Our mighty steed - It's the Water...
(click for larger pic)

So - everything didn't go perfectly today (!) but it turned out great in the end. 

It started this way; my daughter Alex bruised a rib (not sailing), and was out for most of the day.  And her friend Katherine was not able to join us.  So I actually began the day sailing solo.  This didn't leave any hands free for blogging, so I stayed off the air - sorry!  Later my friend Nick joined me, and we promptly capsized.  It wasn't a big deal, but it did help us cool off, and it made me glad I didn't have my Treo!  Nick's cell 'phone was marinated in Westlake and is probably hors d'combat.  Thanks Nick for the pinch hitting!  Alex helped me sail the final laps and to celebrate afterward :)

the spoils...

Here's the big news - we sailed 38 laps.  This was 2 laps more than any other team, but well short of the record of 47.  We just didn't have enough wind today; at times we were just drifting.  There was a point where we were doing 12-minute laps consistently, but we would have had to do that all day long to have a chance.

By the way, I'm told that in past years this event was sailed for ten hours, so the record was actually set using an extra hour.  We will definitely give it another shot next year.

Overall the event raised over $30,000 for the Casa Pacifica Children's Crisis Center.  Even though we only sailed 38 laps, my team's sponsors together still contributed about $1,500, which made us the team which raised the most money!  Yay, us, and yay, all of you who sponsored us.  Thanks again for your support!