Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Monday, June 13, 2016
End of One, Start of Another
To bridge the gap, I'm publishing this blog in two places. It'll be the last entry for the S.V. Halona and the first entry for the S.V. Mosaic. This describes the trip we made to move Mosaic from Friday Harbor down to Poulsbo.
June 9th & 10th: Home to Poulsbo to Friday Harbor
Midday on the 9th of June, we packed up and drove to Poulsbo with a very minimal pile of gear between us. This trip, we have weight limitations to contend with and very unique demands. Spent the night in a hotel in Silverdale so that we could make a fast run to Poulsbo for the morning.
Once in Poulsbo, we hit the storage unit for our foulies, headsets, binocs and a few other things. Then to Rite Aid for some forgotten meds. Then to Hot Shots for a late morning coffee - just happened to meet two of the P’bo Peeps still sitting chatting. Got a brief visit in, then parked the car in long term parking and then a walk to the seaplane dock.
Yep, we’re taking the seaplane from P’bo to Friday Harbor so that we can make the return trip with Mosaic. Thus the weight limitation. We really only took the essentials, with the thought to flesh out the rest from the stores within walking distance of Mosaic. The plane arrives promptly at 10:00AM and we’re on our way. We both enjoyed seeing our cruising grounds from a different vantage and of course, we kept an eye out for Orca’s, but no luck.
Landing in Friday Harbor, after dodging a ferry, we bid goodbye to the pilot and walked to Mosaic. Unlocked her and rather unceremoniously dumped our gear aboard. Locked her up and started to walk to town where we met up with the lady that owned Mosaic. She’d come down to make sure we had arrived and passed on that her husband was unable to make the trip due to an illness. Good that we got in a brief visit with her nonetheless.
A sit down coffee at the Bean, then the first of a couple of trips back and forth with groceries, sundries and the like.
As we’re making trips, I espy another Dana, with Salem,OR as it’s hailing port. I HAVE to say “HI!”. Made the acquaintance of Dale and Harriet and “Silver Cloud”. After that, it’s just work to get the boat ready to go in the morning and learning where everything is.
June 11th : Friday Harbor to Honeymoon Bay
0500 We start the engine for the first time on our own, expecting a reluctant cold hearted beast and we are rewarded with a recalcitrant cold starting beast. Once running, we turned on the remainder of the systems and cast off. By taking the most direct routes, we went out of San Juan Channel, over the top of Lopez Island, South past Spencer Spit, to Lopez Pass. Then across Rosario Strait in 15-20 knot winds and 1-2’ seas. We took waves over the bow a couple of times and there were moments of adjustment as Mosaic was much more a ‘bobber’ than a ‘plower’ as was Halona. Made Deception Pass in fine form and timing, passing through just after the change. Then down Skagit Bay to Holmes Inlet and our destination of Honeymoon Bay, where we anchored for the night. 10 hours and about 50 miles covered. Sweet boat.
June 12th : Honeymoon Bay to Poulsbo
We decided to take advantage of being on a good holding anchor to hoist the main and work out the various lines and what they each do. Then whilst the main was up, we started the diesel and worked off the anchor. I will say this; I have been royally spoiled by the anchoring system on Halona. Mosaic has no windlass of any kind and to be honest, for the weight of the ground tackle, it’s not really needed. However trying to get 215’ of rode and 30’ of chain back into a near microscopic deck pipe was insurmountable. I gave up and whereas I got all of the rode into the starboard locker, the chain had to go in the port locker. Going to take some figuring out! So… out of Holmes Inlet for Saratoga Passage where just after B says to me, “Where were the flares?”, the local Sheriff pulls us over for a vessel safety check. We pass, and get our sticker. Then promptly go looking for the flares. Motorsailing now around Whidbey Island for Admiralty Inlet, crossing the VTS, then true sailing for an hour that we have to kill. Passing Kingston with a dip in course to avoid the dreaded ferry, then a direct shot to Agate Passage. Once through Agate, I go below and text Mark ( the fellow who purchased Halona and swapped slips with us ), to remind me what the slip number was. He replied then asked where we were, as he was down at the docks. I replied that we were in Keyport. Once in Liberty Bay, I do a couple of maneuvers to get the feel of shifting in and out of forward and reverse, then a mock dock at the speed limit buoy as we’re about to do our first docking with Mosaic. Tensions are up and we make the prettiest dang docking we’ve made in years. Good omen we hope. Secure the boat, visit with our new C-Dock neighbors and button up the boat till next time. 9 hours and change and 44 nm covered.
All in all, a wonderful trip. We both are going to really enjoy Mosaic. How she handles, how she feels, how we feel below. It’s all good.
June 9th & 10th: Home to Poulsbo to Friday Harbor
Midday on the 9th of June, we packed up and drove to Poulsbo with a very minimal pile of gear between us. This trip, we have weight limitations to contend with and very unique demands. Spent the night in a hotel in Silverdale so that we could make a fast run to Poulsbo for the morning.
Once in Poulsbo, we hit the storage unit for our foulies, headsets, binocs and a few other things. Then to Rite Aid for some forgotten meds. Then to Hot Shots for a late morning coffee - just happened to meet two of the P’bo Peeps still sitting chatting. Got a brief visit in, then parked the car in long term parking and then a walk to the seaplane dock.
Yep, we’re taking the seaplane from P’bo to Friday Harbor so that we can make the return trip with Mosaic. Thus the weight limitation. We really only took the essentials, with the thought to flesh out the rest from the stores within walking distance of Mosaic. The plane arrives promptly at 10:00AM and we’re on our way. We both enjoyed seeing our cruising grounds from a different vantage and of course, we kept an eye out for Orca’s, but no luck.
Landing in Friday Harbor, after dodging a ferry, we bid goodbye to the pilot and walked to Mosaic. Unlocked her and rather unceremoniously dumped our gear aboard. Locked her up and started to walk to town where we met up with the lady that owned Mosaic. She’d come down to make sure we had arrived and passed on that her husband was unable to make the trip due to an illness. Good that we got in a brief visit with her nonetheless.
A sit down coffee at the Bean, then the first of a couple of trips back and forth with groceries, sundries and the like.
As we’re making trips, I espy another Dana, with Salem,OR as it’s hailing port. I HAVE to say “HI!”. Made the acquaintance of Dale and Harriet and “Silver Cloud”. After that, it’s just work to get the boat ready to go in the morning and learning where everything is.
June 11th : Friday Harbor to Honeymoon Bay
0500 We start the engine for the first time on our own, expecting a reluctant cold hearted beast and we are rewarded with a recalcitrant cold starting beast. Once running, we turned on the remainder of the systems and cast off. By taking the most direct routes, we went out of San Juan Channel, over the top of Lopez Island, South past Spencer Spit, to Lopez Pass. Then across Rosario Strait in 15-20 knot winds and 1-2’ seas. We took waves over the bow a couple of times and there were moments of adjustment as Mosaic was much more a ‘bobber’ than a ‘plower’ as was Halona. Made Deception Pass in fine form and timing, passing through just after the change. Then down Skagit Bay to Holmes Inlet and our destination of Honeymoon Bay, where we anchored for the night. 10 hours and about 50 miles covered. Sweet boat.
June 12th : Honeymoon Bay to Poulsbo
We decided to take advantage of being on a good holding anchor to hoist the main and work out the various lines and what they each do. Then whilst the main was up, we started the diesel and worked off the anchor. I will say this; I have been royally spoiled by the anchoring system on Halona. Mosaic has no windlass of any kind and to be honest, for the weight of the ground tackle, it’s not really needed. However trying to get 215’ of rode and 30’ of chain back into a near microscopic deck pipe was insurmountable. I gave up and whereas I got all of the rode into the starboard locker, the chain had to go in the port locker. Going to take some figuring out! So… out of Holmes Inlet for Saratoga Passage where just after B says to me, “Where were the flares?”, the local Sheriff pulls us over for a vessel safety check. We pass, and get our sticker. Then promptly go looking for the flares. Motorsailing now around Whidbey Island for Admiralty Inlet, crossing the VTS, then true sailing for an hour that we have to kill. Passing Kingston with a dip in course to avoid the dreaded ferry, then a direct shot to Agate Passage. Once through Agate, I go below and text Mark ( the fellow who purchased Halona and swapped slips with us ), to remind me what the slip number was. He replied then asked where we were, as he was down at the docks. I replied that we were in Keyport. Once in Liberty Bay, I do a couple of maneuvers to get the feel of shifting in and out of forward and reverse, then a mock dock at the speed limit buoy as we’re about to do our first docking with Mosaic. Tensions are up and we make the prettiest dang docking we’ve made in years. Good omen we hope. Secure the boat, visit with our new C-Dock neighbors and button up the boat till next time. 9 hours and change and 44 nm covered.
All in all, a wonderful trip. We both are going to really enjoy Mosaic. How she handles, how she feels, how we feel below. It’s all good.
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Defying Gravity
Whilst surfing the ‘web today, a sidebar article caught my eye.
It was about some Amanda person hitting the Golden Buzzer on the Britain’s Got Talent show.
Having no clue what this was about and having watched a few eps of the US version of the show, I took the bait.
The clip was of a young girl, singing “Defying Gravity”. Singing very well indeed.
Where I am going with this is the lyrics of the song;
Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I'm through with playing by the rules
Of someone else's game
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It's time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes and leap!
We just spent the last weekend driving all around north western Washington looking at boats. “Something has changed within me” is an apt description. For both of us, Cruising has lost some of it’s luster. Certainly Driving a sailboat as opposed to Sailing a sailboat has gotten quite thin. We proved summer before last that Halona could sail in lighter winds, but it was not the same as the sailing we’d had with Pyxis on the Columbia River. We’d drive up to Portland ( despite the traffic ) and hop aboard with no more intention than to get in a few hours plying the water between the bridges. We always came back to the dock with smiles and sun/wind burn. Also, we’re no longer truly living aboard and Halona was purchased with that as a prime focus. “Something is not the same.”
So, we’ve been talking, scheming, dreaming about what to do next. Certainly a smaller boat would be more nimble and able to sail in lighter airs. We’d need much less room to stay aboard for a few weeks and much fewer amenities. So, we’ve been looking.
Late Friday and early Saturday we took a look at a model of boat that has always been on my radar. This time, however, WE took a look with experienced eyes and evolved desires. And we found what we think might well be the answer.
Now it’s “Too late for second-guessing”. “It’s time to trust my(our) instincts.”
We’re going to “Close my(our) eyes and leap!”
It was about some Amanda person hitting the Golden Buzzer on the Britain’s Got Talent show.
Having no clue what this was about and having watched a few eps of the US version of the show, I took the bait.
The clip was of a young girl, singing “Defying Gravity”. Singing very well indeed.
Where I am going with this is the lyrics of the song;
Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I'm through with playing by the rules
Of someone else's game
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It's time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes and leap!
We just spent the last weekend driving all around north western Washington looking at boats. “Something has changed within me” is an apt description. For both of us, Cruising has lost some of it’s luster. Certainly Driving a sailboat as opposed to Sailing a sailboat has gotten quite thin. We proved summer before last that Halona could sail in lighter winds, but it was not the same as the sailing we’d had with Pyxis on the Columbia River. We’d drive up to Portland ( despite the traffic ) and hop aboard with no more intention than to get in a few hours plying the water between the bridges. We always came back to the dock with smiles and sun/wind burn. Also, we’re no longer truly living aboard and Halona was purchased with that as a prime focus. “Something is not the same.”
So, we’ve been talking, scheming, dreaming about what to do next. Certainly a smaller boat would be more nimble and able to sail in lighter airs. We’d need much less room to stay aboard for a few weeks and much fewer amenities. So, we’ve been looking.
Late Friday and early Saturday we took a look at a model of boat that has always been on my radar. This time, however, WE took a look with experienced eyes and evolved desires. And we found what we think might well be the answer.
Now it’s “Too late for second-guessing”. “It’s time to trust my(our) instincts.”
We’re going to “Close my(our) eyes and leap!”
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