I know it’s been a few weeks since we’ve sent an update. I’ve been busy and wrapped up in several things at once. To start, I’m down in Southern California helping to put together a boat (No, not Bodacious Dream) for some upcoming races on the West Coast this summer. In addition to that, I’ve also taken some road trips and had some speaking engagements, which have been great fun. In fact, I’ve got another speaking engagement coming up next weekend on Saturday, February 23rd back in the Midwest at the Michigan City Yacht Club. (More on that below)

I’ve been here in San Diego helping to prepare a beautiful “Santa Cruz 52” called Bodacious IV. (Yup, she’s a sister ship to our Bodacious Dream.) She’s here to compete in the Newport to Cabo San Lucas race at the end of March, and then come July, in the Trans-Pac Race which runs from Long Beach, CA to Honolulu, HI.

In the last two weeks, after her arrival here by shipment from the Midwest, we’ve put on the keel, installed the rudder, put together the rig and stepped the mast, put all sorts of pieces and parts back in place, launched the boat and we’re sail testing it this weekend with the captain, electronics and navigation gurus!

Here’s what it looks like to set up and step (what we call installing) the rig (mast)!

 

The process looks easy, at least when you’re working with the talented people from Driscoll’s and Rigworks!

The work is almost complete here, and I’ll be heading for home the middle of this week, and preparing for what I know will be a great time … a storytelling session at the Michigan City Yacht Club in Michigan City, IN! This is my home yacht club and home sailing waters, and I much appreciate their asking me to entertain them on a mid-February night with stories, photos, videos and tall tales of my last year. From building Bodacious Dream to shipping her to Ft. Lauderdale, The Atlantic Cup Race, The Quebec-St. Malo Race, Normandy Channel, Mondial Class 40 World Championships and then the solo Trans-Atlantic return trip – I guess I can fill up the time pretty well. If you’re in the area, and looking for some salty diversion next Saturday night, come join us! (Here’s a link to the flyer on the Michigan City Yacht Club website for more information.)

Soon after that, I’ll be heading back to Charleston, SC to resume work on Bodacious Dream to get her ready for the upcoming season of racing and sailing which will start off with The Atlantic Cup Race on May 11, 2013. This promises to be another great event put together by Manuka Sports Management, and we are expecting some very intense competition this year. Two of our competitors from last year, Toothface and Ahmas will have new generation boats that will keep us on our toes for sure!

We’ve got more exciting news planned for the coming few months, and we’ll be letting you know about all that very soon. So please keep a lookout for our updates here, on our mailing list (signup form above) and over on our Bodacious Dream Facebook Page.

Thanks again, and our very best to all of you!

– Dave and Bodacious Dream