July 23 Cape Flattery to Kauai Expected distance: 2700 miles Expected duration: 20 – 25 days Route: (more on which later) Day 1 Noon position: 48.58.87W by 125.39.66W (60 miles west of Grays Harbor) Miles since last noon: 116 (Counting from June 22, 11am Neah Bay departure) Total miles of passage: 116 Avg. Miles, Read More
From Port Angeles: During the recent passage from Kodiak to Cape Flattery, several friends asked for the ability to see my position on a chart, this rather than having to imagine where in the bloody blue yonder I might be based on the text formated Lat/Long in my daily posts. To address this I’ve added, both, Read More
I have a friend, Jim by name, whose character radiates with an evangelical glow; a winemaker in talent and by trade, he has taken to heart the Psalmist’s observation that “a day without red wine is a day without sunshine,” and has, twice now, ensured that this lonely sailor’s access to liquid warmth is, Read More
Below are a few images of the Port Townsend Boat Yard complex, a place for any sailor to fall in love with. Here one can find everything needed to maintain a vessel and sustain the life of her skipper. Mechanics shops, rigging shops, welding shops, boat building shops, hydraulic shops, woodworking shops (many of, Read More
Said my friend, David R Kelton, “It’s good you are breaking stuff now rather than on your big trip, but can you please stop breaking stuff already?” — Part of the reason for this summer’s long leaps is selfish–I’ve not singlehanded in quite awhile; I want to feel what it’s like to be on, Read More
Wind came up briefly after last night’s “No Report” report. But when it dropped with the sun, I still had 30 miles to the red buoy off Duncan Rock and another eight around the corner to Neah Bay. And I’d missed my tide, so made a whopping 3 knots over the ground the last several, Read More
First the wind died; then so did the auto pilot. Hand steering under power last 50 miles to Neah Bay.
June 27 Kodiak to Straits of Juan de Fuca Day 7 Noon position: 49.51.54N by 129.31.53W Miles since last noon: 128 Total miles of passage: 980 (200 miles to Cape Flattery) Avg. Miles per Day: 140 Course: ESE (Changing this to cardinal points going forward) Speed: 4 – 6.5 knots Wind: 0 to NW, Read More
June 26 Kodiak to Straits of Juan de Fuca Day 6 Noon position: 51.02.15N by 132.02.83W Miles since last noon: 146 (Under power last hour of day) Total miles of passage: 825 Avg. Miles per Day: 138 Course: 120t Speed: A steady 7+ knots to 1 knot in the wrong direction Wind: S 10, Read More
June 25 Kodiak to Straits of Juan de Fuca Day 5 Noon position: 52.03.89N by 135.21.85W Miles since last noon: 148 Total miles of passage: 706 Avg. Miles per Day: 141 Course: 120t Speed: 5 – 7 knots Wind: SW and W 5 – 15 to S and SSW 20+ The wind vane and, Read More
June 24 Kodiak to Straits of Juan de Fuca Day 4 Noon position: 53.23.92N by 138.36.82W Miles since last noon: 157 (same as yesterday, pooh!) Total miles of passage: 558 Avg. Miles per Day: 139.5 Course: 120t Speed: 5.5 – 6.5 knots Wind: SW 10-20 Woke to dense fog which has lifted only to, Read More
June 23 Kodiak to Straits of Juan de Fuca Day 3 Noon position: 54.57.17N by 142.03.39W Miles since last noon: 157 Total miles of passage: 401 Avg. Miles per Day: 133 Course: 120t Speed: 6.5 – 7.5 knots Wind: SW 10 – 20 Right after sending last night’s missive, summer ended. All day I’d, Read More
…of sweet sailing makes. June 22 Kodiak to Straits of Juan de Fuca Day 2 Noon position: 55.53.94N by 146.04.96W Miles since last noon: 136 Total miles of passage: 244 Avg. Miles per Day: 122 Course: 110t Speed: 5.5 – 7 knots Wind: NW to WNW 10 – 15 I’m measuring days noon to, Read More
June 21 Noon Position: 56.52.48N by 149.28.15W Miles since departure: 107 Course 110t Speed: 6-7 knots Wind: NW15-20 Departed Kodiak for the SE at 9:30am on Monday into a clear sky and the promise of a brisk westerly. All morning the windmills above the town had been spinning powerfully and pointing west, but in, Read More
My small cove within this bay (58.26.47N by 152.42.33W) is like a room within a room. Almost entirely surrounded by fir trees and rock, it has two windows. One is a low cut to the north that is mud and boulders at low water, but at the high it fills in and gives, Read More
Port Graham has been all southwest wind and rain since this morning, confirming the decision to stay. After breakfast I got the dinghy over the side for an extended row and a few short walks, and out of those activities came two lessons. Lesson One: Bear Spray works, even on humans. I’m carrying bear, Read More
We departed at low slack, 10 o’clock on the morning of June 5th, and just moments before a turn of tide that would have held us pressed to the dock another six hours. Wind, calm. Sky, partly cloudy. In some ways it had been a near miss. The gods, in their wisdom, conspire to, Read More
Just back from another four-day test sail on Gjoa, all within the beautiful and beautifully protected Kachemak Bay. On Thursday last we made the few, short tacks to Halibut Cove to escape what has become non-stop bustle in Homer Boat Harbor. The crack of welders, the bang of chipping hammers and rattle guns, big-boat generators in chorus;, Read More
How easily I forget that not talking, a favorite activity, fails to communicate what I am thinking. Example: I was surprised when, last week, my wife asked if she could be informed of my intention for the coming months of passage-making. How could she not know? Are we not married? Gently she reminded me, Read More
… Finally arrived. I’d been both desiring and dreading it, dreading because it seemed the opportunities for error were great while no single error would be of small consequence. And because a friend of mine sent, the night before, a video demonstrating the results of one specific error. Here. I shared the video with, Read More
The only kindness this day extended, I reflect, was to announce early its intention to be disagreable. I’m seated at a bar in Anchorage. It’s nearly midnight. A two week repat to California, just time enough to be remined of home’s attractions (wife, friends, garden, a heater that lights itself and access to a, Read More
…or, Why I like to Fly Alaska Airlines. Today I am returning to Homer after a two week repat to the San Francisco Bay Area, and unfortunately I am not, as has become my habit, flying on Alaska Airlines. On my first trip to Homer as Gjoa’s new master, this back in March, I, Read More