June's Log
June 1, 2003
We continue to have a great time with Walt and Cathie. Today we visited the San
Diego Zoo and wow it costs $20 per head that equated to a case of been. So Liz
and I traded $40 dollars that could of be at least 60 Budweiser's. We looked at
Pandas, Elephants, snakes, bird and bears plus some other stuff and we walk a
bunch. It is a great zoo but those Buds would of helped the walking. We had a
great dinner of Salmon (we haven't had that for 18 months) and other comfort
food. Walt was not drinking as he was driving. I believe the three of us
entertained him.
June 2, 2001
Walt drove us to a alternator repair place, we got a new battery for free (old
one was in warranty) and maybe P&G Motors can fix our expensive alternator. We
were dropped back to the boat and they headed for the airport. We were truly
amazed that they came and really helped us transition back to the USA.
Liz and I stopped by a boat broker and we have started looking for the next
boat. Perhaps we have a sickness. We really kicked up our heals as today is
Liz's birthday and I cooked lamb chops. We have some bubbly and a special wine
given to us by Moonshadow for Xmas. It was a great night.
June 3, 2003
We did some more boat looking and borrowed a truck and unfortunately our
alternator may be unrepairable.
June 4, 2003
We are chatting with the sailboat broker and going to Downwind Marine to share
our cruising experiences. The informal chat was too informal and Liz and I
borrowed the truck and worked on our dead alternator with West Marine and P&G.
As it turned out we mailed our alternator to Balmar in Washington State. The
repair places couldn't the parts as Balmar has proprietary parts. A good note
for those and us who will cruiser again is to have alternators that are world
wide fixable.
June 5, 2003
Met with Dominic and Julia and Denis from Knee Deep visited us and we had fun.
Dennis brought over a VHF tape of the Barrillas project in El Salvador. This is
where an Episcopalian church in CA donated money to a village that was destroyed
as a result of an earthquake. Many cruisers worked on building homes. I hope I
can generate some interest in the Northwest. Julia brought pizza and we caught
up with our lives.
June 6, 2003
Last shopping with Julia. Liz and I went to see a C&C 48 but the broker was
confused and new to the business. A bunch of excuses and we left, at least
walking down and back was good exercise. We hung out until Dominique and Julia
arrived and we looked at pictures of our trip and headed to the Silver Gate
Yacht Club. Since we are also yacht club members we were allowed to dine at
their facilities. Our little o'ld Astoria Yacht Club had been real good to us
and should be very use full heading north.
June 7, 2003
At 8am we headed out and down to the fuel dock. We took on 89 gallons and we're
headed to sea at 9:30.
June 8, 2003
We left at 5 am, we untied very carefully and pushed off into the light fog. We
slipped through the entrance as I gave ourselves a little adrenalin as I motored
about a buoy that said "Sunken Jetty." The depthsounder read as little as 14
feet so we missed it. We cranked up the iron genny and off we went. About noon
we decided to keep on heading north as the seas were very calm and are supposed
to be for 2-3 days. That should be long enough to get to Monterey, CA.
June 9, 2003
We are off San Luis Obisbo and heading for Monterey, CA. The seas off of Point
Conception were smooth and windless at 10 am. I have the fishing lures out and
still no salmon. In spite of no fish we have been eating wonderfully and the
cabin is warm as if we are in El Salvador, 81.3 or 26.2 with the diesel heater
going. We fueled and showered and life is grand. We just got an email and we may
have a slip at Shilshore marina in Seattle and will move back into our house
October 1.
June 10, 2003
We continue up the coast and now are heading north and cutting down the miles to
Cape Flattery. Cape Flattery is the most northwest mainland portion of
Washington State. Tatoosh Island and several other rock concerns are further out
in the current swayed waters. Cape Flattery is where we will turn west and
towards Seattle and home.
We have little wind until we are south of Monterey and we do some nice sailing.
We decide that we will put in at Santa Cruz, the northern portion of Monterey
Bay. We slip into the space between the jetties and motor towards the fuel dock.
We have an easy landing but the serge so really concerning. We have six lines
attaching us and the boat movement is powerful. I am concerned that we will tear
out the cleats. Once we fueled, the attendant tells us that the surge is
everywhere in this spot. We chatted with the harbor master and they tell us they
have a space for us. The spot is very close and the cost is $.75 per foot or
about $40 and surge is thrown in free. We decide to head to San Francisco.
The night' passage is uneventful and the TV reception is poor. I watch Family
Feud, Wheel of Fortune filmed in Seattle and other stuff. The news has not miss
a beat as they report murders, death, scandals, tragedies and other stuff the
magazines on the check-out stand in any supermarket, except spacemen, Elvis and
whose marriage is breaking up.
June 11, 2003
Liz wakes me up as we are approaching the entrance buoy of San Francisco Bay. We
carefully follow the channel down the starboard/right/south side. We fight a out
flowing tide, that I thought should have turned and eventually pass under the
Golden Gate Bridge at 4 am. I take a few pictures of the bridge capped in mist
and we process to the mud banks off of Sausalito and drop anchor. We have a
"morning cap" and relish the quietness except for the fan from the diesel heater
and eventually fall asleep. Today I have no idea what we have planned. We
probably will launch the dinghy and search for Reliance, Sven and Sheri.
June 20, 2003
The weather in the bay is great. We went out for a sail around Alcatrz. Here is
the weather report: POINT ARENA TO PIGEON POINT OUT TO 20 NM- POINT ARENA TO
PIGEON POINT 20 TO 60 NM OFFSHORE- 300 PM PDT THU JUN 19 2003 .GALE WARNING...
.GALE WARNING EXPECTED FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT... TONIGHT...NW WINDS 25 TO 35
KT. COMBINED SEAS 10 TO 13 FT AT 9 SECONDS. PATCHY FOG NEAR THE COAST. FRI...NW
WINDS 20 TO 30 KT...INCREASING TO 25 TO 35 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. COMBINED SEAS 11
TO 14 FT AT 9 SECONDS. PATCHY MORNING FOG NEAR THE COAST. FRI NIGHT...NW WINDS
25 TO 35 KT. COMBINED SEAS 11 TO 14 FT AT 9 SECONDS. SAT THROUGH MON...NW WINDS
25 TO 35 KT. COMBINED SEAS 11 TO 14 FT. TUE...N WINDS 25 TO 35 KT. COMBINED SEAS
12 TO 15 FT.
So I don't know what is happening. We need to make 300 miles north and then the
weather really settles down. There is a high offshore and a low on land and they
are squeezing and accelerating the winds. For now we just hang off of the
marinas, moorage is free. There is a concert on shore tonight and we have our
library card for the Sausalito Library. We watched Chocolat in DVD last night.
But it would be nice to head north. Sent the above to Tom Liz and I walked
around the north portion of the Sausalito, visiting Mollie Stones (expensive
grocery store), West Marine's book store, and ABC Yacht Sales. We have visited
the Sausalito and San Diego locations and are hardy impress by the personnel. I
am a little unfair as the fellow we finally met was very new to the business. We
had walked by and wanted to view a C&C 48. We had spotted by 10 times and no one
was in the office. Our walk to the ABC Yacht Sales in Sausalito was nice but the
folks working there not what we would of called salesmen or even consultants,
perhaps they enjoyed the view. On our way back we stopped by to say hi to Dana.
She explained how to break into her marina.
We came back to the dinghy and on our way out to Slainte we were talked in to a
drink with Jeff and Melissa Polick on High Energy a 50' Sea Ray and the hosts on
Paquadoe David and Lydia. We believe we are heading to the Golden Gate Yacht
Club tomorrow for brunch and watch the 5 twelve meter racing sailboat race.
These are the boats that competed in the America's Cup this year. There are two
New Zealand, Orcle (owned by Larry Ellison racing for the Golden Gate YC), an
Italian and another boat we haven't identified. The Swiss boat Allingi the
eventual winner of the America's Cup was just unloaded in the bay and will
compete in the Fourth of July races.
June 21, 2003
We have found our best clothes, some too wrinkly to wear and we have shaved,
showered and are ready to head to the Golden Gate Yacht Club. Liz will make me
drive the dinghy more responsibly and not to spread saltwater on her good
clothes. Our hosts, David and Lydia are the 78th member since 1960 of the GGYC.
The is a good article how the America's cup challengers, Larry Ellison from the
St. Francis YC after negotiations moved his campaign the GGYC and financially
save the club. The article is in the San Francisco Chronicle Monday November 11,
2002.
Today was a lot of fun. A past commodore of the sponsoring yacht club (Golden
Gate Yacht Club) of Oracle America's Cup yacht, took us out on the bay and we
watched 5 of the America's Cup (12 meters) yachts race. We were right on the
starting line. Next we had lunch at the GGYC and Larry Ellison owner of Oracle
(that took second to the Swiss),made an appearance. His local yacht Ronin (220
foot yacht) and his helicopter that flew over the fleet were also in attendance
over the bay. A bit of money.
Other friends that are members of the Sausalito YC told us to go over to their
clubhouse where all the 12 meters are moored and their crews were partying. The
sponsor of these races sister's husband (hope you follow that) grew up in
Leavenworth and knew all of the Warmans. Small World.
June 22, 2003
June 23, 2003
We hung out at the library and call both of our employers and it looks good. We
walked the docks and enjoyed the scenery. Eventually we went back to the boat
and did chores, changing the oil, clean and getting ready to move north on
Wednesday. We watch AI (Artificial Intelligence) by Steven Spielberg.
June 24th 2003
Liz and I called Mom on her birthday and then met Dana at her boat. She fixed us
lunch and we visited a fellow from Cour de Laine, Idaho that had with two or
three of his friends had circumnavigated and was trying to sell their 65 foot
Swan. We took her car and I tried to remember how to drive. We tried to find the
road that heads north out past the Golden Gate Bridge, oops I miss the turn off
and was heading across the bridge and in to the city. We drove around some great
neighborhoods where Sharon Stone and Mork live. The homes were great and then we
visited the beach and check out the swells hitting the beach. The seas looked ok
and it should be settling in the next 24 hours. We drove around the city and
finally made it back across the bridge and 20 miles north to a Costco and a
Safeway. We provisioned and got back to Sausalito about 6pm. Even though we were
heading out tomorrow Dana, Liz and I had little party.
June 25th 2003
We left the mud at 10 am. We loaded the dinghy and motor and I went swimming to
check the prop zinc. Damn the water is really cold. We motored out of the San
Francisco bay and passed 30 plus sailboat that were participating in a single
handed race to the Fallon Island and back. We are now powering to Point Reyes
and we'll determine if the seas are ok and it so we'll continue up the coast.
About an hour ago we passed Point Reyes and the ocean is calm, no wind, and the
little jellyfish with their sails are just sitting. Without a butt per perhaps
just lying there. There is a 3-5 foot swell from the W NW and we have a small
sail out and this dampens the roll. The outside temperature is 59 and the cabin
is 75. Tonight will be cold maybe in the high forties. The refrigerator may even
make ice, well see. Liz and I are lazy, as we have eaten over 12 ounces of
goldfish.
June 26th, 2003
We just continue to move north to Crescent City and for the most part the seas
are great. This whole trip from the Galapagos to the present has been excellent
and we have made it fun, even though we know the end of the adventure is almost
behind us.
June 27th 2003
Another uneventful day of passage to Crescent City. We are in a pattern of
enjoying passage making, even the ones beating uphill. Allan has beat me again
in two games of cribbage. Of course we are not keeping track of the games I have
won because they are so few. Oh well.
June 28, 2003
We arrived into Crescent City in the afternoon, I decided that we'd moor and
find a real shower. We did that and the showers were tired and dirty. We shopped
at an Enland's fishermen store and relaxed. We washed the boat with freshwater
and took some of the salt off of the rigging and sails. Dinner was lamb and was
great so was 2 buck chuck.
Since we are in Crescent City Liz had try-outs with the Moon Girls.
Unfortunately Liz prefers Motown and this town based economically on fishing and
timber prefers country so no Mooning for Liz.
We have noticed that we have changed as we seem to be slow in judgmental, but we
have the concern that as we reenter the "normal" world we'll revert to old ways.
Hopefully we can keep a perspective and watch ourselves challenge a different
lifestyle.
June 29, 2003
We left Crescent City at 2pm after fueling. We had a 8 am appointment but a
commercial and another powerboat beat us to the dock. We just anchored in the
mud and talked with the captain of the powerboat that was transitting it to San
Francisco. His name was Doug and owned a Rafiki 37 sailboat, similar to Slainte
and also Liz and I almost purchase a Rafiki prior to Slainte. While we waited we
worked on the steering as it squeaks. We took the compass off and worked the
chain and attachment and now the steering is much easier without the squeak. We
headed out with Ahaluna and Southern light and the seas were great. We motored
and had a sail up until the following morning. We had a great dinner and slept
fitfully.
June 30, 2003
Twenty-four hours of sailing and moving north with a south-southwest wind behind
us. We need to slow down at times and the waves moved effortless below our
stern. It was a long day as we anticipated the arrival to the Columbia River.
The swells and confused seas plus the heights of sea seem to come and go. While
these seas are here it is a bit uncomfortable. I have noticed that there are
several foods that I don't want for a while; hard-boiled eggs, toasted cheese
sandwiches and chicken breasts.
June 31, 2003
We sailed and motored to make the flood slack tide on the Columbia River and we
hit it perfectly. Sometime around 3 or 4 am Peter on Ahaluna was concerned about
the oil platforms. He was about 5 miles ahead of us and eventually we saw the
lights. These were crabber or bottom fisherman and their sodium lights are very
bright, Liz and a friend Tom Potioswky at another time was amazed as well. At 5
am we get a alarm on the engine control panel, "Sail Drive Leak," we don't have
a sail drive but we shut down the engine and I climb into the engine room and
add some transmission fluid, and off we go. I don't believe that the alarm was
related but it didn't come back on except for one brief moment. At 6 am we
caught our first salmon and boy are they easy to clean compared to all the warm
water fish, no filleting. We came up the river and it was great to complete our
round trip, traveling over 10,150 nm. We left October 20th, 2001 and we return
649 days. After tying up and getting our moorage set, we relaxed and slept and
at 6:30 we had dinner of salmon with Ahaluna.
