I'm planning to leave tomorrow morning, go West from Santa Cruz for 24 hours and turn around, or something like that. Forecasts are calling for heavy winds and bumpy seas. I don't anticipate more than I've seen already but thought it'd be wise to see if anyone would be opposed here ...
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Cheers - Bryan
Interested in a boat for 2018 TransPac
- Thread starter jamottep
- Start date
Well, I turned around. The short of it is: "it wasn't worth it". The boat was taking a beating, water was sloshing around all over inside. The apparent wind didn't go over 30 kts (mostly 20-25 kts) and the boat was mostly balanced. But the auto-tiller wasn't doing too well so I was steering most of the time. With cross swell there was only so much I was able to avoid and I got drenched many times. I still lack proper foulies and got wet; merino wool works great though. I went almost all the way to that 46FLO buoy and chose to turn around. The sail back was just as unpleasant, with the seas just abaft the beam. I got stuck for two hours with no wind at the end before making it to the harbor. I didn't have the desire to clean the boat and left lines uncoiled and the jib bunched up in the cabin. I was not a happy camper on this trip ...
Things I've learned:
1. Pump the bilge early;
2. Put hatch boards into place when necessary;
3. When I think of doing something do it then;
4. I need a shorter bucket for #2 and bigger bags to hold the delivery.
What broke? One of the fire extinguisher bracket.
Angry ... is how I was when I came back.
Sounds like you made the right call under the circumstances.
Sailing out of San Diego, too little wind is far more often a problem than too much. At the bottom of the So Cal Bite, and in the lee of the Channel Islands, we frequently have no wind at all overnight. On my last attempt at the sort of thing you were trying, a week ago Monday, the forecast was for decent wind from the south all that day and into the night. I set out hoping to just sail west for 24 hours or more, then back. At 1200, as I left SD bay, the wind was west of south, and gradually clocked further around from the west as the day wore on. So, letting the Monitor keep us on a close reach, our track curved from WNW to NW, until the wind fell off and died altogether at about 2000. At that point I was half way to Catalina Island, so I gave up sailing, and motored on to Avalon.
Frustrating, to say the least. Oh well. We can only sail with what the weather gives us.
Very true ... Sorry to hear of your mis-start too ...
I learned one more thing: don't let emotions get the best of you. It's not that they're a problem in and out of themselves but they tire me down mentally, which I pay a price for later on ...
I was at the boat yesterday to clean it a bit. Every compartment was wet, with water pooling including the battery compartment and in the nav table. While rummaging around I discovered vent cap. The previous owner said that indeed I must close that vent when it gets wet. I mostly completed the installation of the Pelagic auto-pilot. All that's left is power. I found out that I can fit my 6'6" body in the stern lazarette. It's not exactly comfortable but I can sit there just fine and do work.
A few videos:
Upwind: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_9W-lr12yxVXzJzX2NQYlFoU3M
Downwind: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_9W-lr12yxVYnhjMy1VaXVzYzA
deep reef going on there and still booking.
Installed my auto pilot today as well, ST-2000. I question their design on a few things. 1) The adapter for the wiring only accepts 12 gauge wire and smaller 2) I had to use the pedestal for the install to raise the height to keep the auto pilot level and the hardware for the pedestal was "weak".
You'd think that something designed for sailboats of up to 10,000lbs would be designed to be a little more "beefy". I ended up using 12 gauge wire at the power adapter and then spicing in 10 gauge wire for the 18' run to the panel. As for a backing plate instead of wood I used FR4 (http://www.eplastics.com/G9-G10-FR4-glass-epoxy-sheet) 12x12 1/4 inch panel cut into 3 4 inch strips and epoxied together.
Looks like we're all making progress towards our goals!
As an update on my own ST2000 troubles: turns out Raymarine was right, there was nothing wrong with the unit whatsoever. My 12V panel was disintegrating. There was just enough of a connection to get a 12V reading at the ST2000 socket in the cockpit, but not enough to pass a working current.
Don't even get me started on those ridiculous 22 gauge fittings! Is it really so costly for manufacturers to size things for something reasonable, like 16ga?
Don't even get me started on those ridiculous 22 gauge fittings! Is it really so costly for manufacturers to size things for something reasonable, like 16ga?
Yeah, I was shocked at the fittings for electrical wires and even the screws for mounting. Seems like you'd want something a little more "beefy" for something like this. Also, I've only used it for about 10 minutes so far but trying to put the ST2000 arm on the tiller pin is a little difficult to do underway.
So that's two of us
I'll admit openly that I chose the easy path again and tapped both the Raymarine and Pelagic into the same power cable ... In other words when I'll turn the "auto-helm" on at the switch panel the Raymarine auto-tiller socket will be "hot" and the Pelagic unit will come online. I didn't feel up to the task of connecting another switch, both being intimated and lazy. One step at a time ... I overcame the anxiety of drilling holes into the boat so that's progress!
An update ... besides our two week sailing vacation in Antigua/Guadeloupe I don't think I've sailed so much as lately. Last week I taught ASA101 Mo-Th; Friday I sailed Double Espresso; Saturday and Sunday I charted a Catalina 27 out of Redwood City with my wife and we moored overnight at Angel Island; Monday and Tuesday I sailed Double Espresso for an overnight offshore trip (more on that below). That's 9 days of sailing! I need a few days off
I've reached a second milestone: I sailed West out of Santa Cruz for about 90 nm, tacked and sailed NE for a while, and then sailed along the Coast back home. So here's what happened:
0. Conditions were great! Sunny when leaving, cloudy at night (staid cloudy Tuesday) with drizzling rain here and there. I was under 2 reefs and #3 (had to start with 4 though). Good wind and 3-5 ft seas.
1. I feel like I'm slow ...
2. Auto-pilot: work in progress, which Brian will help me with (thank you Brian!). Most upwind steering was with the tiller lashed.
3. Sleep: I went in my sleeping bag for 20 minutes, then 30 minutes, then 40 minutes. I don't think I actually slept. I took (very) short naps during the second day. I felt good. When fatigue overcame me I'd just lay low, close eyes and let it settle and pass.
4. Food: not much to say here; I just bought sandwiches at the grocery. I didn't drink much the morning of departure and was slightly dehydrated, which I took care of promptly.
5. Things that need attention: I think one battery may be on the way out. The instrument display was not reading the wind speed correctly at the end.
I crossed path with whales when I came back. When they surfaced next to me (like 50 ft on port) I was real startled. At night, which was dark (no moon, cloud cover), two dolphins came by (I think they were dolphins; all I saw was something jump out of the water and gliding fast). Bio-luminescence was showing up along the boat too, like blue sparks under water. Before the cloud cover settle in the sky was really beautiful. CPA alerts on the AIS VHF worked well.
I had filed a float plan with my wife with the wrong expected return time. She was expecting me at noon and I meant midnight. So as instructed she called the USCG. Around 4PM the USCG came on my handheld VHF to request a sharp lookout for my boat: I was quite surprised but let them know that all was good. My wife was really happy to see me! I'm sorry to have create such stress for her and USCG resources ... I've ordered chocolate boxes for the San Francisco and Monterey stations as well as for the Santa Cruz Harbor Master. Won't do this twice ...
Under two reefs and with the #3 along the Coast, we had wind between 20-25 kts (gusts higher) and the sea had been building during the afternoon. I had a blast surfing! A wave would come and lift the boat, which would accelerate and take off, then I'd steer to continue surfing. I'm sure there's room to improve and surf longer distances but I'm getting a better sense of things, including the pitfalls of going so fast to dig in the wave ahead or rounding up into the wave behind. Even though this was as the end of the second day with limited sleep I felt good: it does take focus to steer when surfing and I did so for about 90 minutes. And then I hit the wind hole again ... much less time spent there this time as I staid offshore longer before turning in to go home.
I'm happy with how things went. Maybe a few videos will follow (I missed the whales).
I've reached a second milestone: I sailed West out of Santa Cruz for about 90 nm, tacked and sailed NE for a while, and then sailed along the Coast back home. So here's what happened:
0. Conditions were great! Sunny when leaving, cloudy at night (staid cloudy Tuesday) with drizzling rain here and there. I was under 2 reefs and #3 (had to start with 4 though). Good wind and 3-5 ft seas.
1. I feel like I'm slow ...
2. Auto-pilot: work in progress, which Brian will help me with (thank you Brian!). Most upwind steering was with the tiller lashed.
3. Sleep: I went in my sleeping bag for 20 minutes, then 30 minutes, then 40 minutes. I don't think I actually slept. I took (very) short naps during the second day. I felt good. When fatigue overcame me I'd just lay low, close eyes and let it settle and pass.
4. Food: not much to say here; I just bought sandwiches at the grocery. I didn't drink much the morning of departure and was slightly dehydrated, which I took care of promptly.
5. Things that need attention: I think one battery may be on the way out. The instrument display was not reading the wind speed correctly at the end.
I crossed path with whales when I came back. When they surfaced next to me (like 50 ft on port) I was real startled. At night, which was dark (no moon, cloud cover), two dolphins came by (I think they were dolphins; all I saw was something jump out of the water and gliding fast). Bio-luminescence was showing up along the boat too, like blue sparks under water. Before the cloud cover settle in the sky was really beautiful. CPA alerts on the AIS VHF worked well.
I had filed a float plan with my wife with the wrong expected return time. She was expecting me at noon and I meant midnight. So as instructed she called the USCG. Around 4PM the USCG came on my handheld VHF to request a sharp lookout for my boat: I was quite surprised but let them know that all was good. My wife was really happy to see me! I'm sorry to have create such stress for her and USCG resources ... I've ordered chocolate boxes for the San Francisco and Monterey stations as well as for the Santa Cruz Harbor Master. Won't do this twice ...
Under two reefs and with the #3 along the Coast, we had wind between 20-25 kts (gusts higher) and the sea had been building during the afternoon. I had a blast surfing! A wave would come and lift the boat, which would accelerate and take off, then I'd steer to continue surfing. I'm sure there's room to improve and surf longer distances but I'm getting a better sense of things, including the pitfalls of going so fast to dig in the wave ahead or rounding up into the wave behind. Even though this was as the end of the second day with limited sleep I felt good: it does take focus to steer when surfing and I did so for about 90 minutes. And then I hit the wind hole again ... much less time spent there this time as I staid offshore longer before turning in to go home.
I'm happy with how things went. Maybe a few videos will follow (I missed the whales).
On a side note ... you may have read that I signed up for a couple legs of the Clipper Round The World race, which is the opposite of what we're doing here with each boat being loaded with 20 crew or so plus a professional skipper. A couple weeks ago I found out which boat I'll crew on and that'll be Wendy Tuck's boat Sanya Serenity Coast: https://clipperroundtheworld.com/news/article/sanya-serenity-coast-team-skipper-announced
I did two weeks of training last year in October on the "old" 68 footers and have two more weeks coming up here mid July on the newer 70 footer. I anxiously await meeting Wendy and the rest of her crew list (about 40+). Things can get pretty intense with many cooks in a small kitchen, if my previous experience in Gosport is telling.
In October, if all goes according to plan, I'll be on the boat crossing the South Atlantic from Uruguay to South Africa. The leg's description talks of surfing in front of long swells and boats hitting speed over 20 kts. After my sail yesterday I do look forward to that! I'm not sure how the wheel will work for me though. Being 6'6" I usually find them too low for comfortable steering and end up tiring quickly.
https://clipperroundtheworld.com/race/leg/leg-2
Clipper is an interesting proposal. People pay a sweet price tag to participate in this adventure, which comes with many risks, including loss of life. But crew does everything; it's not cruising. Paying to clean the head after 20 other folks used it for 24 hours ... That's one way to see it. I'm not sure what my experience will be like ... I'll certainly try to make the best of it!
I did two weeks of training last year in October on the "old" 68 footers and have two more weeks coming up here mid July on the newer 70 footer. I anxiously await meeting Wendy and the rest of her crew list (about 40+). Things can get pretty intense with many cooks in a small kitchen, if my previous experience in Gosport is telling.
In October, if all goes according to plan, I'll be on the boat crossing the South Atlantic from Uruguay to South Africa. The leg's description talks of surfing in front of long swells and boats hitting speed over 20 kts. After my sail yesterday I do look forward to that! I'm not sure how the wheel will work for me though. Being 6'6" I usually find them too low for comfortable steering and end up tiring quickly.
https://clipperroundtheworld.com/race/leg/leg-2
Clipper is an interesting proposal. People pay a sweet price tag to participate in this adventure, which comes with many risks, including loss of life. But crew does everything; it's not cruising. Paying to clean the head after 20 other folks used it for 24 hours ... That's one way to see it. I'm not sure what my experience will be like ... I'll certainly try to make the best of it!
That’s a great story. Far better that she called the CG, as opposed to them calling her. That’s a mistake I made once.
Many years ago, sailing back to San Diego, with my then-10 year old son, after the first trip to Catalina Island on our own boat, the conditions turned light. As the sun went down I realized we would not make it back to SD in time for the flight home to Phoenix as planned. Well out of cell phone range, with no sat phone or SSB, I decided to hail the Coasties on the VHF and see if they would place a call to my wife to let her know we were fine, but would be in late. I placed the radio call; the radio man asked vessel name and CF number, and had me stand by while he made the phone call. Soon enough he reported back “message delivered.” It all seemed perfect, and I kicked back to enjoy the night ride back to the marina – proud of myself for my handling of the situation.
Unbeknownst to me, however, the phone call hadn’t gone all that well. My wife had already gone to bed, assuming we were fine and would be in late, not worried in the least. Awakened by the CG call, which began something like “Good evening mam, is your husband the owner of sailing vessel such and such, CF number blah blah blah?”, she flew into a panic. She jumped to the conclusion that the CG has found some flotsam with vessel name and number, and that her idiot husband and only child were lost at sea. Screaming was probably involved. I imagine the good CG operator did his best to convey the message, and end the call as quickly as possible. Her take-away from the call, however, was that we were almost back in port – while in fact we still had hours to go.
Cell phone rings as soon as we’re in range, and since she’s now been waiting hours for the call she thought was eminent, the panic has returned in full force. “WHERE ARE YOU? THEY SAID YOU’D BE RIGHT BACK?”
Something of an object lesson in communication relays.
I do feel for my wife and mother ... I put them through stress I'm sure. My mother just said that watching videos of me sailing somehow puts her at ease with my adventures, which is good.
