In 1971 Dale moved to the Bay Area and soon after became an avid Bay and ocean racer. He's tallied up 30,000 miles of ocean sailing over the years, including a grand year-and-a-half cruise of the South Pacific which took him as far 'out there' as New Zealand before returning to the Bay via Hawaii. On another occasion he delivered a Frers 41 from the islands back to the Bay.

When Dale went boat hunting a year and a half ago, he was looking for a vessel that would be comfortable to cruise in, but small enough to single-hand. This comfy Baltic 38 fit the bill. After returning to California, he plans to cruise "where the wind blows."

It's interesting that a guy with his experience is hopeful his Robertson autopilot will steer Giggles "100% of the time." You mean hand steering across an ocean isn't fun? Dale's backup is a Monitor windvane. One of his concerns is handling big spinnakers singlehanded, so he invested in a second pole for gybing.

Dale's been an active member of the Richmond Y.C. for 16 years, during which time he's held a variety of posts including that of Junior Sailing instructor, race committee member and Board member. He's also got some very pragmatic ideas about offshore meal prep, as evidenced by the fact that he was asked to author the "Cooking at Sea" article for the sailing instructions of this year's Pacific Cup. Dale's basic premise is to create meals that are as simple as possible, yet taste better than K-rations.

So why is a 60-year-old guy like Dale putting himself to the test on a 1,000 mile singlehanded ocean crossing? Heck, we don't know, maybe it's just for . . .  the Giggles!

Navigation: GPS, Loran, sextant. Steering: primary: autopilot; secondary: windvane.
Food: fresh and pre-made dishes then canned goods 'creatively prepared'.