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.