Please tell the new owners about the requirement of posting her new adventures here.
Please tell the new owners about the requirement of posting her new adventures here.
Last edited by Jonathan Gutoff; 08-13-2020 at 10:39 PM.
I've been seeing your Craigslist advertisements for a while, now, and I confess to a little hope that she wouldn't sell, and you'd keep sailing her. The other best day in a boatowners life, and all....
what's next?
Love the pictures of the kids in the Avon!
1968 Selmer Series 9 B-flat and A clarinets
1962 Buesher "Aristocrat" tenor saxophone
Piper One Design 24, Hull #35; "Alpha"
Having slept aboard in front of Magic Schooner and Cat House in Los Osos, I was up well before dawn the next morning and underway by 0500. Fortunately, traffic south on Highway 101 and the 405 freeway to Alamitos Bay was, uncharacteristically, flowing smoothly south of Ventura and WILDFLOWER and I arrived at the launch ramp at 1030.
I met the new owner and we rigged the gin pole and hoisted the mast. He easily backed the boat down the ramp and into the bay, sans tongue extender, where we both momentarily had to push with our legs and backs to float WILDFLOWER off the trailer. The outboard started first pull and off we went at 1200 for a sea trial.
The first challenge was clearing the 2nd St. Bridge which required partially lowering the mast. I suggested a Harbor cruise while making sure everything was in place, and showed my age remembering Alamitos Bay of 60 years ago as a pleasant place to sail dinghies launched from the sandy beach. Back then winds were warm and steady. Today serious puffs interspersed with calm came down the alleys between cheek-by-jowl 3 story boxaminiums.
Eye-opening was the amount of weekday boat traffic resembling a waterworld theme park. Rental electric launches driven by young kids with adults in the stern seats spinning in bumper boat fashion, pedal boats being blown willy nilly, and SUP boards in abundance, an obnoxious few carrying boom boxes at "look at me" max volume. Only sailboat I saw underway was an ancient Soling with at least a dozen 8-12 year olds hanging legs over as the camp counselor took them for a sailing class. Anticipation for collision avoidance was sketchy, as we never knew who was suddenly going to turn where.
Overlording the semi-chaotic scene like a giant insect was the maxi-tri TRITIUM, for sale and looking lethal going nowhere fast.
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We tacked WILDFLOWER for the breakwater channel leading to the outer harbor, negotiated a gaggle of jet skis, tucked in 2 reefs in both main and jib, and off we went on port tack in the brisk, 18 knot, afternoon westerly sea breeze that prevails most summer afternoons at Long Beach Harbor, giving the numerous kite foilers good air.
Our first tack was seaward of the Belmont Pier where there are stadium seats for viewing sailing, racing, Olympic trials and the Congressional Cup match racing . WILDFLOWER's new owner was simultaneously steering and smiling while I briefed on the boat's setup and handling techniques ("no more than 5 degrees of heel please.")
WILDFLOWER was particularly frisky and we cruised in T-shirts up by the camouflaged and decorated oil islands and their palm trees until sunset before heading in on the dying breeze. A long day......TBC
oil island Grissom with Belmont Pier in background
Last edited by sleddog; 08-14-2020 at 08:01 PM.
[QUOTE=sleddog;27190]Having slept aboard in front of Magic Schooner and Cat House in Los Osos, I was up well before dawn the next morning and underway by 0500. Fortunately, traffic south on Highway 101 and the 405 freeway to Alamitos Bay was, uncharacteristically, flowing smoothly south of Ventura and WILDFLOWER and I arrived at the launch ramp at 1030.
I met the new owner and we rigged the gin pole and hoisted the mast. ...
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It stirs my heart to see you with Wildflower on her trailer, and to hear of your Long Beach sailing together. You will always have those northern adventure memories and log entries, special times, to cherish!
And your Avon (Mrs. Raft) rows with Leila and Rumi, thank you!! Getting the next generation primed for their sea adventures.
In a different year, WILDFLOWER would be in the San Juan Islands about now.
photo by Capt. Bob
Times a changing, and visitors are not always being welcomed. One fallout from Covid is Washington State Ferry System delays of 3 hours and more being common. Here's the poop from King news:
ANACORTES, Wash. — Mitch Herrera makes his living hauling construction supplies to and from the San Juan Islands, but delays at the ferry docks are making his days longer and job tougher.
"Three hours is the standard wait now," he says. "You just have to count on it."
Herrera says the state ferry delays make it more difficult to get his supplies delivered on time, creating a ripple effect.
"If you can't completely supply your customers, they're going to start getting it from somewhere else."
Summertime ferry delays are nothing new to the San Juan Islands, but the coronavirus pandemic has made this season much worse than most. At one point this summer, some 200 vehicles with reservations were left stranded at the Friday Harbor terminal.
Several factors are at work: Because ridership is down due to COVID-19, the ferries are running on a winter schedule. That means fewer boats and fewer trips. Now that summer is here, ridership is increasing, but not enough to justify a full summer schedule.
Factor in that the state ferry workforce has many in a vulnerable age group, so many employees aren't coming back to work for fear of contracting coronavirus. Some have used the situation to retire. State hiring freezes are also in effect, leaving positions vacant.
Ferry Advisory Committee member Rick Hughes says COVID-19 is exposing how sick the ferry service is. If we're gonna keep going through this health crisis, and with the following economic crisis, we need to have infrastructure that works. It does not work right now. You cannot have every single boat late every single day and have a community function."
Ferry officials acknowledge the problem and say a task force is actively working to fix it. "They're looking at adjustments to things with the boats or crews to squeeze a little bit more out of the schedule," says Washington State Ferries spokesman Ian Sterling. "There are delays right now. We're in the middle of a pandemic. These aren't normal times, and unfortunately, folks shouldn't expect normal transportation services whether it's ferries, airplanes or anything else."
Health officials in the San Juans continue to ask tourists to stay off the ferries and stay off the islands to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Many are not heeding that call, putting a heavy burden on an already strained ferry system. That strain is being felt across Puget Sound. The Seattle to Bainbridge run is down to one boat. Waits in Mukilteo and Edmonds have clocked in at up to four hours.
At this point, ferry officials say they have no idea when service will be back to pre-coronavirus levels.
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Meanwhile, mail to CBC and Santa Cruz County neighborhoods is often being delivered after dark by dedicated carriers without flashlights. With no overtime pay, safety compromised, and diminishing support from the Feds, the neighborhood mailman on his daily rounds is under jeopardy.
Last edited by sleddog; 08-15-2020 at 10:05 PM.
Thanks, Sis, for the sweet words
Speaking of next generations in the same Avon raft, here is Kali Rose, age 1, with me aboard the Avon in British Columbia in 1989. Kali and her folks, Nancy and Joe, are also from Santa Cruz and built the beautiful 47' Paul Whiting design SHANACHIE. Kali is now a professional river raft guide, sailor, and kite-surfer.
Here is WILDFLOWER, my custom Wylie 27, rafted to Kali's home afloat, SHANACHIE. There's the Avon again hanging astern of WILDFLOWER, and a stock Windsurfer, 12 feet long and 60 pounds, against WILDFLOWER's port lifelines. Standup paddling the Windsurfer using the mast for a paddle was good fun in those days.
Last edited by sleddog; 08-17-2020 at 05:19 PM.
The selling point of the Avon Redcrest was durability. Sleddog confirmed that with his version.
This photo shows my version near Santa Cruz Island in the late 1970's.
Piglet, as the Redcrest was called found a a new owner and I downsized to an Achilles. Except for a 16-inch blowout that was repaired, the Achilles still sees use.
Here's an outing on the Kern River with a fly rod.
I guess a good inflatable is a joy forever.
Ants
The two part wood oars were not "durable." As a teenager I was courting my first girlfriend and we borrowed her family's AVON Redcrest for a row around Howland's Cove at Catalina. As her parents watched us row away, my first pull broke both oars.
Since then I have always had one piece oars, longer than the cheesy, stock ones. They've stood me in good stead. Here's rowing into incipient 45 knot puffs of Cyclone Drena in January, 1997, in Auckland Harbor's Westhaven. I'd filled my Redcrest with 15 gallons of water ballast so it had momentum between pulls and to discourage it from blowing over backwards. Stroke rate to get to windward was ~50 and it took about 10 minutes to reach WILDFLOWER on the piling moorings. After disembarking back aboard WILDFLOWER and catching my wind, for yucks I flew the Avon like a kite using a 3 point bridle, a spinnaker sheet, and #22 primary winch.
https://www.weatherwatch.co.nz/conte...-cyclone-drena
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weQEg7wPQ2U
Last edited by sleddog; 08-18-2020 at 01:46 PM.