October 13, 2017

      This is the final entry of the sailing blog for this year. We are now home, back in Santa Fe since Sunday afternoon, October 8. I wanted this year, to bring all you readers up to date with the last of our sailing time.This summer manifested itself inwardly and outwardly as being a time of relative calm for me, free of too much busyness, our centering focus always the boat, a bit of a retreat from our sometimes over busy life in Santa Fe. Please don’t imagine we were totally isolated from friends and family. Originally this had been a worry of mine but it has never been the case. In fact we have made some new friends in the Northwest but they are all connected to boats in one way or another. We even had some friends from Santa Fe, the husband also a sailing enthusiast, visit us in Port Townsend. Outwardly our sailing was minimal. We encountered very little wind except for the glorious Sunday in Port Townsend Bay.

      The broken windlass and the baptism at which we had agreed to be godparents broke up our relatively short sailing time this year. A month on the water is what we had when usually it is a couple of months, some years even more than that. Plans to sail to Canada were quickly put to rest when the windlass failed. We explored new places in Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands instead. Because of the baptism we spent a very relaxing four days in Seattle with some of Mike’s family. We got to know our Godchild, Thea, a little better. She is a darling eighteen month old, full of curiosity about everything including the appearance of another set of adults in her life. When it was her bedtime she didn’t want to go. The presence of her grandparents and soon to be godparents was just too interesting! 

        After the baptism we returned to the San Juan’s for a few days. When we crossed the Strait of Juan de Fuca to get back to the Olympic Peninsula we arrived a day ahead of ourselves. On a whim I convinced Mike to go to a semi secluded bay for the night. It was a peaceful uncrowded anchorage and we had a lovely sunset. We both thought we’d be in the marina in Port Townsend  the following day. That was not to be the case as it was with so many things this summer. That saying, “ How to make God laugh, tell him your plans.” was almost a daily reality. 

           The next day as we pulled up anchor it was calm and sunny with clouds building in the southeast. As we motored toward Point Wilson it clouded up completely. Next thing we knew it was beginning to rain. We quickly donned rain gear as the wind picked up.  At first I thought we would have one last chance to sail this year. The wind however, kept building and rapidly. Just as we reached the outer buoy for Point Wilson we encountered waves smashing into the bow and spraying us way back in the cockpit. It was wild. The tide was on it’s way into the bay and the wind was from the opposite direction out of the southeast. We were dodging wave after wave, ducking behind the dodger. For the next fifteen minutes or so as we made our way past Point Wilson, I wondered if the wind would be less or equal once we were inside the bay. The tug of war that one felt at the outer buoy where current and wind seemed to be doing battle subsided a bit but the wind and wave action continued as we slowly made out way into the bay. It became apparent to us that it would be impossible to get into the marina. So it was decided that we would keep going to the head of the bay and find some sheltered spot in the lee of the land to drop the anchor for the night. 

       As we made our way slowly through the storm, we came upon three boats drifting with no one on board. All three had dragged their anchors. One was becoming grounded on a sandy beach. The other two were just floating wildly in the wind and waves. We  called the coast guard and reported the boats along with their registration numbers. The coast guard in turn would notify the owners of their boats whereabouts.     

      Slowly we made our way down the bay to Port Hadlock and found a place out of the wind. The anchor was lowered and hot coco along with a snack was prepared in record time. There had never been a minute to stop and eat lunch that day. By the time we’d finished eating and drinking we could see the weather was already beginning to calm itself. By the time dinner was prepared it was calm again. The stars came out that night and the next morning was chilly but the sun rose through the mist. We arrived in the marina mid morning to begin getting the boat ready for haul out the next day. Our bedding had gotten soaked the day before when the waves kept breaking over the bow and splashed through a hatch which we discovered was not water tight. So out came all our bedding to dry on the boom in the lovely warm sun. After a rather windless month on the water we finally had one wild and windy day on the water!

Sunday, August 27, 2017

           Spent Saturday afternoon sailing around little Mystery Bay in our dinghy with Mike. It was fun but I also wanted to try sailing the dinghy on my own. Mike also saw this as a good idea but in lighter winds than what we’d sailed in that afternoon. So this morning I sailed the dinghy all by myself, with no one on board. For me that was a great triumph. I was extremely cautious. I didn’t want to have to deal with a capsized boat. The breeze was gentle so really there was nothing to worry about except my lack of experience. The only remedy for a lack of experience is to get out there and do whatever it is you need the experience in. I knew this intellectually, but I really had to call on my willpower to make it happen in the real world. I can only learn mechanical and practical things in a hands on way.

             This afternoon we went out into Port Townsend Bay and the head of Admiralty Inlet to sail in the 38 footer. It was a good wind so we had the mainsail in one reef (made smaller) while the wind lasted. Toward the end of the afternoon it began to lessen and we had the whole sail out. We are anchored behind a sand spit close to the foot of the bay for tonight. All in all it has been a very satisfying day.

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

          We are currently anchored in a bay off of the Hood Canal, called Port Gamble. It is densely hazy today. We awoke to a very light coat of ash on everything on the outside of the boat. The sun shining through the haze and some cloud cover (?) creates an eerie light. It is mid day but the light looks like sunset. It is just above us but an orangey reddish hue. There are forest fires all over the Northwest right now and the wind is blowing the smoke to Puget Sound and area. We sailed across Puget Sound and back two days in a row and were so tired by yesterday afternoon. So here we are in Port Gamble for a day. 

      We left Port Townsend last Thursday in the morning with new windlass parts installed but not working! As we sailed south down Admiralty Inlet, Mike talked with one of the parts dealers and he suggested he check a few more things before sending it back to the dealership. By evening in the anchorage of Port Ludlow he’d finally gotten the windlass to work. We’d spent three days in Port Townsend. First to pick up the new spare parts, then install them, then find it not functioning properly, then a day spent trouble shooting, i.e. trying to find out why it wouldn’t work. 

          On our second day we heard from Kieran, recently back in Seattle. It happened to be his birthday as well. He was in the midst of getting ready to drive back to New Mexico to pick up his and Betsy’s dog. We convinced him to come the two hours out of his way to celebrate his birthday with us and a couple of good old college friends of his also living in Port Townsend. He arrived in the early afternoon and went off swimming with his buddies. Mike continued to struggle with the windlass still not working even with brand new parts. It was now an electrical problem, no longer mechanical. Very frustrating. I’d spent the morning doing laundry and grocery shopping. This is much more satisfying a task as nothing can really go wrong. I caught up on texts and phone calls at the laundromat and happily took my time with the groceries. When I got back it was to a bewildered Mike. Another puzzle to be solved. Luckily we were distracted from the windlass in the early evening. We were off to Kieran’s friend’s house to celebrate his birthday. They had the grill going and there was wine, a huge pasta dish, a delicious salad full of vegetables from Greg’s garden. The evening was full of stories about Kieran and his friends, lots of joking and laughter. It was thoroughly enjoyable. We got back to the boat around 11:30. Mike went to e-mail Australia, where the parts are made. I read a book. Didn’t get to bed before 1 in the morning. 

           Kieran took off around 10:30 the next morning. Mike went back to trouble shooting, to no avail. We had discussed with Kieran and his friends; all experienced sailors, what to do  if the windlass refused to work. We finally all agreed that we should just get on our way and make due with well protected harbors and bays and our secondary anchor attached to a rope. We spent three days in Port Ludlow. I sailed the dinghy again two of the days. Gradually I’m building up my confidence. The first two days were clear and sunny. Saturday night was calm, clear, and with a moon almost full. We went rowing in the moonlight to a part of the bay with an island. Behind this little island is another secret little harbor. I had sailed around it the day before. Earlier in the day we’d seen a boat like ours sailing into the big harbor. We were doing something and were momentarily distracted. We went sailing and couldn’t find it. But at night rowing we were like kids finding a lost toy. Behind the island was the sailboat we’d seen earlier but couldn’t find. We rowed around it and the people on board came out and invited us onto their boat. They were very nice and we chatted an hour or so before leaving. Calm, warm evenings with a full moon are magical.

Sailing, August 25, 2017

      We were set in the water by the travel lift last Monday, August 14. Today is Thursday, August 24th, which puts us ten days on the water. We would be in Canada now but only made it as far as Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands. On last Saturday as we were pulling up anchor our windlass broke down on us. Since the anchor is attached to 50 meters of chain and we still had 20 more meters to haul out of the water as well as a 50 lb. anchor we were a bit frantic for a few moments. Luckily Mike had thought about just such a situation arising and once it was established that the darn windlass was really useless, he got busy jerry rigging a system using two mooring lines and one of the large winches we use for the fore sail. It took an hour or so to haul chain and anchor in but the system did the work for us. I’m happy to say, neither one of us had a back ache the next day. I was surprised to observe how happy Mike seemed throughout this episode. I guess it makes sense, after all. In the face of this little crisis there was a quick solution to be tried out in the real world in the face of dire circumstances.

             That following Sunday, Mike spent the day taking apart the windlass to see if he could figure out what was wrong. It wasn’t an electrical failure but a mechanical one. Some of the gears were completely gone, ground to a fine powder. The windlass is 26 years old and maybe it’s time had come to up and break. On Monday we headed back to Port Townsend to await new parts that he ordered using his cell phone as we crossed the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It was a very calm day on the strait. It was also the day of the eclipse of which we noticed only a small difference in the amount of sunshine but very much noticed a drop in temperature. 

         We are still waiting for parts to arrive but decided to leave marina land in Port Townsend and anchor in Scow Bay, across from Port Townsend. We had a lovely evening, after a short sail up to Admiralty Inlet then a third of the way down Port Townsend Bay to Kilisut Harbor, between Indian and Morrowstone Islands. The wind picked up that night and since we were using our secondary anchor, (only 25 lbs, and on a rope) and the wind blew straight down the harbor to the little bay we anchored in; it was a rather sleepless night for Mike. He was up three times making sure the anchor was not dragging which would have allowed us to drift into too shallow water and the shore. The following day was a “take it easy” one, reading aloud a mystery we both enjoy. We did some minor repairs using epoxy where the wood had torn off on the bowsprit when the windlass was removed. Our day in Scow Bay was restful, sunny, even hot for an hour or so, but we decided to check the forecast for wind that night. The wind was supposed to do the same thing it had done the night before. We decided to try our luck in the smaller and more protected Mystery Bay. Our moving the boat to the smaller bay payed off; we slept very peacefully last night even though the wind was blowing again.

         Today I varnished the spots on the bowsprit we had repaired with epoxy, having also lost varnish when the bowsprit was being taken apart. 

Saturday, August 26, 2017

             We rowed in our new little dinghy up to the general store in the late afternoon yesterday and were surprised to find a little postoffice there as well. Mike has been busy in between boat sailing and a broken windlass, mailing copies of his book; interviews of people from a farm cooperative in Guatemala, off to people who helped him with it’s 

conception in some capacity or other. By five he had another fifteen books addressed and ready to go. We’d thought it would have to wait for our return to Port Townsend but this morning we rowed back up the bay and mailed them from a tiny postoffice. Rowing around in the dinghy I like to imagine what it used to be like for folks before automobiles and motor boats. The pace was definitely slower from what we are used to. Sailing slows down life also. At first it takes some getting used to. Once accustomed to the change it is charring at first to move back on land.