Surprise, we're leaving today

From Chris Doutre: To all my friends in Santa Cruz who wondered why I left town so suddenly, here's an update. When Captain Lindsey called me in LA on Friday afternoon, I got the idea that she had a crew spot open for some vague future date and wanted to know if I knew anyone available. Well, one thing about me, I'm usually pretty slow, so I told her no, sorry, but I'll ask around, goodbye. After a few minutes of mentally re-decoding her message, I saw the light and I called her back and said I was available, but for when? Bottom line: Agnes and I drove home from LA on Sunday, a day sooner than planned, and I flew out to Honolulu early on Monday morning. At this point I was still thinking Cirrus might depart for Long Beach on Tuesday or Wednesday. Nope; my plane touched down at 11:00, Lindsey and Donna picked me up and we left the airport at 12:00, Lindsey's boyfriend Derrick Ontiveros met us at the boat with takeout Chinese for lunch at 1:00, and after some brief goodbye's with Derrick, and Kim and Lou Ickler, and race-crew Caroline Heinrich, plus Mister O'opu (black beast) we shoved off before 2:00. My cell phone log shows that I talked to Agnes at 1:58 pm and that was from the middle of Kaneohe Bay. There's lots more to the story, but that's enough for now. Fair winds ...