We have to "round out" the finale of the trip. Again we left under marginal conditions, but what was safe for us--but not comfortable. We had somewhat of a deadline to get to S. Calif--and back to Florida and deal with Marie's Mother's health problems. There were small craft warnings--the wind had abated in Fisherman Bay where we spent the night so we left at 6 AM hopefully to cross the Straits of San Juan de Fuca in moderate conditions. Smith Island was reporting 14 to 18 knots out of the West, with an ebb tide, so the seas would steepen up a bit. Of course Cattle Pass, had it usual rolly coaster ride with the ebb tide, but as soon as we got out of the lee of San Juan Island there were breakers--and two things happened for the first time on the boat. First we got enough solid water over the foredeck that some dripped thru the foreward hatch (so it comes off and gets recaulked)--the second is that bilge water from under the cockpit got into the cabin floor (not much, and we were running the aft bilge pump regularly to prevent that). I believe that water came back under the head/shower, around the head discharge hose to the holding tank. Inspection with mirrors and a light show that there was no caulking in this area. It would only happen with rough weather--and there is no easy solution to this problem. Just mop it up, and clean the carpet when you can. By the time we were in the lee of Dunginess Spit, the seas had begun to smooth out. We still averaged over 9 knots for the entire trip--of course beam seas--not head seas.
Why did we go with Small craft warnings? The next three days also had SCW--plus stronger winds--and anticipated higher seas. Right now I am looking out over the Straits and see waves going over the bows of freighters--so our choice was valid. So we took the best opportunty. Would it have been better to trailer the boat to Telegraph cove?--not for us. We wanted to see friends in the San Juans.
We wanted to visit places in the Desolation sound area--and I don't think that the cost was much less going under power. We went almost 1200 miles--and the fuel consumption was very close to 3 miles a gallon over all (of course this included about 50% of the time at displacement speeds)
The Lowrance flow meter was quite accurate, as long as the boat was making 5 knots or more--below that level, it was off--out of about 380 gallons of fuel on fill up to fill up basis, it shows, 358 gallons used--the under utalization reflects the slow speeds, including some trolling.
As we neared Sequim, we heard a "Mayday". Another boat was on scene, but didn't seem to know what to do, except relay to Coast Guard Port Angeles. A Rawson 30 sailboat had gone aground off the seaward side of Gibson Spit--actually was over 50 yards outside of the channel. I guess that he forgot the "red right returning"....Anyway, he was fully aground. We got close enough that Marie was able to catch a line from the boat, and we drug his 44 lb Bruce with 50 feet of chain and 250 feet of line, out against the current (not easy to do). We put a line thru the anchor shackle and tied both ends (separately) to the foreward cleat. When we were at the end of the line and chain, Marie let one of the lines go, and this allow the anchor to drop to the bottom. It appeared to set, and as the skipper cranked on his winch, (no windlass-) and actually the boat did pivot, but eventually the Bruce was winched home to the boat. We did not want to risk another pass--so a 12 foot Duroboat took it out once more--again winched home. (One of the reasons I don't have a Bruce Anchor). If the sailboat had a spinaker halyard, I would have pulled him off by the mast, but with only a SS cable, there was way too much chance of jamming it between the sheave and the mast head bracket. He was walking around the boat when tide was at its lowes, and the boat appeared to be safe. We had spent several hours, and so went on in. About 4 hours later on a rising tide, another boat pulled him off. Pulling on the mast head trick works--but only if the rig is in excellent condition. I would not want to be responsiable for the loss of a rig--and that is another reason we bypassed that route. We have used that "trick" with our own winches on several occasions--but set one anchor in deep water, in the direction we wanted to pull the boat--then set another kedge anchor tied to the spinaker halyard (this halyard is free to swivel almost 360 degress, and being a line, it would not jam, as a cable would. After the boat is heeled down--and being pulled toward the deeper water, the windlass or other winches will pull the boat foreward to allow it to float. Trying to power off in this circumstance often makes the grounding worse. Also it is wise to sound the water all around the boat to find the deepest path.
We spent the night at John Wayne Marina, and washed down the boat and all Canvas. This gave us a good chance to visit with our friends who live in the second house North of the Marina. At 6 AM the next morning we pulled Frequent Sea--the end of our Adventure. We put well over 200 hours on the boat this last year (and we have put over 200 hours on each of the other two boats we own during this year--probably average for us--unless we were long distance cruising, and then we put several thousand hours a year on the boat.
Yesterday was clean and unpack--which finished by noon today. We did have to scrub some algae off the bottom paint and trim tabs. There was a scum line, even though we had washed it every week in the water. By now, all of the beding, our clothes etc have been washed, and the entire interior washed down with bleach water. There was no mold on the foreward cushions--and I think that the extra insullation helped with that.
One other comment--that is "Stern lines" We picked up 200 feet of 3/8" three strand poly prop (probably would have been better with 300 feet, but we had an extra length of very heavy duty 1/2 Poly prop for the trees and rocks--then loop the lighter line thru that.
We head south on the Trailer and will spend a few days in S. Calif. with my children/grandchildren, then hot shot it to Pensacola.
Incidently my Tom Cat is currently working as a "tug" a friend hit a log about 200 miles from "home"--and had to get the boat home for repairs, so I said take "Thataway"--they easily made it back to the boat in 8 hours, and are towing "on the hip" at 6 knots on one engine. (Mainship 34).
