09:00 Under the Bridge and into the bay. Not even too many sailors out at this time in the morning. Stopped and anchored at Sausalito for a while while I made a run to pick up a net for Bob's birthday -- a little late but he said he needed one. Walked halfway down the Sausalito waterfront before remembering that the marine stores were at the other end of town. Came back and took the Metz down to the fishing ramp where I found what I wanted at Caruso's Sportfishing Center.
11:00 Hauled up and ran on to Tiburon. Made a pass past Kristie and Bob's place but saw no movement so turned back to park near the San Francisco Yacht Club as planned. Bit of a problem there -- don't have a detailed chart of Tiburon Cove and ran into shallow water even though we tried to anchor well out of the other boats. Moved out even farther and found a spot in 35 feet which worked. Later, watching other boats come in, found that we could have gone inside and been better protected but all OK anyway. Relaxed, had lunch, Lois "put her face on", pumped up the Metz again -- it's leaking a lot now. My tire repair kit seems to be only a temporary fix -- and ran into the yacht club to call Kristy. Caught hell because we hadn't checked in sooner. Evidently Bob had seen us make the turn in front of their place and they'd already been down twice to pick us up. Kristy drove down again, this time with Bryan and Katrina, to get us. Great dinner, as usual, on the deck of their place. Took Bab home with us and found a rolly swell coming into the anchorage so we moved over to Angel Island and hung on a buoy. Better for leaving early anyway. Fishing again in the morning. Hope we have better luck than the last time.
13:00 Back to Tiburon Cove. This time, having seen others demonstrate the technique, I decide to go into the San Francisco Yacht Club. I think that, despite the name, very few West Coast Yacht Clubs have much to do with real yachts. Most would be better named "Small boat sailing clubs" and the SFYC is no exception. We were almost to the entrance when we ran aground. Not badly. By using full thottle I was able to push through the mud and get to the dock. Checked in at the club and found that for $10.00 a night, we can stay for a while. Dropped Bob off, checked in, straighted up the boat, then napped for a couple of hours. Dinner at Bob & Kristy's then home to bed. Bob has to work tomorrow so we'll try for Drake Bay or Bodega Bay.
08:30 Past the Potato Patch and into calmer waters. The weatherman has been predicting Northwest winds for two days but this morning they are from the South. Only about 10 knots though and with the flopper-stoppers down the ride is comfortable. We pass the fishing fleet just about where they were yesterday and listen to their chatter on the radio for a couple of hours. Jackie, a lady skipper, is leading the conversation about news coverage making people think that the fishing season is closed. It has really cut down the number of customers for many of the skippers. They were discussing alternative ways of making a living with their boats.
10:00 As we reached the near end of ten mile long Drake Bay we started having to dodge fishing buoys. It wasn't bad at first but after while they got so thick I had to take the helm rather than letting George drive. Then the starboard fish picked up a line. We slowed down to an idle and I tried to dislodge the float with a boat hook but couldn't reach it. I thought about dragging it on into the bay but it was putting quite a load on the gear; so we turned into the seas and came to a complete halt. That did it -- the float drifted away. It was a green and yellow buoy. Guess I should have pulled it up and seen what was at the end but I was just happy to be rid of the danged thing.
11:00 Into the hook formed by Point Reyes at the west end of Drake. There are quite a few other boats here: six fishing vessels and one small sailboat, none of which look occupied. As we come in we were followed closely by a big catamaran, the CANVASBACK, which turned inside and cut us off while we were in the process of anchoring. When she gets right smack in front of us I get a call on the radio from the skipper who says, "We're going to anchor here behind the Coast Guard buoy and wanted to make sure we weren't in your way." We stood by for several minutes while they fooled with their anchor, then dropped our hook well out of the way. There's a square mile of flat, sand bottom here. Don't know why they decided they had to be about where we were dropping our hook.
Spent the afternoon on the boat reading and resting. Nice to have a quiet one now and then.
07:30 Around the point and heading due north now, quartering a six foot swell from the northwest. Not a bad ride at all. We pass a couple of southbound fishing vessels but no sign of fishing activity. I went outside to pee over the rail and, as I leaned on the starboard flopper-stopper pole I felt a thump. Then another -- we were bumping into something out here in 300 feet of water.
09:15 At the Bodega Harbor entrance we stopped and pulled in the flopper-stoppers. Yep, we had the remains of big jellyfish all over both chains. Bodega Harbor is in a large, very shallow lagoon at the north end of Bodega Bay. A mile long channel is dredged though it to several marinas and piers near the north end and the village of Bodega Bay. The newest and best of these, Spud Point Marina, is on the west side. That's where we headed. When we were here in '87 it was almost empty. Now the several hundred slips with concrete floats are almost filled with commercial fishing boats. I called the marina as we were coming up the channel past the Coast Guard station and was assigned Slip A-9. Great, a 60 foot long single boat slip, concrete floats, power, water, right next to the ramp for $8.50 a day.
Checked in, cleaned up, then took a walk along the road leading to town. Had some pretty good chowder at the Sandpiper Cafe near the eastside fish processing plant. Then walked on down Highway 1 for another mile to a new condo development at the Tides Wharf. Can't really recognize much that looks like what Hitchcock showed in "The Birds". I think he used another location for many of his scenes. Napped when we got back, then called Nan and Kristie. Bob & Kris will be here tomorrow afternoon.
Wind started in the late afternoon and blew all night. Forecast calls for strong northerly winds for several days. Guess we'll just hang in here until it quits.
We'd finished out work, cleaned up, and were napping by the time Bob and Kris got here, Kris fussing about the fact that her cellular phone wasn't working -- guess there's no coverage on this side of the hills. Her beeper still worked though, she had to keep running to a phone every few minutes. Hell being a working girl. I wanted to see a little more of the bay than we'd seen so Bob drove us out to the point and around the bay. The wind was still blowing and on the far side of the point big seas were crashing against the rocks. Didn't look like it would be very much fun out there. We talked with one fisherman in a small boat who'd been out. He said he couldn't do much fishing because of the wind.
Went down to the little town of Tomales for dinner at a place called the William Tell House. Great prime rib, one of the best I've ever tasted. Came home and watched "Hunt for Red October" which Bob had never seen.
Home about 4:00. Stopped by the launch ramp to see how the fishermen had done. Not too well. Not quite a salmon per boat and no big ones according to the game warden at the dock. Dinner at home -- Lois good game hens -- and movie. Nice day.
05:30 Just outside the entrance we stopped and dropped the flopper-stopper poles then followed another fishing boat out the channel behind Bodega Rock. Good light now. We're running right on schedule.
5:45 It looked like a great morning for running, low slick swells from the northwest and no wind. Then, as I turned past the whistle buoy to our heading for Point Arena, the alarm bell went off. I hit the engine alarm switch first to see if our problem was with cooling or oil. Nope, still ringing. Into the engine room. Nothing apparent there except a little water sprayed around where it shouldn't be. One of Gimmy's cooling hoses was leaking but not enough to cause any problem, and certainly not something to set off the alarm. Well, we'd better go back and work the problem.
06:05 Back at the entrance we dropped the hook in 15 feet of water and I went below to find the problem. I fixed the hose leak first -- just happened to have the perfect chunk of hose all cut to the right size. Then, I unplugged all the alarm circuits and still the damn thing wouldn't quit ringing. Finally I disconnected the new relay I'd put in for the Halon extinguisher. That stopped the ringing but now the engine alarms didn't work. Well, we have gages for cooling and oil pressure. On to Fort Bragg -- I'll work the problem there.
06:30 On our way again. Just as expected, the first several hours were an easy run. Low clouds and thin fog hid the shoreline but there was no wind, and smooth, big swells. We just hummed along.
09:30 Things getting a little rolly now. Still no wind to speak of but waves coming from several directions. I dropped the port flopper-stopper in the water. Talked to a couple of other boats heading north: Coral Queen and Oil Ranch. They left after us but are moving faster, ten knots they said.
13:00 Both F/S in the water now as we pass Point Arena. Wind's up, and seas coming from several directions. It`s what I call a jiggly ride, not intimidating but very tiring. We've had to slow down so it looks like we`ve still got four hours or more to go.
17:00 Should have been there by now but we're still slogging our way past Mendocino when I look out and see the port flopper-stopper dragging way back -- the forestay has parted. We pull back and go even slower to avoid putting too much load on the pole. I call the Noyo Harbormaster and tell her we're coming. Amazingly, after having me stand by a minute, she came back and asked, "Is this Mr. Putnam?" She either has a computer or a good card file. She assigned us to C-9 and told us how to get there.
18:15 We ride big rollers down the entrance track to the Noyo River, turn around and head into them while I pull in the poles and flopper-stoppers. They hang down 17 feet and there's only ten in the channel here.
18:30 Though the narrow channel following the range markers, then up the river past all the fish boats and processing plants -- it's solid boats and buildings along the river from the entrance to the marina. Getting into C-9 we had help from the crew of a big power boat in the slip across the way called Bali Hai. Glad they did. I had only about six feet of clearance in the turning basin. As tight a fit as I've ever tried.
We tied up and crashed, both to tired to do anything. It was a long 76 miles, the longest run we'll have on the trip north.
Checked in at the office this morning and found that they don't have a computer, they just keep an account on every boat that comes through in their receipt book. There was our page from five years ago with a carbon of our receipt for $7.50. The next entry is for $60.00 -- they've doubled their rates and I paid for four days.
It was a beautiful sunny day, so in the afternoon we walked up to the bridge across the Noyo River, then picked up some groceries at the shopping center on top of the hill. Lois stayed and got her hair cut while I carried the stuff back to the boat and put the Metz in the water. When she got home we went for a ride in the Metz. (The spray job Bob & I did seems to be working, at least for now. It's been three days and the tubes are still firm.) This is a very interesting harbor. There must be a half dozen fish packing plants here, and hundreds of fishing boats lining both sides of the river up at least a half mile. Two or three restaurants are along the banks, and several marine supply places. Tomorrow we'll do some more exploring.
Uptown, we bought some stamps at the post office, stopped at the "Skunk Train" depot -- It leaves at 9:30 daily and returns at 4:00, $23.00 per person -- had a Mendocino Ice Cream Company cone, and rented a movie from the video store. It's a pretty good walk back to the docks, well over a mile I'd say, but it was a beautiful morning and downhill to the river. There, we pointed the Metz upriver and had a beautiful two hour ride about three miles upstream before it got too shallow for the motor. Lots of birds along the river: Herons, Kingfishers, Ospreys, Woodducks, Mallards, and others I can't begin to name. Once beyond the mooring basins the river is surprisingly clean; no plastic, paper, cans, or manmade trash of any kind. It must not run near populated areas.
When we got back I walked over to an electronics shop near the marina and talked to a knowledgable sounding gentleman about our Loran. After listening to a description of our symptoms, he allowed as how it probably wasn't worth putting money into. When I told him we were thinking about going to GPS, he quoted me what I think is a pretty good price on a Sitex GPS-7, $1415.70 including tax. I told him to order us one. It'll be here tomorrow. Also, Bob called and said he had our flopper-stopper stays being made up and he and Kris will bring them tomorrow. Things are shaping up.
Watched our movie, FOXFIRE, in the evening. Great! I gave it a 10 rating. Not many get that grade from me.
Bob & Kris showed up about five, bringing a fine set of stainless cables with them. Had dinner on the boat, roast pork, then watched a very funny show by Victor Borge. Tomorrow we'll go play.
In the afternoon we made another run up the river, this time getting a little farther up stream because the tide was in. All the birds were still there, including our red-headed Wood ducks who must be a resident flock. Went a ways beyond the railroad bridge before running out of water. On the way back we stopped along the bank where path ran to the water and stumbled on the home of the Noyo Harbormaster. A group of young men were getting ready for a pre-wedding batchelor party tomorrow. Nice guys, said there was pretty good fishing in the river in December.
On the return trip we stayed on 128 which winds through tunnels of towering redwoods all the way to the coast south of Albion. It was fun to get a look at some of the rock strewn bays we had past on our bouncy ride of last week. None looked like very good anchorages.
Met the couple on a Grand Banks called CAVOK which is moored across the dock from us, John and Karen Pennington. Real nice people, they rented a car and wanted to do some exploring of the country so we sent them to the same wineries that we visited yesterday. They enjoyed it and came by for a drink when they got back. John flys for Northwest and they have to go back to Bainbridge Island tomorrow so he can fly to Tokio next week.
Weather reports sounding a bit better today but they've still got a "Small Craft Advisory" out for Point Saint George to Point Arena. We'll hang in here for another day or so.
05:50 I picked a "flat" spot and executed a 180 degree turn. Getting pretty good at that.
06:30 Back home and all hooked up again. Spent the day on the boat cleaning up and doing a few small jobs. I was messing with the new GPS and the Loran when I stumbled onto the problem which has been making Lorie get lost -- there was a bad solder joint in her antenna connector. I repaired that and now she agrees with the GPS and Satnav to within less than a quarter mile. We're now pretty well fixed for navigation equipment.
Walked out to the jetty this afternoon and from there it looked like the seas were way down. We probably should have kept going. We'll try again tomorrow morning.
All navigation systems seem to be working perfectly. Lorie is doing great now that she is hooked to an antenna. She, Tex, and Johnny -- Yep, that's the GPS -- are all tracking within a quarter mile. Johnny is giving us continual speed over the bottom and says we're doing a little over seven knots even with the flopper-stoppers. The only mystery I've got left is why Tex, the SATNAV, says the Loran is OFF when now she's got a super good signal. Oh well, that's not very important, I'd rather put in speed myself anyway.
06:50 Dolphins, first we've seen since way back south of Monterey. They don't stay to play, but keep on their own course.
10:40 Almost to Shelter Cove a small whale surfaces several times just across our bows. Another first in a very long time. Couldn't get a good look but it had a small triangular fin. Maybe a Pilot Whale?
11:00 Into Shelter Cove, one of the few really nice anchorages between San Diego and Cape Flattery, at least when the weather is right. It's a small cove tucked under high cliffs below redwood forests. It's far from Highway 1 but there is road access and a half dozen pickups and trailers are at the launch ramp behind a small breakwater. Only two other boats here: an aluminum fishing vessel on a mooring buoy and an anchored sailboat called SPIRIT. SPIRIT was in Noyo a couple of days ago but left before we did. The skipper said he'd been blown back at Punta Gorda. Under the cliffs on the black sand beach several surfers were playing in the gentle southerly surf. Not really a great surfing beach -- at least after having been to Hawaii recently -- it's a nice easy swell but very short on the beach. They don't get a ride of more than a couple of hundred feet.
Spent the afternoon on the boat sorting charts and resting up for the big day tomorrow. It's about 56 miles around Point Gorda and Cape Mendocino to the Humbolt Bay entrance and another five or six to Eureka. We'll leave early again and try to be around the Cape before noon. Sure no problem with wind today -- don't think it ever blew more than fifteen knots.
05:50 Around the reef markers and pointed to Punta Gorda. No wind, a smooth sea, having a great ride. We're starting to list just a little to port so I change to the port tank - Engine hours (602.0).
06:05 Lois was below and I happened to be looking out the port window when there was a bang and the port flopper-stopper fish came flying out of the water, made a big swing like it does if I drop it in while we are running fast, and dove back in. It must have hit something while running along down there seventeen feet under the surface. Almost had to be an animal of some kind. We were in sixty fathoms of water and there was no sign of floating trash. It would take something pretty big to deflect that thirty pound chunk of steel out of the water.
06:20 Ran the watermaker just long enough to flush it out. Much lower rate of product water here in the 55o sea water. Don't really need it on this coast but want to keep it working.
07:30 Sure like the new GPS. The chart and Coast Pilot show a rock awash reported 2.5 miles off the coast near where we are running. Without the radar I wasn't sure just how far off we were, so I put the rock's coordinates (N 40o 10.4', W 124o 18.5') in as a waypoint. Johnny steered us right past with no worries about where we were.
08:10 Punta Gorda, and the seas are still glassy smooth. As we turned toward the sea buoy off Cape Medocino I checked our speed made good so far -- 7.6 knots, pretty good for having both fish in the water. The twelve mile run to the buoy crosses the Mendocino Canyon, over a mile deep, and several fishing boats are working the area. Its a great morning for that. Still no wind and smooth seas.
09:50 At the Blunts Reef sea buoy we make our final turn northeast toward Humbolt Bay. This is the most westerly point on the coast until we near Cape Flattery in Washington. Seas still eerily smooth and undulating.
12:55 At the Humbolt Bay entrance. It's a long way up the bay to Eureka, almost five miles. At the city docks where we stayed last time all the outer floats were marked "Draggers Only". We made a shot at getting into an inner slip but ran aground, so decided to try the fancy marina a little farther up the channel at Woodley Island. No problem there, except their fees are a bit higher, $17.50 per night for us.
Spent the afternoon on the boat napping and cleaning up. Called Bob and let him know we are here -- he'll be down in the morning after work. Had dinner at the Cafe Marina, very handy but also very busy. We had to either wait a half hour or eat at the counter. We chose the counter. The weatherman is predicting a cold front through tomorrow. I think we picked the right day to run.
I spent the rest of the day working on the radar. First I tried changing out the mixer diodes up under the radome -- because that was about the simplest thing I could think of. No luck, so I next pulled the display unit out and tried changing out the Time Base PCB for the one I'd purchased from Bill Diltz back in 1987. That got me a nice set of range rings where there had been only blank screen, but there were still no target returns. I guessed that maybe the mixer diodes I'd put in were no good (They'd been taped to the inside of the radome for six years) and changed them again. Still no returns. What now? I always hate to think about two coincidental failures but in reading and re-reading the manual I couldn't come up with any one thing that would explain both symptoms. So, I started changing out things under the radome, one at a time, starting with the easiest to remove and replace. First the Gunn diode assembly -- only a couple of screws and connectors there. No change, so I replaced the one I'd taken out -- didn't want to loose track of myt baseline. Next easiest was the Pulse Modulator board. I put in the one out of the unit we'd bought in Morro Bay. Son of a gun, now we had nice returns. All the ranges seem to work and I can see a nice picture of the channel laid out beside the marina. I still haven't any idea why both boards failed at once. Maybe if someday I get a chance I'll have an expert test them. That is if anybody still has any knowledge of this old Seascan. In the meantime we'll keep our fingers crossed that it doen't happen again.
It was four o'clock by the time I got things all buttoned up and tools put away. It was cold up on the mast with the wind blowing and I was ready to quit. Good feeling to have things working again though. Bob came for dinner and we showed him our videos of the Panama invasion. He was pretty impressed.
We let them get settled, then they came over for a couple of hours of coffee drinking and reviewing the past year's adventures. They'd gotten as far south as Zihuatanejo when they decided that the hot weather just wasn't what they wanted; so, they came back to Cabo, planning on sailing west toward Hawaii around the Pacific high to Alaska. However, after three weeks of sailing with little or no wind they finally came back to the coast and have been working their way slowly north. Slowly for them that is.
In the afternoon the four of us walked over the bridge to town, getting there just ahead of a big squall which dumped buckets of rain outside while we ate lunch at the Lost Coast Brewery -- good food, good beer. The rain stopped just as we finished and we strolled around Old Town for a while, stopping at the Maritime Museum where they have relics of many of the shipwrecks which have occurred along this section of coast.
Back home, Lois did a couple of loads of laundry while I fought with a miserable computer program about making some address lables. A nice lady at Lotus had sent me a new disk to replace my worn out one some time ago and I never thought to try it out before throwing the old one away. Now the new one refuses to talk to out printer. Finally had to give up and use another, less convenient program.
We were thinking of moving on to Crescent City in the morning but, with Tony and Cara here, we may stay for another day.
On the way back we found Tony and Cara on "A" dock talkng with the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter, SAPELA. On the way from Guadelupe Island to San Diego they had picked up a floating radio transmitter with "U S COAST GUARD" in big letters on the side and were delivering it to its owners. We stopped and all of us chatted with the crew for a while about cruising. SAPELA, a two hundred foot cutter, has gone from here all the way into the Caribbean but the young crew members could hardly believe we would do the same thing and more in our little boats.
From there we all piled in the Metz and crossed the channel to a small dock at Eureka's new recreation center. Leaving it there, we walked four blocks up to a grocery store and did some provisioning, then Lois and Cara went shopping in Old Town while Tony and I took the stuff back to the boats. Well, almost all of the stuff. I was putting things away when I missed the lettuce which we'd bought. Yep, I'd walked off and left one bag of groceries at the store. I thought we had one to many empty arms. Back across the channel, back up the hill. The clerk clerk said he'd tried to catch us but we disappeared to quickly.
The Samoa Cookhouse was interesting. We called a taxi to get there -- cost us $6.00 each way. It's the genuine cookhouse of one of the many old lumber mills which years ago lined the west channel and almost identical to one I worked in when working for the Forest Service as a boy. Big dining hall filled with long tables, open kitchen with stoves at one end, pots, pans, and dishes in the middle and dishwashing at the other. Today they were serving fried chicken and roast beef. We sat at one of the long tables with other people and they brought the food on family style. First vegetable soup, then salad, rolls, and pickles, then all we could eat of chicken, thin cut roast beef, potatoes, and mixed vegetables. Topped it all off with apple pie which tasted just like it was made at home. One heck of a meal for $10.65 per head.
06:00 We reach the entrance about an hour before low tide and there's a real rip where the north and south arms of Humbolt Bay come together, standing waves two feet high point the way out of the harbor. Fortunately, we don't have to cross them -- we just follow the flow out the entrance channel. Outside there's a little action too. For a mile out to sea, where the outcoming water from the bay meets the incoming swell we have wild and woolly waves. I was trying to avoid putting the fish in the water, knowing that it would probably smooth out, but finally dropped one in to stop the rolling. Sure enough, a couple of miles out all went smooth again.
09:00 Trinidad Head. Here's where we had planned on stopping for the night but two things kept us going. One, we're riding on nice smooth, glassy swells again, doing about 7.7 knots and it's awfully early to stop; and, two, the weatherman is saying that clear weather is coming starting this afternoon, and with it the northwest winds. So on we go.
12:30 We've got Crescent City in sight when we get the first wind out of the north. It was preceded by a gradual increase in the lumpiness of the seas. We're running in the trough so aren't taking much water over the bow but the wind starts blowing spray over the cabin. For an hour and a half, until we get into the lee of Point Saint George it's a pretty bouncy, wet ride.
14:00 At the harbor entrance. The harbor here is similar to that at Pillar Point. An outer harbor with breakwaters forming a big bay, and an inner boat basin also surrounded by breakwaters. It looks like a place secure from the winter storms. I called the Harbormaster and a guy came down and took our lines on the "Work Dock". Then I walked up to the office to sign up. The lady there, Lucy, assigned us a slip but there was no way we could get to it. The wind was blowing the SEA RAVEN so hard against the dock we were on that I was afraid to try to move off. So we spent the evening there. No problem, as long as the hundred foot boat which normally uses this spot doesn't come home. We'll move in the morning.
We walked to town this morning, then through the waterfront park and out to the old Battery Point lighthouse which is still in operation even though it's now a museum. On the way we talked to an old gentleman we found sitting on a park bench facing the harbor. He said he'd been here in Crescent City since he was thirty (He's now eighty-six). Said he'd owned a grocery when there was only one saw mill here and only three guys working in it. He's seen the place grow and shrink again as lumber, then fishing industries boomed then faded. Now it's tourism. Said he'd done pretty well -- had owned 72 cars in his lifetime (His current one, a Cadillac of about 1970, was sitting at the curb); parleyed the grocery store into two others, a two restaurants, and a bar; married four times, twice to one of the three women -- lost the last twelve years ago. We were the first people he'd met who lived on a boat. He'd always wanted one but never had had time to own one. Nice old guy, fun to talk to.
The lighthouse museum was closed today but there's a spectacular view from the hill it's on. They also had some outside displays, including a write up on the Doloes, the big tetrapods that look like giant jacks, which are used to protect the breakwater here and other places we've been. We even saw them in the port of Quezal, Guatemala. The things are made of reenforced concrete, weigh 42 tons, measure fifteen feet between opposite points in any dimension, and some contain radio transmitters so that surveyors can tell haw far they move. One was moved eleven feet by a big storm.
Swung through town on the way back to the marina. Bought myself a warm vest for $7.50 at a local "2nd Time 'Round" store, stopped at the AAA for some Oregon road maps, had lunch at the Fish Grotto, a restaurant at the marina, then by the Seafood store for some shrimp, cod and smoked salmon. Called Bernie and Chuck. They just got back from Alaska on a fishing trip and will be home when we get to Newport.
CAPTAIN MUSICK came in this after noon after sailing from Trinidad Head. They anchored in the outer harbor and plan not to sail until tomorrow afternoon. Then they'll make it an overnighter to Port Orford. We'll sail to Chatco in the morning and catch them in Port Orford.
07:30 Through the channel and headed for Chetco. I called the Coast Guard and the nice lady said the bar was calm and the channel had a controlling depth of ten to twelve feet of water. I double checked that by calling the Brookings Harbor office on Channel 12. The lady there said the channel is dredged every summer to 14 feet but hadn't been done this year. Sounds OK, even at a zero tide which is about where we'd be at our ETA of 9:30. She assigned us slip O-6 and told us how to find it.
09:30 We stopped just outside the entrance and Lois held the stem into the swell while I pulled up the flopper-stoppers. Plenty of water in the channel coming across the bar, fifteen feet or so, but only a couple under our keel as we turned into the east boat basin. We found our slip and parked between the SHEBA STAR, a beautiful SKOOKUM 53 sailboat, and the ANKH, a sturdy looking well kept power cruiser. More of a mixed bag of pleasure and fishing boats here than in Crescent City.
We went to "home" configuration, then walked up the road to the harbor office about a half mile away. When we stopped here on the way down the coast in the truck I hadn't even realized that the east basin existed. The office is near the west basin where mostly pleasure craft are moored. Paid for one night, only $10.00 here, then had some fish and chips at the Short Stop across the street.
On the way back we stopped at a marine electronics store and talked to the proprietor, Bob, about radar. He has a pretty good buy in a small Raytheon but I think Furuno is the way to go. My informal survey has Furuno as the choice of the fishermen (very serious users) at least ten to one. When we got back to the boat I tried one more thing with old Rader. I changed out his Time Base board with the one we had in our original display unit. No help. He still starts off with the jitters and smooths out in a dozen sweeps or so. The problem must be in the Pulse Modulator board up topside and I don't have another spare for it. Guess we've got to get serious about a new radar.
This seems to be a bad time for our electronics. Yesterday when I took the handheld out to the beach and called Lois she sounded awfully scratchy and when I first talked to Tony this morning he said I was hardly readable. So, I dug out the little spare VHF that Nan had sent to us in Mexico three years ago and installed it. Cara said it was a 5000 percent improvement when I called again. I hate to give up the old Polaris -- it has some neat features that the new one doesn't and is easier to operate. Maybe I can get someone to fix it someday. I also talked to Woody a young fisherman who bought one of the Raytheon R-10 radars from Bob. He hasn't used it much, or any other radar for that matter, so he couldn't give me a lot of help; but he said it seemed "a little weak". He said it picked up the reflector on the jetty but not the jetty itself. I gave him a few tips on how to use it, but I think it is a little small for what we want. It only has a 16" scanner which isn't a big enough aperture to give much detail even at short ranges. We also talked to an albacore fisherman named Mike who has a big steel boat called POCAHONTAS. He very strong on Furuno and says the 1830 would be his choice. That was confirmed by two others I talked to while walking the docks. Of course, like a lot of other things, people in a given area tend to follow each other in their choices. Somewhere else the choice might be different. I've got a bit more fussing to do before deciding.
Over in the boatyard at the end of the basin I found another SKOOKUM 53 and talked to Paul Harmon, the son of the man who owns it. Paul was patching blisters. NEW HOPE has a case not quite as bad as ours was. I'm afraid Paul is kidding himself. He hasn't done much research on the subject and is just grinding out the blisters and filling the holes with Marinetex without first drying out the hull. I promised to get him a copy of some of my literature. He and his dad use the boat like Ed Monk designed it, in the offshore tuna fishery. He said they always sail to the fishing grounds, Midway Island on the last trip. Said she holds 17 ton of fish in her holds.
In the afternoon we walked to the harbor office, paid for a couple of more nights, then up the hill to the little shopping center overlooking the bay. Poked around in the stores, bought a couple of things, then took the back way down the hill to the marina. Talked to some friendly folks along the way. Brookings does seem to be a friendly place. Woody stopped by for a beer in the evening. Nice kid, kind of lonely, lives alone on his little fishing boat.
With that decided, I got out the bikes and cart and we took a ride up to the shopping center. Well, I should say we rode to the bottom of the hill and walked up. Those little bikes aren't much for hill climbing. We loaded up with groceries -- five big bags, a half case of beer, and a jug of Purex in that little cart -- and crept down the hill. Made it okay, but on the way discovered that my rear tire was coming off the rim again. Last time it did that was in Puerto Nueva. It makes me bob up and down like I'm on a merry-go-round. I had purchased a new tire in Mexico but we've used the bikes so seldom in the past year that I'd never gotten around to putting it on. So I did. Then we took another ride. Out to the Coast Guard station where I asked if they had anybody who understood radar. Nope, they no longer have their own techs. They contract all that out to a commercial outfit in Coos Bay. Another ride around the bay, a stop at a "Texas Barbecue" for a couple of samiches, and home to get ready to roll in the morning.
So, I decided to have one more try at the radar. First I changed out the Range Ring Generator board for the one from our original display unit. No change. In about fifteen minutes of running we started spoking again. This time though there was a clue: On the long range setting we were only getting about four strobes per scan. There should have been a thousand. That meant that the problem was somewhere in the pulse modulation circuit. I had changed out the Pulse Modulation board several days ago when we first had our problem with no picture at all. Well, nothing else doing. Might as well try changing the board again. That did it. With our original board back in place we have a good picture; and, in over an hour of running, no spoking. Okay, here's where we stand:
Display Unit - The one we bought in Morro Bay
Time Base Board - The one from our original display unit.
Range Generator Board - From our original display unit.
Scanner Unit - Our original scanner
Diodes - From our original unit (Changed out and then put back)
Pulse Modulator Board - From our original unit (Changed out and then put back)
It appears that we have one bad Time Base Board and one intermittant Pulse Modulator Board (Both from the radar we bought in Morro Bay). As spares we still have another Time Base Board (The one I bought from Bill Diltz), a Range Ring Generator Board, two Power Supply Boards, an IF Amplifier Board, a Video & C.R.T. Board, an E.H.T. Unit, a Magnatron, an Inverter Transformer, a Scanner Motor, Scanner Belt, plus a whole bunch of miscellaneous parts. If I could find somebody to fix our two broken parts I'd be feeling pretty comfortable about old Raider.
Mike (POKAHONTAS) came over this morning with a friend of his for a tour of the SEA RAVEN. Entertained us with stories of their fishing adventures in the South Seas. He was raised on a sailboat there and has spent his entire life on the water. Had his own sailboat at fourteen. Very knowledgeable and likeable kid -- twenty-nine years old but, to us, a kid never-the-less. Later he came back, covered with grease -- he's putting a new transmission in the POKAHONTAS, bringing a couple who were friends of his. They also loved the SEA RAVEN.
Very hot today -- 97o in the shade. We ran up the river this afternoon but it didn't do much to cool us off. If anything it was hotter up there. It's a bigger, wider river but also steeper. We ran out of water deep enough for the Metz about a mile upstream, nothing but white water from there on. Late in the afternoon we started getting gusty winds, even in this protected pocket. Guess we'll be residents of Brookings for quite a while.
In early afternoon a boat called the SHEBA MOON called the Coast Guard Station. They were on their way in. I jumped in the Metz and went out to meet them, hoping to get some word on sea conditions, and was amazed to see another Skookum 53. That makes four of us in this little harbor now: SEA RAVEN, NEW HOPE, SHEBA STAR, and now SHEBA MOON, a sailing schooner with a Seattle home port. We've not seen more than three or four before anywhere south of Juan de Fuca. A young couple from Dana Point were the crew. I and a couple of the Coast Guard crew helped them tie up and later in the evening they came over for a drink with us. Darryl Wiedman and Jean Fuller, a couple of young professionals, recently purchased the boat, moved onto it, and are on their way north for a summer of cruising the San Juan and Gulf islands before taking it back south in the fall and going back to work. The crew from MIRANDA, Ken Hatch and Barbara Mortell, also dropped by. Ken's parents live on Whidbey Island and she is from Canada. They are going north for good. These are the first real cruisers we've met in a long time, with the exception of Tony and Cara of course.
The late weather forecast this evening was a big change from the past several days. They've dropped the small craft warnings and are predicting south winds and smaller seas. The others are talking about leaving in the morning. I think we'll let things settle another day.
Harry Green, the owner of ANKH, our neighboring boat, showed up this afternoon and we spent a while talking with him. He's a retired manufacturer from Carson City and Redwood City who built parts for computers. Took his boat to Alaska last summer and would like to go back. He's also a glider pilot with diamond awards. Fun talking with him.
12:00 Around Cape Blanco on glassy, rolling, seas and heading for Coos Bay. We went outside the Orford and Blanco reefs and didn't have anywhere near as confused seas as we had at Mendocino or Saint George.
14:00 Off Coquille River there was a whole line of fishing boats seemingly doing nothing. We found out why when North Bend Coast Guard announced a few minutes after we'd passed that the bar, which had been closed because of dangerous conditions, was now open. Fortunately, our timing is perfect for the Coos Bay bar -- we'll be there near the last of flood tide.
17:30 Into the Coos Bay entrance channel just in time to meet two big ships coming out. First excitement of the day as I try to figure out which way to go. Ended up just right as I hugged the left side of the channel as the ships, which couldn't turn sharply, swung wide to intercept the range. Since the forecast is good for tomorrow we decided to anchor rather than trying to find a dock for the night. We found a nice spot just out of the channel and, after checking with the Coast Guard life boat who said it was okay, dropped our hook on a twenty foot deep rocky bottom and then crashed. It's been a long time since we ran a twelve hour day.
Three things made today's trip a little more interesting than yesterday's. First, the fog was thinner. Most of the day we could see the horizon, catch glimpses of the big dunes that line much of the coast along here, and even, in the afternoon, have some sunshine. Second, we were entertained by sharks. Must have seen a dozen of them all together. Either small Blues or big Dogfish, I couldn't get a good enough look to tell, they lay just under the surface with their dorsal fin and the tip of their tails protruding from the water. Didn't seem at all bothered by the old SEA RAVEN as she passed. We almost hit one with the flopper-stopper chain but he just slowly moved out of the way and let it pass. We were running about five miles off the beach and there seemed to be a lot of feed in the area. Big flocks of birds swarmed over the tidal riffles. The third thing that made the trip easier was that it was about two hours shorter, only seventy-five miles as opposed to ninety.
16:00 At the Newport entrance. I'd called ahead and talked to a lady at the port office and she said to take the first empty end tie in the south basin, so that we did. They've dredged the basin deeper since we were here in '87, and there are lots more boats here too. Last time we docked over on the other side of the river with the fish boats. I liked that better - here we have a long walk across the big Yaquina bridge to get to town - but decided not to fight it. We'll work something out.
Lots of fishing activity here. I guess the salmon season is still open above Florence.
Changed Gimmy's oil and oil filter this morning. Bought new filters at the fuel dock and got his price for fuel -- $0.81 per gallon. Here there's no sales tax and I don't think we're likely to do any better than that, so I think we'll fill tomorrow. Put another can of tire fix stuff in the Metz. It's a latex spray but for some reason doesn't seem to last more than a couple of months. After that I put the Metz in the water and Lois and I took a tour of the harbor. We stopped by an electronics store -- $2650.00 for a Furuno 1830 -- and the commercial basin. There is lots of space over there with the fishermen and if we had just gone in we could have saved $3.20 per day on our moorage. I already paid for four days in the south basin and with the Metz in the water it's easy to run across to the restaurants and shops.
Called Chuck and Bernie -- they'll be down tomorrow and also left a message for Tuck to let him know that we're in the vicinity.
08:00 Just north of Yaquina Head we had passed the crowd so decided to do a little fishing. Back to idle, other foil in the water to slow us down, and out with the gear. I had to rig both poles because Chuck got to feeling a little whoosey whenever he looked down, but outside on the stern fishing he had no problem.
08:30 Fish on! And in the boat, a nice little 7 lb silver, just right for dinner. About five minutes later I had a little Pacific Mackerel on the hook, then another. A squall was coming from the south so we decided to bag it for a while and run.
12:00 Off Cape Lookout and making very good time, 7.5 knots with both fish in the water. At this rate we'll be in Tillimook at 15:00.
14:00 Swell and wind down now, and so we decide to give fishing another try. Even at idle we were making good 2.5 knots so just kept on fishing -- I didn't want to hit the Tillimook bar before the change of tide.
15:30 Chuck pulls another silver on board, about the samne size as the first. And, yes, I get more mackerel. Guess I don't live right. No matter, I get more fun out of having my guests catch fish than I do catching them myself. And besides, I don't have a license.
16:30 We give it up and head for the entrance. Easy crossing even though I'd pulled in the flopper-stoppers. (I'd made the mistake of calling the Coast Guard Station and asking if there was any problem with coming over the bar with them hanging down. As it turned out there was lots of room and lots of water, but those guys will never commit themselves to anything not in their routine.)
17:00 I'd told the ladies not to expect us before 18:00 but Lois was there on the radio as we came in to Garibaldi. She had good news. They've put in a whole new transient dock since we were here in '87 and there was room on the dock for us. It's sure better than the reception we had before, a really nice new dock with restrooms, showers, and even the fanciest fish cleaning facility I've ever seen for only $6.00 per night. Only disadvantage is that there's no power, and the one water faucet is at the foot of the ramp.
We hadn't even gotten tied to the dock when along came a couple of young men in Coast Guard uniform. "Have you been boarded recently?" was the question. My answer, "Not since we left the Seattle District back in 1987." So we got boarded and inspected. Nice kids. The leader, Kent, was from Couer d'Alene and immediately recognized our Worley address. Let us go without any "violations" after I typed, while he dictated, a "Waste Management Plan" for the boat on the little Toshiba.
Had broiled salmon for dinner, the best I've had for a long, long time. Nothing like fresh caught salmon for a special treat.
Walked to town in the afternoon. For some reason it seems a much more hospitable place than it did in '87. The pretty little railroad park at the foot of the marina ramp is new. Other than that it hasn't changed much, but it all seems nicer. We picked up some oysters at the Bay Oyster Company and Lois fried them for dinner. She's not very enthusiastic about them but; oh, they were good.
07:55 Up anchor and on our way again. Current way down, no white water as we reach the jetties, and only an occasional breaking wave outside. We ride easily up and over the 12 foot swells which peak as the bar comes up to 18 feet just inside of the Gong buoy, then it`s almost flat, just long, smooth swells coming from the west. I had put down one fish before we came out, just in case. Now we stopped, pulled it back in, and pointed our nose 333o toward the Clatsop Spit buoy 37 miles to the north.
09:00 Off Nehalem Bay making 8.5 knots and riding good.
11:00 Tillimook Head. Sun has come out, the sky is blue, and water a bright turquoise green.
13:00 Columbia River Whistle buoy. Our timing is perfect as we ride the incoming tide and the big swells into the channel. While we're inbound we hear a vessel calling for help in the Ilwaco Channel, big fishing vessel run aground. Fortunately, the Coast Guard had him off and running soon so we only had a short wait until he cleared the channel. I was a little spooked by the channel when Charley started saying we were almost aground ourselves as we passed the Coast Guard Station. When I talked to them later they said I should have had eighteen feet. I guess I was staying to far to the right in the channel. I hope that's right. We plan to leave on the outgoing tide in the morning.
14:30 Tied to the end of "D" dock at Ilwaco. We walked up to the office, paid our fee -- $11.50 just to tie up with no power. Must be back in populated territory again -- and then had a bowl of very good chowder at a waterfront cafe. Back to the boat for an early dinner and bed. Have to be up early again to beat the morning tide.
We followed the bunch north across Peacock Spit, a big, shallow area just north of the river mouth, to the fishing grounds. I was ready to stop and catch a salmon or two but Lois wanted to keep going so we did. We'll have plenty of time for fishing later. As we ran north we started to see other boats coming south headed for the same grounds and learned later that they were from Westport. The season doesn't open there until the 6th so they were running thirty miles each way to catch their fish. I talked to one guy who said, "Yeh, three hours down and three hours back for five minutes of fishing." He wasn't complaining; they all had their two fish.
11:00 Tied to the end of Float 8 in Westport with the help of a nice young man named Ken. We came over the Gray's Harbor bar on the incoming tide so it was a nice smooth ride. We settled down then walked up to the Marina Office where we were welcomed by Larry, the manager. The port only has four employees: Larry, Ken, Mike and the secretary, but they sure are a friendly bunch. Not cheap though -- $15.00 per night for us.
We walked around town, had a bowl of chowder at Barbara's, bought Lois a Seagull T-shirt to match the Seagull jacket which Nan gave her a few years ago, then came home and took a nap. In the afternoon we took a ride on the Gray's Harbor Trolley. Cost us all of twenty-five cents apiece to ride to the end of the line at Grayland and back. Westport looks like it's a convenient place to get around in.
There's a telephone right at the foot of our float and I was checking in with some of the family when I decided to call Sis. That led to a big change in plan. They are leaving for a family float trip on the Salmon River next Wednesday and invited us to join them. Ken, Kathy, and I don't know who else will be with us. So, we'll leave the boat here, figure out how to get to Idaho Falls by Monday or Tuesday, and take another vacation from cruising.
I called Tuck this morning. He said he, Patty, and the kids would come up tomorrow, spend the Fourth with us, then take us back down to Portland to catch a plane to Idaho Falls. That sounded like a great plan. But -- after fooling around in the morning we caught the trolley to town to pick up our mail. Guess what - the miserable Post Office was closed! And our new Horizon I.D. cards are in the "Priority Mail" envelope sitting inside. Looks like we have to either stick around here until the Post Office opens on Monday, or pay full fare for the flight to Idaho. I think we'll stick around and ride the bus to Seattle.
Walked around town in the afternoon, called Sis and got the poop on what to bring for our six days on the river. We put in on the 9th or 10th, depending on river level, and come off the river on the 14th. Had dinner at Barbara's, then came home and watched all the funny people wandering around the docks. About 11:30 at night Lois jabbed me in the ribs and said, "Somebody just opened the door!" "Nah, couldn't be.", says I. I was just getting up to investigate when there was the cry of a small person with a hurt -- Trevor, Patty 's son, had come in ahead of Tuck, turned right, and fallen down the stairs into the saloon. Yep, they were all here, Tuck, Patty, Amy, and Trevor, after having driven from a wedding in Lincoln City. We quick made up the beds in the forward stateroom and tucked them all in. We'll have fun tomorrow. They are predicting 50,000 visitors for the fireworks display tomorrow night.
In the evening we all walked over to the breakwater and set off the daylight fireworks which Tuck had brought. Then, after a fine dinner at Barbara's, it was almost dark and time for the big show. Guess what. Yep, that's when the rain started. Not a heavy rain, just a mist that wet everything down. Deciding against going out in the fields to watch, we went back to the boat and set up our observation platform on the aft deck. It worked out fine. We were less than a half mile from the launch site and, other than for a few low clouds which drifted between here and there, we had a great display. We also had another, private launching off the big fish plant wharf just across from us. It was sure loud enough for Trevor -- he gets a little nervous at loud noises and was quite happy to sit on somebody's lap and be hugged tight when the big bangs came. After the big show Lois and I opted to hit the sack while Tuck, Patty and the kids went off to set off some bangs of their own. So, for us, ended a fun day.