Newport

Arriving at Newport

Sometimes it seems you meet the right people at the right time.  When we were in Tillamook Bay having just arrived back at the boat from the hospital, a couple dropped by Kialoa.  They were ex boaters now cruising on land and had been listening to our conversations with US Coast guard on their VHF radio.  They came by to see if we needed help and offered to drive us anywhere we needed to go.  It turned out we did not need to go anywhere but the kind offer was a lovely welcome.  They also talked about their trips up and down the west coast by sailboat.  They said they took their time and stopped all along the way and enjoyed each port as they went.  This was what we needed to hear,  the disappointment of having to stop then could turn into something else and we were able to fully enjoy being where we were and look forward to where we were going.

Our next leg was a sixty mile jump to Newport, OR,  in light winds we were forced to motor the entire distance, through fog......  The fog can be very disorienting, we had to completely rely on our instruments,  it would often feel like the boat was turning when it was not, or we would think we were turning the boat and were still going straight.  Happily the fog lifted as we approached the river entrance and we had good visibility across the river bar and into the marina. 

Newport has an big imposing bridge, lots of sea lions, and an interesting waterfront area.  It is also home to the Rogue Brewery, a well known Oregon Beer.

The sea lions get their own dock at the Newport waterfront, it is noisy and smelly and fascinating

So cute at 800 lbs!

They also take over the breakwater

Newport has abundant fresh seafood
and whether it is guilt or gluten free it is
really good!

cool bridge in the fog

And at Sunset

 We will be staying in Newport one more night then out to sea in the morning.  The weather forecast is favorable and we hope to make a longer hop and get to Crescent City, CA.  

Each day is an adventure but we can feel a coolness in the air that is pushing us south.

Mal de Mer and unexpected pleasures

Marshall with Cape Flattery and Tatoosh Island in the background.
 This was the last land we saw for two days

Getting sea sick sucks. It sucks for the person who is sick and for the others  on the boat who get to watch the action.  I was queasy pretty soon after leaving Neah Bay and Scott was feeling it not too long after me.  We had heard that wearing one earplug would help,  maybe it  did make it  more bearable but it definitely did not eliminate it! Luckily for us and Marshall he remained completely immune to the queasiness and we are very grateful to have him with us, someone has to eat all the food we have on board!

We motored for the first 24 hours which caused the boat to be even rollier than it is normally which did not help me or Scott to feel any better.  I was the first to throw up but unfortunately for Scott although his seasickness was not too bad and the medication kept it under control, he developed a migraine that would not respond to the medication we had on board.  So we ended making an unplanned stop in Tillamook bay, Oregon.  Local Coast Guard was kind enough to guide us across the entrance bar and had EMS waiting at the dock to take Scott to the hospital for the good drugs. 

In spite of the seasickness and difficulty sleeping, (it is very loud on a small boat in the big ocean) the magic moments remain the strongest memories.  There were so many birds and some would come and do a slow circle around the boat checking us out.  In some areas the sea was thick with sailing jellyfish, and at night the phosphorescence in the water was unbelievably beautiful.  There was no moon so the trail we left behind us was intense and every breaking wave was topped with magical light.

Coast Guard Boat 47254 that led us across the bar at Tillamook Bay, it is a
dangerous bar in some conditions but luckily for us it was an mild day.

The way to sea, when we came in it was too foggy to see anything.

The train to Rockway

The boys at the beach

We are at the marina in a small town called Garibaldi which has turned out to be entirely delightful.  This afternoon we took the old steam driven train to the next town and spent a couple hours checking out Rockway, Oregon.  It has a beautiful beach and we had a lovely barefoot walk in the warm sand however the foot test proved the ocean to be shockingly cold.  We returned on the steam train, picked up a few supplies and are enjoying a quiet night at the marina.

The train ride back to Garibaldi, the whole thing just goes in reverse
so the engine pushes from behind.

Enjoying the beach

Tomorrow we plan to visit the museum in Garibaldi and then head to sea in the afternoon for an overnight sail of 63nm to Yaquina Bay, Oregon.  May or may not go as planned, we will see tomorrow.  

Neah Bay

Good Morning Sun

A very early departure from Port Angeles allowed us as many hours as possible to run with the current in the straight of Juan de Fuca.  With three of us on the boat we did two hour watches through the day.  This worked well for us on the motor out of Seattle and it worked well again today.

Feeling grateful for radar, this was a good visibility moment

The fog closed in before we had exited the Port Angeles harbor and remained with us until we arrived at the approaches to Neah bay ten hours later.  

 We met with another boat “Solestra”  heading out on the same route as us at Port Angeles and had radio contact with them throughout the day.  As they were well ahead of us we got regular reports on the thickness of the fog and alerts on the areas where we needed to look out for the multiple small fishing boats.   Another boat “Waiola” from Astoria OR that passed us just after we departed Neah Bay contributed to the information as well and both crews were there to greet us and assist us into our slip at the Makah Marina.  A friendly face and welcoming hand is such a wonderful thing, especially when entering into new and unfamiliar places.

The approach to Neah Bay

or this one......

Glad I am not going to sea in thisone

and especially not this one!

Looking forward to going to sea in this one

Tomorrow we plan to get past cape Flattery and turn South, lets hope we can all get some sleep.  

Off and away

Departing Saltspring

Raising the US courtesy flag

We  have made it all the way to Port Angeles, next stop is Neah Bay at the mouth of the straight of Juan de Fuca.  We left Saltspring as planned on Aug 16^th, with a lovely send off from the Saltspring Sailing Club.  First stop Roche Harbour, San Juan Island, where we checked in and got our cruising license.  We are now required to check in with Homeland Security at each port we arrive at in US waters.

A wonderful sailing day across the straight of Juan de Fuca

In the Ballard Locks, the boat on the left is one of the ones
that had to fend us off!

We met up with our friend Marshall in Friday Harbour and then spent two days getting to Seattle, where we had our first experience going through locks.  It was a little tense as it was a completely unfamiliar event and the lock was full and there was lots of current pushing us around.  We came close to hitting two boats but luckily they were able to fend us off!  The return trip to the sea two days later was much calmer and controlled and we didn’t come close to hitting any one!  Thank god for small victories. 

Marshalls boat Tenacity in the Ballard Lock with his crew Rip Knot on the bow.

We have already met four boats that are heading on the same route as we are.  One in the locks of Seattle, and three in Port Angeles, one of them being a young man who arrived here at the same time we did in his Kayak.  He paddled across the straight from Victoria yesterday and is working his way south to Mexico.  He is paddling to Mexico to raise money to send underpriveledged children to wilderness camps.   I have not looked at his website yet but its www.wildimageproject.com

I am hoping  the next post will be SanFrancisco.

New engine, cruising fun, whales, rendezvous and last minute jitters

New Beta Marine 30 hp Diesel engine

Our new engine is finally installed!  We are happy to have that worry over with and I am very happy that it runs quieter than the Perkins did.  We took it out for a cruise starting July 23, buddy boating with our good friends on Arbitrage we managed to get the engine up to the requisite 50 hours when the first oil change is required.  Scott is happy about that as we can make sure that first oil change is done before we actually depart in TWELVE DAYS........

With Arbitrage we headed north to Nanaimo where we tried to deal with an issue with our AIS receiver.  This device allows us to see where large ships are and gives us their course and speed.  It is supposed to share this information with our chart plotter as well but they are not communicating as well as they should and it leaves some holes in the information we receive.  Sadly our attempts at resolving the issue were unsuccessful so we continued on and had a wonderful crossing of Georgia Straight. With just the right amount of wind and in wonderful sunshine we practiced using our self steering wind vane and that was successful.

arriving at Jedediah Island

 We stayed at Jedediah Island for two nights.  It is absolutely delightful there and we enjoyed the quiet anchorage and hiking on the island. The entire Island is accessible as it is another one of BCs fantastic parks.  From there we made a stop in Pender Harbour to resupply and get more ice.  Almost immediately upon leaving Pender Harbour we were treated to an amazing display of  spy hopping, tailslapping and breaching by a pod of Orca.  After that incredible show it was up Agamemnon channel to the Harmony Islands in Hotham Sound.  This is an area of very dramatic scenery.  High mountains drop precipitously into the sea creating narrow and very deep channels. The water was warm and the swimming delightful.

Arbitrage in Hotham Sound

After three days of enjoying this

it was time to head back south, so with a stop in Secret cove, another sail across Georgia Straight and a quiet night in Clam Bay, we said see you soon to Arbitrage and headed to Winter Cove on Saturna for the Farewell to the Fleet rendezvous hosted by the Vancouver Chapter of the Bluewater Cruising Association. The associations mission is to foster seamanship and friendship for people with an active interest in offshore cruising and it has been instrumental in making our dream of going cruising a reality.  We have met so many people with the same aspirations as us and the information offered by the "doners", those who have returned from their cruises but are still active in the association has been invaluable.  So a big thank you goes out to all of those people!  However all the talk at the rendezvous of cruising and the offshore part of the sailing brought on a sleepless night for us both as we wondered how we could even begin to think that we are ready for this challenge.  In the light of day it seems more manageable and the fear eases and we are comfortable in the knowledge that the boat is ready.  Whether or not we are remains to be seen I guess.  Our planned departure from Saltspring Island is August 16th, with a stop in Seattle to pick up Marshall and then out the Straight of Juan de Fuca and turn left.

Looking forward to seeing more of this!