Morpheus was designed by Carl Schumacher, built by Davie Norris Boatbuilders in New Zealand and launched in 2002. She spent her first 18 months cruising the South Pacific before reaching her home port of San Francisco. Since that time, Morpheus has been raced and cruised extensively. This blog will document her ongoing adventures.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Jumper?
Just making the turn now for the final approach into the golden gate. Coast Guard is responding to reports of a jumper near the north tower....
Jim Gregory
Sunday, April 01, 2007
4/1: Morpheus on standby in Monterey
Winds yesterday were forecast to be in the 8 - 16 knot range. Instead, Chris and I ended up fighting 20 - 28 knots for most of the late morning and afternoon. Chris needed to get to the airport this morning, so we made a decision to pull in to Monterey last night.
Winds are now forecast to go Easterly on Tuesday and maybe even southerly on Wed.
I'll be back onboard Monday evening and take it from there.
-Jim
Winds are now forecast to go Easterly on Tuesday and maybe even southerly on Wed.
I'll be back onboard Monday evening and take it from there.
-Jim
Friday, March 30, 2007
3/30, 1300hrs - San Diego to San Francisco #3
250 miles to San Francisco!
Hello from directly in between Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz island!!
Two pretty barren pieces of real estate, but somehow pretty nice to look at today. Picture perfect conditions. Light winds continue but are forecast to build to 15 - 20 knots tonight. Should round Conception at about 7pm this evening. Probably not a bad time to get around.
Next report from there.
-Jim and Chris
PS. Had the bolt that holds the second batten from the top break and drop in pieces on the deck this afternoon right at noon. Not a good moment to see nuts and bolts falling from the rig and bouncing on your deck. This has happened before. It's a full length batten and there must be some pretty impressive forces at work up there. Replaced the bolt without losing any time/distance.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
3/29, 1800hrs - San Diego to San Francisco #1
375 miles to San Francisco!
Chris and I shoved off from the San Diego Yacht Club this afternoon at about 2pm. Conditions are great. 8 knots of wind, unfortunately right from where we are heading.
The navy put on a great show as we sailed out the channel with aprox. 6 fighters taking off and buzzing us on their way to who knows where.
Then about two hours later the Coast Guard came by in one of their fancy new helicopters. The approached from astern and flew by very slowly and very close at about mast height. No doubt checking us out and making sure that our intentions were pure.
Sunshine, no clouds, winds 10 knots below forecast. It's all good here!!
-Jim and Chris
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Cabo to San Diego #4
March 14, 2007
Arrived in Turtle Bay (aprox 220 miles south of San Diego) last night at about 11pm. Dropped anchor without incident and after a quick beer to celebrate we were all sound asleep in no time.
The fuel dock "amigos" got to work at about 7am this morning, and we were #4 on their list. Other boats in the harbor included Pelegroso, Checkmate, Forteleza, Denali, and Valkyrie.
All went well and we took on 90 gallons from a collection of plastic jugs used to transport the fuel via Panga from the fuel dock to the boat at anchor.
After a quick chat on the radio with friends on Picante we were on our way. By the way, Picante is doing this right. They had stopped in the next harbor south of Turtle Bay hoping for fuel. Instead, they ended up chatting with the locals and were invited to dinner at a fisherman's house!! Word was that the fish taco's were great!
The rest of the morning and afternoon was more of the same. Sunshine, warm temps, and 6 to 12 knots of wind from the NW.
UNTIL.... Mid afternoon, when Mike decided to spout off about what a "challenging and difficult thing" this Baja Bash was. He decided that Rob and I were a couple of sub standard sailors if "this" was what we had warned him about prior to the trip. He did this while putting on more sunscreen and lazing around in his bathing suit!!
Predictably, the gods were not pleased and the perfect weather that we had enjoyed to date quickly went away. In its place we got, fog, big confused seas, winds shifting quickly back and forth between 285M and 320M, and velocity changes between 12 and 20 knots. Oh....did I mention no moon so total absolute darkness????
Needless to say, Rob and I are not pleased with Mike this morning (3/15) and he has be tasked with coming up with an appropriate sunset ceremony to beg forgiveness from the gods.
We can only hope that he is effective and that we will not have to put up with another night like last night!!!
- Jim/Rob (and Mike)
Crew Addendum: First understand that aboard the Morpheus we have a complement of exactly 3, a Captain, a First Mate, and a (singular/not plural) Crew. Do the math. The Captain neglects to mention in his log that while Picante was dining on fresh caught home cooked fish tacos, we also heard that the Alchemy crew was surfing and dining on fresh lobster picked in Santa Maria Bay. Morpheus Crew (singular/not plural), on the other hand, was denied shore leave in Turtle Bay, and refused permission to contact fishing boats to negotiate for fresh caught anything. On Morpheus the Officers prefer food that is pre-cooked, pre-packaged, and individually wrapped. Although, I must admit the peanut-butter tootsie-roll sandwiches were a unique taste experience, as long as one was careful not to eat the sticks. The Crew (singular/not plural) has now been charged with placating the gods for better weather during our last night at sea. The Crew (singular/not plural), is considering a ceremony befitting the date - The Ides of March - not unlike the sacrificial ceremony performed on the Senate floor in ancient Rome. The sun has returned, the seas are flat again, and since the Captain took offense at the Crew (singular not plural) sunbathing in his bathing suit, the Crew (singular not plural) will instead be sunbathing completely nude all afternoon and dreaming about those lobsters in Santa Maria Bay.
Cabo to San Diego #3
March 13, 2007
8:30pm
8:30pm
Another great day. Almost ran over a whale. Found ourselves traveling along with a pack of 4 or 5 whales this afternoon. Slowed down and enjoyed the show for about an hour. They are really impressive!
While Mike was looking at one spouting a mile away and trying to get a picture of that, one surface RIGHT in front of Morpheus. It was no more than two boat lengths away, and Mike never saw it!
We are about two hours out of Turtle Bay where we will stop for the night and refuel first thing in the morning. The weather reports are still very favorable. Hoping for a Friday PM arrival in San Diego.
Hope all is well,
-Jim
Cabo to San Diego #2
March 12, 2007
As close to a perfect day heading home as could ever be wished for. Beautiful clear conditions, 5 - 10 knots out of the North, calm seas and a route that took us just a mile or two off the beach at Magdalena Bay.
Lot's to look at. Whales, dolphins, etc.
Our boat is fine, but unfortunately it seems that Pirrana (a farr 40) has somehow ended up on the beach about 50 miles North of Cabo. Most of the boats enroute are talking on the SSB each day and that was the topic of the day. How can a boat end up on the beach in conditions described by one skipper as "Delivery Captain Heaven??"
If anyone can check the race website for us and send us "the story" we'd love some details.
Forecast is for at least 48 more hours of this weather...
-Jim
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