Gratitude in the Unexpected
- May 30, 2021
- 5 min read
Updated: Dec 14, 2021
“When life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate. And when life is bitter, say thank you and grow.” ~Shauna Niequist
Though many know by now, Flow State Sailing must sadly announce that the TRADER Transpac 2021 campaign is no longer moving forward. It has been sad to see our path to Transpac take a big twist, but looking back, I am immensely proud of these girls and I am thankful for the opportunity to get as far as we did.
We knew that this was an ambitious goal. Before committing to the Transpac campaign, we spoke with mentors and friends. One reminder that particularly stood out to us was from Annie’s mentor: “Professional sailors have failed campaigns all the time before they find the right one. This is ambitious but I’m glad it’s not stopping you four.” Historically, ambitious goals have never stopped us. That’s one of the many reasons why we’re proud to have gotten this far, to have tried our best, to have laid it all on the table, and to be learning from this and making the most of it. We’ve learned a lot, made new friends, tried some good food, hung out ~in Hawaii~, and showed ourselves what we’re made of.
We arrived in Hawaii on May 13th after playing planes, trains, and automobiles (more accurately described as cars, ferries, college-roommate-provides-early-morning-airport-shuttle, and planes). Eleven hours is a long time to be airborne but we were so excited that it didn’t matter. The crew that was already on island surprised us at the airport with leis! Despite the long hours, we went to the beach with our host Allison (a fellow Coast Guard daughter like me and Megan!), where we swam in the ocean under a rainbow – a magical start to our Hawaiian training block.
For the next seven days, we hit training hard. Crew call time was at 10AM or noon, and we sailed into the darkness every night. I was slotted as helm, Sarah ran the bow, and Megan and Annie worked pit and headsail trim - they crushed it on the grinder! We generally would leave the boat basin, hoist sails, and start tacking our way upwind towards the iconic sloped profile of Diamond Head (a volcanic crater better named as the traditional Lē‘ahi). After gaining enough runway, I would call a bear away, and TRADER was off downwind!
Throughout the week, we consistently saw 18-20 knots of wind, with peak gusts to 28 knots. Further from shore, these trade winds, coupled with the amount of water rushing through the Molokai channel between the islands, create huge sets of waves, around 7 to 8 feet tall. It was epic learning to drive the boat in these conditions, but it made for hard work for the trimmers (ask Megan and Annie to see their biceps for proof).
As practice continued, we solved problems as a team – a blown up practice kite, a spin halyard jumping the sheave, the ins and out of maneuvering a 70 foot race boat with a group of sailors from all corners of the US. In the beginning, training felt tough, and even though we were solving problems as they came up, they put a damper on the practice plans. We were all bumped and bruised. Sarah’s forearms burned and my wrists were sore. Everyone had some sort of bad tan line where they forgot to reapply sunscreen - unfortunately mine was on my forehead…
Midweek we decided to evaluate our attitudes on training. Megan, Annie, Sarah and I talked before practice about our outlook, how much we wanted the race, and how we could be the best teammates to each other and our wider team. We intentionally chose to return to the boat with renewed positivity and keep pushing hard! Megan, our morale engineer, queued up a good vibes playlist on the boat speakers, Annie made sure to lend an extra hand on provisioning and rigging, while Sarah double-checked her set-up to make sure it was perfect. We met everyone with smiles and positivity. Sharing a mantra that the whole team adopted, Megan said as we briefed for the day:
“It’s a good day to have a good day”
And it worked! The next two days of practice were energized and positive – we rode the waves and handled the challenges together as a team. At our team dinner on the boat Friday evening, everyone sang to Jimmy Buffett, enjoying an evening together after another day of tropical but tough training.
After a weekend of rest and consideration, our skipper decided to not move forward with the Transpac 2021 campaign. In an earlier blog, Annie rightly stated that the hardest part of offshore racing is getting to the starting line. Now, getting to the starting line is even harder for us. We are reaching out for rides to see if we can still make the Transpac dream happen, but the idea of all four of us sailing together in an ocean race this summer is one we likely must put aside for now. This ending was unexpected, but in the words of Henri Matisse:
“There are always flowers for those who wish to see them”
In our next blog, we will share all the flowers we got to see when our training ended early – with plenty of time left in Hawaii, we decided to make the most of it!
THANK YOU!
We had so many friends help us get to this point. We are so grateful for everyone who contributed to our dream!
Supporters – everyone who donated, listened to our talks, read our blog, sent a message, helped us get to the airport, and just cheered us on in general. You are awesome!
MudRatz – the team that brought the four of us together. Having the support of the Ratz, from good luck texts, to post practice phone calls, to social media shout outs, really showed us how great our support system is. We’ll always be proud to be MudRatz!
The Magenta Project – mentors, friends, teammates. This organization develops strong bonds and we were so grateful for the support. When the mountains seem too big and the oceans seem to wide to make it happen, our Magenta network jumps in with wise words, encouragement, and inspiration. Love to all the Magenta mentees and mentors - they know how hard making the starting line is and support whether you make it or not. Sailing is still a male-dominated support, so having an organization like the Magenta Project behind us means a lot.
Teammates – New and old! Being able to go through this together was really special. Though we worked hard to get here, we know how lucky we were to have had this chance with you as a team of four young women. We may not have been able to cross the Pacific together, but our new teammates from TRADER will definitely remain in our thoughts!
Host Families on Island – three lovely families and their numerous dogs and cats! It was so great to have a couple places to call home when we were working on one of the most challenging campaigns of our sailing careers so far. Meals, beds, rides, and lighthouses - we got so lucky to find family on the island.
Families – Moms, dads, grandparents, siblings, the friends we call family. Love always. We couldn’t do it without y’all.
Until the next crazy idea comes along,
Lindsay
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