CHARMED
LIFE: RECORD-SETTING WOMEN IN THE TRANSPAC
By David Jensen, C470
Diana and Pat in route to Hawaii
They were "two crazy women," old enough to know better and fueled at times by cookies and milk, but they made history in the classic Transpacific Yacht Race from Los Angeles to Hawaii.
It was almost an inadvertent achievement. The voyage began simply as something of a homecoming trip. At the time they entered, little did Patricia Garfield and Diane Murray know that they would become the first women to sail double-handed in the Transpac, one of the oldest ocean races in the world. And it was all aboard a Catalina 470
Charmed Life crossing the finish line - Diamondhead
Tears flowed at the finish line. Garfield and Murrary had just completed eight hours in the boisterous Molokai Channel, bouncing "like a cork in a whirlwind." As they neared the end of the race aboard Charmed Life, the summer sun rose over Diamond Head. Hawaiian music, leis and mai-tais and a crowd of about 50 greeted them at the dock.
Pat, Roy Disney and Diane
Fitting circumstances for a voyage that found them on short water rations, climbing the 60-foot mast, surfing waves at 11-plus knots and mopping up after a knockdown partially flooded the cabin, damaging electronic equipment. We recently heard about a tragedy off the Atlantic Seaboard involving a large sailing vessel. A twenty five year old female sailor was swept off the boat by a wave. She was never recovered. News reports indicate that she may not have been wearing a PFD. There is no indication in the news reports that she was using a safety harness and safety line.
By David Jensen, C470
Diana and Pat in route to Hawaii
They were "two crazy women," old enough to know better and fueled at times by cookies and milk, but they made history in the classic Transpacific Yacht Race from Los Angeles to Hawaii.
It was almost an inadvertent achievement. The voyage began simply as something of a homecoming trip. At the time they entered, little did Patricia Garfield and Diane Murray know that they would become the first women to sail double-handed in the Transpac, one of the oldest ocean races in the world. And it was all aboard a Catalina 470
Charmed Life crossing the finish line - Diamondhead
Tears flowed at the finish line. Garfield and Murrary had just completed eight hours in the boisterous Molokai Channel, bouncing "like a cork in a whirlwind." As they neared the end of the race aboard Charmed Life, the summer sun rose over Diamond Head. Hawaiian music, leis and mai-tais and a crowd of about 50 greeted them at the dock.
Pat, Roy Disney and Diane
Fitting circumstances for a voyage that found them on short water rations, climbing the 60-foot mast, surfing waves at 11-plus knots and mopping up after a knockdown partially flooded the cabin, damaging electronic equipment. We recently heard about a tragedy off the Atlantic Seaboard involving a large sailing vessel. A twenty five year old female sailor was swept off the boat by a wave. She was never recovered. News reports indicate that she may not have been wearing a PFD. There is no indication in the news reports that she was using a safety harness and safety line.
