Orisha Crew 2/4; Nick Tininenko aka "Red"

July 6, 1800(Z)/08000(L); 3820N/15428W; (abeam and slightly north of San Francisco); 3 meter swells, wind 160 @ 20 G 25 kts with driving rain. Brought in the genoa at 0700 - now running full main and jib making 8 to 8.5 kts on the rhumb line with 1400NM to the Straits of Juan De Fuca. We are roughly 1/2 way through the trip mileage wise, though I believe we are more than half way based on time. We should be running down wind from here to the straits.
1130(L) Just getting back into the cabin. Donned my foul weather gear for the first time and steered Orisha through torrential rain and wind gusting over 30kts. Brought in the jib and ran main sail only downwind in very rough confused seas. We are back on the "E-Ticket" ride :-)
1545 (L) Back to a comfortable pace with the genoa flying, overcast, but no rain. Earlier in the day the cabin got "rearranged" so there are things to clean up, dry out, and stow.

So here is part II of "Crew Orisha"......

Nick was the last to arrive on Maui coming in from Aspen, CO where he is a professional photographer specializing in capturing architecture and lighting design, as well as music and adventure travel. He is single, 36 years young and has a passion for experiencing life to its fullest. He is a rock climber, skier, hiker, and, well, I guess that describes most of the locals in Aspen. What sets Nick apart from others in Aspen is his thirst for sailing.
A year and a half ago he flew to Hawaii and stayed for a couple months. His desire to sail between the islands became a reality when he answered Chris' Craigslist ad looking for crew. That winter they sailed to Molokai, Oahu, Kauai and back to Maui, experiencing the varied conditions of the Hawaiian channels. "It was quite rough at times" says Nick. As such, Nick's learning curve was steep out of necessity, and he showed a natural intuitive inclination for sailing. It was a positive experience all around and thus Nick was an easy choice for crewing on this voyage. In addition to that experience on Orisha, Nick's mountain climbing experience has added value. He brought extra harnesses and is a master at knot tying. Last night I learned a few new knots. Nick is also product testing for an Aspen-based company, High Llama Apparel, and brought along some llama-wool hats for the entire crew which have proven themselves indispensable for the cool night air.
Nick is a real night owl. He routinely does not go to sleep until 0330 or 0400. On top of that he can fall deeply asleep in minutes more often than not while sitting at his computer editing and managing his photos. Thus, it was only natural to put him on the late night shift. No argument from the rest of the crew on that point!
When Nick arrived in Maui it took all of about 4 hours without sunscreen to change his complexion to a deep radiating red burn. He has since been putting on Bull Frog 36, but we call him "Red" anyway.
Nick is taking a lot of terrific photos capturing our shared experience. When Nick says he has taken a lot of photos, he is not kidding. He has taken over 3000 pictures thus far! UNBELIEVABLE..yes three thousand! His photos will provide us all memories for years to come. Thank you Nick!