A Haulout During a Pandemic?

This post includes a bunch of boat maintenance stuff. Feel free to skip if this sounds boring. 

In the last blog post, we wrote about keeping social distance while cruising--avoiding marinas, keeping systems maintained and safe, etc. But what about if social distancing isn't possible? What if we absolutely need to pull in and haul out?

We haul De Novo out every other year to work on her hull; since we did this in 2019, we weren't scheduled for another year. In the off-years, we hire Double J Diving to change our zinc anodes and scrub growth off in the water. 

Seacocks:

However, we grew uneasy about a questionable seacock we wished we replaced last haul out. And we can't replace seacocks when the boat's in the water. Despite exercising (opening and closing several times) each valve every few months, we recently found this one wouldn't close. Not good.  

Fortunately, we have some safeguards to prevent our boat filling up with saltwater if the hose attached to the valve were to fail as well. We've tied appropriate-sized plugs to each seacock so we don't have to fumble for the right one in an emergency. We have three bilge pumps: two automatic and one manual. However, two of those four safeguards require we're actually at the boat at all times. In the end, it just made sense to defy the stay-at-home order and haul out this summer. To plan ahead, we decided to replace two seacocks: the one in question and another that could've failed in a few years. Now all seven thru-hulls have solid, structurally sound bronze sea cocks, and we won't need to worry.   

In the interest of cost and safety, we chose Swantown Boatworks in Olympia and tacked it on to the end of our longer summer trip. For those of us who prefer to save money and do most of our own work, it's a much cheaper option than anywhere in Seattle. To prevent virus transmission, the yard spaced boats further apart than normal, used masks, and communicated all details by phone rather than in person. 

Boatyard PPE

Two new shiny bronze seacocks

Propeller: 

We don't think we did a sufficient job with the propeller last year. After reading about it more, we think we didn't sand it smooth enough and apply enough coats of primer or paint. Due to our user-error, we can't yet determine if Primacon primer and Trilux 33 work, so we're giving them both another shot. If it looks poor on our next dive, we'll upgrade to Propspeed when we haul out again in two years. We'll let you know.   

While we didn't see growth or barnacles, 

the paint already peeled since last year's application.

Sanding it thoroughly with 80, 120, and then 400 grit. 

This combination eventually allowed for a smooth finish.

Spraying three coats of Primacon, sanding with 400 between coats

All done! Four coats of Trilux 33 with light 1000-grit sanding as needed. 

Super smooth. 

Since we were hauling out anyway, we decided to lightly vacuum sand and paint two more coats of Seahawk antifouling on the bottom, wax the waterline, and replace zinc anodes--all tasks we would have done next year. This way, we can save our next haul out until summer 2022 (fingers crossed!). 

 

Our Novi, ready for new adventures

        

   

Sailing Summer 2020

Hi everyone! 

We hope you all are holding up well. 

It's been a while since we updated this blog. Don't worry, we're healthy. Our families are healthy. Despite the extraordinary times we live in, we're still finding peace on the water. We're still cruising and still loving it, exploring local places and checking boat projects off our list. We feel immense gratitude for the conditions that have allowed us to continue living our lives. While we've worked hard to pursue our dream, there's no doubt privilege has played an enormous role. We understand this is not a dream within reach for most people. 

Speaking of the dream, as many of you know, our original plan this summer was to head offshore again. Of course, life had different plans. With the closure of the Canadian and Mexican borders, we're sailing local this summer. But at least we're still sailing. And let's face it: Washington's cruising grounds are gorgeous! 

We've taken several weekend trips to nearby anchorages (Blake Island, Eagle Harbor, etc.). For a longer trip, we took four weeks to sail to sail the Strait, the San Juans, and the South Sound. We found we were able to socially distance and keep safe by following these simple tips:

• Make sure you and your boat are safe and seaworthy. Check all systems, deck hardware, and ground tackle every day. You put yourself, other boaters, and the Coast Guard at risk of the virus if you need help.
• Anchor out rather than use marinas.
• Keep your mask on your body for easy use at all times on shore. We found only about 40-50% of hikers were using them on trails. 

Our nephew Taj joined us after he and we quarantined for 14 days. It was wonderful to have family aboard. Uma stayed with my mom so she could have a boat break (thanks, Mom). 

Pics from our longer trip:

Relaxed drifting in the Strait of Juan de Fuca

New mainsail!

Early morning dew in Sequim Bay

Sucia

Sucia

Anchored at Sucia; Matia in the background

And even more Sucia!

Cypress Island: our new favorite island in Washington. We spent days here.

One of the many ponds and marshes on Cypress

Pelican Beach on Cypress

Port Ludlow

So many jellyfish in Quartermaster Harbor

Looking out from Eagle Island in South Sound; Mt. Rainier in background

Awesome to have our nephew onboard

Tacoma Narrows

Tacoma Narrows

Thank you for continuing to read our blog. 

Love, Denise and Dave

Staying Local this Winter: San Juans in December and January

Oh, winter sailing. It’s cooooold, but the advantages usually make up for it: roomy anchorages, uncrowded marinas, consistent high winds.

From December 26th to January 5th, we sailed up Admiralty Inlet, across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, around San Juan and Orcas Islands, across Rosario Strait, through Deception Pass, and down Saratoga Passage back to Seattle. A short but beautiful trip.


Some takeaways:

• Winter sailing = lots of wind! One complaint many sailors have when cruising the Salish Sea in summer is the low or inconsistent winds. It could be breezy one day and calm the next, sometimes requiring motoring (ugh) to make progress. This is not the case in the winter. In fact, our biggest issue was one period of too much wind. Which brings us to our next point...

• Don’t sail on a fixed schedule in the winter. A big wind storm passed through the San Juans and Puget Sound during the last few days of the trip. Were we not rushing to return to Seattle in time for work on January 6th, we could have waited it out. But as it was, we were caught in it. This led to some sketchy maneuvering from Saratoga Passage to Oak Harbor. In over a decade of sailing these waters, we’ve never moored there, so we assumed it would offer a respite from the 35+ winds we faced in the passage. And with the forecast calling for higher winds, we knew we needed to hunker down. What we didn’t know was winds often barrel down and intensify in Oak Harbor, and with only a floating breakwater, the visitors’ dock was exposed. We grew uneasy when we headed up the narrow channel to the marina and found the winds didn’t lessen. Outside the visitor's dock, Dave made circles in the dark, avoiding the shallows and pylons like a champ. Meanwhile, I clipped in and crawled against wind and seaspray to hang fenders and uncoil lines. Fortunately, this gave a liveaboard at the marina enough time to see our lights, don his foul weather gear, and run out to the visitors’ dock to help us dock. What a blessing he was! As we fought against the seas and gusts, we made it. Novi heeled in her slip, the seas crashed over the floating dock, and our wind instrument read around 35 knots, more than we normally see inside a marina. But we were safe. We made it in before the really high winds started overnight. We tied six lines, added two snubbers, and secured everything on deck. And slept. :) We were able to time the next two legs within two narrow weather windows, and we were lucky to have them. Regardless, more time would have led to less stress. 

• Stay warm. Layers! Waterproof shells! Wool socks! Xtratuf boots! Big ol' heater! 

• Uma finally became a sailing cat! That’s right. It happened. Dreams do come true. Those of you who followed our Alaska sail know that we've had to keep her at my mom's for long trips. But our cat is now a sailor(ish). She still doesn’t like the engine, but she handled the windy conditions and upwind heeling much better than in the past. No accidents. And although she'll need to stay with family when we eventually head south to Mexico, this means we can take her on so many local trips before then. Next step: desensitize her to the engine noise.

Photos!

Uma enjoying the sights

Christmas Light Show in Kingston

We installed a new stove this winter. So shiny!

Easy downwind sail to Port Townsend

We set up a comfortable cat cave for Uma to hide from the big, bad engine.

At Rosario for New Years

At Rosario for New Years

Ready to explore a new dock

A New Years hike around Cascade Lake, Orcas

A New Years hike around Cascade Lake, Orcas

Derp

In 2012, we found a small trail to the beach near Olga on Orcas and, with only our immediate family our witnesses,
got married. So happy to find the bluff and picnic table from the water.

Staying warm, mostly

Uma's checking out the conditions in Possession Sound. Where's your life jacket, kitty?!

Beautiful Lopez Sound