work.

Much has been made about my account of the Pacific Cup and its lack of terror. Truth is, I've just suppressed much of it due to my incredible control of my prefrontal cortex. But thanks to days of therapy, I've re-remembered all the terror and am ready to share it with you.

Heck, how are you supposed to deal with a helmsman who lets go of the wheel?

Soggy BVDs hanging at the top of the companionway ladder?