Salish Sea Cruising 2014

[David Patterson]

The 75 yo (or more) tug WESTWARD, converted for the tourist trade out of Friday Harbor, instead of pulling timber and barges, comes in for Saturday night in my storm anchorage. Looking NW.

[rorik]

Westward is beautiful. Seen her many times in Port Townsend. She is very well cared for.

[David Patterson]

Info on big 86' WESTWARD can be found at pacificcatalyst.com. She was built in WA state (Vashon Island) in 1924, in the last boom like our own current period, purposefully for tourist use. She has a 5 year circumnavigation to her credit, sporting her original 4 cylinder engine, which turns at a stately 300rpm, they say. She must have quite a prop, as she cruises at 8 knots. For the price of a good hotel room, a couple can overnight in my favorite central San Juan anchorage of Parks Bay, breakfast aboard in the teak salon with fireplace, and get a two hour sightseeing cruise. Check out at noon or so. Sounds pretty idyllic. She is on the National Historic Registry. Some living history. I have no connection to her. Unfortunately.

[David Patterson]

I left the docks on 2/1/14, wanting to experience some San Juans winter. I've certainly done that. An unrelenting series of gale-force lows have crossed over me, the winds boxing the compass. In recent days, apparently, my anchor rode swivel wasn't up to the test. Here are some photos of a badly hockled 7/16 or 1/2 inch anchor line, a shot of the hockled section I'm saving as a conversation piece (the Leatherman Rebar is 6" long there), and an eye splice I put on the newly cut end of the line. That pair of double constrictor knots on the splice aren't needed. Some sailors whip that portion of the splice for smoothness. I don't know how to fair the tails of the strands yet, which would be the best craftsmanship, I suppose. When I reassembled the rode I added another swivel with appropriate shackles. A few more days before these lows slow down.

[tjr818]

...I don't know how to fair the tails of the strands yet, which would be the best craftsmanship, I suppose....

Hi David,
Beautiful shots, once again. The easiest way to fair the tails is, after you have done the first three tucks, trim 1/3 of each strand and take another tuck (or two), then trim 1/2 of what is left of each strand and do another tuck (or two), after that, just trim the last and call it a day (or a splice). You will get a nice taper that way.

[David Patterson]

Thanks. I'll give that a try on a more leisurely day soon. Today I was just glad to get my primary rode back in action before conditions could worsen. I did take time to roll the splice with my foot to settle it.

[David Patterson]

One of my significant cruising pleasures is the appreciation of skyscapes. Fine art hung in the very best of viewing galleries. This one was the delicate result of a warm and a cool set of air masses, meeting over the northern part of the Salish Sea, yesterday. The following winds were less delicate, of course. A fair trade, in the event. Art appreciation worth the effort. Ephemeral, impossible to fully capture in a snapshot. The experience can be lasting, though. I enjoy the range of blues in this photo.

[David Patterson]

When I'm under sail, I tend to collect photos. The pace is right, often, and the silence conducive to noticing. A sea and sky scene, complete with eagle, as I recall. The Viking sunstone was a chunk of feldspar that polarized light, making it possible to find the sun in heavy overcast. Or so I've read. Maybe the view was something like this. A good fantasy, anyway. Also, NORSEMAN, a 1937 Atkins cutter, recovered from a farm on San Juan Island. 40 feet on deck, she almost looks under-masted. I really admire the low house on her. Not sailed much, judging by the state of the sails and rigging. She is wintering in a vulnerable part of Friday Harbor, on massive ground tackle, according to the owner. I'll only come in here to anchor with no, or low, easterly or southeasterly winds, because of the fetch. I'm in from my preferred storm hole for some northerlies, and to resupply. February has required a lot of propane, my heating fuel on CLOUD GIRL.

[David Patterson]

Winter cruising in the Salish Sea: a composite early-morning view of the Port of Friday Harbor, looking N, SW, & S, from the north cove anchorage. Plenty of swinging room this time of year. A relatively major snow event, bringing 2-4 inches ashore and 31*. 1/2 inch on deck at 34*. Sometimes I wish my. 9000 BTU Newport propane heater was the 12000 BTU model, but I stay warm. The water temp stays about 45*, modulating the local environment most of the time. Very lovely scene to inhabit. I'm here to re-supply and take care of some shore business. (You might notice I have vanged my boom to port, as is my tiller, to diminish CLOUDIE's swinging. No boom crutch on most CDs, of course.)

[Sea Hunt Video]

David:

As one fellow Cape Dory 25D caretaker to another, please do NOT post any more photos like the one with several inches of snow on your mainsail cover. While the picture is admittedly beautiful and captures in one frame a lot of information and beauty about the environment, elements, etc., as soon as I viewed it I started getting cold chills and had to put on a sweatshirt and sweatpants This in Miami where the temp was 86 degrees today. Please. I have endured my share of cold weather climates. Thank you.

[tjr818]

...as soon as I viewed it I started getting cold chills and had to put on a sweatshirt and sweatpants This in Miami where the temp was 86 degrees today. Please. I have endured my share of cold weather climates. Thank you.

86 DEGREES ! You have, indeed, gone in "Harms Way". Do you know what that can do to a Guinness?

David, keep the beer cool.

[David Patterson]

Last year I began my cruising on 3/1/13, when I left the dock, not to return and tie up -except for two customs visits- until 8 months later. There were some winds that March, but nothing remarkable. This year I left under sail on 2/1/14, determined to experience some winter cruising. The winds have been dramatic at times, the cold a challenge, the pair of snowy periods icing on the cake (so to speak). Now that I'm becoming "chronologically gifted" I have become interested in extending my life experiences beyond the familiar and often under-engaging "tourist " trips, enjoyable as they sometimes are (depending on who is along). Beyond all that, I seem to tolerate cooler climates better than warmer ones, having spent my boyhood in a high plains small town in central Montana. Still, the notion of sailing in the Keys has me reaching for guidebooks and imagining tracks on charts. Anyway, Robert, I doubt I will be able to chill you with another snow photo this year. It has already melted away. And Tim, Guiness on board sounds to be a great idea. My usual beers are those little 7 ounce Coronitas. When I hand one from the ice chest to a guest, they often remark on how icy cold it is. It's a wonderful life on the sea.

[David Patterson]

Venus and the last of the old moon emerge, as a clearly defined frontal boundary recedes. In the three-day dark of the moon, minus tides can occur here. Since local tides are semi-diurnal (two highs and two lows per day) they do seem to be moderated, though. Sun, earth, and moon are aligned during full and new moons, as most sailors know, to increase the tides. So-called "spring" tides. What is less well known is that the moon and tides have achieved mutual influence, over millions of years. The moon phase influences the tides; the tides "lock" the moon in its position facing the earth, apparently. Astronomers say the moon used to rotate. The reason we don't see the back side of the moon is the gravitational influence of tidal forces, the shifting mass of water that makes up so much of the earth's surface. A kind of reverse causation. Or so I have read. The low-light photo is a bit grainy.

[David Patterson]

Spring tides from the new moon have released drift logs from local beaches. They wash about, even into marinas, like this gnarled piece of cedar, requiring a good lookout when sailing. Still in harbor at anchor a lot, due to higher winds than I'd like, I have diverted myself with studying. Can you recall the six basic motions of a sailboat, beginning with pitching? It took me a bit of puzzling, until an aha! moment. A bit slower as I age, I suppose.

[Sea Hunt Video]

Pitch, roll, sway, yawl, surge, heave