Adam Miller and Family

Final Race Post (I promise)

November 13, 2010 by Lohring in Lohring

Well, two months later I finally quit taking naproxin and am recovered. A very short video that summarizes our experience is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwViZLfRwBA&feature=related The first 19 seconds are when everything was going well, and the rest was after Mike got hurt. At the end Eric is climbing out on the deck to secure a gas cap, and we are trying to figure out why the GPS stopped working. The first 19 seconds look so gracefull I almost want to go back. (STOP ME!)

Heading Home

August 30, 2010 by Lohring in Lohring

Look at that last picture and you can understand why Mike broke his rib. That's a 5 ton boat. The boat in the foreground is the other boat Mike restored.

I'm at a hotel at Heathrow getting ready to fly home. For my final English meal I had a Big Mack with two all beef patties, special sauce, etc.It was very new and one of the nicest, cleanest McDonalds I've seen. I'll call in as soon as I get back.

Race pictures

August 30, 2010 by Lohring in Lohring

More race pictures at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/timtapping/20100829Powerboat#

The Day After

August 30, 2010 by Lohring in Lohring

Well, we survived but it was close. First the good news. We were first in the historic division and Mike also won an award for the best restoration for his work on the Uno Embassy. We all got a huge amount of recognition from both the racers and the officials at the awards cerimony. People came up to me all week to comment on the boats. Some had been following the race for decades. I'm sure only a very few people understand what a huge effort went into both awards. The cost was way beyond money.

Now for the "bad" news. The race started with a huge thrash to get the final details ready so the boat could pass inspection. We made the start and things were about as I expected with 1 meter waves. We were running well when, 1/2 hour into the race, Mike got a little out of position and broke at least one rib during a hard hit. From that point on, we tried to take an easy and slower route. We were still fifth at the 1/2 way point, but our GPS had a plug get loose and stopped working. We followed another boat around the Torquay turn marks and headed home. We got the GPS plug fixed only to have one of the mounting knobs fall off. As the day went on, the waves got worse. We were running with the seas and stuffed the boat into several waves. Even though we were only running inthe mid 20 mph area, that much water in the face was hard on my and Eric's necks. The Uno Embassy boat had its windshield broken fron a wave. Mike got out of the bottom of the boat and took over throttling from Eric. The GPS decided to work once in a while, but I ended up holding one side in the bracket for the last hours. Because of the way I had to stand, I was leaning against the side of the bolster. As Mike and I found out, it is not well padded. My back feels like it was beated with a rubber hose. In the end, we made it around the last buoy and down the Solent in waves that were aproaching Tuesday's 2 meters. We wern't sure we actually crossed the finish until the GPS came on one last time and showed our track through the middle of the line. We made it! Many of the 40+ starters didn't.

I changed, showered, took more Naproxen (sp?), and went for a beer or two. The awards were next. Mike was checked by the doctor and given codine. Mixed with beer it improved his mood. I gave Eric some Naproxen. We all started feeling more positive. I donated my vest and helmet to Mark, a young man who was a tremendous help in getting both boats ready. Mike let him drive the Dry Martini over the day before, and he was thrilled. He said it was the fastest he had gone in a boat. He can take my place.

I'm on the way back to Heathrow for my flight out tomorrow. See you all soon.

Day whatever

August 28, 2010 by Lohring in Lohring

I'm off to Cowes this morning. All the information except the tracking is at www.cowes2010.co.uk They just ran the Cowes 100, a warmup for tomorrow's big race. Fabio Buzzi won as expected. He is heavily favored to win tomorrow as well. My new friend, Andy Macateer, was third. Eric and I helped him install new engines in his boat. The weather looks good, so wish us luck.

The web site you can track the race on is htt...

August 27, 2010 by Lohring in Lohring

The web site you can track the race on is http://live.adventuretracking.com/cowes-torquay

All the trackers are shown at the Cowes Yacht Haven for now. We're tracker #26, Dry Martini. The race start is scheduled for 10:00 AM GMT or 2:00 AM Pacific time. The end of the race should be around 6:00 AM Pacific time.

Day 5

August 26, 2010 by Lohring in Lohring

It was much less eventful today as Mike and Eric were out of town. I took a walk through downtown Southampton to the waterfront. On the way I got some sun tan lotion, some cash, and a book for the trip home. Thanks Adam and Jenny for the PIN#. I didn't realize how old the city is. There are remains of the city wall and buildings from medieval times. The maritime museum is in a warehouse that has been in use for at least 300 years. Because the Titanic sailed from Southampton, most of the crew was from here. The sinking left lots of fatherless familys who got some government support. An interesting statistic was that 100% of the first and second class children survived, but only 30% of the third class children survived. The museum was small and only took me, the person who reads all the captions, around an hour for the visit.

In the afternoon I met Paul at Driver's to help with the fiberglass repair. We were lucky with the rain and got everything finished. Tomorrow I will put everything back together and make the final preparations for the race. The forecast for Sunday is 1/2 to 1 meter waves (3 to 6 feet) with around 10 mph wind. Check out everything at http://www.cowes2010.co.uk/

Day 4

August 25, 2010 by Lohring in Lohring

Well, now I know what they say about offshore racing is true. I'll try to describe our test yesterday, but you had to be there. We headed off down the river on a nice sunny day at a comfortable 60 mph. We turned into the Solent and things got a lot rougher. The 20 to 25 mph winds from the previous day's storm met the outgoing tide and kicked up a 3 to 6 foot confused sea. We never got above 45 mph and were often down to 25 mph. A couple of times the boat was out of the water long enough so the wind actually started to blow it over a little. Eric bent the steering wheel after one impact. The pounding was very punishing.

The boat handled the conditions very well. The combination of Mike's throttling and the boat's design kept everything under control. Mike said it was Cigarette (our boat's brand) weather. The crew didn't do as well. It was the first test of our new GPS, and I didn't have time to set it up well. On top of that, my helmet cam fell off and my glasses fell down inside of my helmet. Pushing up my face shield only got everything coated with salt spray. I had a hard time seeing what the GPS was reading. and didn't realize we had gone east then west on the Solent. When we turned to go back after about an hour, I had trouble understanding where Mike wanted to go. He recognized that Cowes was close so we headed in and tied up. We headed for the bar and had beer and dinner. Don't tell anyone I ate a spotted dick for desert. We discovered that the high speed ferry had stopped running due to the conditions. Mike said it was the roughest conditions he had been out in. Eric and I had no idea and didn't know if we needed to be concerned. (We were.)

After dinner the weather looked better so we followed the big ferry out of the harbor. I setup a route on the GPS so we wouldn't get lost. We didn't want to push things but 45 mph was comfortable. We passed the ferry and were back in the river in no time. Mike ran the boat up to 80 mph to be sure everything was still working. It was. The only damage was a loose exhaust header bolt and a new crack in the deck from flexing. We tied up the boat and went to the hotel to look at my helmet cam video. My computer doesn't handle the HD video well, but it should be interesting.

Today we hoisted the boat out and cleaned everything off. Mike and Eric headed off to Poole to install the engines on the Embassy boat, a three day job. Mike arranged to get the deck repaired tomorrow, and I installed a foam floor mat. I spent the next few hours under the cover playing with the GPS. I got routes setup for everywhere. The rain started to come down hard so I called a cab and went back to the hotel. I'm now starting to notice the bruises on my hip, knee, and forearm. The muscles on the top of my legs ache as well. I'll be glad for a few day's rest before the race.

Day 3

August 24, 2010 by Lohring in Lohring

We spent yesterday mostly working on other boats. Eric spent lots of time on the phone trying to get the new engines delivered for the other boat Mike built. Mike worked with another competitor, Dean Gibbs who was also changing to newer engines. I spent a little time fixing things on our boat, but mostly stood around. Everyone thought the GPS I bought was too small, so Mike and I bought a new one. It's much easier to use and read as well. We got it mostly installed and will finish this morning. It's finally a nice day. I hope we can actually test. Below is a link to the yacht basen at Cowes. We should be there Saturday.

www.cowesyachthaven.com/webcams.aspx

Day 2

August 23, 2010 by Lohring in Lohring

We spent Sunday in a sea survival course. It was a short and simplified version of the course I took this summer in Newport. It was a good review and we spent a lot of time in a swimming pool getting in and out of a life raft. Afterward we went down to the boat and installed the GPS. While Mike went to the train station to get his and Eric's wife, Eric and I watched one of the other racers try to install their second engine. When they were about to give up as there was no space to lower the engine into place, Eric insisted that it could be done. With a lot of careful maneuvering, the four of us got the engine in place. The racers turned out to be fairly well known and were great guys.

It stormed during the night with high winds and rain. We still plan to test today for a short time. I'll try to take some pictures with my helmet camera to test it. If it works I'll post some.

England

August 21, 2010 by Lohring in Lohring

I finally made it after around 24 hours of no sleep. All the various connections worked except I couldn't find the bread and breakfast I was supposed to stay at. Fortunately, the hotel I was registered at for the rest of the week was easy to find and had room. I then spent the rest of Friday getting a phone to work for calls in England. That went fine except that 5 pounds doesn't buy very many minutes. I then got ready to e-mail everyone and broke the power cord to my computer. The guys who unlocked my phone were very helpful and steered me to the English equivalent of Radio Shack. I soldered on a new connector and am up and running.

Mike is working on a boat in Poole so I may move there for some of the week. I'll let everyone know. For now I'm at Jury's in Southampton. I've been walking around and hope to explore more in the afternoon. The place has a great history as both the pilgrams and the Titanic sailed from here. They are still an active cruse ship port. If the misty rain lets up, I'll go out this afternoon and get some pictures.

Ana's Birthday

July 28, 2010 by Lohring in Lohring

I had a fun weekend at Ana's. Her birthday was Saturday and quite a few of her relatives that live here came to celebrate her 60 years. I wanted lots of witnesses since my present was an engagement ring. She said yes after some persuading. I think she was surprised. Her niece's husband sang "Crazy" for us. He doesn't do Patsy Cline for just anyone. LOL

Our offer on a coast house was also accepted. It's localed on Siletz bay and is new, built in 2007. We got a very good deal. You all need to visit after we get settled. It has three upstairs bedrooms with a huge room for the kids.