Return to the Salish Sea

[Jim Walsh]

You can't mention Sterling Hayden without mentioning "The Asphalt Jungle" or the fact that he briefly belonged to the communist party.

[Tom Keevil]

Steling Hayden's "firm foundation of financial unrest" involved sailing to Tahiti on a 96' schooner with a crew of eight.

[David Patterson]

A couple of photos electronically zoomed, so not of very good quality for inspection. One is of a junk-rigged former sloop, dropping its sail at the end of some sailing in the harbor. The other is of a lone pigeon guillemot, an occasional in Friday Harbor. They have bright orange feet and legs and a unique profile for a diving bird. I once watched a flock of them "flying" underwater, from above on a point of Sucia Island's, the orange feet making them easy to follow in their marvelous zipping around under the clear sea. As I provision (and this time visit a dentist) in Friday Harbor, I typically anchor in the north cove. The chart notes a couple of wrecks, which are really there. (One captured an anchor of mine a year ago.) I have spotted another smaller wreck, not charted, near where little CLOUD GIRL is in the photo. She is the boat to the left. While it is impossible to escape airplane noise and ferry wakes, not to mention Bayliner parades and their wash, anchoring back in the cove does provide the visual experience of being "out in the San Juans." At least in a couple of directions. This is definitely not an anchorage for an easterly blow. The quarter mile row is worth it, except for a recent one in Force 4 winds. Appointments and cruising don't mix well.

[David Patterson]

A sky and seascape before sunrise in the central San Juan Islands (low light so grainy). A forecast for windy weather sends me seeking a more protected anchorage for most of a week. An iNavX screen shot depicts me taking advantage of a counter-current running north along San Juan Island, out of Friday Harbor. The ebb's current, at 1 knot and higher, is flowing SSW at the moment out in the channel, while CLOUD GIRL manages 1.3 knots N, on a beam reach in light airs, during "the calm before the storm." Studying the counter-current along the island, deliberately and accidentally over the last few years, has taught me that there is a usable current (usually) available. A low-wind crossing of the channel was necessary, against the tide, because of the sudden elevation of the wind forecast. This was my opportunity to get more protection. The angle between my heading and my actual course reached 65* at times. Fortunately, the wind picked up to 5 knots when I needed it. The aquaculture float charted is no longer present. The submerged structures are, but are well below CLOUDIE's modest 4' draft. I try not to sail over them anyway. Notice how rapidly depths increase along the islands, in these glacier-dredged channels. In the much deeper Salish Sea inlets, farther north on the BC coast, drop-offs are much more precipitous in places, creating anchoring challenges that I hope to become competent at later this year.

[David Patterson]

Worn and tired after being the teaching boat for a series of novice cruisers (I am the third), CLOUD GIRL remains nonetheless proud and competent. Here she is stern-tied in the San Juans. I'm just re-acquainting myself with the technique, and deploying a new 300' polypropylene line. Another look shows her anchor float. Old cables from the logging days can be found in this area of the protected anchorage. I don't wish to lose my 25 lb plow. The fenders are there for the dinghy. In the woods a sleepy raccoon tries to focus enough to determine just what might have made that noise.

[Sea Hunt Video]

David:

Can you explain the purpose/reason to tie the stern to the shore. Remember, I ain't the smartest raccoon in the forest. Please keep your explanation simple. No big words.

[David Patterson]

Several uses come to mind, Roberto. Holding the boat in position, rather than swinging, is primary. In Salish Sea anchorages, especially during tourist season, stern tying allows more boats to fit in a given anchorage. With stern-ties, they can really be packed in. Knowing how, and doing so, is an essential cruising courtesy in many places. 3:1 anchor scopes are common too, when the holding is good, to handle cruiser density in season, as in the Friday Harbor anchorage I favor. The other primary use is "deep water anchoring." For plunging depths in fjords, which can outreach the best-prepared cruiser's ground tackle length, an anchor is deployed to basically hook onto an underwater cliff face, the stern ties pull back on the rode, holding the anchor in place. That skill I have yet to develop. I'm still learning the technique in general. Many NW cruisers have been doing it forever. Some, never. Here is a "quote" from A Dreamspeaker Cruising Guide Volume 3 (A&L Yeadon-Jones), one of the most enjoyable guides ever, whether you cruise around here or not. A picture is worth a thousand words. Imagine tucking into this anchorage gracefully! Use makes mastery, hopefully. Jedediah Island is one of my cruising destinations again this year...ideally.

[John Schafer]

Amazing photo of the raccoon, David! Was it near the spot where you attached your stern line? Glad to see that yellow line is being put to good use. We like to keep ours on a spool, and then we use a mop handle as an axle for it to spin on as one of us rows ashore with the line. We have seen some boats with their spools mounted on the stern, too. Lots of people loop their stern lines around a tree, like you did, bringing the end back to the boat, which makes leaving very easy. Just uncleat the end, and pull the line back in. We usually tie ours around a tree, without bringing the end back to the boat. However, our method requires us to row back ashore in the morning to untie our stern line. Both methods work fine. It's just a matter of preference. Hope to see you soon!

[David Patterson]

Many thanks to you two for delivering that line to me, John. I look forward to sharing an anchorage again soon as well. A spool might be a big help, but single-handing I usually try to keep tension on the line while rowing it in, to keep the boat from wandering too far. So far a series of figure-eight coils works best for me for line handling and controlling things. Now, if I could just get better at getting in and out of the dinghy at the shore. After I was banging around on the rocks last year at Portland Island, a Canadian power boater, stern-tied nearby, hailed me and allowed as how "it's good to see someone else make all the same mistakes I do." Being able to slip the line really helps when single-handing. Of course, it doesn't always run free. Oh well. [Oh yeah, the raccoon. I was walking silently on deep moist moss, and spotted fur in that palatial tree hole. I watched the raccoon breathing slowly in sleep for a time before something alerted it. I follow deer trails often when hiking. Sometimes I have special sightings.]

[Sea Hunt Video]

David:

Thanks for the explanation.

On a recurring observation, you really, really need to seriously start thinking about putting your posts and journals together in a book and get a publisher. You have two gifts - photography and wordsmithing, and are exceptional at both. Sailors (non-sailors as well) would not be able to put your book down.

Give it some thought.

[David Patterson]

If this was an April Fool's Day post, it would be a photo of the torpedo level I found at the bottom of one of my tool bags recently, with the claim that it is an essential tool on board. Instead, this is a straight-up illustration of how I choose to handle my 1/20 of a nautical mile (300') of polypropylene line for stern tying. John uses a spool, as he mentioned above. I use figure-eight coils in the continuous line (a circular coil is more likely to tangle), allowing me to easily take most of it with me in the dinghy, paying it out behind me, then passing the remaining coils behind the tree, or running the line through a ring on shore while shooting the line into the dinghy. Then it is ready for paying out as I return to the boat. Some extra handling is required, but my choice works well for me sailing alone. On my boat, already full to the gunnels with cruising gear, the coils fit nicely on top of all in a cockpit locker for easy access. First photo, the coils. Second photo, a sail tie through the coils makes handling easy. I've done the same with a spare anchor rode before. Third photo, the freshly recovered line drip-dries on the jib halyard winch.

[David Patterson]

In a mid-day scene of mostly greys, quicksilver water reflects the light. Only a sliver of blue sky shows color. (There are actually multiple colors hidden in the reflections.) Ten tacks in about 1.5 miles are shown on an upwind track, next. Mostly Force 4 (11-16 kt) SW winds and a 1 knot SSE current kept me busy working to windward. No time for boredom as I was often rail-down. All of the exciting "big lean" a single-handed sailor could ask for, while out playing in a little cruiser the size of mine. In the harbor, last, someone has built her or himself an elegant dory for rowing. Excellent craftsmanship, relatively straightforward design, superb result. I hope I get to witness this boat in use. The foot rests of the sliding seat arrangement can just be made out in the photo. Set up for serious rowing. This year's 750 mile wind and/or muscle-powered Race to Alaska ($10k first prize; second prize...a set of steak knives) --from Victoria BC to Ketchikan AK-- is drawing adventuresome entrants. The first "proving stage" will be across Juan de Fuca Strait from Port Townsend to Victoria. Many Salish Sea cruisers, sailors, and kayakers are planning to gather at the finish to celebrate the arrivals. If there are any! Maybe this boat will be a participant. I doubt it, for there is no sailing arrangement. This boat could probably make the trip though. See r2ak.com for details about this gutsy race. They note that "It's like the Iditarod, on a boat, with a chance of drowning…being run down by a freighter, or eaten by a grizzly bear. There are squalls, killer whales, tidal currents that run upwards of 20 miles an hour, and some of the most beautiful scenery on god’s green earth."

[Jim Walsh]

Very similar to the Glouster Light Dory, a P. Bolger design popularized by Dynamite Payson .Very nice build.

[David Patterson]

From the Race to Alaska website (r2ak.com). Port Townsend at the bottom, Ketchikan at the top. Participants get to/have to choose their own routes, only needing to stop at the waypoints. Many wooden boats. Some entrants are purpose-building craft, a few "high tech," no engines allowed. Mixed semi-diurnal tides reverse four times daily, at different heights for each of two lows, two highs. Both light and heavy winds are frequent. Tidal flows in inter-island constricted areas (narrows) can be dramatic. Complex coastal navigation in charted but unmarked areas. Active sea traffic in places. Services nil throughout most of the route. There will be some chase boats, I think, but participants will be widely scattered. All in all, quite the challenge. Self-reliance is maximized. Simply finishing will be a victory. Some will doubtless also make the return trip in the same craft, at a more leisurely pace. If my own cruising plans work out I may get to witness some of this race in the middle Strait of Georgia, depending on routes taken. I've no idea of the number of racers. Interacting with some would be fascinating.

[David Patterson]

Sunrises are high points in the (awake!) cruiser's day. Bill's give me the sense of being right in them, in his exotic location. The sun on my mid-latitude cruising grounds appears to rise a bit farther north on the eastern horizon each day, as the tilt of the Earth's axis alters the season toward summer. In the photo below, the glowing coals of sunrise backlight Mt Baker. The sun will appear right behind the dormant volcano (I think) at the solstice. Later, a silhouetted state ferry, like an office building on the water --complete with a parking garage-- crosses San Juan Channel. These large ferries are practically dwarfed by the cruise-ship-sized ones in the Canadian Gulf Islands. I may be able to show one of them in a few weeks. Last, I've included a photo from July of 2014, one that a board member intends to have printed for hanging. A double rainbow pours down an extravagance of light, segmenting a view of Friday Harbor, lighter and darker. [If you should ever want one of my photos, let me know the date I posted it. I'll send the highest resolution file I have. Note my copyright on the print please. If possible, send me a photo of the print hung, for my own enjoyment.]