Many of the SSSS sailors were intently watching the weather reports on the days leading up the Duwamish Head Race. On the evening before the scheduled delivery to TYC, the crew of Showtime had a safety meeting over a round of beers. We decided that if the forecast held, we were committing to two days of fully crewed deliveries from Olympia to Tacoma, motoring would not be an option. Saturday’s forecast for gusts to 40+ and seven foot seas indicated a real chance that the race could be canceled [boats can not get out of the marina safely if they have to fight the waves at the entrance, including the RC boat]. Data was assessed, suds were downed, and we begrudgingly decided to pull the plug on the whole affair.
Rather than spending Saturday morning doubting our decisions in our warm dry homes we decided it would be a fine day to attempt the Hope Island Dash. The tide and the wind direction were far from optimal, but it presented a good opportunity for some heavy air practice. I dug out the old pastel spinnaker and we shoved off the dock not knowing the fate of our fellow racers in Des Moines.
The rain and fog were thick and it was blowing a steady 20 from the south. With a crew of five we had the boat averaging 7 to 9 knots with a high of 12.2 straight towards Hope Island. All was under control until we received a series of 30+ knot blasts out of Eld Inlet. There were no major wipeouts, but we managed to get the spinnaker spectacularly wrapped around the forestay just south of Hunter Point. Knifes came out and heads were scratched, but eventually the crew worked it free just in time to round Hope in a counter clockwise fashion.
The trip upwind was briefly hindered by the forward hatch coming open as the bow went through a wave. Showtime took on about ten gallons of water in just a few seconds. A reefed main and #3 headsail kept Showtime on her feet. I couldn’t help but think how nice the three foot chop in Budd Inlet was compared to what our compadres might be facing up north.
We has a series of six tacks to get back to the finish line all while trying to avoid a giant log ship that was making its way into port at a similar clip. Strangely enough the log ship crossed the finish line just about the same time that we did on the opposite side of the inlet. We made it around the course in 2:30:46, no record to be sure, but we had fun, learned a few things, and were happy to hear that the Duwamish Head Race had been canceled.
Showtime Crew: Tom, Phil, Bill, Jeff, Reese