Quijote on the Run

Did I mention that we took first place in our Haha division? We were in the division that they called "racer/cruisers with spinnakers."  I’d have classified us as more cruiser than racer, but maybe that speaks more of attitude than hardware.  True, we did have a spinnaker, although the shredded remnants were rolled into a sodden mess on the deck for most of the race.  And yet… somehow we managed to win it.  I guess the whole division had the same attitude as we did.  We sailed when we could, motored when we had to.  I didn’t much want to be left behind, so I wasn’t one of those boats that doggedly sailed on without much wind.  Some boats somehow managed to sail the whole first leg.  We did sail the whole second leg, which is something, but there was plenty of wind for most of that.  At the end of the race we reported total sailing and motoring times for each leg.  It would be interesting to know what kind of formula they used to place the boats.

On Monday morning in Cabo, the storm winds had settled down a bit so we decided to make a run for La Paz.  We untied, bid farewell to the boats we were rafted to, and motored over to the fuel dock to fill our tanks.  While we were there, we were told that the port was closed, that naval vessels were sitting outside the harbor turning back anyone who tried to leave.  No one knew when it would reopen or why it was still closed.

So feeling a little put out, we motored back and re-tied ourselves to the raft to wait.  A couple hours later we saw activity and were told that the port had opened.  I tried calling the harbor on the vhf radio, but they didn’t have any interest in responding the likes of me.  The marina staff assured us it was now open however, so we decided to take their word for it.

We didn’t get far out of the harbor before we discovered the reason for their caution.  There wasn’t much wind left in that tropical depression/storm, but the seas were jumping.  Yumpin’ Yimminy, what a ride.  Running downwind with the waves we found it easiest to let engine, main sail, and wind action share the load of pushing us up the Sea of Cortez at 7 knots. Things quieted down after dark as we moved farther into protected waters, but we made good time over all:  140 miles in 24 hours.  That put us into La Paz around mid morning, before the afternoon winds had time to kick up.

So here we are. Settled into La Paz and looking forward to the Christmas break.   We’ll return to the boat in mid-January with our mojo replenished.  Our run from Seattle in mid-August to La Paz in mid-November has been very successful.  Thanks to an excellent crew, I don’t think we could have asked for more.

Rain in Cabo

Quijote is in Cabo! Cabo San Lucas is everything they say: hot and touristy are at the top of my list. The marina is noisy and crowded. It's loaded with huge boats filled with tourists and playing base thumping music across the harbor. Add to that the hundred or so Haha boats shoe-horned in and you have the recipe for a unique experience. We're on the end of a four boat raft all tied to one spot on the dock. That means we have to walk across three other boats to get off ours. It's certainly not optimal, but it is nice to have shelter from a storm coming through.

The up-side to this tourist centric location is that English is spoken most places and contrary to its reputation, it not all that expensive, at least by Seattle's standards.

The tropical depression that's been predicted for several day is finally in full swing. The winds have so far been moderate, but heavy rainfall rolls in every few hours, making it impossible to venture off the boat without getting soaked. We were caught out in it last night on our way back to the boat after dinner.

Thankfully the storm should dissipate by tomorrow morning, so we'll
depart and make our way up to La Paz. We'll arrive on time to make our flights, but won't be anchoring along the way as planned. Maybe we can hit a couple of those anchorages on our return trip south from La Paz to Puerta Vallarta in March.

Kay flew out yesterday, so it will just the three of us for this last bit. Then Kevin will leave us, perhaps for good, and Petar and I will fly to our respective homes for the holidays until mid-January.

This has been more time than we expected or wanted in Cabo, but we'll be on our way shortly. It's all good.

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Beach Party

I was a little reluctant to join the Haha, but I'm glad we did. It's a good group of like minded people who appreciate the safety and community of the group. They give back to the communities they visit and help coordinate clearance formalities with Mexican officials. Overall it has been a very positive experience.

Since our last blog post we travelled another day and a half to Bahia Santa Maria where we are now, settling in for a second night. The last half of that leg saw sustained winds in the low twenties for most of the night with gusts in the low thirties. It was a wild ride with a lot of sail damage reported. By then we had already lost our spinnaker, so we sailed through the night in reasonable comfort with a reefed genoa. From the sound of it, the boats that fared the best were the ones that sailed most conservatively, not trying to make too much of a good thing.

A few hours before daylight, we apparently sailed through the lines of a small fishing boat that wasn't visible to our man on watch. We quickly broke free and continued through the night, but an hour later he caught up with us motored along side for a while, shouting at us in Spanish. This continued for an hour or so before he contacted our fleet demanding compensation for for his lost equipment. We met with him in the anchorage the following morning and after some negotiation paid him $100. It was a little stressful and we were glad to have the incident behind us. It could have been a lot worse. Those guys are difficult to see and it would be so easy to hit one.

With that we were free to relax. We've had beach BBQ parties at both anchorages and the party at this location included a live band. They drove over from La Paz and the locals set up booths to serve food. We hired a panga to drive us to shore so we wouldn't have to deal with the surf in the dinghy, then took a short hike on the bluffs along the shoreline, before joining the party. Cheap, cold beer, good food, live (sort of) music and ample chitchat were enjoyed by all.

Tomorrow we have a short four hour motor to Man-o-war cove in Magdalena Bay.

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Quijote Crew Rocks

Sailing can be said to be alternately peaceful and terrifying. We can't reasonably expect to experience one without the other in this game.

We've been on leg two for about twenty-four hours now after leaving Bahia Tortuga for Bahia Santa Maria in calm conditions. The rally's Grand Poobah dictated a two hour rolling start with engines running to charge batteries and let afternoon winds fill in. And fill in they did. We enjoyed wind speeds in the mid teens (in knots) for most of the day.

Then just before dark all hell broke loose. I wasn't on watch, but Kevin describes what happened like this: a large rolling wave travelled under the boat, rocking the mast and spinnaker away from the wind, which effectively slackened the wind on the sail. Then it rolled back, pushing the sail into the wind, doubling the force from 16 knots to something possibly near thirty with a punch. The spinnaker exploded into shredded nylon in a raucous cacophony.

Kevin was already sprinting down the deck by the time I bounded up the steps to find out what was going on. Petar took the helm and Kay grabbed my harness for me as Kevin and I worked to pull the sail onto the deck before it had a chance to wrap itself around the keel, prop, or rudder. Thankfully quick action by everyone helped save the day. It's not often we have situations that demand all hands on deck, but when they do, it was great to see everyone keep clear heads in the midst of chaos.

So the spinnaker is toast. It was the last remaining sail of the original inventory when I bought the boat. In retrospect it might have been prudent to have the sail surveyed by my sailmaker at Port Townsend Sails before heading out. It looked to be in pristine condition, which was why I didn't, but who knows what condition the stitching was in after twelve years.

I've heard reports of two other boats on the rally's radio net of blown out spinnakers since starting, so the conditions are really testing the fleet's sails. One of the boats got the sail wrapped around their prop, so they're heading for shelter to deal with it. Thankfully they have sails up and a working rudder.

We're now using our cruising genoa. It's a heavier, slower sail made out of Dacron instead of nylon, so it's more durable.

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They're.... OFF!

The Baja Haha got off with a bang as 140 boats paraded out San Diego harbor to the adulation of crowds, cannon fire, fireboat fountains and media hoopla. We sailed past the Committee boat packed with spectators, dignitaries and even a mariachi band. It was quite the event.

It turns out this is actually a race. Who knew? A dozen or so divisions, each with about a dozen boats are ostensibly competing for first place honors, although what that means is anybody's guess. I say that because once again we are doing more motoring than sailing. When to motor and when to sail is up to the crew. The only constraint is that you can't be so stubborn about sailing that you arrive days later than the rest of the fleet. The objective, after all is not time, but having a good time. Hence the rally (er, race) name.

We were a little slow to get our spinnaker up at the start, mostly because we hadn't given it much thought. Oops. But soon we were flying along, passing boats right and left, pointing out boats that had an even tougher time getting their sails sorted than we did. Baja Haha, that's hard to believe. I imagine there are plenty of boats that have crew without much time on their boat.

I have no idea where the other boats in our ' Enchilada' division are, but since 4/5 of our time is spent motoring, no one really cares. The objective, at least our objective is to arrive in daylight, which means speeding up and burning lots of fuel, or slowing down and burning much less. We'll burn about a third of the fuel arriving after sunrise than we would by putting the pedal to the metal and arriving before sunset tonight. Many of the boats are familiar with the anchorage and don't mind arriving after dark. I've never been there, so I'd rather not. Safety first!

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From Hoho to Haha

The Coho Hoho Rally included a dozen or so boats traveling at roughly the same timeframe from Port Townsend to San Fransisco.  The rally organizers put on a fist full of seminars covering a range of topics designed to make participants safer, more knowledgeable mariners. Quijote made the passage a couple of weeks before the rest of the fleet, but the rally was well organized and we appreciated the seminars.

South of San Diego we’ll participate in the Baja Haha Rally.  The Haha is less about seminars and more about herding 150 or so boats across a start line, through a couple of anchorages and into Cabo San Lucas.

I was half inclined to avoid the whole mess, but… I’ve never been involved with anything like it, so we’ll see what happens.  One advantage is that clearance into Mexico has been somewhat streamlined.

A third rally that we’re considering is called the Pacific Puddle Jump.  We’ll join another group of boats headed for the South Pacific from all over the Americas.  In our case we’ll depart Puerta Vallarta for the Marquesas in April.  Again the primary advantages will be our safety in numbers and the streamlining of French Polynesian formalities.

But for now we are bound for Mexico. Two days and we’re off!

Passing Gas

At the flip of a switch the propane solenoid opens a valve that sends propane to the stove in the galley.  Kay made coffee this morning, then noted that she had forgotten to turn on the solenoid.  The valve controlled by the solenoid was apparently stuck open regardless of the switch position.

On the one hand this could be a good thing since the solenoid draws power from the battery while the valve is open. If it’s stuck open, no power is needed.  On the other hand it is safer to be able to turn off the propane when it’s not being used.

As it happens, I had a spare solenoid in my spares so I went to work this morning to replace it.  I had a feeling I would be replacing that thing at some point.  Thankfully the job didn’t turn out to be too difficult.

I also refilled the propane tank while I had it out.  Three weeks of cooking meals: 1 gallon of propane. Not bad.

Old and New Solenoids

Chula-juana

We’ve been settled into the Chula Vista Marina, close to Tijuana and south of San Diego, for a couple of days now and we’re feeling quite comfortable.  I’m happy that the marina is willing to rent the slip to us for a couple of months at a monthly rate.  Shilshole would never do that.  Of course Shilshole has a waiting list and Chula Vista does not.  That makes a big difference.  It’s also considerably more expensive than Seattle rates. Living aboard here costs about double what it does in Seattle.  Thankfully we won’t be living aboard and couldn’t even if we wanted to as there is a waiting list for that privilege.  Instead we’ll pay a lower non-live-aboard rate and fly home for a few weeks while we wait for the end of hurricane season before proceeding on to Mexico in November.

Yesterday we scrubbed Quijote squeaky clean and I did some engine checks, put biocide in the diesel, and fuel stabilizer in the outboard gas. Today Kay and I played tourists, visiting Old Town where San Diego was first settled.  Tomorrow I think I’ll change the engine oil so there’ll be fresh oil in her crank case while she waits for the next leg of this trip.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the brevity of the list of maintenance to be done.  The stern running light and steaming light both have bulb contacts that need to be cleaned.  They illuminate intermittently.  The compass light isn’t working at all.  And that’s about it.  It’s pretty amazing really.

Quijote Crew at Work

San Diego or Bust

We’re on our way to San Diego tomorrow - the last day of this first leg of our trip.  I won’t be surprised if I never see this harbor again.  It’s a nice enough place to visit, but there isn’t really enough to do here to make me want to come back.  There are a few sailboats scattered about, but it’s pretty well dominated by big motor cruisers with their generators and their lights and an armada of dinghies.  We stayed three nights out of a reluctance to get into San Diego any earlier than we already are.

There are other anchorages on Catalina, but… 1) It is Labor Day weekend so every boater in Southern California will be out here. 2) The anchorages don’t sound like they offer a lot of protection from swell generated by shipping in the channel.  There is swell in the harbor here and it is substantially better protected than an anchorage along the coast would be.  So we talked ourselves out of looking for something else and held onto our slip in the harbor for a few days. And, not withstanding the hustle and bustle of the harbor crowd, it has been a nice few days.

It’s about 70 miles to San Diego, twelve hours if the wind is as light as it’s predicted to be and we motor our way there at 6 knots.  I contacted the Chula Vista Marina where Quijote will stay for the next couple of months and got a slip assignment and instructions for a late arrival.  So we’ll get a early start and try to get there and refueled before dark.

Avalon

It's amazing to see how many boats can be packed into a small harbor. Avalon Harbor, on the channel side of Santa Catalina Island is packed with boats - hundreds of them - each on a mooring ball that anchors both bow and stern in place to keep the boats from swinging about. That allows them to increase the density of boats. I imagine them reducing the separation between boats until boats start crashing and then pull them back a skosh. Add to that the distractions of swimmers, kayakers and naked Nubian paddle boarders and you'll get a sense of the level of moorage anxiety this afternoon.

After tying up, settling in, assembling the biminy, and taking a break for happy hour, we called the shore boat to give us a lift to… well, shore. Avalon is different than I remember it. Granted it's been twenty-five years since I tied up here on an off-shore training cruise with Mahina Expeditions. I guess I just don't remember it being so much like Whistler Village. Well, whatever. Roll with it.

We lined up some hiking for tomorrow, and getting off the beaten track for some walking this afternoon, we found a small seafood restaurant a block or two off the main drag where restaurants looked over-priced. We found showers and provisions as well, so it turned into a fairly productive afternoon.

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Ode to Sunny Afternoon

It's nice to be able to report a pleasant, sunny afternoon on the Santa Barbara channel. (Where were Mary Lou and Knute?) I was below deck, trying to sneak some mid-day sleep in when I heard the rustle and rattle of winches, sheets, and furling lines. The wind had picked up and the on watch pair, Kevin and Petar, were jumping on the opportunity to do some sailing down the channel on a broad reach. I poked my head up briefly and noted a wind speed of nearly twenty knots on the instrument. The boat was smoking along at over 7 knots. Yahoooo! Okay, enough excitement; back to bed.

The sails quietly propelled us through a hazy sunset and into the early evening where constellations greeted us under clear skies. Facing one direction we saw a starry night with a clearly visible Milkyway. Turning around, all that could be seen is the glow over Los Angelas. Shipping traffic and light pollution: it has the feel of heading into civilization.

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All Things Considered

We're certainly feeling at home in these California waters. The first day in San Fransisco was hot and sunny, but for nearly a week since then it has been overcast, cool and a little gloomy. We're in the middle of a two day passage from Monterey to Santa Catalina Island. Catalina is one of the Channel Islands; so named because the island chain forms the windward boundary of the Santa Barbara Channel. We'll be rounding Point Conception and entering the channel in a few hours.

There has been more sea life along this section of the California coast than boat traffic. There doesn't appear to be a lot of fishing going on. It's a welcome change. Sea birds, whales and porpoises drop by at odd intervals to investigate the little boat plodding through their waters.

The wind picked up during the night, but it was from directly behind us and we didn't want to deal with the whisker pole in the dark. Without the pole to hold the genoa out, the sail tends to flop around uselessly when we sail directly downwind. I confess I don't feel much like a sailor in moments like these. If we were racing, we would have to sail come what may and we'd deal with whatever conditions presented themselves. But cruisers like me who haven't raced in many years are more interested in efficiency. Why wrestle with the pole and sail when it's so much easier and safer to motor through the night? Alas, it's efficiency that comes with a little disappointment at motoring again and guilt at not sailing when we technically could be. It just doesn't feel like the right decision, all things considered.

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Monterey

We completed a quiet, foggy, uneventful passage overnight and arrived safely in Monterey Harbor around 7am. Our watches consisted of monitoring the plotter and radar screens for any signs of traffic; there was nothing to be seen visually. It was the kind of night that can give a person vertigo: the engine smootly droning away, the placid water lapping against the hull, dark fog limiting all awareness to the inside of the cockpit.

Thank goodness for radar and AIS. We couldn't do a passage like that without them; we'd have to hunker down and hope the fog went way. The plotter has a split screen to show radar returns on one half and the chart showing our position on the other. The plotter also supports superimposing the radar onto the chart, which can be useful, but I find it easier and quicker to interpret radar on its own screen without a lot of chart clutter.

AIS is a system whereby boats transmit details about their vessel, position and motion. Both displays show AIS targets, but not all boats transmit AIS data. Not all boats reflect radar well either, but by having both systems, there is a good chance we'll see most of the boats out there and they'll see us. Any boat that doesn't, shouldn't be out in the fog. Quijote transmits AIS data and has a mast mounted radar reflector.

Having eaten breakfast and paid for the moorage, we'll head up to the aquarium now. I visited it on my way through twenty-odd years ago and it is world class.

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A Windy Day in Sausalito

The rest we’ve enjoyed in Sausalito has been lovely, rejuvenating. The crew has been getting a lot of sleeping in, catching up on hours lost and banking for the hours yet to lose. Each has wandered in search of just “enough" tourism. I’ve been using the time more for catching up on route planning, but hope to get out with Kay today to see the bridge from Vista Point. That is, if it can be seen: fog and gusty winds have been the order of the day. It’s a good couple days to be in port if the forecasts are accurate. From the wind swirling into the marina, it seems to be. 

4pm Update: Kay and I Uber'd to a trailhead above Sausalito that promised trails up to a ridge leading to the Golden Gate Bridge. The higher we hiked, the further into the howling wind and fog we got, until we found ourselves in a tree dripping induced rainfall and horizontally propelled fog in a thirty knot wind. It was cold and wet and the full three mile hike to the bridge in such conditions did not appeal to us.

So after only half a mile, we hiked out again and then Uber’d (actually Lyft’d) our way back into town where we split an order of fish and chips. It was a warm, sunny, if windy day in town - quite pleasant. We shopped for a few provisions and returned to the boat and found ourselves in gale force winds again. Looking up at the ridge we had hiked to, it was clear to see the clouds/sea fog surging over the top of.

Boats are really rocking in the harbor under small craft advisories. We’re glad to be in here and not out in the ocean in this. The word in the guidebooks is that this kind of weather comes in every week or ten days like clockwork.

The plan is to leave tomorrow at 2pm. hopefully things will have settled by then. We’ll do a sixteen hour passage to Monterey and check out their aquarium before setting out for Catalina Island the following morning. that will be our last multiple day passage on this leg of the trip before we make another sixteen hours into San Diego.

Sausalito on our first night in calmer conditions

Golden

It was something of a sprint to get through the Golden Gate in time to beat the tides. I thought we were going to have plenty of time, but then getting into and out of the fuel dock at Newport took quite a while and the seas south of there were impeding our progress.  Around the same time Kevin and I came to the conclusion that at that rate, we weren’t going to make it until 7pm.

I find it remarkable how big a difference it makes for the arrival time with small changes in boat speed.  The difference between 5 knots and 5.5 knots average boat speed doesn’t change the arrival time much when you’re cruising around Puget Sound for short distances, but the difference over two days is 24 miles or nearly five hours.  If your arrival time is important, as it usually is when timing the crossing of a river bar, then the speed of the boat is equally important, but often difficult to predict or control, especially under sail.

For the last day or so on the approach to San Fransisco, we needed to maintain 6.5 knots to get there before the slack current under the bridge around 4:30pm.  Thankfully the wind was blowing over twenty knots most of the way, so we were able to do that with various combinations of motoring and sailing. Most of time we could have made 5 knots under sail alone, but needing 6.5, we augmented the sail power with   low engine power, just above idle, which uses very little fuel.

By the time we were in sight of the bridge, it was around 3pm and we were golden (so to speak), gliding downwind in sunshine and 15 knots under sail alone.  The crew was giddy.

Blowing on in to SF

After a trip mostly without wind, we finally have some on the final stretch into San Fransisco. It was forecasted to arrive around 8am and the forecasts were spot on, building to to lower twenty knot range. The push is helping us time our arrival for before 1630, so we don't get caught in an ebb tide opposing those winds. Once we get under the Golden Gate bridge and around the corner into Sausalito, the wind should abate and we'll tie up for a few days.

It's been a week so far: shorter than I anticipated for getting into San Fransisco, but it feels like a long time. I think we're all really looking forward to the rest.

It looks like the winds will crank up out here while we're in the Bay, then dissipate again for our next leg moving on to Santa Catalina Island and San Diego. We've got extra time to play with though, so who knows: maybe we'll sit and wait for wind. Nah...

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Day 5: Here we come!

It's calm and foggy today. A sailboat roughly our size (SV Amnesty) has been pacing us, edging closer. There has been very little to see along most of the coast; little traffic outside the populated bits. We catch sight of land sometimes; often we don't. Cities and towns give periodic parts of the night a festive look. The stars were out in all their glory last night, with the Milky Way on full display. Then the clouds drifted in and the stars faded away. For August, the skies have been remarkably cool and cloudy. It would be a hard life fishing out here any other time of year.

Whales and porpoises drop by occasionally to have a look. The latter race along beside us until they lose interest. The humpback whales will either send up blows from a distance, or move in close for a roll or two before displaying their tails and disappearing.

Through it all Quijote forges ahead, sometimes sailing, usually motoring, but making good time. I called the Scoonmaker Marina in San Fransisco this morning to let them know we will be arriving four days early. I had us stopping along the way more often than we have, assuming the weather would turn against us at some point and we'd have to hide out. Or that the crew would be eager to explore a town or two along the way. But the weather has been grand and the crew are eager to put the "Graveyard of the Pacific" behind us and move on to easier, more predictable Southern California. So be it. So-Cal here we come...

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Finally Sailing!

It's twilight on deck. A cool, pleasant evening with waves lapping at the hull and a full sky of twinkling stars in the making. What's that sound not? Why…. it's NOT the engine. The winds finally made an appearance and we are actually sailing. I was beginning to wonder if we would ever see enough breeze to shake out the sails.

We've pressed the Hydrovane into service too. For the uninitiated, Hydrovane is a brand of wind vane that auto-steers the boat, but doesn't use any electrical power. Quijote also has an autopilot that uses small motors to move the rudder in response to a change in heading. The Hydrovane has it's own rudder, which it steers in respond to changes in the angle of the wind. When the boat veers off course, the autopilot corrects the heading by turning the boat's rudder, while the Hydrovane corrects the change in wind angle by turning its own rudder. Together we have redundancy of auto steering and redundancy of rudders.

We stopped in Newport this afternoon for fuel, then turned around and headed right back out. What a busy place! Boats everywhere! Docking for fuel was a learning experience. Docking in stiff wind is never easy. The winds were predicted to get cooking around Cape Mendocino, so we decided to beat them there by not making our planned Newport stop. San Fransisco here we come.

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Making Choices

Notwithstanding the chaos described in the previous post, it has been a remarkably placid passage so far. That might sound a little contradictory, I admit, but there are different levels and sources of chaos. The chaos described in yesterday's post comes from the motion of the seas as they relentlessly wrestle with the hull. They are seas we don't find in Puget Sound: large, rolling swell sliding in from some storm a thousand miles out in the ocean. The swell reflects off the land mass under water and on shore, combining with incoming waves to create a jumbled, confused, chaotic mixture that tosses the boat about as she plows on through it all.

By placid I mean there has been very little wind or weather. As much as I'd like to be able to say we have sailed the whole way down the coast, as I expected we would do, the truth is we've been motoring along at roughly six knots, bouncing, rolling, punching and pitching our way through calm air and no weather.

I'm not the kind of sailor who sits around waiting for the wind to show up. I've got places to go, people to see, miles to put under the hull. If there's no wind, I fire up the diesel and get where I'm going regardless. Even if it means motoring for days on end through still air. It's better than sitting still in still air.

In retrospect we could have found more wind further off shore, but that would be hindsight. The forecast was for a mixture of light air and perfect sailing. So far we're seeing a lot more of the former than the latter. I don't mind playing a little conservatively. Had we gone farther out, we could have found better wind and smoother seas. We could also easily have been beat up by too much of a good thing and much bigger seas. Ya pays ya money and ya makes ya choices. And maybe you learn from them.

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Looking for Sleep in all the Wrong Places

Sleeping is a challenge while passage making. There are several reasons. Although the watch schedules are carefully contrived to offer as much time in longer blocks for snoozing as possible, the helm must be attended to 24 hours a day, and the person at the help periodically needs assistance and help staying awake. That means at least two people are almost always awake.

Everyone does their time, giving up several night hours in exchange for time off during the day. Sleep doesn't come as efficiently during daytime hours though, especially in an unfamiliar bed that is jerking back and forth irregularly. And the noise. No matter how much attention is paid to quieting things down, it is impossible to eliminate the relentless knocking, clattering and bumping of a boat full of objects and crew rattling about as Quijote pitches and hobby horses through the waves. The sound of the water rushing along the hull alone would be enough to keep anyone awake. And given the importance of staying hydrated to ward off sea sickness. All that sound of rushing water means never ending trips to the lou.

In spite of all that sleep deprivation, we are starting to get into a rhythm. Sleep will catch up with us as soon as we're overtaken by exhaustion and pass out in the middle of the day. I only hope when I collapse, I won't find the bunk occupied.

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Day 1: The Adventure Begins

We enjoyed a smooth start with lovely weather on our first day out. The Northlake Marina has been home to Quijote for the five years that I've owned her and several years before that. It was bittersweet having to give up such a prime location.

We transited the drawbridges and locks without incident for the final time and made our way north under sunny skies and following winds.

As we approached Port Townsend shortly before 4pm, we found ourselves motoring along side a boat called Maiden with crew dressed in matching red outfits and sponsor flags flying. Chase boats came out from Port Townsend to meet the approaching vessel and we found ourselves swept along like part of their entourage.

Kay did a quick Google search and discovered the boat had been restored from previous early eighties glory when she won the Whitbread around the world race with an all female crew. A documentary about their accomplishment has recently been released and a new crew is touring the world to promote sailing and the film. They were in Seattle and stopped in Port Townsend for a couple of hour to a lot of fanfare, cheering crowds and even a couple of cannon shots.

We bypassed the hoopla and made our way to the Boat Haven marina, where afternoon winds made dock maneuvering challenging. The wind continued to build as the evening progressed and we found ourselves quite happy to be tied up for the night.

Tomorrow morning the winds are forecasted to abate and we'll get an early start up the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Quijote is very excited.

Timing is Key

Going down the west coast we’ll pass several ports guarded by river bars: Westport, Astoria, Tillamook, Newport all have river bars that must be timed well for safe passage.  If the tidal current over the bar is ebbing (flowing out to sea) it counters the prevailing winds and ocean swell that approach from the west and creates steep dangerous waves at the entrance.  The trick is to time your entrance for a flood tide so the current is flowing in the same direction as the wind and swell.  A smooth entrance makes a happy crew.

How to affect that timing? With tide tables!  Best case, we don’t stop at any ports along the way and blow down the coast in blue bird weather, but if the weather turns or problems arise that dictate stopping, it’s nice to be able to time  our departure to optimize our opportunities to stop along the way.  A geek does that with spreadsheets that list distances and travel times.  He annotates it with tidal information and color codes port arrivals according to suitability.  This allows us to choose the optimal departure time.

The attached screen shot shows a sample of the sheet.  Several colored columns were created, each with a different departure time, from which a 4am departure from Port Townsend was selected.

Party Time!

Tina, Bob, Sue and Maddy put their heads together and threw a Bon Boyage party for Quijiote crew on Thursday August 4th.  What a great time! Awesome food, great company, and an impressive guest log was signed by most attendees.

Jeff get’s the award for original guest log entry that he wrote upside-down so it would be visible right-side up in the Southern hemisphere.

Deb gets the awesome cherry pie award - best ever by Lavanya’s reckoning.  Pat’s blueberry buckle was exceptional as well.  There was so much great food worth mentioning, but you know my bias for pie, so we’ll leave it at that. They don’t call him the pie guy for nothing!

Eric and Linda dropped in from the sailing vessel Rover, who will be departing on the same Coho Rally for a global circumnavigation.  Three cheers for SV Rover!  Kay and I met Eric and Linda at the Coho Hoho seminars.

A nod goes out to Maddy, for keeping her beast sequestered during the festivities.

Tina, Bob, Sue, and Maddy: Thanks so much for your thoughtful planning.  And thanks to all who attended!

Guest Log designed by Bob Bennet

Photos

Kay brings Kevin back on board

New Equipment Photos

Garmin Antenna

SSB DSC Antenna

Two new deck glands and one old one (exciting stuff!)

Electronics

There are electrical installations afoot on Quijote these days.  A new DSC antenna, an Iridium satellite transceiver, and a couple new solar panels are in the works. 

The DSC antenna is for the SSB radio and allows ship to ship reception that is independent of the HF antenna.   That will allow another boat to hail us in an emergency even while the SSB is in use gathering weather data or whatever.  I should note that last week’s practice cruise marked the first time the SSB radio has successfully been used to download a weather file.  It was nice to have open access to the skies for the trial.  At her home slip in Lake Union she is in close proximity to the Ship Canal bridge and closed in by land, so transmission has been less successful.  I discovered some issues with the Bluetooth connection between my Laptop and the Pactor modem, but I seem to have those sorted out. I have a PC session running on my Mac so Windows is behaving a little differently than I’m used to running Windows from a PC.  By necessity, things like Bluetooth and Internet connectivity have to be tied in to the hosts (Mac’s) operating system.

The Iridium transceiver requires an external antenna and the new solar panels each have power and ground wires that will connect to charge controllers, so all these new wires have to make their way from inside the cabin to up on the back deck.  Getting those wires routed and passed through to the deck in a way that doesn’t make the boat leak is the present challenge.  I hate drilling holes in my boat!  One reason for taking care of all this at once is that I can at least consider using the same holes for multiple purposes.  Of course that means bigger holes.

Another Few Days to Practice Stuff

We did another Quijote practice cruise last week, had some fun and learned a few things. Kay, Tina, Kevin and I headed out into Puget sound through the locks on Wednesday and spent the day working with the sails to get procedures ironed out.  I especially wanted to confirm that the new custom sail bag I ordered was a good size for both storm jib and storm trisail.  The bags are designed to be tied to the deck and the sail can then be hoisted out of or folded directly into the bag.  Having sails readily available on deck makes it much more likely that they will be used when needed, rather than have to haul bags up from under the v-berth.  The bags worked well and each sail fits nicely, so I went ahead and ordered a second bag after we got back.

Wednesday was a blustery day; it was nice to get some sailing in. Since the wind was from the south, we tied up to one of the mooring balls on the north shore of Blake Island.  The thinking at the time was that the island might give us some protection from wind and waves. It may have, but it was still a pretty unsettled night, shipping and ferries adding to the watery mayhem. 

In the morning we inflated the dinghy and motored ashore for some exercise, then motored up Rich Passage, into Port Orchard and on to Liberty Bay. We then practiced setting a stern anchor using the aft bow roller for the first time.  We found that controlling the rhode while paying it out is a lot of work and is best done with leather gloves. We used 40’ of chain and 120’ of 3/4” braided anchor line shackled together.  We tied another 200’ length of 3/8” double-braid to the end of the rhode to allow us to plant the forward anchor farther forward.  Then backing up, we let out forward anchor and brought in stern anchor until the 3/8” line was back on board.  At that point we had a good 4:1 scope in 30’ of water for both anchors.  Splendid!  Next time we’ll start with the bow anchor and use the dinghy to set the stern anchor.

Before dinner (Tina’s Brie and Sun Dried Tomato Pasta) we used the dinghy to practice pulling a person overboard (MOB) up out of the water and onto the deck.  We were able to do the job pretty well using the halyard winch on the side of the mast if it was a light MOB or a strong winch cranker, but a small woman trying to haul a large man up onto deck was hopeless.  Thankfully we discovered that the outboard engine hoist was perfectly suited to the job. We disconnected the pulley from the hoist and reconnected it to the halyard and the bottom of the pulley to the MOB harness. Then we ran the tail of the pulley through the jib car to the deck winch.  the combined mechanical advantage of the pulley and the winch made it much easier for light women to pull a heavy guy out of the water and the components were all conveniently at hand.

We spent the night in Liberty Bay and the following morning we did some circles around Liberty Bay to get the hang of the Life-Sling. It was fortunate we did as we quickly discovered that the line snarled into a rats nest after twelve years of inactivity.  I have since purchased a replacement life sling, but it will be well worth trying it again to make sure the line pays out properly.

A TIP of the Sombrero to Mexico

One of the big items on my to-do was finally put to bed just this week: the cancellation of the Temporary Import Permit opened by the previous boat owner for entry into Mexico. The so called TIP had to be cancelled in order for a new one to be issued.  Of course you can’t just ask the Mexican government to cancel the permit.  You have to fill out a form, supported by a small pile of documentation: the original TIP (thankfully still in the original owner’s possession), Coast Guard documentation, passport copy, etc.  I sent it all off to Mexico City and waited nervously, wondering if competence and good fortune would win out.  The wait went on for five weeks while new reports of petulant behavior toward Mexico by our government made me certain that the paperwork would disappear.  But the Mexican government came though.  With cancellation behind me, I’ll need to have them issue a new TIP in my name, but that can wait until we're in San Diego

Raft-up and Practice

Kay, Kevin, Cody, and I spent some quality time out on Puget Sound last weekend.  From Lake Union, we transited the locks mid-day on Friday, stopped at Shilshole to secure transient moorage for the evening, and then headed out into the rain to practice.

The weather was forecast to give us light winds and rain on Friday, better wind and sun on Saturday, and then light wind and partly sunny on Sunday.  That’s pretty much the way it worked out.

We started on Friday afternoon by hoisting the working sails, practicing tacks and jibes, and giving new and returning crew a feel for the boat. Everyone performed well and was in good spirits in spite of the rain, which varied from light sprinkles to a steady downpour according to its whim.

We also set the spinnaker on Friday afternoon to allow us to iron out the wrinkles in our sail handling before the winds picked up on Saturday. While the rain didn’t make life too difficult, or even uncomfortable, it did get the spinnaker soaking wet, which would prove to be troublesome on Saturday.

Returning to Shilshole Friday night to dry out, Kay whipped up a tasty feast for dinner and we met with Mary Lou and Knute for an after-dinner social hour.  Mary Lou and Knute own an Island Packet moored at Shilshole.  They filled our heads with salty sea stories and our glasses with wine. Lovely!

Cody joined us Saturday morning, Mary Lou and Knute saw us off, and we headed out again, this time into the sunshine and a frisky breeze.  This time the spinnaker wasn’t as cooperative - it got twisted and wouldn’t slide free as it usually does because of the friction from being damp from the day before.  As we drifted toward a small boat regatta outside the marina, the only thing for it was to fire up the engine, turn into the wind, and lower the soggy, tangled mess onto the deck where it could be dried and sorted out.

It should also be noted that part of the problem was our jibe technique.  Thankfully that is exactly what we were there to work out.  When we don’t use a spinnaker pole it is a fairly simple matter to release the spinnaker sheet and pull the sail around the front of the boat to jibe.  With a pole and a wet sail to manage, it gets more interesting.

What worked well was to furl the sail, turn the boat while transferring the pole, and unfurl the sail again.  It worked every time and should be much easier to manage in stiffer wind and waves.  Bravo!  We experimented with different pole heights and lengths, and with using the lazy sheet to serve as a foreguy to keep the pole off the shrouds.  It was a productive afternoon of work and we were feeling pretty good about it by the time we started toward the Coho Ho-ho raft-up.

The raft-up was a lot of fun.  I think there were seven boats in all tied up with several anchors out. It was very social with lots of great food shared by all.  Kay provided a big pot of salmon chowder from our boat.  There was enough food to feed an army.

On Sunday we spent some time working with our storm sails to get the running rigging worked out.  The sails have never been used before.  The storm jib hanks onto a removable solent stay which stores at the base of the mast when not in use, then is tensioned to a pad-eye on the foredeck aft of the forestay when in use.

The storm trisail slots into a groove in the mast.  Because it doesn’t use the boom, it also serves as a spare mainsail in case the mainsail or the boom is damaged.

Then finally, we just sailed, relaxing and enjoying light winds and sunshine before heading back through the locks and returning home.

Thus ended our first shakedown.  The second will take place in the first week of June.

Quijote's New Alternator

Progress is afoot! I finished installing the Balmar alternator with an external regulator over the weekend and it appears to be working well.  The new regulator has triple stage charging and temperature sensors on the the alternator and battery bank.  It’s nice to have the upgrade finished.

Now that the government shutdown has ended (however briefly), the shop that was charged with finishing the bearing assembly rebuild for the steering wheel has finished the job, so my next project is to reassemble and adjust the steering cables, throttle cables, and steering wheel.  More crawling around on the boat.  Oh boy!

Now if the weather would just warm up.  The last thing I want to be doing is crawling around on the deck with a couple inches of snow on it.  It’s a much better day for practicing sight reductions for celestial navigation.

Balmar 100A alternator (white) on Yanmar 50hp

External regulator showing alternator temperature in degrees Celsius 

Charge!

I’m in the midst of a project to replace the alternator at the moment.  The existing Hitachi alternator will generate up to 80A and is unregulated.  Being unregulated means the charging is less efficient and the house batteries can become over charged when motoring for long periods.

The new alternator is manufactured by Balmar and has an external regulator to control the charge rate and prevent over-charging.  The regulator senses the current draw and charges the battery in stages, offering less and less current as the battery gets close to being fully charged.  It’s like closing a door:  initially you can move the door quickly, but as it gets close to being fully closed it is best to slow down so the door doesn’t slam shut and cause damage.

The higher current will also make it easier to keep the batteries charged.  The result will be prolonged battery life and fewer engine hours.  Balmar sells even higher amperage alternators that would probably fit, but more powerful alternators create more drag on the drive belt.  100A is considered the limit without adding a second belt, which would require a change of pulleys on both the engine and the alternators.

I’d be tempted to make that change and switch to an alternator that supplies 120A, 150A or more, but the boat and it’s wiring are designed for the alternator that it has, so I’m reluctant to push things too far.

Installing the new alternator shouldn’t be too tough.  It’s designed with the same mechanical footprint.   The new external regulator will be harder.  There are new wires to be run that will be challenging.  The regulator needs to be installed close to the alternator and will be mounted above the engine in the engine room. Then there are two wires that run to the battery to sense voltage and temperature.  They’ll require pulling floorboards and threading wires behind panels.  By hook or by crook, we’ll get it done though and Quijote will be much happier for her new hardware.

Throttled Back

With the boat yard work complete, I set to work doing several other fun projects aboard Quijote.  Some jobs have been rather small, like rebuilding the toilet pump and replacing the bathroom door latch that was broken last summer (sending a broken spring flying across the cabin).  Other jobs are a little more challenging.

Replacing the throttle cable on this boat (also broken last summer) takes some effort.  We were motoring southbound down Discovery Passage past Campbell River last summer, when the engine rpm suddenly cut out.  As it became evident, the engine didn’t die, it had just gone to idle.  My first instinct was to check the throttle cable and that was indeed the problem.  The cable came apart where it connects to the engine.  I was able to coax it back into submission with duct tape and bailing wire, a fix that lasted us all the way home.  That’s a good thing, because it was necessary to disassemble the steering pedestal to get the cable disconnected from the shift lever.

As long as I have the steering pedestal dismantled, why not replace those steering wheel bearings that have been squealing off and on for as long as I’ve owned the boat?  Of coarse bearing replacement made the job considerably more complicated.  I had to slacken the steering cables, disconnect the chain that goes over a sprocket on the steering shaft and remove the shaft and bearing assembly. With that, I sent the assembly to a shop that can remove the old bearings and press in new ones.  The shop that does that, is out of action (for reasons I don’t completely understand) due to the government shutdown.  So it goes.  Who knew the shutdown would affect me so directly?  Lets hope the shutdown ends before the summer (for many reasons).

Yard Work

A fair amount of work has been accomplished on Quijote this fall and winter. In October the friendly folks at Yachtfitters and I hauled the boat out of the water and took care of some pressing issues.  We sanded and painted the hull, replaced a corroded through-hull valve and replaced a faulty seawater temperature sensor.

The sail-drive has needed work for as long as I’ve owned the boat.  A sail-drive is a curious name for the gear box that is driven by the engine and turns the propeller.  When I had the gear oil in the sail-drive tested by a lab, it showed evidence of water contamination. That suggested the seal for the propeller shaft was leaking.  While the boat was out of the water, I had the seal replaced and they found pitting and corrosion on the shaft where it makes contact with the seal.

I’d have thought the whole shaft would need to be replaced, but that turned out not to be the case.  They took the shaft to a shop with a lathe and cut a groove into it, removing the pitting and corrosion.  Then they filed the new groove with a ceramic paste.  After the paste hardened, they put the shaft back on the lathe and trimmed off the excess, so the diameter was back to the original. It’s now good as new, maybe better. I have no idea how ceramic wears differently than stainless steel, but it shouldn’t pit, oxidize, or corrode where it makes contact with the seal.  It’s really good to have all that boat yard work done.

2019 Intro

It’s early in the year to be starting another Quijote blog, but I have a hankering to get it going.  So much has been going on, I think I ought to be filling in the Quijote faithful, however thin those ranks may be.

Welcome to the 2018 blog reporting on Quijote activity. This will be the fourth in a series of annual blogs that describe preparation for and participation in the trips on the sailing vessel Quijote. 

2016 took us up the Inside Passage to Glacier Bay, Alaska for fourteen weeks with seventeen crew joining us along the way at various times: http://svquijote.blogspot.com

In 2017 Quijote crew did a six week circumnavigation of Vancouver Island: http://svquijote2017.blogspot.com

Then last year we headed back up the Inside Passage for five weeks to the Broughton Archipelago: http://svquijote2018.blogspot.com

In 2019 the fun continues: we'll leave Seattle in mid-August, go out the Strait of Juan de Fuca and take a left turn down the coast to San Diego.  From there we go around Baja to the Sea of Cortez.  I’ll leave the boat in La Paz during the holidays, followed by a couple of months of Cruising in Mexico.  Then in spring of 2020 we'll head off across the South Pacific, going as far as New Zealand before heading back though Tahiti, Hawaii, Alaska, and then home.  It’ll be a two year Pacific (if not pacific) semi-circumnavigation  with a few flights home to reconnect with family and friends from time to time.

Away we go!