Final pre-race post - A bit of everything

It's all in the details
These last couple of weeks of the campaign remind me too much of what you go through the last couple of weeks of building a house – all the big stuff is done, but it’s all the little stuff that seems to go on endlessly while taking up huge amounts of time. And so it has gone working on the boat.

All the work is paying off, however, as we passed our final inspection with flying colors. It was reassuring to hear the inspector say we were the best prepared boat coming out of the Northwest. That’s simply means one less thing to worry about when we’re in the middle of the Pacific riding high on the swells and trade winds.

Thanks to all those who have gotten us to the starting line. I don't know that we would have made it without your support. Certainly, we would not have been as well prepared. A more formal thanks will be coming in August.

Getting in the (boat) groove
We’ve also had some great shakedown sails over the last couple of weeks complete with blustery conditions and our crew chief back by the transom providing helpful suggestions. It's allowed us to get back in the groove - both mentally and physically. I’m feeling better prepared with each passing day. I know the boat is sound. I know my teammate is focused. I know we’re very well set to meet the challenge.

Still, over the course of the last few days I have found myself experiencing a weird combination of eagerness and anxiousness. The physical manifestations are a big smile as well as big butterflies in the stomach. Too be expected, I suppose, but not something I’ve experienced since I was a teenager competing on the lacrosse field. I am very eager to get started and be challenged on the water. Ditto for being anxious.

It's all about sailing (soon!)
If this blog seems a bit schizophrenic, it’s likely a result of that eagerness/anxiousness combination. The good news is the focus will very quickly come back as start day approaches as all other responsibilities (campaign, fundraising, writing, interviews, work, etc.) are lifted from my shoulders. Make no mistake – I will dearly miss my beautiful wife and her incredible support. As Keeli says, she is the complete package. That is oh so true. Additionally, I’ll be missing my usual morning time with Keeli. But nothing will be better than seeing them, along with other family and friends, at the finish line. Oh, I am so looking forward to that.

Starting now, and until the finish, it will all be about sailing and sharing an incredible challenge with a close friend. Now that’s a calming thought.

See you in Hawaii.

Cheers,
Peter

Itchy, Anxious and Ready to Go!

Not sure if the itchy was caused by the metal shavings from the bolts I've been cutting, but I know the anxious part comes from far too much time out of the water and the last couple of equipment delays. I must tell you, it felt great to get all the gear on, all the mast pieces replaced and get the new rigging on the stick.

With all that was going on, you can imagine we've been a little on edge lately. Amazingly, we've managed to keep the emotions in check and on a pretty even keel (pun intended). The things that have been driving me nuts lately are getting all those tiny, little details done. It's like doing the finish work on a house - just when you think you have everything done, you spot one...more...thing. Arrrrrghghghghgh!!!

Serenity now, serenity now
Like Kramer in one of my favorite Seinfeld episodes, the mantra isn't helping me either. I'm so eager to get back out on the water, get back to sailing. I've kept my sanity by concentrating on the other aspects of the campaign - the preemies. Participating in the Oregon Walk America was incredibly uplifting. You see the sea of people gathering at the start and realize that each one has been touched by the great work of the March of Dimes. Does the heart good, I tell ya. Then there was the little soiree thrown by a couple of sailing friends, Kim and Bob. They hosted a little fundraiser for us at their shop, Channel's Edge, inviting quite a number of their other friends to get to know Project LifeSail. The best part was watching Keeli wrap Bob completely around her finger in less than a minute.

Fun times await
One more day. That's all I have to wait. One more day and we're back in the water (thanks to the courtesy lift provided by Schooner Creek Boat Works). One more day and this darn itch should start to subside. And the good times should continue with the upcoming Aloha Luau. Looking forward to kicking back and relaxing with all of our old friends as well as all the new ones we've made during the last 12 months. Good times, indeed.

Cheers,
Peter

Has anybody seen my brain?

If so, please flip the switch to the "on" position.
I seem to have this uncanny knack for timing the big changes/events in my life so they hit pretty close together. I bring this up only because it apparently has happened again. What's going on, you ask. Let's see:
1. Less than 3 months to go before the start of the race to Hawaii
2. Lots of work still left to do on the boat to get it ready
3. So much time to put in on the water on training
4. A 2-year-old (almost) at home with my (unbelievably great) wife
5. Raising funds for the March of Dimes through Project LifeSail

Of course, what better time to START A NEW JOB! I'm amazed - not at my being a glutton for punishment and pain, but that my wife still has her sanity. Oh, how thankful I am to have such a strong, independent woman supporting me.

So many people making it happen
Other than the upheaval on the professional front, not much else is going on these days. Yea, right. I'll be the first to admit the only way that I keep going and am able to keep up with things is because of a fantastic support network. Here's a breakdown of mine:
1. I have the great crew at Blackfish Creative helping me manage the monthly Web updates and newsletter.
2. The local sailing community has stepped forward month after month to keep the boat work moving – special thanks this month to Jon Josephson and his work on the electronics and power planning.
3. I can't imagine how difficult this would be without my wife, Kathy, being able to step things up on the home front. And her mom, Linda, helps expand the network by helping keep Kathy sane.
4. My former colleagues over at Intel made the transition to the new gig about as painless as it could be all the while providing the same support for my Project LifeSail efforts.
5. My new colleagues at Coaxis, Inc. have all stepped forward with words and actions of support. As an example, the company owner stepped up without a moment's hesitation and has allowed me the time off I’ll need for this life-changing experience.
6. My family…as it has been for all the previous years of my life, they are right there with me every step of the way shouting words of encouragement and demonstrating their support through their actions. At least I think those are words of encouragement.;-)

So it has been since the start of the campaign. Thanks to everyont for continuing to make this all possible.

Peter

Good thing the days are getting longer

Over the course of the past couple of weeks, we've gradually picked up the pace. Or should I say, the pace has picked us up and is dragging us along with it? Yep, that would be the better description. About the only thing that seems to slow the quickening pace is the help of our friends. No, they don’t have the ability to actually slow time, but their help in prepping the boat and getting things done on the campaign provides us with an extra “virtual” couple of hours during the course of the month. As a result, we're managing to get some good stuff checked off the prep list.

All you need is a checklist…and friends
Mandatory Safety-at-Sea seminar completed – check. That happened up at the Seattle Yacht Club. The three-hour drive north from Portland was well worth the effort. Our hosts put on a great event and the trainers kept the day moving and material interesting throughout. I’ve been through these type of things before, but found myself paying a bit more attention to the info and details. Funny how that happens just prior to taking off on a double-handed race across 2,100 miles of open ocean.

Get support from the Pacific Cup Yacht Club commodore - check. My sailing buddy Jeff is great. One of the things he brings to the campaign are his great people skills. In the course of less than 10 days, he not only managed to strike up a conversation with the PCYC commodore while in San Francisco for one of the pre-race seminars, but he met him again the following week at the SAS training. During the course of those conversations, Jeff was able to communicate the feeling, passion and reasons behind Project LifeSail. In doing so, he won the campaign another supporter. Charlie let us know that he’s going to include a bit about Project LifeSail in the next newsletter as well as put a link to our site on the official race site. That’s a big boost for the campaign’s ability to deliver a wider impact and develop a wider reach. Appreciate the support, Charlie.

Lay down new non-skid deck – check. A HUGE concern of ours going into the winter months was getting a new non-skid deck put down. It was a must-do for the sake of my safety and sanity. The old deck…well let’s just say I would have needed lessons from the Ice Capades to stand a chance of staying on board. But thanks to our Kiwi mate, Peter Reese, we have a beautiful, new non-skid deck. Good on ya, Peter, for the great help.

Rebuild the mast and boom – check. In a boat, these are two things – along with the hull – that absolutely can’t break. You minimize that possibility by checking them thoroughly from top to bottom, pulling off all the hardware and rebuilding them completely. Thanks to our ever-wise and ever-present crew chief, Eric Simensen, we’re well on our way to getting those pieces up to snuff.

Get the PLS website updated – check. Brilliant job as always by the crew over at Blackfish Creative getting the usual monthly update done to the site and newsletter out to our mailing list. I tell you, without them, the chances of raising funds for the March of Dimes are greatly diminished. I’m hugely thankful for their help and friendship.

Get another trip to raffle off to benefit March of Dimes – check. For those of you who have never met my sister Mary, you don’t know what a bundle of energy is and you don't know what your missing. Get this - I call her on Thursday night and leave her a message asking if she can find someone to donate a week in a Breckenridge condo. All she does is call me back the next morning to let me know she has secured a donation of a week’s stay in a 6,000 square-foot lodge in the middle of the Colorado mountains! Simply amazing and simply AWESOME! It’s no coincident those would be the two words I would use to describe her as a person.

And the checklist goes on and on and on and on...

Write next month’s newsletter and web copy...rebuild winches...put on the deck hardware...host the Pray-for-Wind Party...the list continues to grow. But with the help of friends and family, it will eventually start to shrink and all the work will get done.

Thanks to all those who have pitched in to get us to where we are today. Thanks in advance to all those who are going to help us get the work done and to the starting line in great shape to compete in and complete the race.

Until next month, cheers!

Peter

An inspired effort continues

Inspiration from most unexpected places
Sure, I’m inspired by the incredible every-day-things my daughter does, especially when I remember how small she was when she came into the world. I expect that. I’m inspired by the fear I feel sometimes when I think too long about racing across 2,100 miles of open ocean in a 24-foot sailboat. Too be expected I suppose.

But what has been unexpected of late is the inspiration I’ve received through my interactions with supporters I don’t know personally. I met so many at our recent stint at the Portland Boat Show. It started with the O’Loughlin Tradeshow people. They set us up with multiple media interviews. They featured us in their show program. They donated a space for us to showcase the boat and our campaign. They’ve even invited us to attend the Tacoma, Washington boat show right up the road in late March.

Inspiration came way of all the individuals who stopped by to chat us up about the campaign, inquire about how my daughter Keeli was doing, and to offer support by way of donations and/or purchases of raffle tickets. And let me tell you, when you’re standing on a floor for 10 hours pitching your message to thousands of people, those brief encounters and everyone’s words of encouragement go a long way to making the time fly by.

There were still others who took the time to tell us about their story of the early arrival of their kids, nieces, nephews or the children of friends. Those stories always serve as none-to-subtle reminders that Project LifeSail is contributing to a very worthy cause.

I find that inspiration fueling me as we tackle one of the more arduous parts of the campaign – final prep of the boat for the race. It’s been more than a couple of times I’ve caught myself smiling and whistling as I work on the boat maintenance…not because of the work, but because of those stories and smiling faces.

Making the most of the 5 months until the start.
Only 5 months until our July 4th start date. And we still have so much to do. One thing that has made it easier to deal with the impending time crunch has been the continued outpouring of support from the local sailing community. Whether at club meetings or during chance meetings at our local West Marine store, members of the Portland, Oregon sailing community continue to show their support of our mission through offers of help to tackle the maintenance to equipment donations. The last 5 months would surely seem shorter but for their support…and inspiration.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to see us and support us at the boat show. Thanks to all those in the local community who are keeping the campaign rolling along. Thanks to all those who continue to inspire myself and others with their stories of premature birth. Thanks for you ability to inspire me. I fully expect I’ll be drawing on that inspiration long after the race is over.

Cheers,
Peter

Mother Nature Puts On A Show

Mother Nature evidently has a screwy sense of humor. With one hand she has been teasing us all year with the wind - forecasts consistently promising good breeze with reality being quite a bit different most days. With the other hand she's been doling out some incredible scenes and sites - stunning sunsets; big, bold full moons; playful seals around the boat; numerous whale sightings including a whale's fluke outlined against a full moon. It's been quite the display that has eased the disappointment of the light winds.

Lesson Learned
At the same time, Mother Nature has also taken the time to provide gentle, friendly reminders of the power that she holds and some of the dangers that we could face during the course of our campaign. On one particular night heading out over the bar outside Newport, Oregon, we found ourselves enjoying one of the whale sighting mentioned above. We were able to enjoy that for about 30 seconds before we realized we were smack in the middle of a pod of whales. That's not the place to be in a 24-foot, fiberglass boat. So as quickly as possible, we got the motor running and headed straight out of the danger zone. Finally after about 2 minutes of tense excitement, we were able to relax and once again enjoy "the show." I figured it was her way of reminding us how quickly things can turn out in the ocean.

Campaign Builds Strong Support Base
I'm an optimist at my core, but still I'm amazed at how much support we have received from the local sailing community and beyond. Locally, our sponsoring sailing club, The Corinthian Yacht Club in Portland, Oregon, has been aggressive in their support. From helping us secure a booth at the upcoming boat show to publishing our needs list on their website, they seem to be continually looking for new and different ways to promote our cause.

Additional local support has come in the form of Ken McLarty and Columbia Crossings (www.columbiacrossings.com). Ken is spearheading a one-day regatta and send-off party/luau on June 10, 2006. He's shooting for a 3 races on the water for the regatta (supported by CYC). Off the water, he's planning a party that will include a live band, great food, "beverages of choice" and a live and silent auction. All proceeds, from the race entry fees to the beer sales, are earmarked to support March of Dimes. Good one on ya, Ken!

Support From Unexpected Places
And out of the blue, Dave Lilley of Sailor's Market (www.sailorsmarket.com) picked up the story that ran in the Newport paper, included it on his site and then provided a permanant space for our online banner on his site for the duration of the campaign. It's simply awesome to have that kind of support offered up from a complete stranger.

Thanks to everyone for their continued support and interest. Check back for my next update in a couple of weeks. I'll let you know where things stand in the winter maintenance phase (groan) of the campaign.

Cheers,
Peter

When stuff happens, make the best of it.

I’ve always approached life in a pretty straight-forward manner and with a simple philosophy – give your best effort and make the best out of all that comes your way. That approach has served me well during our last month of less-than-spectacular weather. As a result, while I much rather would have had big wind, I understand that was something out of my control and the only thing left to do was make the best of it.

That’s exactly what I’ve been doing this past month. The lack of wind on the Bridge-to-Bridge race in late August meant that while we would be doing limited sailing, it left more time for Jeff and me to pick the brain of our crew chief Eric Simensen and our resident sail-trim expert, Bryant Alexander. And there were plenty of great nuggets of info from the two of them. So time not wasted.

Then, in early September, the lack of wind during our scheduled training weekend left more time for me and Jeff to discuss safety, provisioning, medical training, fundraising ideas and next steps in our sponsorship efforts. So while we didn’t make great gains on the water, we generated plenty that will help the campaign in the immediate future and bolster our safety at sea during the race. Again, time well spent.

These setbacks are a form of training themselves. They become little reminders during the course of the campaign that adversity is all part of this game. I know we’ll surely face more adverse conditions in the months leading up to the race. We’ll almost certainly face bigger challenges during the race itself. It’s how we face and overcome those challenges that will determine how successful we are through the course of this little adventure. And I’m talking more than just how we place in the race.

So here I am, looking forward to what the next month brings...good or bad.

Cheers,
Peter