Ok! Confessional time! Being designated dumbass for the HareOnFire crew I don't suppose losing a few more square feet of epidermis to excoriating evaluations from my friends will kill me! We had a great boat and DonKeyHoTey did a brilliant job engineering ande executing his plans for that boat! And I sank it!
I was responsible for releasing the foresail boom during tacks, and on March 10, 2015 around 12:30 am off of East Cape Sable I blew the tack! We had made several previous tacks prior to this, but the sheet had gotten twisted and when it came time it jammed about 3 feet out. Over we went! My recollection is a little hazy which tack it was, but DonKeyHoTey was on it immediately and single-handedly got the boat resurrected in what seemed like seconds by balancing on the centerboard while I slooshed around infeffectually. This is the hard way to lose your capsize virginity with a Lightning as neither of us had ever done anything like this, and I can tell you all it was quite a thrill! I believe we lay flat on the water while waves broke over us and filled the hull. We had plenty of reserve flotation so sinking was not uppermost on our mind, but our casual attitude since we wer not "racing" came back to bite us as unsecured items departed the boat.
Our Lightning was heavily modified, and pretty much untested! We were still tinkering with it until 4 am the morning of the start. Another sleepless night, one of many. Our level of commitment to this event bordered on insanity, and indeed, may have surpassed it. At this time we would probably have been better off if someone had committed both of us and thrown away the key. But what fun would that be? We finally were satisfied that the boat was as "perfect" in our REM sleep-deprived brains as could be accomplished and repaired to the campground to "rest!" Right! We already knew we were starting after all the more punctual participants left! This would be our "handicap" but it matered little as we were going to be allowed to launch despite flouting all the pre-launch procedures (not a criticism, and entirely our own sin). We got to the beach and Chief was on the scene to greet us and personally took charge of dragooning bystanders to get the boat off the trailer and onto the beach rollers (thank you, Chief) The Jeep and trailer had to be moved immediately, but unbeknownst to me the only tether preventing the entire collection from rolling down the steep sandy incline was a miniscule dyneema line. That stuff is STROOOONG! The boat rolled a few inches up the incline untill screaming alerted me to brake! So we left everything exactly where it stood, and I walked back along the trailer and untied the dyneema line! More screaming as the boat began steamrollering toward the more "legitimate" racers who awaited the starting gun!
Our official race documentation had been passed to Paula and as she sorted through the assemblage she noted several were unaccounted for. Probably still lying about the DeSoto launch ramp having been flung about during our manic session of "final preparation!" Perhaps buried beneath the unsorted implements of destruction we had tossed into the Jeep while thrashing about loading required equipment. It's not that we were were in any rush to get launched but when we hit cape Haze and sorted out the boat after cancellation we did find the car jack, two grease guns, and 3 tubes of axle grease in the stern! I love it when a plan comes together!
Paula and Chief bent over backward to let us launch! Even as the cries of distress echoed along the sand we filled out paperwork and gained parole! I don't see too many Tribers who launch ass-first (we may be unique)! Our boat is unique with a fully vertical retracting rudder held on with bungees. We'd already tested our steering system by dragging it for miles along the main drag in Palm Beach the weekend before, so what can a little sand do? That little Lightning scooted bass-ackwards into the surf with an eagerness that was delightful. We fiddled and diddled a bit setting up our sail-plan (no reefs) and entered the zone described as "the washing machine of death!" WOOOOOHEEEE! We were flying! Great power,! Responsive steering! Nice trim, and stability! No Problem! But if we are in the middle of the main shipping channel, why are there waves just off port! Big Crashing Waves! As long as we don't Chinese Jibe this sucker we are gonna roll!
And that was pretty much it! We did pop a few screws in the forward mast resulting in loss of erection! We were reefed all the way down to the third reefing points when we arrived at Cape Haze! Easily remedied Sunday morning by tying the mast to a palm tree and the other end to the trailer hitch and slowly inching forward until we regained the 6 feet or so we had lost the previous day. We enjoyed the UltraMarathon festivities, chatted with friends and competitors, and re-assembled our trusty Lightning for a 240 mile "camping trip."
No Challenge is without issues, but any petty complaints pale when you get to sail with DonKeyHoTey! The man is phenomenal. A virtual encyclopedia on obscure sailing technique and a fount of wisdom and experience, there is no way you can not improve just by being in his boat! His one weakness was readily apparent! Me! Next time he will recruit from Craig's List! He needed a little more than someone who is a great snorkeler, and an indefatigable optomist!
We pulled out of Chokoloskee March 9th around 6:30 pm. A little after midnight we were off of East Cape Sable after my arising from a nap in the stern of the Lightning! Sometime in those intervening hours the weather had turned to crap! Bigger wind, bigger waves, all of which made the Tampa Bay sojourn mile by comparison. I was still shaking the cobwebs from my brain when we went swimming!
At this point someone may ask "why didn't you reef?" Well SHIT! We have been asking the same damn thing! We could have, we should have, but we DIDN'T! Stoooopid! Hindsight is 20/20 and after days of self-flagellation we determined that there were so many things we could have done to avoid this entire incident that we rightly deserved getting put on PROBATION personally by Chief at the Key Largo Banquet!
But because I am a PainenDias I am gonna stop here and let you deep-fry our sorry asses and make comments in this public forum on what you think we should have done! Dont spare the vitreol, bring out the water-boards, make our day! It can only help!
I will pose some problems we faced! We rolled over at least 4 times! We completely turtled the boat and the big steel centerboard clunked into the well. The masts both scraped off on the shoaling sand breaking the rear mast and bending the foremast! Unsecured gear, and velcroed and secured gear came loose in the waves. The forward flotation chamber filled with water! You can start with the boat being upside-down with two waterlogged former sailors perched precariously on a well-waxed bottom while waves break over both! Whatch gonna do now?
