From fishing to cruising transition

[stevej]

Really good information Richard, thanks for taking time to pass this on.
Get it now about the tide impact and the effect when wind and tide are opposing. Is there a similar impact when swell direction and tide are opposing?
Or does the prevailing swell follow the tide swings? Need to spend some more time looking at the buoy data to pull some historical information.

Your crossing criteria lines up well with what we have learned over the years. Anything more than 15 kt winds, and wind waves over 2 foot make for a long day on the ocean. Like to see the swell duration double the height (4 feet at 8 seconds as an example) but will go shorter if other things line up. Historically we average about 12 kt’s traveling into the face of the waves with these conditions, a little more speed and much less of a beating when riding the backside.

Locating the buoys reporting ocean conditions was one of the first things I did when route planning was started, we rely data from buoy 46050 for every trip out of Newport.

Been studying Venn passage on the charts, nice to see I get to use my inland navigation skills again. Appears to be reasonably well marked although Active Captain has discussion of a couple buoys being out of place.

Will give Les a call today, would like to get truck storage crossed off the list.

stevej

 

[NORO LIM]

Excellent advice from Richard. I've crossed Dixon a half a dozen times, and wouldn't disagree with any advice he has given you.

You asked about the swell changing with tides. Swell is generally the product of big things far away. Think storms out in the Pacific. The swell changes (gets higher and steeper) when it runs into shallow water and piles up. The slope of the bottom and the shape and direction of inlets are what can turn a gentle ocean swell into a dangerous mess. Wind waves can be generated across swell at any angle, and of course wind against swell can be tough. Tide against swell can pile up waves, too. But the direction of the swell is more a product of its origin and the shape of the land it's running into.

One additional thought - local wind and barometric conditions are not necessarily sufficient indices of local sea state. I learned this in memorable way when I waited out a very big (up to 70 knot winds) storm in Ketchikan and decided to head for Dixon a half day after the winds dropped to calm and the barometer rose. About an hour out, I was fighting to control the boat and trying to time a safe turn-around in the steepest 5-footers I've ever been in. Even though there was zero wind, the swell generated by the storm out as sea was still crashing into the coast line with really dangerous results.

Best of luck with your planning and with your trip. It's the greatest cruise imaginable. Keep us posted.

 

[NewMoon]

Hi Steve,

I don't think swell vs current works the same way as wind vs current, or at least not as much so. Swells are leftover oscillations that continue to travel along the water surface quite a distance from where the wind created them, even if there is little or no wind where they now are.

Wind waves, OTOH - visualize wind pushing in one direction on the top of a wave, while current pushes the opposite way on the bottom of the wave, making the down-wind face of the wave more vertical. "square waves".

Our CD22 got into a mess of them once as we turned into Clarence Strait, traveling with a 2 knot ebb against a ~15 knot wind that had been building waves over a very long fetch. The waves were 6-8 feet. Each one we came to looked like a vertical wall. The boat seemed to get up to a 45 degree angle as we climbed the steep face. Took us an hour to go 1.5 miles before we could duck into Meyers Chuck, gripping the wheel and actively working the throttle so we didn't get sideways. Not a whole lot of fun. We considered turning around and finding shelter somewhere else, but it seemed chancy to make the turn in those conditions.

Crossing the most open part of the Dixon (and also crossing Queen Charlotte Sound between the north end of Vancouver Island and the BC north coast), there may be swells coming in from the west, plus wind waves on top of them, opposed by ebb current which can be 3-4 knots. Combination of all three of these can get fairly exciting.

In the more protected Chatham Sound and Revillagigedo Channel you don't have swells much, but wind vs tide can still be rugged. So we look at the Dixon as three separate sections of exposed water, with current possibly in a different direction in each. We figure them considering the timing of when we'll be there.

P.S. As you travel the long straight channels of SE AK, sometimes you can avoid some of this by staying closer to the side of the channel. Often the current is stronger out in the middle.

 

[stevej]

Thanks Richard and Bill, the prevailing summer swell in this area is from the West or Northwest but like you said depends on what is happening in the open ocean way to the West. Appears that Dixon is similar which would make sense.

In this area there can be a heavy impact with swell and tide on the middle grounds (between the tips of the jetty's and the first green can) but that is in 80 to 90 feet of water. A big outgoing tide running against a West swell make for some short and steep conditions.

On another note I finished up with the Mascoat insulation spraying. Need to slather on some interior latex and can start putting the interior back together. Next up is the heater reinstall and Windless.

stevej

 

[stevej]

Making progress on the updates/projects and starting to feel that we will have things in order for the upcoming trip.

Mascoat and interior painting is complete – used the full 5 gallons of Mascoat (three coats) followed by two coats of Polar white interior latex.



Relocated the Webasto heater to the head with ducting – new mount 1 ½” Oak glued with 5250 and secured to gunnel with angle bracket. Granite counter top L-brackets attached with 1/4'” x 1 ¼” screws to support the AirTop 3200, very solid overall mounting.
Fully ducted with 60mm outlet in head, V-berth and on the dash for defrost. Main run is 90mm with a single outlet under the dinette.




New batteries installed – Gave up on the Odyssey’s after multiple delays in shipping and no love from the main distributer on expected availability date. Seems that they are having issues “keeping up with demand”. Went with Trojan “overdrive” G31 deep cycle for house/starting and a Trojan G24 for the windless instead.
Added a Victron battery monitor (Thanks to Pat Anderson for bringing this up)

Anchor windless install done – Need to finish off the anchor roller installation but everything else is complete.





Have additional updates but need to get pictures.
Let me know if there are any questions about the work.

stevej

 

[thataway]

Look forward to complete photos! Has the head been converted to a wet shower?

Thanks for the updates--always love the Cruise ship 25's

 

[stevej]

More upgrade pictures
Bob, no conversion to a wet shower (maybe next year). My hope is we can manage with a solar shower between marina visits for this trip.

Only remaining item for the Webasto move is to install the tank, added a muffler to the exhaust and did a double wrap with insulation by the fuel pump.


Duct work from head running under the dinette area


Single 90mm outlet then reduced to 60mm through the v-berth bulkhead


From v-berth up to the dash for the final run. Outlets in the head and v-berth can be swiveled and have closable vents.


Hoping that distributed heat combined with the Mascoat will make for a comfortable cabin and help keep the moisture levels down.

Did an overhead mount with the Garmin 7610sxv next to the AP head. Easy access from the helm seat and viewable from the deck while fishing.


Liked the old adjustable and retractable transducer mount so it was modified for the new side/down vu transducer


Last big project will be the new head and pluming that will start this weekend.
stevej

 

[stevej]

Finished up the head and pluming this weekend.
Two inch diameter end to end with Whale three way valve and Whale “Gulper” pump. All in all the install went reasonably smooth. Found that a 1” pvc pipe fits the prop shaft hole perfectly and had two treaded stands laying around so turned them into prop holders. Ran a small bungee through a wire clamp screwed to the base plate to keep things from bouncing around and finally have a good way to store my two spare props.
Have the shelf built that will go over two thirds of the opening and hold the Webasto fuel tank plus provide some more storage.



Not as cramped as it looks although a little tall.


Almost done with the interior and expect to start waxing the hull this week.
stevej

 

[Aurelia]

Looking great Steve and those electrical components installed in the hatch cover are a great solution. Keep taking pics, it really helps build understanding of these jobs and gives others the courage to modify their boats as well.

Greg

 

[stevej]

Thanks for the comments Greg, was pleased how the hatched installed windless electrics turned out. Keeps it all in one place!

Completed the shelf over the plumbing and prop storage. Aluminum angle “iron” is used to support shelves and both have piano hinges to allow full access.


Mounted the Webasto fuel tank. A motorcycle bungee web will be used to hold things in place for the open shelf.


Last big item to finish up is mounting the new anchor roller. Will follow up with pictures soon.

stevej

 

[stevej]

Finished up the EZ anchor windless install and anchor roller mounting.



Had to have the roller diameter reduced by 3/8” and build a couple spacers. Still have a ¼” gap between the ears on the roller assembly and the anchor so will build a couple plastic washers to bolt to the ears and take up the slack.


Spooled with 280’ of ½” rode and 15’ of 3/8” chain. Believe we timed the empty to full spool at 1 minute and 17 seconds so it’s pretty quick to pick up/deploy


She always waxes up like new and glad to have that chore done.

stevej

 

[hardee]

Steve,

Good choice of an anchor. That should get a good grip on the ground. It might be just me, but I would have opted for more chain length, at least equal to the boat length or more, maybe times 2. The extra chain helps hold pull on the anchor down low, and for me, it helps with the shock load. No it doesn't stretch, but the weight from below lefts and drops the chain, and helps hold it in line with less swing. But, maybe, it is just me.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

 

[stevej]

Harvey,
Would have preferred to have more chain but it's one of the limitations of having a spool type windless. Chain requires a lot of room on the spool and you loose rode length at a disproportionate rate by adding. I opted for short but heavy, the 3/8" chain weight is around 1.3lbs per foot so 15' is almost 20 lbs.
Everything on a boat is a compromise right

stevej

 

[hardee]

Right Steve, and good choice to go with the heavier chain. That extra weight could be worth it's weight in gold too.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon