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. 

                       

              

August 21, 2016 - Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, Washington

     A sunny windy day today in the harbor. Yesterday we took Mike’s sister Ann and her husband Barry for a day sail in the channel. It was a clear sunny, hot, day with light winds; perfect for conversations and lunch out in the cockpit. Ann and Barry are visiting their daughter and her young family for a couple of weeks in Seattle. 

      Since my last blog of a month ago we have made our way back to the Gulf Islands where we spent a week. We explored Saanich inlet further. Last summer we had visited small secluded Tod Inlet and visited the famous Butchart Gardens with our grandson, Johannes. This summer we went as far south as possible in the Saanich inlet, to Finlayson Arm. It almost felt like a fijord with few houses dotting the shore. We anchored in late afternoon to absorb the quiet of this place only to discover that the major road out of Victoria passed right by this body of water! The guide books made  no mention of ths noisey road at the end of the arm! There was consolation in the fact that Goldstream Provincial Park was within walking distance of where we anchored. We spent a leisurely day walking along the Goldstream River and into old rainforest. It was one of the first hot days of the summer but cool and shady on our walk through the woods. On the return, we stopped at the vistor center/ hands on museum/ bookstore. When we’d left the boat to go on our walk we’d only brought water with us. We were like little kids when we discovered ice cream available at the visitor center. The museum part was created to engage kids with lots of touching and visuals. After walking all day we found the museum refreshingly different from the average museum geared towards adults. 

     From Saanich Inlet we sailed north to Bedwell Harbor, a favorite spot for us because of it’s pretty little beaches on South Pender Island, lovely walks through the woods and a steep climb up Mount Norman. From the top of Mount Norman one has a birds eye views of the islands all around. The day we spent anchored in Bedwell Harbor we decided to hike over to Port Browning on North Pender Island. The islands were connected to each other by a natural causeway until the late fifties, I believe, at which time they dredged a channel, dividing the two islands by water and built a bridge for cars. This made it much easier for boaters to access the two harbors, Bedwell and Port Browning. We had a lovely walk through the woods, it felt like summer instead of spring. Eventually the path came out on a main road which we followed for a mile or so. About that time we realized the other harbor was a bit further away than we anticipated. We kept walking, undecided about what to do when we came upon a bench on either side of the road with maps of the roads and various public facilities on the island. The bench was a place to sit and hitch a ride to wherever one needed to go. After about fifteen minutes a nice couple on vacation stopped to give us a ride to the local shopping area on the island. It was a nice bustling little center with a hardware store, a nursery, a grocery store, a bank, a liquor store, a book store with cart loads of used books for sale, some kind of tourist shop full of beautiful things crafted locally on the island, and two restaurants. We ate lunch and had good beer on tap at one of the restaurants. Then we made our way to the bookstore where we loaded up on  mostly used books for our boat reading time. I’ve read several books this summer that in contrast to the mystery novels I like to read  were often serious, historical and disturbing.  Some of them Mike and I read aloud to each other; one about late twentieth century north Korea, The Orphan Master’s Son, another one was an intertwining of the Roman Empire in England and the dawning of Camelot, The Singing Sword. In the evenings after a day of sailing or on a day when we needed to rest after several days of sailing nonstop, Mike and I would take turns reading to the each other while dishes got washed or dinner was prepared. 

      After purchasing our books we went and sat down on the bench beside the road and waited for our next ride back to the path that would take us through the woods to where we’d left our dinghy tied up. I spotted ripe blackberries across the road and picked a few handfuls to be eaten on our walk back to the boat while we waited for someone to stop in their car and offer us a ride. It was only a few minutes, a handful of blackberries in my staw hat, before someone stopped. Such is island life. On our way to the dinghy we came out of the woods onto a deserted pebble beach. The sun was shining and we were hot from our walking. Even though the water has a reputation for being icy cold, it looked so inviting we stripped down and went for a quick dip. It was just enough to cool us down without getting the uncontrollable shivers. We hadn’t bothered putting the little outboard on the dinghy and the row back to the Pinniped was a good way to get warm again.

September 11, 2016

     Dear Readers, our time in the Northwest will soon be over. We are planning to haul the boat out of the water a week earlier than planned, perhaps the twenty first of the month instead of the first of October. We have had a good summer of sailing with more wind than we knew what to do with at times. It has been good. Hot summer days by New Mexico standards, finally arrived the last week in July. August was hot, although being on a boat in the water is always much cooler than it is on land. I actually wore shorts and short sleeved shirts on the boat in August! We sailed across the straight of Georgia the end of July to Blaine, Washington to meet up with family for a week. Our sail across was quite windy with waves crashing against the boat from the northwest. We reefed the main sail twice initially and only used our small stay sail for a jib. Then as we grew accustomed to the wind and saw it wasn’t getting any stronger than it already was, we let out one of the  reefs and sailed with a reefed jib. The Strait of Georgia where we crossed was about 25 miles to Point Roberts on the U.S. mainland where we had to check in with customs. We figured the waves were rough and high from lots of wind the day before. It takes time for waves to build and when we came through Active Pass the wind was blowing but not near as much to match the height and roughness of the waves. Some things will remain a mystery for us until more experience is gained.

     Well, I will sum up our adventures this summer a little bit more in one more blog but this is it for now. We have to leave this little coffee shop and get back on the water. Kieran is finished with his mountain guiding job for the summer and is sailing with us for a few days.

     

Monday, July 4, 2016

     Independence Day in the U.S. We left the spit in Sanichton about 7:30 a.m. Saturday morning. We motored the first part of the morning south to Victoria. We raised our sails just after the current changed from outgoing to coming in. We were making good time when we came up on Esquimalt Harbor, it was 11:45 or so. We decided to continue on to Race Rocks and Race Passage. About a third of the way to the light house on Race Rocks the current became stronger. We lowered the sails because the current was stronger than the wind at this point and we were being swept with the current back to where we’d come and then we fired up the diesel engine. We decided to go through Race Passage instead of going around Race Rocks. It would be shorter that way and the headwind was less. We came through Race Passage with no problem but there was rough water up ahead. We decided to try motor sailing and raised a reefed main sail. Luckily for us the wind and the current were both against us. If the current had been going out we might have had bigger wave action. As it was waves were spraying us all the way back to the dodger in the stern. The sun was shining and the wind was chill ( I’ve never experienced a warm wind here on the water in the Northwest). We decided to make for Becher Bay where we’d been last September with Kieran and Betsy. It was only four miles away from Race Passage to Campbell Cove, a protected spot in the bay. It ended up taking us a good hour before arriving in the cove. The wind was out of the northwest and was funneling into the bay which made our passage to the cove even rougher than out on the open water. I was really glad we had a dependable engine for these circumstances.

     We are still in Becher Bay waiting for winds to calm down to the point where we are comfortable continuing on. We busy ourselves with little projects we never seem to get to otherwise. I’ve learned a new skill, how to sew whipping on the ends of rope to help them not fray and slip through the outer sheath. It looks nice and really works. It’s not hard to do, a kind of sewing with waxed thread, a strong sail needle, and a sailmakers palm, (a piece of leather that fits around your hand with a plastic and metal spot used to help push the needle through a thick rope, heavy sail, or canvas fabric). 

July 11, 2016

     We are in Barkley Sound now since Friday late afternoon. We finally left Becher Bay on Tuesday the 5th. The sea had calmed down, there was no longer whistling of the wind through the standing rigging when we went to bed the night before. It was a relief to leave the cove. The two days there had been very windy even though there was no wave action where we were anchored. The noise the wind makes in the rigging distracts me to no end. It is funny though, on the second day I was able to block it out as long as I busied myself with some activity.      

     We arrived in Sooke Harbor around 1:00 p.m. It was a short trip, motor sailing with one reef in the mainsail. When we came to the mouth of the harbor it was low tide. The entrance at Sooke is tricky with a narrow channel and very shallow water. We turned around and waited another hour before coming in. There is a public dock in Sooke which means it is mostly full of local fishing boats. We lucked out and found an empty spot along the dock to tie up. We were happy to have the opportunity to fill our water tanks, listen to music, charge computers, use electrical outlets on the boat that we can only use when we have shore power. We put away all the paraphernalia needed during a sail; life jackets, lines coiled and stowed in their proper place, radios and electronic navigational stuff (depth, wind, and knot meters)turned off and covered, binoculars, water bottles left on deck. Then we gathered up our dirty laundry, a weeks worth of trash to deposit on the dock in a dumpster, and walked the half a kilometer into town.

     The next day was a 32 mile stretch of water along the western end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. There is nowhere for a boat our size to go if conditions are bad so we listened closely to the weather broadcast on that stretch of the strait the night before. We motored out of Sooke with overcast skies that quickly cleared with a nice breeze. We put up the sails and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Sailing was slow and carefree with the outgoing current giving us some momentum. We only tacked maybe five times total. By the time the current changed the wind was no longer strong enough to make any headway so down came the sails and on went the engine. By then we were three quarters of the way to our destination for the night, Port San Juan. Port San Juan isn’t the most ideal place to anchor, it is open to winds out of the west and northwest. As we started into the inlet a late afternoon wind started. We were just able to anchor in water beyond the worst of the wind. Happily for us the wind died down about 7:00 that evening. It is still light at 10:00 pm in these parts. Maybe it was 8:00 or so when I heard the motor of a boat and some clanking under our boat. Mike ran out on deck with me following close behind. There was a metal fishing boat collecting it’s crab pots. We had drifted over the crab pot that they were trying to retrieve. There were three young guys and they were amazingly close to our boat. As they brought up the crab “pot” ( really a wire cage that traps the crabs) they almost drifted onto our boat. Suddenly they were pushing themselves away and Mike was pushing them away and I grabbed a fender which was not needed in the last moments after all. Phew! Talk about evening excitement! These young fishermen didn’t seem too worried about this situation. They were friendly but not apologetic. We had drifted over their crab pot after all. Alls well that ends well was their attitude.

     The next day dawned foggy and rainy with gale warnings along the southwest coast (where we were headed), so we resigned ourselves to staying another day in Port San Juan. We busied ourselves once again with projects needing attention on the boat. Although we had sketchy phone coverage we tried checking in with certain family since they had left a text asking us to call them. We managed to contact my sister and brother in law who live next door. They needed to know what we wanted done with a leaking pipe in our house. Our electronic chart plotter was acting up so Mike fiddled with that a huge part of the day. I had a good book to read and some chores, can’t remember what they were. In the late afternoon we realized the refrigerator wasn’t working properly nor the salt water wash down pump. Another puzzle to be worked out. We checked different things, trouble shooting as they say. After an hour we realized that something must be blocking the “through hull”, ( an opening in the keel of the boat that allows salt water to be pumped into the boat for the operation of the refrigerator and a pump for bringing salt water to the deck for washing off the chain and anchor when being raised out of the mud). We decided someone needed to put on a wet suit, snorkel and mask and have a look at this through hull and try to unblock it. I volunteered. The water wasn’t that cold but their were swells rocking the boat and my wet suit made me too buoyant to dive under. Also I was afraid in the swells that I might bump my head on the hull. I came out of the water and in the cockpit Mike explained that I needed to use a weight belt. By then I was getting cold and basically disoriented by the swells and wet suit. So we quit for the day.

        The following day we were able to leave, the gale having blown itself out. We washed off the chain and anchor with buckets of water. There were low clouds and rain awaiting us for the rest of the day, no wind, but plenty of large swells left over from the gale the day before. This day was the longest leg of the journey, 42 miles, and the one with the Pacific Ocean right there with us on the left, Vancouver Island on the right. No more Strait of Juan de Fuca. As we started off, two Orcas appeared about a hundred yards off and swam along with us for a little while. They were an encouragement and I hoped a “good omen” as well. The boat rocked and rolled all day in the swells that were sometimes rather high. There were moments when the boat was in the trough of the swell and one couldn’t see beyond the crest. When I would look through the binoculars at lighthouses or other land marks on the Island the sea was so fluid and unstable it was a bit erie. It was also amazing to see and experience the ocean in such a state. In spite of my feeling of nausea all day long I was determined not to dwell on the discomforts. When Cape Beale came into sight and we were sure it was Cape Beale I was so relieved. A calmness came over me even though it was still an hour or so off. That sense of calmness was a gift because just about that time the waters really became confused, there being swells coming from three different directions as we neared the cape. One was the swells that are constant to the west out of the Pacific, swells from the northwest because the prevailing winds are often from there, and third, swells from the south because of the gale the day before. The waters off the cape are shallow and break on rocks. It’s very dramatic and a scary kind of beautiful. The importance of lighthouses is now a concrete part of my experience. I never dreamed I would see a lighthouse with breaking water all around it from off shore. Mike and I had eaten breakfast that morning but we didn’t eat anything the rest of that topsy turvy day until we were safely anchored at Bamfield Harbor in Barkley Sound. It was one of those first experiences, like child birth, the first birth was a trial, and my initial reaction was “ no thanks, one kid is enough; or one day on the ocean like this is all I ever want to experience”. However I went on to have five children and perhaps I will travel more on the Pacific in the future.

     We spent a week in Barkley Sound, exploring a bit but also taking relaxing walks through tiny unpretentious Bamfield town. We took a walk to a local beach with windblown trees and lots of rocks.  We found a place called Poett’s Nook and spent two whole days there. It was a lovely salt water cove, so hidden from the coastline with a narrow opening that one could easily overlook it if one didn’t know it existed. It was on the chart and so we found it. Once on the inside of this cove we felt like we were on a small lake in a forest. Huge cedars and firs surrounded the water. At one end of the cove a small stream opened into a small meadow on it’s way to the cove. It was in this meadow on a lazy sunny day that we were watching a small flock of Canada Geese and a Great Blue Heron when a black bear lumbered out of the woods. It proceeded to turn over rocks and rotten logs, looking for something to eat. It saw the birds and ran towards them. All the birds took flight even though we knew that bear wasn’t trying to catch one. Those geese and the heron weren’t going to take any chances! We were in the dinghy observing it all.

     We spent three different days sailing around the area, exploring and trying out different sail configurations to match different winds. Barkley Sound us a huge area. I hope we have a chance to visit the place again and explore it even further.

July 22, 2016

Esquimalt Harbor ( six kilometers from Victoria)

     We are on the return leg from the southwest coast of Vancouver Island, Barkley Sound. We arrived here after only two days of motoring and sailing plus one day of doing laundry and grocery shopping in Sooke. The mornings started out foggy. For a good three hours the waters were calm except for some gentle swells and all we could see around us was soft grey. We were totally dependent on our compass and the radar. Much to our relief, traveling on the western coast one doesn’t have to worry about ferry traffic or the big freighters that ply their way up and down the Stait of Juan de Fuca. Sometimes we could see a half mile ahead other times it was only a few yards. Then around 10:30 or so the sun would seemingly melt a hazy hole above us in the sky. The fog would still be surrounding us but the grey water would begin to glisten. Pretty soon a patch of blue would appear near the sun, a slight breeze would come up, then suddenly we could see the dark green fur covered mountains on Vancouver Island, the shore still lost in fog. Then our visibility would lengthen and broaden disclosing the coast at last, sunshine, and blue sky, with only wisps of fog fast disappearing. Once the fog dissipated the wind would come up from behind us and we had such awesome downwind sailing with only the jib pushing us along at six and a half knots. That’s as fast as our engine can go but sailing is so much more peaceful. Only the sound of the boat making it’s way through the water. It still delights me to no end. Sailing is really not a very practical way to travel. One has to love it to do it with all it’s inconveniences. For example: waiting for bad weather to pass, not having all our wondrous modern conveniences,( i.e. cell phone and internet service, electricity for lighting and appliances) always available when you want or “need” them, sailing 55 miles to get to a place that is only 32 miles away but because you are tacking while sailing your day will involve more time and miles on the water. Sailing has no place in our practical world, much like mountain climbing, dance, surfboarding, sky diving, and so on. The process involves the whole person. We have to carefully plan ahead so as not to be overwhelmed by the elements, such as wind speed, water currents and their speeds, weather (rain, fog, sun, clouds, temperature), learn different kinds of knots to tie and how to use them, learn specific  vocabulary only used in the boating world . One has to physically raise and lower the sails, haul them in when changing directions and adjust to changes in wind direction. We are outside in the wind all day long in all kinds of weather. A good sailing day isn’t necessarily sunny. 

     Today is our second day in Esquimalt Harbor because there are gale force winds out in the strait but the sun is shining! Yesterday was hot, and clear most of the day. It would have been fine to leave but I wanted to go visit the oldest Canadian light house on the west coast, Fisgard Light House, at the mouth of this harbor. It is still operational but it’s automated so the structure is also open to the public as a museum. We had to get there using the dinghy and our little outboard. It was well worth it but the weather turned during the night and here we are again waiting for winds we can confidently sail with. The sun is out which is good for the spirits.

       Yesterday morning and this morning we have been visited by a Great Blue Heron. He lands rather clumsily on the rail at the stern of the boat. He looks at us and we look at him for a few quick moments and then he takes off. This bird has a long neck that folds in on itself when in flight with long stork like legs. It is a large bird to be landing on ones’ boat. He made three stops on our boat yesterday, that is, if it was the same bird. I suppose it could have been another bird each time.

Sailing in the Northwest, 2016

Blog 1, June 20, 2016

      Today our boat was moved out of the boatyard by this big machine called a travel lift and placed in the water. Except for a few more chores, we are almost ready to leave Port Townsend and sail down to Seattle. We had new sails made there this past winter. The sailmaker wants to see them on our boat and make sure everything is just right. The sailmaker is actually two brothers. They are not just sailmakers but also sailors. I’m sure they will have some good pointers for us in the handling of the sails relative to our unique boat.

Blog 2, June 29, 2016

     Today we are in Reid Harbor off of Stuart island for the rest of the afternoon and night. The day has been clear and sunny with great sailing wind.This is one of my favorite spots in the San Juan and Gulf Islands. This harbor is filling up fast. I’m not sure if it’s because of all the wind on the water this afternoon or if it’s in anticipation of the July 4th weekend. At the moment there are 4 boats of kayakers, hugging the shore and paddling into the harbor. There is a lovely park with campsites and sandy beach at the head of the harbor. There is a man whose been sailing around in a little rubber dinghy. He sails in and out of all the large sailboats and powerboats. It looks like it would be a lot of fun. I can hardly wait until we finish building our own little dinghy that will fold in half on itself, can be rowed or sailed. Even in this protected harbor it is quite breezy today. The wind is out of the east by southeast and that is very close to the lay of this harbor. We are still quite protected compared to how it is blowing on the open water.

Friday, July 1, 2016

     Yesterday we sailed from Stuart Island in the San Juan’s  across Harrow Strait into the Gulf Islands of Canada. I imagine The San Juan Islands and the Gulf Islands are all part of the same archipelago. The difference is that we cross this imaginary line and are now in Canada. We are in Sanichton Bay formed by Cordova Spit, just south of the quaint town of Sidney on the southeast side of Vancouver island. It’s fairly protected from the winds that have been blowing out of the southeast this week. We had to stop in  Sidney to clear customs. As can sometimes be the case at a dock, especially customs docks on a weekend; there was a bit of a traffic jam as well as a breeze blowing boats into the dock. So it was a stressful necessity that couldn’t be put off or avoided. This is the sailing world, not any different from the rest of life. Ups and downs, work to be done, some enjoyable and some just drudgery, time to relax when the sailing goes just as hoped and planned for, other times, as at the customs dock, when things just are a cause of anxiety and discomfort. Tomorrow we are off to Esquimalt Harbor on the other side of Victoria as long as the weather cooperates. We will be sailing out the western end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca on the southern end of Vancouver Island. We came this way last fall with Kieran and Betsy. This year we hope to sail to Barkley Sound. It is the first sound on the Pacific side of Vancouver. Hopefully our baptism of the Pacific will be gentle.

Monday, July 4, 2016

     Independence Day in the U.S. We left the spit in Sanichton by about 7:30 a.m. Saturday morning. We motored the first part of the morning south to Victoria. We raised our sails just after the current changed from outgoing to coming in. We were making good time when we came up on Esquimalt Harbor, it was 11:45 or so. We decided to continue on to Race Rocks and Race Passage. About a third of the way to the light house on Race Rocks the current became stronger. We lowered the sails because the current was stronger than the wind at this point and we were being swept with the current back to where we’d come and then fired up the diesel engine. We decided to go through Race Passage instead of going around Race Rocks. It would be shorter that way and the headwind was less. We came through Race Passage with no problem but there was rough water up ahead. We decided to try motor sailing and raised a reefed main sail. Luckily for us the wind and the current were both against us. If the current had been going out we might have had bigger wave action. As it was waves were spraying us all the way back to the dodger in the stern. The sun was shining and the wind was chill ( I’ve never experienced a warm wind here on the water in the Northwest). We decided to make for Becher Bay where we’d been last September with Kieran and Betsy. It was only four miles away from Race Passage to Cambell Cove, a protected spot in the bay which took us a good hour before arriving. The wind was out of the northwest and was funneling into the bay which made our passage to the cove even rougher than out on the open water. I was really glad we had a dependable engine for these circumstances.

     We are still in Becher Bay waiting for winds to calm down to the point where we are comfortable continuing on. We busy ourselves with little projects we never seem to get to otherwise. I’ve learned a new skill, how to sew whipping on the ends of rope to help them not fray and slip through the outer sheath. It looks nice and really works. It’s not hard to do, a kind of sewing with waxed thread, a strong sail needle, and a sailmakers palm, (a peice of leather that fits around your with a plastic and metal spot used to help push the needle through a thick rope or heavy sail or canvas fabric).

Blog 4, July 12, 2015

     Well it has been over a month since my last post! Time really does fly. The last ten days of May were spent trying to finish various projects on the boat before Mike and I took off to do something different for a short while. Mike went off to Cincinnatti to visit old friends for a long weekend and I went to the southwest to join my sister Petra, a cousin-in-law, Maria Raab, my good friend Mary Kurt Mason, and three other women on a 6 day river rafting trip down the Goose Necks of the San Juan River in southern Utah. I was gone for twice that long with traveling to and from, preparing for the trip/ and clean up after the trip.

     Mike had a good visit with our friends the Holstegges and the river trip turned out to be quite the adventure. We were seven women, each with our own “cat boat” to paddle and load with our food, water, and camping gear every day. This was my third time in my own boat on the San Juan. The river was three times as high and fast as it normally is. This meant that put outs had to be anticipated way ahead of the actual put out because of the speed and strength of the river. Three of the women were doing this adventure for the first time ever and one of the experienced women was rowing a much larger boat and this was her first time in a river so fast and full of water. So, put this mix of circumstances all together and it made for quite the adrenalin enhanced river trip. We were so relieved in the evenings to have all made it in one peice to our campsite. This meant that our cocktail hour and meal time became quite jovial and slap happy. The sound of the river was so loud the first night and I was so keyed up after that first fast day on the river, I didn’t sleep very much at all. The second night though I slept like a baby. The next to our last day on the river it flooded even more than before. Some of the  campsites were a mixture of mud and ankle deep water. We were treated to some waterfalls running in side canyons with water a clay red and smelling like a potters workshop. We also experienced “sand waves” because of the huge volume of fresh silt flowing into the river. The sand forms waves on the bottom of the river which in turn create waves on the water. They were wonderful “free” waves, because there were no rocks involved whatsoever.

Since returning we have been pushing ourselves a little more than usual. This past week we began carting tools, paint, varnish, brushes, paint removers, extra clothing, and so on to storage. The car has been returning loaded with boat gear we’d stored for the last two winters. Things like seat cushions, life jackets, foul weather gear, wet suits, survival suits, life raft, first aid kits, water purifier, signal mirrors, space blankets, flares, and so on. Then Mike has been choosing and organizing the tools he will keep on board as well. Extra canned goods have been bought and stowed. 

Mike is off buying diesel for the motor. There isn’t a fuel dock on this side of town so we will be filling the fuel tank ourselves. The water tanks are filled and the decks are washed off of seagull and other birds droppings. The new dodger we had made to replace the old threadbare one  is attached and looks beautiful. The windlass is all repaired and newly painted after it died a few weeks ago as Mike was hauling up the anchor and chain. 

So what is left to do? The dinghy has to be hoisted back on the boat. Some last minute tools and paint, along with the little electric refrigerator we used this last year have to be hauled to storage. The mooring lines have to be brought from storage. The fenders will have to be placed on the side of the boat we will be moored to on the dock. Most through holes will need to be closed. Once the boat is lowered into the water we will sit there for a few days while making sure the engine runs properly, and the rigging will need adjusting since it will be in the water and not on solid ground anymore. The staysail and the jib or foresail have to be attached to the boat as well. So we will be busy even though we won’t be out sailing immediately.

Next Friday we are off to Redmond, Oregon to pick up our grandson, Johannes. He is flying out with a friend of Fiona’s. We will have Johannes on the boat with us for about three weeks. Then Fiona will join us on the fourteenth of August for a week or so.

So if all moves along without any major glitches the travel lift ( a big four wheeled vehicle that raises and lowers boats in and out of the water and also parks them in the boat yard) will set us into the water, Monday morning. Then we will begin the work that can only be done once the boat is in the water. Wish us luck! 

Blog 3, May 17, 2015

     Last week we were visited by Kieran on Friday.  Projects always seem to get finished rapidly  when Kieran’s enthusiasm and past experience on boats is shared with us. Kieran's presence means Mike has someone he knows and trusts with boat knowledge to bounce ideas off of.This often spurs them on to finding a creative solution to some technical problem needing to be solved on the boat. 

     On Saturday Mike and Kieran took a long look at the standing rigging for the mast. After some research and experimentation Kieran was able to find a rather simple solution to the problem. It seems the stern stay (the metal rope at the back of the boat that helps hold the mast up) must be attached to the boat before the bow stay. If not done in this way, on this particular boat, the tension is all wrong. Anyhow this “problem” had been one of those things one spends too much time worrying about, only to find that the solution is much simpler than one expected it to be. Sometimes I think we believe we have to worry about a problem before it can be solved. One of those illusions we go through life living out without ever examining it closely. Somehow I find myself believing the worry is essential to the process but it's just self generated anxiety. It's not necessary but I often believe it is.

     

     On Mother’s Day I didn’t cook or prepare any meals. We went out for breakfast at the Blue Moose Cafe. Serves you lots of good food without robbing you. Mike brought lunch from the grocery store deli, complete with a dozen red roses. For dinner we went to the local brewery for excellent beer and burgers. Kieran concocted a dessert for us consisting of warm brownies, fresh strawberries, and ice cream. I had calls from all my children interspersed with jokes and comments from Kieran and Mike while the conversations buzzed over the phone lines.

     Betsy joined us on Monday and we happily got all the new running rigging attached to the boat. This involved melting the ends of all the new lines and taping them. Then attaching the new lines onto the old lines by sewing the ends together. This way as you pull the old lines out, the new ones are threaded  into their proper place. Sometimes the lines pass through the mast, sometimes through the boom, out and around and througn different blocks and so on. It’s not rocket science, it just requires time, attention and patience.

     Another project was in progress when they arrived. It was abandoned so I could help with the rigging project. When we finished the rigging I returned to the other project. It involved hooking up a new hose to a footpump for getting fresh water to the sinks without having to use electricity. Kieran and Betsy helped me complete this project also. It’s so satisfying to cross these things off of our “to do list”.

     We had fun with with those two. We went out for tap room beer and pizza. They baked goodies in our newly overhauled propane stove/oven on the boat. They brought their dog, Lissie, and she is lots of fun too. She is black with a curly tail, small, and hot wired with energy. She is also super affectionate. When we weren’t on a group walk we would take turns taking her down to the beach at low tide and watch her run like a deer over fist size rocks, chasing seagulls joyfully into the salty water. I realized how much I miss “dog” walks. Lissie’s delight in everything was infectious.

May 20, 2015

     The weather is in a holding pattern this week. Clouds and fog in the morning, burning off by noon into a clear, cool day. It’s nice to experience both climates in one day. In the evenings in the last of the sunlight while we are out walking, there are huge New Mexico thunderclouds over the mainland. Last night they were a pale peachy color at dusk and we could see the Olympic Mountains. On super clear days without haze, cloud, or fog we can see Mount Baker and Mount Rainier in the Cascades on the mainland. Western Washington certainly has it’s share of majestic mountains.

     Work continues as usual. Not at the fast pace that happens with Kieran around but we keep chipping away at things. The project taking most of our time is definitely the electronics. It involves taking out and putting in small screws in tight, almost inaccessible places. All the wires then have to be labeled and attached using a heat gun. Then the wires have to be attached to the bulkhead or some solid part of the boat where they won’t chafe when the diesel engine is running. Whatever happened to simplicity? Our technology is so complex. It makes me nervous. Are we deluding ourselves maybe a little by being so dependent on it for so many things?

     Well it is time to post this. Until the next time, Tina