Holy moly, crew — we leave from Bellingham for the R2AK start line in t-minus 7 weeks! That snuck up fast…maybe because 2/3 of our crew spent the winter far from the cold waters in the Pacific Northwest. (Thanks, Melissa, for babysitting our boat!)

We’re back in action now that spring has sprung, and Wild Card is looking fit and fabulous. Check out what the fearless SLAM crew and our stalwart volunteers (aka: our mostly-willing family and friends) have accomplished so far:

• Fresh bottom paint (thanks, Craig Cooper!).
• Shiny hull complete with sponsor logos and a fresh name.
• Full electrical refit (all hail Katie and Pacific Marine!), including a sweet new lithium battery bank and well-labeled switchboard.
• Rigging tuned and ready to roll (thanks, Mike Powell!).
• Pedal drive mounted and steaming us along at 3 knots (ok, only when it’s dead calm).
• Training sails that tested many of our headsails, as well as our ability to stay calm when sh$t goes sideways. 
• Lots of spreadsheets and thousands of texts (not exaggerating) to help us plan food, routes, send-off parties (thanks, Kai Turner!), packing lists and safety gear before the June 9 race start.

Rather than a long, boring blog post, we thought we’d give you a little insight into our team dynamic by sharing snippets from our R2AK team text string. It’s super professional at all times, obviously. The following screenshots are from the first couple weeks in April, and not in chronological order. Hope you enjoy them as much as we do! 

P.S. We’re still looking for these key safety items:

• EPIRB
• Storm jib (needs to be TuffLuff or furling compatible, not hank-on)
• Anchor (~20-25 pounds, Rocna preferred), G40 or HT 1/4” chain (~20 feet) and rode (~150 feet)
• Personal Man Overboard Beacons with AIS
• Small life raft or survival suits

If you (or someone you know) would be willing to donate one, we will give you SO MANY HUGS! Email brianna.randall at gmail.com to get on the hug-for-donation list 😄