08/07/2008, Portland Oregon
(Thursday 8/7) After yesterdays fire...I can now look back and analyze what we did right and what we did wrong. On the wrong side we called the Coast Guard way too soon. PUT OUT THE FIRE FIRST then decide whether to call or not. It just added to the confusion and invited them (USCG) to inspect our vessel later on that morning. It turns out the fire was rather minor...the foot switch is old and cracked and saltwater from the washdown made its way into the switch which shorted it out causing the windless to activate in the up position. The shear pins of course sheared but the brake held fast which caused the loud squealing noise , severe vibration and large column of smoke on the outside of the boat. The only thing that melted on the inside was the foot switch which filled the forward berth with smoke. I of course grabbed the largest fire extinguisher (most expensive) to put out the very minor electrical fire which probably was already out when Susan popped the circuit breaker. This of course also created quite a mess in the forward berth. In hindsight we could have continued on to our destination although most people I talk to said returning to Neah Bay was probably for the best. We left Neah Bay Saturday morning at 9:00am. Winds were light out of the SE forecasted to change to 10-20 knots Sunday afternoon out of the NW. Seas were 3 feet with 1 or 2 foot wind chop. We motored at 1800rpm's (7.5kts) for the first 75 miles then we slowed down to 1400rpm's (5.1kts) for the next 65 miles. Once we started feeling the effects of the Columbia River we sped back up rounding Buoy #3 36 minutes behind schedule...not bad if I don't say so myself. The Bar crossing was probably the easiest I've ever experienced...3 foot following seas in a 52 foot sailboat...piece-o-cake! I slept solid while Susan took the boat on up the river to Saint Helens (arriving around 7:00 pm) where we spent the night and had a well deserved break. We left Saint Helens around 8:00am; we passed through the Interstate 5 Bridge around 11:30 and was in our home slip by 12:30 Monday afternoon...safe and sound. We logged a total of 1079 nautical miles in 5 ½ weeks, spent thousands of dollars (both US and Canadian) but had a great time. We all learned some new things while on this voyage. With the exception of the windless everything worked as advertised. I'm especially proud of how the off engine alternator and the large battery bank performed. We had dinner and a movie almost every evening and JW played his Xbox for hours every day and we only ran the generator one day on the hook and that was because Susan wanted to wash some cloths. On another note...I had my MRI yesterday and should have the results in a couple of days. Joe
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07/25/2008, Neah Bay
That's right...this morning about a mile off shore we had an electrical fire. Minor as it was it scared us pretty good and we returned to Neah Bay. Everything is OK...the Coast Guard inspected our vessel but we missed an excellent weather window. We're going to try it again tomorrow. Weather not as good but doable. Wish us luck...Joe
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07/25/2008
(Thursday 7/25) Mid-day Monday we left Bremerton for points unknown, our plan is to stop when we get tired. Wow we made it to Port Townsend but the last 3-5 miles was rough. We were taking water on the deck as far back as the cockpit. A couple of waves went over the dodger. We anchored off downtown and had rough night at anchor. We went into the marina the next morning fueled up for the long run home. Because of a bad weather forecast we decide to spend one more day in PT. We learned something new about the Strait. It creates its own weather phenomenon. As the inland surfaces heat that cold stretch of water does not. This causes strong (sometimes gale force winds) without the usual weather systems. So plan your trip in the early morning to be off the water by noon or wait for an overcast day. We made it to Port Angeles yesterday. Today we traveled 55 nautical miles and are safely anchored in Neah Bay. It's about 3:00p and the winds have piped up to about 20knots. Tomorrow we head south along the coast. The weather reports look good for the next 2 days. We filed a float plan with our friend James and since there is no internet here if you are reading this blog we probably made it...Joe.
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