05/05 - 05/06 - Lopez Is. Opening Week-end

[Pat Anderson]

Wow, what a great weekend, despite the crappy weather - lots of old friends (not to slight anyone, but it was great to see our Chesapeake friends the Wanderers, George and Penny, out here on the Upper Left Coast!), and new friends who will soon be old friends! You all should check out the diesel heater on Barry and Patty's C-Cakes! The potluck was FANTASTIC as usual, I ate about half of CAVU Ken's $5,000 per pound smoked salmon myself, and Work Release Jim's oysters were awesome! And to Crazy Frazee, keep bringing those great burgers! It's not just the kids who love them! But SeaDNA Rog - those two fresh prawns were beyond description, thanks for sharing them, not sure I could have been so generous! And the "Sinking of the Sonja" - Terraplane Tom could write a banjo song about that I bet! Most entertaining, but my thought is that this vessel needs to end up on the end of the spit, if the present owner wanted her to see 100 years, he should have started with some maintenance a dozen years ago or more...Jeff Messmer - I really can pronounce FaCdory Guys, really - ignore whatever Rich told you about that! Two great breakfasts at the Islander, Halcyon Bill and El, one breakfast and two plates really IS the ticket! The run back (left Fisherman's Bay at about 10:00 a.m.) was not nearly as bad as feared, got into Squalicum Harbor shortly after noon, and R-Matey Joe and Ruth were on the dock to greet us, and snap one last pic! Ruthie is the the "Snapshot Queen" I think, especially since I seem to be slipping a bit myself! On the way back we heard C-Run Robbi calling Bambina Brock, which was a bit of a surprise, tried calling each of them with no success. BIG thanks to Anna Leigh David for being our fearless leader (and schlepping the beer over, too!), and especially thanks to Kathy at the Islander for the free moorage, I think we should send her some flowers or something! Now, on to Princess Lousia for Memorial Day, not too late to sign up!

[Island Ranger]

Great weekend - but we could'a had an easier run home. Just a tad under 6 hours (compared to a run of 3 hours up), a bit rough in places, but Two Lucky Fish brought us home.

Thanks and look forward to seein ya'all again soon

Mac & Linda

[Sawdust]

A great gathering for sure. Old Dusty was thrilled to see so many old friends and meet a whole bunch of new ones.

Diane and I, John and Diane Jr., all had a great time and are ready for a repeat. Weather back through Thatcher Pass and up by La Conner was a great and smooth trip back to the nest.

Thanks so much,

Dusty

[rogerbum]

We left Jones around 11:30 and returned to Skyline via North Pass - Pole Pass - Wasp Pass - Harney Channel - Thatcher Pass and across Rosario. Travel wasn't glassy smooth but the chop was a foot or so - easy 15kt traveling, but not much faster.

Dusty - thanks again for the prawn location tips.

Roger

[Cutty Sark]

Sounds like the weather was better later in the day for the crossing. We left early(7) since it was supposed to get worse after 11. A bit bumpy through the islands out to thatcher , and then Rosario was pretty messy 3-4 footers, made for an interesting trip though, really got to put the new boat through it's paces as far as rough water. We took the long way home through swinomish channel around to Cornet bay. And that was kind of fun, since we have not been through there. Had a great weekend met some great people. Didn't get to socialize as much with two kids and a puppy to look after but it was fun. And my son Alden keeps asking about the scientist( Bill, & El) that we met, he really liked Bill.

Sark

[colobear]

C-Cakes had a great time getting Christened with the finest beer, a custom margarita, and a merlot. She met lots of new friends. She appreciated all the help on the dock when her clumsy crew tried to get her alongside. She did complain a bit however, when sinkin Sonja sank and covered her waterline with diesel/oil/gunk (Clara, be sure you check your hull because you were next to her as well). That gave Barry and Patti a fun two hour exercise after getting home. C-Cakes had an exhuberant trip home, especially across Rosario Straits where she had her first waves over the bow but her fearless crew alternately held on and steered to a safe return to Cornet Bay. She says she's eager for the next CBGT.

What a great bunch. Thanks to Dave who not only led the organizing but brought the beer and gave Patti and me a special favor by letting us follow him from Cornet to Fisherman's Bay. We met some of the great people who've helped us by giving advice and by welcoming us as newbies. C-Brats was a big factor in our decision to buy C-Cakes and Lopez just proved how nice it is to not only get a boat but a heckuva nice bunch along with it. The food was good, the camaraderie even better. We're hooked.

Two questions though. We used alcohol to get sinkin Sonja's gunk off the hull (the rubbing kind not the good stuff), do we need to rewax there and if so, what wax should we use? And, we've now been out on C-Cakes twice and both times ended up with about a quart of water on the cockpit floor. The floor is dry during time at sea and at the dock, but when the boat gets on the trailer there's water at the front of the cockpit. We just bought Patti a new cell phone after her purse ended up in that water and don't want to make that a habit. I kind of doubt if this is normal because everybody's carpet would get soaked if it was. Any ideas??

Thanks everybody, see you at Bellingham.

Barry and Patti (Colobear)

[rogerbum]

If you don't have a full camper back, it's pretty normal to have water in the cockpit. Even with the camper back a little runs in under way. The only way to have a really dry cockpit floor is with the raised floor.

Alchol is fine but it will strip some of the wax. The best wax i have found is McGuires - available at most boating stores. DON'T try regular Turtle or similar paste car wax. I did once and it was a PITA to get off.

[colobear]

Thanks for the reply. I meant cabin when I said cockpit, too fast on the keyboard, too slow on the editing.

Colobear

[Sawdust]

Barry bud,

You should NOT have water in the cabin... BTDT and it's probably nothing serious but it should be chased down. Even 20 year old C-Salt is dry as a bone unless you call a spilled bloody mary wet

Stop by EQ and we'll chat about it.

Fun time for the Dusty gang and certainly happy you enjoyed. What a group!!!!!

Dusty

[Alyssa Jean]

Barry,
Where did you first notice the water? Forward or aft?
If you were okay getting over and docked then I would suspect the rough seas on your return may have something to do with it.

There are several places where water could get into the cabin area. From bow to stern: Check around the anchor rode hinged door on the forward deck and below and around the power winch if you have one. Check in the rode locker for moisture. There is a drain in the bottom of the locker, usally out the port side just above the water line. I would think you would notice anything coming from there however because your bedding would be wet.
Check under the galley cabinet and make sure the Wallas exhaust thru hull is not leaking and also check the sink drain, also check at the base of the side of the boat inside along the area where the chine is (under the galley cabinet) I think there is a low spot along that area on the inside that could puddle water and then it could spill out later. At least there is on the 25 and I had a water leak, fixed now) that puddled there and then spilled later.

Hope that helps.

It was great meeting you and Patti, as well as the other new owners. I am sure we will be seeing more of you soon.

[Sawdust]

Barry,

David covered all the chat I was going to give you. Come visit anyway!!

David, thanks again for Lopez. We've been going there since Bill and Florence Burke owned it - a LONG time - never more fun than last weekend.

Dusty

[Pat Anderson]

Patty here. If you had either side window open even a crack, the rain and splash can surprise you with a deceptive trickle all the way down the wall and leave water on the cabin floor.

[colobear]

Thanks all,

We have had roughly the same amount of water in the cabin both times C-Cakes has been out. The first time was just a couple of hours with moderate chop and no water in the water tank. The second was to and from Lopez with glassy seas on the way and pretty rough across Rosario on the way back. While running and at the dock the cabin floor is completely dry. It remained dry through Rosario Straits and 4-5' seas. It remains dry when we pull up to the dock. Then, when I get the boat up on the trailer and pulled out of the water, I notice about a quart or so at the forward end of the cabin in the center of the floor. I don't think it is the anchor well. Likewise its probably not the sink drain as we never used the sink. We did have the windows open a few inches to keep the fogging down while coming home and that is a possibility as is rundown condensation from the windows and walls which were quite wet when we awoke on Sunday morning; but in that case I would think I would notice it when I got up. To my knowledge the cabin bilge pump has never felt enough water to turn on but there is usually about an inch of water in the well around the pump under the step at the aft end of the cabin. I did notice quite a jet of water come out of one of the through hulls on the starboard side by the Webasto heater exhaust when the boat and trailer rocked as I went over a curb to get it parked by our house, but I'm not sure which fitting it was. We do have water in the water tank but I don't see any evidence of leaking. I'm going to see Les on Tuesday and will talk it over with him. I expect it will involve taking everything out of the boat and tracking it down. Grr.

Barry

[C-Sick]

What a thrill to be a part of the C-Brat invasion of Lopez. Added joy for me because I was with my seminary roomate of some 30 years. John was just forced into early retirement as he has been diagnosed with early onset of Altsheimers at 58. He had just a splendid time and loved meeting so many new people. We are trying to grab as much time as we can. Had only one scare when he took off for the restroom and was missing for 30 minutes. Not a problem he knew where he was. I didn't.

Had a great voyage back at noon on Sunday. I was worried about crossing Rosario so we went through Pevine Pass (Darn Blakely looked closed up) and shot across to the northern tip of Cypress and then down the back side of Guemes through the Swinnomish Channnel and back up to Cornet Bay.

Had one final blessing as we met up with C-Salt and Crew as they were approaching the fuel dock in La Connor. My hat has always gone off to our C-Dory Godfather and his lovely goddess Diane. What a bonus to meet daughter Diane and husband John.

The worst part of our trip was poking our nose out into Saratoga passage. It was lumpy and then trying to dock at Cornet Bay with a nice cross wind. Grateful it was not at low tide.

All in all had a grand outing.

Just think Tom, Susan and James are still out there having fun.

[rogerbum]

I forgot to mention this before - best comment I heard at Lopez:

Was passing another guy on the dock - I don't think he was with our group - He looked at the docks, then looked at me and said "Looks like somebody forgot to spray for C-Dory's" - he was right, the place was infested with 'em but what an infestation it was!

Also heard the group on the outermost dock comment when I came by "Quiet it's another one of them C-Dory cult members". Again this guy was right too and what a "cult" it is. I don't intend to be "deprogrammed" any time soon so if my relatives come looking for me at a gathering, hide me.

Best,
Roger