First Coastal Passage - Ingrid 38

[clausont]

Well, we did it. We sold our Cal 2-29 and bought an Ingrid 38. We picked up the Ingrid in Olympia, WA and brought it out the straits and down the coast to Winchester Bay, OR. It was a great time although the weather was not always cooperative. We sat in Westport for two days waiting out a South Easterly 30 knot wind and rain. That was not too bad though as it gave me a chance to do some minor maintenance things and straighten up the boat a little. We ended up motoring almost all the way into Southerlies of calms. But at least no truly bad weather.
We all had a great time and the kids had a blast watching the whales and dolphins on the way.
When we were about a mile from the "U" buoy marking the entrance to the Umpqua River I called for a bar report since I had not heard one for more than an hour. We were given the "no restrictions" and started in when the Coast Guard called us again asking for more vessel information. After we had given them all of our vessel and travel information, they informed us that a boarding party would be awaiting us at our slip.
That was actually quite nice since they made good line handlers coming into the slip. After a very brief and courteous safety inspection with no violations, they departed and we were finished with our first coastal passage. I have not yet figured out the total miles on this but I think it was around 580 nm total.
We used Seaclear II quite a bit on the way (along with our Standard Horizon chart plotter) - I was very pleased with the way it performed! It was great to have the charts on the larger laptop screen. As would be expected though, the laptop screen brightness is not acceptable in the cockpit.
I was also surprised at how far offshore I was still able to place a cell phone call. More than 10 miles off shore with no problems. I was also very pleased with being able to raise someone on our 2 meter ham radio at about 130 miles from the repeater - 37 miles out to sea. It was great for the kids be able to talk to their mother as we were on the home stretch.
All in all, it was a great time!

[Amgine]

Congratulations! Sounds like a great trip was had by all aboard, which is what it's all about.

Looking forward to hearing more of your adventures aboard! (And picking your brain about the coastal trip at some point.)

[CaptainShack]

Sounds like you had allot of fun, bit about the cell coverage I found very interesting. Hope to hear about more of your passages.

[shadow]

Sounds like an excellent start to a long and great adventure. Also, is it common for the USCG to do those inspections at the marina?? Can you get a sticker or paper stating that you've been inspected so leave us alone?? just curious.

[SkiprJohn]

Congratulations! My first experience with an Ingrid 38 happened this last June. It truly is a great boat for cruising.
Kind regards,
JohnL

[keelbolts]

When I first started sailing, I was sure I was destined to be a salty, blue-water type. At some point I realized that I enjoyed coastal hopping more than ocean sailing. It was a surprise to me, but I made the necessary adjustments.

Have fun.

[RickD]

More than 10 miles off shore with no problems. I was also very pleased with being able to raise someone on our 2 meter ham radio at about 130 miles from the repeater - 37 miles out to sea. It was great for the kids be able to talk to their mother as we were on the home stretch.

GRATZ!

On the 37 mile thing, the repeater must have been up there a ways, on a mountain maybe? We have one on Pikes Peak here that I can hear at the Kansas border most of the time (about 200 miles from the repeater).

Pikes Peak is 14110 feet above sea level (about 7k feet above the average terrain)... so the ham repeater station had to have been on top of a mountain

If you have a 100 foot tower on flat land, near the ocean the edge of the "visible" (line of sight) horizon is about 35 miles. So I'm impressed with the radio systems!

[clausont]

Thanks Amgine - we all did have a great time - and you are welcome to pick my brain about the passage any time you want. (I warn you, anyone expecting to get very much from my pea brain will be disappointed! )
CaptainShack - I was really surprised myself. In fact there were one or two bars of reception out there.
Shadow - I hear these boardings fairly commonly in our area. They were very courteous and very brief. Nobody should mind these boardings if they are done as professionally and courteously as ours was done. When they aere finished, they signed off on the safety inspection, cave us a printed inspection report, safety inspection sticker to affix to the hull which is good for one year and told us that if we are questioned about having been boarded we should refer to the inspection number on the report and we should not be bothered again. They qualified it saying that it did not guarantee that we would not be boarded, but if we were it would be "extremely brief". The original boarding was only about 10 - 15 minutes. About the same amount of time as the safety inspection I requested on our Cal 2-29 that we just sold.
SkiprJohn - We really enjoyed the Ingrid on the way down here. We never got any water on the deck even though there was plenty being thrown from the bow. It was a very comfortable ride and I was surprised at how quiet the hull was.
Keelbolts - We may never have a chance to make a true blue water passage, but even if we just do harbor hopping, we completely enjoyed it.
RickD - The repeater is on a 6,000' mountain top which is inland about 100 miles or so from the coast with a lot of terrain in between. The mountain top location certainly made the difference. Had it not been on the mountain top, we would have never made the contact. I am impressed with the radio systems also. Far better coverage usually than marine vhf alone.

[RickD]

RickD - The repeater is on a 6,000' mountain top which is inland about 100 miles or so from the coast with a lot of terrain in between. The mountain top location certainly made the difference. Had it not been on the mountain top, we would have never made the contact. I am impressed with the radio systems also. Far better coverage usually than marine vhf alone.

Excellent! Hams pride themselves on communications - after all, to them being a good communicator, making their systems do their best, and maintaining their equipment to the highest standards is very much like sailors doing the same things with their boats

(I've been an amateur radio operator for a very long time, and worked on radio systems much, much longer so can state this truthfully )

[Amgine]

::grin:: Well, you said I could ask...

I've been up and down most of the inside waters you covered north of Tacoma, but every time I've headed out the Juan de Fuca I've been hammered. Sailing *in* hasn't been a problem, just getting out past the prevailing westerlies. What was your tactic, and did it work?

Once beyond Cape Flattery, what was your route? in close, paralleling the coast a short way off, or getting out into the current out of sight of land? You were in Gray's Harbour for a couple days, but any other stops along the way? The effects of the Columbia are reported to reach as far as 200 miles offshore; did you notice anything in waves or current as you approached/passed the mouth of the river?

Winchester Bay: what's the entrance like? What the heck are those three huge square pools to the west of town? looks like a huge collection of marina docks, and only about 70% full?

[imagine2frolic]

Great start with a boat new to you. We have t-mobile pcmcia card? We use for internet, and easily get reception 10+ miles offshore. We use NAOO to squeeze betwen weather when doing the Floriduh coastline.

[Charlie]

Great update Clausnot. Congrats on getting the boat. I'm glad the kids had a good time that is always a good thing. Good luck hopefully we'll catch up somewhere on the coast one of these days and our kids can play togehter while we have a sociable drink or two.

[clausont]

Originally Posted by Amgine

::grin:: Well, you said I could ask...

I've been up and down most of the inside waters you covered north of Tacoma, but every time I've headed out the Juan de Fuca I've been hammered. Sailing *in* hasn't been a problem, just getting out past the prevailing westerlies. What was your tactic, and did it work?

Once beyond Cape Flattery, what was your route? in close, paralleling the coast a short way off, or getting out into the current out of sight of land? You were in Gray's Harbour for a couple days, but any other stops along the way? The effects of the Columbia are reported to reach as far as 200 miles offshore; did you notice anything in waves or current as you approached/passed the mouth of the river?

Winchester Bay: what's the entrance like? What the heck are those three huge square pools to the west of town? looks like a huge collection of marina docks, and only about 70% full?

Amgine - our tactic for going out was - motor. We motored all the way out. There was another boat that left at the same time we did out of Port Angeles and did sail all the way to Neah Bay tacking across the straits. They had a full, experienced crew on a Beneteau (48' I think) and said that they were returning from participating in the Pacific Cup. They arrived only a few hours after we did in Neah bay.
Once beyond Cape Flattery, we high tailed it for Westport, WA. We knew that weather was approaching and we would not have time to get to Newport, OR before we would get hit with strong South Westerlies. We sat out the weather with the Tuna boats for two days before proceeding out about 40 miles ( well clear of the mouth of the Columbia river) and setting a direct course for the "U" buoy at the Umpqua River. I believe it was about 37 hours down from Westport to Winchester Bay at an average of about 6.75 knots. During the night, off the mouth of the Columbia, we were hit by a series of pretty good size waves that rolled the boat pretty good and launched quite a bit of stuff down below that I thought were pretty well secured. Not sure if it was effects from the Columbia, a ship wake combined with the seas from a distance or just happenstance. No damage or anything. Nothing serious, just notable and the kids slept through it so it was probably not as big as it seemed on night watch.
We did notice debris in the water quite a distance from shore compared to further north and south.
The entrance to Winchester bay can be pretty tricky. You should never try to cross the bar except on a flood tide and then not without first getting a bar report.
There are range markers to guide you in, but I usually stay somewhat south of the range markers as the channel is a bit deeper and calmer there. You have to be careful - you will be hugging the soutth jetty on the way in. Don't try to cross the bar mid way between the jetties - the bar often breaks more than half way across the entrance even in settled weather on the ebb due to a very shallow bar there. The deep part of the channel when we came in on the flood was showing 27'. Far shallower out of the channel. The current can be quite strong there also as it is emptying the Umpqua river.
The three huge squares? Yep - the marina. You see one empty dock there. That is reserved for the public to crab from. No boats allowed there. What a shame for 50' slips. 70% full may have been in the high season.....
Great littler marina. The slip rental price just can't be beat abd the community there is very friendly and close. Your boat is quite safe there.
Imagine3Frolic - After this last trip, I will definitely get a Verizon card for internet access the next time. We have used AT&T PCM CIA cards at work and had such trouble with the system that we had to drop them altogether and we went to Verizon. We have not had so much as one disconnect from Verizon last I checked.
Charlie - That sounds great - hopefully, we will be able to meet up some time.
Thanks

[JB_in_Fla]

The beginning of a great trip, I'm sure

Jealousy is starting to sink in, but I must be steadfast saving my pennies. I originally vowed by 50 I would set sail, some 20 years ago as a boy watching my father kill himself working hoping to retire before he dies (he did, at age 62 and is thankfully still around!). By the grace of God diligence seems to be paying off (please markets don't ruin me!) and maybe by 40, 45 tops I can forgo this whole landlubber disease called a career!

Cheers and have a sundowner for me!