I thought I'd share my recent li'l trip up the
west coast. I had planned to sell the
boat in
San Diego since I wanted a
trawler and didn't want to do this trip. But, apparently San Diegians don't want older
boats, no matter how good of shape they're in. So, before the
weather changed and had to leave it unattended for the
winter in SD, I made the quick decision to bring it back to the
PNW.
And thanks to Paul for
crewing for me on the way up. I planned that we would be motoring the whole way, which actually turned out that way. It seems we left at a fairly good time. We didn't get rained on the whole trip but did get pretty wet splashing through the windward waves. And as we approached
Catalina I found out that my
hatch seals had all dried out sitting in Calif for 3 years. As well, finding out the my
mast boot wouldn't keep out
water under a full
deck wash over. IAW submarining.
And also found out I need a cover for the
windlass, and need to put in a
bilge pump for the chain locker. (The base is at the waterline)
We got a lot of
water in but was able to manage it. Only damage done was that I need to refinish the
cabin sole now and reseal all the hatches, again. (Hatches last sealed 6-7 years ago, will need to check the date stamp on the pictures)
We left SD on the 12th of August and headed out on a fairly calm sea. By the time we got north of Encinitas the
wind waves were hitting us on the nose pretty good. So, when we got in the lee of
Catalina we stopped & I did some temporary seal jobs to the
windlass, hatches and
mast boot. At least to to keep the inflow of seawater down to a minimum. From there we headed north to Morro Bay to replenish
fuel and get some rest. But on the way we got hit pretty good with more good size waves, some even coming over the
dodger and
bimini.
Once north of Pt. Conception the waves varied and at one point we had to slow the
motor to keep from driving over the tops of steep wave, causing the bow to slam as we came down the far side.
Our next stop was Bodega Harbor for
fuel and supplies. A sleepy little town. It was fairly calm when we left but still was
head into the
wind and waves.
Next stop was Brookings. A mostly
small boat town with a CG that looks for any excuse to board you. So, before I could even get away from the fuel
dock, they want to do a
safety inspection.
Well, of course they had to find something to write me up on. My flares were out of date by a couple months. So they made me go into town and buy new ones before I left or the warning would be a citation. Fortunately, we were able to find a nice
small boat fisherman that would run me up to get some new flares. Thank you!!!
So on our way out we stopped by the USCG station and showed them the new flares.
so if y'all ever stop in Brookings, beware, you going to get boarded!
On our way north again we still hit some good size rollers. Bad enough that they were closing the bars behind us. We wanted to go into Humbolt but it was late at night and being unfamiliar with the narrow channel, we passed it by. So we headed for Tillamook Bay, but the bar was closed by the time we got close. Which made it Grays Harbor our next stop.
It was a Sunday and the waves were long rollers. Once we hit the
Oregon border the air became misty/wet
fog. We got into Westport (Grays Harbor) fairly easy and headed for the fuel
dock. But apparently they don't sell fuel on Sunday's. Which seemed a bit strange considering all the cattle and
fishing trollers that run in/out of that place. So we had to dump the spare 20 gl we had on
deck (in cans) into the tank and
head back out, but only after getting a
shower and meal. By this time our legs were pretty rubbery.
Onword and upward to Neah Bay for more fuel. We arrived to the entrance of the Strait of Juan De Fuca as the sun was coming up, and as the tide was changing to our favor. We stopped in Neah Bay and added 44 gl of fuel, which means I still had 16 gl left. But Neah is the best prices for fuel anywhere along the way (Indian reservation property).
Heading into the straits was the first we seen of sunny
weather, and smooth water (no wind). So we comfortabley motored all the way to Roche Harbor and anchored the night. In the morning we headed out with the tide again and got into Blaine at 12:46. Where the
boat now resides.
It was 1338 nm in 11 days.
Did two
oil changes.
Burned 209 gl of fuel.
Ran the
motor 218.6 hr.
Which averages 6.12 kt of speed. Not including the layover times.
6.4 miles per gl.
.958 gl per hr.
Not once was I able to sail. Although, I did have the
storm jib up for a while, tiring to steady the boat in the rollers, which proved to be a waste of effort.
Not too bad for an older boat!
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