The Toliva Shoal Race, the third of the four races in the Southern Sound Series, limped to its start on February 9, 2013. A smaller fleet, culled of experienced sailors who knew they should avoid “sailing” the Toliva Shoal race, motored to a picturesque start line in Budd Inlet. Weinstein, who had never sailed the race, had his excitement tempered by Mark Brink, who had motored Terremoto for eight hours the prior day from Seattle to the southern most point in Puget Sound. Brink graciously described the race as “a drifter, a miserable waste of time.” Undeterred by Brink’s accurate prediction, Weinstein naively enjoyed the vista of the state capital dome that dominated the Olympia skyline and the scenic beauty of south Puget Sound.

This sunny outlook was soon swallowed by a cold, grey, and drizzly morning. On cue, the wind failed to appear and the race start was delayed. The faithful crew of Steve Brockway and Ken Monaghan spent the time readying the boat and asking existentially why they were here when they could be there.

When the winds rose to a howling 3 knots the fleet sailed across the line and then stopped. A threatening fog bank hid the course, and the fleet of roughly 80 boats appeared to recoil. Terremoto opportunistically sought out the isolated wind puffs and slowly caught the cruising class that started earlier. Within an hour it had struggled to the front of the fleet and engaged in a protracted tacking duel with the bigger Farr 39 Tachyon and the Aero 38 Kahuna.

All three boats tacked through the central part of Budd Inlet to avail themselves of a weakening ebb tide. The extremely light winds made the current the key element of the race, and soon Velocity Made Good and Speed Over Ground became the dominant conversational theme.

By the time Terremoto staggered to the first waypoint at Boston Harbor, it was clear that it was in trouble. A light boat of roughly 5,000 points (the weight varied by how big a meal Brink and Brockway had the night before), in little breeze and a building flood current Terremoto was vulnerable to the many small, lighter boats of south Puget Sound. Inexorably, these boats bore down on Terremoto, Tachyon , and Kahuna “like on a wolf on a fold.” The increasing flood current punished any boats that sailed down the middle of the narrow Squaxin Passage between the mainland and McMicken Island. Many of the boats were pushed back towards Olympia.

Struggling against the current nearly thirty boats crowded the eastern beach. They resembled a wildebeest migration in heat as they engaged in hundreds of short roll tacks. Terremoto sailed repeatedly in to the beach. When Tachyon went aground just 300 feet ahead of Terremoto, Ken Monaghan was sent below to look through the hull window and scream “land ho” when the beach came into view from the bottom of the boat. Every three minutes Terremoto would tack to and from the shoreline. The only way that Terremoto could make progress against the flood tide and keep the wolves at bay was to rock the boat in short radical tacks as it hugged the shoreline.

Despite Terremoto’s frantic efforts, two Sierra 26s, Uno and Dos, rocked their way in exaggerated roll tacks into the lead. A brief spat of recriminations, punctuated by Terremoto snagging a chain anchoring a floating dock, demoralized Terremoto’s crew until Brink once more rallied everyone by yelling “there’s a lot of sailing left.” Terremoto increased its exaggerated roll tacks and matched Uno in sailing vulgarity.

This paroxysm of energy appeared to appall the stylish Kahuna and unnerve one of the fatigued Sierra 26s, Dos. These two boats sailed across to the McMicken Island shore. The crossing in the increasing ebb tide punished this maneuver. Both boats were swept back towards legislative gridlock in Olympia.

Terremoto was able to finally clear Squaxin Passage and sail in to the wider Dana Passage against a growing flood tide. It clenched the southern shore and fought for two hours in many scores of roll tacks to unsuccessfully catch Dos. After nearly four hours of sailing, Brink dismissed Weinstein -“you’re not fast” -and sent him to the rail. Terremoto was in third place with Uno in command and Tachyon separated by just 20 boat lengths.

The steady Brockway took the helm, and the weather, apparently aghast at Weinstein’s spasmodic tackng, sighed in a breeze of relief. Brink reasoned that the heavier winds of 5 knots would allow Terremoto to sail out in to Dana Passage and pass the two boats in front. Even though Terremoto sailed well, the massive flood tide negated the increased boat speed. Not only did Tachyon and Dos separate from the Terremoto, but White Cloud, in Terremoto’s same class, sailed to the southern shore and faced a weaker current.

The Race Committee called the race at Johnson Point, barely 8 miles into the 32 mile course. Nearly everyone was relieved at the early race finish, particularly Mark Brink, who had to motor the boat back to Seattle that afternoon and evening. Weinstein expressed disappointment at still not ever seeing Toliva Shoal and promised to sail the race again next year. The crew promptly mutinied.

Terremoto slipped to seventh place as a number of smaller boats, including Slick, a J-29, the Farr 30 Bat Out of Hell, a Melges 24 Gayle Force, Lunch Box, an Olsen 30 moved ahead on corrected time. Dos, in particular, sailed a very intelligent and athletic race.