Addiction Made It!

well Addiction pulled into the shipyard at about 9 o'clock this morning, and boy what a relief that was. I checked out the " ding " and it really is just that, a ding, in three places on the rail, on both beams. It could have been much worse. The yard is going to fix it. The shipping company, Pasha is paying for it . I had a picture of the ding, but now i cant find it. I will post it tomorrow.

Other then that, the driver Howard is a really neat, nice guy. That's him, and his truck the Intimidatory. (that's the trucks name.) We were able to unload the mast today, and mom and I got it all rigged up and ready to step on Monday. Thank you to Duncan and Rick for helping to unload the mast. I am tired now and will write more latter. oh and thanks to all for the comments.

Small Ding



I don't know if anyone out there was taking bets on whither or not Addiction would arrive today, so for those of you that are optimist, pay up. I got a phone call from the truck driver at around 1 o'clock this afternoon, good news, the brakes are fixed, bad news, do to wide load restrictions and a curfew he is unable to leave till early in the morning of the 13th. ( It makes me wounder. If he knew of these restrictions, then why did he tell me to meet him in the yard the day before at 3 o'clock, even though he would be unable to drive down the road at that time? hmm.)

Well that all seems fine and well right? The yard is not usually open on Saturday, but like i said in my previous blog they have been very kind and offered to have a few guys come in and put the boat in the water over the weekend. Seeing as how reliable my Load a Boat people are I figured might as well wait till Monday morning.

Once I got all that squared away with the yard I gave my Load a Boat guy a call to let him know that the boat, the trailer, and the driver would have to stay the weekend in the parking lot at the shipyard ( I am told that that is not to unusual). At this point in the day it almost seems like thing are starting to fall in to place. I start to wrap up my phone call with the Load a Boat guy, and then he tells me, I don't want you to be surprised when you see the boat, but there is a ding on her beam......... I ask him what exactly is a ding?, like a gaping hole in the boat or a nick in the gel coat? He never really gave me a good answer on that one. He tells me that it came off of the shipping boat just fine, so at some point it was moved in the port and got bumped into something. At this point i am a bit confused, because now he has mentioned both beams. So I ask a few more questions, and he assures me that the shipping company has never damaged a boat before. Well to be honest, I could give a shit about all the boats that came before Addiction. Then I guess he had forgot that he had told me that Addiction came off the ship fine, and he goes on to tell me that he thinks what happened was that it was loaded to closely to other cargo on the ship, and when the ship swayed, thats how both beams got "dinged".

I think we can all draw our own conclusion as to the validity of what i have been told so far, and as to why I have yet to see the boat. Let's all just hope this time his word is true, and it really is just a ding.

Where Is Addiction?

Alright, my mom and I arrived here in Long Beach on the 8th. I phoned my Load a Boat guy to make sure we were still on schedule to have Addiction delivered to the Marina boat yard first thing on the 10th, he said that they were having some delays with other boats, that a truck was held up in Arizona, but that he might have another driver available to drop off my boat on the 10th.

I didn't hear back from him till mid day, the day of delivery, while waiting in the yard. Turns out there was some jam up in LA and the driver wasn't going to make it till first thing in the morning. Hey OK, that's life, hurry up and wait, fine.

So the morning of the 11th I find myself waiting at the shipyard at 7:30am....... Some peoples first thing in the morning and my first thing in the morning are two different things. Ten o'clock rolls around, my phone rings, yes, I think its the driver wanting directions, NO, its my Load a Boat guy. It turns out the driver got to the LA yard after closing yesterday, so they were going to off load that boat right then, then the driver was going to shoot down to San Diego, pick up Addiction, and be at my yard at around 3pm. (A half hour after closing).

Lucky for me everyone at the Marina shipyard are the nicest people, and have been very helpful with everything. I have also met a few people from around the harbor that followed the 2007 Transpac and are more then willing to lend a hand. Duncan Harrison, Rick Ross and I made a plan to meet at around 3 to start unpacking the mast and getting a few thing done around the boat that we could.

What do you know, my mom and I once again find ourselves sitting at the yard at 6 o'clock staring at an empty space were Addiction should be resting.

You cant sit in a shipyard and stair at nothing all night, so we left and went back to New Port were we are staying. We got showered, changed, meet up with some family and friends, and went out for a nice dinner.

9 o'clock strikes and my phone rings, it's the truck driver, ( first time I have ever spoken to him) he's in San Diego, he is with Addiction............BUT, apparently the brakes on the trailer have gone out, don't work, can't be driven, some shit, I don't know, and he has to wait for a mechanic to come look at them first thing in the morning (we know how that goes). He said if it all works out he could be at my shipyard by noon Friday.

For all I know, at this point Addiction could be parked in front of a Denny's in Mississippi with the trailer on blocks. Who knows? We'll all just have to wait and see.

                                                                                                                     The Blessing

So you can't start a voyage on a Friday and you can't blindly hand your boat over to a trucker to be shipped 2500 miles with out a blessing. Thank you to Chaplin Bill Crockett for blessing the crew, boat, and trailer. We know where you live if things go wrong. No really with all the ti leafs, Buddha statue, Catholic saint, Indian goddess, plus a lucky rabbits foot, and the blessing, I think we should be covered. Safe Sailing

Phoenician

Boat Yard

So we spent 2 week at the Phoenician boat yard, getting Addiction ready to load up on to a trailer, and ship out to San Diego. There was a lot of work to be done, pull the mast, messenger the lines, sand and spray the bottom, paint the stern, clean, wax, polish the hull....... the list goes on. With the help of John Gomersall and all the guys in the yard we were able to stay ahead of schedule and almost stress free. I really have to say, after G.P. sprayed the bottom, and we burnished her, it came out like butter. It was an added relief to know that I didn't have to think about ordering my spare parts because Remi was on top of it. Oh don't forget, coming soon the Phoenician boat yard will be opening a marine store.

Big MAHALO to all the guys in the yard!!!!!

Lindsey A. Austin

Captain 

* Born and raised in Hawaii. Grew up on an 80 foot steel hull schooner. 

* Extensive sailing through the Hawaiian Islands, Christmas, Fanning, Washington, Palmyra, Tarawa Atolls. Baker, Howlland and Jarvis Islands. Kingmen and Winslow Reef. 

* 8 years of Jr. sailing at the Waikiki Yacht Club.

* 2003 I received a 100 ton masters license including tow and sail endorsements.

*Yacht deliveries between the central/ south pacific and the west coast.

* Captain of the 2007 Transpac yacht Cirrus. Aloha B division winner. Becoming the youngest skipper to win any division in a 103 years of Transpac history. 

* Not a mother of anything, but a proud little sister of tug boat captain Phillip Austin. 

RICHARD BLACKBURN

OWNER

*Has owned Hobbie 16, Prindle 16 & 18, Cal 28, Ranger 33 and a J35.

*7 years of sailing in and around Puerto Rico, 46 years of Hawaiian Island sailing. Off shore and course racing in Hawaii.

* 4 Asahi Cups. First place in 1998. Third place in 1999 & 2000

*1998-2003 award for most Friday night races sailed.

* Father of Nate Blackburn, a two time Laser national competitor, representing Waikiki Yacht Club, and 2006 Jr. Yachtsmen of the Year.