From the sounds of it, Round the County 2019 was a pretty fun race for the Such Fast crew. Maybe not the stellar winds they were hoping for but they did have a little bit of everything. Fog, rain, sun, wind, no wind, painful dead spots...that's the PNW for ya! For those of you who don't know - this is an annual race around the San Juan Islands (32nd Annual to be exact). It is a two day race that starts in the Anacortes area. The race is approximately 76 miles with an overnight stop in Roche Harbor, San Juan Island. Due to the great venue, the better winds of November, and the overnight stop in Roche Harbor, the race has become one of the more popular sailing events in the Pacific Northwest. The crew this year came everywhere from Chicago, to Portland (OR) and the greater Seattle area.
Crew: Anna, Rod, Tasha, Keith, Tommy, Emily, Adam & Dave
Of course Skipper Dave just stepped off an airplane coming back from St. John, USVI and stepped onto his boat at Shilshole without even a stop at home. He's one to fit it all in! But a little vacation time to refresh was exactly what he needed...jeeping, snorkeling, swimming, rum drinking - you catch the drift!
He can't get enough sailing in. It runs through his blood. I was sad to miss this weekend event once again but had to be back in Denver to celebrate my youngests' 17th birthday!
Such Fast did rather well this weekend. I'm not completely sure how many boats were present, it looks like it was around 90+ boats. I have posted the results below: Such Fast came in 9th in their division and 29th overall. Not too shabby! Especially for a crew that hasn't all been together before...
Sounds like Tommy (one of the crew) made a mad chili and cornbread lunch on the boat Saturday...all heated up in the JetBoil. Gotta love JetBoil. If you don't own one, it's compact, easy and FAST. Worth having for boating, camping, hiking...
Here are some other pictures from this past weekends race...
I laughed when I saw that Rod (a crew member from Chicago) had taken pictures inside the cabin...obviously pre-sail. It's always a crazy mess before the race...but thankfully there are awesome bunks to throw most things into. You put 8 people together, including foul weather gear, boots, pfd's, food, Dave's tool shop and hidden bottles of rum...ya gotta lotta stuff!
What a cool shot Rod took from the top of the mast! The mast monkey gave us a great perspective.
Great shot Emily!
Such Fast got new bottom paint a few weeks ago...
One of the crew members, Emily, who is new to sailing and first time on Such Fast had this to share about Round the County:
"So many things come to mind with sailing, specifically with racing this past weekend. I'm more motivated than ever to continue learning and building on skills. What came to mind was how different sailing is from other extreme sports. How it builds character. The stamina and fatigue. It's very different from other extreme sports that I've been involved with. Obviously, there's the constant changing variables of the ocean, the physical and mental challenge. It's incredible and exhilarating!" - Emily W.
The delivery home went well...I must say that Dave caught some beautiful images from the journey to his place on Lake Washington. Of course my favorite are at dusk, my personal fav time of the day. Check out the beautiful image of the skyline of Seattle when he was going through Lake Union.
Gas Works Park
And that's a wrap for RTC 2019.