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Salish Sea/Puget Sound boatpunx

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Solid advice @crispsails!
We use Bronners for everything from washing and cleaning the boat, laundry, bathing, everything really. I have a small bottle of Dawn for serious grease/oil cutting, but it’s rarely used.

Thanx for adding to the discussion. Again, awesome advice!

Cheers,
Crow
Dr Bronners is also a respectable toothpaste...
 
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Really?
I didn’t know this haha.
Or am I being gullible right now?

Cheers,
Crow
No, it's true...When Dr Bronner was still alive, the bottles mentioned using it as a toothpaste, along with a lot of other uses...maybe 25? Something like that....I think that the current owners may have changed the bottle text, somewhat. Also, it used to have a lot more mystical writing then now, as I recall...
 
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...And now this came in the mail. Turns out the Chamber of Commerce is very serious...
IMG_20190223_153315.jpg
 

CrowTheBard

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What a weird couple weeks I’ve had...and by weird I mean”frustrating,” “eventful,” “stressful,” and finally “fun.”

I finally ran out of room on my phone, and in the process of dumping all my video and pics to a hard drive (5 years worth! No cloud cause I’m dumb) I lost 90% of it all, including 3 in progress edits I had going, as well as all the pics and videos I had of our previous boats and adventures. Somehow my phone also stopped holding a charge after this. And got wet In the dinghy and had to spend a week in a bag of rice. So no internet, no shooting or editing, bleh. Frustrating. It does work now however! Finally!

Next we had to go to “America” as we jokingly call the mainland so Wren could have two teeth pulled. This out her down for a week almost, and me on nurse duty. We also both quit smoking at that time...well she has fully, I’m down to one or two when I break. But down from a fucking pack a day. Eventful.

To top it off, gale after gale has ripped through with anywhere from 25-50 knots of wind. A lot of sleeping with one eye open. A lot of wet, cold, hard rows to shore to get Wren to work. And a lot of hard, wet, cold rows out with kerosine, food, and water. Totally worth the effort, and mostly I enjoy the struggle (it’s mine afterall, and very human, to have my struggles centered around nothing more than Mother Nature and the bare necessities of life) but nonetheless stressful at times when coupled with all the above mentioned stuff!

But we finally took some time to go sailing in a break in the gales. Fun! So sorry for my absence here and elsewhere online! Crow has had a weird couple weeks!

Finally got some new eye/ear candy uploaded. Well it is to me anyways. YMMV haha.

Cheers,
Crow

 

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Hey Boat Punks! Thanks for keeping this thread alive. Great new resources & info & stories since I last checked in. I've made a little progress towards this and have new questions, but mostly wanted to keep my name in this thread.

1. I've saved about a grand and found that the idea of being a captain in a pirate navy helps me spend a little less on shit I can't bring on a boat. While the idea of moving to the PCNW is attractive for the community, I've been looking at starting this adventure in the NE as a practical place to start. What are the benefits/drawbacks to buying a used boat on a trailer vs. in the water?

2. Keeping this idea of an StP boat punk community in mind, should I focus my efforts on "joining" a community vs. spending all my resources/efforts on going it solo? It would be nice to live on a boat, pay its owner a little rent, and learn about the life firsthand before becoming an owner, but maybe this isn't practical? Boats are small and I think privacy is probably a huge draw.

3. Not trying to be funny, but Crow it seems important to you to live on your boat at the Canadian border during winter. Why wouldn't you go south for this season? I don't like the tropics or southern regions of the temperate zone in the summer, but surely there is a powerful reason to keep you living in what seems like unnecessary hardship? I love the cold but am not sure I could enjoy myself in this way. Love to hear your thoughts!
 

CrowTheBard

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My apologies for my absence here over the last month. I’ve been on the move constantly (we’ve sailed 18 days out of the last 35) and my phone was claimed nun Davy Jones a few weeks back...just got my replacement so I can rejoin the wider world again haha.

I’ll give a better response when I have a bit more time tomorrow.

Cheers!
Crow
 
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CrowTheBard

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Hey Boat Punks! Thanks for keeping this thread alive. Great new resources & info & stories since I last checked in. I've made a little progress towards this and have new questions, but mostly wanted to keep my name in this thread.

1. I've saved about a grand and found that the idea of being a captain in a pirate navy helps me spend a little less on shit I can't bring on a boat. While the idea of moving to the PCNW is attractive for the community, I've been looking at starting this adventure in the NE as a practical place to start. What are the benefits/drawbacks to buying a used boat on a trailer vs. in the water?
Great, complex question. There is merits to both and the short answer is, it depends on how you intend to use it. A “trailer sailor” is restricted in dimensions to permit use on the highway; meaning the vessels beam, length, and draft are set by highway regulations. This generally, with a few notable exceptions, means a lighter, smaller craft, suitable for inshore or near shore crusing in light to moderate weather and conditions.

However, the benefit of being able to sail seasonally without the need to either keep the boat in a marina, mooring ball, or hauled out in a yard on the off seasons. It can also move at 60mph on the highway to expand crusing destinations. For example one could sail summers here in the PNW then trailer down to the Sea of Cortez to cruise the winters.

A vessel intended to live its life in the water year round opens many more options and variations in designs and genrally yields a more seaworthy boat overall.

As far as PNW vs NE, both are excellent and wildly different. Our winters are more mild, our summers a big longer, and the water more protected. However the NE offered easier access to the entire Easter seaboard including the ICW, and down into the Keys and from there...Bahamas, Caribbean, you name it...

The PNW is unique in its tens of thousands of miles of protected shorelines and plentiful islands and anchorages in a NW setting, which globally, is unique and a world class crusing destination.



2. Keeping this idea of an StP boat punk community in mind, should I focus my efforts on "joining" a community vs. spending all my resources/efforts on going it solo? It would be nice to live on a boat, pay its owner a little rent, and learn about the life firsthand before becoming an owner, but maybe this isn't practical? Boats are small and I think privacy is probably a huge draw.

You can try getting in other boats as crew. Especially if you can get on something cool like a big schooner or a tall ship.

Yes, sailors are usually private aboard their vessels. And by the nature of the boats themselves, any more than a couple on a small crusing boat is too many.

I envision more of a collective of independent boats, whom love and voyage in close proximity to share the collective load of maintinging the boats, enduring capitalism, and generally just building a community of dirt bag sailors. Strength in numbers. It would also open the doors to fighting political battles as a group to keep this way of life open.


There’s a few of us here already that have naturally kind of built up a little “bay family” and after realizing how fortunate I am, I wanted to export it to the wider community, to any out there that are interested.

3. Not trying to be funny, but Crow it seems important to you to live on your boat at the Canadian border during winter. Why wouldn't you go south for this season? I don't like the tropics or southern regions of the temperate zone in the summer, but surely there is a powerful reason to keep you living in what seems like unnecessary hardship? I love the cold but am not sure I could enjoy myself in this way. Love to hear your thoughts!
Ha! I actually dislike the cold these days. I was in a workplace accident some 5-6 years ago. I gots a fake hip, a fucked up back, and lots of scars. All that shit hurts all the time. Ten fold in the cold!

Anyway, it’s not a simple matter to just “sail south” from here. The North Pacific coast is one of the most inhospitable on the planet. For 1500 miles there is huge current, ever looming chance of gales, multiple points of land that cause fierce winds, and all the entrances to harbors have deadly bars that are impassible on the wrong tide and absolutely deadly in a storm.

A trip south, well planned and well sailed, can be pretty easy and benign overall. Or not...but the trip north is always terrible. You either have to bash straight up the coast, dead into the prevailing wind, waves, and current, or sail all the way out to Hawaii and loop back up. Neither option is something anyone would want to do seasonally. Ever ifnone was inclined, there just isn’t enough time during the season that the coast is passable to get all the down and back. Not at a pace that would be fun anyways.

I’ll take my boat south soonish. I wanted to sail down to Mexico this year. And either cruise there for a year or so, or bomb all the way down to Costa Rica and decide where to go from there. It’s looking like next year is more feasible tho. I need new sails first...$$$$$$$ ouch. That means I need a Jay Oh BEe and that fucking sux haha.

My response in purple.

I have sooooooo much to catch up on. So many stories to tell!

I’m getting my wisdom teeth out tomorrow (I’m fucking freaking) and will be down for the week. That means I’ll have the time to be on here and edit some video and connect with folks that want to chat or need help with anything.

Man I missed StP. Never enough ours in a sailors day.

Cheers,
Crow the Bard
 

MetalBryan

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Thanks for the answers. I guess it never occurred to me that "most sailors" would restrict themselves to specific regions because of difficulties transversing the oceans. I could see how that would keep in you in the PNW as well as create a stronger community... if you're never mixing with folks who sail from NE down around the horn and back up again.

I wonder if the answer to all my previous questions is to think about liveaboarding in this way:

Buy the boat, in the water, with the intent to live and fix it up during the "pleasant" season. When the weather/currents turn sour I could sell the boat, breaking even-ish, and hop a greyhound to the next location to repeat that process. I wouldn't need off-season storage or a truck & trailer, and I could be a part of more than one community.

Having spent the past month or so window shopping for boats, it seems like they fluctuate in value almost as much as crypto currency. I understand it's a ton of physical labor to start from scratch two or three times a year, but it would give me a lot more flexibility in terms of where I wanted to be. One thing I learned from living in the van is I became VERY attached to it and I think that protective mentality made me miss a lot of opportunities.

Anyway, good luck with the tooth pulling... I've been there!
 

CrowTheBard

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Thanks for the answers. I guess it never occurred to me that "most sailors" would restrict themselves to specific regions because of difficulties transversing the oceans. I could see how that would keep in you in the PNW as well as create a stronger community... if you're never mixing with folks who sail from NE down around the horn and back up again.

I wonder if the answer to all my previous questions is to think about liveaboarding in this way:

Buy the boat, in the water, with the intent to live and fix it up during the "pleasant" season. When the weather/currents turn sour I could sell the boat, breaking even-ish, and hop a greyhound to the next location to repeat that process. I wouldn't need off-season storage or a truck & trailer, and I could be a part of more than one community.

Having spent the past month or so window shopping for boats, it seems like they fluctuate in value almost as much as crypto currency. I understand it's a ton of physical labor to start from scratch two or three times a year, but it would give me a lot more flexibility in terms of where I wanted to be. One thing I learned from living in the van is I became VERY attached to it and I think that protective mentality made me miss a lot of opportunities.

Anyway, good luck with the tooth pulling... I've been there!
That’s actually a solid plan.
Especially if you enjoy the work. It’s amazing how much value a good pressure washing, a coat of paint here or there, or a minor upgrade can add to the overall value of a boat.

If that’s your plan then I’d recommend starting with a “stable” of half a dozen or so boats that are 1. Common, 2. Overall hold value, 3. Readily available used parts and sails 4. Have no know major longevity issues.

By narrowing your search and becoming a semi-expert in a few common hulls (Ericsson 27, Catalina 30s, Bristol 30, Albin Vega 28, Pearson Triton, etc) you can really start to find those good deals and easily flip them. For example, a well maintained Ericon 27 can fetch up to $15,000. They can also be had for $1500 all beat to hell and back and everything in between. That’s what gives the flipper the ability to churn a real profit at times.

And yeah, the North Pacific is no joke. It’s gets weather just as big as shown on the crab fishing shows up in Alaska in the bearing sea. I’ve been trapped in 70knots of sustained winds and 40-60’ seas off the coast between California and Oregon. Terrifying and beautiful and awe inspiring and frightening all at once. An experience I am happy to have lived through, but hope to never repeat!

YouTube “Columbia river bar storm” and see what you can dig up. Quite literally some of the foulest water on planet earth.

I’m flying out May 20th to SFBay to meet a buddy to help bring his boat back up here. It’s gonna be a wild ride!

Cheers,
Crow
 

iamwhatiam

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Just got back from the first overnight trip on the new boat. Cruised on over to Lummi Island and found a beautiful small bay to anchor in for the night at Lummi Island Campground ( a boat in only free campground, no roads lead to it). The campsites all have picnic tables and fire pits and there's a couple a outhouses too. It's popular with a lot of kayakers from Bellingham, but we had the whole place to ourselves. I'd recommend anyone check the spot out if you are around Lummi island, but you definitely need a stern anchor or line tied to shore in addition to your bow anchor to keep your boat from swinging into the rocks when the tides change.
Lummi4.jpg

Weather report said 10 knot winds. (Was more like gusts to 20) It was a little bumpy on the way across to Lummi so I just decided to motor there. You seasoned sailors would probably scoff, but I didn't feel too comfortable hoisting the sails in the conditions I was in, being my first time. Waves were crashing over the bow and my clothes got fucking soaked in sea spray.

Lummi1.jpg


Home for the night.

Lummi2.jpg
Lummi3.jpg


I am definitely jumping off this cliff face later in the summer, when it's hot out.

Lummi5.jpg


Best spot in the house. Campsite on a bluff overlooking Bellingham Bay. You can see Bellingham in the distance about 7 miles away, from this spot.

-------------------------
Had an awesome fucking first time out on the boat and learned a lot. Other than slicing a couple fingers with my knife everything went pretty smoothly. I even pulled back into my slip at the marina without hitting anyone/anything!

Lessons learned this trip:
1) Always prepare for worse than you'd expect. I would have been more comfortable if I'd brought rain pants. I'll keep rain gear on the boat from now on.
2) Don't fully trust weather forecasts.
3) Good to have an extra anchor on board and extra line.
4) Quarter the bigger waves as opposed to heading straight into them.
5) I want roller furling for when I go out solo.
 
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CrowTheBard

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Just got back from the first overnight trip on the new boat. Cruised on over to Lummi Island and found a beautiful small bay to anchor in for the night at Lummi Island Campground ( a boat in only free campground, no roads lead to it). The campsites all have picnic tables and fire pits and there's a couple a outhouses too. It's popular with a lot of kayakers from Bellingham, but we had the whole place to ourselves. I'd recommend anyone check the spot out if you are around Lummi island, but you definitely need a stern anchor or line tied to shore in addition to your bow anchor to keep your boat from swinging into the rocks when the tides change.
View attachment 50181
Weather report said 10 knot winds. (Was more like gusts to 20) It was a little bumpy on the way across to Lummi so I just decided to motor there. You seasoned sailors would probably scoff, but I didn't feel too comfortable hoisting the sails in the conditions I was in, being my first time. Waves were crashing over the bow and my clothes got fucking soaked in sea spray.

View attachment 50182

Home for the night.

View attachment 50183 View attachment 50184

I am definitely jumping off this cliff face later in the summer, when it's hot out.

View attachment 50185

Best spot in the house. Campsite on a bluff overlooking Bellingham Bay. You can see Bellingham in the distance about 7 miles away, from this spot.

-------------------------
Had an awesome fucking first time out on the boat and learned a lot. Other than slicing a couple fingers with my knife everything went pretty smoothly. I even pulled back into my slip at the marina without hitting anyone/anything!

Lessons learned this trip:
1) Always prepare for worse than you'd expect. I would have been more comfortable if I'd brought rain pants. I'll keep rain gear on the boat from now on.
2) Don't fully trust weather forecasts.
3) Good to have an extra anchor on board and extra line.
4) Quarter the bigger waves as opposed to heading straight into them.
5) I want roller furling for when I go out solo.
Incredible man!
Great first trip out! So fucking awesome!

1. That’s kinda the #1 rule of seamanship: always be ready for the worst.

2. Nope. Especially around here. I can be blowing 5 knots and half a mile away around a bend you can be slammed by 20 knots. Be especially wary of wind vs. tide situations. That cause big, sloppy seas.

3. Always. I have 3 anchors and enough warp to set them all if I had to. Your ground tackle is the only real “insurance” you have out there. It’s worth every penny you spend on it, and every minute you spend practicing getting a good set.

4. Great point. Much easier to slice into them at about a 45* angle or so off the bow. Technically “quartering” them puts them on your hip (the quarter of a sailboat being her aftermost section before the transom). If the seas are following you, quartering then is better than taking them dead astern.

5. Don’t do it. Roller furling sucks. It has a 100% fail rate. It either won’t open when you need it to most, or it won’t furl when you surely need it to, and worst yet, it’ll open itself and try to kill you at the worst possible moment. Also you’re stuck with one headsail then. Which means you are either going to be undercanvased in the light stuff, or have a shitty setting headsail when the going gets tough, compounding the tough situation. The first time you have to claw off a lee shore in a gale you’ll appreciate the simplicity and reliability of hank on sails. Practice makes perfect.
What issuers were you having with your headsails? Maybe I can offer some more specific advice there too?

Dude, I’m beyond stoked for you. Welcome to a life time of salt and wind and tide. You’re free now brother. No more masters except Mother Nature herself. Sometimes she will love you, sometimes she will hate you, and sometimes you will curse her very name, but she is mistress unlike any others, and us sailors love her all the more because of her cantankerous nature, and not inspire of it.

What’s your life looking like his month? I’d love to catch up with you and help you out with anything you need, or just offer a crash course in sail trim and boat handling under sail.

Cheers!
Crow the Bard
 

CrowTheBard

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Since you’re in Baham, my good buddy Quinn is over there in URSA MAJOR (photo attached). If you can find the boat, go meet him. He’s a pretty damn good sailor too. Maybe he’ll take you out for a sail on his boat before he comes back to Lopez? Or ya’ll can buddy boat here when he heads back this way. Always nice to travel in company when you’re first learning.

Anyways, be worth tracking him down if you can. Tell him I sentcha haha.

Cheers,
Crow
065F9236-0C58-4589-BCDC-ADE211D3778C.jpeg
 
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iamwhatiam

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Since you’re in Baham, my good buddy Quinn is over there in URSA MAJOR (photo attached). If you can find the boat, go meet him. He’s a pretty damn good sailor too. Maybe he’ll take you out for a sail on his boat before he comes back to Lopez? Or ya’ll can buddy boat here when he heads back this way. Always nice to travel in company when you’re first learning.

Anyways, be worth tracking him down if you can. Tell him I sentcha haha.

Cheers,
Crow View attachment 50187
HA! I saw that boat in the marina!!!! I remember it because I was thinking that I've seen it up in Ketchikan/Sitka, AK somehwere. Has he been up to Southeast Alaska in it at all? Or maybe it was just another boat with the same name I'd seen in Alaska. But that's good to know....I'll have to say hello if I see him on it.
 

iamwhatiam

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What issuers were you having with your headsails? Maybe I can offer some more specific advice there too?

What’s your life looking like his month? I’d love to catch up with you and help you out with anything you need, or just offer a crash course in sail trim and boat handling under sail.

Cheers!
Crow the Bard
Good to know about the rolling furler. I just figured it would make for less running around on deck when soloing, but I never thought about the dependability of it working when you need it to most.

I think I'm just scared of sailing with the both the jib and main because I'm not confident yet. I have a genoa too. When the seller took us out the first time, there were a few times some gusts came out of nowhere and the boat heeled over pretty far. I know how to correct a boat from broaching, but I dunno....I'm just scared of sailing under too much speed yet. Its all a little overwhelming for us newbies. :) Lol But the only way to overcome that fear is to get out and practice.

Couple of questions:
Is there any kind of guard you can put on the main sheet pulley (I think it's called a clew block?). I just feel that sooner or later when easing the main, and I'm not paying attention, my hand/fingers are gonna get pinched in there and that's gonna hurt like a mother. Or is that just something you have to be aware of when trimming the sail.

Also just out of curiousity, how much chain do you use for your anchor(s) and what size? I'm thinking I might get a little bigger and longer one then what's on the boat now. And what style anchors do you have? I just have a danforth on there now, which seems like the most common type for up here. Would a Bruce be a good 2nd addition?

-------
Almost the entire month of May is free for me. I start summer work either late May or early June (still to be determined) and then I'll be pretty busy for a couple months. The running lights are not working so I really want to fix that before making any longer trips. Also thinking about getting a GPS plotter for the islands, until I get the lay of the land better. But I definitely would like to get over to your island. I need to gain a little more experience first though before I make the trek over there on my own, because the only friends I have here who are experienced sailors can't do more than overnight trips.

Cheers!
 
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CrowTheBard

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HA! I saw that boat in the marina!!!! I remember it because I was thinking that I've seen it up in Ketchikan/Sitka, AK somehwere. Has he been up to Southeast Alaska in it at all? Or maybe it was just another boat with the same name I'd seen in Alaska. But that's good to know....I'll have to say hello if I see him on it.
I’m not sure if that boat has been to AK in its life or not. It’s a fair bet to say it has. It’s been all the way down to Mexico and back...

Don’t be afraid to just go hunt the boat down and knock on it haha.
Good to know about the rolling furler. I just figured it would make for less running around on deck when soloing, but I never thought about the dependability of it working when you need it to most.
That should kinda be your first though with all your gear. Reliability matters most when you’re a floating island of one, summed up in 22 feet... ;)
I think I'm just scared of sailing with the both the jib and main because I'm not confident yet. I have a genoa too. When the seller took us out the first time, there were a few times some gusts came out of nowhere and the boat heeled over pretty far. I know how to correct a boat from broaching, but I dunno....I'm just scared of sailing under too much speed yet. Its all a little overwhelming for us newbies. :) Lol But the only way to overcome that fear is to get out and practice.
Totally man! I still remember all my early years jitters. It’s perhaps the first experience of being truly reliable on one’s self and one’s skill set in an environment that is hostile to human life. One realizes, quite suddenly, just how small they are, and how powerful the wind and water truly are!

Confidence will come with time and practice. Go out sailing in 5-10 knots first. Build your confidence when the going is easy. Then go out in 12-14. About 15 knots is when most people start to realize it’s pretty dang windy out. This is when your boat becomes fully woke and working at her potential. Right around 15 is when a small boat like yours is thinking about a smaller headsail or a quick reef in the main if the gusts are reaching 20 or so.

Once you’re confident in 15 then go out in 20. 25 knots sustained wind begins to be a lot, and once you gain confidence in 25 knots, well then Shipmate, the world is your Oyster.

Point 2: heeling freaks most newbies out. Unless your rail is buried under water or you’re truly knocked down (damn near impossible with just wind alone) you’re totally fine.

When a truest large gust host the boat, allow her to round up into it a bit, and you can also ease her mainsheet a bit until the leading edge (the luff) begins to flutter. These two actions depower the gust quite a bit. As the gust passes you can harden your mainsheet again and carry on your course.

In any case, be fucking proud dude! You had your first overnight trip and had the magic of an anchorage all to yourself! That’s what it’s all about!

Couple of questions:
Is there any kind of guard you can put on the main sheet pulley (I think it's called a clew block?). I just feel that sooner or later when easing the main, and I'm not paying attention, my hand/fingers are gonna get pinched in there and that's gonna hurt like a mother. Or is that just something you have to be aware of when trimming the sail.

Technique is everything when handling your lines. Never take wraps around your fingers or any body part. You simply let the line pass through your hands when easing and work them in hand over hand when hardening.

So no lol
But proper line handling will always work and is a quickly learned skill.


Also just out of curiousity, how much chain do you use for your anchor(s) and what size? I'm thinking I might get a little bigger and longer one then what's on the boat now. And what style anchors do you have? I just have a danforth on there now, which seems like the most common type for up here. Would a Bruce be a good 2nd addition?
Your questions are great man.
My boat is quite different than yours, a husky ass pilot cutter compared to your little dart of a boat. Very different animals.

That said, I have all chain on my main rode. 300’ of 3/8” chain hooked to a 45lbs CQR. My back ups are 150’ of 3/8” chain with 150’ of 5/8 nylon rode coupled to a 50lbs fisherman’s anchor and another 100’ of 3/8” chain and 200’ or nylon hooked to a 25lbs danforth. World crusing set up.

For you, too much weight in the bow is a consideration as this would adversely affect her sailing performance. You’re boat is also significantly lighter than mine.

50’ of chain is the minimum I’d say you need. I think 1/4” or 5/16” would be plenty beefy for your boat. Back it up with nylon 3 strand.

A Bruce is a fantastic 2nd anchor for this area and one I’ll be swapping my old timey fisherman’s anchor out for here soon.


-------
Almost the entire month of May is free for me. I start summer work either late May or early June (still to be determined) and then I'll be pretty busy for a couple months. The running lights are not working so I really want to fix that before making any longer trips. Also thinking about getting a GPS plotter for the islands, until I get the lay of the land better. But I definitely would like to get over to your island. I need to gain a little more experience first though before I make the trek over there on my own, because the only friends I have here who are experienced sailors can't do more than overnight trips.
Do you have wheels? Maybe I can ferry to Anacortes and figure out how to get to Bham for there for s couple days of sailing up there on your boat. I can help teach a lot in a few days I think.

Cheers,
Crow

Cheers!
 

iamwhatiam

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Do you have wheels? Maybe I can ferry to Anacortes and figure out how to get to Bham for there for s couple days of sailing up there on your boat. I can help teach a lot in a few days I think.
Hell yeah man! That would be fucking sweet. I have a truck, so I could pick you up in Anacortes. I'll pay for your ferry trip too.
 
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CrowTheBard

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Hell yeah man! That would be fucking sweet. I have a truck, so I could pick you up in Anacortes. I'll pay for your ferry trip too.

Whoa, way generous of you man! A walk on ticket is less than $20 I think.

May is chaotic for me (I think my brother is coming to visit, I’m scrambling to get work done on my boat after watching her get ugly all winter, and then the 20th I’m helping bring a boat up from SF...chaotic haha) but I will carve out a couple days to come teach ya a few things.

I’ll PM ya my phone # and we can figure it out from there.

Cheers,
Crow
 
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iamwhatiam

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So went out again overnight with my uncle. Practiced setting up and raising the sails on my own. We pretended like he wasn't there, so I could learn how to do it myself for sailing solo. Put the jib upside down on the first try oooops lol that doesn't look right. On our way back to the marina, the winds picked up quite a bit and I needed his help keeping the boat pointed into the wind to drop the sails.... and even then the boat wasn't holding it's course.....should have powered up the motor a bit more, the boom flew over hard and the sheet pulled through the block into the water (didn't have a knot on the end of the line), all the while my clueless dog is right under foot while we're scrambling to fix all this lol. It was a little embarassing, if anyone was watching. If I had been alone, I think the only thing I could have done would have been to drop the anchor out in the bay to keep the boat pointed to the wind and then dealt with the sails before motoring back in to the marina.

I know you probably usually go out with Wren so you have help, but if you are by yourself do you usually drop anchor while under sail? or do you have autopilot on board or what?

Looked for Quinn, but I didn't see the boat in the marina anymore.
 

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