Ready, Set, Go!

  READY SET GO

Summer Place came off the hard in late June.  She has a fresh coat of bottom paint, blue this time.  The electronics are updated with new Raymarine chart plotter, auto pilot, radar, and instruments.  The stern lifeline is beefed up with stainless steel rail to the gates.  There are two more solar panels, 150% more capacity.  Mechanically there is a new water pump, valves for the fuel system, exhaust coupler, exhaust elbow on the generator, turbine outlet fittings and so on.  The bow thruster had a check-up and got new seals and feed tube.

NEW SOLAR PANELS

NEW INSTURMENTS

NEW CHART PLOTTER

The fuel tank has been topped off with 90 more gallons of diesel.  The water tank is filled and chlorinated. The garbage is put off.  The pantry and freezer are packed.  The clothes are washed and stowed.  We are ready to go!

July 6, 2015

            We depart from C dock, space 147, Boat Haven Marina, Port Townsend, WA at 0930, well before the negative tide.   Local fires haze the sky making the mountains difficult to view.  Our destination is Watmough Bay on the southeast side of Lopez Island.  The wind and current are at odds making it a bit rough.  I think the boat loves to be washed in salty sea spray.  We motor for a while, and then let out the Jib followed by the Main, making a good 6 knots under sail alone.  Anchoring around 1400 in 17 feet with a 20 knot breeze from the west, we put out 150 plus chain rode.   Today we traveled 23.4 nautical miles.  Our GPS coordinates:  48.26.029N, 122.48.469W.  The wind is consistent throughout the night swaying us on the anchor chain in a tight arc.

WATMOUGH BAY, LOPEZ ISLAND

July 7, 2015

            We awake to a good breeze with bouncy wind waves.  The sky is overcast with low clouds and haze from the fires.  The anchor comes up well with a bit of mud, sea grass, and kelp.  Hugging the shore we motor past the islands up Rosario Strait.  Recreational fishing boats dot the water along with other S/V and M/V.   There are a couple tugs pushing and pulling barges.  The WA state ferries are evident going through Thatcher Pass.  Rounding Orcas Island, we set a course for Sucia Island.  No sooner does the Jib go out the wind dies off.  The water looks like glass and the sun shows itself.  We set anchor in Echo Bay at 1300 in 32 feet with a 4 knot breeze.  Our GPS coordinates:  48.45.787N, 122.54.242W.  The watermaker has been unpickled and run for most of the 4 hour journey making approximately 18 gals per hour.

PASSING TUG BOATS

WASHINTON STATE FERRY

SUCIA ISLAND

ECHO BAY, SUCIA ISLAND

Traveling North to Port Townsend, WA.

The weather window finally opened wide enough to fit the boat through and make it up to Port Townsend, Washington.  There were a few other times that the weather was good, but I was unable to find fellow boaters to help with the trip.  Then the combination of the right weather and Susan having time off, we decided to make the move.  So on March 24th, after Susan worked all day, we left the dock in Charleston, OR.  Our plan was to travel up the coast to Neah Bay, WA and take a rest.  The winds blew from the port/stern at all times, around 20 knots.  I had not planned to sail as the genoa was not on the boat, but had rigged the storm sail to help steady the boat so it would not roll so much.  It may have helped but we were still rolling 30 degrees to port and then 30 degrees to starboard.  This makes for a very uncomfortable ride, having to hold on and brace yourself at all times.  We would trade watches every 3 hours, so Susan would be on for 3 hours and then I would be on for 3 hours.  After about 36 hours the winds slowed and the water calmed to make for a much nicer ride.  46 hours after leaving Charleston we arrived in Neah Bay.  The anchor was dropped, showers were taken, a small dinner, then bed time!!

To catch the best tides to get to our next stop (Port Angeles) we needed to leave by 8:00 am.  Up with the anchor.  The wash down for the anchor did not work (which we later figured out that a through hull was closed) so the anchor and chain had to be washed when we got to port.  The trip was uneventful with smooth waters, no wind, and plenty of sunshine.  It is an 8 hour trip, saw some big ships coming down through the Strait of Juan De Fuca.  I stay out of the shipping lanes, just skirting the edges.  Port Angeles is a nice place for a stop over.  The dock is a side tie, wide, concrete, with water, electricity and a locked gate.  There is not much for shopping or restaurants close by so we just stayed on the boat and relaxed after cleaning the boat and anchor.

The next morning we left for Port Townsend at 7 am.  There was a west wind blowing but it did not seem to bad.  It would be a 5 hour trip with the wind at our stern.  Well, the wind kept increasing up to 20-25 knots.  The wind waves that developed reminded me of the ocean on our way up the coast.  Start bracing again.  4 hours later the wind did calm down, and as we entered the marina to dock the wind was down to 8-10 knots.  The plan was to back into the slip so we could remove the Monitor windvave off the back of the boat by standing on the dock, but with the wind I was not sure it would be smart to try.  So, Susan had to prepare the boat on both sides for a possible port or starboard tie up.  As we got close to the slip the wind cooperated and I was able to back in, and Susan tied us up.

We had made it in one piece, no breakdowns, no casualties (Susan did have one nasty bruise on her arm).  Over all the weather was ok.   Going up the coast can be difficult with the prevailing winds coming from the north.  To try to get up the coast with a south wind, in seas that are not dangerous, i.e.  storm conditions, it has to be a perfect window.  We picked a good time to go, it could have been better and it could have been much worse.  The Pacific Northwest can be a very dangerous stretch of ocean.

Summer Place will have some work done while in Port Townsend, then this summer Susan and I plan to go up the inside passage again, and if time permits up into Alaska.

Ouch!!

Tuna, Tuna, Tuna

We have tuna now.  Susan, Steve Reher, and I left on a Sunday afternoon (Sept. 14) to head out to the tuna grounds.  We had heard they were hitting hard and not to far offshore, so we got the boat ready for fishing, stocked up on food and drinks for an overnight adventure.  We headed due west expecting to arrive sometime in the early morning about 30 miles from shore.  As the sun dipped below the horizon the fog came out, getting thicker and thicker.  I was able to see the bow with the navigation lights but not much more.  The windows had so much moisture on them that I had to poke my head out the side to try to see anything.  The only thing to see was phosphorescence as the waves would hit the side of the boat.  The radar showed boats out there and they always seemed to be right were I was going.  I had to change directions about 5 times during my watch.  I never did see these boats because of the fog even though they came within 1/2 mile.  About one hour into Steve's watch the fog lifted and we were in the middle of a lot of boats.  Steve counted 34 boat lights, all just drifting, so we decided to turn the engine off and drift until daylight.

At 6:30 there was enough light to start fishing, so on with the engine and out went the tuna hand lines.  It wasn't more than 5 minutes before we had our first fish.  With Susan driving, Steve and I in the back fishing, we were able to get all the fish we could handle in 4 hours.  Most of the fish were large in the 30 lbs range, and some in the 10 lbs range.  Most of the hook ups were singles, some doubles, but no triples.  Everytime we had a fish on, Susan would mark it with the GPS and then circle back slowly over that point.  It did not take much time before we had a very nice pattern.  So, by 10:30 we were done.  It turned out to be 360 pounds of tuna fresh from the sea, bled out and placed on ice.  It was time to turn for home, now 39 miles away.

The sea turned rough as we came in with 20 knot winds, confused seas and just general uncomfortable conditions.  Susan had to go out back and tie down the ice chests and equipment.  By 5:00 p.m. we were tied off at the dock.  As weary as we were, we needed to get the fish to Chuck's Seafood for processing before 6:00 when they would close.  With lots of pushing and pulling all 360 lbs. of tuna made it in time.  Seven days later the finished product was ready for us, 180 lbs of canned tuna.  It only took me 2 days to clean the boat after the blood fest that tuna fishing is.