Team Chippewa

St. Croix Crew Photos

2006-02-23T16:10:00.000-06:00

First set, compliments of crew member Kinnan Stauber!

Hot Off The Press!

2006-02-23T15:32:00.000-06:00

Click HERE for a link to an article from the Virgin Island Daily News and a great photo of Chippewa during one of the St. Croix races. Thanks to crew member Tammy Walstrom for sending the link!

CHIPPEWA TAKES HOME THE RUM! 2/20/06

2006-02-21T16:32:00.000-06:00

Yes, it is really true! Our very own Bayfield, Wisconsin based Team Chippewa WON the 13th ANNUAL ST. CROIX INTERNATIONAL REGATTA!!!

As an unknown contender, Chippewa was able to crash the party with relative obscurity until she showed her consistent ability to cross the finish line within the top three places. The St. Croix regatta is the first of a three regatta series, the C.O.R.T. , with Culebra and the BVI Spring regatta making up the other races.

Keither Stauber provided the following brief summary from St. Croix, "Our race scores were 3, 3, 1, 1, 1, 3, 5, 6 for a total of 23 points. The second place boat had 33 points. The wind was always from about 85 degrees and the first two days it blew between 6 and 12. The last day it was about 16 and we did not do quite as well."

With less than two weeks to clean, rig and make Chippewa ready for speed, Dave and Kim West returned to Chippewa on 2/7/06 from a three week African adventure led by Gennifer Reed of Reed Realty, Bayfield. Joined by a portion of their crew early in the week of 2/13, they sailed from Virgin Gorda to St. Croix on a rough 60 nautical mile crossing to St. Croix where the rest of the crew arrived to complete their nine person team.

Team members for this regatta included: Dave and Kim West, Sam Solhaug, Dick Kalow, Tammy and Erik Walstrom, Keith and Kinnan Stauber and Chris Juntunen.

Part of the crew will spend several days recuperating with some team members returning to the midwest and other's joining the team for the next series, the Heineken Regatta at St. Maarten, March 3 - 5, 2006.

Click HERE for results from the St. Croix Regatta, Feburary 18-20, 2006.

We Have Lift Off! 1/14/06

2006-01-28T22:13:00.000-06:00

Chippewa floated off of Dockwise at 13:45 this afternoon. I found no damage from the trip. The engine started, the hull floated and the mast pointed skyward. We had made a reservation in a marina next to the cargo docks but with such an early offload we headed East. After 1 hour of taking waves over the bow we entered the more sheltered waters of Pillsbury Sound. We contemplated stopping at Cruz bay and staying ashore but decided against it. We continued East until we ran out of daylight. Kim and I are sitting in Watermelon Bay, St. John, USVI on a Park Service Mooring. We spent 2 hours rearranging and reassembling to create 2 berths. Sardines in tomato basil, brie and Ruston Cabernet provided much needed sustenance. Ten other boats share the bay. Chippewa is having emotional issues. She is a track star stuck at a Jenny Craig meeting. She is confused by the long absence of her crew. She longs for a start line and a sail change. It is dark, partly cloudy, 80 degrees and breezy. I better put on a jacket. A fish just jumped beside the boat. The only noise is from the park ranger's barking dog. He is moored 50 yards away. The bark sounds all the world like "shoot me please, shoot me please". The full moon backlights the clouds and stars push through the cracks. We should arrive Virgin Gorda before noon tomorrow. We will spend the remainder of the day and all of Sunday prepping Chippewa for her lonely vigil awaiting our return. We depart for deepest, darkest Africa Tuesday a.m. I do believe at least 10 hours of off watch are in order.
Dave and Kim

Lift Off - Team Chippewa Update,1/5/06

2006-01-24T20:46:00.000-06:00

My update from yesterday was made in the morning. We planned a leisurely day doing last minute shopping. At 2 pm we were in the Galleria Mall, their biggest, when we received a call from Dockwise. We were to load at 8 am the next morning, this morning. It is a 2 to 3 hour trip from our marina toPort Everglades. It gets light enough to see around 7 am. Traveling the backwaters of the canals in the dark is not an option. Shallow water, the channel 10 yards wide in spots, 4 lift bridges and 5 knot current! We have to move the boat right away to someplace closer to Port Everglades. We head for the marina area near the 17th St Bridge and stop at the first marina wefind, Pier 66. Yes, they have a slip. We take a look at it and it looks great. We take off for Lauderdale Marine Center, 4 miles and 40 minutes away, thank goodness it isn’t rush hour. We check out and shove off. Five knots of current in narrow channels lined with multimillion dollar yachts makes for exciting boating, if you are properly insured. We make Pier 66 in the light. We must take on fuel but, there is a very strong tidecurrent running directly into the fuel dock. No problem, slack tide in 2 hours and there is a bar upstairs. We drift into the fuel dock, totally out of control, making a very positive landing. We got our 15 gallons and went to the bar to wait out the tide. Even with the wait getting away was challenging. Now to our slip. Our slip??? When we left it at 2:15 it was a wonderful little slip. Since then a demolition team had moved in and it was all concrete rubble and bare rebar. No place to tie to and no place tojump to. After a few moments of confusion we made the best of it. We were too tired to move to another. We have one more job left, inflate our 4 new15” round fenders we will need for Dockwise. Problem! The pump that came with them is not strong enough to overcome their valves. We give up. Then a phone call from Dockwise. Loading time has been rescheduled to 2 pm.____. _____. _____. You fill in the blanks. This morning we got a high pressure bike pump for the fenders. It worked great. You will see in the pictures that Chippewa now has big balls, big orange balls. We bridged through at 1:30 and headed for Port Everglades. We found our ship, the Dockwise Explorer, radioed a check in. We were on time. The radio seemed a little scratchy. Checking the squelch gave no static??? The antenna wire, I didn't connect it at the mast. The wire is under the floorboards under a ton of stuff. Oh well, get to work. I finally got the wire connected and made contact with Explorer. All was well. We were back home at 5:00. This is really good Sake. Dave

Chippewa Departs for Warmer Waters

2006-01-24T16:37:00.000-06:00

Chippewa packed up her keel and left the habor over land earlier this fall. She arrived in Florida, damaged but not terminal, to be loaded onto Dockwise and shipped to the USVI, and the island of St. Thomas. Chippewa's Owners, Dave and Kim West, are sailing her in the 2006 Caribbean racing circuit with a crew from her home port, Bayfield, Wisconsin, and the surrounding area. Check back for updates from the crew, race results and entertaining tidbits.