Cruising the San Juans again

[David Patterson]

Sailing at night. Dark, nautical twilight, daylight. First is a photo of the Friday Harbor lights from San Juan Channel (if I get these in order). Next the light grows in the east, as a state ferry passes full of commuters. Last, daylight fills-in an overcast scene of the slack before the flood, in the channel. Very light airs sailing, so not a rapid change of scene. Empty waters, the motorists gone for the season, mostly. So silent that the tide ripples are an audible hiss where the currents meet. Masterful sailor Richard Henderson, in Sailing At Night (1987), wrote "In my opinion, sailing at night is a necessary ingredient for complete fulfillment of the yachting life, and it adds yet another dimension to the joy of messing about in boats." (p.95) I'm years, if ever, from "complete fulfillment," I hope, but the added (thoughtfully planned) dimension of night sailing is meaningful to me.

[David Patterson]

As a single-hander new to extended cruising (on saltwater only since 8/1/12) I sometimes semi-independently discover what others have known for generations, probably. Here is my system for a stern-release anchor that allows me to put out either 50' or 100' feet of rode without leaving the cockpit, depending on the depths. The anchor is a manageable 16.5 lb Bruce, suitable for these grounds, unless there is grass. The chain is 25' of 1/4", kept in a 1 gallon bucket. Everything must run free. If planning to use the 100' length, I release the loop from the port stern cleat before letting go. I've been told recently that there is a magazine article about something like this in Good Old Boat or Wooden Boat, but I've not found it. I can't always easily or safely leave the cockpit to release my heavier anchor from the bow. When I need a second anchor, this one is ready to add quickly to the bow anchor. I like having an "emergency brake" as well. While not for everyone, this arrangement has worked for me many times, for I rarely dock or moor. I hope my simplistic drawing conveys the set-up.

[Sea Hunt Video]

David:

Great idea A few questions.

1. You have a notation on the starboard side at the bow that says "Rode passed under anchor roller______". What is the missing last word

2. What do you use to secure the anchor to the stern rail

3. I think I understand why the rode is passed "inside" the shrouds and lifelines on the port side but I would be grateful if you would explain the reason(s).

Thanks

[David Patterson]

Robert, you asked:
1. You have a notation on the starboard side at the bow that says "Rode passed under anchor roller______". What is the missing last word
2. What do you use to secure the anchor to the stern rail
3. I think I understand why the rode is passed "inside" the shrouds and lifelines on the port side but I would be grateful if you would explain the reason(s).
The missing word is 'fitting,' the idea being not to have the rode tangle with an anchor carried on the roller. You would need to run a line on your own boat to see what works. My small Bruce hangs on the stern rail securely. I'll send a photo if I get a chance. It is very secure, though when anticipating rough water I have put a sail tie around it. Wouldn't do to have an anchor suddenly spring off the boat. The rode on the port side hugs the cabin top on my boat (this set up can be reversed, as I may do when I have repaired a piece of my rub rail to port...don't ask). Notice that the rode is cleated at the port bow cleat, any excess leads into the anchor locker. Lifted over the stern cleat, the rode will run out of that port chock and snub at the cleat. Couldn't happen as gracefully if the run was outside the lifeline. The nylon line would also stretch and sag down the hull. Not shipshape at all. The rode to starboard, on my boat, tucks along the toe rail, necessarily outside the lifeline. Otherwise the anchor would hang up at the stern. Get 75 feet, or about three times your LOA, of line and arrange it. You will quickly see how it needs to be run. If the boat is moving minimally, letting go the anchor and chain streams it out. Need to practice it a few times to be sure it runs freely. The chain doesn't touch the hull. The boat snubs and turns, often setting the anchor. Sailing-in the anchor may not be a technique for a crowded anchorage. With the boat at rest, you can simply lower away, then back in as usual. It is gratifying to watch the rode run out, whether using half or all of it. Once the anchor is down adjustments are easy. Etc. I hope I haven't just confused things. This really is a fine technique once tried. A relief to anchor from the cockpit, often. I'm sure things could go wrong but so far so good. You could mock it up on the garage floor in minutes, probably.

[David Patterson]

By the way Robert, I pass that port rode loop through the winch base support on its way to loop over the stern cleat. When you look at your boat you will see why, and how nicely it can work. There are little refinements to work out if you give this a shot. Try it a few times before you reject it. I keep cleating the rode backwards even now, for example, to no ill effect so far. I just feel foolish repeating the same mistake.

[barfwinkle]

Pretty Cool David

Fair Winds

[David Patterson]

Bill, I thought I saw a post from you about cruising in OK but it was gone before I read it. I happen to think inland lakes can be wild places to sail because of the nature of the winds. We should swap stories. As for cockpit anchors, I recall Hal Roth describing his cockpit release method in How To Sail Around The World. That is probably what got me trying things. And thanks.

[David Patterson]

Another look at one of the old local schooners, ADVENTURESS I think, seen at anchor in Friday Harbor, near the entrance. A fine early October day. Howard Chapelle describes a similar schooner, ARETHUSA built 1907, in American Sailing Craft (1936). Fall gales, from time to time, but the weather is grand. A recent pair of lows brought in gale force SE winds over five days. At the peak it was gusting to 60 mph. That's Force 11, isn't it ? There is an anchorage somewhere in the San Juans for every wind direction, none that works for all. Secure marinas, of course. CLOUD GIRL spent the windy days on the hook in Parks Bay of Shaw Island, well-protected, but on two anchors nonetheless. It never got above Force 5 in there, by my estimate. This schooner tucked in there for one night of the weather. Now the other side of the coin is on display...days in the 50*s, nights in the 40*s. Light to gentle breezes. The next front is predicted to last about 24 hours and not reach gale levels.

[David Patterson]

A stunning scene. An October fog streams down San Juan Channel, then up and over San Juan and Turn Islands, through the trees. The effect suggests a forest fire about to burst into flame, or...what? I can't think of another comparison. Perhaps you can suggest one. The other photo is of Turtleback Mountain, on Orcas Island, seeming to swim through the fog. The glowing sailboat, out in the light airs, is decidedly not a Cape Dory. She has a spiky modern fractional rig that reaches up to grab what she can. Meteorologists report wind speed at ten meters above the ground. I measure mine with a handheld anemometer, hung head high on the back stay. My wind speed is consequently skewed. Often my meter reads zero when CLOUD GIRL is moving at close to a knot. Doesn't matter to me, as long as she is moving. And she is a very good light air sailer. Well canvassed. She certainly gets me where I am surrounded by beauty. Thought-stopping beauty.

[pete faga]

David
Stunning photo.No comparison here.Thanks for sharing.Keep them coming
Pete

[David Patterson]

Another crude drawing to illustrate a possible anchoring solution. Having a good light air sailor like my CD25D, with its cutaway forefoot, means it tacks competently in light airs. Reliably. However...she will also tack back and forth against the tether of her anchor, when in an anchorage, even sailing up past it. We've all seen boats do that. How to lessen that? A riding sail steadies a boat. I don't have one (yet). I could use the main, if I had a third reef and was willing to invite the sun to age the top of my main. Here is my current experiment, which I was able to test in Force 1 through Force 5 winds over the last few days. It diminished frequency, amplitude, and duration of her swinging. Essentially, the boat is hove to on a starboard tack (ignoring a backed jib). She favors the starboard "tack" as I expected, but will go to the other, though not far. Very easy to set up and break down. Hopefully my attempt at a drawing shows the arrangement adequately. I'd appreciate knowing any other solutions, or what happens for anyone else on their boat. Each boat, I suspect, behaves differently due to its particular underbody configuration and windage. I know a heavier chain rode can help, but I don't have a windlass.

[Doug Hill]

David,

I certainly are enjoying your pics of the San Juan's. I sailed my Typhoon Senior out of Edmonds, WA for a year before moving back to Michigan. Your photos are re-kindling great memories!

Doug

[David Patterson]

Doug, thanks for the appreciation. Everywhere I turn my phone camera in the Salish Sea, beauty emerges. I've not sailed in the Sound much. Two trips to Port Townsend, and one extension down to visit a sailing friend in Port Ludlow. ( I was able to pass both directions through the Port Townsend Canal under sail alone, a probably unrepeatable experience for me, for it was difficult.) Migael Scherer, in her Cruising Guide, writes enticing descriptions of year-round sailing in both the upper and lower Sound. Family will take me away again this winter, so I'll have to wait. If you sailed a Typhoon Senior here then you know the value of a good light air boat. This is a challenging area in which to minimize the motoring instead of minimizing the sailing. Perhaps I'll be able to post a few other images I've collected, over the coming winter away. Where are you sailing your 25D now? I'm on #85. David on sv CLOUD GIRL, #652869.

[Doug Hill]

David,

I moved back to Michigan in 2001. I keep my boat at Eldean Shipyard in Macatawa (Holland) Michigan. Lake Macatawa, feeds Lake Michigan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Macatawa

I sailed the TY SR for a couple of years then bought a CD28. Sailed her for about 10 years then purchased my current Cape Dory.

Doug

[David Patterson]

For extended cruising I've found that a shore boat is more than just the station wagon, as illustrated in a much earlier post. It is also recreation and exercise (not to mention for safety). As walking through an environment is little comparable to driving through it, in terms of experience, rowing a shore boat changes perspective. I am much more "in" the scene rowing my 8' dinghy than I could be motoring. In Friday Harbor, when I am provisioning there, a local yearling harbor seal will sometimes follow me as I row, so close I have to be careful not to hit it with my oars. Motoring my tender would not allow such an interaction. These photos (in reverse order) are of my dinghy "Windin' Boy" (after an old blues song/New Orleans boyhood role) beached at an open biological preserve, of starfish waiting for the return of the tide in Montague Harbor of the Canandian Gulf Islands, and of roadside flowers on Galiano Island, where Montague Harbor is located.