Mike Dranginis
Compass Rose - Erikson 30+, 1984

PHRF rating: 171

Yacht Club: Marina Bay Y.C.

Homeport: Richmond

Occupation: Employee benefits specialist

Age: 49

Mike's been sailing since the early '80s, and has been single-handing nearly as long. "I actually find it easier to sail by myself than with crew," he explains. Until recently, however, most of his single-handing was inshore, but he didn't find the LongPac qualifying race last year to be that difficult. "I actually got more sleep than I do at home," he confides with a laugh. "If your boat's properly set up, there's really not much to do." On the long haul to Kauai he plans to keep himself occupied in much the same way others do: "I'm bringing an eclectic supply of books and music." In addition to keeping in touch with the fleet by SSB, Mike plans to check in with land-bound friends by Ham radio.

Like others who attended a recent lecture in the SSS's preparatory series, Mike plans to adopt the sleeping regimine advocated by sleep deprivation experts: he'll try to sleep between 1500 and 1800 and again between midnight and 0300, times when the body supposedly gets the best quality sleep. We'll check with him on the back end to see how it worked out.

As we go to press, Mike is looking for a delivery crew to sail Compass Rose  back to the mainland, but if he has to, he's prepared to go it alone. "It's easy to find crew to sail back a $100,000 boat, but mine is the nautical equivilent of a used Ford Taurus!"

Navigation: GPS, sextant. Steering: primary: Monitor windvane; secondary: Navico autopilot.
Food: Freeze dried meals, fresh-baked bread, vegetarian fare.
Special thanks to: SSS members, expecially Terry McKelvey and Mike Jefferson.