Standup Paddle Boarding at Schoonmaker Point Marina
We decided to spend another day in Sausalito since Karen and Jancintha flew in yesterday. We had friends visit from Sacramento yesterday (I ran the World’s Toughest Mudder with him in NJ a few years ago), met Doug from Port Townsend who is sailing on a Spray replica (Joshua Slocum), and Ted who was in the movie Jerry McGuire and was telling me about the movie he’s staring in that is being filmed now. Karen’s relative Uncle Vernon visited us today and took us out for coffee and ice cream then some grocery shopping, then we came back and relaxed at the beach before preparing the boat for an early morning departure bound for Santa Cruz.
Flew the 8′ Penn State flag after the game on Saturday where we beat UCF with a last second field goal. The game was played at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland. We are…
This is Apropos’ home for the next 4 days. The Seattle crew flew home today and my new crew (Karen and Jacintha) arrive tomorrow. The Sausalito Art’s Festival is going on this weekend and is a 5 minute walk from Schoonmaker Marina, so it’s the perfect place to be. There’s even a sandy beach right near the boat.
Schoonmaker Point Marina
Yesterday I replaced the port-side deck-to-tank hose that was preventing me from filling the port tank. The old one was not rated for diesel and turned spongey at the bend where it connected to the tank. This is probably the source of our fuel problems a few days ago. West Marine was nearby and had the correct hose.
Bad fuel hose (sliced open to show inside)
Today I gave the cabin a good cleaning. The brass pole is a barometer of how clean the boat is since I cleaned it last–so the boat is CLEAN!
We had a 3-day, 2-night passage from Crescent City to San Francisco. It was almost all motoring into a light southerly wind. Since we were down to a crew of 3 (Mike had to leave from Crescent City), we took 4 hour watches during the day and 3 hour during night. We rounded Cape Mendacino around midnight in lumpy seas with 7 second rollers from the NW (not bad since this cape can sometimes get very rough). The next day brought sunshine and light southerlies as we continued motoring south 5-10 miles off the coast. The final morning we rounded Pt. Reyes for the approach into San Francisco with a flood tide. After 980 nautical miles over 12 days since leaving Seattle, we motored under the Golden Gate Bridge in sunshine (and no fog)—definitely a memorable moment! The winds picked up in the bay so we couldn’t pass on the urge to raise the sails and sail around for a few hours. Went into San Francisco Municipal marina to dock, shower, relax, and celebrate the trip at The Monk’s Kettle with good beer and food.
Approaching the Golden Gate BridgeGolden Gate BridgeApropos passing under…In San Francisco BayCelebratory toast at The Monk’s Kettle in Haight Ashbury
We all earned our heavy weather sailing merit badges yesterday. Winds to 40 knots and seas in excess of 10 feet. Apropos surfed down steep waves at 9 knots. We sailed through the night in these conditions and pulled into Crescent City at 5:30am in thick fog. Exhausted but well pleased with Apropos in these conditions. Oh, and we saw whales!
A self-steering windvane is a mechanical device that steers the boat on a course with respect to the wind. Our windvane is an older Fleming model so we named him Ian (James Bond)! We haven’t engaged Ian lately, maybe we will try later today if the wind picks up.
When the tuna hit, I pulled in the handline, Risto netted it, and Mike clubbed it on the head a few times, then Risto finished it off and Scott retrieved the fishing gear. Was difficult bringing it aboard with a short-handled net. With all the clubbing just outside the cockpit in the gunwale, blood splattered on cockpit cushion, dodger, me, and Risto. We got the washdown pump going and cleaned it all up. The cleaning tray came in handy for filleting the fish on a rocking boat.
Sailing update–After motoring all day yesterday, we raised the mizzen and genoa at around dark and used them most of the night sailing at 5 knots. Just as my watch started at 4am the wind dipped to 5 knts so we are now motoring. Yesterday the engine started revving down so I looked at the Racor filters and one was very clogged. So I changed it and cleaned out the bowl. There was also about 3 oz of water in it. I may have taken on bad fuel at Neah Bay, or the tank still had some junk in it even after they were cleaned before leaving Seattle. Anyhow, I’m keeping an eye on the filter.
Current position is about 50 miles off of Newport, OR. At least 2 other boats that are part of the Coho Ho Ho rally are pulling into Newport today. We see lots of fishing boats out here and an occasional freighter. We contacted one on VHF around 1am and they responded right away saying they saw us. The closest we generally come to another boat is 5nm.
This is a test mail to see if I can update the blog via SSB radio.
Our trip from Anacortes to Port Angeles went well. After motoring a few hours, the wind picked up and we crossed the Strait of Juan de Fuca under sail. Apropos was well balanced with the Genoa, Main, and Mizzen out. We tried out the windvane (mechanical autopilot)with much success! It’s an older Fleming model but very well built. We decided to name him Ian (Ian Fleming–bond 007). So Ian steered us on course for a few hours close-hauled in 10 knt winds. Pulled into Port Angeles after dark around 10pm after motoring the final 2 hours into a headwind–very bouncy. Decided not to take a chance on snagging a log with anchoring and pulled into the dock. Up today at 4am and left by 4:20am to catch a nice ebb tide and currently 11nm west of PA motoring at 6knt with a beautiful sunrise. Should reach Neah Bay mid afternoon.
Most atolls in the South Pacific have surrounding coral reefs. To safely get to the inner lagoon, you sometimes have to carefully steer through a narrow passage. Charts may not be accurate so it’s always good to keep a good lookout whenever you’re near reefs. Positioning yourself high up in the rig makes it easier to see the changes in water color to spot the reefs. Ratlines are an age-old method for quickly climbing up rigging. One method is to use a set of lower shrouds coming off the spreaders on the main mast to tie the ratlines to. I used a combination of ratlines (3-strand rope) and ratboards (teak wood). The rat boards help keep the shrouds from pulling inwards as they do when only using ratlines. Two or three ratlines between ratboards seem to be a good combination.
Ratboards–The ratboards came from a 3″x3.5″x8′ stock of teak, which was ripped and cut to produce enough 1-1/4″x1-5/8″ ratboards for port and starboard. A hole was drilled through each end and a groove was routed along the top, end, and bottom for lashing the boards to the shrouds. Next I put on 2 coats of teak oil. A bronze screw was used for added strength.
Ratboard end
I used #72 tarred seine twine for the lashing. Riggers tape was wrapped around the shroud for a better grip. The lashing started with a buntline hitch to the shroud, then a series of square lashings followed by figure-eight turns finished with a few half hitches.
Ratboard Lashing to Shroud
Ratlines–The ratlines were made from 5/8″ 3-strand polyester (vintage style). I spliced eyes in each end and lashed them to the shrouds. A buntline hitch around the rope followed by square lashing as before, but this time finished off with frapping turns between the wire and the rope, and 2 half hitches. I worked a figure-eight knot into the end up close to the last hitch to prevent the end from pulling out.
Ratline Lashing to Shroud
Port-side progress–Since a lot of this work can be done after we depart from Seattle, my goal was to get all the ratboards cut and have enough 3-strand rope to be able to finish port and starboard steps while in Mexico. The progress I made on the port-side was 3 ratboards and a total of 7 ratlines. I’ll add another 2 ratlines and 1 ratboard above the top ratboard shown below, then repeat everything on the starboard side.
Not all boat trip-preparations are serious! Since we’re sailing half way around the world, I figured Apropos could use some protection from things like lightning strikes, pirates, sea monsters, and rogue waves. So I placed a figure of Captain America atop the mizzen mast.
Since Captain America had flexible joints, the first thing I did was to make him non-flexible with some gorilla glue (forgetting that it expands about 10x as it hardens, but who’ll notice 40′ in the air). That way he’ll stand upright in 30 knot winds. I attached him to a small piece of teak then used 5200 adhesive to affix him to the masthead.
Captain America (and some gorilla glue)Taken from main masthead (see Captain America on mizzen mast?)Zoomed-in Mizzen Masthead
I’ll bet that no other sailboat sailing between Seattle and Australia with a Captain America on the mizzen mast has ever suffered from any of the above mentioned perils!
