New Boat 4 Sled

[H Spruit]

Well, it seams obvious that the electronic age has not yet reached perfection needed for us to hang our lives on it. I remember even in TV's "STAR TRECK" series that they often experienced glitches in their technology.

So I keep reminding myself that all that glitters is not GOLD.

Slokum wrote; "The beaches of the world are lined with wrecked boats who's navigators new exactly where they were!"

 

[sleddog]

Capt. Bob, of Haleiwa, Hawaii, has near a million miles at sea as Merchant Marine officer and captain, ocean racing navigator par excellence, and delivery skipper. Most of those miles were sailed in the Eastern Pacific.

Capt. Bob is a student of ocean currents and weather. At sea his ships would make voluntary weather reports to NOAA weather forecasters every six hours, 4x/day.

This Volunteer Observing Ship program (VOS) distributes ship weather observations internationally to meteorologists for weather forecasting, to oceanographers, ship routing services, fishermen, and many others.

Observations from ships form the basis of marine weather forecasts in coastal, offshore and high seas areas, and are included in weather fax and GRIB forecasts.

During passages across the Pacific, Capt. Bob would launch messages in bottles, logging date and position. Many bottles were found and messages returned, primarily from the Philippines, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii.

Capt. Bob just received a Christmas present. A bottle he dropped 6/01/00, 14 years ago, was found Christmas eve on the Kahului Breakwater, Maui, 1,400 miles southwest from where it was launched at position 33 N x 135 W.

Capt. Bob does not know how many laps of the Pacific Gyre the Kahului bottle made, or whether it spent much of its life drifting in the Pacific High as a home for barnacles, crabs, halobates' eggs, and other marine organisms.

Halobates are pelagic water striders that live on the ocean's surface in the Pacific High. Halobates never touch land, can't fly or swim. But they do walk on the water's surface and serve as food for crabs and for petrels and other oceanic birds.

Messages in bottles are a slow, age old method of communication. Capt. Bob may never meet the finders of his messages. But the personal touch of his letters makes the world feel a bit more connected.

What Capt. Bob does know is a winter's passage to/from Hawaii is not always a cakewalk, even on an 860 foot ship. The below photo was taken during recent stormy conditions on the West Coast. The camera was approximately 80' off the water.

 

[sleddog]

For those of us in the SF Bay Area/Central CA Coast, we have a fast moving, dry, cold, windy, storm front coming through town tomorrow, Tuesday through Wed. a.m.

A strong NE/SW gradient is setting up from the Great Basin down to Southern CA. You don't often see a 1058 millibar (31.24 inches) high pressure on West Coast Weather Fax maps.

High winds aloft will mix down to the surface. 30 knots near shore and in unprotected areas of the Bay.

Rose Parade royalty will be a bit chilly as the Parade gets underway.

Tie halyards away from masts, secure kitties, and bolt your socks on. "She's a comin' onto blow, doggies."

 

[Dazzler]

I believe SSS supporter Sue, of CLOUD, has dived at Rocas Alijos, so she would know what that's like. As for me, on my Navionics "Gold" North America Chart Card, Rocas Alijos don't show up until zooming in 9 levels, at the 1 mile scale. Ouch. Better take an AAA road map if sailing without paper charts down the Baja. AAA knows the whereabouts of Rocas Alijos.

Hello Sled,

That photo looks like a nasty day at Rocos Alijos. Thank you for remembering; you are correct. Sue (double-handed crew on DAZZLER and now CLOUD) was part of a scientific field expedition to Rocas Alijos in 1990. They looked (for pretty much the first time) at all aspects of the geology, flora and fauna and above and below the surface including fielding a team to climb the South and Central spires. All together Sue and the other divers did over 180 dives to observe and record. The results are in a scientific monograph. In more recent times, Sue and I have made two trips to dive at the Revillagigedo Islands (south of Rocas Alijos) and to dive at Roca Partida. It’s most striking that these rocks look from a distance much like sailing vessels. The Captains of the Manila Galleon fleet even called them “rocks that look like ships under sail.”

With the grounding of VESTAS WIND, there has been much speculation about the use of depth sounder alarms as an early warning. It is worth noting that not far from Roca Partida the depth is 10-12,000 feet! The pinnacle has almost vertical faces that drop to around 200 feet before dropping into the abyss. It’s extremely unlikely that a depth sounder alarm would be of any use.


Roca Partida with Sue off to the right.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Tom & Sue
CLOUD

 

[sleddog]

Welcome Back, Tom and Sue of CLOUD! I'm sure SSS acquaintances, including myself, will be interested in your new boat and how you got her cross country.

CLOUD's story of being the first to research Rocas Alijos is fascinating. You don't just drop anchor in a quiet cove.

CLOUD's photo of Roca Partida is also interesting. To think this 300' long, 3.5 acre (1953 survey) rock comes up vertically from the depths. You could whimsically put your fenders out and raft up to Roca Partida on a calm day....

Roca Partida is the smallest of 4 islands of Mexico's Revillagigedo Archipelago, 860 miles southeast of San Diego and 260 miles southward of Cabo San Lucas. It is the remnant of a very old volcano, the summit eroded by wave action. Currently the volcano is dormant. But others in the area of the Revillagigedo Islands are active, and occasionally large rocks and sulphurous bubbles are shot to the surface during undersea eruptions, especially near Socorro and San Benedicto.

Roca Partida was originally sighted by Spanish explorer Lopez de Villalobos in 1542, 25 years after Magellan's circumnavigation. Roca Partida was first charted by Captain Colnett, Royal Navy, in 1793. The U.S.S. NARAGANSETT survey in 1874 was used on all U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office Charts. Scientific studies in '53,'55, and '57 by Scripps Institute resulted in accurate charting of Roca Partida and soundings of the surrounding shelf. The first known landing on Roca Partida was by the 1953 Scripp's expedition.

I have many paper charts showing Roca Partida, most notably "Pacific Coast of the United States and Mexico." Roca Partida's approximate charted position is 19 N x 112 W depending what paper chart and correction date is used. My 1994 National Geographic World wall map shows and names Roca Partida. Google Earth shows a graphical outline of Roca Partida at about the same position from 83 miles up, but no actual rock distinguishable in the satellite photo.

Darned if my new little chart plotter makes any mention, hint, or charting of Roca Partida, all the way to 15 levels of zoom and a half/mile scale on either Navionics or C-Map cartography. It does not. The closest the chart gets is a 298' sounding on C-Map at position 19-01.478 N x 112-03.614 W.

I would be curious if any online explorers can find Roca Partida "electronically" on their chart plotter, or by other means? We know it's there. Tom and Sue have swum around it.

 

[Philpott]

For those of us in the SF Bay Area/Central CA Coast, we have a fast moving, dry, cold, windy, storm front coming through town tomorrow, Tuesday through Wed. a.m.

A strong NE/SW gradient is setting up from the Great Basin down to Southern CA. You don't often see a 1058 millibar (31.24 inches) high pressure on West Coast Weather Fax maps.

High winds aloft will mix down to the surface. 30 knots near shore and in unprotected areas of the Bay.

Rose Parade royalty will be a bit chilly as the Parade gets underway.

Tie halyards away from masts, secure kitties, and bolt your socks on. "She's a comin' onto blow, doggies."

Yikes! I went down to the Berkeley Marina to add a spring line from Dura Mater's stern to the dock: poor thing, she has an upwind slip but the wind was coming hard from the north, shoving her against the dock. As I walked down the ramp to O dock all the boats' masts leaned hard to the south. It was an arresting sight. When I stepped aboard Dura Mater the wind gusted to 33.9 knots (yep! I checked the OCSC site afterwards!) and almost knocked me overboard. Pretty exciting. I hope Cheryl the harborgirl didn't have to go out and save anybody tonight. She's good with those big power boats, but it is no night to be on the water.

 

[sleddog]

Jackie,

I spoke this evening with Cheryl, the Berkeley Harbor Mistress. She said it was quite a day at the Marina, and the strong wind had an unusual direction, NE, which meant most boats were not tied up well for breeze from that direction. But everything was OK, and she was home safely in Pacifica with her three pups.

We had a couple of 45 knot gusts here at Santa Cruz about 2 pm. HS and I were outdoors working on a new addition to the Harbor Cafe patio and standing on ladders when a puff came through. That got our attention.

It should be a balmy 2 degrees F tomorrow evening for the fireworks at Tahoe S. Shore. Revelers will be mixing anti-freeze with their champagne down by the Lake.

 

[Philpott]

Welcome Back, Tom and Sue of CLOUD! I'm sure SSS acquaintances, including myself, will be interested in your new boat and how you got her cross country.

Tom and Sue, does CLOUD look anything like this little beauty?

 

[sleddog]

The Big Breeze of yesterday afternoon and last night is on its way out of town, with gusts in Santa Cruz down to 25 knots at sunrise. During the night, trash cans were skittering down the street, to the obvious delight of our local population of skunks and raccoons.

1.5 hour power outage this morning.

I had the boat tied to the house and truck. 800 pounds and with the surface area of a Cessna, I didn't want any surprises. I did see several 100 foot palm trees bending 30 degrees. The usual quota of blown down fences.

The pressure gradient causing this wind is rarely seen. Washington State had many new pressure records. At Sea-Tac Airport the pressure reached 1045.5 millibars, or 30.87 inches, an all time high. The average is 1013 millibars, or 29.91 inches.

Californians around the state are about to learn the difference between a "freeze," and a "hard freeze." In weather terminology, the latter pertains to temps 28 degrees or below for extended periods, and capable of bursting water pipes, conditions that will be seen in the Central Valley and protected valleys in the foothills and along the coast.

Locally here in Capitola, we are getting downslope winds from the NE. These "katabatic" winds coming downhill from the Santa Cruz Mountains compress the air and increase the temperature about 5 degrees for every 1,000 feet of descent. It got to 41 degrees last night. Not toasty, but not too cold either.

But the wind chill was high 20's, low 30's.

Gulls were soaring at the Cliff, looking like aerial windsurfers carving at Waddell Creek. My friend, Andre', an Anna's hummingbird with iridescent ruby throat and Mohawk hairdew, was riding a willow twig, holding on like it was the Boardwalk Big Dipper. Andre' and I watched the sunrise until his novia showed up, and they buzzed off together into the sun like some flying jewelry.

Though the days have been getting longer since the Solstice 10 days ago, the elliptical shape of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun and the tilt of the rotation axis cause the sun to continue to rise later for up to two weeks after the Solstice, depending on latitude. Locally, that should change tomorrow morning, or the next, when the sun will begin to rise earlier. I feel warmer already.

 

[Dazzler]

Tom and Sue, does CLOUD look anything like this little beauty?

Jackie,

That's my 3rd Grade painting of Roald Amundsen's ship GJOA. I had gone on a school field trip to GG Park and took a b&w picture of GJOA with my Brownie Hawkeye camera. The painting was from my photo as I imagined GJOA floating at anchor. Interesting to me is that I took artistic license to paint the topsides red with a white stripe. I really don't remember what color she was at the time in GG Park. An internet image search shows green topsides now.

The only thing in common between my painting and CLOUD is both are red boats.



Tom

 

[Dazzler]

CLOUD's photo of Roca Partida is also interesting. To think this 300', 3.5 acre rock comes up vertically from the depths. You could whimsically put your fenders out and raft up to Roca Partida on a calm day....

I'm not sure there's anything close to 300' above water and 3.5 acres remaining today. It takes about 45 minutes to swim completely around under water. Roca Partida is quite literally out in the open ocean out of sight of any other "land." This photo gives some sense of the ocean swells on one of our dive days.



Tom
CLOUD

 

[sleddog]

I'm not sure there's anything close to 300' above water and 3.5 acres remaining today. It takes about 45 minutes to swim completely around under water. Roca Partida is quite literally out in the open ocean out of sight of any other "land." This photo gives some sense of the ocean swells on one of our dive days.
Tom
CLOUD

Thanks, DAZZLER!

It is apparent Roca Partida is being eroded, and in another 100 years may not be above water at all. The 1953 survey, quoted by Lee Lewis in his OP 1971 Baja Sea Guide, measured Roca Partida thus:

"Roca Partida, 100 metres (300 ft) long and 8 metres (26 ft) wide, rises into two peaks. A low-lying bare rock area divides these two peaks, hence the name "Parted Rock." The two peaks measured 25 metres (82 ft) and 34 metres (112 ft) high in 1953, but the higher peak apparently lost several meters (feet) since then, as the photographs illustrate."

 

[sleddog]

Avalon, Catalina Island, is a favorite harbor for New Year's revelers. But in strong NE winds Avalon turns into an open roadstead with a 26 mile fetch to the mainland. Enough distance for wind and seas to become knarly, as they did last night when multiple boats were washed ashore and 2 lives lost.

Hard to believe in this day and age of instantaneous weather reports.

 

[BobJ]

Tom, is that Perry's INBOX?

 

[Dazzler]

Tom, is that Perry's INBOX?

It's the same design (with a few modifications), but not INBOX. It's the 3rd Far Harbour 39, custom built in Maine.

Tom
CLOUD

 

[sleddog]

For those who have read the wonderful book "Boys in the Boat," Stan Pocock, master boat builder and son of legendary George Pocock, was honored yesterday with a memorial rowout and spreading of ashes at the 2,000 meter "Finish Line" in Montlake Cut, offshore of the University of Washington George Pocock crewhouse.

http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/coach-university-washington-honored-memorial-servi/njfyf/

From Stan Pocock's Remembrance:

Stan Pocock’s accomplishments in the rowing world abound. There is evidence of his handiwork across the country, from fiberglass racing shells (1956) to Olympic gold medals (1956 and 1960) to oarlock spacers (1981). Stan did more than just leave a path of amazing innovations and objects; he left an indelible mark on all the athletes he coached, the men and women he worked with, and the young athletes he inspired. To many, he was a mentor, a coach, a craftsman, and a legend. To us, at the George Pocock Rowing Foundation, he was a visionary and a philanthropist who gave everything he accomplished back to the rowing community.

Before he ended his boat making career, Stan became one of the founders of the George Pocock Rowing Foundation and helped nurture it into existence. Ten years later after working hard to garner support and funding, he with several close friends, completed construction of the George Pocock Memorial Rowing Center.

A humble man by nature, Stan was not always comfortable with the Pocock name being so prominent and public in the Foundation and the Memorial Rowing Center. However much he disregarded praise and fame, he was liberal with encouragement and inspiration to others. In the last several years, Stan could be seen often around the boathouse. He gave speeches at junior banquets, celebrated student-athlete awards, shook hands with the young men and women of the Center, and smiled as he reminisced with the Ancient Mariners Rowing Club.

It gave Stan great joy to see so many young people learn to row and thrive in the environment of the boathouse. The vision for the Pocock Rowing Center was blossoming as Stan lived and it shall live on. “Now, my earnest desire is that the quality of the eventual product of this center – the community-oriented rowing projects that we envision – will be known and celebrated for generations to come.”

Today, as we think about the amazing man that Stan Pocock was, our hearts are both saddened and uplifted in his memory. Stan made sure that the very soul of this sport would carry on past his own lifetime. And now, ever with his spirit and guidance, we are seeking to carry that out.

In the final pages of his memoirs, Stan describes one of the most treasured rows of his career and in the same breath expresses his desire to pass on those amazing experiences: “I knew that I had just experienced something that might never happen again. I had lost myself and, in the process, had truly found myself. I had had a fleeting glimpse of the divine… I wanted people who rowed for me, at least once, to have the thrill of that one moment.”

Row On, Stan

 

[sleddog]

Landing bow first on the small patch of sand, the Mexican panga driver deftly backed and filled between rocky outcroppings and 4' wave sets, allowing us to unload 7 bags and 200 pounds of gear at Yelapa's "Isabel's Beach."

The flight from SFO to Puerto Vallarta was an airborne treat, as we followed the California Coast southward, crossing over to the Sea of Cortez just south of the Border. From 30,000', whitehorses were visible below, the product of persistent winter north winds that extend the 800 mile length of the Gulf of California. I remembered back all those days spent at anchor at Los Frailes, waiting for a weather window to sail WILDFLOWER north into the Sea of Cortez.

From Puerto Vallarta to Yelapa, and hour's ride by panga-taxi, is usually an E-ticket ride. The panga driver asked us to don lifejackets, seedy looking things, and luckily there were not enough to go around for the 25 passengers.

2 x 200 horsepower outboards pushed the 30' panga at 25 knots in the leftover swell from the northerly blowing offshore in the Gulf. Luckily, as the passengers began to become airborne off their seats, the panga driver stopped to siphon from a fresh jug of gas by sucking on a 2" diameter hose.

As I wrote a year ago in post #592, page 60, one does not necessarily travel to Mexico to seek adventure. Adventure comes to you. A reminder there is another world that is not California. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD_yQZ4iNjY

 

[sleddog]

The passage to Alaska has been paddled by native canoes since time immemorial, sailing craft for centuries, and after gold was discovered in the Klondike the route was jammed with steamboats full of prospectors elbowing each other out of the way for the promise of fortune.

In the spirit of tradition, exploration, and self-reliance, the Race to Alaska was born by Jake Beattie, Executive Director of Port Townsend's Northwest Maritime Center. Jake's R2AK, starting 5 a.m., June 4, off Port Townsend's waterfront, is the first of its kind on the Pacific Coast, and North America’s longest human and wind powered race: 750 miles to Ketchikan, Alaska.

The R2AK is based on simplicity that SSS members could appreciate. BWYG. "Bring What You Got." No engines aboard, no supply drops, totally self supported. First prize is $10,000. Second place wins a set of steak knives.

Entries with fertile and/or deranged minds are already prepping. Rowers, kayakers, sailors. Some think a trimaran with oars would have the best chance. But rowing a multi-hull in predominant light headwinds and foul currents is a questionable proposition.

What is known is the winners, likely a crew of 2 or 3, will probably run nonstop, depending on tide gates like Seymour Narrows, where max current runs at 12 knots with ship eating whirlpools. Local knowledge will help, as there are numerous back eddies, short cuts, and places to hide out if things turn foul or short rest is required.

As well as type of craft, skill and endurance, luck will also play a big part in the R2AK. Not including tugs towing barges, there's plenty of things to run into. If you are zipping along in your F-27 tri on a dark night, or in fog, and run into a half submerged log, things won't go well.

Though Russell Brown, innovative Port Townsend designer, builder, and sailor, does not agree, my pick for R2AK winner would be a 3 man kayak with a small shelter for sleeping and room for supplies. Water refills can be found along the route, and the advantage of facing forward when underway may outweigh the greater speed potential of rowing.

What would Russell Brown pick as his tool for the R2AK?. Fun speculation is in the air at http://racetoalaska.com/

 

[sleddog]

Casa Santa Cruz, in Yelapa, needed new safety railings. The old rope strung between steel pipe stanchions was worn out because of UV. I hiked 10 minutes to Yelapa Pueblo, down the narrow cobblestone street, being careful to avoid the sleeping dogs. The ferretia (hardware store) had the rope I needed: universal Third World yellow and black polypropylene. It's light, it's cheap, it floats. And, unlike West Marine, the rope at Yelapa's ferretia is sold by the kilo.

Walking back to Casa Santa Cruz, I remembered as kids we weren't even allowed into our dinghies without being able to demonstrate basic knot tying ability: bowline, half hitches, clove hitch, sheet bend, and figure eight.

These days, knot tying skills are less emphasized. With today's hi-tech, slippery, dyneema and spectra ropes, knots not only slip, but drastically weaken the line. Two half hitches reportedly slip at 15% of Breaking Strength, a bowline at 22% of BS. The best knot for tying an eye in singlebraid dyneema may no longer be the bowline, but as Commodore Tompkins' half jokingly suggests, the “rolling half tangle.”

As kids we also had to learn an eyesplice in 3 strand rope. Except for dock lines, 3 strand isn't used much these days. A new type of splicing hi-tech line is favored over knot tying. A splice in spectra doesn't slip, and retains 90-100% of the original strength of the line.

I still enjoy knots. But am having to relearn splicing techniques, or pay the rigger $15 to do it for me.

Back at Casa Santa Cruz, splicing the new 3-strand polypro guard rails was the order of the day. Not a bad job, while watching humpback whales cavort offshore. http://www.yelapafun.com/

 

[sleddog]

What I wrote last year at this time was replayed yesterday: As we bounced along at 20 knots in our Puerto Vallarta bound panga, 23 passengers couldn't avoid becoming airborne. Nothing to hang onto, except maybe our memories of Yelapa. No saddlehorn, no seatbelts. Definitely no lifejackets.

Yelapa. It's been an enjoyable three week, 21 act play, with a constant changing cast of characters, warm tortillas fresh from the tortilleria, and the best passion fruit margaritas and seafood pasta imaginable at Tacos y Mas.

Getting out of Puerto Vallarta is akin to this Saturday's 3 Bridge Fiasco. You don't quite know where you're going, or what lies ahead when you get there.

My non-stop flight to SFO began at Airport Security. The Mexican preflight safety inspection was just as bogus as when I left San Francisco. The X-Ray girl's attention to my seabag was piqued by a plastic urinal filled with dirty socks. I was taken aside and asked to empty my carry on luggage. The young inspector gingerly held up the urinal, looked at my me, looked at my urinal, raised his eyebrows, and asked to see my passport. He then emptied my shaving kit, and confiscated my Gorilla Tape, dental floss, and miniature scissors. I maintained my cool and pointed out the scissors were well below the maximum 4" length allowed and had a blunted point as required. The inspector said I could check them. Was I really going to hike three city blocks back to the Alaska Air counter to check in a pair of scissors and some floss?

After being relieved of my hi-jack weapons, but no "chem wipe" as at SFO, I went in search of somewhere to refill my water bottle. I might as well have been looking for water on the moon. The employees at the airport restaurants and stores looked at me like I was crazy, and said I had to buy a bottle of water. A nice man directed me to a men's room, where I awkwardly filled my bottle through the motion activated water tap.

Arriving at Gate 12, I was ready to relax. I heard my name being called on the loudspeaker. Apparently I had not followed procedure and had to show airline personnel my passport and freshly minted boarding pass. This was not without incident, as my backpack capsized on the floor and the water bottle top came loose, flooding the floor.

The homeward bound flight was fine except for the crying baby, and the couple in adjacent seats arguing over details of their new home. The wife finally said, coolly, "I'm not speaking with you anymore." I just stared out the window at Catalina passing below.

U.S. Immigration went smoothly, but almost didn't. The nice man asked "how long were you in Mexico?"

"3 weeks," I answered.

His next question floored me: "What did you do every day?"

I almost reached down for my Logbook to read from 10 handwritten pages of "what I did every day." But remembering the water bottle incident at PV, I decided the better of it, and looked the officer in the eye, and said, "Nothing, that's what you do in Mexico. Nothing."

He looked at me, said "Oh, right," and waved me on, back into the U.S.of A.