Qingdao

March 19, 2016May 3, 2016 / bandboat / 9 Comments

Though we still ended up accepting our position and motoring to finish, we made it with no major injuries! Once we started our motor around 12:30am, we began our deep clean of the boat and finally made it to deck after 1PM to get ready to go into port.

Han brought a bottle of Peach Champagne (NON Alcoholic since alcohol not allowed on boat) to celebrate arrival

Enjoying a cold drink while we circle around outside of Qingdao until our escort brings us in. They do this as there is a celebration for each boat as they arrive. Continue reading →

Race 8, DaNang to Qingdao

March 18, 2016May 3, 2016 / bandboat / 5 Comments

Hard to see, but person up the mast with bucket following them is me!! Someone took a picture and I tried to take a photo of it.

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Making it to DaNang

March 17, 2016March 17, 2016 / bandboat / 5 Comments

The rest of the trip to DaNang was again with big winds and then doldrums’ hot sauna like days. Just going to give you some fun pictures to describe this part of the journey.

Linda a bit cold and tired taking a break.

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Race 7 Airlie Beach to Da Nang an Historical and Exciting Adventure

February 26, 2016March 17, 2016 / bandboat / 6 Comments

We sailed up the East side of the Philippine Islands on our way to Da Nang with our turning point at the top of Luzon. I recognized the names of many of the Islands as we went by from hearing exPOWs from WWII talk about their experiences as POWs of the Japanese. My dad was a POW of the Japanese for 3 1/2 years so this part of the trip was significant to me as I compared the weather we sailed through with the stories I had heard about the Philippines and the “Hellships” voyages to Japan! Continue reading →

Race 7, Airlie Beach to Da Nang Vietnam Part 1

February 26, 2016March 17, 2016 / bandboat / 4 Comments

Hello all,

You are correct, what am I’m thinking doing race 7 when I haven’t finished Leg 3 or Leg 4. Well, this race turned out very special for me so wanted to share it now.

And yes, I am delinquent but if you have me on your Facebook you know that during the Da Nang stopover I flew home to attend my Aunt Katie’s memorial service. Am now at DFW waiting for my flight to go back. That has been interesting as after I left Da Nang, I discovered my visa was a single entry visa. The Clipper office has been working since the 20th to get me back into the country. My approval came in a few hours prior to leaving San Antonio today. Without it I would still be there.

So, the adventure begins! Continue reading →

Airlie Beach

January 17, 2016March 17, 2016 / bandboat / 2 Comments

The Whitsunday Islands and Airlie Beach

Fixing to leave soon so I will leave you with some pictures of my time here.

Sitting in my favorite café!

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Leg 3 Cape Town to Albany Australia, Part 1

January 17, 2016March 17, 2016 / bandboat / 1 Comment

Crew ready to GO!

Race start is always interesting as we have a crew briefing where they tell us what to expect as far as weather, wind, the adventure of the sailing and the schedule. Forecast for start of Leg 3 was prepare for 40 to 50 knot winds!!! Expect to rock and roll through days of exciting wind and waves and lots of surfing the waves. This section of the Southern Ocean is the one that will provide you a fantastic and fun Sleigh Ride. After the mass Crew Brief we had our boat one with new Skipper Matt Mitchell. He emphasized that we would most likely be in our foulies the whole leg and be ready for cold, rough action. Be sure that you are double clipped on with your tethers (clip on from life jacket to strap that runs from bow to stern of boat)! Not a problem for me as Nick A and Tony were already on my case to be safe!! Cool, we are ready and have only a little trepidation to be doing this with someone we have not sailed with previously. We believe in the team!! Continue reading →

A Day at Airlie Beach

January 14, 2016March 17, 2016 / bandboat / 10 Comments

Okay all. I am in Airlie Beach Australia and have been since the morning of the 10th. So, you ask, why have you not been busy on your blog!

Truth is the first two days we were doing the deep clean on the boat so I was up and down the mast doing the rig check, taping split pins, taking leather chafe off of one spreader to redo as it was becoming unattached when I checked it, taking off the port spinnaker halyard as it was about to explode in more ways than one and then going back up to silicone remaining split pins.

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Cape Town: prepping to leave

January 1, 2016March 17, 2016 / bandboat / 2 Comments

Preparing to leave is always an interesting time. We spend lots of time fixing things when we arrive only to put everything back in it’s place when we get ready to depart.