Catalina 22 Fleet 4

San Juans/Gulf Islands Cruise July 2010

Monday, July 5 - De-rigging S low Dancer and Quiet Time at Brown’s Ravine. Ken Twomey is seen here climbing the ladder into Slow Dancer , Carolyn Hitchcock is on the ground. De-rigging was completed on Quiet Time at 08:30, and we are just getting started on Slow Dancer . De-rig was completed by noon. Thanks to Ken’s Herculean effort, we got both boats de-rigged and on the road by noon. When I have to de-rig Quiet Time (a C -25 tall rig) with no helpers, it takes at lea st 4 to 5 hours. Thanks again, Ken!

Getting ready to de-rig Slow Dancer Disassembling Slow Dancer’s Dodger Slow Dancer on Hwy 50 in Rancho Cordova Friday, July 16 – Road trip from Sacramento to Bellingham, WA.

The first half of the 870 mile road trip was uneventful, but very hot: over 100ºF most of the way from ab out Red Bluff to the Oregon border, and I guess it was this 200 mile run in the blistering heat that resulted in this first of two trailer tire failures. The photos show a complete tread separation of the right rear tire. This happened a little south of Grant’s Pass, Oregon, at 14:00. Six hours later, just at sunset near Salem, Oregon, the left front tire came apart in the same way – the entire tread peeled off. These tires are Carlisle brand polyester bias ply, load range “D”, and were properly inflated to just under 60 psi. I replaced this ruined tire at the Les Schwab store in Grant’s Pass with a “Tow Max” brand steel belted radial, load range “E” (80 psi), and also purchased an additional tire and rim as a second spare. When checking the tires at rest stops during the remainder of the trip, I noticed that the new steel belt radials ran much cooler than the old bias ply tires. I am convinced that any trailer carrying a Catalina 25 should have load range “E” tires, not “D”. The trailer had no problems with tracking or bouncing on the radials. Saturday, July 17 – Rigging & launching at Squalicum Marina, Bellingham, WA Four Fleet 4 boats trailered up from Sacramento for this cruise: Quiet Time (Catalina 25, Larry Charlot), Slow Dancer (Catalina 25, Carolyn & “Captain Ron” Hitchcock), Akuna Matada (Hunter 26, Sharon & Ken Twomey), and Carpe Diem (Catalina 22, Nancy & Rich Platt). We were joined later in the cruise at Friday Harbor by Robyn’s Nest (Island Packet 35, Robyn & Chris Parker). Squalicum Marina in Bellingham is a great place from which to start a cruise in the San Juan Islands; it has a four-lane,15% grade launch ramp with a very large parking lot, trailer washdown area with two hoses, free long-term parking, fuel dock and pumpout, very nice bathrooms and showers, restaurants on site, and provisioning nearby (two Fred Meyer superstores in town, each less than a 10 minute drive away from the marina). The launch ramp fee is $5.00, and guest berthing is only $0.75/foot/day (This was the least expensive guest berthing we encountered on the entire cruise, and is 1/2 the rate that Sidney Marina charges). Showers are $1.00.

Quiet Time ’s A-frame mast raising gear Ken and Sharon on Akuna Matada - gin pole mast raising gear

Rich and Nancy rolling back Carpe Diem’s mast Ken plugging in the gin pole on Akuna Matada Sunday, July 18 – Quiet Time’s day sail on Bellingham Bay We were scheduled to depart Bellingham for Eastsound on Orcas Island at 08:00 this morning, but when we rounded the end of the marina breakwater, the wind was blowing hard from the southwest at about 15 kno ts, driving wind waves up to three feet. Our required heading to the mouth of Bellingham Bay was right into the wind and waves, making it a very slow, wet, and uncomfortable slog. After 90 minutes of this pounding, during which time the boats made barely two miles of progress, the crews of Akuna Matada , Slow Dancer , and Carpe Diem decided to postpone departure to Monday morn ing in hope of milder conditions, and headed back to the marina. On Quiet Time , I had already raised my mainsail and was motor sailing a few degrees to starboard of the direct course (a little off the wind) to try and make the ride a little less tortuous, and decided I might as well take advantage of the wind and enjoy a nice daysail. So I killed the motor and tilted it up to sailing position, rolled out my 135 genny, and proceeded to enjoy a fantastic 5 hour, 25 nm sail around Bellingham Bay. The sky had been overcast and gloomy when we left the Marina, but shortly after 11:00, the clouds dried out, and the sun came out full-force. What a glorious day! I haven’t seen a day of sailing this nice in many years. It was a lot like the best sailing conditions you ever get on San Francisco Bay, but without the stress of having to keep a constant watch on the typical thick SF Bay traffic of both small boats and huge container ships. At any given time on this most perfect of days, I could see maybe a half dozen sailboats within a three mile radius, and an occasional sport-fishing boat or trawler. Alas, that we had to return to the summer doldrums of Folsom Lake at the end of this two week vacation in paradise!

View of Edgemoor and South Bellingham from Quiet View of Lummi and Portage islands from Quiet Time at Time at 13:19:42, position N48º42’17.4”, W122º32’58.0”. 13:22:04, position N48º42’15.0”, W122º33’11.7”. Direction Direction of view is ENE (~70º true). Post Point is visible of view is WSW (~255º true). just above the tip of the tille r. Boat speed OTG average 5 knots, close reaching on Port tack with wind at 10~12 knots from about 190º. Air temp in the mid 60’s.

13:48:12 - View of Portage Island. Lummi Island visible in Running downwind back to Squalicum Marina a few the background at extreme left side of frame. Position minutes after 15:00. Position N48º40’21.9”, W122º32’01.1”, N48º41’25.4”, W122º36’03.0”. course 15º true, speed 4~5 knots. Note whisker pole.

15:17:06. Position N48º40’17.7”, W122º32’03.3 16:00:30. Position N48º43’24.2”, W122º31’08.2”. View of South Bellingham waterfront.

16:00:37. Position N48º43’24.2”, W122º31’08.2. Fairhaven 14:27:34. P osition N48º40’11.9”, W122º35’17.7 Direction of Shipyard, South Bellingham. view ~15º, Bellingham shoreline ~6 nm distant.

Monday, July 19 – Friday Harbor

18:30. The crews of Slow Dancer , Carpe Diem , Akuna Matada , and Quiet Time Late gather aboard Akuna Matada for a late afternoon planning session to discuss routes and destinations for the next few days of the cruise. Our delayed departure from Bellingham resulted in postponing the port calls at Rosario and Eastsound from July 19 th to July 27th Tuesday July 20 – Friday Harbor On our second day in Friday Harbor, we were joined by Chris & Robyn Parker on Robyn’s Nest , and Gary and Nancy Phillips, who rode over from Anacortes on the ferry to spend a day with us.

Detail of Coast Salish house post sculpture “Interaction” by Susan A. Point, 2000, installed on the Friday Harbor Marina promenade. These p osts were originally used to support the roof beams in a clan longhouse, and they tell stories of the family that raised them. “Interaction” speaks of the relationships between the people and wildlife of the San Juan Islands. On the northern post, the entw ined hands and paws of the woman and the cougar represent the recognition and tolerance that human and animal must have for each other. The round copper dome reflects our shared environment. The southern post symbolizes the marine ecosystem. The Orca depic ts the top of the food chain. Below, two salmon are balanced on a disc representing the sun. The sun is the bringer of life and the salmon egg within represents new life. Herring are carved around the outer ring of the run. The tail of a humpback whale at the base of the post forms a seat. The artist’s intention is that when one is seated there, the life cycle is completed. On the front face of the connecting beam is depicted Xels, a mythical winged being. Eagles and a silver dome, representing the full mo on, are carved on the reverse side. The top and bottom of the beam are carved with stars and a new moon.

NEXT PAGE: Fleet 4 crews invade Friday Harbor!

Friday Ha rbor’s China Pearl Restaurant was the scene for a typically riotous (in our dreams) Fleet 4 dinner gathering on this Tuesday afternoon (July 20, 16:00 to 17:30). The food was good and the prices reasonable. This restaurant meal was a welcome respite from the minimalist cooking facilities on the boats, especially, I assume, for the crew of Carpe Diem (the Platt’s Catalina 22). This was the only meal during the cruise that we shared with Gary and Nancy Phillips, as they were with us for only this day.

Above: Chris & Robyn Parker’s Robyn’s Nest (Island Packet 35). Left: Downtown Friday Harbor, one block west of the China Pearl restaurant. Wednesday, July 21 – Prevost Harbor, Stuart Island Our sail from Friday Harbor to Prevost Harbor started out with light winds that steadily dropped off to flat calm, as you can see in the photo of Slow Dancer at right. Robyn’s Nest (below) managed to catch and pass me in the light air thanks to her much larger sails and longer waterline.

Our raftup at Prevost Harbor was one of the nicest of the trip, and was the only anchor-out that we did with Robyn’s Nest . Prevost Harbor is on the north side of Stuart Island, opposite Reid Harbor, which is separated from Prevost by the narrow isthmus that is Stuart Island State Park. Prevost and Reid harbors each have a dinghy dock, and a shared restroom and water faucet from which portable water jugs can be refilled. There are no trash receptacles ashore: all trash has to be packed out. The bottom is mud, 10’ to 35’ deep, and holding for our grou nd tackle was very good. The whole raftup – all 5 boats - was on Robyn’s Nest’s large CQR anchor. Good thing the wind didn’t come up overnight. Left to right: Carpe Diem. Akuna Matada, Robyn’s Nest, Slow Dancer, Quiet Time

Q: Can Captain Ron climb from his dinghy back into Slow Dancer without making a “big splash”?

A: By George! It appears that he can! Prevost Harbor, July 22 20:20, PuuPuu’s on Robyn’s Nest Thursday, July 22 – Sidney, B.C. We had a nice sail from Prevost Harbor to Sidney in the morning, then checked out the Thursday evening Market. Sidney is a beautiful marina, and it has nearby bus service to Victoria or Butchart Gardens for day excursions.

Friday, July 23 – Sidney, B.C. The crews of Carpe Diem and Slow Dancer visited Butchart Gardens today. I stayed on Quiet Time and read a book. In the evening, we walked to Boondocks Café for dinner. It’s three blocks south of the marina, prices were reasonable.

Sunday, July 25 – Night cruise from Roche Harbor to Sucia Island After a stop at Roche Harbor to check into US Customs, Quiet Time weighed anchor for Sucia Island at 20:00, passing Green Point at the eastern tip of Speiden Island as the sun set, then turning northwest into President Channel as the full moon rose over the hills of Orcas Island. The ebb currant, running 2 knots in t he channel, forced me to head close inshore for a couple of miles, past West Beach, Blake Point, Beach Haven, Freeman Island, and Camp Orkila, until I finally passed Point Doughty at 00:30. Just as I rounded the point, I ran right through a patch of bull kelp, fouling the propeller and causing me some anxious moments, but I was able to back out of the kelp patch without breaking the shear pin on the prop or clogging the water intake, and was underway again in a few minutes without losing much ground. A little over an hour later, at 01:40, I finally dropped anchor in Fossil Bay and turned in for a well-deserved sleep. During the four hour passage from Green Point to Sucia, I saw no other boats.

20:30 Position: N48º37’44.9”, W123º07’54.9” | Sunset on Speiden Island | 20:43 Position: N48º37’54.0”, W123º07’02.8”

20:34 - Sunset, Limestone Point, San Juan Island 20:52 - Green Point, Speiden Island Position: N48º37’49.9”, W123º07’32.9” Position: N48º37’55.5”, W123º06’26.8”

20:52 - Speiden Island, view to the west from Green Point Position: N48º37’55.5”, W123º06’23.6”

21:08 – Moonrise, Cormorant Bay, Orcas Island 20:41 – Barn on Speiden Island near Green Point Position: N48º38’23.5”, W123º05’09.0” Position: N48º37’54.4”, W123º07’10.4” Monday, July 26 – Sucia Island State Park Sucia Island’s Fossil Bay is my favorite anchorage in the San Juans. Sucia is considered to be the crown jewel in Washington’s marine State park system, offering five bays and coves to anchor in: Echo Bay, Fossil Bay, Shallow Bay, Snoring Bay and Fox Cove. Fossil Bay is the “easiest” to use as it has two landing docks. There are several hiking trails around the island, and 60 campsites for tent camping ashore. Three of these are group camps with large, roofed picnic shelters. We saw only a handful of the campsites in use. There are a number of mooring buoys (cost $10/day). There are toilets and potable water near the dinghy dock in Fossil Bay. Fleet 4 separated this day; the crews of Akuna Matada and Carpe Diem decided to skip Sucia and spend a night at Otter Bay, so only Quiet Time and Slow Dancer made a stop at Sucia this trip. After Ron and Carolyn Hitchcock arrived, which was around noon, we went ashore and had a picnic lunch, then went for a walk out to Fox Point, with many stops along the way to admire the scenery.

12:11 – Driftwood logs on Fossil Bay Beach at low tide 12:14 – Quiet Time at anchor in Fossil Bay

12:15 – Great Blue Herons foraging on Fossil Bay mud flat 12:22 – Mud flat, Mushroom Rock, Fox Cove

12:38 – Fox Cove, ship in Boundary Passage, probably 12:46 – Fox Cove with beached kayaks inbound for Vancouver

12:52 – Fox Cove 12:45 – Fox Cove, with Little Sucia Island in background

12:47 – Campsites near Fox Cove. View southwest with 16:38 – Fossil Bay with Quiet Time and Slow Dancer at Orcas Island visible in the distance anchor (slightly right of image center)

13:03 – View southeast from the beach south of Fox Cove, forty minutes after low tide. Fossil Bay is behind the wooded ridge in the background. Lawrence Point on Orcas Island is just visible on the horizon at the extreme right of the frame. Below: Ron, Carolyn, and Larry’s hike to Fox Point.

17:45 – This is a North American River Otter (Lontra canadensis), sunning itself and rolling in the sand on the beach at Fox Cove, after a swim in the shallows. I was surprised to see this animal on the beach, but later read that this species is fully adapted to both fresh and salt water habitats and is quite common in Pacific Northwest coastal waters.

18:02 – Slow Dancer (lt) & Quiet Time (rt) in Fossil Bay 18:03 – Ron & Carolyn walking back to the dinghy dock

17:35 – Orcas Island from South beach, Sucia 17:36 – Ron & Carolyn at Fox Cove

18:33 – Mt. Baker looming above Matia Island 20:49 – Fossil Bay sunset

20:50 – Ron & Carolyn watching the sunset from Slow Dancer in Fossil Bay

Tuesday, July 27 – Eastsound, Orcas Island In order to make the passage from Sucia to Eastsound with favorable tidal currents, we had to be under way ridiculously early, as the ebb was set to begin at 05:38 at Sucia. So, we raised our anchors and slipped out of Fossil Bay just at sunrise. There was a light wind from the west, so we were able to motor sail for about an hour, until the wind died on the lee side of Orcas Island. Leaving Sucia at the start of the ebb was a wise decision, as the cu rrent down the east side of Orcas was running 2 knots; had we delayed until mid-day, the flood tide would have made this passage painfully slow. We made excellent progress and arrived at Rosario at 10:00. Akuna Matada and Carpe Diem had reservations at the Rosario marina, but Slow Dancer and Quiet Time did not, and we discovered that the only slips available were 50’, for which they wanted $65. N ot wishing to pay that much, we tried to find a place to anchor along the shoreline south of the marina, but the depth was 50 to 80 feet everywhere, and the shore is completely unprotected. So, we turned north again and continued on, three more miles to the town of Eastsound, which has no marina, but does have a large anchorage area with reasonably shallow water, pl us a dinghy dock. We got the boats anchored and were ashore by 12:30, ready to head for our primary Eastsound destination, Howe Kinetic Sculptures, which we were to discover, after walking more than a mile to get there, is CLOSED on Mondays and Tuesdays. I was able to get a few photos from the Howe’s driveway, which you see below, but someday I guess we will have to go back there on a day that the gallery is actually open. Otherwise, we enjoyed our day walking around town. I parked myself on a bus bench and dozed for a couple of hours while Ron and Carolyn were shopping, and we finally ran into the Twomeys and Platts, when they arrived at the bus stop to catch the shuttle back to Rosario. They had heard from the bus driver that the Howe gallery was closed, s o were spared the long walk that Ron, Carolyn, and I made. Eastsound is a small community about 6 blocks long and three blocks wide, with a few cafes, a grocery store, some art galleries, and at least one real estate sales office, but as far as I could see , no gas station, despite the very heavy traffic of cars, trucks, and motorcycles. In the late afternoon, we headed back to the dinghy dock, with a stop at the grocery store for Carolyn to buy some ice, then back to the boats. After a rest, I dinghied over to Slow Dancer for a pot-luck supper and intense game of Skip-Bo, before retiring back to Quiet Time at 21:30. It was a bumpy night on the hook; the wind, which was raising waves two to three feet in the anchorage, blew strong all night , and by Wednesday morning, when we were ready to head for Bellingham, was still blowing at least 15 knots, making it a tough job to raise our anchors – two for each of us; we had double-anchored as a precaution against losing or dragging an anchor during the night. For futu re cruises, I would recommend anchoring in Deer Harbor and taking the shuttle to Eastsound. The anchorage at Eastsound has no protection from a southerly blow, and there are no marina services.

08:66 – Rosario, East Sound, Orcas Island 09:46 – Slow Dancer motoring north in East Sound

09:30 – de Havilland Canada DHC-3-T Turbo-Otter, 12:38 – Eastsound’s municipal small boat landing dock. operated by Kenmore Air, taking off from Rosario Quiet Time and Slow Dancer at anchor behind me.

13:00 – Ron getting ready to take a test drive in this cool 13:04 – Eastsound’s beach and anchorage. Quiet Time 1953 MG-TD (in his dreams) and Slow Dancer at anchor, city dock at left.

13:06 – Downtown Eastsound 13:36 – Walking to Howe Kinetic Sculpture gallery

13:40 – Roadside placement of some of Anthony Howe’s work a little east of his driveway turnoff

Howe Kinetic Sculpture gallery, 236 Double Hill Rd, Eastsound, WA

Thursday, July 29 – Drive home Our original plan, for Quiet Time and Slow Dancer to spend Wednesday night in slips at Bellingham Marina, then de-rig Thursday morning, was accelerated by the unexpected early arrival of the Twomey’s and Platt’s. They also decided to pull out a day early, so with everybody helping each other with mast-lowering, we had Slow Dancer ready to trailer home by 21:30, and Quiet Time around midnight. Ron and Carolyn went to a motel, and I slept in Quiet Time in the launch ramp parking lot. I hit the road at 08:10, just a few minutes behind the Twomey’s and Platt’s as it turned o ut, and caught up with them at a rest stop south of Tacoma. We convoyed for a few hours, then I lost them in a traffic jam in Portland. The rest of my road trip back to Sacramento passed without incident, and after spending a day at home to rest, I brought Quiet Time back to Brown’s Ravine on Sunday, and with Ken’s help, got her rigged and back in her slip. A fitting end to our San Juans/Gulf Islands cruise is that there was a little wind on Folsom Lake that Sunday morning, and I actually went sailing for a couple of hours before covering the sails and going home. Thanks again to everybody who participated in this cruise and helped make it one to remember: Quiet Time , with Larry Charlot – Akuna Matada with Ken and Sharon Twomey – Slow Dancer with Ron and Carolyn Hitchcock – Carpe Diem with Rich and Nancy Platt – Robyn’s Nest with Chris and Robyn Parker – and (sans boat) Gary and Nancy Phillips.

13:02 – Carpe Diem and Akuna Matada southbound on I-5 in Vancouver, WA

13:07 – Columbia River Bridge, Portland, OR July 31, 08:22 – Quiet Time ready to launch at Folsom Lake

Drink it up, this one's for you , it's been a lovely cruise . I'm sorry it's endin' , o h it's sad, but it's true , honey, it's been a lovely cruise . These moments we're left with, may you always remember, these moments are shared by few. There's wind in our hair, and there's water in our shoes, honey, it's been a lovely cruise. Oh, these moments we're left with, may you always remember, these moments are shared by few. And those harbor lights (those harbor lights!), Lord, they're coming into view, we'll bid our farewells much too soon. So drink it up, this one's for you, honey, it's been a lovely cruise. Yeah, baby, it's been a lovely cruise. Oh, darlin', it's been a lovely cruise – Jimmy Buffett

Parting Shot: Friday Harbor, July 20. (front row, l-r) Ron, Nancy, Ken, Gary (back row, l-r) Carolyn, Sharon, Nancy, Rich