For only the second time since we've owned this boat, we went out and anchored, just Christy & I. Since winds were predicted to come out of the SW, we decided Manzanita Bay on the NW end of Bainbridge Island would be cool to check out. After lollygagging around all Saturday morning, we aimlessly pulled out the tide book and discovered that we totally missed the tide window which means battling a hefty current all the way through Agate Pass to get to Manzanita Bay.So we decided that Manzanita Bay sucks (never been) and Blakely Harbor would be way better. And given the forecasted SW winds all weekend long (remember that, it will be important later), we figured we'd beat down south to Blakely and then get a nice sleigh ride back to Shilshole on Sunday. We had a fun upwind sail to Blakely. And by we, I mean everybody but the cat. The cat does not like close-hauled sailing. He barfed on our stateroom throw rug. Again. This rug spends more time being hosed down on the dock then it does inside our boat.
Blakely Harbor is a nice little harbor south of Eagle Harbor and the ferry traffic. It's primary attribute is that it looks straight east into downtown Seattle. Which makes for a nice view at night. It's secondary attribute is that it gets ferry wakes rolling through once or twice an hour. And you can hear the engine/props on the ferry from a long ways away.
We anchored in ~35' feet of water, rather than the shoaly south shore (where Sally sells seashells). Since I still don't sleep well at anchor, we paid out almost 200' of chain for a 5:1 scope. As winds kicked up that night straight out of the east, I was happy to have the chain out, especially during my many visits to the cockpit during the night just to doublecheck that we hadn't blown up on shore. There was only one other boat in the harbor so we had plenty of room and the chain doesn't help much sitting in the anchor locker.
Sunday we packed in more lollygagging before taking off around lunch time. We popped out into the Puget Sound only to find our SW winds were actually coming from the NW. So we had another upwind sail home. Lucky for the cat, the winds died and we motorsailed most of the way home.
The best weather you can ask for in December in the Puget Sound. Still better than the weather we had in August.
Shithead the cat, apres barf. "I hate you guys."
Lenticular cloud above Mt. Rainier.
Cool gaff-rigged ketch.
Our fair city.
We hauled up the anchor chain with a little extra weight.
Our fair city looking a bit less fair.
We got a little gust that "re-organized" our bookshelves for us.
Rest of the pics here.
47°35.755'N 122°30.690'W
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8 comments:
Get that poor cat out here soon, would you please?? [And don't tell anyone I said that...]
I'll just pretend that I know what a 5:1 ratio is, and why a longer anchor rope is better than a shorter, and admire your photographs, and be jealous, and recommend perhaps a guinea pig as the ship's pet. They barf smaller (I figure).
Sounds like another Appliance Day for Shithead! ....what kind appliances does Shithead request after sails like that? And I agree with Lisa, I'm getting you a Guinea Pig for Christmas, his name will be *$&%Face. I hope you love him.
Anne - your secret is safe with us!
Lisa - the more anchor chain we let out, the lower the chain sits in the water and the force applied to the anchor is more horizontal and less vertical which means it's less likely to pull out or drag and our floating home is less likely to end up sitting on a beach somewhere. More chain = good. Less chain = no sleep for Jason.
Kenz - Shithead is requesting a a dime bag of kitty pot (catnip) every time we put him through this. Hopefully FuckFace the Guinea Pig won't be as demanding.
Oh - and I love the maps that show where you sailed to!
that's a yawl not a ketch. remember this joke: a ketch is when the mizzen is far enough forward so that when it falls down the cap can say "hey you, ketch that!" and a yawl is when the mizzen is (aft of the rudder post) and when IT falls the cap says "y'all go get that!"
and i just have to make a note that the "word verification" i'm being prompted to type in is "scroo" LoL
I'm so happy to have you confirm that most ALL sailing in the PacNW is into headwinds. I bet we only sailed downwind 4x up there. It's like sailing inside an Escher painting.
Good on ya for a 5:1 scope. Over time you'll likely adjust it to 4:1 or even 3:1 as you get familiar w/ anchorages, proximity to other boats (a 5:1 scope tracks differently than the 4:1 scope on the boat next to it), & the almost-uniformly sticky mud up there; but in winter or in big breeze, "when in doubt, let it out" can also apply to anchor rode, depending on where the rocks are. But, as you 2 are true NW sailors who cruise in winter, big scope won't impact other boats 'cos you're the ony ones out there. Heh.
Actually? What you may find more inmportant than scope, is what technique you use to set your anchor. We do this: Drop it, pay out the chain w/ 1000rpm reverse throttle for a minute or 2 so it lays nicely along the bottom; once anchor feels set (boat ain't moving backwards) increase reverse throttle to 1500rpm for another minute 'til chain feels stiff; increase reverse throttle to 2000rpm for another minute or so 'til chain feels like a steel rod; if you're uncertain about the bottom or if you expect 20+kt winds, increase again to 2200rpm. Takes about 5 min. but we've never dragged our 66lb. Bruce. Well, except maybe once when we were on hard gravel. But still.
Feliz Navidad from La Paz - Marianne & Gary, s/v Gallant Fox
"...sailing inside an Escher painting..." Christy and I got a good 10 minutes of laughing outa that. Amen, Marianne.
I'm really glad to hear you describe how you set the anchor. That's pretty much how we've been doing it, too. Our 45lb Spade has never not set for us on the first drop.
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