Plans Change

 Well an update to the previous post.  We just extended our stay in Ensenada for another month.  Mark got a call to help take a tug and barge from Washington up to Skagway and back.  Since the cruising kitty is a little light we jumped on the offer.  It is for only about two weeks so he should be back for Christmas.  Mark had to take taxis back to and across the border but the process went smoothly.  Pauline had to keep up the Sari Timur line and joined the other cruisers for two for one margaritas!

Ensenada

We have been here just over two weeks.  We paid for a month, but we are starting to get itchy feet and will probably leave near the end of next week.  We have been relaxing and getting small jobs done.  We wanted to tackle a couple of bigger ones but this marina is very touchy about working on your boat here.  We did get the cover fixed on the starboard lazarette.  We made new spreader boots and installed them on the mainmast’s lower set of spreaders.  We installed the new masthead light.  We purchased a speargun for when we get a bit further south.  We are working on the guards for the water maker.  Celebrated Thanksgiving.  Tried the margaritas at the supposedly original margarita bar (a few establishments claim this throughout the country). Had several street fish tacos.  Fantastic and under a buck and a half each.  And of course have started learning Spanish.  As usual Pauline is way ahead of Mark at picking up the language.  But he is persevering and hopefully can order more than a cold beer or margarita before the New Year!  All in all we are having a great time.

The original? Maybe, but pretty damn good for certain

Food and music in a local cantina.  The sauce that Mark is dipping the chip into is mucho hot but very tasty

Mexico

 We left San Diego last night at about 1900.  This so we could make the overnight journey down to Ensenada and arrive in the morning.  We picked this time even though it was no wind the day before and the immediate days after we’re predicting winds from the south.  So we decided a motor was in order.  

Ensenada by road from San Diego is over 100 miles but by sea it is about 70.  We arrived at 0845 this morning and were greeted on the dock by two staff members catching our lines and a member from the dock master’s office beginning our paperwork procedures.  He asked us to come up to the office at 0930 to fill in the rest of our paperwork.  This we did and they soon drove us to a money changer to get some pesos and then it was off to the various offices to clear in and get a temporary import permit for Sari Timur.  The TIP as it is called gives Sari Timur the ability to stay in the country for up to ten years or the ability to go in and out of the country.  So a very valuable item.  The crew on the other hand only get 180 days.   

All of this was done with the assistance of the dock master’s office and we were back on the boat having lunch by 1130.  We can’t say enough nice things about this marina.  We were even told about two Cantinas for fish tacos and two places for margaritas.  Welcome to Mexico!!!!

New Water Maker

 Part of the reason for taking a berth in San Diego was to install our new water maker.  We chose the Sea Water Pro modular unit which makes 20 gallons an hour.  This unit comes with an auto back flush system and high and low pressure gauges as well as a real time TDS monitor.  Plus it is a low current draw device so we can run it on a portable generator or hopefully an inverter while we are motoring.  

It was a little more of an event than we thought it would be to mount it.  A lot of the places to put things proved to be an inch or two too small so lots of last minute rearranging and trips to the marine stores to purchase the necessary extra parts.  But the good news is Saturday morning we made water and everything works ok.  We still have some last minute tidying up to do, i.e. plumb the line to the tank and mount the control panel.  We also need to build some protection guards for the hi pressure pump and pre filters as these are in a rather large storage locker and we want to use the rest of the locker space for storage.  But these are smaller projects that can done in Mexico.  Except mounting the panel, that needs to happen before we leave.  We need four 4.5 inch screws for that and the longest we can find are 4 inch.  But I am sure we will solve said issue in the very near future.  

Our plans look like Thursday night we will have a reasonable weather window to make the jump to Ensenada.  Guess we better start working on our Spanish!

Panel still hanging on strings the membrane (top) is nicely mounted though

The locker where the pre filters and high pressure pump are mounted

The mounted filters and high pressure pump

San Diego

 We left Oceanside at 0815 this morning and made our way out with an offshore breeze.  Once out of the breakwaters we quickly set the main and we were getting ready the staysail when the wind dropped down to under 5 knots.  So we resolved ourselves that we would end up motoring to San Diego.  We kept the main set to help steady the boat and take advantage of any breeze that did appear.  As we neared Point Loma we found ourselves dodging lots of fishing buoys so we secured the main and jogged our way through until we entered the inlet.  As we were coming in we observed the wind was increasing and sure enough started to see gusts into the twenties which we would have on our tail as we needed to land in our berth.  As we came around the corner we noticed it was going to be a tight fit and a little tricky as the boat sharing our pen was rather beamy.  Pauline called Flora and they and another guy offered to catch our lines.  Mark swung out wide as to get a straighter approach in and brought Sari Timur into the berth at a speed a lot higher than he would like but luckily our prop walk is to starboard (the same side we were tying to) so all went pretty lickety-split.  Thanks guys for the help.  We learned from Flora that they had similar issues when they came a couple days ago.  And the wind will be done in a couple of hours.  And sure enough it was.   We are secured here for 10 days.  Our water maker arrives Tuesday.  The Skerritts are coming for lunch tomorrow and The Garrisons are coming Monday.  Then it is heads down and bums up getting the water maker installed.  

Point Loma ( the entrance into San Diego)

In Oceanside, California

 Sorry we have been here a few days before we posted.  Just after we departed Newport Beach ( barely out of the breakwaters) we noticed our engine was running hot.  We hoisted the headsail with all of 3 knots of breeze to help us maintain steerage away from danger while Mark investigated.  We were getting water out of the exhaust but still running hot.  Upon deeper inspection Mark found there were only 4 blades left on the 8 blade impeller.  We keep a spare water pump with an impeller in it for just such an occasion.  It is a real pain to change the impeller only on this engine.  Easier to change the whole pump.  Plus that way we can remove the broken blades from the lines.   Anyway it set us back by an hour or so but another problem was sorted.  

Once we approached the dock the crew of S/Y Flora came to catch our lines.  Always a nice plus when approaching a new dock.  Pauline had met Flora in Sitka and we met them again on the dock in Avalon and in the dinghy in Newport.  We decided we needed to meet up for Sundowners so invited them over.  

While we were visiting a newbie boat owner came by (Scott on White Bird ) we quickly invited him as well and we had a party!

The second day Jan and Steve drove up to meet us for lunch and drop off some mail we had delivered to them.  They also drove us to a local AutoZone to purchase some oil. 

We have done some chores, replaced the broken stern light, fixed the control lines on the spin pole, and changed oil.  Today we are planning a bike sightseeing trip into town and along the beach.  Tomorrow it is off to San Diego.

Flora took a drone shot of our two boats.  That is them on our bow

In Newport Beach

 We arrived in Newport Beach at 1315 and after tying up Mark went to Blackie’s to confirm they could show the rugby on Saturday.  We then met up with Barb and went to dinner.  On Saturday morning Mark cycled over to Minney’s a second hand yacht parts store.  Then West Marine on the way back.  Pauline took advantage of the free laundry and got a load done.  After replacing the life rings and the mizzen halyard we set out to Blackie’s.  This World Cup Final was a problem as Pauline is a staunch All Blacks supporter and Mark follows the Springboks.  It was a close final and we were both on the edge of our seats.  I am sure everyone knows the results so that is all we will say about it.

Pauline, Mark and Barb

Avalon Bay

 

 

Tied up on the moorings in Avalon Bay.  Took advantage of the special pay for two nights get five free.  That means a week of not moving!

 

When we got to the pier after mooring Sari Timur, we were greeted with dancers.  We thought it was to welcome us but everyone was actually waiting to welcome the traveling image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  What an experience for us as Catholics.

the dancers in their regalia

they placed flowers on her head and at her feet

A group of ex cruisers meets up every year in Avalon for a reunion to reminisce and tell cruising stories.  We were planning to join them and were going to stop for a night at Santa Cruz Island before heading to Catalina Island but decided the timing was perfect to keep going.  It was while we were passing Santa Cruz Island that we heard weather reports of high waves barring the entrance of the southern bays so were glad we chose not to stop.

 

These are the friends we rushed to see in Avalon. We met them when we were cruising in Southeast Asia.

 

L to R : Mimi, Catherine, Cheryl, Pat, Resa, Beth, Jim and Al.  Mark looks big because of the wide angle lens.  Resa and Ralph are the hosts and Ralph is missing in the photo.

 

Half Moon Bay to ?

We got fuel and departed Half Moon Bay on Tuesday in what might be called sporty conditions.  We were heading south, hoping to get all the way to the Santa Cruz Islands but not ruling out ducking into Monterey Bay somewhere.  The wind was gusting to 40 but it was behind us.  A little too square but behind us so we kept on south.  The seas were on the aft quarter but as we neared the point above Monterey we had a few larger ones swing a little more toward the beam.  

Anyway just after departing HMB we got a message from the old Sunflower crew that they were heading to Catalina Island for their annual reunion of some of the old time cruisers of SE Asia.  This sounded interesting, so as we were making great speeds under sail we skipped pulling into anything Monterey had to offer and set our sights at least on Santa Cruz Island.

We lost the wind yesterday morning so have been motoring since then.  We are a few hours from Santa Cruz Island at present but are expecting the wind to build from the not so favorable direction.  So our present thinking is to take advantage of the light airs and motor sail straight to Catalina.  But who knows.  Watch this space.

Mark Made it back to Sari Timur

 The bad weather scheduled to hit Dutch Harbor was delayed and the flight was allowed to leave early.  So after an all night trip Doug and Suzie picked him up from the airport and drove him back to Pillar Point.  Thanks Doug and Suzie.

Mark Made it to Dutch Harbor

 Well Mark made it to Dutch Harbor.  He has a flight booked out tomorrow that will take him all night to get back to San Francisco.  But here is the scary part.  There is a weather system scheduled to arrive tomorrow night.  Dutch has a terrible airport and weather often makes flights turn around with out landing.  So watch this space to see if he escapes!

Update on Mark

 Mark is currently up the Yukon River hiding out from some weather.  It looks like a small break tomorrow and they are going to try and make the run to Dutch Harbor where he will get off.  That is the plan as of right now.  It has changed four times in three days.  But that is the nature of remote Alaska at this time of year.

Just leaving Kotzebue

Mark is just leaving Kotzebue, which is basically at the Arctic Circle.  They are on their way to Little Diomede (USA) which is a mile and a half away from Big Diomede (Russia).

 

Alaska on the right, Siberia on the left and the tug is in the middle

the arrow is the tug, less than 2 miles from Russia, they were watching the crew unload

Little Diomede (USA) on the left and Big Diomede (Russia) on the right

Big Diomede in the center and if you look to the right, you can see Siberia

Mark is on his way to Nome

 Mark’s old boss called him Sunday and asked if he could come help out.  As we are still suffering from cash deprivation after our dry dock and mini refit we thought it might help.  Not sure on how long yet but he flies out in the morning.  He said he would gladly do two weeks, but he is prepared to do three if needed.  So we moved berths and paid up until October 3 at present.  The marina said no problem extending this spot so Pauline will not have to move the boat by herself.

Our Repairs

Well, officially we have the new stuff installed.  We are just waiting for some sealant to dry a bit more before we fire up the engine and test everything out.  After pondering everything, we think we know what happened.

Back in 2004 or 5 when we replaced the engine, the shipyard built a fiberglass tube to go the fairly long horizontal distance from the engine room over the top of the counter and under our cabinets.  We are pretty sure they used a piece of PVC pipe and wrapped it with fiberglass to make the fiberglass tube.  We all know PVC pipe gets pretty soft when it gets hot and we think when we were having our overheating problems before we left Sitka, it probably deformed a bit and broke free of the fiberglass.  It probably even got misshaped a bit and started letting the cooling water get away from the hot exhaust gasses and thus allowing itself to further deform and move down the line to the elbow which eventually blocked everything off.  The nearly 300 hours of motoring we did from Alaska slowly did their magic.  It is a miracle the exhaust water didn’t back up and hydro lock the engine.  When we got the hose off the piece of PVC was all twisted and melted together.  We are sorry but we didn’t get a picture of this.  In any event this all happened just after Cape Mendocino, which is a place that is famous for having to watch out for bad weather.  We didn’t want to be stuck here just bobbing around helplessly waiting for the weather to get bad so we desperately tried to figure out a method to make repairs so we could get a working engine again.  One of the hoses between the mixer riser and the fiberglass tube was also very damaged.  The inner hose and outer liner had separated and the exhaust gasses had softened it enough that if we tried we could poke a hole through the hose with our finger and we needed to rescue this hose.  We flopped the hose around and put the very soft parts over the fiberglass tube.  We then tightened up the hose by tightly wrapping it with electrical tape, then a couple of layers of heat shrink tape that we had left over from when we put the winter enclosure on Sari Timur.  This and some carefully placed hose clamps got us working again.  We motored at low revs for 36 hours until we got into Half Moon Bay as we didn’t dare to turn off the engine and restart in case we caused something to blow.

Being in Half Moon Bay allowed us to order the correct stuff.  We now have a new Vetus Hydrolock and the hoses are hardwall exhaust hoses.  So there is no need for a fiberglass tube.  Everything had to come from the East Coast so we only received it yesterday.

The old hydrolock with splash zone repair

New Hydrolock installed

The fiberglass tube

The elbow

The old tube and hoses out for replacement

The damaged hose 

Half Moon Bay

We are tied up in Pillar Point Marina in Half Moon Bay.  We were told to check in right away after tying up.  So tied up and headed up to the office.   After checking in, we returned to the boat to find our first visitor waiting for us.  Apparently he was checking out the new arrival.

sea lion checking out our new decal

 

When you think things are going good

 Wow, this morning the weather was good.  We rounded Cape Mendocino nicely and we were arranging a stop in San Francisco.  Then the wind dropped completely and we turned on the engine.  Well it started making a funny sound and there was a lot of water leaking into the boat from the hydro lock device.  We figured that was due to an overheating we had with the old engine finally giving out.  Got out the Splash Zone and fixed that.  Put it back together and fired it up.  No exhaust water.  Further investigation found a rotten hose and the reason it was rotten was it overheated when the exhaust elbow before the hydro lock was blocked by an old piece of pvc pipe that was put in there when we replaced our engine in 2004.  Long story short it shouldn’t have been there but it did work until now.  Anyway all day trying to cobble a system together to get to SF.  We are motoring now 10 PM but we don’t trust the repair.  Fingers crossed we make it.

Rounding Cape Mendocino

 We are rounding Cape Mendocino.  Wind is leaving us for a short while.  May have to start the motor.  But will wait for a while.  Over 40 hours sailing so far

Off of Coos Bay

 Position

43* 42.66 N

124*39.70 W

We just gybed close enough to shore to get cell service.  Almost 300 nm into our journey.  Saw some humpbacks, a sperm whale, dolphins otters albatross etc but not a lot of wind

Neah Bay

 Position 

48* 22.48’N

124* 36.40’W

We left Port Angeles at 0615 we had to go slow at first as we had to clear the anchor of a large ball of kelp.  But once under way we were getting a nice assist from the out flowing tide.  As we got closer to the entrance of the Juan de Fuca we started going through the rollers that this strait is so famous for.  Luckily we have been have light winds so the rollers though a decent size were well spaced.  Looking at the weather last night and this morning we toyed with the idea of a quick turn around and head back out tonight once the tide shifted.  But after thinking about it more a good night’s sleep seemed important.  So we have most things stowed. The outboard is mounted on the stern rail and the dinghy is on deck.  The main and mizzen sail covers are off and the sails ready to hoist in the morning.  The wind has died down for now but we expect it to return tomorrow afternoon.  There is a little contrary wind tomorrow evening so we will be motoring some.  Tuesday there is contrary wind north of Astoria but we think we can thread the needle and get south of it before it comes up.  The forecast looks pretty good all the way to San Francisco.  So we are heading out in the morning.  Of course forecasts change so we have contingency ports along the way we can head for.  But right now we are getting out while the getting looks good.

You can watch our spot for progress the link is on the right of this page.  Not sure if we will be able to use the StarLink underway but if we can we will post updates.

Port Angeles

 Position

48* 07.27’ N

123* 25.41’ W

Well we finally left Sequim Bay today.  It was a very nice anchorage and allowed us to reset everything and secure our electronic security again.  It also gave us the chance to work on some of the varnish that needs to be redone after 8 years in Alaska.  We finally have her name boards displaying her identity again.  Thanks again Lang.  We still have the stern placard to do but the starboard rub rail and the cap rails are first.  So we suspect that will wait until we are down in California somewhere.

We left in fog and rain this morning and felt our way out of Sequim and all the way to Port Angeles.  The fog is not too bad on here.  We anchored in front of the Red Lion hotel.  We struggled to find a place to anchor in our guide books and we called the harbormaster to ask if they had space in the marina.  When he found out we were just looking for a place for the night and we’re planning to leave early he suggested this place.  We probably anchored a little far out there are two other boats here anchored in much closer.  The ferry came a little close to us before she turned to head to her moorings.  In hindsight another 100-150 meters closer to shore would have been better.  But!!!

Anyway we intend to leave at dawn tomorrow or a little earlier to catch the tidal current toward Neah Bay.  We just heard that another boat spent quite a bit of time there waiting for a weather window south.  We hope that one will open in a few days but will keep you posted.  There is no AT&T in Neah so everything will be via our StarLink.  But that is ok too.  Helps us justify our expenditure.

We even have a home port

Sequim Bay

 Position :    48D 03.43 N

                    123D 02.35W

We left Port Townsend Boat Haven Marina this morning at 0830 hours after refueling the most expensive fuel in all of the US, according to the fuel guy.

We arrived in Sequim Bay at 1230 hours and anchored for the night.

It seems to be a nice bay but we did not have time or desire to enjoy it because Pauline fell victim to hackers.

It started out that we bought a new iPad for our boating app.  Somehow we did not realize that the Wi-Fi only model does not have a built-in GPS so Pauline got online to find the number for Apple Support to sort it out.  It appeared that either the number is fake or that they piggybacked the call and pretended to be Apple Support technicians.  They had her download an app called AnyDesk so they could remotely access her phone.  Long story short, after about 2 hours of asking lots of questions and obtaining information that were totally irrelevant to the iPad issue, she gave away the phone IP address and the ICCID number, plus her Apple ID.  By the time we realized it was suspicious, we were already compromised.

So now, Pauline banking sign-in is frozen, and she may have to get a new phone number and SIM card.  The Apple ID and password is already changed but she is afraid to use her phone right now.

So, all in all, not a very good day.  As a result, we may be staying here for a few days while we sort all the issues out.  Oh and we are returning the iPad that started all these problems and getting a new one with Wi-FI and Cellular, which we should have gotten in the first place.

New Solar, and Leaving Tomorrow

We finished helping John and Ivy with their masthead stuff and also used the delay to order some new solar panels.  We had two panels, one dating from the late eighties and one from the mid 90’s supplementing the two we bought before we left Guam.  They were barely working.  When we added the two new ones we almost doubled our wattage.  We are now up to 450 watts.  Unfortunately with Sari Timur’s sail plan we are limited to what we can carry.  We could have gotten a little more wattage but it would require custom panels and that is expensive.

We are leaving tomorrow to make the 18 mile run to Sequim.  It is a small community known for having a Costco, Home Depot, etc.  but we will be tucked into the well protected bay for a couple of days, doing some varnish work and watching weather.  Sequim is famous for its John Wayne Marina.  The Duke used to spend a lot of time on his yacht up here and liked Sequim Bay so much he bought property there.  In his later years he donated the property to the people on the condition they build a marina on part of the land.  We will probably stay anchored out.  We have been in a marina for so long we need to get ourselves into the anchoring mode again.  We just missed a nice weather window on the outside which is going on right now.  It looks like it closes before we could make it to the outside but that means we can take our time moving out to Neah Bay, which is where we need to be when the next window opens.

Well, we were leaving, but!?!

We were supposed to leave today.  And we were saying our goodbyes to everyone yesterday.  We were even having our final leaving beer at the local bar with our friends John and Ivy from Ruby Slippers.  During the beer, John was lamenting that he was having difficulty getting help to do mast head work.  He was having problems with the masthead lights and the eagles in Sitka wiped out their wind instruments.  Mark made some suggestions and just enough beer was flowing that we quickly came to an agreement they would give us money for the moorings and a little extra if we would stay another week.  So we have.  This morning Mark checked the wiring and found one bad wire.  That was connected and he headed up the mast. Unfortunately the light still didn’t work.  He checked voltages at the light and they were there.  So we disconnected the light and brought it down to test the light in a darker place in case we could not cover the photosensor well enough.  Once down we confirmed it was the light itself that was faulty and a new one is ordered.  There is a two day hold on things while we wait for parts to arrive.  

The weather is still not favorable so our delay is not hurting us and the staff here at the marina have been sensational, so our delay with the ability to help friends is kind of a no brainer.  

We Sold Our Car

In an effort to cut our spending down, we decided to sell our car.  We had planned to keep it until next year when we are in dry dock somewhere in Mexico but as we looked deeper into the logistics of keeping it until then, it kind of made sense to get rid of it.  One of the local Nissan dealers whom we used to service her after we did our big super tour of the Continental States needed used cars and contacted us.  So down we drove.  They made an offer and we accepted.  George and Marsha whom we were going to visit with if we declined the offer, quickly offered to come and pick us up and return us to Port Townsend.  Wow what an offer!  Anyway it gave us a chance to visit with them again.

We miss the car as if it had human feelings, she had been with us offering us the chance to do some pretty fantastic road trips since we first bought her in Ft Lauderdale  back in 2015.  Pauline had nicknamed her Miss Red.  We hope you get another owner who appreciates you as much as we did, Miss Red!!!

 

stickers of some of the places we visited

lots of stickers

beautiful Miss Red

Alaska, north of normal

 

Mark is Back

Mark is back from his short trip up to Alaska.  He was in Ketchikan, Valdez, Cordova (twice) and Seward but never got off of the tug and barge after joining in Ketchikan.  It was a very busy and quick trip.  He was impressed with the power in this very old tug named the Clayton Arthur.  At a 126 feet it was the biggest he had ever worked on.  

He returned on Tuesday afternoon on the Edmonds to Kingston ferry and Pauline drove down to Kingston to pick him up.  On the way back to the boat we picked up the forestay from the rigger.

He was getting reading to go up the mast when he realized the clevis pin was too short.  A quick trip back to the rigger to get a longer one.  Once that was up, we tried to install the bottom end onto the new Cranse Iron but it didn’t fit.  The rigger had replaced the bottom end of the turnbuckle and it had a slightly larger width on the tang.  As the old turnbuckle bottom had some corrosion around the pin the rigger felt it was better to modify the new rather than put back the old.  So off they went to do that.  At any rate we were beginning to worry this project was jinxed and we were worried that there were still two major things that could go wrong.  One, the stay didn’t fit and two, that the new fittings would have taken up too much wire and we would need to modify our roller furler.  However, we are happy to report that both fears were not needed and the forestay and furler are installed.  Today we will attack replacing the voltage regulator that blew up on us before Port Protection and took out some of the engine’s electronics.  If that all goes well,  wrap the new exhaust mixer riser with cladding tomorrow.

One other thing that has been going on in the background is, we have met up with Lang and Douglas, sailors from Singapore that we met in Singapore.  They had their boat shipped over here from Japan.  They have been showing us some of the local attractions in between all of our projects.  Also in an unexpected opportunity, she let us know she has a printer that can print boat decals. So we settled on a font and got some printed up.  Mark is chomping at the bit to strip and revarnish the two foreward nameplates and tidy up the port of call one.  Not sure if that will happen while we are still in Port Townsend but will be done pretty soon and we will post pics.  Thanks Lang!!!

Dry Dock Week 3 Splash Day

Well it has been exactly three weeks and we are going in the water today.  After last week’s post things started happening.  The carpenter got after the scarf and did a beautiful job.  All the painting is done except the places where it is sitting on blocks.  That can’t be done until they lift us in the slings.  The forestay is laid out just waiting on the top toggle and should be here in the next couple of days.  Basically we have everything we set out to do, done.  The exhaust went in easier than expected.  We still have to wrap it but need to verify no leaks when we get in the water, before we can do that.  There is sanding and varnishing to do but that was never going to be done here anyway.

the cranse iron

the scarf in the rub rail, that you can hardly see

the bobstay fitting

 

Mark is leaving to work for about two weeks which will help recoup some of the expenses from this dry dock.  All in all things have come together nicely.

Dry dock Week Two Summary

 Well in a few hours we will have been in dry dock two weeks.  A lot has happened but nothing is really finished.  The blue stripe is on but will need some touch up once the rub rail repair goes in.  The bobstay fitting and Cranse Iron are fitted but not connected.  The exhaust riser is back but not installed.  A lot of the white is on but the transom is not, and all that is on will need a light sand and at least one more coat.  The first coat of bottom paint went on.  However it will need another then we need to move the jack stands and get the areas that are under them.  We cut the broken scarf out of the rub rail and realized it will require more tools or skill than we have.  We think we have sourced a carpenter but he is rather busy.  He thinks he will have time before Thursday.  Which would be great as we could just feasibly make a launch date on Friday.  If he can’t we will probably be here another week as he is traveling after Thursday.  The forestay is still waiting for the custom toggle to arrive from the East Coast.  That can be installed in the water.  So all in all we are making progress and hopefully this week we will finish.  BUT!!!!!

Dry Dock One Week

 esterday meant we have been up on the hard for a week.  Things slowed down a bit after those first couple of days.  We hired a guy to sand and paint the hull above the water line.  The purpose here is not to get a pretty job.  Just to get underneath the existing stuff.  It will all come off during our major dry out when we get on the hard in Mexico.  But we, or rather Mark, couldn’t stand her looking as bad as she was with sheets of paint peeling off and blisters everywhere.  Eight years in the Alaskan rainforest has taken their toll on her paint and varnish work.  We hired Pio, mainly for his tool.  Mark was scraping and sanding with a random orbital and was watching the guy next door working with his Festool.  The guy with the super tool was taking things down quickly.  We went to look at buying a Festool (they aren’t cheap) and the guy said he would do the job for us for the price of the tool.  So we bit in.  Of course that means we are working around his schedule.  But things are moving quickly again.  The bottom paint is mostly sanded and ready for stuff to go back on.  The Blue stripe should get painted today and the white within two to three more days.  The new Cranse Iron is fitted and the bobstay fitting is ready to go on.  We are just waiting for some custom bolts to be made.  The forestay rigging is ordered.  Unfortunately the top toggle is a custom piece and there is a delay on it.  That won’t stop us from going in the water.  But we can’t leave until it is back up.  The green mainmast is white again.  We used a whole tub of Clorox wipes to clean the mold off!  We were struggling to find a carpenter not too booked up to repair our damaged rub rail.  Pio has said he and another guy can fix that so hopefully that will get done first part of next week.  The flex part for the exhaust mixer riser is in.  Waiting for an elbow on that and then it should be welded up soon.  So all in all it looks like we will be on the hard a week longer than we expected but that should be it.

Day Two on the Hard

We got the forestay down and to the rigger.  Disconnected all the rest of the wires off the Cranse Iron and removed the Cranse Iron.  This all had to be done upside down 17 feet above ground.  Not an easy thing but done.  Got the bobstay fitting to the fabricator to drill the new holes.  He also is making the three pieces that dropped overboard from the roller furling.  Finished off the day scraping more paint and purchased a 20 foot extension ladder to get after more topside prep work.  Not bad progress for day two, running up and down ladders twenty times a day is getting old!

We are on the hard

 Well we were hauled out today.  Everything went smoothly.  We got our exhaust riser/ mixing elbow out and to the shop for a rebuild.  We got the bobstay fitting off and will hopefully have that to the machinist to drill the holes in it within a day or so.  We have the roller furling off and the forestay ready to come down and get replaced and we have scraped off a lot more paint.  Hope to get the forestay down tomorrow and off to the rigger.  Do some more scraping and wait a couple of days for things to dry out.  Then it is sand like crazy and begin reversing that which we are taking down now.  Mark did make a mistake when he measured the bobstay fitting and it affects one bolt.  He is pretty sure he has a work around for that.  He just needs to find a welder who is happy enough to do the work around.

Reunited with our car

We are reunited with our car but it took a whole day to do that.

We had an adventure planned today to pick up our car in Seattle.  We booked a ride on the Greyhound Bus that would take us from Port Townsend to Seattle and were scheduled to leave at 0655.  We woke at 0500 because it takes Pauline about 20 minutes to walk from the boat to the road, to catch a taxi to the bus station.  Well, we waited and waited and waited at the station for the Greyhound but it did not materialize.  We tried tracking the bus and calling with no success.  There were a few other people waiting as well and they were going to catch flights at SeaTac Airport.  By 0900, we were making alternate plans to get to Seattle and there was still no news on the delayed bus.  So we got on a bus (no charge) to Poulsbo, another bus ($2 for the both of us) to Bainbridge Island Ferry Terminal and walked on to a ferry (no charge) to Seattle.

 

While we were on the bus to Poulsbo, we received messages from Greyhound that our bus was delayed for 240 minutes and if we do not want to wait, we can cancel.  We canceled but they would not refund the total amount to the credit card and would only give us a voucher for future travel.  The cost was $71.55 but the refund was only $67.56.  The silver lining to that was we only paid $2 compared to $71.55.

 

The car will come in handy to run around for provisions and parts, etc needed for the dry dock.

Port Townsend

After nearly 1,000 nautical miles, we are here in Port Townsend.  We were initially worried that we would be rushed to get here but ended up a few days early because we skipped Victoria, Canada.  Oh well, lots to do before we haul out on the 26th.

Drank the cider that the mystery donor gave to us in Ladysmith.  Thanks again whomever you are.  And yes it was nice!

We Arrived in the USA

Position Friday Harbor, Washington

We left Ladysmith Marina this morning bound for a port closer to Victoria.  The plan was then to head to Victoria tomorrow.  The weather would keep us there for about four days.  Normally we would welcome that.  This time however Pauline being hurt, couldn’t really enjoy seeing the sights.  We also got word that our car was ready and we had until the 20th to pick it up without additional charges.  So after a few miles of discussing it we opted to change course for Friday Harbor.  And 40 miles later we arrived and cleared customs here.  We are now anchored out and will cross the Straits of Juan de Fuca tomorrow to Port Townsend before our weather window closes.  This will also give us a few extra days to knock out some jobs on Sari Timur before she gets lifted and we are up to our ears in it.

By the way we don’t know who but thank you to the people who put a bottle of cider on our deck in Ladysmith.

Ladysmith Community Marina

After the long day yesterday, we made our anchorage in Old House Bay.  However, we were so tired from the early morning start that we did not take any photos nor wrote about it.

We left the bay this morning at 0600 to make our way to Ladysmith Community Marina, for which we had a reservation.  To get there we had to go through Dodd Narrows.  Boats have to wait for slack tide to pass through and since it is very narrow, they have to go through in single file.  Well, somehow our timing was perfect, we got there right on time.

 

Almost through Dodd Narrows

Looking behind at the entrance

Some good looking real estate along Dodd Narrows

 

There were about 6 sailboats with us and they all put up their sails, so we did likewise, even if it was just the headsail.  Beautiful sunny day and warm.

 

 

only the headsail but it is still sailing

 

This marina is very pleasant and it is run by the Ladysmith Maritime Society.  It has nice showers and washer/dryer included in the moorage fee.  The temperature is in the mid 70s and we are in t-shirts and shorts and Mark is running around topless for the first time in years.

 

All is good in the world.

 

the visitors dock

they have a cafe

 

Well, then there was this event that happened.  Pauline handed over the bow line to the marina guy and as she was turning around to go back to get the stern line, she tripped and fell heavily on her knee and hit the metal staysail traveler.  She had thought she had broken something because she could not straighten her leg.  Anyways, it seems to be a knee contusion, aka, a gigantic boo boo.  Applied the RICE process and it helped a little.  

Made in Through Seymour Narrows

We left Blunden at 0500, hoping to make Port Neville.  As we approached, it became obvious we should try and make it further.  This was due to the fact that some not so nice weather is set to hit us Sunday through Friday.  So since we had the current and 30 knots of wind from the stern, we put out a reefed headsail and cranked up the RPMs. We hit 12 knots there for a while before settling back to mid 6’s.  We got into Otter Cove on the very top of Discovery Passage at 2100 and went promptly to sleep.  The alarm was set for 0200 in order that we might be in Seymour for slack water at 0500.  All kind of went to plan and as we write this now, we are looking to find a safe spot to hide out from this weather for a few days.  We still have a few hours in the morning to move but right now if we find something good we will probably stay put.  Not wanting to jinx it but the alternator is working again.  Mark is leaning towards a break in the insulation in the field wire and that it might be shorting out somewhere.  He shifted it around and it now seems to be working.  If we get a place near civilization he will purchase and replace said wire.

There are logs everywhere here.  We probably add  20% more mileage dodging them.  In the dark it was a real chore!

you never know what comes down the river

2 tugs moving a massive log boom down river