New Boat 4 Sled

[gybetime]

On this run, we overhauled two other J-105's, J-TRIPPER and JAVELIN, that had started 10 minutes ahead in the fully crewed class. (Mary and I were sailing RACERX doublehanded.)

Yes, it was quite embarrassing for four of us on Javelin to see you right behind us.

JAVELIN was apparently leaving Pt. Blunt and Angel Island to port. That's what we thought was the best plan. But common sense prevailed, as this option would require two more jibes in 25 knots of wind, not our undermanned strong point.

It would have been even more embarrassing to finish behind you boat on boat, so we've chosen to split

Here is what it was like on Javelin:

Would appreciate any advice on tactics and boat handling. We really got behind Racer X and J-Tripper upwind, then on a reach and run managed to get ahead of J-Tripper, just to fall behind them in front of the Gate trying to cover Racer-X.

 

[sleddog]

Thank you, JAVELIN.

Some possible suggestions. I don't know if your bottom was smooth, or cleaned in the 4-5 days before the Jr.Waterhouse.

I didn't see any competitors back down before their start. There is weed and detritus than can be snagged on the delivery to the start line. Backing down should be SOP inside 10 minutes.

Lining up the prop is critical. During light air jibes, if the prop isn't aligned vertically, one blade will drop open. Then it takes 3 knots of boat speed to get it closed again, all the while dragging the equivalent of a hand in the water.

On the beat to the Southern Approach Buoy, we'd poke a head over the side to check the keel, prop, and rudder about every 15 minutes. Peace of mind rather than out of mind.

Good sailing to you!

 

[pogen]

If only there were a way to use the forces in the immediate environment to propel a boat.

 

[Gamayun]

Wha.....?! Do you mean talking to/pleading with/cussing at the boat doesn't work either? I'm going to have to reassess my whole race strategy.

 

[sleddog]

Unclear on concept II.

My only recent rowing race was at 2,000 meters. No compass or watermaker was required. Far be it for me to comment on ocean rowing races. But the Great Pacific Race, now three days old, appears to be coming apart at the seams, at least for the moment.

Apparently some entries have not yet completed their 48 hour qualifying cruise, and are at sea, doing that. Other entries are just discovering mounting their compass in proximity to metal has caused them to row in the wrong direction. And have been unknowingly making for Santa Cruz.

Photos of these ocean rowers show their little ships to have large bow cabins. Plenty of windage until they get to the trades. Race Rules prohibiting sun awnings seems brutal.

Now the race leader, a boat with four crew, is temporarily at least, rowing in the opposite direction to Hawaii. The fleet is about to get pasted with the prevailing coastal NWerlys. Remaining at the dock at Monterey Peninsula YC, as several entries have chosen to do, does not seem like such a bad tactic. http://greatpacificrace.com/race/tracker/

 

[sleddog]

Hurricane Cristina, in the Pacific off the Mexican Coast has, according to the National Hurricane Center, just gone through an extraordinary rapid intensification during 24 hours, its maximum winds increasing by 65 kt since yesterday.

Cristina has strengthened so fast, with winds 130 knots, gusting 160, that the weather bureau forecast formulas can't keep up.

With both Hurricanes Amanda and Cristina reaching Category 4 status, this is the first time since the beginning of the satellite era in 1966 that there have been two Category 4 storms in June in the Eastern Pacific.

Cristina is heading WNW, away from land. Hopefully there are no late departing cruisers leaving Mexico for the South Pacific. http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/?epac

 

[Critter]

... the Great Pacific Race, now three days old, appears to be coming apart at the seams, at least for the moment...

"Winds continue to challenge the fleet with south westerly winds pushing many crews into the centre of Monterey Bay. Over the next 24-48 hours the winds are expected to strengthen and swing round clockwise to come more from the north west giving them the chance to make some southerly progress."

I wonder if the thought has crossed anyone's mind: "You know, if this were a sailboat it'd be a lot easier."

 

[sleddog]

After an uneventful 18 hour drive, spread over two days, WILDFLOWER is back afloat at Anacortes, WA. Weather has been coolish, low 60's, with sunny afternoons, good enough for a shake down sail in 8-10 knots to get the cobwebs out and watch bald eagles and ospreys circling overhead.

A visit to Anacortes would not be complete without a pilgrimage to Anacortes Marine Supply Hardware down at the end of Commercial Ave. The antithesis to West Marine, Anacortes Marine Supply Hardware resides in old brick building and is the oldest marine hardware store on the West Coast, in continuous operation since 1913.

Part museum, most anything marine can be found if you look hard enough at Anacortes Marine Supply. Need a brass diving helmet? A stuffed grizzly bear head? A slightly tacky Orca clock? A radar from a WW II destroyer?

This afternoon is the Farmers Market, just across the street from Cap Sante Marina. If any readers are local to Anacortes, come on by WILDFLOWER and say howdy at Cap Sante's North Harbor, slip N-23.

 

[sleddog]

Solo Transpac sailors should have no problems with the 12 boats currently rowing from Monterey to Hono. Fresh NW breezes have pushed the rowers well south, with not much mileage yet gained towards Hawaii.

To add insult to injury, one solo rower has made good less than 30 miles in 10 days, as well as breaking two oars. "If it can break out there, it will." I think Capt.Ron said something along those lines.
http://greatpacificrace.com/race/tracker/

WILDFLOWER's own Yellow Brick Tracker will be unavailable as we cruise the Pac NW. I inquired of Yellow Brick as to the availability of a rental, and their head office replied that because of the Bermuda Race, SHTP, Pac Cup, and other goings on, they have none left. We'll send virtual smoke signals in lieu.

Tomorrow afternoon WILDFLOWER will be rafting with ENCORE at Sucia Island, 23 miles up the road from Anacortes. ENCORE is a beautiful, deep green, J-34 powerboat owned by good friend and consummate photographer Chuck Guildner, of Seattle.
http://dickenersen.smugmug.com/Boat...7868_H43r2F2#!i=2023152816&k=XBT977M&lb=1&s=A

 

[Gamayun]

What a beautiful area. Have fun, Skip!!

 

[sleddog]

WILDFLOWER is anchored at Garrison Bay, aka "English Camp," on the west shore of San Juan Island. Nearby are several bald eagles, and an impossibly situated osprey nest at the top of a dead snag. How that nest is anchored and survives winter gales is hard to say. But with a telescope we could see a baby osprey poking its head for a view around.

Astern are anchored two interesting small craft. The Schock 22 was the first production MORC fiberglass ocean racer, launched about 1959.. It had a sprit, fractional rig, small house, and helped to put the WD Schock Company on the map. The local Schock 22 here at Garrison Bay looks pretty sad. But it has been at least 50 years afloat.

The other interesting craft is a "Scram Pram," a boxy 16 footer designed by Jim Michalak. "APPLE CRATE" has an unstayed mast, a leeboard, a pram bow, and the skipper sits inside his cabin to steer. APPLE CRATE was rafted with a West Wight Potter and a Sparrow 16, and it was quite a jolly bunch.

Next stop: Friday Harbor.

 

[sleddog]

Oil spills are never any fun. A large one appeared over night, covering much of the Friday Harbor marina with a bright sheen. I went in search of a culprit, but came up blank. There are several old wooden fishboats nearby. Pumping oily bilge water seems a possibility.

"Popeye" the local icon harbor seal, a family of otters living nearby, and SUP rental students could not be appreciating the oil spill. I went to talk with the Harbor Master's office. They were unaware of the problem, though clearly visible from their front window. Said they'd "put maintenance right on it."

The maintenance guy appeared about an hour later, threw four oil absorbent pads into the water, and called it good.

A large Coast Guard RIB appeared, manned by six kids wearing holstered weapons. They went up into town for breakfast. When they reappeared, I walked over and asked, "did anyone report an oil spill here? The answer was "Nope, no oil spill reported." I then pointed out their RIB was floating in an especially thick glop of oil.
"Hmmm," the Coastie kids said, "someone should report this to Seattle."

I rolled my eyes. Sometimes its better to not look into the surface of the water.

 

[sleddog]

The San Juan Islands are action central for the protection of the local resident Orcas, an endangered species now down to only 88 individuals and dropping. The resident Orca pod, compared to the transients, have a jaw that permits eating only Chinook salmon. With the disappearance of salmon, the resident Orcas are losing their food stock.

Stiff fines have been and are enforced for approaching local Orcas. At the Friday Harbor Library were two big wall posters outlining viewing regulations of Orcas. One poster highlighted in red that no approach to an Orca closer than 100 yards could be made. The adjoining poster said it was 200 yards.

I went in search of an answer to this apparent contradiction. Just downhill is the Whale Museum, home of all things Orca. Surely they should know. Is it 100 yards or 200 yards?

The fellow behind the desk said, "100 yards," and that the other posters were "out of date."

Not exactly true. It is 200 yard approach in Washington waters. But 100 yards just across the border, in Canadian waters. And that is for the resident Orca population, not for the transients, with their more pointed dorsal fins.

And don't forget to turn off your depth sounder, as required by law.

 

[Dazzler]

Sled,

We are enjoying your posts. Our plan is to be there with Cloud next year. Sue spoke with your Sis today at the Farmers' Market. She is following too.

All the best,
Tom & Sue

 

[sleddog]

Fisherman Bay on Lopez Island is famous for its small town 4th of July parade and fireworks. So that's where we are, anchored alongside the pretty L. Francis Herreshoff, 30' ALICE.

My logbook from last year notes that at this spot I enjoyed an aerial display of Sweeping Comets, Purple Cycas Blooms, Glittering Silver to Bright Red, Revolving Dragons, Red Sunflower, Crossing Comets, Green Chrysanthemum to Crackling Display, Red Palm, Five Angle Star, Red White and Blue with Artillery, Golden Coconut, Golden Wave to Blue Swimming Chrysanthemum, Glittering Silver to Green to Red with Reports, Purple Crossette, Nishiki Kamuro Niagra Falls, and the Grand Finale.

A South Wester last night, 15, gusting 25, bounced us around a bit. I'd rowed out a second anchor to windward in the afternoon, and the depth was only about 7 feet, so we weren't going anywhere but up and down. About 0200 things calmed.

Congrats to DOMINO for getting safely to port after her losing rudder in the SHTP. Dave had moisture-metered and ultra sounded the rudder a year ago when he replaced the bearings. Short of building a new rudder, he was on the right track.

In Monterey, the Coast Guard Capt. gave Dave a nice compliment, to the effect that he "was the calmest and most together customer he's dealt with in 23 years of service." The CG Capt. also said that "95% of the time, the boat doesn't come home from where DOMINO was and in those conditions.

Well done, DOMINO!

 

[chautauqua]

Avidly reading your descriptions of fireworks, Skip. Here in the Motherlode private fireworks are illegal, and the permitted shows have been requested to lower the display heights to limit the possibilitie of more fires in our parched areas. We need search out saner ways to celebrate freedom and independence... A reminder that we are all ultimately dependent on each other in our communities to stay safe. Life's a constant paradox, Eh?

 

[DaveH]

Hi Skip -
Thanks for the kind words and wishes. Back and dried out now.
Domino's on the hard in Monterey while we get a new rudder sorted...more on that in another post.

I'm enjoying reading your posts from the Salish Sea, where I grew up summer cruising with the family.
Interesting to see how some things have changed, and refreshingly how many have not.
Of course, many of my mental images are no doubt somewhat dated, but your descriptions and the locations bring up a lot of great memories.

Best,
DH

 

[sleddog]

Nearby WILDFLOWER here at Anacortes, WA. is SOLITAIRE, Santa Cruz 27 #3, that was First-To-Finish and Overall winner of the first Singlehanded Transpac in 1978.

Norton Smith was her skipper that year, and did most of the race without a working autopilot. Norton spent long hours at the helm, and slept while employing sheet to tiller steering.

After the '78 SHTP, SOLITAIRE and WILDFLOWER cruised the Islands together. Norton, with Tom Wylie, then revolutionized small boat trans-ocean racing by winning the '79 Mini-Transat in his 21' Wylie design, AMERICAN EXPRESS.

What was extraordinary was AMERICAN EXPRESS's strength, wide beam, speed, and prototypical water ballast system for extra stability. Though Tabarly had used water ballast on the 35' PEN DUICK V before AMERICAN EXPRESS, PEN DUICK carried only 11% of its displacement and 91% of its fixed ballast in water ballast. AMERICAN EXPRESS could haul 27% of her displacement and 140% of fixed ballast in expendable sea water. That's a lot of extra righting moment!

I ran into Norton a few years back. He was crewing aboard the expeditionary schooner KAISEI out of Richmond, on a voyage to document the "Pacific Garbage Patch." I'll see if I can connect with Norton when WILDFLOWER returns to CA in September.

 

[sleddog]

Who should paddle by on his SUP at Lopez Island 4th of July but Capitola neighbor Morgan Larson. Morgan had just returned from St. Petersburg, Russia, where he won the Extreme 40 professional catamaran racing skippering ALINGHI. After 22 races in this picturesque city, it all came down to the final race, which Morgan and crew won.

Morgan said stadium sailing on 40' cats going 20 knots was "exciting," as the course was laid in confined quarters, near shore, on waters smaller in size than the Alameda Estuary.

I suspect that may have been an understatement. If you have not seen the short video of Morgan's ALINGHI being T-boned in earlier racing, here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14dA-qLmNZo

 

[sleddog]

In over a dozen previous entries into Canada by boat, customs clearance was universally duck soup, usually via a short phone call reciting crew names and passport numbers.

But yesterday, for reasons not fully understood or explained, the three on-duty customs officers at Bedwell Harbor, S. Pender Island, decided WILDFLOWER was going to be their "catch of the day."

I was told by the head agent we were being filmed for the Canadian (reality) TV show "Border Security." I couldn't exactly tell them "NO," without fearing uncertain ramifications. But later learned this is a controversial show.
http://bccla.org/2013/06/media-thelink-say-no-to-filming-by-cbsa-show/

First, I was subjected to a ten minute questioning, especially to what we had onboard. A persistent question was "Do you smoke?" What is that about?

I was then sent back aboard WILDFLOWER, saying they would be down shortly for a "full inspection."

JHC. We were surrounded on three sides by four large powerboats, likely filled with freezers of food, and fully stocked liquor lockers.

Two armed customs officers arrived on the dock, told us to step off the boat, then pulled on plastic gloves, and disappeared below into our mini cabin. What were they doing??!

The agents spent a 15 minutes below, apparently looking for "secret compartments." There was considerable banging inside, maybe floor boards being replaced.... Through all this, the reality show cameras were rolling, as we stood nervously on the dock.

Finally, the customs officers emerged, said we'd "passed," and sent us on our way.

Maybe searching WILDFLOWER will be featured in some future episode of "Border Security" on the Canadian National Geo Channel. Doesn't sound too exciting.