Return to the Salish Sea II

[David Patterson]

A cruising lifestyle makes time ashore seem exotic. While I'm eager to return aboard my 25D, the scenes here in Colorado are exceptionally beautiful during this unusually lush August. Here are a few. Little CLOUD GIRL remains anchored fore and aft, tucked out of the way in shallow waters, in the north cove of Friday Harbor: 1) the iconic West, with mountains, cattle, barbed wire, and smoke from distant lighting-caused forest fires; 2) pre-dawn at 9000', looking toward the vast plains, 3) a valley before the foothills. All near the Denver-Boulder metro area.

[David Patterson]

After a month ashore, land roles gradually disappear as I return aboard: Professional. Auto-borne traveller of intra-urban highways. Landlord of my rented house. Shopper at big supermarkets and hardware stores. Haunter of restaurants and coffee shops. Stranger in urban culture. Patient at medical offices. And so on. By car, bus, plane, shuttle, ferry --and finally by rowing my hard dinghy-- I return to the life that is now more essential to me...the cruiser of a small yacht in the Salish Sea. A few photos: over ferry pilings popular with cormorants can be seen a pass for entry into the San Juan Islands, on the other side of deep and narrow Rosario Strait, treacherous in wind over tide; then a look at the east-exposed anchorage in which I left my 25D for a month, in the far back; last a photo of CLOUD GIRL moored fore and aft in only a bit more than a fathom, which along with the anchor buoys discouraged other boats from anchoring too close to her. All was as I left her, except for a green waterline. The open dinghy in the port was even totally dry, after a rainless month.

[Skeep]

Anchor bouys, hmmm good idea.... The photos are great.

[David Patterson]

Skeep, there are other cruisers on the forum who more regularly employ anchor buoys and might be able to inform. (Bob, for example, I think.) Having one or more set up with adequate line lengths, ready to clip on to the anchor, is easy to arrange. My buoys are too small to lift the anchor off the bottom if I misjudge the depths or tide. Pros: visibility of anchor position for self and others; a line to recover the anchor easily if it is in tough ground; allows the cruiser to slip the anchor quicker, if needed. Cons: easy to tangle when deploying the anchor, or when stowing the line and buoy; probable winding of the line around the rode when winds in the anchorage are variable; other cruisers mistaking it for a mooring buoy (Hal Roth tells such a story in his book How To Sail Around The World, I recall). Roth points out that an anchor buoy does make it easy to slip the rode if an anchorage must be left in a hurry, though color of buoy matters. He bemoans anchors he could not later find in the Chilean Canals, because of his white buoys being visually lost in the whitecaps. (Or someone else got there first!) I met a young cruiser whose buoyed storm anchor was stolen when he had to leave it overnight off Port Townsend. I mark my buoys with name and phone number, but use them rarely in these comparatively safe grounds and waters. A small fender can make an excellent anchor buoy. 1/4" line is adequate, but hard on the hands if recovering the anchor using it. I can attest to that.

[David Patterson]

While it took some adjustment of thought and action after a month ashore, I sailed 18 hours after I returned aboard. Only lightly provisioned, I nonetheless recovered my anchors (a messy job after they were down for a month in "nutrient-rich" harbor waters) and got under way. The stern anchor I recovered using its anchor buoy, which was easier than pulling the boat back over the anchor, and given my proximity to the shore, safer. Working out of the anchorage from the back, among nearby boats in very light airs (<1 kt), can be a challenge, but the boat was up to it. I didn't even have to fend off with a boat hook...this time. The coming unseasonable Pacific system, bringing Force 6 winds (the small boat sailor's gale) and heavy rains, would have been manageable in the anchorage except for the wind waves to come in from San Juan Channel. Better to be anchored with protection from those. I hope the cruisers who remain have good ground tackle. The photo is of the anchored boats, with a dark-hulled new arrival scouting for her spot. CLOUD GIRL is ghosting out in some light airs (1-3 kt) on a starboard tack beam reach, barely leaving a wake. She is a fine light airs sailing craft. As a U.S. documented vessel, she can fly the yacht ensign by right, not that the flag etiquette much matters. When the system arrives, these waters will look very different, I know, having ridden out such systems here before. Note the small wooden boats in the back right. I sailed out astern of the boat with the red dinghy.

[John Schafer]

Your "system" at 11 am had sustained winds of 53 kn gusting to 70 kn at Saturna Island just North of you. Cherry point refinery had 46 G 61 at noon. I was watching the weather buoy at Nooksak River delta and Sandy Point and they were around 55 to 60 kn when both went off line. Lots of records being made. I always thought August never had any wind. J.

[David Patterson]

I need to pick your brain about weather watching, John. I did see 57 knot gusts reported a couple of miles east of me, which would be Beaufort Force 11, or a "violent storm." Joshua Slocum wrote that "I am a cautious man at sea." Clearly one needs to be. I'm glad to have gotten myself into a protected anchorage for this unusually strong low. We may be in for a lively fall around here, if the storms and gales already begin in August. I hope my coming crossing of Juan de Fuca to Port Townsend goes well. I've been caught out entering Admiralty Inlet before. No fun near Point Wilson. I know you have plenty of experience of that area.

[David Patterson]

A collection of handsome NW cruisers at anchor for an unusually strong and unseasonable wind event. An hour after this photo, wind was tearing spray in sheets from the tops of whitecaps, in a fetch of less than a quarter of a mile. With its large top hamper and relatively shallow underbody, that motor vessel was heeling badly, at times alarmingly. The eight sailing vessels in the anchorage were "kiting" or "horsing" (pick your term) on their rodes, but staying level. All except one, which may have been lightly ballasted and/or had only a fin keel. Sea kindliness is a quality worth having in your cruiser. Carl Alberg knew what he was doing. The capsize number (ratio? factor? index? whatever) of my small 25D is higher than even some of the larger Cape Dorys. 1.83, or something like that, if my memory serves. [Ever notice how often boats are in lines in anchorages? Or is that only a pattern imposed by the viewer's eye?]

[John Schafer]

When one lives a 4 hour drive from his boat, watching on the computer is all he can do when weather comes in. I currently use http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/sew/marine_only.php to ascertain current conditions. On the left side, under the current conditions, you can zoom in on the map and click on the monitoring site to get current conditions and 48hr history, and if a weather buoy gets swell and wave height, dominant period and direction. Scroll down under the map to get more detailed information. Below the current condition section is the dopler radar and satelite visuals to determine the direction of clouds and moisture coming in. Below that is the forecast disussion section which is interesting to read when real dicy weather is approaching and the weathermen are getting nervous. Lately, I like to use https://www.windyty.com/?47.190,-119.307,4 to determine the position of the North Pacific high and watch the systems move in from Alaska or up from Hawaii. During this last storm when the gusts hit 60kn, I broke down and called a friend who is tied up a few slips away, and luckily he was just leaving his house to check on his boat, and mine. No damage. J.

[David Patterson]

Thank you for the weather options, John. I usually rely on an iPhone app from wunderground.com. Windfinder.com is less reliable and at times exaggerated locally, and has less general information. I'm amazed at how accurate wunderground is, hour by hour. However, it is not marine oriented, for the reporting stations are all ashore. With some slight extrapolation and local knowledge the value is good though. Marine weather reports on VHF weather stations are over larger areas, and suitably cautious. Conditions among the islands can vary quite a bit from the open water forecasts, notably wave heights and local wind speeds. Even wind direction in places. The same NOAA marine forecasts can be gotten on line, though I am frequently out of cell service range, especially when I'm in Canada, out in a strait, or the signal is blocked by an island or two. Finding information for a weather window to cross the Strait of Georgia last June was difficult from my storm anchorage in Smuggler Cove, I recall. I nearly got it wrong, ending up in very tough conditions. I'm on Verizon because it seems to have the best coverage for the San Juans, though limited to them, really. Maybe one day I'll get more advanced with my electronics. Having access to the buoy info will be very useful. I'm glad your MINTAKA was fine in that blow. She lifts my heart, every time I see her afloat.

[David Patterson]

There is something refreshingly honest about this gentleman's approach to cruising. Since the majority of sailing vessel cruisers are basically motorists, they might wish to emulate him, removing the annoying weight and windage of mast, sails, and rigging. Probably, though, he is waiting to find or afford a replacement mast. Who knows? I'll ask him if I get a chance to hail him. The boat sure looks unusual without any rigging. I wonder how the absence affects the motion. Doesn't she remind you of an Alberg 35 or 37? I haven't looked at photos yet to compare. I like that attractive blue color of his hull. It stands out and blends in at the same time. He has the boat in pretty shallow water, and it must have a significant draft.

[Sea Hunt Video]

David:

I am not sure how accurate it would be in your area but http://www.sailflow.com is a website I rely on for both scuba diving conditions and sailing in Miami and the Florida Keys. They make wind predictions, sea conditions, etc. 5-7 days out. As with all forecasting beyond 2 days it is always a little "iffy" but still helpful.

Some of their data pages require you to sign up; others do not.

This is a sample of what you can get:

http://www.sailflow.com/spot/495

[David Patterson]

Thanks, Roberto. I'll check out sailflow.com also.

[David Patterson]

Planning sailing passage from Friday Harbor to Port Townsend, across Juan de Fuca Strait and into Admiralty Inlet, is different than just setting waypoints, checking the weather, and starting the engine. In my handful of crossings I've come to like working down to near Fish Creek on the ebb (see first photo), anchoring south of the Coast Guard buoy there. On the next suitable ebb, same day or next day, I'll sail through "Cattle Pass" at slack. As you can see from the Current Atlas page in the second photo, strong currents --and therefore disturbed waters-- can be expected otherwise. It can get roiling boiling Dante-esque dramatic. Crossing McArthur Bank and north of Minor Island (3d photo), not to mention the traffic lanes, to Point Partrige the next challenge is the timing to round Point Partridge into Admiralty Inlet. Too early or too late, or in the wrong current streams, creates significant difficulties under sail alone. Still 8 miles or so from Port Townsend, it is possible to get pushed into dangerous waters off Point Wilson, locally infamous in wind-over-tide situations. Or, into the busy freighter traffic out Admiralty Inlet. I monitor AIS. Successful sailing passage(s) can feel to be a coup to an lightly experienced single-hander, I promise you. I've had several eventful crossings, such as when a lightning storm was striking Minor Island, and during a suprise Small Craft Advisory when entering Admiralty Inlet, which indeed put me off Point Wilson in very rough conditions. Weather in Juan de Fuca can change rapidly. Almost worse is losing wind entirely. The return to the San Juans can be every bit as challenging. But, as Harry Pigeon put it, when writing about his early 1920s single-handed circumnavigation in his self-built ISLANDER, "The real sport is to make the elements take one where he wants to go."

[David Patterson]

A fresh September morning in Friday Harbor. Sunrise, and a variety of sailing vessels at anchor. A ketch, a gaff-rigged yawl, a mast head sloop, and a schooner, from right to left in front. The gaffer turned out to sport a junk sail on the main when it sailed out. The mechanical windlass was a stand-up coffee-grinder two-man job that made short work of a large anchor and heavy chain. I wonder if BERTIE, the gaffer, is headed to the Port Townsend Wooden Boat show too.