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!
> [pin 4320] > Yesterday we caught a 12 lb Tuna about 40 miles off the coast of northern Oregon. We trailed a hand line about 20′ off the stern and were motoring at the time at 6 knts. An hour later we were eating fresh tuna steaks cooked in coconut oil with rice wine vinegar, saki, garlic, sesame seed oil, and olive oil.
We had some fuel issues that changed our plans today. We decided to pull into Coos Bay to fuel up. Motoring there now and should arrive around 11pm.
Fuel issue–no winds 55 miles off so we’ve been motoring all day. Around mid-day the engine started sputtering and a quick inspection showed the port side tank nearly empty and a clogged Racor diesel filter. I changed a valve position that corrected the problem and now both tanks are even again. We decided to pull in as a precaution, so nothing critical. We will fuel up in the morning and get back on track.
Other–had some dolphins swimming in our wake http://youtu.be/Qkz_Fhi4Lcc. Chef Risto is cooking up another fabulous dinner using the remaining tuna (they wouldn’t let me fish today!).
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.
We’re currently off the Oregon (northern) coast. Fun night last night for our first over-nighter–plenty of wind and swell. Sailed throughout the night with single reefed main, partially furled genoa, and single reefed mizzen. Morning brought lighter winds so we’ve been motoring most of the day. Our shift schedule is working well. All in all we’re making good progress each day. I just put a hand line out so will see if we catch our dinner!
Right after writing the above and before sending, Mike at the helm yells FISH ON! We pulled in a nice 12 lb Tuna. Risto and I cleaned the meat off and Scott and Risto are cooking away right now. So…. fresh Tuna for dinner!!
The men seem in good spirits. They started out early to catch an early tide. Here is a message from Scott, “Early departure for Neah Bay. Spent the night in PA after arriving late.”
Scott
