We will do a much better job of updating this blog as the year progresses. Here are pictures of the last time we loaded on Dockwise.
Apr 20, 2011
2011 Cruising Plans
Hi Everyone---We are quickly approaching our cruising season for 2011. It is hard to believe this is year #7 for us on the water. Our usual routine is to get started in early May and return back to Escondido in mid October and this is what we'll do again. Also, we usually store our boat during the winter in Oak Harbor, Wa. but as you can see from previous posts we brought Mairead down to San Diego. So now we have to get her back north. We have hired a freighter to take the boat in mid May from Ensenada Mexico (about 50 miles south of here) and deliver it to Nanaimo, British Columbia. If you go to http://www.yacht-transfer.com/ you can see the web page of the company we use, Dockwise Yacht Transport. This is a very interesting process. They literall sink the cargo area of the ship, and I will drive the boat into the ship. At this time they have divers under the boats, positioning proper supports. They then pump the water out and the boat settles onto the supports (hopefully)! Five days later the process is reversed and we float off the ship. The date is not exact, but pickup is scheduled for May 17-20th. Delivery will be five days later. We will fly to Vancouver and then take a sea plane from there to Nanaimo to meet the ship. Then, once again, off to Alaska for the summer. We just love it up there, mainly because environment is so pristine, no crowds, very few boats. It is like stepping back in time. We had given serious thoughts about driving the boat to the Panama Canal and then on to the east coast of the U.S. but have decided against doing that for several reasons. The primary reason is we love Alaska. But we also decided we didn't want to endure the heat and humidity of the east coast. Also, traveling in Mexico and Central America is not something we feel comfortable doing. We could ship the boat to Florida from British Columbia but again we relish the Alaska environment and just wouldn't be comfortable in the crowded east coast. BUT, in the boating world, it is often said, we only have INTENTIONS, NOT PLANS.
We will do a much better job of updating this blog as the year progresses. Here are pictures of the last time we loaded on Dockwise.
We will do a much better job of updating this blog as the year progresses. Here are pictures of the last time we loaded on Dockwise.
Pictures from along the West Coast of the U.S.
Dolphins off our bow near Dana Point.
Sunrise off Pt. Conception near San Luis Obispo
Otter off our boat in Monterey. We could have touched it.
Taking Spray off the west coast
Foggy morning in Newport, Oregon
Gray's Harbor, Wa. spectacular Sunset
Back in the big city, Marina Del Rey in Los Angeles
Off Santa Barbara, off shore oil wells
Apr 18, 2011
Hi everyone---I don't know why I never had time to update our blog through the end of our cruising time last year, but you know how it is when you're retired, you just don't have much time anymore.
We departed Alaska on August 1st arriving in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, where we cleared Canadian customs. After departing P.R. we traveled south through the "inside passage". This is usually very calm water, and an easy trip. It is quite remote so we anchor every night until we got back into population around a week later. Once we did the open ocean passage around Cape Caution, always a potential dangerous and rough area, we entered into Southern British Columbia where there are actual population centers. We spent a week or so in our favorite area the Broughton Islands. We then went to Vancouver. There we spent several days just enjoying this fabulous city. If you haven't ever been there, this is a must trip.
Upon entering U.S. waters we went to Bellingham where we stayed three days while we had some warranty work done on our engines. We made the decision to not leave the boat wintered over in the North West like we usually do, but instead decided to bring Mairead to San Diego. We had made the trip down the west coast once before so we were familiar with the trip.
This is all open ocean travel unlike the inside passage. Trip planning around the weather forecast is critical. We stopped each day, but unlike the previous months where we would travel no more than 4-6 hours, it was not uncommon to make 12-14 hour runs due to the long distance between safe harbors. With minor exception, all the harbors on the west coast are river outflow areas. If the wind and sea condition is not right, entering these harbors can be EXTREMELY dangerous due to the outflowing current colliding with the incoming wind and waves. The idea is to arrive when the tide condition is rising, which has a tendancy to push the river back and therefor reduces the wave action. There have been a number of boats lost at all these locations and many lives lost too. The Columbia River, separating Washington from Oregon is known as the "graveyard of the pacific". The Coast Guard uses this entrance for training their people. Anyway, by carefully planning and watching the weather we had no problems at any of the locations. We stopped at Grey's Harbor, Wa., Tillamook, Or., Newport, Or., Coos Bay, Or., Crescent City, Ca., Eureka, Ca., Monterey, Ca., San Luis Harbor, Ca., Santa Barbara, Ca., Oxnard, Ca., Marina Del Re, Ca., Dana Point, Ca. and finally San Diego. A friend of ours joined us on part of the trip to help out, so when he was with us we did one LONG non stop leg, Eureka to Monterey, 288 miles, and 332 hours, an overnight non stop trip.
Here are some details regarding our cruising for 2010.
Total Miles Traveled 3,577
Engine Hours 456
Average Speed 7.8 knots
Gallons of Diesel 2,957
$ of Diesel 9,576
Price per Gallon $3.23
We have spent the winter months having lots of work done on the boat. A big upgrade to our electrical system, varnishing, painting and waxing the exterior, varnishing and painting the interior, bottom paint, stabilizer repair and on and on.
The next post I'll tell you about our plans for 2011.
Chuck and Margaret
We departed Alaska on August 1st arriving in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, where we cleared Canadian customs. After departing P.R. we traveled south through the "inside passage". This is usually very calm water, and an easy trip. It is quite remote so we anchor every night until we got back into population around a week later. Once we did the open ocean passage around Cape Caution, always a potential dangerous and rough area, we entered into Southern British Columbia where there are actual population centers. We spent a week or so in our favorite area the Broughton Islands. We then went to Vancouver. There we spent several days just enjoying this fabulous city. If you haven't ever been there, this is a must trip.
Upon entering U.S. waters we went to Bellingham where we stayed three days while we had some warranty work done on our engines. We made the decision to not leave the boat wintered over in the North West like we usually do, but instead decided to bring Mairead to San Diego. We had made the trip down the west coast once before so we were familiar with the trip.
This is all open ocean travel unlike the inside passage. Trip planning around the weather forecast is critical. We stopped each day, but unlike the previous months where we would travel no more than 4-6 hours, it was not uncommon to make 12-14 hour runs due to the long distance between safe harbors. With minor exception, all the harbors on the west coast are river outflow areas. If the wind and sea condition is not right, entering these harbors can be EXTREMELY dangerous due to the outflowing current colliding with the incoming wind and waves. The idea is to arrive when the tide condition is rising, which has a tendancy to push the river back and therefor reduces the wave action. There have been a number of boats lost at all these locations and many lives lost too. The Columbia River, separating Washington from Oregon is known as the "graveyard of the pacific". The Coast Guard uses this entrance for training their people. Anyway, by carefully planning and watching the weather we had no problems at any of the locations. We stopped at Grey's Harbor, Wa., Tillamook, Or., Newport, Or., Coos Bay, Or., Crescent City, Ca., Eureka, Ca., Monterey, Ca., San Luis Harbor, Ca., Santa Barbara, Ca., Oxnard, Ca., Marina Del Re, Ca., Dana Point, Ca. and finally San Diego. A friend of ours joined us on part of the trip to help out, so when he was with us we did one LONG non stop leg, Eureka to Monterey, 288 miles, and 332 hours, an overnight non stop trip.
Here are some details regarding our cruising for 2010.
Total Miles Traveled 3,577
Engine Hours 456
Average Speed 7.8 knots
Gallons of Diesel 2,957
$ of Diesel 9,576
Price per Gallon $3.23
We have spent the winter months having lots of work done on the boat. A big upgrade to our electrical system, varnishing, painting and waxing the exterior, varnishing and painting the interior, bottom paint, stabilizer repair and on and on.
The next post I'll tell you about our plans for 2011.
Chuck and Margaret
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