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Thread: New Boat 4 Sled

  1. #81
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    6/12/12

    Longtime friend and respected artist and boat captain Robert Flowerman is in Friday Harbor for his grand daughter's high school graduation. We got together for a sail on WILDFLOWER and cruised the Friday Harbor waterfront. Blue skies and a civil breeze of 6-10 knots prevailed. That's Robert steering in the attached photo. At the head of the harbor was the purposeful tug TIGER HORSE, complete with a full race Cal 20 on its upper deck. Who needs a trailer when you have a tug with hoist to get you to the regatta?

    Yesterday I hiked across San Juan Island to Lime Kiln Point lighthouse. Tourists arrive at this prime orca viewing spot to see the orca show. Kinda like a Disneyland ride, everyone had high hopes for a noon viewing. When a little harbor porpoise poked its fin up briefly, the cry went up "ORCA!!!" Cameras flashed and the crowd went on to their next adventure. Who was I to burst their bubble? The local orca researcher in the old light house confided his "spotters" had the 85 members of resident pods K & L 40 miles away off Vancouver Island.

    I hiked uphill and visited friends Mary and Jim Guard, who live on the top of Mt. Dallas, highest mountain on San Juan Island. Jim used to sail with Bob Derecktor, and we first met in 1971, when I was on IMPROBABLE for the SORC in Florida.

    With an almost 360 degree view from Jim and Mary's home at 1036', we could see Mt.Rainer, 120 miles to the south, Mt. Baker, 80 miles to the east, the entire snow covered Cascade Range, and the Olympic Range across the Straits of Juan de Fuca. Mts. Baker and Rainer resembled giant vanilla ice cream cones poking into the blue sky.

    In the small world department, my sister and her husband are off to Europe. Their first stop will be Prague to visit our good friend Capt. Ivo Hruza of the Czech Republic. Ivo was captain of the MSC TORONTO, the giant container ship that plucked me safely off the original WILDFLOWER, returning from the 2008 SHTP. We have remained good friends since and get together when his shipping schedule permits.
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    Last edited by sleddog; 06-15-2012 at 09:50 PM.

  2. #82
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    You don't have to go far for action on the Friday Harbor docks. It comes to you. While doing laundry in a bucket, I watched a large (2'), orange, 20 point starfish sprint along the nearby sea bottom, going somewhere at about a foot/minute.

    Nearby, a family with a load of suitcases in a large dock cart, lost control on the steep low tide gangway, and suitcases spilled all over. Luckily, no one was run over or injured. A sexy 30' powerboat came in to tie up with the wife/girlfriend at the controls in an attempt to back in the slip. The husband/boyfriend jumped to the dock just before the driver somehow shifted into forward at half throttle, nearly launching him into the water before he let go. She then hit reverse, and the boat accelerated into the slip at a high rate. Luckily, the rubber inflatable dinghy was hanging from the stern, and with a loud "sprong" sound acted as the perfect bumper as the sex boat rammed into the dock. As Chick Hearn would say, "no harm, no foul."

    It's a veritable dog show here. No exaggeration to say 50% of the visiting boats come with at least one dog aboard. And they all walk by WILDFLOWER's slip, owners in tow. Film at 11.

  3. #83
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    6/18/12

    Went hiking today with local writer/author Janet Thomas on the trails of American Camp at the S. End of San Juan Is. It was windy near the cliffs overlooking the Straits of Juan de Fuca. Just offshore, the water was flecked with white horses coming in from the west on a 20 knot breeze., Grand vistas in all directions with virtually no one around. The shingle beaches have a mass quantity of criss crossed sun bleached logs, blown ashore in winter storms. Inland on the gentle hills are re-established prairie grasses. The whole area is under jurisdiction of the National Park Service.

    Unfortunately, there is a man made environmental tragedy whose aura pervades American Camp. The previous well meaning NPS superintendent, ignoring local outcry and political mandates, exterminated the local rabbit population using carbon monoxide pumped into their warrens. These European rabbits, non-native, were previously kept under control by "9 species of raptors" (from the NPS color brochure) including bald and golden eagles, and local foxes.

    According to Janet, the rabbit gassing occurred in 2010. Now, American Camp is mostly devoid of wildlife. The food source is gone. Today, a perfect raptor day, we saw none. The eagles' nests are abandoned. A couple of grazing deer sighted. Equally sad were the emaciated foxes, begging food from passing cars. This area of island is a prime example of good intentions, with unintended consequences. Most sad.

    On a happier note, the large Washington State ferries arrive here at Friday Harbor hourly. As they approach the landing, about half mile out, passing Brown Island and making about 10 knots, the ferry captains sound one long, two short blasts on their booming horn. Extra credit for anyone who can tell what this horn signal means.
    Last edited by sleddog; 06-19-2012 at 10:18 AM.

  4. #84
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    Happy Solstice, All. The sun rose this morning at Friday Harbor at 5:18. There was a McGregor 26 next door last evening. It had a fully enclosed cockpit structure, with a rubber dinghy on top of that. I honestly thought it was going to capsize in the slip. In harbor, the owner prefered to motor in reverse, as viz forward was compromised.

    Out on the main dock is the 152' motor yacht AFTER EIGHT, built in Anacortes and registered on the Isle of Man. She carries a crew of 12 and her tanks hold 15,000 gallons of fuel for her 2,300 horsepower engines. Her brochure describes an "economical" cruising range of 4,000 miles at 20 knots. I don't see how you can afford to run something like this unless you own at least a couple of oil wells, a small refinery, or both. To fill AFTER EIGHT's fuel tankage is gonna cost upwards of $75,000, in this country anyway. Despite all the fuel, it was interesting to observe that upon coming alongside the dock, the first line ashore was the aft spring. The second was the shore power cord, the size of a hawser. Friday Harbor's lights dimmed when AFTER EIGHT plugged in. http://www.superyachts.com/luxury-ya...er-eight-1664/

    On a more sensible note, I hiked over to Shipyard Cove yesterday to get a close up view of the tug TIGER HORSE and her on deck consort, the beautiful little Cal 20 SITKA ROSE.
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    Last edited by sleddog; 06-20-2012 at 07:33 AM.

  5. #85
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    Default What do I win?

    Hi Skip,

    Answer to your question is 35.c.

    Happy to read about your adventures and keep them comin' okay?

    Jan

  6. #86
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    Hi Jan,

    Good to hear from you! Sorry, on the extra credit quiz, you don't win anything yet.

    For those unfamiliar, Jan is referring to Col Regs section 35.(c) which says a vessel shall sound one long, two short horn blasts in or near an area of restricted visibility, when this vessel is

    "not under command, a vessel restricted in her ability to maneuver whether underway or at anchor, a vessel constrained by her draft, a sailing vessel, a vessel engaged in fishing whether underway or at anchor and a vessel engaged in towing or pushing another vessel shall sound at intervals of not more than 2 minutes three blasts in succession, namely one prolonged followed by two short blasts."

    The whistle blowing Anacortes/Friday Harbor ferry, to which I refer, is likely feeling restricted in her ability to maneuver as she approaches the landing from .5 mile out. BUT, and here is the conundrum, Rule 35 (c) applies only in restricted visibility (the "fog" rule.) These ferries are blowing their whistles in clear visibility. Col Regs Rule 3 defines "restricted visibility" as meaning "any condition in which visibility is restricted by fog, mist, falling snow, heavy rainstorms, sandstorms or any other similar causes."

    The question might be, does 35 (c) the "fog rule" also apply if you have to make a shallow turn around a point of an island, and can't see what might be coming on the other side? I don't know, and Col Regs don't seem to give guidance in this department.

    For those of you who don't know, Jan captains an amphibious duck that carries tourists along the SF waterfront. She is the only person I know who, when under way, must follow both DMV (land) and Col Regs (sea) rules without her leaving the driver's seat.
    Last edited by sleddog; 06-22-2012 at 01:06 PM.

  7. #87
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    That Jan is such a showoff. Mr Sleddog, I am sure enjoying your missives. Are there any more quizzes? I like winning prizes.

  8. #88
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    Default A Warp and Two Woofs

    Skip,
    I too have been enjoying your posts. They bring back fond memories of enjoyable times in those same places. As for the Washington Ferries non-regulation use of whistles (a warp and two woofs), there's is a good explanation, but it's best explained at:
    http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm...m&file_id=7191

    Tom Patterson
    Dazzler (Wyliecat 30)

  9. #89
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    Wow! Thanks, DAZZLER. Who would have thunk that the "warp and two woofs" that today vibrate the Friday Harbor waterfront windows is distinctive ferry boat music dating back over a century. If you haven't visited Tom's link, cited above, it answers the extra credit question in a way I had no idea existed.

    If Jan can tell us that she too has blown a warp and two woofs on her Duck horn, then you both win a spinnaker reach on WILDFLOWER from Pt. Blunt to Richmond, followed by a beer at the Boiler House.
    Last edited by sleddog; 06-22-2012 at 06:42 AM.

  10. #90
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    6/22/12

    Three lovely sail training ships arrived in Friday Harbor this afternoon. ZODIAC, a 160' topsail schooner, was the last working pilot schooner in the U.S. and under the name CALIFORNIA, for 40 years ran San Francisco Bar pilots out to the Lightbucket in fair weather and foul. http://www.schoonerzodiac.com/history.htm

    ADVENTURESS, at 133' overall, was also a SF Bar Pilot schooner, beginning in 1915, and worked the Gulf of the Farallones for 35 years, only missing one day of work and that was when her foremast went over the side. This evening I paced off the length of ADVENTURESS's main boom: 57'! In 1989 ADVENTURESS was named a National Historic Landmark. http://www.soundexp.org/index.php?page=home

    ODYSSEY is an 89' Sparkman and Stephens steel yawl, 1938, looking for all the world like DORADE on steroids. "Massive" is the descriptive word that comes to mind. http://www.sssodyssey.org/shiphistory.html

    These three vessels are on two week cruises through the San Juan and Gulf Islands. They are crewed by kids 14-17. I met many of their crew. Not an I-phone or video game to be seen. The kids were respectful, aware of their boat's histories, invited me aboard for a tour, and not at all put off that they'd be drawing straws to see who'd be sleeping on deck in their sleeping bags, wrapped in plastic, in the rain. (More crew than bunks below.)

    I gotta say that if the Larry Ellisons of the world decided to spend a small fraction of an AC catamaran budget on supporting youth sail training programs such as ZODIAC, ADVENTURESS, and ODYSSEY, the world would be a better place. I believe there is no better hands on education for teens than working aboard one of these wind ships. They teach living in harmony in tight quarters, the practical value of hard work, and an environmental awareness that will last a lifetime.
    Last edited by sleddog; 06-23-2012 at 10:36 PM.

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