Update
I thought I would expand on the trip report from yesterday.
Last week my Broker and I arrived in BC to bring the boat down to Olympia. I didn’t want the boat to be 6 hours away, not only that but to depend on a ferry to get me to my boat that only goes twice a day. I enjoy being much closer, checking on systems, handling a few minor projects, changing oil, zincs, minor repairs, etc.
I scheduled a driver (my father in law) to get me and my Broker to the 2pm ferry ride out of Port Angeles. We arrived about two hours ahead of schedule. What a treat, we picked a local restaurant (I have to find the receipt or name) the most amazing fish and chips I have ever had. Perfect crunchy flavor! What a treat and what a great way to start this fun adventure.
We arrived In North Saanich around dinner time and started our engine checks to make sure we were ready to roll around 6-7am, as soon as we had light. Our run for the day was going to take us from BC to Port Townsend where I’d clear customs and then head to Olympia.
windy.com showed that we would have a flat day 1’ or less from BC across the straits to Olympia.
5AM rolls around and we begin the process of turning various systems on, my Broker (Jason) makes bacon and eggs testing out the cookware and properly loading the generator. It was a great start to what was going to be a great day.
Very close to 7am with boat motors fired up, generator running smoothly everything showing it was a go we untied and began our way out of a very nicely protected harbor.
These Volvos are big, heavy iron cores - got to give them a few minutes under load to warm up. Perfect time to navigate this moorage and leave harbor. With this use of the radar, new tablet w/Navionics downloaded sun rise wasn’t any problem at all. Engines warm still all showing in the green, temp, pressure (perfect in spec), volts - time to kick the tires and light the fire. With no noticeable changes in vibration up goes the RPMS 1200-1400-1600-2000-2200 now we’re looking for specs on constant load for these engines, I look through the owners manual, and read through some articles on the net. Silly - theres a plate on helm from Volvo indicating 2600 is cruising RPM - so away we head across the straights.
Everything in green, all gauges showing life is good. The Music comes on and we start to settle in for a great trip across the straights to Port Townsend. I had called ahead to the customs agent, he asked me to buy a sticker online for a year. I figured needed or not it would be the best $29 to spend if it kept things moving along. We pulled stern in to the first slip using both motors and thrusters. He was already waiting - with all my documents in hand we cleared customs in less than twenty minutes. He was such a pleasant gentleman one of the best agents I have ran into. If I could give him a 5 star rating I certainly would!
Leaving Port Townsend - it really made things quite real now. This vessel will be under my care, she’s my responsibility to watch over. As I will ask her to watch over my family, friends, clients I too must watch over her with the same level of care. I started to take mental notes as to watch is on the must repair list. (And that would grow over the next few days of course!)
Somewhere between Port Townsend and Olympia the starboard motor lights up on the dash a little unknown gauge. Look over the owners manual (pre-heat) engines running at temp and both showing the same temp. Something isn’t right but it’s not critical. A quick call to my mechanic that will be taking care of her. He asks a couple of questions, feels based off our observations its a short in the system and we’re ok to continue. Push on.
A questioned leaving the boat in Port Townsend or Port Angeles, specially if we were to get a weather break in the short term. It was decided - Olympia, closer to get dropped off, closer for the mechanic too. I’ll try to get him to sort out this short immediately. More on that later - should have left it North, such as life.
Heading to Olympia was so smooth - most of the swells couldn’t have been more than 4-6 inches. Nearly flat. I began to watch the lower Puget Sound pass at 16-18 knots depending on current. I thought, it really was such a shame to see such wonderful beautiful places pass by so quickly. Places I’d rather see around 7-8 knots and stop at. But both Jason and I were on a schedule. Push on.
Exactly as planned by Navionics and ourselves we pull into our assigned temporary slip A-304 very close 515-530pm, tie up. Begin shutting various systems down to be on the road by 6pm. Double checking lines, making sure 12v and 110 are set we lock up and leave. Too short of a visit for the first one.
Good bye for now but I’ll see you again very soon “Our Heaven”
What a treat, my wife hasn’t see the boat and I propose to her that we take two days off and go up to Olympia to wipe down the interior and take some of the “stuff” to donate. We head up Saturday. She loves it, the space, the layout, the equipment. It’s a match for what we were looking for. (Score)
We begin opening up cabinets, wiping down interiors prepping the boat for our stuff. Finding various things the previous owners have left and things we won’t use along our journeys we begin packing boxes for donate. One - two - (what), realizing we don’t have enough boxes we start using baskets and pillow case covers (ugly). Pillows that have outlived their lives gotta go. Two big hulls out and up to the dumpster and five boxes later for donate. Time to bring some of our boxes we brought to the boat.
It was a day full of memories from other boats we have had in the past to welcoming this one into our lives. We laughed at ourselves, thought quietly at times, imagined sharing moments again on the water. It was a day that cemented our decision to welcome another family member into the fold. A boat for some is just a hull, just a place to do some fishing, or go from point A to point B. For others it becomes a lot more than the sum of the individual parts. For our family there is no equation to equal what it brings. I once said to someone who asked about our floating home. A plumber who was working on the rough in, he asked, why a floating home? I asked him in response, “Do you have a motor cycle?” He did and I could see from his expression it was a pride of his. I replied, “Now try explaining to someone who has never ridden a motorcycle why you spend the money you do or the time you do on yours. They have no concept of what it does to the quality of your life.”
As King Neptune would have it. I return Sunday mid afternoon to Portland and noticed this break in the weather hasn’t changed. Still showing 3’ swells Tuesday. I call my broker and friend Jason. My captain wasn’t available but we could muster a deck hand for the trip. Stephan, a younger man but one that has experience around boats. A good watch too. We make quick arrangements for departure from Portland Monday around 3pm.
Stephan and I arrive at the boat Monday around 630pm. (Darn Longview bridge was backed up over an hour) But our driver, Stephan and I were all in good spirits and had no where to be that night.
Great thing I brought three bags of provisions and had us dinner in about ten minutes after arriving! Not to mention on the ferry ride from the previous week had bought duty free provisions as well.
Time for me to begin my engine checks and systems, take on fresh water and prep for a morning departure around 7 again. (It’s just about the right time of the morning to have enough light to see the water) That night I slept well considering the adventure that awaits a little tossing, some interesting dreams for sure. But over all decent sleep.
About 530AM - I wake, walk into the salon to find Stephan had just passed out on the couch. Captain Ron still on the TV. (I always have a copy on boats I have owned, that was in the move in from the previous week) Every boat owner should have a copy, it helps to put things into perspective. Yes, things will go wrong - it’s all in the attitude of how you deal with it! Some great boat lessons. It was so funny though, Stephan enjoyed this movie so much he ended his night with watching various parts before falling asleep.
Breakfast, system checks, disconnecting the shore power, we are good to push off. As we begin traveling through the channel I realize that not all the channel markers are lit. It’s barely bright enough to see the water. I have a radar too, time to turn it on. I know it works as Jason fired it up during our trip down to Olympia. But why is the screen completely blank? There’s power, because the buttons are all lit but the screen isn’t showing anything other than the range rings. This is bad because as it becomes more light I realize this is the sound and pea soup is very possible. Specially this time of the year. Lesson learned - make sure to get the radar system on prior to leaving. (Note to self)
I make a call to Jason back in Portland and text him. In a very short period of time we have him on the phone. Have you tried to turn the system off and on again because you might not have allowed for it to cycle long enough. (Yes I remember being impatient during the start up process. It takes one and a half minutes before it’s gone through the start up. I was pushing buttons the whole time. Off goes the unit and back on, waiting the full start up cycle. Press the transmit button and still nothing. Jason tells us to turn up the gain and tune just a bit. Sometimes this makes the difference. All of a sudden - the rings light up with all kinds of detail. Yes sir we’re up and running now! Chart plotter, radar, all systems a go! (Except for the pre-heat)
The funny thing the whole trip from Olympia to Port Angeles was so pleasant. Waters calm. Nothing to report other than I would love to do it again at 7-8 knots. Find a few of those great harbors to drop anchor or tie up. Some quite little coves and cute little coastal towns to stay in. Such variety along this water way, whatever suits your fancy!
Port Angeles for fuel because Neah might be closed by the time we make our way. They don’t fuel after dusk. No problem 550 gallons and an hourly burn per engine at 11-12. We stop at Port Angeles a tight little moorage. A little tricky to pull up to the fuel dock. Got lucky there wasn’t heavy winds. Fueled up at under $3 a gallon one of the best prices we paid the entire trip.
Stephan was really taken by a brand new vessel moored over 100’ and looked like three plus stories tall. The Gator could have been it’s tender. A bit of an understatement but not by much.
We left Port Angeles ready for Neah. What a surprise was waiting in store for me. We arrive after hours about 515pm. The last hour of our ride along the straights gave us a bit of a show for things to come over the next few days. 4’ solid swells. The boat handled it extremely well, spaced far enough apart the bow spread the water to the sides and we stayed dry the entire trip. I felt confidence begin to build for the next day. No problem - if this is going to be our ride it’s going to be pleasant tomorrow!
Neah assigned us an end slip making the coming easy. Love not being pushed to the inside on an unknown harbor. No power close, no problem, I’ll shut enough systems off and use the house. I am not sure on the age of the house batteries but realized the next morning that they are probably due for a change out. Six deep cycle Trojans and we’re at 40% the next morning. Note to self, check amp hour draw, reserve of the bank and see if they are carrying the load they should.
That night I didn’t sleep, anxious about the next day, tossing and turning, hearing seals barking through the night like they were next to the boat, water sloshing around the boat slapping the hull (first time I heard that). The combinations of the night made for a very difficult sleep indeed.
The next morning, a concern - running these motors hard 10 hours from the previous day we were a bit low on oil. Both showing the same so I needed a top off. Unfortunately, I only had maybe a gallon jug. We’ll I knew there had to be diesel oil around here. It’s a working town a town of working boats. I walk up to the top of the ramp and nearly got pushed off the ramp by the locals. They just didn’t want anything to do with me. It was very clear that I was an outsider and this was there neighborhood. You see one of the reasons I thought those seals were sleeping next to the boat while I wasn’t getting any was because they were. The very next finger there was a group of three or four. I thought to myself while passing - do seals charge? I’ll be ready to run - I can faster - I think on land than they can?
Up in the parking I ran into some locals (people) and they told me where to get some diesel oil. Less than half a mile up the road the gas station sells oil! Great, and we’ll make our departure time (close to it)
I grab two one gallon jugs and head back to the boat. As I suspected we were about a half a gallon low on each engine. No problem, top off and now we are ready for the Pacific. Checking vital systems one more time, all pressures and temps look normal. No unusual vibrations or smells, everything is a go.
Time for the awakening -
We push off to the Pacific, no soon as we leave the harbor we are told by King Neptune this is going to be a ride and you shouldn’t be so relaxed. My coffee cup flies across the table and lands on the bench seating spilling a full cup over the table, seats and flooring. (Note to self, drink it or carry in a sealed lid before heading out of harbor - at the very least those that your not familiar with)
Ok - the coffee is the least concern, these waves are nothing like the night before. Closer together and the wind coming up sprays the windshield down. No problem, this is a PNW boat we have wipers for this. Turn on the center, oh no - wrong blades were installed they have a curve to them and there isn’t enough center pressure to lay them flat! Literally all they are doing is touching the first and last half of an inch. I can’t see much. OK chart plotter and radar, instruments. Now this boat has a pc system for salon and flybridge was using and outdated copy of Nobltec that wasn’t working. I had downloaded a copy of Opencpn but was using that as back up. The Navionics on the table was so much more detailed and more intuitive. Radar, tablet and pc all up and running. Showing us close to the green marker, yes sir there it is. About twenty feet to our starboard. Ok we’re good. Head into the straights.
Turning to our Port making sure to stay very clear of the rocky shore as the both chart plotters show. We’re in deep water - no worries, focus on the straights. I have about a inch to look through - darn wipers. Who would have sold a boat knowing these were in the shape they were in. It’s like selling a home without smoke alarms. (Note to self, top priority)
We’re about a mile from the Bay when the starboard motor struggles - it slows RPMS way down. I am thinking gunk from the tanks clogging the filters. But we’ve gone through two full tanks and both Racors were completely clear. I begin to turn back to the Bay and the motor begins to pick up speed again. As if to say - no don’t - I’ll behave I promise. I want to go too and enjoy the party with my friend Port.
She begins to respond again, RPMS all showing normal, no funny vibrations, no sounds of slapping agains the hull. Ok I say to her, behave and we’ll all go to the party today. So again we turn the boat around and head out to sea.
All gauges showing good, no abnormal sounds, vibrations, or smells. We are a go, Huston, we are a go, I repeat Huston we are a go.
Now before heading out this morning I checked the bar report for the Columbia and windy.com to ensure we are suppose to have a fairly smooth day. I show a slightly updated report. 4’ from the mouth of the Straights and about mid day back down to 3’ closer to Ocean Shores. Ok - we knew from the previous day that 4’ was comfortable for the boat. King Neptune though forgot to check with windy.com. As we begin traveling down the Pacific some of those swells were closer together and larger than 5’ add some wind and all of a sudden I have white out conditions that even the best of wipers wouldn’t clear. Just as the blade passes another wave hits and the process goes on and on. In-between the sets we get a small window where we can see ahead.
During this time my second mate heads up to the flybridge - elevation might yield better visibility. No sir, spray is hitting the canvas too.
At least we can see in-between sets and we’re not seeing any pots at this time. Both of us have our eyes forward. I don’t know how long this went on, at least an hour but eventually there was a slight break. Wind comes down and seas too. Stephan says he’ll go out wipe down the windshield and see if we can get better visibility. Out he goes, rubs down the windshield with water and soap but it only makes things more difficult to see, he bends back the wipers to get them to lay down better. This helps increase that point of contact from one inch to two in the center window and three inches in the Port side. I’ll take it it’s an improvement! He waits until the window dries in the wind and heads back out there and buffs the salt off. Wow to be able to see again!!
It’s amazing how that lowed my blood pressure and gave me new confidence! No soon as I begin to relax the waves again begin to build. And the view begins to deteriorate. Are those crab pots?? Buoys begin popping up here and there as we draw closer into Ocean Shores. But where’s our 3’ swells? Maybe we’re too far out? So we try to steer into shore where the waves are predicted to be closer to 3’. So many pots - how do these buoys become black? Why are they not a color that differs from the ocean? Forgotten by the men that threw them overboard. At one time they probably were brightly colored. A storm came through and pushed them miles from their original position. So there they sat. I have no line cutters, game over if we pick one of these up. I start looking for bays - knowing the closest.
Now luckily my second just had laser surgery and has better than 20/20. The keenest eyes - he’d see one half a mile out while I was only able to see them hundreds of feet away. So I let him steer most of the time through this period. I was a second set of eyes, looking through our three inches on the Port.
Past Grays Harbor and the seas once again decide to settle a bit. Confidence begins to build between the two of us, we’re going to make the Columbia. Closer yet and those pots begin popping up into the hundreds. (Note to self, line cutters will be installed!)
Checking the bar over the internet and then followed by a call to the coast guard. Bar showing 1’ and no restrictions. We make the turn into the bar - smooth, yes there’s clearly a current flowing from the Columbia to the Pacific. We are bucking a solid 3-4 running the opposite but it’s smooth. Heading towards Astoria, here we come.
The entry into Astoria is sharp and set up for an east approach I turn the boat around. Being told earlier to come into the moorage with wash over the props I come in under power using the rudder. Which I don’t like because it has more speed - but sometimes its necessary. C dock end tie. Easy approach, and quick tie.
All systems green, all showing normal we shut down. Head to the closest restaurant to celebrate our personal achievement. Oh boy the chowder was amazing!! We could have ate chowder, bread all night. But I had to try their fish and chips. Nope, didn’t hold a candle to Port Angeles. But the taste was welcomed indeed! And that chowder, amazing!!
We returned to the boat and begin to settle in for the night. Whats that?? Why is the boat rocking in the slip? I come up from the master to seeing the whole marina rocking and the brake walls making noise against waves slapping.
More rocking, the docks complaining about the treatment they’re receiving. Boats being pushed against their docks. This continues all night. Come to find out the next morning that when there’s an Easterly wind the moorage pays. Well that’s fine, because I was exhausted and once I determined our lines were solid and fenders were doing their job I passed out.
The next morning we awoke to one of the most wonderful sunrises. As if it was planned. Coffee down and stored for our AM push off.
Leaving Astoria I realized there has to line around the shaft and possibly the rudder(s). I begin to think about Neah and the starboard motor. We have a slight vibration in reverse from the starboard, it steers easily towards starboard but is hard to turn towards port. Something isn’t working quite as it should. (note to self, line cutters)
For about an hour we had 3’ waves pushing their way past us. Nothing like the day before. But something started to become apparent. A little oil leak from the starboard motor. I check it again now that it’s warm. It’s coming from the left front of the engine around the water pump. The oil isn’t hitting the belt, it’s dry. But it’s slowly (very) making it’s way down the engine. Some of it is burning off along the way. I can see an ever so faint amount of smoke.
I return back to the pilot station to shut down this motor and see if I can tighten the bolts surrounding this leak. It appears to be originating from one of two possible locations. I locate the right socket for the first, it’s snug. No further adjustment needed there. I see a thin nut, oil at the bottom. Grab a combination wrench and no soon as I put the combination wrench on it and begin to tighten it the nut shears - hot coolant begins to pour out of this hole. There’s no clearance to stuff anything in the hole. So I shove a rag into the space. A quick visual and I realize why they used this fitting. It was a short cut the stock nut has threads and seats fully against the water pump. This two dollar nut has completely shut this motor down for the count. The only way to get this repaired properly is to take the pump off and seat a new factory bolt. Nothing I am going to do underway.
That’s ok we have a spare and are now into less than 1’ more close to 6” or less. We’ll enjoy the day at 8 knots.
Back to the house, change my shirt (got coolant over it) clear my eye glasses off. OK - ready to enjoy the day. Amazing the sun is out, the water is smooth, and very little debris in the water to be worried about.
The music gets turned on and we trade places from the pilothouse to the flybridge. Truly a blessing to have this space, one of my favorite on the boat! The views are wonderful, it’s a great place to relax and really take in the views!! Oh - and theres a subwoofer installed which makes listening to music up here really an experience.
Our trip up the Columbia past all the moorages and coves we enjoyed when we where first married it all begins to come back. Such great time meeting friends, relaxing and cementing us into boating for life. I really missed not experiencing this with my wife, but now we get to experience it again - so excited to take her and my son out.
Because we were down a motor our trip shows us arriving to Port around 630-645pm. I begin to formalize a plan how to navigate in the dark and dock the boat. My second was such a great help. All of you know how difficult it is to see at night even with lighting. Well, this boat had none - Five VHF radios, three chart plotters, radar, fog, weather station, but no night time lighting. I knew the channel, I knew if I stayed in the middle we’d be ok. But there’s some unlit buoys along the way. Stephan grabbed a flashlight and headed to the bow. Luckly I had not to make one correction for the few in the channel.
As we pull up to the marina Stephan points the light at the fairway to the boat lift. I had arranged with the yard to pull the boat to inspect the running gear and come up with a plan for work to be completed.
Repair list
Check running gear
Props
Shafts
New cutless
Install spurs
Replace bellows for dripless
So we’re heading into the fairway and Stephan says there’s a boat ahead, shines the light on it. No problem I’ll go in front of it. I angle the boat along side. Unfortunately this marina has a pier post along the dock. Stephan grabs a fender and it rolls while we’re moving ahead and I hear a slight scraping. A bit of more maneuvering and lines are secure. (Note to self, headsets - although you can hear sometimes you can not)
I imagine a little sanding, buffing and that little scrape will all but be a distant memory. The only real damage to speak of during this great lesson we call boating!
I can’t wait to get her underway again. Tuesday she gets pulled and we’ll know what’s really going on. Nothing that can’t be repaired indeed. My hope is by next weekend we might be able to be back in the water enjoying our spring ahead!
