Coastal Passage Making Class March 30-April 1, 2012

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Cindy

The calm before the storm

Now THIS was an exciting CPM Class!  Returning from Half Moon Bay, we had 38 knot winds, and 20 foot seas.  Here is a little description I wrote later about it, that managed to find its way into the Club Nautique Newsletter:

“As a former whitewater kayaker, I am accustomed to stories about heinous river challenges of big water and violent currents beginning with the phrase, “No shit, there I was …”, but until this last weekend, it hadn’t occurred to me to apply that introduction to my sailing adventures.  Now I know better.

“No shit, there I was: 38 knot winds, 20 foot seas, headsail and main furled except for small surface areas for stability, engine on at 3,000 rpm’s, boat speed about 9 knots, confused swells and breaking seas coming from everywhere, winds shifting from the south to the west, rain drenching my foulies and everything underneath them, ocean sprays slapping my face from one side and then the other.  I am holding on to the wheel with a death grip, unable to concentrate on anything but feeling the lift and turning down the wave before the swell broaches me, and then turning back to regain my course for the short period it took before the next swell hit me unawares.  If I let my mind wander to anything but the task at hand, even for a second to glance at the radar screen, I’d find myself 30 degrees off course and fighting to bring the wheel back to center, meanwhile being attacked by the predominant waves from an unfamiliar direction without time for a preemptive maneuver.  Interspersed with sheer terror were moments of grace when I was able to follow the sea’s dance lead.  Being at the helm for my shift was one of the most intense, exhilarating hours of my lifetime.

“None of us would probably have chosen to go out in this weather for a leisurely cruise through the Gate to Half Moon Bay and back, but we weren’t there for a leisurely sail; we were there to learn, and learn, we did.  Cudos to the Club Nautique Coastal Passage
Making Program for having enough confidence in their instructors, students and equipment to send us out on Friday night, March 30, 2012 and back through the Gate the following morning, the same weekend as one of the Clipper Ship Around the World Race yachts lost its binnacle to a rogue wave just a few hundred more miles out to sea. The same swells that got them were rolling into the California coast to greet us as well.  Club Nautique had the sense to shorten the trip to within a window of the least violent storm
activity, getting us back into the gate before the largest part of the storm Saturday afternoon.  I was fortunate to be in the company of an instructor and four other crew who were all up to the challenge, and we all owe our good fortune of making back through the Gate safely to each other.  Thomas, Helmut, Rick, Greg and Morton, Oo-rah!

“I may never face seas like that again, but if I do, I’ll have a lot better chance of coming through it unscathed because Club Nautique took a chance on me, and taught me how it’s done. ”

Thomas was our instructor and skipper, Helmut, our Student Navigator, Greg and Morton were Crew and Rick and I were testing as Junior Navigators.  We were sailing on “Mystique”, a 2011, 40-foot Beneteau.

A quiet moment in the cabin at night in Half Moon Bay

It was our second “Type II” trip, which meant that we sailed/motored at night on the ocean.  We departed Alameda on Friday night, performed our “swing ship” and “measured mile” exercises to calibrate the ship’s compass and distance meter, respectively, and then headed out the Gate at night.  Because of the anticipated storm, instead of heading out to the Farallones, we only went West as far as G-1, the last buoy in the ship channel outside the Gate, and then headed South to Half Moon Bay.  We encountered a large number of ocean vessels while motoring alongside the ship channel, and had to wait before crossing the channel for the traffic to clear.  We did have some wind on the way down, but we Thomas wanted us to hurry the trip so we motored the most direct route all the way, and arrived at the Half Moon Bay anchorage around midnight.

The next morning, the wind and waves were large, even in the protected anchorage.  As soon as we got outside of the anchorage and around the protected waters, all hell broke loose.  The waves were huge, especially leaving the bay, but even after that, oh my gosh!  However, I loved it!  We all passed our respective positions, mostly because Thomas figured if we could all withstand that abuse by the sea, we deserved some credit!

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Coastal Passage Making Class, March 9-11, 2012

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Cindy

103 NM over two days, max speed 9.8 kts, started at 7:35 am on Saturday and were back at the docks in Sausalito at 15:30 on Sunday

Even though we weren’t on Cool Change, I thought I would post our Club Nautique Coastal Passage Making trips here because they are always quite the adventure.  Rick and I went out on the 2006, 41-foot Hunter “Anne’s Turn” with three other classmates and an instructor down to Half Moon Bay and back.  We anchored out in Richardson Bay on Friday night, then left early Saturday morning to motor up the Bonita Channel, out to the Farallones and then head down to Half Moon Bay for the night.  Rick and I both served as “crew” on this trip.  Larry was the instructor, Mikhail was testing as student skipper, Eric as Navigator, and Roberto as Jr. Navigator.  It was a foggy and cold day on the way down, and we dodged crab pots the whole way.  Eric did a great job navigating via radar alone, into the Half Moon Bay protected anchorage.  Seas and wind were moderate.  A good time was had by all, and we learned something too!

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March 3-4, 2012 Sailing

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Cindy

March 4, 2012, Started at 0730, to 1333, 19.1 NM, max speed 7.0 kts

After another gorgeous night anchoring out on Richardson Bay, we played around in the slot, headed back to fuel up, and ended another beautiful weekend.

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January 14th thru 16th, 2012

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Cindy

January 15, 2012; 2 hours and 45 minutes, 10 NM, max speed: 7.6 knots

Thank you, Martin Luther King Jr.!  Monday was a day off for Cindy!  We arrived on Cool Change on Friday night.  On Saturday, Cindy drove to Alameda for a big-boat motoring clinic, and Rick stayed on Cool Change to perform some maintenance.  Sunday morning, our friend Sharon arrived to join us for a sail over to San Francisco, around the east side of Angel Island, and to a pair of mooring balls at Ayala Cove for the night.  We expected light winds, but woke up Sunday morning to more wind than anticipated, so Rick and I doused the 130% genoa and replaced it with our smaller Yankee.  Good thing we did – we had 23 knots or so coming across the slot.  Do you see that little jog in the track on the east side of Angel Island?  That was us, backing up with the sails up!  When we sailed behind Angel Island and the wind calmed down a bit, we performed a ritual necessary to eradicate any last evidence of the prior names for our boat, by “backing” over them.  It was fun.  We sheeted out the main, headed into the wind, and then held the boom out so that the wind pushed us backwards.  We didn’t go far, but far enough to show on the track, so I was happy!

Sharon and Rick on Angel Island hike

After safely mooring at Angel Island, we inflated the dinghy, lowered the outboard onto her, and went to shore to use the facilities and pay our $30 for the mooring for the night, even though it didn’t seem like anyone was there to collect or to care.  The next morning, we hiked “the wrong way” around the Angel Island perimeter trail – a glorious view all around.  Then we quietly motored back to Sausalito on Monday morning.  We still had the dinghy out and inflated, so we towed her back to Sausalito from Ayala Cove.  When we got close to the fairway, Rick hopped in the dinghy and got some rowing practice in as he rowed her to our dock; meanwhile, I drove Cool Change into her slip and Sharon helped tie her off.

We cleaned Cool Change from bow to stern, more thoroughly than usual, and went to talk with a yacht broker.

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New Year’s 2011 in San Francisco

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Cindy

Friday December 30 and Sunday January 1, 2012; 6 1/2 hours, 27.1 NM, average speed 4.1 knots, max speed 6,3 knots; Sausalito to San Francisco to Alameda and back home to Sausalito

On Friday, December 30, 2011, we sailed over from Sausalito to San Francisco to take a berth at South Beach Harbor for two nights.  The going was a little iffy at first – every time we started to cross into the Slot, the fog socked us in, we lost wind, and we turned around and sailed back to the relatively clearer visibility of Richardson Bay.  Our radar is old and not very easy to figure out how to read – we really haven’t quite got that down yet – and we have no AIS yet.  We knew where we were thanks to Navionics, but an outbound cargo ship or tanker could easily have appeared from the east at any minute, even though we hadn’t heard news of any such ship on the radio.  Finally, after about the third try, a short window of visibility appeared and we took it,and just in time; as soon as we saw the San Francisco skyline, the bay socked in behind us again.

We arrived early enough at our slip to relax a little before hopping on a series of buses and trolley cars to get ourselves over to Greenwich and Columbus for our favorite meal of steamed mussels, french fries and beer at Le Trappe.  San Francisco is so much fun.  It is SO nice to be surrounded by diversity – all ages, all nationalities, all languages, especially while riding the bus – so different from our day-to-day lives in Sacramento.

Saturday, New Year’s Eve, started out with breakfast with our friends Chris and Roz at Java House, a local greasy spoon right next to the marina, followed by a little jaunt over to Fisherman’s Wharf so Rick could have his street-vendor clam chowder (which got changed to crab cocktail, but the ambiance really isn’t that good, is it, Rick?)  Saturday night we enjoyed the fireworks from a great little rooftop in the inner Mission while attending a very fun party with some very talented, up and coming San Francisco political workers, gay male couples and their friends.  Thanks, Brian, for bringing us along!  What a treat!

Sunday we left San Francisco and motorsailed over to the Oakland Estuary to scope out our route to the marina where we plan to stay for the big sailing festival being held at Jack London Square in April, and then back to Sausalito for the night, only to have to leave the next day to come home to Lotus again.  It is always sad to leave the boat; we never feel like we have been there long enough.

 

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February 3-5, 2012 in Sausalito

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Cindy

We arrived as usual on Thursday night, leaving work a little early to beat the traffic.  I wasn’t looking forward to the weekend as much as usual because I knew there wouldn’t be much sailing involved; we were committed to installing a new lid for the aft water tank, and removing the fuel tank!  But a 3-day weekend in Sausalito on Cool Change is never a chore – it is always fun no matter what we are doing.

We had expected to spend Thursday evening with Rick’s parents, but that fell through at the last minute so we had an unplanned evening all to ourselves.  We decided to first have a little sip of wine at the local wine bar.  Rick had researched that they carried our favorite Zin – Red and Green. I was looking forward to my first glass of wine in 4 weeks, due to my restrictive diet, so I wanted something good.  We had a great time, having not just one but two glasses each – oh dear.  Then Rick took me to a new Mexican Restaurant he had discovered – sort of a Mexican Restaurant with an Italian flare – and I had an excellent boillabaise, perfect for my diet.  What a lovely first night back in our favorite little town.

The next morning, we started our project.  Rick had painstakingly searched for exactly the right materials to shape a new lid for the aft water tank, arranged for it to be cut to his specifications, and then routed the edges himself.  He brought along all his tools, a couple of saw horses, as well as stainless steel screws, and food-grade silicone.  It took us all day Friday to remove the previous silicone and prepare the surface of the water tank for adhesion.  Friday night we had a nice little dinner on the boat and watched a movie on our laptop.

Saturday we spent most of the day again on the water tank lid, filling the previous holes with silicone and doing the final prep.  Rick then pre-drilled all the holes all the way around the lid and through the tank rim, beaded the silicone around the top of the tank, and gingerly set the lid down over the tank.  He then hand-screwed each of those screws, spaced 4-inches apart, all the way around the lid.  Job Accomplished!

Quick Motor out to the Sunset, February 4, 2012 starting at 5 p.m.; 4 NM, 1 hour, max speed: 5.9 knots

I knew that the next day’s project of removing the fuel tank would mean we definitely could not go out on the water again until it was reinstalled, so Rick and I agreed to go out for a short motor late in the afternoon.  We longed to restore our souls with the smell of the sea air, the roll of the waves under our boat, and the sight of the expanse of water in the middle of the bay.  We had everything we needed for dinner so we decided to spend the night out on a mooring ball at the Sausalito Yacht Club.

Rick at Sunset beyond the Golden Gate Bridge

But first we motored out towards the Golden Gate Bridge.  Just as I was about to turn around to head back to the mooring ball before dark, I realized that if we motored just a little further, we might be able to catch the sunset through the Golden Gate Bridge.  We motored a few more minutes, and there she was – another picture-perfect sunset.

The next morning, we tackled removing the fuel tank – what a mess.  So, “we” is probably not accurate – I fetched tools and rags and flashlights, but Rick did most of the work.  I actually spent most of my time scrubbing the foredeck to remove some seasoned stains and bird droppings while Rick slaved away with diesel fuel.  A few dockmates came by to help lift the tank out through the companionway.  Once on the dock, they found a pinhole-sized red spot in the bottom of the tank that was the culprit causing red-tinted diesel to ever so slowly leak into our bilge.  We are now getting the bottom of the tank replaced by a diesel tank repairman (yes, they exist) and will be putting the tank back in the next time we are down to Sausalito in a week.

Posted in Engine, Plumbing, Sailing Northern California | Leave a comment

December 10-11 Lighted Boat Parade, and some more spending and labor

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Cindy

We absolutely HAD to take advantage of the last day for a below-wholesale pricing deal offered to us through Club Nautique at West Marine, so off we went on Saturday to spend money.  We had made a list of possible purchases and price comparisons ahead of time, much of which came directly off of our “To Do” list, so it wasn’t as though we planned on making any frivolous purchases, and we didn’t.  We bought a second propane tank, a bosun’s chair, some new dock lines, an AM/FM antenna, a couple of jacklines, a new power cord and adaptor, and a new, longer furling line for the new headsail – all of which were things we had to buy sooner or later, out of basic necessity or safety.  We did resist buying a few things we had on the list, however, due to the fact that even with below-wholesale pricing, the pricing was still better at other stores online.  And then Rick bought some supplies and equipment from the local diesel shop for doing our own engine tune-ups.  But by the time all that was done, it was really too late to start the engine tune-up, so we relaxed a little and prepared for the evening get-together with our dockmates to see the Sausalito Yacht Club Lighted Boat Parade.

Sausalito Lighted Boat Parade, December 10, 2011

What a gorgeous night it was for the Lighted Boat Parade: clear, cool, and no fog whatsoever.  Our group perched itself along the top of the cement wall bordering the shoreline walkway just north of the Sausalito Yacht Club.  The parade leader was a large motor yacht, decorated abundantly with white icicle lights, who played holiday music so loud that I swore you could hear it all the way to San Francisco; the music really put us in the mood.  As this gorgeous, double-masted, gaff-rigged scooner, with lights trimming where all the sails would be, came motoring into our view, the full moon appeared behind it, just over the Tiburon hills.   It was thrilling, almost spiritual.  There were at least two dozen boats, all decorated differently, from gorgeous to ghastly.  One decorated power boat with another outstanding sound system had a lovely woman on the bow, scantly clad in a santa’s hat and not much else, singing a very sexy rendition of “Santa Baby.”  Sausalito is really fun.

Sunday, for the second Sunday in a row, we really wanted to go sailing, but we’d promised ourselves we’d do the engine tune-up that we hadn’t gotten to Saturday.  And it was a good thing we did – the engine wouldn’t start, again.  Rick spent several hours trying a number of different avenues to get it started but to no avail.  In the meantime, I did some Christmas shopping, helped him with the engine work, and did some touch-up on the outdoor brightwork.  We had just about come to the conclusion that we were going to have to call in the experts to address the engine, when our dockmate suggested that Rick and he set a date to take one more look at it together.  They did, and Rick went back down to the boat after work on Tuesday.  They cleaned out most of the sediment in the fuel filter and bled the air out again, this time all the way through all of the fuel injectors, and, behold, it started!  Rick changed the oil and then it started again!  So we may have it licked, although Rick still has a suspicion that a faulty manual fuel pump may be leaking air into the system, so we’ll see.

So once again, we had a weekend on the boat where we didn’t actually get out and sail.  We really don’t want to make a habit of that, but wintertime does seem to be the time to take care of all sorts of maintenance items; after all, the wind is either non-existent or wailing, and the weather is questionable, often cold.   In any case, it is still a barrel of fun to go down to the boat, hang out on it and in Sausalito and with our dockmates for the weekend, and it is satisfying to make progress on getting the boat and ourselves closer to cruise-ready at each visit.

Posted in Deck and exterior maintenance, Engine, Maintenance Expenses, Sausalito | Leave a comment

December 4, 2011 Trying out our New (for us) Headsail, and Bleeding the Engine

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Cindy

So, after a day of work on Saturday, we were really looking forward to a few hours of sailing on a beautiful, clear day on the Bay on Sunday.  The sun was out, and the wind was predicted to be about 11 knots in the afternoon.  We started the day by another first: we replaced our smaller Hood Yankee with a much larger headsail – we estimate that it is maybe 130 percent.  This headsail came with the purchase of the boat, and is obviously used, but still in fine condition.  It really isn’t very complicated to replace a sail on a furler after all, as it turns out, but it could be, I suppose, if you were doing it in 20-foot seas and gale-f0rce winds!  The furling line for the headsail was too short to accomodate this larger sail, so we’ll have to replace it.  Anyway, we were all ready to go try out our new, larger headsail to experience more power in lighter winds.  We tried to start the engine but for the first time since we bought her, she didn’t start.  She turned over, but wouldn’t catch.  The Diesel Clinic scheduled for December 3rd that Rick had tried to sign up for was already booked – darn – that would have been perfect timing!  Instead, we had to figure out what was wrong without the benefit of that class.

We diagnosed the problem as a fuel problem, but we’d run the starter for at least 10 seconds so the first thing Rick did was to drain sea water from the system.  The next thing he remembered was that our mechanic said that the most common source of engine fuel problems was air in the fuel line, so Rick figured out how to bleed the air from the system.  We found a blueprint for how to do it in some papers left from the previous owner, and by trial and error, Rick found the right adjusting screws and bleed the air from all the right places.  Voila! it started right up!  We’re not sure that indeed, air in the system was the problem (where would it have come from?), but at least Rick learned how to bleed it while in the safety of the dock, in case it is necessary again in less forgiving circumstances.  Now he needs to teach Cindy!  We decided that next weekend, we’d spend some time doing some engine maintenance, replacing the fuel filter and the oil, and getting started on that learning curve, with or without the class.

By this time, it was early afternoon and we really didn’t have enough time to do a “proper” sail.  However, we did get out of the slip long enough to put up the headsail alone and feel the wind fill her and power us forward – we can’t wait to play with her more!  The sail is MUCH more sail to handle than even our main sail – it will be interesting to see how she tacks, whether she will make it around the staysail headstay okay, whether she will make the sails harder to balance when sailing high into the wind, how we should adjust the fairleads, etc., but answering those questions will have to wait for another day.

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December 3, 2011 Finished Interior Teak Restoration and Installed 12V Chargers At Helm

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Cindy

We worked on the boat all day, a satisfying and joyful experience!  Cindy finished the last 1/3rd of the interior teak restoration – it looks beautiful!  She used Howard Restore-A-Finish applied with cheesecloth and enhanced by 220-320-400 wet-dry sandpaper as needed for the tough spots, followed by a coat of teak oil, wiped down after about 5 to 10 minutes to avoid over-oiled surfaces.

Meanwhile, Rick finished his job of installing two 12 volt outlets at the helm.  He mounted them on a small piece of starboard marine plastic and then mounted the plastic on the aft side of the pedestal mount.  This is great because, believe it or not, our Navionics application on Cindy’s i-phone has become our navigation equipment of choice for daysails, but it looses its charge too quickly to operate all day without a charger.  Now we can use the i-phone while having it continually charged at the same time!

Posted in Electronics, Interior Cabin, Galley, Head | Leave a comment

Anchor Windlass

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Rick

Pull wire in forward starboard personal locker

After consulting with the folks on the Pacific Seacraft Blog on Sail.net, I decided to run pull wires for our windlass using the space between the bullwark and deck that others have used, and where there already exists a wire harness running bow to stern.  The space is accessible in several areas of the boat.  First, I used a fish tape to run two pull wires from the forward starboard personal locker aft to the power distribution area.  Next I ran pulls from the power distribution area back to the aft wet locker behind the head.  From there, it is an easy run into the starboard lazarette where the battery bank lives. With the pull wires in place,  I will eventually be using them to run a #2 power cable from the anchor locker to the battery compartment and to a circuit breaker that will be mounted on the side of the standing locker.  Now that the pull wires are in place, the decision still needs to be made as to which windlass we will install.

Posted in Anchoring Systems | Leave a comment