I have been sailing for 35 years. Originally from Boston, my first
sailing experience was with my brother Mike on July 4, 1975 on a $7/hour
Laser rental at Craigsville Beach, Hyannis, MA. Neither of us knew
how to sail but we figured it out after finding ourselves about four
miles offshore. I loved sailing and immediately understood the special
relationship between a sailor and his boat. The next summer I taught
myself to sail on a borrowed 505 in Lagoon Pond, Vineyard Haven, Martha’s
Vineyard and soon after started racing (rail meat) on a Corinthian
19 out of Marblehead, MA. You don’t know cold until you’ve
sailed in the Marblehead Yacht Club’s winter Frost Bite Series.
I moved to Oakland in '81 and continued my sailing adventures. I loved
the Bay. I could sail year-round and I found the competition higher
and much friendlier. For the next 20 years, I’ve owned two J/24s
and actively ocean- and Bay-raced on lots of boats including Etchells,
a Columbia Challenger, Islander Bahama, Archambault 40 and Baltic
52.
In 2006 I met Bruce Schwab after he had completed the ’04-’05
Vendee Globe. It was a defining event for me. I was so impressed with
him, his tale and his adventure that I decided to start singlehanded
sailing and aimed at participating in the Transpac. I bought TAZ!!
(formerly 'Meeta') in the same year and since then, I have campaigned
her in every singlehanded race I could. During the past four years,
I have beefed up her attachment points, added the required race equipment
and modified her controls to make sail/rig adjustments easier. I raced
in the 2009 LongPac race as the last true test of my desire to attempt
the Transpac. After three days at sea, I knew it was what I wanted
to do. After the five-day race, I was ready to turn around and sail
it again. What I love about ocean racing is the beauty and solitude
of the open ocean. You feel so alive when faced with the challenge
of knowing that everything you do directly affects your safety, health
and success. My major fear is not reading the weather correctly and
sailing into a hole. That, and running into a whale or some jetsam/flotsam.
After the Transpac, I plan to ship TAZ!! back to the Bay and take
two weeks to re-civilize myself … some of my friends will argue
that that is an impossibility. In the near future I plan to enjoy
an extended cruise across the Caribbean, through the Canal and on
to the South Pacific with some of my Water Babies Sailing Club friends:
Phil Donatto, Ron Brown, Al Donatto and Richard Rice.
The 2010 Single-Handed Transpac is my Mount Everest.
Navigation: Toughbook laptop with a Blue Tooth GPS
locator running Coastal Explorer, an AIS radar unit and for back-up,
two handheld Garmin 12XL GPS units.
Steering: Raymarine ST4000 S1(G) Tillerpilot hooked
up to Tack Tick wind instruments and a Garmin 12XL hand-held GPS unit.
I will be carrying two spare rams and various other spare parts.
Communication: Iridium Satphone, VHF radio and hopefully
a SSB. I am planning on maintaining a daily blog.
Power: With no motor to charge my batteries, I will
be installing solar panels and in case of a failure or no sun, carrying
a small, two-stroke generator.
Food: My only cooking will be via a gimbaled butane
camping stove under a captured 1 ½ quart pot. All my hot meals
will be heated in boilable bags. I’m planning to bring self-made
and store-bought frozen boilable meals, oatmeal, dried cranberries,
hotdogs, salami, cheese, bread, fruit and lots of energy bars and
Gatorade.
Special Thanks: To my wonderful family (Kelsey,
Jeanie, Julie, Dan, Sawyer, Avery, Ngina, Mike, Jenita, Elaine and
Byllye). You have all humored me over the years and supported my dreams.
To my sailing buddies (Steve, John G., Brad, John N., Dave H., Javier,
Joe, Pete, Dawn, Lucie, John & Debbie Ratto and the Express 27
Fleet). Without knowing it, you have been teaching and training me
all this time. Hopefully you have had as great of a time as I have.
A special thanks to Ben Mewes for taking me under his wing and teaching
me some of his tricks. Ben, your mentoring, friendship and inspiration
over the years has been invaluable. I’m still trying to learn
the lesson of not carrying too much sail (smile).
We Are All In This Race Together.