A little close for comfort

Yikes! Almost hit by a cruise ship! Okay, not really - it pulled in 30 metres off our berth at the Port of Astoria in Oregon (USA).


Continued repairs today on our RVG and navigation lights, etc. Weather was a mix of heavy rain, showers, and sunny breaks. Not the best for doing outside repairs. Here is Jordan up the mast.


Heard tsunami warnings for the Oregon coastline for 22:00 after an 8+ earthquake in the West Pacific. The tsunami warning ended up being false.

Have been eating a lot of fabulous tasting tuna.

Major repairs

Went out to a well deserved brunch at the "Pig & Pancake" in Astoria, Oregon of the USA (N46°11.44' W123°51.379'). Great food. Between rain showers, Jordan and Aaron dismantled our RVG (auto-steering windvane) and performed reconstruction and repairs on it.

Aaron and I have been taking Stugeron to prevent seasickness throughout our voyage whenever at sea. For me, it has worked great. No problems at all. Aaron never experienced nausea but did yuck-it-up once or twice but felt great right afterwards. And he can't go below the cockpit for more than a few minutes unless it's to sleep only. Jordan has taken no meds and is not seasick at all. Lucky guy.

Two firsts

With Sea Turtle's RVG dislodged, steering continued to be difficult and exhausting. We were about 60 miles offshore of the continental USA and decided to head into Astoria for repairs.

Jordan decided to test out the great fishing rod that Mark and Alana of Victoria BC had given him and caught our first fish - a 15+ lb Albacore tuna - it took about one hour for the guys to land it!

Jordan displaying the prize catch

Continuing on with 1.5 to 2-hour shifts at the helm for Jordan and Aaron, we arrived at the entrance of the channel to cross our first sand bar. Vessels under 25 feet were restricted from crossing and warnings were issued for other vessels.

Crossing sand bars can be very dangerous in daylight and it was now very dark at 22:00. Jordan notified the Coast Guard of our steering problems about 20 miles out and they monitored our progress every 30 minutes. Using GPS and MaxSea electronic charts, it was a 3-hour trip up the channel.

Wet and wild bar crossing

At 01:00, we arrived safe, but exhausted, at the Port of Astoria (Oregon USA).

Tough day and night

We left Neah Bay heading into the fog and ship traffic. The wind picked up to 15 knots and we had trouble getting Sea Turtle's RVG to work (the RVG is an auto-steering windvane that we can use when sailing). Winds increased by mid-day to 20-25 knots, and by evening, gusts up to 30 knots - seas large and breaking at 10+ feet.

Through the night, the RVG dislodged and slipped almost out of its yokes and then started to break up and jam, throwing off the helm. After that, Jordan and his son Aaron had to steer throughout the night in 1.5-hour shifts as steering was so difficult, fighting against the broken RVG. I stayed up all night keeping whoever was on shift company.

Blue section at bottom of vane badly bent and barely hanging on

(The above photo was taken later when we were at dock for repairs.)

Neah Bay

We arrived in Neah Bay, Washington (N48°22.5' W124°36.3') today at 18:30 after another day of motoring - no wind but sunny skies.

When we were about to enter Neah Bay, we responded to a boater in distress whose engine had failed and he was drifting away from the diver he had somewhere in the water. We gave the GPS co-ordinates to the Coast Guard and assisted in the search for the diver. Everyone made it safe and sound.

After getting on shore later, we bought hot smoked salmon right off the rocks - so very yummy!

Next to the Halibut Mortuary!

Out to the big blue seas

We had a very successful open boat on September 13th as planned. Thanks to everyone that came and made it a special day for us.

At 13:30 PST (Pacific Standard Time), we left our moorage at Westbay Marina where we had met many great people that we consider our friends. Jordan's son Aaron is heading to San Francisco with us on the first leg of our journey.

Start of our great adventure

We had one lone dolphin escort us out of the Juan de Fuca Strait. We were thrilled as this is considered Good Luck by many sailors. We arrived in Port Angeles (N48°07.555' W125°27.137') at 18:00 where we cleared customs and provisioned with fresh fruit and veggies.

VA7 YYJ calling...

Jordan did such a great job of installing all the radios (Ham, SSB, and yes - stereo too!) We tested the Ham radio at our previous moorage and everything was working great. Then we moved to Westbay Marina, moved all our stuff onboard, and could no longer receive or transmit anything on the Ham!

So this morning, we motored out a couple of miles, and thank goodness, everything worked. It seems there is just too much interference at Westbay for us. When we contacted the Great Northern Boater's Net, we were being heard loud and clear in Neah Bay, Port Townsend, and even Alaska (all of USA). I was afraid that I had put too much stuff on top of all that copper strapping and was going to have to get rid of a bunch of things.

So for everyone with a Ham, Jordan's call sign is VA7 YYJ (yes, for the Victoria airport) and my call sign is VA7 TAC (you know, like in tacking a boat). Hope to hear from you once we begin our journey.

It was very exciting hearing everyone presently at Neah Bay as they were about to begin their journeys. Made us want to leave right away!

We did it!

We did it! As our friends on SV Jabula say:

...shaking off your landlubber status to become pollywogging, soggy bottomed, rum swigging water babies.

We finally finished moving onboard and spent our first official night as live-a-boards on Tuesday, August 4th, celebrating with a toast of Painted Turtle red wine. We've been in a state of upheaval for the last two weeks but most things have now been put away somewhere.

We are moored at Westbay Marina until we head offshore mid-September. Dreams do come true! We are hoping to have our "open boat" Sunday, September 13th.

Sea Turtle patiently waiting to leave

Almost done

Latest projects done on Sea Turtle, our future travelling "home":

• Finally figured out the continual engine problem. Perkins manufactured a new replacement part that solved the oil pressure drop that, unfortunately, dealers and mechanics were not aware of. Luckily, Jordan accidentally discovered the existence of this new part or else he would still be trying to solve the problem!
• All ceilings redone - all being vinyl except the salon, which Jordan made as traditional V-joint between beams (so much better than carpet ceilings!)
• Installed teak and holly sole in pullman, salon, and stateroom.
• Installed tile and Corion countertops in galley and head.
• Refinished and installed salon table and built stateroom bedside table.
• Created galley cupboards with front panels cut from the discarded window of a boat called Marlin II of Seattle - the glass etched sailboats in it are beautiful. I guess all these creative ideas come from Jordan's artistic side!

Sea Turtle has gone from having floors, walls, and ceilings being covered in shag rug to the present condition. Much hard work, but definitely worth it!

Few items left to do:

• Varnishing of most teak walls and cupboards.
• Attaching net to lifelines to prevent items from falling overboard.
• Making and attaching "granny bars" by mast to provide support when handling sails.
• Painting the blue sections of the deck with tan paint and rebuilding the dilapidated bowsprit.

Pirates!

We took a break from boat work and went to the annual May long weekend Fleet Rendezvous. Our boating friends were back in Victoria and came with us as their boat was still in Mazatlan. Great view from the top of the mast just before leaving!

Jordan up top

This year the rendezvous had a pirate theme and here are the top 2 costume prize winners.

The young...

...and a bit older!

Obviously, a great time was had by all and the weather was super!

Pluggin' away

Well, we had a great vacation (see previous post entitled Motorcycle Holiday in March) but we have been working on the boat since last October and have not had time to update. Here's a short summary of what we can remember that we were doing before we left:

• The refrigerator and freezer boxes were rebuilt including the lids and are now ready for our new keel cooled Frig-a-Boat unit, which runs much quieter than the old unit. This is especially important as our master stateroom adjoins the galley wall.

• The now-required holding tank was installed, including the venting and associated plumbing. Much bigger job than originally thought.

• The solar panel wiring and wind generator wiring was done and is now all ready for the panels to be attached to the top of the arch.

• The head was stripped of all appliances (sink, toilet, and upper cabinets), repaired, and rebuilt. After lots of scrubbing, the head has 3 coats of bright white paint. Will include before and after pictures once the new countertops, tile, and cabinets are put in.

• LED lighting was installed in the cockpit - very handy for coming and going after dark.

Since we have been back, Jordan has been working on the engine. Apparently, the oil pressure problem was not solved last year, so he raised the engine up and did a bunch of guy-stuff. It appears to be working now - fingers crossed! Will check it again later in the month.

Accessible engine compartment

He has also built and installed a new cabinet above the settee for storage. The door to the cabinet will be built and installed later. The next planned job is to start working on the stripped ceilings. Jordan will be building wooden panels and I will be painting them white when ready. The new painted ceilings will make the boat appear brighter.

Motorcycle holiday

We escaped to Mexico for two months taking a break from winter, snow, and boat work. In Mexico alone, we put 10,000 km on our motorcycle as we traveled down the Pacific Coast as far as Huatulco and came back up through the Mexican Highlands. Jordan's parents joined us for 1 month, his son joined us for 1 week, and we spent time in Yuma visiting my parents and Jordan's sister and husband. We met terrific people, saw fabulous sights, and had amazing adventures.

Jordan and Judy by Mexican beach

Our Favourite Beach was Zipolite - also called Beach of Death due to its strong rip tide! We found several deserted beaches but Zipolite, with only a few tourists, was our favourite. Long stretches of flat sand with the sun rising at one end and setting at the other. We found ourselves postponing leaving here more than once! (Zipolite, State of Oaxaca: Lat. 15 39N Long. 96 31W)

Sun rising at east end of Zipolite beach...

...and setting at west end - fabulous!

Bahia de Conejos in Huatulco (favourite beach of locals)

Bahia San Agustin (16 km from Huatulco) with Jordan

Jordan's Mom and Dad - morning walk at Zipolite

Sunrise on Fisherman's Monument at San Agustinillo (near Zipolite)

Okay, okay - enough beaches!

Our Favourite Activity was going out in a small boat where we saw manta rays and a blue whale AND swam with wild turtles and dolphins! We were also given the opportunity to snorkel, seeing beautifully coloured marine life after boating to another location. We were very happy to discover that Mexico now is very protective of all sea turtles. (San Agustinillo, State of Oaxaca: Lat. 15 41N Long. 96 14W)

Guide with Jordan's son, Aaron

Our Favourite City was the very quaint Taxco, a world UNESCO heritage site. This colonial city of 75,000 was built from silver booms. It lies on the surface of a steep mountainside where all the roads are more like narrow alleys that meander and zigzag throughout the city. Taxis are all Volkswagen beetles that fit the roads perfectly! The church, Santa Prisca Parish, located in the main zocalo (city square) and built in the 1700s has the most impressive baroque exterior. Close to Taxco, we walked a couple of kilometres through the outstanding caves called Grutas de Cacahuamilpa. (Taxco de Alarcon, State of Guerrero: Lat. 18 33N Long. 99 36W)

Incredible view of Taxco

Santa Prisca Parish (in background) in zocalo

View from Hotel Victoria

Our Favourite Road, known as The Road of 3,000 Curves, was riding from Durango to Mazatlan. From Durango, the road goes along a high altitude plateau to El Salto (about half way) where the ride was great. But from El Salto to Mazatlan is the most incredible, scenic, winding road that snakes along the edge of the plateau with canyons and vistas below. (Durango, State of Durango: Lat. 24 01N Long. 104 40W) (Mazatlan, State of Sinaloa: Lat. 23 13N Long. 106 25W)

Most impressive

View of a village nestled below

Devil's Ridge (straight down on both sides of road!)

Other Highlights:
1. We watched a man with his donkey making Mezcal - a prized alcohol similar to Tequila in Mexico - which we purchased on the spot and thoroughly enjoyed later!

2. We ate roasted corn at a roadside stand after hiking to the top of an inactive volcano, Nevado de Toluca.

3. We had the opportunity to visit former Fleet friends on SV Dolphin Tales at a marina in Mazatlan who took us on a day sail to an island for swimming and tanning.

4. Did Jordan get any gas from this pump in San Miguel? (State of Guanajuato in Central Mexico)

5. An actual street name, also in San Miguel...

6. We also visited beautiful Finca El Pacifico, a 5th generation coffee plantation, and drank fabulous freshly roasted organic coffee. Did you know Mexico is the world's 4th largest producer of coffee?

7. We hiked to see Las Cascadas Magicas de Copalitilla and swam in one of the 40 waterfalls surrounded by a rain forest atmosphere.

8. Near Barra de Viejo, we released newborn sea turtles into the ocean - very exciting! And discovered a turtle sanctuary in San Agustinillo (www.tortuguitas.com.mx).

9. Finally, on our way home, we stopped in Calistoga (California USA) at Dr. Wilkinson's Hot Springs Resort and luxuriated in hot mud baths, whirlpool, steamroom, warm towel wraps, and massage. What a way to end a trip!

The roads and scenery of the areas that we travelled from Mazatlan south and up through the Highlands center were the most incredibly fun motorcycle touring roads to be had anywhere.

The only way to go!

Dodger fans

No, not baseball, football, or basketball Dodger fans. We are fans of our new dodger made by Hank Westervelt of Coyote Canvas (note the coyote in the bottom corner). But we attached the 2 handholds to the dodger frame and did the hand sewing around them - not bad for amateurs! Hank re-covered the cockpit cushions and also helped to sew the bimini as our machine couldn't handle the slippery UV resistant thread.

before...

after...

And the work goes on...

We've been very busy working on Sea Turtle. Jordan has built the solar arch and dinghy davit (stainless steel welder Kevin Simpson helped with the welding). This is where our 2 solar panels will be mounted and where our dinghy will hang - sailors hang their dinghy up at night to discourage theft in some foreign countries. Of course during ocean passages, it will be deflated and stored below.

New solar arch and davit

Next to the solar arch is our Air Breeze wind generator on the support poles that Jordan fabricated, installed, and wired. The yellow box on the pole is the circuit breaker. So between 2 solar panels, the wind generator, and the boat engine, we should have plenty of power - plus we have converted most of the lights to LEDs.

Our 2 teak dorade boxes sat at an angle so Jordan built them up so they would be level. I refinished them, the new bronze cowls were put in place, and now Jordan just needs to make cowl guards to prevent lines from catching on them. I have now finished ALL the brightwork and only touch-ups will be needed for the next few years. Brightwork is a terrible job but it sure looks good when done. Some prefer to let it go natural but, so far, our preference is to use Cetol on it. That decision may change over the years if it becomes too much trouble to keep up!

Well, there is 1 item that I have not done with Cetol, but it should be okay for 1 or 2 years. Jordan made a box to cover the storage area beneath the solar arch and varnished the sides before we realized that varnish does not stand up to the UV rays. The box is now installed and will be left as it is until it needs to be refinished.


Jordan has built and installed a beautiful new forward hatch. He also re-bedded the aft hatch that was leaking right above our bed - very unpleasant! He will probably build a new aft hatch in a couple of years to match the forward hatch.

First-class carpentry work

And Jordan now has the Lewmar windlass attached to the deck and just needs to connect the wires - no more hauling the anchor up by hand.

Change of plans

So what's new? The list of to-do's entitled Unfinished Things That We Will Leave and Do In Mexico got too big, so, change of plans. We finally admitted to ourselves that we won't be ready enough to leave for offshore this year though we sure tried hard. But after the discouragement of the fact, we are now looking forward to the delay because we live in some of the best cruising areas of the world and it would have been a shame to not experience it. And more importantly, we will be able to give our boat several test runs to get the bugs out before heading offshore.

Our new plan now consists of finishing the boat, taking a much deserved holiday, and then moving aboard. Next year, we would like to cruise around the Queen Charlotte Islands and/or circumnavigate Vancouver Island before heading offshore in the fall.

More work done

We have Sea Turtle on the hard at The Boat Yard in Sidney. So far, we have given the lower hull one coat of paint. Jordan is polishing the upper hull and has installed our swim ladder on the transom for those lazy days of swimming in the tropics... and our boat now has her name which we think turned out great (thanks to AlleyKat Signs!)

New name on port and starboard...

...and stern too

The wind generator and the RVG still need to be attached to the transom and it also needs some paint touch-ups.

Jordan has also drilled more thru-hulls (1 for the watermaker intake, 1 for the holding tank, and 1 for the Frigoboat refrigerator)...it hurts to drill holes below the waterline!

Jordan has noticed for some time that the oil pressure is not quite right. After starting the engine, it takes about 5 minutes before the pressure comes up to normal. Rob Cross, a fellow BCA member and sailor, managed to solve this mysterious problem and everything is now running perfect. Rob has also talked at a few Fleet evenings discussing diesel engines (great man to run across when sailing and having engine problems!)

Unexpected work that is being done: we discovered that we needed a new prop shaft so we are waiting for it to be made at half the price of a new one. Once the shaft (and propeller) are put back into the boat, we can go back in the water where the rigging will be fine-tuned and the boom will be put back onto the mast. And I can get back to painting all the impossible to get into cubbyholes, drawers, closets, inside hull, cupboards, etc. etc.

Right now, Coyote Canvas is sewing our new dodger - then the current full enclosure over the cockpit will be removed. For protection from the hot sun, we will put up a bimini that we can remove during heavy winds.

And our new countertops have been ordered. Things are looking up!

Not a good weekend

We've had a lot of mishaps lately. Jordan had a trip to the hospital when he tried to slice off his finger with an Exacto knife. Then a mixed-up container of fibreglassing goo was dropped from the cockpit down to the galley. When it landed, it splashed everywhere! It is very slimy, sticky, and disgusting stuff. What a mess.

Then Jordan slipped in the bilge and sliced his calf open. So rather than another trip to the hospital, we headed off to the store to buy some Crazy Glue to glue his wound back together. It works very well!

Then while painting in tight quarters, I laid in some wet paint and Jordan had to cut off a lot of my hair. Hopefully today will be a better day than the weekend was!

Prematurely white

Wiring joys

We've been very busy completely re-wiring and painting during the last month. Jordan has been installing, lining up, and labelling all the wires. Some of these wires go into very difficult places to access.

Pretty nice abs!!

That's the watermaker by Jordan's knee. It's going to be the next item to be installed (in the freshly painted closet). Shortly after this picture was taken, we were boarded by fellow sailors Bruce and Jeannie of SV Jabula and took a much needed wine break! (SV = Sailing Vessel)

Jordan has been running many wires neatly along the ceiling which will be hidden in the future. No more mess as it was when we purchased Sea Turtle!

Excellent job

Jim Temple of Victoria Marine Electric has been helping out a bit and doing inspections to make sure that everything is in order. This is Jordan's first wiring job after studying several books. He wanted to do it himself so that he would be able to fix any problems when we are miles away from help.

Jordan and Jim

PS. Note the great accessibility of the engine compartment on Sea Turtle!

Slow progress

Nothing new done to the boat yet...still too busy...running out of time...isn't that what all sailors say who are getting ready to go?!

Here's some photos of the stained glass lamp that I made last year for our boat, Sea Turtle. After Jordan completes the hanging hardware for it, it will be hung on an Aladdin lamp and mounted above the settee table.

First, cutting out and grinding 52 pieces of glass...

then wrapping all of the pieces with copper foil...

and finally, after soldering all the pieces together, the finished product!

Hours and hours of work, but worth it in the end. Can't wait to see it hanging!

Electrical mess

The electrical definitely needs to be upgraded before we head offshore - our first clue was this mess of wires located above the boat's engine compartment when we purchased her!

New challenge for Jordan

Jordan is going to tackle it with the input of someone knowledgeable hopefully in the next couple of months. Then we can tackle all the "little" things like new countertops, adjusting the settee table, laying a new teak & holly sole, changing the ceiling, and the list goes on and on...will post new pics as we accomplish new tasks.