Santa Barbara April 21st '05
For the photo
album go to: http://www.cometosea.us/albums/Slideshow/CaliforniaToPhilippines.pdf
Yesterday a buyer came out of the woodwork for
the truck. This was the anchor that kept me from a definite departure for the
long haul to the Marquesas. I still have to do some provisioning and am
awaiting a courier shipment from Lisa. Right now I am shooting for this
Saturday or after mass on Sunday. The weather forecast will have a bearing on
this as well.
I left Monterey on Sunday noon
the 10th of April. It had been stormy the previous days and on Tuesday another
front was moving in. That Sunday morning it was very pleasant and calm and a
warm sunny day. But the moment I turned south out of Monterey Bay
the winds started howling again. Fortunately, this time, from the right
direction. The new Monitor wind vane was working well. But I still had to do
some finer tuning of it and learning it's ranges. As it turned out, when I
wrote the previous episode, the Navik vane had taken a more severe trashing
than I realized. The trim tab had completely broken off from the paddle.
Snapped from it's three attachment points. The Monitor looks like it is nearly
indestructible. I should have had my foulies on when I did my first headsail
changes. I had thrown my old sea boots away in Monterey and then was unable to find my size anywhere. And I
only have the one pair of boat shoes and a pair of sandals. I went through
about 10 sets of socks and chills and ended up with a good cold. It blew
again somewhere 25 and 40 knots, steady. I was surfing with the knot meter
pegged at 10 knots with just the reefed 90% jib, no main. I took a couple of
hits of green water in the cockpit. This is not my idea of fun. At sunrise on
Monday morning there was a spectacular view of a multi stage rocket launch from
Vandenberg Air Force base. One small consolation in these wind and wave
conditions you don't need to worry much about fishing and tow boats. They
apparently have a better forecast or smoke signal system than the 15 to 25
knots in my predictions. But there were enough freighters to keep me on guard.
I arrived at Point Conception at daybreak.
Brenda was leaving that morning for her long planned trip from Santa Barbara to her roots in Louisiana. I missed her by two hours. I had looked forward to spend time with
her. Her house is just three blocks from the harbor. But with all the delays in
Alameda and Monterey that was not to be. I picked up my truck that I had
left in Santa
Barbara on
Easter Monday and then had taken the Amtrak back to Monterey. I stayed with Brenda then from Good Friday. The
potential buyer for the truck decided not to buy it after all. This was my main
mission in the last week. Autotrader, Santa Barbara Newspress, CraigsList etc. In the end a dock
neighbor here in the marina happened to just be looking for this ticket.
Yesterday another boat left from here for
the Marquesas. A steel 36 footer "Oceanus" with Dorotea and Jim
Mauzari. She is Swiss and Jim, American, worked in Switzerland for the last 20 years. They came to the Northwest by
an interesting route. The boat was built in Germany and then brought up the Rhine to Basel. Then they went through the French canals through
the Med across the south Atlantic into the Caribbean, up the Mississippi to Lake
Superior and then trucked
the boat from Thunderbay to Vancouver,
B.C. They did not have short wave radio. I expect to be checking in with the
"Coconut Breakfast Cruisers Net" on 12365 KHZ at 1330 UTC.
The weather here is warmer than in Monterey and this is the longest period, over a week, of not
having seen rain. I have kept busy working down a list of items to fix or
improve. And I would not have been able to leave any earlier if I had sold the
truck sooner. I also managed to close commission sales on a couple wood
products containers in the last week and have a couple other quotes pending. Santa Barbara has some very nice markets for food I'd like to have
aboard. One store has a great assortment of bulk beans, rice and the first
place I have found for bulk couscous. There are two Trader Joes. Asian food is
not as easy to find as in the Bay area. I have been cooking practically all my
meals on board, this is a challenge with the great eateries in this town.
I have made a small slide show with 14
pictures taken in the last month in Monterey and Santa Barbara. Just before I left I invested in Adobe Photoshop
2; among them are several of the train trip from Santa Barbara to Salinas. The country side is just gorgeous this Spring with
all the wild flowers. I have never seen the Oak trees in this much lighter
shade of green. Santa
Barbara was
home for Joan and I when we returned from Vietnam in 1963 and it is very appropriate to return from
here for my scheduled stop this winter. Yesterday I had a visit on the boat
from Sjoerd Koppert, who has a sound studio in Montecito. A couple of years I
discovered him here. His mother and ours were in the same concentration camps during
the 2nd world war. He brought a copy of a picture of a 1947 reunion his and our
mother attended. I have inserted this on my web site at www.cometosea.us/thewar.htm
Earlier this month my twin brother, Jan, attended a 60th anniversary
celebration of the liberation by the Russians of one of the camps,
Ravensbrueck. which is located near Berlin. This coming April 27th will be the 60th anniversary
when Sjoerd's and our mother left the gates of Dachau on a death march which, thank God, was intercepted
by the approaching US Army.
The next slide show should have white
beaches and coral lagoons of the South Pacific in them. I count on this leg
taking anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks, depending on the time it takes to cross the
doldrums, etc. While on this leg I expect to regularly give my position to Lisa
by e-mail and I will ask her to forward any specific news to my address list.
.
March 20 2002 Monterey, California
BAD FRIDAY
March 18 '05
I am writing this in the airporter from Monterey to go back to Alameda to pick up the truck. I finally have a good
prospective buyer. That will be my last hold up to set off for the departure
from American shores. I am passing the dunes of Fort Ord where I had my first and last rifle range experience
in 1961. I attended Palm Sunday mass in the old Monterey Mission
But I did not get to Monterey by choice. The plan was changed and therefore the
title of this episode.
My first attempt to leave from Alameda for Santa Barbara was on Thursday the 10 th., when I finally had the
single side band radio and modem working to be able to e-mail while on the high
seas. I wanted to test the equipment on the San Francisco Bay
and stayed the night near the Golden
Gate bridge in Tiburon. I
When backing into the slip at the Tiburon S.F.Y.C. my gear remained stuck in
reverse and I broke part of the wind vane. I returned to Alameda for the repairs and set off on Wednesday the 16th
for Santa Barbara. The weather forecasts were for Southwesterlies from
10 to 25 knots for the next three days. After which a low would fill in again.
The predominant wind here is a Northwesterly. But since I was going South
Easterly I should be able to lay my destination in a hard beat without too much
tacking. But it turned out that the wind direction and strength changed
frequently. But always from the south. Lots of reefing and head sail changes. I
tacked out westerly at night to stay out of the shipping lanes. I took short
catnaps in between a scan of the area. I figured that I would be able to catch
up from two nights of sleep deprivation. Once I am out further on my passages I
shall be able to sleep for longer periods. Fleetwood sailed well. It likes the
double reef with a full 150% genoa. That brings the main under the running back
stays and allows to keep both of them taut, beating in winds above 15 to 20
knots. The Navik wind vane worked well. On Friday morning I was W.S.W. of Morro Bay. The predictions were for Southerlies again up to 25
knots. But there was a swell warning for the coast of Santa Barbara. So I decided to head for Morro Bay, roughly half way between Montery to the North and Santa Barbara, and wait out better arrival conditions in Santa Barbara. I could lay Morro Bay in one tack and should arrive before dark. The wind
increased from around 10 knots in a rapid clip to close to 35 knots. When I had
to finally abandon the double reefed main and reefed 90% jib to just the jib
alone, I could no longer keep my direction for Morro Bay and I decided to
return to Monterey. This is the only harbor North of Morro Bay for about a 100
mile stretch of the central California coast. l was obviously caught in conditions that
were not at all predicted in the NOA forecasts. The wind kept building and I
was steadily at 8 knots with just that little snot rag, at times surfing off
the waves with the knot meter pegged at it's 10 knot limit. By dark I
jibed away from Point Sur, about 15 miles from Monterey. Now the waves were over 15 feet and contrary to the
forecast which was for diminishing force by evening, the wind was now over 40
knots. And I was going too fast with the jib and I needed to spare the vane and
the rudder from that kind of abuse. So I decided for bare poles. This slowed me
down to 6 knots. But then the wind vane clutch kept popping out of gear. At
first I kept popping it back but in the dark and the seas I had no way to make
repairs to it. I said a prayer and swallowed my pride and called the coast
guard. They sounded a bit surprised when I described the wind and wave conditions.
But afterward they agreed that these were some of the worst conditions they had
been in. The whole crew got seasick on the way in, which is an
exception. It
took about three hours to reach me. I had to give my position regularly from my
handheld GPS. The strobe light on the top of the mast helped to find me.
Because from morning it had been a pelting rain and dark I had little benefit
of my solar panel. I use an inverter to run the computer for my Nobeltec GPS
chart system and it takes a healthy drain on the batteries. By the time I
needed to communicate with the rescue vessel I had insufficient power. My
engine would have not done me any good anyway even if I had been able to start
it with enough battery power. I had figured that under better conditions I
would hand crank start it in Monterey Bay.
But the coast guard men did a fabulous job. With loud speaker and search lights
they sent over, with messenger lines, a tow line and a drogue. The drogue
weighed about 50 lbs and was extremely difficult to hoist out of the water. And
I was dead tired from the ride and the lack of sleep. But it is amazing what
you can muster under survival drive. This whole connecting procedure took at
least an hour. They kept checking with me on my condition. I told them I was no
spring chicken at 68 and very tired. I got seasick while awaiting their arrival
and the boat jostling ahull. Fortunately there was little concern for a lee
shore since the wind was south easterly. It turned out that transferring one of
their crew to help me out would be extremely hazardous, so I told them that I'd
be fine. On the tow downwind it was of concern that I'd overrun the tow line
surfing down the waves. The drogue was a big help. The waves were so high that
I'd lose sight of the top of the rescue vessel's lights in the troughs. The
steering was a challenge in trying to follow the tow. This was the most
exerting part of it all. I could not use my hiking stick it was not strong
enough to steer and this put me outside the dodger in pelting rain and frequent
waves over the bow. And a very uncomfortable seat on the traveler track. And
even under these conditions I started to fall asleep. I saw us going under
imaginary bridges and at times the strong search light shining through the
water droplets of the dodger screen had me in an eerie place. I took one good
wave in the cockpit when I lost my concentration. We arrived at day break,
yesterday, in Monterey.
The picture was taken while the gale was
still building. I have been asked if I want to go on with the trip. And what if
this happens in the middle of the ocean? I do want to go on. I learned that I cannot rely just on the
weather forecast and that I should have tried the wind vane and the auto pilot
under these type of winds in closer proximity. In the ocean I would have set my
trysail and lay ahull and ride out the storm. But this close to traffic lanes
and sleep deprived that was not an option. If I determine that the vane problem
is a simple fix, I will keep it otherwise I will take Hans Bernwal of
Scanmar's advice and invest in a stronger, but heavier, Monitor vane. And will
consider a third battery.
I have by now picked up the truck and said
goodbye to the Alameda Marina. I'll miss this place after hanging around for a
month. I loved the ethnic and multi cultural melting pot of the area. Bob Van
Popering, a marina acquaintance, became a great companion and help to me. The
forecast for the next week is for continued southerlies. I'll wait for the
usual weather to re-establish. Bring the dodge to a new owner. And spend the
Easter weekend in Santa
Barbara. I wish
everyone a blessed Easter celebration. Keep up your prayers by now you'll be
convinced that I need them. I promise not to abuse the privilege.
.
February 17. 2005
ALAMEDA
"Fleetwood" arrived last night at
the Nelson boat yard in Alameda.
The address is Nelson's Marine Inc, 1500
ferry Point Rd Bldg 167 Alameda Ca. 94501 phone 510-814-1858
We left Gig Harbor Thursday morning the 10th. The weather was
excellent. But, after I realized how slow the load went uphill and some
apprehensions on the long descents off the Siskiyous, I decided to turn off I-5
at Drain and followed 101 all the way to the San Francisco bay. The drive along the Oregon Coast
was very pleasant. The winding roads in the redwoods and some formidable hills
brought the white knuckles out. Last night in the rain and darkness it was
a hairy drive down the narrow one lane 37E from Highway 101 to Vallejo and then the rush hour on the Eastbay
freeways. I was stopped in Fortuna California on Saturday morning for not having an oversize
permit. Ignorance is bliss because apparently I got away without it in Washington and Oregon. I ended up back in the truck stop at Fortuna for
the weekend. I managed to put the time to good use by doing work on the boat
and the computer. Fortunately I had the help of a long time Redwood supplier in
Julie Wright at Pacific Lumber Co., just down the road in Scotia to get the permit faxed back and forth from Sacramento. At 11 am, yesterday, I was back on the road legally.
But your prayers for my safety accompanied
me. Please, keep them up! The yard here is right on the old Naval Air
Station and it is the point from where we embarked on the MTS "Core"
for Vietnam in October 1961. So I will be retracing the
beginning and the end of this journey.
I expect that I'll be here for the next 10
days or so. I'll do some bottom work while on the trailer and then move to a
marina to adjust the rigging and make sure the radios and navigational
equipment is up to snuff. And I expect to be down to a bicycle when the truck
and trailer are sold here. I have had lots of calls on them.