SDYC’s Johannes McElvain and Alli Bell converse back and forth about the 2019 Transpac Race. Johannes and Alli talk about their boats, Cal Maritime and Hula Girl, stories of breaking boats, life on board, and their overall experience sailing from Long Beach to Hawaii.
This episode on the SDYC Sailcast starts with a brief discussion about how Johannes got into sailing, some reminiscing on his high school sailing and what he learned from his college team at Cal Maritime (the team he sailed with on Transpac). Being Johannes first ever Transpac (and Alli’s fourth), he explains some of the preparation and training they went through before setting off including practicing on the SoCal course and adding the finishing touches to the boat.
From there, the two discuss their overall impressions of the race and their favorite parts, which for Johannes was finishing the race after a fun but frustrating journey.
“You see only the horizon line for a week, and then you see these beautiful, green mountains… it’s crazy,” he described.
They continue on with stories of the finish, battling electronics along the way, breaking parts and some struggles along the way. One of the more difficult parts of the race was the Molokai Channel, they agreed. However, the struggle was made up for upon arrival at the Hawaii Yacht Club where they enjoyed music and Mai Tais.
From there, Alli and Johannes talk about the conditions at sea, rationing water and sleep schedules. They compare their lives on board, including their meals, make-shift “coffee”, getting along with their crews and living on a vessel with that many people.
Johannes begins describing what it’s like being the Navigator on board. He explains some of his main responsibilities and why he enjoys being a navigator. Moving on, the two laugh over dreams that they had on board, sleep talking getting them into trouble, and feeling loopy towards the end.
The episode ends with the highlights of the trip and their gnarliest moments. Johannes finishes by giving advice for those looking to get into big boat sailing and sailing in races like Transpac and letting us know what’s next for him in the future.