Racing With Dummies! (Transpac Edition)
Day 11
By Mike

Sailing was not challenging today. It wasn�t interesting either. And it sure wasn�t fast. We began the day hog-winged. By midmorning I had moved the mast back across to the same side as the spinnaker and we dragged along at 6-7 knots. The wind was light, but at least it was blowing the right direction.

In the light wind it was easy to do some simple maintenance around the boat. Like putting up the fishing pole with no line on it and bringing out one with a little bit of line on it. We didn�t bring any spare trolling line.

There was also time for untwisting some ropes, putting sail tape on possible chafe areas, and inspecting things all over the boat for chafe, wear, or other problems. Other than a couple of wear areas that we were already keeping an eye on, everything looks good. Neither of us climbed the mast to inspect things up high, but from down below, things look good up there, too.

The only real problem on the boat is that the speedometer is reading too low. More wind might fix that.

Daily Cuisine:
My five-day �Drink-no-Cokes Diet� wasn�t producing, so I gave it up today. Mainly I gave it up because a Coke sounded really good with my bacon and eggs this morning. And it was really good.

Since my diet was over, I cooked some pasta for lunch today. I fried a pound of hamburger, added a number of choice spices, then added Ragu. I chose some colored bowtie noodles. I like the small noodles better than the long spaghetti ones. They are a lot simpler (faster) to eat.

Around dark I got a hankering to eat some good French toast, which I�m not good at making. It usually turns out either burned or soggy. Every now and then there�s a good piece, but it�s rare. Of course, I put in enough sugar and cinnamon that it�s worth eating no matter the condition. And we both ate it. I think I will practice French-toasting every day till the race it over.

We ran out of cake again.

Fishing report:
Bob caught a dolphin today! But he let it go so we didn�t get to eat it.

Arts and Entertainment:
During my pasta cooking I plugged in �Hang �em High.� There�s nothing better than an oater over lunch in the Pacific. In this one Clint Eastwood gets hung by a lynch mob, lives, and is a vigilante the rest of the movie.

The movie is set in the Oklahoma Territory in the 1890�s. They talk about Fort Grant, which Bob and I neither have heard of. Probably they are suggesting Fort Smith, Arkansas. There was a famous �hanging judge� there about that time.

After dark we watched �Starship Troopers.� It�s not worth saying much about.