As most of you know by now I made it to Newport Or. I made a 32hr overnight run from Sausalito to Eureka, after I tied up some people we had met on the way down came over to say Hi. After letting them know I was hoping to get up to Cresent City and Coos Bay in the next 2 days Tracy ask how far could I get if I had help, we sat down and figured I could get to Newport so he offered to go as far as Coos Bay and his wife would drive up and pick him up, so at 7AM we took off on a 36hr run to Newport.
I pulled in to Coos Bay pulled up to the dock, Tracy jumped off and I headed back out, 45 min in and out and back on course for Newport. I arrived in Newport Sunday evening and collapsed, Monday was going to be the end of the good weather to get up to the Columbia River but I couldn't face a 15hr run after a 32 and a 36hr run back to back that I had just done so I called LaVon to come down and pick me up and I'm leaving the boat in Newport until there is another break in the weather. It doesn't look like I will get the boat back before Memorial Day weekend but oh well we will have lots of time this summer to go out on the river, I just want the boat back in Portland by the 4th of July for the Blues Festival.
See you all soon.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Sitting in Sausalito
Well I came down to Sausalito Sunday planing to go out Wed. and hoping that the weather may clear enough to get out Tues.
Tues. came and the conditions were not good and Wed. did not look good either, 25 to 35kt wind, gale warnings, 7' to 10' swell at 8 to 9 seconds while north of Point Arena there are 4' to 5' swells at 10 seconds diminishing to 4' to 5' at 15 to 16 seconds and it is good all the way up the Oregon coast thru next Monday, I just can't get out of San Francisco and the 20 hrs. up to Point Arena to get the good weather up into Oregon. Maybe tomarrow, it looks a lot better, but then I hope that the weather window up north doesn't close down later in the week.
The weather this time of year is so frustrating that sometimes I feel like saying screw the world and just stay in the Delta but I miss my friends and family and want to get back to Oregon.
I did all of my engine checks last night in preperation to leave this morning and I noticed an odd smell and a brown stain on one of the stringers where the fuel lines are strapped down and some brown muck in the bilge (Mexican diesel is amber not red and it smells different)I didn't think much about it and put an absorb pad in the bilge and went to bed, at 4:30 this morning I sat up in bed and realized that the brown is fuel! If the strap had rubbed a hole in the fuel line and it is leaking, it will suck air when the engine is running and the engine will shut down and I will be on one engine and down to about 6kts speed with no place to get it fixed, so I ran down into the engine room and started to investigate the leak.
I have been having some problems starting the generator but it has always started and run fine, well I traced the leak back to the generator, it is leaking fuel some where around the fuel pump or injector pump when it runs. OK I can live without a generator if I have to so I shut the fuel supply off and I will turn it on if I run the generator and shut the fuel off when I shut down the generator, if it quits running then I just live without the generator until I get back to Portland and get it fixed.
Extended crusing is not for the meek, I have a tremendos respect for, or maybe disgust for the stupidity of anyone who will go out on the Ocean singlehanded, it is not only DANGEROUS but it is a full time job plotting courses, checking weather, planning times and tides for arrivel and departures, sitting and waiting, leaving or arriving at all hours of the day or night, and thats just in your free time, out at sea you have to be constantly alert for crab pots, floting kelp that can foul your props or plug your water intakes, any other floting debries like logs, lumber or trash, being aware of swell direction as well as maintaining course and speed and knowing where you are at all times so you know when to change course and when you should be arriving at your destination, being aware of how the wind and current are affecting you, if your not in the right place then figuring out why and where are you. This is a lot more than this old fart ever wants to do alone again.
Cell phone service is spotty along the Northern California coast so I don't know when I will be able to update again but I will try to update this weekend when I should be in Eureka
Tues. came and the conditions were not good and Wed. did not look good either, 25 to 35kt wind, gale warnings, 7' to 10' swell at 8 to 9 seconds while north of Point Arena there are 4' to 5' swells at 10 seconds diminishing to 4' to 5' at 15 to 16 seconds and it is good all the way up the Oregon coast thru next Monday, I just can't get out of San Francisco and the 20 hrs. up to Point Arena to get the good weather up into Oregon. Maybe tomarrow, it looks a lot better, but then I hope that the weather window up north doesn't close down later in the week.
The weather this time of year is so frustrating that sometimes I feel like saying screw the world and just stay in the Delta but I miss my friends and family and want to get back to Oregon.
I did all of my engine checks last night in preperation to leave this morning and I noticed an odd smell and a brown stain on one of the stringers where the fuel lines are strapped down and some brown muck in the bilge (Mexican diesel is amber not red and it smells different)I didn't think much about it and put an absorb pad in the bilge and went to bed, at 4:30 this morning I sat up in bed and realized that the brown is fuel! If the strap had rubbed a hole in the fuel line and it is leaking, it will suck air when the engine is running and the engine will shut down and I will be on one engine and down to about 6kts speed with no place to get it fixed, so I ran down into the engine room and started to investigate the leak.
I have been having some problems starting the generator but it has always started and run fine, well I traced the leak back to the generator, it is leaking fuel some where around the fuel pump or injector pump when it runs. OK I can live without a generator if I have to so I shut the fuel supply off and I will turn it on if I run the generator and shut the fuel off when I shut down the generator, if it quits running then I just live without the generator until I get back to Portland and get it fixed.
Extended crusing is not for the meek, I have a tremendos respect for, or maybe disgust for the stupidity of anyone who will go out on the Ocean singlehanded, it is not only DANGEROUS but it is a full time job plotting courses, checking weather, planning times and tides for arrivel and departures, sitting and waiting, leaving or arriving at all hours of the day or night, and thats just in your free time, out at sea you have to be constantly alert for crab pots, floting kelp that can foul your props or plug your water intakes, any other floting debries like logs, lumber or trash, being aware of swell direction as well as maintaining course and speed and knowing where you are at all times so you know when to change course and when you should be arriving at your destination, being aware of how the wind and current are affecting you, if your not in the right place then figuring out why and where are you. This is a lot more than this old fart ever wants to do alone again.
Cell phone service is spotty along the Northern California coast so I don't know when I will be able to update again but I will try to update this weekend when I should be in Eureka
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