Preparing for Darkness 

and 

The Bosunator Challenge

Bosun

1 week from today "Scout" will embark on her first challenge, "The Bosunator Challenge". I had come up with the idea to do this sail right before I lost my 4 legged sailing buddy "Bosun".


My friend Kiko asked if we could call the challenge, "The Bosunator Challenge", in honor of Bosun.  And so it is. He was known and loved by all that attended the Havasu Pocket Cruisers Convention, of which he was the ambassador. I miss him terribly.

It's not a huge challenge, but still one to test Scout's and my preparedness for longer events. Honestly, it will also evaluate my desire to participate in longer distance events in such a small craft.

The Bosunator Challenge is a self-imposed challenge. It's not a formal event, although once I announced I was going to do it,  numerous others crews decided it would be fun to do as well and have joined in. One crew already went out and did it on their own last week.

The course of the Bosunator Challenge

 It starts on Thompson Bay in front of a resort hotel on Lake Havasu. My rules (for me) are ...I will depart the hotel dock at sunrise, under sail or human power only (I won't have an outboard on board). Then I will sail South all the way to the South end of the lake near Havasu Springs Resort, a distance of around 14 miles. Rounding a buoy that is down there, I will then return Northbound, returning to the dock from which I started.  The resort where the dock is, is on an island. "The Island" is about 3.5 miles in circumference and is joined to the mainland by the London Bridge.....yes, I said the London Bridge, and yes it is the real one that was brought here in the 60's.

The London Bridge in Lake Havasu City, AZ 

 Sometime during the trip, (either the beginning or end of the trip depending on wind direction), but before returning to the resort dock and calling the challenge complete, I have to circumnavigate the island, including traversing the mile long channel that goes under the London Bridge.





 By the time this course is complete I expect I will be covering around 40-50 miles, depending on how much tacking I have to do. My goal is to do this challenge regardless of the wind forecast unless there are crazy winds that are just unsafe to sail in. The reason for that is to simulate something like the Everglades Challenge. The race starts when it starts. If there is no wind....it's time to paddle, scull, or whatever. I'm going to take the yuloh and also I am going to try propelling the boat with a stand up paddle-board paddle. It will be a learning experience for sure.

LED Bow lights

I expect that I will be out there overnight and thus the reason to get the boat's lighting handled. I have been out on Scout in the evening with just an all-around white light, and while that does meet the requirements for sailing her in international waters....it does not technically make her legal here. After researching it, it appears that she needs to have red/green bow lights, and white stern light while under sail. So now she does. The lights are LED to preserve battery power. I will remove the temporary white all around that I had mounted in the line chock that is built into the bow. I was initially worried that the leeward light would not be visible when Scout was heeling and working to windward, but evaluation of video of her working to windward in 20+ knots reveals that will not be a problem. Click here to see the video

 Scout in 20+ knots


I also installed lighting in the cabin. Necessary?  No, not really (as pointed out to me by a friend)...a flashlight could also be used. However, having sailed "Dauntless" at night a fair amount... I know the convenience of having adequate light without  having to hold a flashlight in your teeth. I am experimenting with a long strip of red LED's that are mounted under the deck, within the shelving area all the way around the cabin. It throws out a nice red light indirectly,  as you never see the actual led's...only their light. This keeps their glare off the windows.  The LED strips are ridiculously cheap off of ebay and put out a ton of light. I, of course, will also have the trusty red/white headlamp on my big fat head as well.

I also popped in a couple of $7 stick on LED white lights. These are battery powered by 3 AAA batteries each and literally run for days on a set of batteries, allowing me to place them in areas where running wires would be a pain. They have a "touch switch" which is simply two contacts next to one another. If you touch them both with a fingertip, the light turns on/off. The lights also rotate to aim the main beams. They are made by Sylvania.

Looking at videos of Dave Bolduc using his yuloh to propel "Enigma" , and photos of the boat, has led me to decide to try a similar yuloh mount on Scout. The mount protrudes from the side of the boat, moving the yuloh off-center. It also differs in that it uses a yoke-style oar lock rather than a pivot pin. I am thinking that this might put the yuloh in a more comfortable position and make it easier to get more aggressive with it without lifting it off of it's mount.  I hope to make the mount over the next couple of days.

I plan on using my SPOT gps tracker to track the Bosunator Challenge and I will post a "Share Page" online so that progress can be tracked. This is mainly so Jo can know where I am and what's going on....but anyone will be able to sign in and see how Scout is doing if they want. I expect of all the boats that are doing the challenge, Scout's 13' waterline will have her bringing up the back of the pack. I'll post the link just before the challenge.

Any boats that attempt or complete the Bosunator Challenge will be given the official "Bosunator Pawprint" decal. A Blue Pawprint will indicate a vessel that attempted the challenge but did not complete it. A Black Pawprint will indicate completion of the challenge but use of Aux. power somewhere along the way, and a Green Pawprint will indicate the goal, completion of the challenge 100% "green" with no aux power use of any kind other than human or wind, from beginning to end.

Still lots to do...so back to work I go!