Sailing a 32’ Hunter Vision from Seattle to San Fran and more!

[gulfcoastsailor]

Please stay in touch here or offer a format to follow you. This will be a very interesting read.

[TaylorHoliday]

Originally Posted by Smokeys Kitchen

Sounds pretty adventurous!

We would like to do that one day - and ran across this book, Cruising the Northwest Coast, which we picked up, from a link on CF. It is written by a person named George Benson and covers the west coast in short hops in a small vessel; stopping at many places that most folks would not normally do. The excerpt from his web page is below:

The preface for this book is quite simple. Traditionally, the majority of cruisers that made the trip along the north coast make about four stops between San Francisco and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, at the four major harbors of Humboldt Bay, Coos Bay, Yaquina Bay, and Grays Harbor.

They shape rhumb-line courses well off shore outside of the headlands, and know nothing of the spectacular scenery and cruising grounds they pass by. The only cruising guide of the north coast I was able to find at the time I planned my cruise reflected this tendency.

My pre-cruise research revealed that there were so many places to stop along this coast that the short handed cruiser need not make any leg between stops longer than about 70 miles, in fact the majority of the legs are only 20 to 40 miles.

During my 48-day cruise to the Pacific Northwest I made 21 stops for one or more nights, and 16 exploration visits to various coves, landings and anchorages. Visiting all those marvelous places motivated me to write this book.

The objective of this book is to aid the reader in planning and making a pleasant near-shore cruise along the northwest coast.

I have not read all of it yet - but looks to be a great resource. Here is a link to his web page (and I do not even know if he is still alive) where the book is available from his daughter located in Oregon. We received ours in just a couple of days.

http://georgebenson.us/sailing/

Good luck!
Ron

Thanks!! This sounds like exactly what we need. We have “Charlie’s Charts” already but sounds like this book would be a great addition.

[TaylorHoliday]

We’re in the process of making a blog called SailScooter.com (should be up very soon) and our Instagram page is called @ScooterSailsSouth!

[waterman46]

This is what GPS and chartplotters have done to sensible voyaging and the need for applicable experience. OP states he and the crew have 1 month sailing experience. Formerly nobody would attempt such a dangerous trip with so little navigational experience, but electronics have made super accurate navigation a no brainer for anyone.

OP, do you have a plan for dealing with loss of electronics, engine not working, 15 ft waves and 35 knot winds? Do you know what safety equipment is required and how to use it?

Since you were the one in your group who posted the question, I suppose you may be the person the others look to for leadership. If so, and if the group attempts this trip on your approval, uhyou will assume some measure of responsibility for the safety of all on board, as well as the lives of Coast Guard personnel who would risk all to bring you in if you call.

Very bad conditions arise rapidly in that area. If you go, you must get to SF before October. You are young, why not wait a year, get more experience?

[TaylorHoliday]

Also, we would totally love to have someone with experience making this trip come with us. So if anyone reading this wants to come, please PM me or email me at taylorholiday24@gmail.com

[TrentePieds]

Well, Taylor! That's opens a whole DIFFERENT can of worms. Do you have military experience? Were you in cadets? Do you understand the nature of authority systems? You do have a really, really good grip on Max Weber - right :-)? Does each one of you have the intellectual and emotion make-up to SUBORDINATE yourself UNCONDITIONALLY to a stranger?

If I were to volunteer to skipper your boat, would you (and your two male friends) be prepared to execute my orders promptly and proficiently with no questions asked, regardless of what you might, privily, think of those orders? Would you be ABLE to execute them? Do you have the specific skills to execute them? You don't learn those skill is ASA classes.

Since you don't know me, you shouldn't trust me to be your skipper. But more to the point: If the fit hit the shan, you WOULDN'T trust me. That's just human nature. And therefore as skipper I wouldn't be able to trust you. And skipper's judgment and his ability to trust the crew's competence is what keeps a ship safe.

So since I don't know you, by volunteering to be your skipper, I would put MY OWN life at risk because I can't trust you as crew. And clearly no sane man would do that. So if someone volunteers, you'd be justified in questioning his sanity - and judgment!

As I said: When you come up Stuart Channel, hail me, and we can go sailing together. Maybe then some trust will build.

All the best,

TrentePieds

[grahamj]

A fantastic adventure awaits and please don't pay any attention to the doomladen port lingerers posting shlite about the danger of heading out into the deep blue without 10,000 miles under your belt.

"Few people leaving a dock for an afternoon sail in a dinghy have cast off with less experience than Chay Blyth had when he set sail alone around the world"

That line was written by Peter Nichols in his book "A Voyage For Madmen" about the Golden Globe Race which took place in 1968/9. Blyth set off, by himself, in a 30 foot Westerly cutter and got round Cape Horn before the defects in his production boat enforced his retirement from the race.

Well worth reading.

[gamayun]

You guys won't be happy with an authoritative drill sargent on your boat.

My advice is to learn from everyone on this forum (even the "difficult" ones); be conservative even though what you're proposing (and where) is risky even for old salts; trust each other, but don't follow naively; be sure you all are in agreement with the plan and you know why. If not, sail around in circles for a while or back the way you came until things can get sorted out. Lots of experienced people have made dumb mistakes, while many newbies have been extremely lucky. Who's to say your fate undertaking such an adventure, but doing is the best teacher. Be safe and have fun Oh, make sure you reduce sails when you come under the Golden Gate Bridge, stay out of the Potato Patch and don't cut inside the south tower. Seek local knowledge wherever you go...

[model 10]

Is this a trol? The wx has already started in AK. You need to be in SF by then, not just leaving. If this ain't a trol, you guy's need to learn about schedules right away.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by Ecos

Is this a trol? The wx has already started in AK. You need to be in SF by then, not just leaving. If this ain't a trol, you guy's need to learn about schedules right away.

The OP said they didn't have a schedule to meet, but in reality the fall/winter weather is your schedule. Leaving mid Sept is fine for an experienced crew and a boat that has recently been offshore, otherwise third week of Aug is better. The problem with leaving latter in a boat that hasn't recently been offshore is the delays. Leave a day or two late, wait 3-4 days in Neah Bay for a weather window, head in early somewhere for fuel and wait a few days for weather, go in somewhere to repair the engine or rig or .... and loose a week, etc, etc and the next thing you know you are heading south in Nov. I k ow one boat that went down this hole and ended up wintering over in Newport and doing Mexico the following season.


The advice above saying to take the capes offshore is dubious in my experience. Not sure they are still there but there used to be a string of weather buoys from Cape Mendicino to 600 miles offshore. In many cases you could see the bad conditions increasing as you went out on the buoy reports. My worst rounding of Cape Mendicino was 60 miles offshore, my bext was in sight of the sea buoy.

Very few cruisers who leave late Aug, early Sept get a text book NW wind to run all the way down with. In the four trips that time of year I've done I sure never have gotten a good, consistent NW to run all the way. But then I'm not necessarily the best weather router.

[model 10]

[QUOTE=TaylorHoliday;. We are planning to make the big left turn out of the Strait on September 16th ish (in 2 weeks).



What is this?

[Paul L]

[QUOTE=Ecos;2967524][QUOTE=TaylorHoliday;. We are planning to make the big left turn out of the Strait on September 16th ish (in 2 weeks).



What is this?[/QUOTE]
Going west out the Strait of Juan de Fuca and then turning south in the North Pacific toward San Francisco.

[fgraham]

Make sure one or two others can skipper the boat. You may have to sail a long ways along Oregon. ( Ilwaco to Newport) Tillamook bay is tough; Depot bay is impossible, but Newport is easy. Good Luck!

[TrentePieds]

Ecos:

Assuming your question is serious :-)

"The big left turn" is a jocular reference to the course change required as you enter the open sea from the Straits of Juan deFuca and make for SF. Rhumbline coming out of the straits is about 290ºT. After the "big left turn", when you have cleared Cape Flattery, the Rhumbline is about 170º

TP

[valhalla360]

Not just the command structure but sorting out interpersonal relationships in tight quarters should be talked about along with strategies (including exit strategies).

Short time hanging out in harbor mostly doing casual day sails is much different from full time long term possibly in difficult conditions.

It's difficult for a committed married couple...throw in a third wheel and you better have things sorted out up front. I know you say he's a good buddy but I'm guessing this is taking it to a different level.