[PUP] Fwd: [kensblog] Update # 16 - The Fubar Welcome Dinner

[John Ford]

Begin forwarded message:

> Greetings all!
>
> I flew today, from Seattle to San Diego in order to be here for the
> Fubar Kickoff Dinner.
>
> To be honest, Im a little late to the party. Most of the boats have
> already been here for several days doing the various formalities.
> My boat was supposed to be here several days ago, but it has been 60
> miles north in Newport Beach getting last minute repairs. Jeff and
> Jeremy, from Sans Soucis crew, will be delivering the boat here to
> San Diego, leaving Newport Beach later tonight, arriving sometime
> early tomorrow morning.
>
> Im actually a little worried about some of the things that I
> missed. They have had a person here the last couple of days from
> Mexican immigration doing some pre-clearing for the entry to Mexico.
> I doubt this will be a problem, in that I already have my Temporary
> Import Permit for Mexico, and all my paperwork is in order, but I
> wish I had been here for that.
>
> They also have had boat inspections the last couple of days. Each
> boat participating in the Fubar has been inspected. I remember that
> when I participated in the Atlantic Rally in 2004 we went through
> this. Given the number of boats, the inspections cant be too
> intense. My sense is that they are looking for boats which clearly
> shouldnt be making this trip, or who have inadequate safety
> equipment onboard. If a boat has a serious problem that we cant
> resolve, I dont know what will happen. It would be a nightmare to
> try to tow a boat 100s of miles. The best way to avoid this is to
> make sure all boats are seaworthy before starting the trip, and  I
> didnt hear of any issues, so I assume everyone passed.
>
> I also missed several of the seminars. During the speeches tonight
> they mentioned that there had been a seminar on Emergency First Aid
> earlier today. I would like to have taken that. Ive been through
> several first aid courses, but its the kind of thing you forget,
> and its the kind of thing you should not forget. There are seminars
> again tomorrow, including one on diesel engine maintenance and I
> believe they said there would be one talking about what we have
> ahead of us.
>
> At the start of the speeches tonight two of the three microphones on
> stage would not work. This lead to someone describing the two dead
> mikes as Fubar which had the audience in stitches. I suspect that
> this will not be the last time over the next couple weeks that I
> will something described as Fubar.
>
>
> Legendary Bruce Kessler, Rally Chairman. Bruce was amongst the first
> power boaters to circumnavigate on his 70 Delta Trawler Zopilote
>
> Nathalie Friton, the Managing Editor of Passagemaker Magazine spoke
> for a few minutes to the group. She did a quick survey of the
> audience and asked the group something I had been wondering: Raise
> your hand if this is your first long distance cruise. About half of
> the audience raised their hands. Im not sure what I would have
> predicted. Her magazine is based on the east coast, and she
> commented briefly, half in jest, and half seriously, that she had an
> observation to make about the difference between east coast and west
> coast boaters. On the east coast, many boaters run back and forth
> north to south each year. North in the summer, and south to Florida
> in the Winter. To do so, they have the inter coastal waterway which
> provides some protection from the Atlantic Ocean, and fuel can be
> found about every 45 minutes along the route. By contrast the west
> coast of Baja has no fuel, no marinas, and no services.
>
> Nathalie asked the group how many were planning to spend time
> cruising the Sea of Cortez, and virtually all hands went up. She
> then asked how many were cruising as far south as Manzanillo and
> about half the hands went up. A few boats indicated that they were
> planning on continuing south to the Panama Canal.
>
>
>
> Probably the most noteworthy thing tonight was the size of the
> group. I would guess there were 250 people in the room! Im not
> certain how many people are going on the rally, but we are 52 boats,
> and Id guess at an average of four people a boat, thus a number
> over 200 makes sense. Wow!
>
> With a group this large, its hard to get a real sense of the group.
> With the exception of a handful of people, I really didnt know
> anyone in the room. My goal over the next few days is to try to meet
> some of the other people. Even though half of the group indicated
> that this was their first long distance voyage, it also means that
> the other half of the group has already done long-range cruising. My
> guess is that it is a very experienced group. As to demographics,
> most of the group seemed in their 50s or 60s, although I also saw
> some who looked to be in their 70s or older, and some who looked in
> their 30s or 40s. One cruiser mentioned that he had twin 10 year old
> daughters along. Most of the boats looked to have two couples aboard.
>
> During dinner I was looking at the pictures of the boats on the
> rally, and couldnt resist searching to see what the smallest boat
> was. On our Atlantic rally, in 2004, it was the smallest boat that
> had the greatest problems. The smallest boat is Brown Eyed Girl, a
> Skipjack 30, owned by Larry Lucore. As I was about to point it out
> in the program to my dad, I noticed Mr. Lucore himself sitting at
> the table across from me.
>
>
>
> Being nosey, I asked about his boat, crew, and boating background.
> First he wanted me to know that the 30 in the program is slightly
> exaggerated, and that his boat is really only 28 long. He also went
> on to say that he had taken the boat up and down the east coast,
> around the Bahamas and up and down the west coast of the US.
> Interestingly he has a home in Mexico, north of Muleje. Roberta and
> I also live part-time in Mexico and cruised the Bahamas last year in
> a 28 boat, so it was fun meeting him. Larry is traveling with two
> other guys, and although I didnt ask, they have the look of serious
> fisherman. These guys know what they are doing, and I am confident
> theyll do just fine. Remembering my own 28 footer cruising the
> Bahamas last year, I had to ask him the most important of questions:
> Do you have a shower? He said Of course! Its a little hose on
> the swim step. This was very familiar
>
> The Captains Briefing is tomorrow afternoon. There is a separate
> briefing for the Escort Vessels, of which we are one. I asked Bruce
> Kessler, the rally chairman, when the group would be departing for
> Ensenada on Wednesday, and he looked at me like it was my decision,
> not his. He said When you want to. A lot of people will be leaving
> at day break. This caught me off guard, and perhaps I misunderstood
> him. I had assumed there would be rigid departure times, and that we
> would do some sort of cool formation for picture taking.  I guess
> not. Ill know more tomorrow
>
> Thats it for tonight. It has been a long day, and there is much to
> do tomorrow.
>
> Before I stop writing though, I should remind people that if you
> have friends or neighbors who you would like to have receive the
> daily updates, then you can easily sign them up. To register for my
> blog updates enter the following address into your web browser:
>
> http://fubarodyssey.talkspot.com/aspx/m/335282
>
> If your friends are not computer literate, you can sign them up
> yourself. Just go to the address above and enter their email
> address. My dad mentioned that he signed up about 10 friends earlier
> today. Hopefully they wont mind.
>
> Also: If you have questions about the rally or boating, please send
> them to me. Ill respond via my daily update. If I dont know the
> answer I can usually find someone who does. My email address is:
> kenw @ seanet.com When you write to me, I have a spam filter that
> will respond almost immediately, and ask you to verify that you are
> a real person who wrote me the email, and not just someone selling
> something. Simply click the link in the email you are sent, and the
> email you sent me will go through.
>
> For those of you who are thinking Hey this isnt very exciting.
> Dont worry. Soon we will be crossing into Mexico, and the fun will
> begin.  To put you in the mood, following are a few pictures taken
> by a friend just days ago by Buddy Bethea, of Always Friday, a
> Nordhavn 55, on his voyage south along our same course, just a few
> days ago:
>
>
>
>
> Thank you!
> Ken Williams
> Sans Souci, Nordhavn68.com
> Fubar Escort Vessel
>
> PS Many of you have previously signed up for my personal blog on my
> own website: http://www.nordhavn68.com I received a question today
> from someone asking if they needed to sign up for the Fubar blog if
> they are already getting my existing blog. I will be sending the
> exact same blog to both lists. If you have signed up for one you do
> not need to sign up for the other. That said, I believe there are
> others who will also be sending out updates to the official Fubar
> list. Thus, if you dont object to getting my blog twice in the mail
> each day, it could make sense to sign up for both.