Well you can’t really call a Bayliner 5788 a tub, after all it is Bayliner’s flagship boat. What you can call it is our ticket to another great water adventure and likely the trip of a lifetime.
This adventure started with a simple thread in on IBNW (IBoatNW) in early May by a guy (StuartT) in Prescott, AZ asking for help finding a captain to help him move a boat he’d bought from WA to the Stockton, CA area. Among the responses he got on IBNW and BOC (Bayliner Owner’s Club) was the suggestion that he forego a licensed captain and find some ‘regular guys’ who were experienced boaters to go with him. For all involved, it could be the trip of a lifetime.
That suggestion turned into another thread on IBNW asking if anyone was interested in making the trip. I read this thread and talked about it with GW and while both of us thought it would be a great opportunity, that’s as far as it went. One of the IBNW members tossed my name out there as one who has a fair amount of experience (“Salty” was the term he used). I got a chuckle out of that and mentioned it to GW and she thought I should contact the OP and drop my name in the hat. And thus began another great boating experience.
Through an exchange of emails and phone calls over the next few weeks between Stuart and me and the third crew member, Randy (Stray Cat) the adventure began to come together. I was asked to do some research about the ports along the coast that we could use for refuge, overnight stays, refueling, resupply, etc. I also volunteered to be the “Sous Chef” for the trip. It was either that or subject myself to Stuart’s menu of TV Dinners and pot pies. The chef duty included a 50% pay increase. Hmmmm, let’s see….150% of nothing is…..nothing. Darn!
We’re planning on leaving from Lake Union (Seattle), WA on June 16th. Lake Union is about a 3.5-4 hour drive from my house so by the time the pre-cruise party starts everything should be safely stowed on board. That will be a good time to relax after the drive and for me it will be a time to meet Stuart and Randy. Hopefully I’ll be able to also make some other new friends from the west side boating community.
I’ve also been appointed to be the “keeper of the blog” on the trip so I’ll be taking lots of photos and posting them online as time (and wifi access) allows. So stay tuned here and join us for this “Once In A Lifetime” journey.
You that have known me awhile and read my prior trip threads know that I get almost as much enjoyment from planning the trip as I do taking the trip. This trip is no different. Since the start of the venture I’ve had fun working on menu planning, researching the safe places to tuck into in case the weather turns nasty etc.
The easy part of food planning is I know how many of us there will be. The difficult part is we have no idea how long this trip will take. It’s going to be AT LEAST 5 days. That would be if we ran night and day and had no weather delays. We know that isn’t likely to happen, but how many “weather delay days” do we plan for? And how many days will we just decide to overnight in a port because we’re tired and want a good night’s sleep? I’m planning the food for an 8 day trip and we’ll see how that works out.
As we get closer to the date when we cast off the lines and head out I’m getting more and more excited. And a bit apprehensive. I’ve never done a deep water cruise and the unknowns that we face are weighing on my mind. I’m trying to do as much as possible to get ready and that includes getting my ditch bag filled with what I think should be in there.
I have done a lot of looking around the internet to see what people put in their ditch bags and much has bordered on the ridiculous. One guy had a 5/8” x 100’ long line in his bag. Things like that make me just shake my head in wonder. What the heck would you use it for? If you’re within 100’ of something to tie to, whether it’s land or another boat, just get on it.
I went to two stores a couple of weeks ago and picked up lots of things and now have them safely tucked into the bag. I’d been saving empty plastic bottles of varying shapes and sizes for several months with the thought that things going into the bag should be in a bottle so they stay dry and don’t rust in the salt water.
Stuart posted a thread on a boating forum asking “When are the seas just too rough?” The responses have been great and have provided some insight into what boaters with more experience than I have use as their guidelines as to when they should remain in port. By his posting that question it also shows me that Stuart is giving that a lot of thought. That’s reassuring to me, so “Thanks” Stuart.
(more to follow later so stay tuned and join us on this cruise)
This adventure started with a simple thread in on IBNW (IBoatNW) in early May by a guy (StuartT) in Prescott, AZ asking for help finding a captain to help him move a boat he’d bought from WA to the Stockton, CA area. Among the responses he got on IBNW and BOC (Bayliner Owner’s Club) was the suggestion that he forego a licensed captain and find some ‘regular guys’ who were experienced boaters to go with him. For all involved, it could be the trip of a lifetime.
That suggestion turned into another thread on IBNW asking if anyone was interested in making the trip. I read this thread and talked about it with GW and while both of us thought it would be a great opportunity, that’s as far as it went. One of the IBNW members tossed my name out there as one who has a fair amount of experience (“Salty” was the term he used). I got a chuckle out of that and mentioned it to GW and she thought I should contact the OP and drop my name in the hat. And thus began another great boating experience.
Through an exchange of emails and phone calls over the next few weeks between Stuart and me and the third crew member, Randy (Stray Cat) the adventure began to come together. I was asked to do some research about the ports along the coast that we could use for refuge, overnight stays, refueling, resupply, etc. I also volunteered to be the “Sous Chef” for the trip. It was either that or subject myself to Stuart’s menu of TV Dinners and pot pies. The chef duty included a 50% pay increase. Hmmmm, let’s see….150% of nothing is…..nothing. Darn!
We’re planning on leaving from Lake Union (Seattle), WA on June 16th. Lake Union is about a 3.5-4 hour drive from my house so by the time the pre-cruise party starts everything should be safely stowed on board. That will be a good time to relax after the drive and for me it will be a time to meet Stuart and Randy. Hopefully I’ll be able to also make some other new friends from the west side boating community.
I’ve also been appointed to be the “keeper of the blog” on the trip so I’ll be taking lots of photos and posting them online as time (and wifi access) allows. So stay tuned here and join us for this “Once In A Lifetime” journey.
You that have known me awhile and read my prior trip threads know that I get almost as much enjoyment from planning the trip as I do taking the trip. This trip is no different. Since the start of the venture I’ve had fun working on menu planning, researching the safe places to tuck into in case the weather turns nasty etc.
The easy part of food planning is I know how many of us there will be. The difficult part is we have no idea how long this trip will take. It’s going to be AT LEAST 5 days. That would be if we ran night and day and had no weather delays. We know that isn’t likely to happen, but how many “weather delay days” do we plan for? And how many days will we just decide to overnight in a port because we’re tired and want a good night’s sleep? I’m planning the food for an 8 day trip and we’ll see how that works out.
As we get closer to the date when we cast off the lines and head out I’m getting more and more excited. And a bit apprehensive. I’ve never done a deep water cruise and the unknowns that we face are weighing on my mind. I’m trying to do as much as possible to get ready and that includes getting my ditch bag filled with what I think should be in there.
I have done a lot of looking around the internet to see what people put in their ditch bags and much has bordered on the ridiculous. One guy had a 5/8” x 100’ long line in his bag. Things like that make me just shake my head in wonder. What the heck would you use it for? If you’re within 100’ of something to tie to, whether it’s land or another boat, just get on it.
I went to two stores a couple of weeks ago and picked up lots of things and now have them safely tucked into the bag. I’d been saving empty plastic bottles of varying shapes and sizes for several months with the thought that things going into the bag should be in a bottle so they stay dry and don’t rust in the salt water.
Stuart posted a thread on a boating forum asking “When are the seas just too rough?” The responses have been great and have provided some insight into what boaters with more experience than I have use as their guidelines as to when they should remain in port. By his posting that question it also shows me that Stuart is giving that a lot of thought. That’s reassuring to me, so “Thanks” Stuart.
(more to follow later so stay tuned and join us on this cruise)