Ocean Bound

Log dated Monday 18 August, 2008
We left Brownsville Marina, this morning at 0823, after taking on some diesel and filling our diesel jerry cans. It just feels like we are going on vacation. Well we are, but a long one. The weather was warm and the sun made an appearance for a little while as we got underway. Once out in the Puget Sound, we saw the black clouds toward the south and knew there would be wind and rain. We took advantage of the south wind and put the headsail out. At one point we were going 7 knots speed over ground. That’s pretty good for one sail being up. We were by Kingston when we had to pull in the sail, as the wind was dying. We started the motor and that was the way we traveled to Port Townsend. It was nice to have the wind and the waves behind us as it made for a pleasant trip. The wind was calm as we approached Point Hudson Marina, Port Townsend. We backed in our assigned slip, tied up and paid. We are thinking of staying 2 nights here because the weather is suppose to be nasty until Wednesday, and improving after that. So we can sit back and relax a little. I walked into town to one store called Swain’s. It is a great store. A little bit of everything. I was looking for a tarp to put over our rolled up dinghy that is on the deck to protect it from the elements. I found it and when I got back to the boat, I helped Dave cover and secure it. Check off another project that needed to get done. After all that hard work (NOT), Dave took a nap and I proceeded to re-sew the windshield covers as the thread was rotting away and they were coming apart. Another project accomplished. Since the sun was shining and it was fairly warm, I decided to clean, dust and vacuum. When that was done, I started making the provision list of where everything is stowed on the boat and quantities. It is going to take me a while to do that since Dave has to get on the computer to get weather faxes to see when we can leave.
Tuesday 19 August - Weather is not going to be any better for the next couple of days. Gale winds in the Straits of Juan De Fuca, so we will be staying. It gave me a chance to put things away, make the aft stateroom bed, and continue typing lists of where everything is stowed, and walk up to the Safeway store to get a few things. Thanks Noreen for the backpack you got for us. It is a great grocery carrier. Checked the weather again and it looks like we can move on to Port Angeles on the 21st. So that means I need to get laundry done. Tomorrow’s project.
Wednesday 20 August – Laundry day. While I did that, I called family to let them know what our plan was and that we were fine.
Thursday 21 August – Finally we are on our way to Port Angeles. It is about 0930. No wind but the weather was nice and the water calm with a little bit of ocean swell. It was a very comfortable ride. Arrived in Port Angeles about 1330, fueled up with diesel, docked, tied up and put everything away. The birds made such a mess with berries on the boat in Port Townsend, we needed to walk to the hardware store to see if they had a brush we could buy to scrub the boat. They did, but we didn’t want to pay what they were asking, so we decided to go back to the boat and use our little hand brush. We ended up having to use cleanser to get the stains out. It was a mess. Now it looks so much better. Dave checked the weather forecast again and it just isn’t cooperating. This is suppose to be the best time to travel down the coast. Well guess what! Not this year. The lows keep forming and causing large seas and wind waves. Friday the weather looks good, but then not good for the weekend. We’ll look at the weather again in the morning and determine what to do.
Friday 22 August – After checking the weather, we saw nothing good about it. Still predicting gale force winds late Saturday night and most of Sunday, with Sunday being the worst. The ocean would be a very bad place to be if we left today, passed Neah Bay to the ocean. By the time we got out there, the wind and waves would be unmanageable. I was really nervous thinking about trying to manage the boat. Dave definitely had more than second thoughts. We made a wise decision to stay in Port Angeles another night and Saturday stop in Neah Bay. Whew!!! That decision was over. Now we can both relax. It is really good to have the weather fax information so you can see what is happening down the coast and what the wind waves and conditions will be. So on that note, Dave and I took a walk into town to see what it was like. We only walked a few blocks. We were by no means into the heart of Port Angeles. Just as we were starting to head back in the direction of the Marina, I noticed a Safeway store a couple of blocks further up the street. That will be a good walk later, since I need to pick up a couple of things.
Saturday 23 August – At 0830 we left Port Angeles for Neah Bay. Weather is nice and again no wind. This weekend Neah Bay is having their Makah Days Celebrations. That should be fun to see. It will take about 7 to 8 hours to get there. Water was smooth. Once we got to the entrance of Neah Bay, we had to go really slow as not to cause any wake due to the canoe races they were having. It was neat to see the long canoes filled with people paddling. Once into our slip and secured, we paid and walked down to where all the action was for the celebration. All kinds of craft and food booths. It was a street fair. Not much else there. There was a mini mart, marine store, and espresso stand. The marina was new with good docks, electricity and restrooms with showers. Dave had been there a while back when he was working for NOAA. There was a tide gauge out on the jetty they maintained. The marina was a sad sight. Not now. When we got back to the boat, we ate dinner and then were invited to the sailboat on the other side of the finger pier from us, for some baked salmon. One of the fisherman gave them a filet. It was really good. They had started out this morning to go back home to Portland, in their 30 foot sailboat and had second thoughts and came back in to spend the night. When we came in and told them what we saw on the weather, they were glad they made the decision to come back. The captain called his wife to have her drive up and pick them up and go home. There were 4 other people onboard as crew.
Sunday 24 August - Well the weather report wasn’t wrong. It blew and poured all morning, then it turned to drizzle. Makah days were still going on, but when we walked down there again, we saw people packing up and breaking down the booths. The canoe races continued throughout the day. There were different tribes competing against one another. When we returned to our boat, our neighbors were packing everything up to secure the boat and they would be back the following weekend to sail her home. They offered us the fruit they had left over which was a cantaloupe, honeydew, 3 peaches and 3 oranges. That was really nice of them. I guess they had enough stuff to carry back with them. It will be nice to have other fruit besides bananas and apples. Checked the weather forecast again and it is suppose to be 10 knots out of the west for Monday. That is good. The waves will be manageable.
Monday 25 August – We left Neah Bay at 0750 and headed for the ocean. It was a little foggy but not too bad. We had our radar on and our course to follow, so we were set. As we passed Cape Flattery, I took a picture. There still wasn’t any wind to speak of so we it wouldn’t have done us any good to put our sails up. When we got about 20 miles offshore, we turned south which took us out of the fog. Waves were a little choppy but not bad. I wanted to get pictures of Tattoosh Island, but I was at the helm and Dave wasn’t feeling very well and the lighting wasn’t conducive to taking pictures. Unfortunately he was the one that got seasick. I’m glad I didn’t as someone had to drive the boat. He was able to get up long enough to check our course and then he was down again. I couldn’t put it on auto drive since the waves were a little choppy and the boat would have gone all over the place. No worries. I just followed the course and watched for seaweed and boats. I did get to see a large whale come to the surface not far from the boat. Couldn’t tell which kind it was, but it was awesome. A little later saw in the distance a couple of blows from more whales. Then a couple of pelicans flew overhead. That was kind of cool. As the afternoon went on, Dave wasn’t feeling any better, but he was able to take the helm for a little while to give me a break. I would throw a blanket over me and take a nap until he needed to lay down again. Just before dusk, I was at the helm and happened to spot a bunch of buoys in a line. Thought it was a fisherman’s gill net. It turned out to be a line of crab pots. We had to divert our course to go around them which took us further offshore. Then when it looked clear, we turned and headed toward the coast. Everything was fine and I was getting use to driving as it got darker, then some more buoys showed up. This time it was dark and Dave had to tether himself to the jack line outside the cockpit to go forward for the buoy watch. We couldn’t see them until we were almost upon them. I was not able to divert my course soon enough so a group of three buoys went under the hull and out the back. At least they didn’t hook onto the rudder or prop. After that little brown pants event, we saw more and ended up snagging a commercial crab pot onto the rudder. Dave had to come back to the cockpit and pull the pot up so he could cut the lines. He needed the sharpest knife we had onboard so I grabbed my henckle kitchen knife. It worked. If we didn’t cut it, it would have spun us in circles. We thought for a few minutes we had lost our rudder, but when the pot was cut, we were back to normal steerage. Thank goodness!!! We were scared spitless. We looked at each other and wondered whose bright idea this was and whether we were totally crazy. After we settled down and I got back on track again, it was an uneventful night. It was a long night, but no other mishaps. I kept a close eye on the fishing boats so as to avoid getting in their way. Dave and I took turns at the helm about every 30 minutes or so. We were relying on compass, radar, and paper charts. When we were in Neah Bay, our computer got a virus which knocked out all of our programs and the charting program would only work for 30 minutes and then you would have to reboot the computer and start all over again. Neither one of us wanted to be down below for any length of time due to the wave action. We managed. One thing we enjoyed seeing was a beautiful crescent moon. Our windshield fogged up so had to rely solely on the radar.
Tuesday 26 August – Dawn has arrived and we made it safe. God was with us. It got cold and damp so I was really looking forward to having the sun come up to warm me. My first night on the ocean was over. I know now I can do it. The weather wasn’t bad and the waves didn’t get too out of control. Dave still wasn’t feeling well, but he could take the helm a little longer. He did try to get some oatmeal down. He was also eating ginger to help with the seasickness. There is a very long day ahead of us until we arrive in Newport, Oregon. We are heading toward the coast. We should be able to make it into Newport by 2100 or 2200 hours. That is if the current still is pushing us at 8 knots and the weather holds. Another system is coming in and we hope to be tied to the pier before it lets loose. Dave is starting to feel a little better. He was able to keep cup of noodles down. This is very good. We have to cross the bar at Newport and that is not going to be fun at night. We are really praying for good weather because if they close the bar, we won’t be able to get in and we will have to bob out here in the wind waves. Not something we want to do. We did bring up the charting program on the computer long enough to get an idea of what to look for to enter the bar. Then it was to follow the paper chart after that. Dave had the helm now and I tried to look for a blinking white light and then 2 green lights. We saw a bright white blinking light, however it belonged to the lighthouse. It was the wrong white light. Change of course was done. If we hadn’t changed course, we would have landed on the rocks. So we finally figured out which white blinking light to follow and then it was just following the channel markers. We followed the green light that marked the start of the bar, then followed the red channel markers and green lights under the Newport bridge. We were looking for the final green light that was to mark the end of the jetty and entrance to the Marina, but found none. We found out later there wasn’t one. There should be a light there as we almost missed the turn. We went to the long dock like they told us, tied up, secured everything and went to bed. It was now 0100 Wednesday morning. We made it!!!!! We will stay here a couple of days to rest. We will check weather later.
Wednesday 27 August – After we woke up and got moving which was around 0830, Dave took the free shuttle to the computer hospital. While he was gone I cleaned up the boat and put stuff away. He walked back to the marina because it was going to take awhile to fix it and a long time before the shuttle came by again. The computer people installed a new virus protection device. After Dave got back, he helped me carry the dirty clothes to the laundry facility within walking distance of the boat. I called family and friends to let them know we landed safe and sound. It looks as though we won’t be going straight to San Diego. It is just too tiring without a crew. Plus the weather is more of late fall early winter storms. Very unusual. Usually it is safer to go 100 – 150 miles off shore. Not this year. That is where all the gales and high waves are. Closer to the coast is better. About 20 miles out is better weather and seas. Who would have thunk!! Looking at the future weather forecast for this weekend, it doesn’t look good to be out there. Small craft warnings from Newport to Florence. We will have to stay here until Tuesday. That is o.k. as this is a really nice marina and we can get a free shuttle to downtown stores.
Thursday 28 August – The wind started blowing and the bar was closed for a while to small crafts. The coast guard is across the water from the marina so we watch them come in and fuel up and go out to assess the bar situation and report to mariners. It was a nice day so Dave and I walked to the fishing pier. People were crabbing, getting small red rock and a few Dungeness too. Kids were having a ball catching the crabs with their parents. Lots of pelicans here and sea lions too. The sea lions are really loud. You can hear them from across the Yaquina Bay barking most of the night. Then the seagulls never shut up either. Well they do, but it usually is late at night. It’s o.k. because our stateroom blocks a lot of that noise. After coming back from the fishing pier we stopped into the Rogue House of Spirits bar to taste test some rum. We tried a shot of White, Dark, and Hazelnut rum. Pretty good. But we decided on a Spruce gin, gin and tonic. Went back to the boat and relaxed. Checked the weather again and said we would stay another 2 nights, but will probably not leave until Tuesday of next week.
Friday 29 August – It is my birthday today. Wow!!! 56 years. Well we are going to take a 10 minute walk to Aquarium Village where there are all kinds of shops. A lot of pirate and knickknack stuff. Fun to look through but don’t need anything. Went to lunch at a café we heard was excellent. All scratch cooking called the Fishtale Café. Very good food. They are only open from 0700 to 1500 everyday. We came back to the boat and relaxed. I know---it’s a hard life. Actually I have been trying to finish this so I can post it on the blog. Tomorrow we are going to take the free shuttle to town and go to the farmers market, Fred Meyer, and a health food store so I can get my pills for cholesterol control. It will be a busy day tomorrow but fun.
Saturday 30 August – Took the shuttle into Newport. Went to the farmer’s market. It was small but had a lot of good produce and fruit. We just looked. We walked up town to Fred Meyer and picked up some cold medicine and Dramamine for seasickness. Went to a couple of Health food stores and neither one had what I was looking for. I bought something that might be helpful, but will have to order online what I really need. We rode the shuttle back from where it let us off at the farmer’s market. It took us through the rest of its route. It was a nice sightseeing ride. We left the marina at 1010 and returned around 1530. I took a nap and then Dave and I went to the Rogue House of Spirits to have a beer. Then we went to dinner at the Rogue Nation Brewery. All this is walking distance from the boat. Not bad eh? It was pretty interesting. The restaurant is upstairs of the brew plant and to get to it you walk through part of the brewery. Good food and prices.
Sunday 31 August – It rained this morning around 0600. Then again around 0900. Now it is partly sunny. The weather is still looking crappy for offshore. Gale and small craft warnings all down the coast. A Krogan Power boat came in last night and moored behind us. 2 brothers brought the boat up from Florence, and they said it was really rough. They are heading up the coast to Portland. The waves were on their nose and they took flight a couple of times off the waves. The waves will be behind us but still steep when we go. We are trying to decide what to do. Should we get another person to come down and help up to San Francisco? The only thing that will do for us is give us a longer break from the helm and it won’t be as tiring. We’ll just have to wait and see. This is all about waiting and doing the best you can. Patience is hard sometimes. But when I think of what it could be like out on the ocean in nasty conditions, I can be very patient. We were planning to head out of Newport on Tuesday,but the weather is not cooperating. We might have to stay until Saturday until the high starts building off the coast. All we can do is wait. Newport is a nice place to wait. Only $19.00 a night and stores a shuttle bus ride away.