Our adventure this year begins
with a 4th of July bon voyage gathering on the roof of our new home on
the Columbia River. We have repaired the home enough to keep it afloat
while we are gone. The Carl’s brother Jim, our kids and grandkids
joined us. Jacob, Brittney and 2 year old Emily, Zach, Aiden (11),
Sophia (8) and Zach’s friend Kathi. We also celebrate Carl, Aiden and
Kathi’s July Birthdays.
On the 5th we threw off the dock lines and the boat slipped away from our house to begin our summer sailing. Zach, Kathi and the kids are on board with us and Jim untied us and pushed us off. Jacob will help by taking care of some of our personal business for the next eight weeks. He and Brittney sent us away with a bag of their wonderful fresh garden lettuce and cilantro.
Our destination this evening is the small Longview Yacht Club dock for one night where Jim will meet us and Zach et al will depart. This day is uneventful, a typical motor down the Columbia until you find sufficient afternoon wind. We had some nice sailing for a few hours and watch the barge traffic pass us by. Aiden and Sophia like the big wake that the container ships and barges put out. Surf’s Up!
Tied to the dock at 5:00 we unwind and stretch our legs. Dave is a gracious host and after a quick tour he departs. We had the facility all to ourselves until we left the next morning. This will most likely be our normal stop along the way to and from Astoria. It is beautifully situated, peaceful and easy to get to.
On the 5th we threw off the dock lines and the boat slipped away from our house to begin our summer sailing. Zach, Kathi and the kids are on board with us and Jim untied us and pushed us off. Jacob will help by taking care of some of our personal business for the next eight weeks. He and Brittney sent us away with a bag of their wonderful fresh garden lettuce and cilantro.
Our destination this evening is the small Longview Yacht Club dock for one night where Jim will meet us and Zach et al will depart. This day is uneventful, a typical motor down the Columbia until you find sufficient afternoon wind. We had some nice sailing for a few hours and watch the barge traffic pass us by. Aiden and Sophia like the big wake that the container ships and barges put out. Surf’s Up!
Tied to the dock at 5:00 we unwind and stretch our legs. Dave is a gracious host and after a quick tour he departs. We had the facility all to ourselves until we left the next morning. This will most likely be our normal stop along the way to and from Astoria. It is beautifully situated, peaceful and easy to get to.
On the 6th Zach, Kathi, Aiden and Sophia head for home leaving Jim with
us on the leg to Astoria. Given that we need to make very good time to
get to Astoria to prepare for our departure the next day we motor the
entire way. The river is quite choppy and the wind is coming right at
us. We take Jim along the River Walk so he knows where to catch the bus
the next day. The River Walk is quite nice. We watch at the fish
plant as fresh bonito (or Spanish mackerel not sure which) are coming in
off the boats and through the sorting belts. Right across the way we
stop for dinner at the Buoy Beer Company, a brew pub established inside
one of the old abandoned commercial waterfront buildings. You dine in
nice space that is open to the river with large fishing fleet going back
and forth very close by.
4:30
in the morning on Monday the 7th Jim unties us and we head for the
Columbia River Bar. Jim heads for the showers then his long bus ride
back to our house to reach his vehicle. By 7:00 a.m. we have had
another uneventful crossing of the Columbia Bar and start our slog
northward. Since there are only two of us we have decided to primarily
motor for the nearly 36 hours that we expect to spend on the passage.
By 6:00 PM it is quite clear that we are not making nearly the speed
that we had hoped. The wind is higher than forecast and even worse, the
waves and swell are considerably higher, making for a very rough ride.
We briefly consider going into Grays Harbor but opt to stay the course.
Taking short two hour shifts gives us enough of a break to consider
soldiering on.
At midnight on the dawn of July
8th Carl comes on shift and we greet his 61st birthday. A very
different way for us to celebrate a birthday but we enjoy it! We motor
on…….early this morning we see a humpback whale within 20 feet of our
boat. A little too close for comfort but what a treat!
Quite often while sailing you hang up your laundry to dry. In our case we needed to hang up all of our sailing books so our cabin was converted to a clothes line and we had to duck books as we made our way through the cabin. We took water over the bow all night long and it managed to find its way into the cabin in numerous ways. More leaks to chase this fall.
By 0930 we have decided that we will duck into Neah Bay for a night. The seas are rough and we are a bit tired. We rev up the engine and head that direction. Soon our engine starts belching in ways that you do not want your engine to belch. We turn off the engine and start to investigate. Pam cleans the water filter while Carl changes the fuel filter. Another couple hours up the coast the engine belches and gurgles sounding like we are running out of diesel. We empty our spare 5 gallons into the tank and turn the engine off.
With sails up we make extremely slow progress north but progress non-the-less. About this time we realize that the alternator must not have been working. Our battery charge is showing low. Thankful for our two solar panels we believe we will have enough juice to start the battery when we need to. We turn off absolutely everything and use our hand held GPS and VHF radio.
We are now rationing fuel and battery, using the engine just enough to head west and avoid Cape Alava. Now we are sure this is not how Carl envisioned spending his 61st birthday.
Quite often while sailing you hang up your laundry to dry. In our case we needed to hang up all of our sailing books so our cabin was converted to a clothes line and we had to duck books as we made our way through the cabin. We took water over the bow all night long and it managed to find its way into the cabin in numerous ways. More leaks to chase this fall.
By 0930 we have decided that we will duck into Neah Bay for a night. The seas are rough and we are a bit tired. We rev up the engine and head that direction. Soon our engine starts belching in ways that you do not want your engine to belch. We turn off the engine and start to investigate. Pam cleans the water filter while Carl changes the fuel filter. Another couple hours up the coast the engine belches and gurgles sounding like we are running out of diesel. We empty our spare 5 gallons into the tank and turn the engine off.
With sails up we make extremely slow progress north but progress non-the-less. About this time we realize that the alternator must not have been working. Our battery charge is showing low. Thankful for our two solar panels we believe we will have enough juice to start the battery when we need to. We turn off absolutely everything and use our hand held GPS and VHF radio.
We are now rationing fuel and battery, using the engine just enough to head west and avoid Cape Alava. Now we are sure this is not how Carl envisioned spending his 61st birthday.
July 9th finds us safely tacking past Cape Alava and
heading towards Tatoosh Island and the entrance to the Straits of Juan
de Fuca. This day will prove to be quite a comedy of errors by the time
it ends. We sail for hours……and hours……very slowly. I would not think
that we could find such a long stretch of such very low wind along the
coast but we do. We decided to take down the main sail because it was
blocking the wind from the head sail. Pam goes to the mast and starts
to take it down but wait, it is stuck. Both of us work on swinging the
halyard out and back and out and back and soon it comes loose. Great!
Now we can take it down. Nope, in the swinging out and back to get it
off one piece of hardware it has decided that it will wrap itself around
the spreaders (those ‘arms’ that stick out on either side of the mast).
More wild swinging and finally it comes loose. Carl heads back to the
wheel to get us back on course while Pam starts to pull the sail down.
Nope! NOW the back end of the sail is stuck. There are very small
pieces of hardware along the back end of the sail and there is a cable
called a topping lift that holds the boom up to the top of the mast.
The hardware on the sail has snagged on the cable. We loosen the cable
and no luck. Carl over tightens the main sail so it is holding up the
boom and we madly fling the topping lift cable back and forth. Off it
comes and now at last we can drop the main sail. Ahoy Mates! I think I
am ready for that bottle of rum!
Being safe rather than sorry we turn on the high power VHF radio and advise the Puget Sound Coast Guard of our situation. We are not in danger but anticipate that we may need to come into Neah Bay after dark and under sails rather than power. They standby and they broadcast a ‘securite’ message for us to all other boaters in case anyone is able to bring some diesel. An hour goes by and no other boats offer assistance. The Coast Guard decides to launch their Neah Bay boat USCG 47090 and they are soon along side of us as we continue to sail. Once they are with us we can turn off the high powered radio and revert to the handheld, hoping that we still have enough battery to kick the engine over.
We have made the turn into the Straits and now the wind is at our back and we are riding an incoming current so our speed has changed from about one half of a knot (per hour) to 5 knots. Neah Bay is in our grasp! It is fast approaching dark and the Coast Guard has us try our engine. We are not able to crank it over so they set up for a tow. This is quite interesting and exciting. With Carl and the helm Pam goes forward to ‘standby for instruction.” The Coast Guard brings their boat alongside our boat and they throw us a line saying “Heads Up”. The first try was way off (slight cursing by the CG person), the second try was close but no cigar. “We are just practicing” says their captain. “So are we” I reply. The third time is the charm and I now have a rope hung up on a few of the ropes on our boat. Once I untangle it they have me keep pulling until I have pulled two tow ropes to our boat. They have me fasten one on each of our bow cleats then return to the cockpit as they slowly take us under tow.
Not what we expected but I have to say it was a beautiful tow under a nearly full moon that reflected beautifully off the ocean. Once we turned into Neah Bay they came along side and tied our boat directly to their boat then floated us to the dock. We then were ‘boarded’ for an inspection, simply part of their process. We pass the inspection with flying colors and the officer tells us to keep the report as it comes in handy if we are ever boarded for a random inspection. The officer loans us his cell phone so we can let Jacob know that we are tied up safe and he can spread the word. 67 hours after leaving Astoria we are ready for a shot of whiskey and bed. Thus this long day of comedy and errors ends as Carl’s shot of whiskey spills all over the floor….
Being safe rather than sorry we turn on the high power VHF radio and advise the Puget Sound Coast Guard of our situation. We are not in danger but anticipate that we may need to come into Neah Bay after dark and under sails rather than power. They standby and they broadcast a ‘securite’ message for us to all other boaters in case anyone is able to bring some diesel. An hour goes by and no other boats offer assistance. The Coast Guard decides to launch their Neah Bay boat USCG 47090 and they are soon along side of us as we continue to sail. Once they are with us we can turn off the high powered radio and revert to the handheld, hoping that we still have enough battery to kick the engine over.
We have made the turn into the Straits and now the wind is at our back and we are riding an incoming current so our speed has changed from about one half of a knot (per hour) to 5 knots. Neah Bay is in our grasp! It is fast approaching dark and the Coast Guard has us try our engine. We are not able to crank it over so they set up for a tow. This is quite interesting and exciting. With Carl and the helm Pam goes forward to ‘standby for instruction.” The Coast Guard brings their boat alongside our boat and they throw us a line saying “Heads Up”. The first try was way off (slight cursing by the CG person), the second try was close but no cigar. “We are just practicing” says their captain. “So are we” I reply. The third time is the charm and I now have a rope hung up on a few of the ropes on our boat. Once I untangle it they have me keep pulling until I have pulled two tow ropes to our boat. They have me fasten one on each of our bow cleats then return to the cockpit as they slowly take us under tow.
Not what we expected but I have to say it was a beautiful tow under a nearly full moon that reflected beautifully off the ocean. Once we turned into Neah Bay they came along side and tied our boat directly to their boat then floated us to the dock. We then were ‘boarded’ for an inspection, simply part of their process. We pass the inspection with flying colors and the officer tells us to keep the report as it comes in handy if we are ever boarded for a random inspection. The officer loans us his cell phone so we can let Jacob know that we are tied up safe and he can spread the word. 67 hours after leaving Astoria we are ready for a shot of whiskey and bed. Thus this long day of comedy and errors ends as Carl’s shot of whiskey spills all over the floor….
July 10th we decide to go to breakfast in this sleepy little Makah
Tribal village. They have stopped serving breakfast however because we
did not realize it was well after 11 by the time we got up. Guess our
bodies needed some rest! We poke around town, have a nice lunch, get a
few groceries and use the wifi to catch up on news from home, weather,
tides and currents. This is the second time we have had the boat in
Neah. Sometime we will plan a couple of days here to hike their trails
and peek in their museum but the currents and weather look good for
tomorrow so we get the boat ready and head to bed early.
July 11th we top off the diesel
tank and realize that part of our fuel problem is that we used at least
one third more fuel than normal we think because of the wind and seas
that we encountered the entire first night of the journey. With fog in
the Straits and commercial traffic we call into Seattle Traffic and they
safely navigate us through the area. We have the cargo vessels on
radar and can call them on the VHF as well but Seattle Traffic is a
great assist with the addition of fog. We scoot across the Straits and
begin our north westerly tour of the scenic west coast of Vancouver
Island. Again we motor because we want to beat a weather front that
promises to bring heavy winds to the area and I think because mentally
we just need to get to our destination! Only picturesque light houses
dot this rugged stretch of coastline. The only people we might see will
be those hiking the West Coast Trail “established in 1909 after 126
survivors from the shipwrecked Valentia were unable to make it out by
foot.”
We cross into Barkley Sound leaving Cape Beale well off our starboard bow. This is a beautiful coast yet rocky so close attention to our paper and electronic charts is a must. We have fished this sound a couple of times and will do so again, this time from our own boat.
We safely motor into the Ucluelet Inlet and the tie up to the Customs Dock in Ucluelet, our final destination for a few days. We have some nice discussions with folks on the docks and help other boats tie up as they too come in to clear customs. We finally bbq those nice thick celebratory steaks and toast our safe arrival.
We cross into Barkley Sound leaving Cape Beale well off our starboard bow. This is a beautiful coast yet rocky so close attention to our paper and electronic charts is a must. We have fished this sound a couple of times and will do so again, this time from our own boat.
We safely motor into the Ucluelet Inlet and the tie up to the Customs Dock in Ucluelet, our final destination for a few days. We have some nice discussions with folks on the docks and help other boats tie up as they too come in to clear customs. We finally bbq those nice thick celebratory steaks and toast our safe arrival.
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