School's back in session cruise!

[Hello Below]

As we approached Lopez Pass, we noticed a couple of whale-watcher boats stopped in front of us so we stoped and let the show come to us. we were rewarded by a pod of at least 6 southbound Orcas that passed by 50-yards to port and starboard.

I believe that is a pod of transient whales that has been in the area for awhile. So said the CBP agent we cleared in (by ROAM) with on Friday. We finally crossed paths with the pod just North of Humphrey Head Lopaz Island on Sunday. Departing Spencer Spit this morning with some expected rain to who knows where. We have some boat parts to pickup (Amazon locker) in the next couple of days so are making our way to Cap Sante.

 

[jssailem]

Not to Rain out your Parade…

Weather is out there and really does not consider our activities as a criteria for it’s proclivities.

Here is the scoop from Rufus for the coming few days…

RAIN IN YOUR FUTURE…
This week will start out mild, with a 'Vancouver Clipper' ushering in clouds & showers over the far NW corner of the PNW later tonight and Tue. For those that enjoy rather warm afternoons, that will be the state of the weather later this week, esp over western OR & SW WA. Temperatures will begin to warm up on Thu, then tease out in the upper 80s to low 90s Fri, Sat and possibly Sunday, Sept 15-17. An onshore flow will cool down the region later on Sunday, to set up the following week’s wx pattern.

Monday Sept 18 - Fri, Sept 22 is trending very similar to this week, with a weak front passing over Vancouver Island with clouds/showers on Sunday the 17th, then a short period of warmer temps near the end of the week, as the onshore flow weakens. Some model runs suggest a closed Low developing off the northern CA coast on Fri, which often leads to thunderstorms along the Cascades that can drift over the Willamette Valley. We’ll see.

The main “change”, if the models are correct, is for a rainy 24-36 hrs to arrive during the weekend of Sept 23,24. Not every model run presents this solution, but it has charted several times over the past week, hence our report. Should this change verify, we can expect the first WET weekend of the fall, with notable rainfall from BC down to northern CA. The other model scenarios chart continued dry conditions and mild temperatures. Which way will it go?

 

[Hello Below]

Which way will it go?

I would much rather the latter, John, that being the dry and mild. Rain is dearly needed but can we not hold off till our return to home port at the end of the month?
Thanks very much for the detailed forecast.

 

[Hayden Watson]

Well John, we were in the upper NW corner and got some clouds on Monday and Tuesday, but the rain held off. We spent Sunday and Monday nights in Shallow Bay on Sucia. Sunday night had all but 2 buoys used and 5-6 anchored boats. Monday everybody left and there were only 3 of us that night. Very nice evening. We then motored down to Eagle Harbor on Cypress Island, and it had about 3 of the innermost buoys open.
This morning was heavy fog, not being able to see the shore until 10:00 when it lifted just enough to see to the next headland to the south, so we set out because we needed to make the flood at Deception Pass. I need to be home so that I can go get tortured by the dentist tomorrow. The fog lifted along the south tip of Cypress, and we headed out of Bellingham Channel into the east side of Rosario. After we were out about a 1/4 mile from shore the fog closed in with not more than 100' of visibility and we had two WSF ferries at the dock ready to leave. I use Boat Beacon for my AIS info so was aware of their location. I was halfway across when I heard WSF Kaleetan sound her 3-horn indicating that she was leaving the port, and I was less than a 1/2-mile off the ferry route marked in the plotter which would have me right on that line about the time the ferry got there. We proceeded to both sound our fog horns every three minutes as the crossing approached. HHHOOONNNKKK - toot. Per COLREGs I was Stand-On so I maintained my 6-knots on Autopilot route and the ferry abligingly took my stern. She crossed about a 1/4 mile behind me and I never saw her. I could hear right where she was because the rumble of her engine was loud enough to hear over my Universal.
Not long after that, the fog dissipated, and we had a glorious trip down to Deception Pass making high 7's over ground with a nice +2-knt current. When we hit Deception Pass, DeepZoom indicated that the current was 4.4kts but that must have been average because most of the way from directly under the bridge until I cleared past Strawberry Island, the GPS indicated 11-kts to high 12-knts over the ground at 1900-rpms which is a speed through water of 5.4-kts.
I snapped some photos of the passing through to show what it looks like with +6 knots of flood current. They aren't the best phots but considering that I was driving in a 6-knt white water river with one hand and trying to take pictures with my cell phone with the other, all the while trying to appease the Admiral who was saying "If you drop that phone over the side your clients are going to be really pissed." Today was the second day of erection of a 4-story precast parking garage that I designed, and I had already had two zoom meetings and over a dozen phone calls and it was just noon.
I think the photos showed what I was trying to get. That was to show the difference in the water turbulence on the north half and shoth half of the channel. The north half is a one-handed steer. I do not personally know what the south half is like because I have NEVER gone there. I have seen others take that path and held up the score cards for entertainment points. The best was the 60-70 foot motor launch that when completely sideways in the channel pointed straight at the Whidbey shore and almost put the rail in the water bringing the nose back around. Let me repeat, NEVER GO SOUTH OF MID CHANNEL.

 

[Hello Below]

@Hayden Watson. Too funny. We had stuck our nose into Eagle Hbr around noon yesterday and saw 3 empty buoys.Thinking they were all too shallow we went back to Pelican Beach (0 of 6 in use) for a very pleasant night. Yup fog. Thick as pea soup. Made our way to Cap Sante with the help of radar, AIS and Mark1 eyeball to pick up some boat parts. We will be transiting Deception Pass on Friday. And over the next 2 days will repeat to myself “never go South of mid-channel . . . never go South of mid-channel.” Thanks for the guidance. Have fun at the tooth fairy’s.

 

[Hayden Watson]

@Hayden Watson. Too funny. We had stuck our nose into Eagle Hbr around noon yesterday and saw 3 empty buoys.Thinking they were all too shallow we went back to Pelican Beach (0 of 6 in use) for a very pleasant night. Yup fog. Thick as pea soup. Made our way to Cap Sante with the help of radar, AIS and Mark1 eyeball to pick up some boat parts. We will be transiting Deception Pass on Friday. And over the next 2 days will repeat to myself “never go South of mid-channel . . . never go South of mid-channel.” Thanks for the guidance. Have fun at the tooth fairy’s.

For transiting Deception Pass, I wrote my thoughts after 19-years of passing that way on a regular basis.

 

[Terry Cox]

Thinking they were all too shallow we went back to Pelican Beach (0 of 6 in use) for a very pleasant night.

Hi Len. Our boat has a 5' draft. All of the Eagle Harbor buoys have a safe depth, even at zero tide. The one closest to the head is at about seven feet at zero tide. Anyway, it is mostly all mud.

 

[Hello Below]

Hi Len. Our boat has a 5' draft. All of the Eagle Harbor buoys have a safe depth, even at zero tide. The one closest to the head is at about seven feet at zero tide. Anyway, it is mostly all mud.

Thanks Terry. On 1 Sep, I understand that a fairly large rental out of Bellingham treated several (3???) mooring buoys in Eagle Harbor like anchors in that they back down them, dragged them out of position and eventually wrapped the mooring line around their prop(s). Island Sailing saved the day when they sent a rescue boat to the scene and cut them loose. When we arrived 2 weeks later (15 Sep) I wasn't sure if the 3 that were available were the 3 that were dragged out of position or not so I avoided them.

 

[Terry Cox]

dragged them out of position

You're welcome, Len. Odd! DNR installs these mooring using long helical coils that they screw into the sea bed and then a long braided nylon tether with a float mid way up to keep the tether off of the sea floor then shackled to a chain that secures the mooring ball on the surface. They designed them this way to minimize the impact on the marine environment. I always do a hard backdown whenever I tie up to a mooring, just to make sure it holds. They have been known to fail.

Not sure they were drug out of position and unlikely the boater actually pulled the helical coil out of the sea bed. DNR rates their mooring working load for a 50' boat, with a breaking strength of at least double that. Why on earth someone would use three moorings to secure their boat, except for a novice, perhaps.

 

[Hello Below]

except for a novice, perhaps.

I think that statement says it all Terry. Our best friends just happened to be moored in Eagle Hbr that day and witnessed the bizarre event. It took yelling and screaming from many in the mooring field to stop the fiasco. There is also a public group called “Sailing Puget Sound and San Juan Islands” that provides detail information. Crazy.

 

[jssailem]

If you are still sail's up there is a mid October weather window coming after the current storms pass through. Some time after the 6th. Might be our Indian summer season before winter.

 

[SoSound]

We managed to hit the pre-weather window, before the rains came this weekend. We had a great and relaxing 9 days on the boat, we left on Sept. 14th and pulled back in on the 22nd. Leaving Kinston, we thought we'd hit the weather and current jackpot, with fog to the south of us and clear skies to the north. But, we must have just been in the donut hole because it closed in on us by the time we reached Bush Point, and we stayed pretty much fogged in until Point Partridge. We had two distant wildlife sightings, Orcas with an audience at Bush Point, and a Humpback or two south of Cattle Point on our second morning. The rest of our cruise was mostly made up of great weather and almost empty hikes to great viewpoints. We anchored at a combination of previous favorites and new to us locations, and managed to not steer the boat into a marina at all until we tied up at our own slip again in Kingston. We visited; Aleck Bay, Griffin Bay, Garrison Bay, Reid Harbor, and Blind Bay. Most of the time there was very little wind, except for about an hour and a half as we passed Lime Kiln Point on our way to Garrison Bay. And we did eventually manage to have a really nice sail for about five hours on our way back south, until the wind died at Partridge Bank (does the wind always die at Partridge Bank?).

Getting cocky about the great current and weather (lack of fog) as we left Kingston.

Good morning, Aleck Bay! Our fist time here, just us and two other boats, with a lot of space in between us.

Looking down on English Camp's formal garden at Garrison Bay.

A gorgeous day to admire view from Young Hill.

A little unintentional crabbing... he did not want to let go!

We've been to Reid Harbor on Stuart Island many times, but we had never taken the time to hike to the Turn Point Lighthouse before.

Too close? The wind kicked up and we got rained on at Reid Harbor. This boat came in and anchored after it was dark. This is after I had taken in 30 feet of rode to reduce our scope after the wind woke me up at 1:30 AM. I managed to get their attention by shining my spotlight at them. They asked if I thought we were dragging? I said NO, but you're way too close, and his only response was that he was confident that his anchor was not going to drag...

 

[jssailem]

Lovely write up Dave. It has been too long since we were at Port Hudson together. Stay in touch even if you are going skiing…

 

[Hayden Watson]

If you are still sail's up there is a mid October weather window coming after the current storms pass through. Some time after the 6th. Might be our Indian summer season before winter.

Tell me more! I had a bunch of dentist visits scheduled but found that I have hit my total maximum, so they are all postponed until next year. I week on the boat beats the heck out of several hours in the dentist chair! Are you still thinking you will be able to do a fall cruise?

 

[jssailem]

Hope springs eternal that I’ll get the boat out. Just a matter of completing the repairs.