Moss Landing, CA to Newport, OR – Sept 25, 2014

Through everlasting quirks of time, fate and friends, I met a beautiful woman named Celina Gutierrez who shares my passion for music and traveling. Celina is a fabulously talented musician and well-known singer in Santa Cruz. I have introduced her to the world of jazz and to many Santa Cruz jazz musicians.  In turn, she has introduced me to many wonderful people associated with the music she played before we met. Together, we have melded our music and style and created a band called “Skylark”. We've spent the last 2 years playing in and around Monterey Bay in bands ranging in size from 2 to 5 pieces. You can check out our website: www.skylarkmusica.com

Celina has not had a lot of experience cruising, but she has an incredibly sharp engineering mind and has helped me through a lot of logistical problems on Blue Bossa. She is also a first rate cook and was able to throw together great meals that kept me and the crew well fed. Best of all, she is ready for adventure with a very positive attitude in all conditions with no complaints. What more could a guy ask for? As everyone has heard, the difference between adventure and ordeal is attitude!

Moss Landing with its big stacks

For the past two years, Blue Bossa has berthed at Pillar Point Marina, then at Loch Lomond Marina in San Rafael, and finally at Moss Landing in Monterey Bay, where we could be close to the majority of our gigs. We (myself, Celina and Django, our little 16 pound Chihuahua-Jack Russell terrier) lived full time on the boat at all those places.

During that time, we had many adventures on Blue Bossa. Moving the boat from Pillar Point to San Rafael, a trip up the San Joaquin Delta, another down to the Berkeley Marina to have her hauled out, then down to Moss Landing. We took her to Monterey and Carmel too spending some time at Still Water Cove. We will share those adventures with you in future blogs. We've also taken a few road trips exploring the western side of the U.S. in our gigmobile as “Skylark, Django, and the Flying Gigmobile.

Moss Landing

During one of those road trips, we explored the Northwest, including the town of Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, where I had spent some good months during the winter years ago on BB. Celina was stoked about it and months later, we decided to move there. In July, we bought "The Rose House" near town and decided to bring BB back up to the Northwest. Because of her unique design you can stay warm and toasty while cruising even when it rains, which it does there more often than in Santa Cruz. She will be easier to sell there if we decide to put her on the market.

During the early part of this summer (2014), we spent a lot of time getting the boat ready to head north from Moss Landing.

Surfer on a bike

A couple of observations about Moss Landing. It is a delightfully funky place with a mix of nice boats to down-and-out, ready-to-sink hulks still in a slip.  Blue Bossa was considered one of the nicest boats in the marina, which is primarily a commercial fishing port. There is a lot of activity during all hours of the day and night, making it difficult to get uninterrupted. There are also some dicey characters that come and go and even though most of these folks have proven to be nice, we noticed the Sheriff units visited often. Those were the only downsides to Moss Landing. 

Humpbacks on display at Moss Landing 

Since Moss Landing is located on the receiving end of the giant underwater funnel known as the Monterey Bay Canyon, the waters going in and out of the marina and the Elkhorn Slough are overwhelmed with an abundance of food sources, such as fish, clams and mussels that attract marine animals and birds. The area is known for sea otters, seals, sea lions – and humpback whales that migrate in and out of the bay. When there is a large quantity of anchovies, which was the case this summer, you would be hard pressed to walk out to the beach on the spit and not see whales out there catching fish. We took BB or crewed on other friends’ boats to watch the whales cavorting around and looking for food. Having been to Glacier Bay in Alaska, I can tell you that comparatively speaking this year the Monterey Bay has been way more prolific in terms of numbers of whales.

Pelican on a stick

Since there were a lot of anchovies and other food sources, there were also a lot of birds. Moss Landing is a birder’s paradise – where the of sea birds are out in force. There were terns, pelicans, kites, ospreys, greebs, cormorants, red-shouldered hawks, etc. Of course there’s a downside to that giant food source, and we were constantly washing off of the Blue Bossa the results of the well fed population of seagulls.

We made all arrangements during those months, taking care of health issues that I had, selling off stuff that we didn’t need, moving more stuff from our storage space in Watsonville to Friday Harbor, selling the gigmobile and getting a 3^rd person to help us take the boat up north.

BB nesting in ML

Going north to the Northwest Puget Sound is not an easy one.  When my son Alex and I took Blue Bossa down to California in the month of October, we primarily had north winds to pushing us along. Our only stop was Newport, OR and it only took 10 days. For the trip going north, I gave us a month to get up, expecting to stop at ports along the way, many of which have dangerous entrances in poor weather (of course poor weather would be the reason why we would want to go into a port in the first place!) Because there was the possibility of having really bad weather with no place to shelter, I purchased a good sea-anchor. Between that, constantly listening or looking at weather reports, and having a 3^rd crew, I felt pretty good about our trip.

Lori at the helm

Lori Bertolucci, a 5’ tall spark-plug full of positive energy and a can-do attitude was our 3^rd crew. Lori just retired from UPS after 30 years of service, is totally outgoing and made friends wherever we went. How could I go wrong? Two extroverts with great attitudes and one experienced but careful introvert (me) on board. Good things were bound to happen! She didn’t have a lot of offshore experience like we expected on this trip, but her dad was a commercial fisherman and she learned a lot from him. Plus, she is the owner of a nice little Erickson 28 and has sailed around Santa Cruz extensively.  The icing on the cake was that she fit right into our little circle as if we had been friends for years.

The following log of our trip north is mostly written by Celina, with my comments injected in various spots:

On Saturday, August 16, 2014, at 3am, Howard, Lori Bertolucci and I left our Cowells Beach anchorage in Santa Cruz and headed north; our final destination, Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, Washington.

Approaching Pt Reyes

This leg was mostly easy going, glassy, or wind out of the south and although tummies were a little queasy for the gals, the skipper is an old hand at this and is perfectly comfortable. Eating light from the stores of fruit Lori contributed and even a green shake around noon keep us on the right track.

As we roll along, Lori and I are comfortably wrapped up in sleeping bags and snooze on the port and starboard side benches in the main cabin. We take turns keeping watch as we make really good time at around 7-8 knots over the ground in light winds with the main sail up for stability and small jib. (Howard) It was nice to have a substantial 
1-2 knot southerly current pushing us along, making great time!

(Celina) We see sharks (especially passing the Farallon Islands), some porpoise and lots of sea birds.

Guiding us into Bodega

We decide to push on past Pt. Reyes to Bodega Bay and stay the night there. Howard finds the dock he’s been directed to and backs the BB in between two boats, impressive! We take a walk after our dinner of chicken with vegetables over rice. Lori and I skip the chicken and enjoy a vegetarian version. On our walk, we meet some folks who are originally from Santa Cruz/Watsonville and after a tour of their pop up trailer, we say good-bye and walk back to the boat. It’s cool and a little foggy. Lori’s settled into the office/stateroom just aft of our V-Berth where she’s comfortable in that little bunk and we’re down for the night, we sleep hard even though we slept so much on the cruise. We have a 6am start tomorrow.

Bodega Bay

(Howard) I’ve always wanted to go into Bodega by boat and found it a very scenic entrance – but it’s necessary to work around a huge “street” of markers to finally get to “Spud Point Marina”.  Remembering “The Birds”, filmed in Bodega, I ordered the crew to keep a sharp lookout for any wayward and loitering seagulls lurking around :>). While we were walking the streets, I met a Michael who I apparently sold my old tweaked Moore 24 mast (after getting t-boned) to him while I was working at Cass Marina in Sausalito, more than 40 years ago! You meet old acquaintances in the most unexpected places!

(Celina) On Sunday, August 17, 2014, it’s easy to leave the dock in Bodega Bay and before we leave, I’m in the galley making egg and cheese sandwiches for later on so that I don’t have to be down in the galley while under way. Lori wears the “marriage saver”, our radio-headset communication device, while we motor down the long channel in the pre-dawn hour towards the harbor mouth, passed up by various sports fishing boats eager to get an early start of fishing. It’s not long before we’re tucked with our tea and sandwiches and then to nap on the benches again. When we’re up, we take turns at the helm, keeping watch and being out on the cockpit looking out to see sunfish, sharks and jellies.

I see a great white jump out of the water! Wow, what a sight! The chop is greater today and the fog comes in. We make great time and arrive at Noyo Harbor by 6pm (another 12-hour day).

(Howard) The entrance to Noyo (Fort Bragg) is tricky, and we arrive when it’s foggy – so I’m relying on instruments and Lori’s sharp eyes keeping us safe until it’s clear enough when we got close.

Sharing a smoothy

Mistress of the galley

(Celina) Pasta for dinner. We take a short walk to get a sense of where everything is and make a plan for purveying veggies tomorrow. We also need to get permission to stay a night (OR 6) and find a place to shower. I didn’t secure the forward hatch before leaving Bodega and so things got a little soggy in the V-Berth. No problem, the sleeping bags make up for the comforter that is now hanging on the table in the main cabin, fan directed at it so that it might dry before we set out again, hopefully on Tuesday, giving us another day and night here.

Glenda and Ron Jaeger, my long time family friends, are coming by for a visit tomorrow and maybe they’ll help us out with a trip to the market.

On Monday, August 18, 2014, it’s foggy and cool. We are end-tied near the commercial fishermen who mostly go out for Black Cod. Howie has leftover pasta and

Howard, Celina, Glenda, and Ron

Lori and I have scrambled eggs and a slice of bread. Glenda and Ron Jaeger come to the boat, only Ron boards, then, they take us to the market to pick up the few necessities; fresh veggies, eggs, beer, half and half, and more. We take them for lunch at a small diner in Fort Bragg and catch up over clam chowder. They drop us off at Starbucks where we jump on the web and take care of Facebooking and internetting.

In the language of the Pomo people the Noyo River was called Chemli-bida; the name “Noyo” referred to a village several miles north. After we walk back across the Noyo Bridge to the marina, I get busy making our turkey soup and packaging the veggies to be used later. We learn from the weather report that the conditions are not good for going around Cape Mendocino and won’t be through the weekend. We will be here ‘til it clears, almost a week. The boat is ship-shape; we’re showered and cozy. A game of Othello with Lori over a shared gluten-free beer and then everyone nestled in their bunks.

Looking from the bridge on Noyo Harbor

Tuesday, August 19, 2014, we again wake up in Noyo Harbor and get out to go to the head and see a large catamaran coming in to end-tie behind us. Howard tells the Harbor Master we need to stay longer and he says “fine”. We try to get some biscuits going, but can’t get the propane to stay on. We put the two large propane empties in our two wheeled aluminum cart and head .6 miles up the river road to the marina where we’ll be able to get them refilled. The diner is a small and clean eatery where the two local ladies brag about how they have the best food around, the freshest meat and the busiest joint during the season. We decide we will come back for some meals while we’re holed up here.

Noyo Basin

When we get back to the boat I try to get the biscuits going again, but the stove just doesn’t want to cooperate.  Howard will investigate later, he says. 

waiting for the bus

We pack up and hoof it over to the bus stop up the hill where we catch the “little bus” to Mendocino, taking note of the few places we want to visit while we’re here. We find a table at Frankie’s Pizza for Internet, pizza and ice cream; recommended to us by one of the locals with whom we’ve share the bus ride. Now to explore!

Mendo Hotel

We find the Mendocino Hotel and take turns testing out all the chairs in the parlor and take pictures around the fireplace. The antiques and ambiance in the hotel are unmatched and we relax a while before moving on – pretty classy place!

The bus ride is again a time to rest and check out the scenery as we head back to the marina.

Bus stop is a groovy place to be

At our final bus stop, we spot the Hospice Thrift Store and are excited to stop in. I need a muffin pan and would be happy to find a stainless barista’s cup in which to heat maple syrup for pancakes, but only find the pan. Lori picks up books, shorts and some DVD’s.

When we try to get the stove working, Howard finds the connection from the propane to the stove is broken and says we will have to wait till Friday Harbor to fix it.

BB in Noyo

(Howard) The propane tanks are all the way aft of the boat, and there’s a copper tubing that runs all the way to the stove on the port side (about 20’ away) – I stupidly broke the tubing trying to get the 15 year old regulator off.  So it really means I need to replace the tubing with a proper propane hose – and to do that, I would have to pull everything out from the port side and take some cabinets apart to pull out the old tubing and put in a new hose. So Celina (did I tell you that she has a engineering mind?) comes up with a better option:

(Celina) So, the plan is to go into town tomorrow and find an 110v electric skillet, used or new. I make a salad for dinner tonight and we set up the big laptop and put on “Warm Bodies”. Towards the end of the movie, our new neighbor from the CAT comes over and knocks on the boat to politely inform us (she’s British) that our outdoor speaker is on and did we know it? Howard is embarrassed and quickly remedies the problem. When the movie is over and we’re all getting settled, Lori and I are laughing so hard about the situation that we are in abdominal pain. Another good day with good people and good times.

At the Dolphin Isle Cafe

Now it’s Wednesday, August 20, 2014, we decide to walk over to the Dolphin Isle café at the end of Noyo Harbor for breakfast. We sit outside first and then move indoors for the chilly wind. Our breakfast takes a while coming to us and when we’re done, we walk back to the boat where Glenda and Ron are waiting for us. First, we hit the Hospice Thrift store closest to the harbor and I score an 18x12x1.5” butcher block cutting board that will fit nicely on our now useless stovetop on the boat. Then, off to Safeway where we grab up some more groceries go to a hardware store where we purchase an inexpensive small “Presto” electric skillet to take the place of our fancy propane stove, and then to some thrift stores where I find the little stainless cup I’ve been hunting for. A quick visit to Ron and Glenda’s trailer south of town and Lori is gifted with a backpack for day tripping and we get a nice bag for our laundry. We get back to the boat and get our laundry together and they drop us at the top of the hill where the laundromat sits conveniently next to the pizza place where we share a pizza, thanks to Lori. After that we head back to the boat, get organized, head off to take showers and then have our salad and popcorn while watching “Scary Movie”.

We may be leaving Saturday, we’ll see. Tomorrow we head to Mendo on the bus to meet up with Glenda and Ron who are house sitting there.

Busy - busy!

On Thursday, August 21, 2014, Howie and I finally get up around 9am and find Lori in the cockpit, bundled in her blankie, cup of coffee and book in hand, enjoying the first sunshine we’ve had here. I whip up some Blue Bossa Huevos Rancheros a la Fregada and we enjoy breakfast out on the cockpit. We’ve elected to take the noon bus to Mendo and so there’s time to take care of tasks around the boat. You know there’s ALWAYS something to do on a boat. I clean, sand and oil my new butcher block cutting board. Lori gets busy cleaning up the chrome stanchions and Howie continues to use every tool he has to look into the weather and wind predictions. We pack up and climb the hill to the now familiar bus shelter to catch a ride on the Metro to Mendo.

We meet Glenda at the Mendo Post Office and we go to the house they’re staying, only a few blocks away. What a nice visit with Glenda and Ron. These two, salt of the earth old souls, are a delight and food for my soul. The house is a Mendo original and the woman who owns it now, good friend to Glenda and Ron, bought the house before the city could tear it down. Pot growers who ran it down nearly to its demise had owned it. This new owner has made it one of the most peaceful and lovely homes I’ve ever been in and we enjoy our visit immensely. We decide to walk to the Harvest Market two blocks away to bring lunch and ice cream back at house. After visiting some more and having a listen to a Skylark CD Howard has put together for the Jaegers as a kind of 60^th wedding anniversary gift, Glenda drives us back to the boat. Lori opens a bottle of wine and once again The Blue Bossa Cinema is open for business. We watch Jodi Foster in “Flight Plan”, drink wine, eat cheese and crackers, and Howie has soup. It’s not so bad being stuck in Fort Bragg after all.

Ron and Glenda

Good night

It’s Friday, August 22, 2014, and Howard and I leave Lori at the BB since she’s anxious to continue working in the sunshine, cleaning stanchions. We are sitting in David’s at the local mini mall. This looks like the happening place and Howard is served all the corned beef hash left in the world, apparently.

He’s decided the plan is to leave tomorrow for Shelter Cove and anchor there. We will pull up anchor around midnight either Saturday or Sunday and make the long anticipated trek around Cape Mendocino, hopefully to Crescent City for a lay over and to fuel up and stock up.

We are enjoying this adventure and love having Lori along. She is always positive, super funny, easy to laugh and help out. We are feeling pretty good about it all.

We sit Howard down in the cockpit and he gets a nice hair cut, cutting it short. He’s not shaved his face since the trip began and he’s looking rather dapper now. We tend to a few things on the boat and then off to take showers in the disgustingly gross showers here. We’re grateful for showers and our healthy immune systems.

Eating Italian

Glenda and Ron come to take us to dinner that Howard is treating everyone to. We find an Italian seafood place down on the other side of the marina and it’s the real deal. We enjoy a dinner of fish and chips, Italian chopped salad, nice house red wine and Lori has a Red Seal IPA. It all goes down easy with conversations about each other and recollection of times past when Glenda and Ron knew my parents.

The evening ends with us back at the boat once again and talking about the weather and whether to leave the next day or wait until Sunday. We decide to stay one more day and leave Sunday morning.

We all sleep well until the mob of resident sea gulls begins their 2am chant of MINE, MINE, MINE at decibels that wake us all up. The groovy earplugs I use help, but don’t block it out completely.

Saturday, August 23, 2014 and the fog is back. It’s chilly and we are taking it easy this morning. Howie let’s me know he’s not feeling so great so we turn on the Reiki while doing a little massage and stay put for a while. (Howard) Felt like a chest cold.

(Celina) Lori and I will leave him here and head up the hill into town where we will meet up with Glenda for a ride to go further into Fort Bragg to buy stamps for our post cards. We do some laundry and hit the market and the thrift store once again. Glenda is there like an angel driving a winged chariot and after our forage, she drives us back to the harbor and we say our good-byes. She is such a sweet sister in so many ways and it leaves me speechless when she expresses her love for me upon leaving.

Howard is ready for some soup and Lori is ready to continue working on her chosen vocation of cleaning and shining up the stainless throughout the boat. The stanchions, the cleats, the chocks and more are gleaming in the sun that has decided to shine warm and bright. The breeze comes and goes changing from warm to fog-chilled, brisk and cool. We watch as two ospreys stage battle over our corner of the harbor and I mock their call and get them to look down from their battle arena to see who has the nerve to imitate them. Howard and I walk to the Harbor office to see if there is someone there to take our money in payment for the 5 nights still owing and learn the office is closed on Saturdays and Sundays. We’ll leave them a check and the keys to the shower facilities, which apparently are not high on the list of priorities of maintenance at the harbor. Still we have been grateful for the luxury of hot water and privacy long enough to get the “dock-rattiness” out of our hair.

If we don't leave Fort Bragg soon, we'll look like this mushroom

Lori decides to take a walk back up the hill to where she can pick up a Wi-Fi signal and, hopefully, load some games on her laptop while Howard and I clean up the boat and put things in order in preparation for the next leg of our journey.

When she gets back, Howie and I take off for our last showers here and when we return it’s Lori’s chance to do the same.

I’ve started a nice salad for dinner and pop a bottle of wine to go with it. Howie picks out tonight’s movie and we all settle in as soon as Lori gets back. The movie, “Along Came A Spider”, keeps us all riveted even though we can’t help remarking, a la Mystery Science Theater, at how outdated the technology, i.e. computers, cell phones etc. appear.

We enjoy a few Trader Joe’s Ginger Snap cookies and some conversation and then it’s time for Lori to receive the long awaited neck massage I’ve promised her. She’s grateful and as Howie and I are tucked in the V-Berth, me journaling and him on his 3^rdbook of the trip, we hear her yawning and can tell she’s ready for the voyage we’ll take tomorrow to Shelter Cove.

Shelter Cove launch ramp

Sunday, August 24, 2014, we leave Fort Bragg at 9 am and arrive at Shelter Cove in the afternoon, going against some big chop – which should have given us some idea on the conditions further north.

We have soup, munchies and, from the boat, watch the surf activity at the black sand beach, which is just filled with surfers who take advantage of the small point break and left and right cutting waves. Howard decides it’s a good idea to leave around 8:30 and so off we go into the night to make a run around Cape Mendocino.

Artist at work at Shelter Cove

It’s dark, very, very dark and stepping out onto the cockpit I see the most amazing sight that makes me so full of joy that I can barely breath. As I look to the southern horizon, I see what looks like milky clouds that are filled with very bright lights and as I follow the bright stars upward, I realize I’m looking at the Milky Way that stretches over-head and down to the northern horizon. I call Lori to come out and look and she and I are both in awe of such a beautiful sight. Blessed be!

But alas, the smooth seas that were predicted are only an imagination as we hit big chop and winds averaging 15 to 21 knots on the nose. The two of us who are not on watch are lying down on the benches in the main cabin with our leeboards in place so we don’t roll off with the boat’s movement. Howard has made sure he is on watch as we round Punto Gordo where the wind gusts to 30 and the waves come up over the bow.

Hmmm-doesn't look good...

(Howard) The wind peaks at 30 knots and I am starting to think that maybe we should turn back. Up to now, it was clear sky overhead, but, suddenly, we fall into a fog zone and the winds suddenly dropped back to 15 knots, but we are still pounding into very big, short seas. I have to slow the boat down so we don’t fall off of so many steep waves. BB has performed really well under these conditions – the little Yanmar engine working flawlessly, and the relatively heavy hull punching/pounding through the mixed-up seas.

Safely tucked in for rough conditions

(Celina) On my watch, I hold on tight when I see a line of red splotches suddenly appear, because I know it means waves so big, they are picked up on radar. The boat heels and pitches as if in a giant washing machine. Around 2:30 (my shift is over at 5), I can’t hold anything down and run out to the cockpit in the midst of the churning waves and wind and let loose my cookies, making for the perfect barf storm. I tap Lori from her semi-sleep and she takes the helm. It’s all auto pilot action and it works great, it also gives the watchman a sense of helplessness when out of the dark comes a wave that heaves the boat up and slams it down with a smack that sounds as though something surely will break or crack. We push on as the wind calms some and the waves back off.

Monday, August 25, 2014, we make it, unharmed but for a 12” inch vertical tear in the mainsail’s tack alongside a seam, to Crescent City around 3:30pm. What a beautiful harbor, newly rebuilt after the tsunami of 2011 ripped it up pretty good. The pilings on the dock now are huge 31” diameter steel poles – you couldn’t even put your arms around them, they’re so big. You’ll remember Crescent City was also hit in 1964 by a tsunami that devastated the harbor and the town and again in 2011 from the Fukushima earthquake. They obviously want to make sure they’re not hit so badly next time.

Pylon envy

Howie treats Lori and I to an “authentic” Mexican meal at a little place across Hwy 1. I find it funny that in Oregon and Washington, every food establishment serving Mexican food has the word “authentic” in the signage as if to indicate there are imposters out there intending to defraud the public with non-authentic Mexican food. That’s funny. After our visit to the harbor office, where we register and pick up a key to the showers, we head back to the Blue Bossa. She is side-tied and the southerly wind that’s blowing about 17 is pressing her hard and keeping her pinned snug against the new concrete dock. We talk about strategies to move on to our next port of call and agree we should stay put tonight and tomorrow night, resting up, licking our wounds, and leaving for Brookings Wednesday morning. No movie tonight, the cinema is closed and we’re tired.

Fixin' the main

Tuesday, August 26, 2014, an easy morning with a nice breakfast of turkey bacon and eggs with refried beans and tortillas with salsa. Howard gets to work on repairing the sail with adhesive-backed Dacron he’s had on board for 4 years just for an occasion like this one. Lori and I gather up all laundry and head to the laundry, stopping at the little thrift store that shares the marina parking lot. I am looking for a stainless container for keeping tea or coffee warm and ready for when we’re under way and don’t want to go below into the galley and I find a beauty. Practically new, this $40 item costs me $2.50. I also pick up a microwave popcorn maker for $1. I’ve been looking for one of these for the Rose House (our house in Friday Harbor) and now we’ve got one. We don’t have a

microwave onboard anymore, so the little electric skillet I’ve been using now doubles as a popcorn maker. Lori and I both get a few books for the passage, “Shogun” for me and “Meg” for Howard. We leave our found treasures there and take our laundry to the Laundromat a little more than half a mile away. A very nice establishment, we put our things to wash and head to Jack in the Box for the free WiFi. Soon enough we’re done and head back to the thrift store for our stuff but first make a stop at the liquor store for come cold ones. Meanwhile, Howard takes a walk to Englund Marine Supply and comes back with the book about splicing that Lori asked for.

Sunset at Crescent City

When we get back to the boat, I get some chicken started for dinner and take off to use the very nice showers at the marina. When I get back, salad, rice and chicken fill our bellies and now we take a walk.

Now it’s getting dark and Howard gathers us around the computer to show us his strategy for harbor and anchorage hopping for the next part of our journey. Hopefully we will have a better time of it and with no major capes to get around, we should be better off.

At the Blue Bossa Cinema Lori picks out “Despicable Me” and we watch while we eat electric skillet popcorn.

A good day and everyone’s feeling good and rested for tomorrow’s short trek to Brookings, Oregon.

Looking out for sports fishers

Wednesday, August 27, 2014, 8am, we untie and head out of the harbor at Crescent City, now shrouded in fog and looking like a set from a Bogart film noir. Lori dons the “marriage saver” and takes to her post on the bow, being a second pair of eyes for Howie and talking into his ears like a producer of a newscast to his anchorman. I’m in the galley making snacks for the 3-4 hour trip. I find that setting the electric skillet, unplugged and filled with cold sandwiches made of sharp cheddar cheese or peanut butter, power bars, prunes, candied ginger bits, peanuts, chocolate and fruit, works as a self serve canteen. I make a pot of tea in my new/used stainless carafe, Lori has her coffee and Skipper has his cup of instant Miso soup.

We head out onto perfectly smooth water the color of liquid lead. The sun is eerie as it slinks behind the fog and soon we see rocks on either side of us as we head through the St George Channel. I thought it was the George Strait, but when I didn’t hear any insipid music coming at us and boring us to tears, I knew I had that wrong.

We actually had a fun trip up with Howie at the helm and Lori and I laughing and goofing off in the cockpit. We saw many Velella (by the wind sailor) jellies. They have been washing up on beaches in California and Oregon and are related to the Man O’War although they themselves are not actually jellies. With their little sails catching the wind, these creatures, made up of many separate organisms, travel to where the wind takes them, much like the early sailors in their wooden, rudderless ships.

Brookings

(Howard) Brookings is one of the easier inlets to enter and is well marked. As usual, the best time to go in any of these inlet harbors is during a flood tide. If it’s ebbing, and the wind is coming from onshore, the waves can get really nasty. I experienced that with my son Alex, coming down the coast – see past Blue Bossa Blogs on the trip down. Upon arriving at Brookings, we pass a big Coast Guard station, and then head to the fuel dock to fill‘er up. We then find a nice side tie out of the way of the many fishermen who will be coming to Brookings to take part in a salmon derby in the next few days. We know we’ll see them because we have had a look at the predicted weather and it doesn’t look good for continuing north for a few days, so here we’ll stay til Friday or Saturday.

(Celina) I put some split peas in the crockpot and we take off to explore. We walk on a funky path around to a stretch of old boat yards just loaded with stacks of crab pots and wind up at nice cluster of businesses overlooking the nicer part of the harbor. There we find and check into the Harbor office, Sheriff’s office, ice cream and coffee shops and a mail center. I finally send Mary Helen’s post card off and Lori treats us to an ice cream cone before we walk over to the coffee shop to tap into their Wi-Fi.

We walk a long way around the harbor to the beachfront RV park. Not much to see but there is a beach prime for combing tomorrow or the next day. Back at the boat it’s time to read and warm up with split pea soup and crackers! Tonight’s movie: “Paul”.

Shine up the stainless

Repair the sail

Thursday, August 28, 2014, breakfast is the last of the turkey and veggie soup for Howie and me and a Magic Bullet blended smoothie for Lori. After breakfast, we get busy with our individual maintenance tasks on the Blue. Howard changes the oil and filter (got to keep that Yanmar happy!), Lori polishes the stainless and I reinforce the sail repair Howard made in Crescent City. To change the oil, Howard has things torn apart and is in the engine compartment in the main cabin with tools here and there, being careful to get the oil IN and not ON the engine. Lori looks like a surgeon with her protective respirator mask and blue poly gloves as she gets down to business in the cockpit and makes things shine like it’s Christmas. I’m on deck with Howard’s iPod, which feeds Ella to me via ear buds that are on their last leg. I’m throwing some zig-zag stitches on top of the sticky backed Dacron Howard applied 2 days prior, which is lifting on the aft end of the project. The fog and the sun play tag and the coming and going of warmth and coolness means I keep my fleece on and grab a hat as well.

Fixin' the autopilot - a study of a contortionist

When we’re done with our jobs, we grab our recycling and oil-changing rubbish and head to the harbor recycling yard where Howard and the yardman deal with the used oil we’re done with and Lori and I meet a couple who is collecting the recycled glass, plastic and aluminum. As Lions Club volunteers, they will turn it all in elsewhere and generate funds needed to provide eyeglasses for adults and children in the area who cannot afford them on their own.

Back at the boat, we gather our computing equipment and trudge over to the small collection of business buildings in the harbor where everyone is readying for the big salmon derby tomorrow. First stop is the mail services business where I buy 3 postcards for a buck and some postcard stamps. I share my stamps with Lori so she can send her cards off and then we visit the ice cream parlor. After having done our chores on the boat, we all feel entitled to a cone. Howie and I get the same flavor, Espresso Chip, while Lori sticks to her tried and true, Mint Chip. We peruse the vendor stands of the same kind of stuff you might see at any street fair, only this has a local slant and the folks are friendly and easy to chat up. At the coffee shop, I get a coffee and we sit down with our digital devices to email, update, post and read. It’s not long before Lori’s friend from Junior High, Jason, shows up and we all get to talking. What a nice guy. They are genuinely happy to see each other and we visit there in the coffee shop for at least an hour. Howard and I take off for the fish market in search of fresh salmon and leave the two reunion’ers there.

Team Selfie

We’re disappointed at the fish market with their slim pickin’s and head back to the area by the coffee shop where Howie visits the chandlery to get an idea of what they have to offer shoppers. Now we let Lori know we’re headed back to the boat and quick work of getting there. Once we’re on the Blue, we relax in the v-berth and do some reading while we’re at it.

I get fish out of our freezer, get it thawing and after a while, Lori returns in time for the three of us to sit down to our last dinner in Brookings of Tilapia, Halibut, Quinoa and green beans. Another quiet time of reading for all of us and then it’s time for popcorn and a movie. Tonight we watch “Galaxy Quest”. Howard and I are having fun introducing Lori to movies we know and love, which she hasn’t seen yet.

We put things in order for our early departure at 5-6am tomorrow and say goodnight.

Coastline below Port Orford - a beautiful day!

Friday, August 29, 2014, we leave Brookings, Oregon for Port Orford at 7am. The reports

Passing Skull Rock - or something like it

indicate it should be an easy sail but as soon as we get outside, we feel the chop, which lays me down without a bite to eat, because I know that works. Howard is at the helm and enters the course and Blue Bossa follows it diligently. For hours we plod along at approximately 6.5 knots in chop that, with the wind’s help, now provides splash on the top deck and sides of the boat. The bow dips into steep, short and close together waves and scoops up green water like a shovel scooping up dirt, throwing it back to the windshield of our pilot house. There is not a spot on the boat that isn’t salty. Thankfully, everything is nice and dry down below thanks to tightly closed hatches and ports. Past Cape Sebastian, we start seeing some of the monolithic offshore rocks that Oregon coast is known for. At around 1pm, Howard takes the Blue into a channel between Rock Island and Hwy 101 and now we really feel the effect of the wind on the water (about 25 knots, but in much more sheltered waters). The Blue Bossa, her wide beam balanced and determined, is sturdy and carries us to our destination.

(Howard) Port Orford is not really a port – or rather it is a nice protected point that has a pier inside the point made of stone that sticks out with 2 giant cranes designed to lift out 30 to 40’ fishing boats into the water. There is a large fleet of boats that size dry-stored on the jetty. 

Approaching Port Orford - jetty at 11:00

(Celina) When we arrive at Port Orford and pick a spot in the protected cove just west of the pier/jetty, Howard gets the anchor set. Before he’s done, Lori yells out, “Whale!” To our surprise and delight, we see a smallish grey whale just swimming along, enjoying the cove as much as we are! Shortly after that, we see another whale, this one a humpback, doing the same in this small area and only about 70 yards away. (Howard) We think they were using the rock outcrops underwater to scratch or clean their backs.

Lunch anchored out at PO

(Celina) I set to work stowing the frijoles de la olla that have been cooking in our little crockpot the whole time we traveled here. After that’s done, I put some bangers and onions to grill in the Presto electric skillet. It’s a godsend and one of my best ideas ever. Howie is surprised and impressed at the very little wattage it draws off from the inverter and I can make just about anything in it. Some cut up sharp cheddar cheese and a homemade bagel from the coffee shop in the Brookings harbor fit on the plate too. I’ve taken the 4 hardboiled eggs I made a few days ago and added the last of the pesto sauce Lori brought, some finely diced onion, curry powder and a dash of chile powder to make “Devil of a Sail” deviled eggs and we open a couple of beers. We made it!

We continue to watch the whales come very close to the boat as we nap and read. We get gusts of wind that remind us that even though we are tucked in nicely here, it’s blowing like stink outside. But no rollers are coming in to rock our world, forecasting good weather ahead.

Tonight’s movie is “Cowboys and Aliens”.  Of course it’s accompanied by my garlic and butter popcorn made in, wait for it, the Presto skillet!

At some point we all take a look at the night sky that gifts us with an un-light-polluted view of the Milky Way. This time we’re not in roiling seas and can actually stand out there for a while and appreciate it. As we get ready to sleep, Howard reading, Lori in her stateroom reading and I, writing, we hear the surf up against the shore and the anchor chain rubbing on the roller.

We leave tomorrow at 7am for Coos Bay because Howard has done his due diligence and has determined that the weather window will not wait for us if we spend any more time than necessary in this idealic setting.

Beautiful sunrise at Port Orford

Saturday, August 30, 2014. It’s 4am and I get up to answer nature’s call. While I’m up, I step out onto the cockpit, and into the surprisingly warm and gentle breeze to get one more look at our arm of the Milky Way Galaxy, hovering above and moving at about 500,000 miles per hour in the blue-black inky sky. I feel so fortunate and I audibly acknowledge my appreciation to the source of it all.

Snuggy

At 7am we pull up anchor after seeing an amazing sunrise come up over the Port Orford landing and the little cove where we’ve spent the night. Down in the galley, I have 15 minutes to create a first breakfast, second breakfast and elevensies. I reheat the cooked turkey bacon, cook up the eggs I scrambled and froze 3 weeks ago and heat up tortillas to make bacon and egg tacos. Now I get the defrosted chicken thighs and pre-cut veggies into the Presto, add seasoning, chick peas, diced tomatoes and broth to a boil and when it’s boiled for about 5 minutes, into the thermal cooker it goes with another 3 cups boiling water. The lid goes on and down on the floor of the galley where it is held in place by the non-stick rug. It will slow cook and we’ll have yummy stew around 3pm today. Skipper gets his cup of Miso soup set down next to the driver’s seat and I fill the cleaned and dried Presto, set it safely in the sink and fill it with cookies, jerky, power bars, prunes,

peanuts, etc. Coffee made for Lori and tea for me. We head out as the small grey whale blows a good-bye kiss to the Blue Bossa, her bunkmate for one night.

It is magnificent outside and we are all happy that Pacha Mama (Mother Earth) is smiling on us. Hours go by of trading off between reading, napping, snapping pictures, reading the chart, avoiding other, mostly fishing, boats and just appreciating the miles and miles of well celebrated sand dunes on this most beautiful Oregon coast. We’re making such good time and the conditions are so perfect that we decide to skip Coos Bay and continue on to Newport.

The wind picks up some late in the afternoon from the south and we get to see a beautiful sunset, unencumbered by clouds. It’s now dark and radar is turned on as we near our destination, which is Newport, Oregon.  At midnight, we’re in the thickest fog we’ve

experienced so far. As we are poised to enter the harbor, Lori gets into her lookout routine, foulies and marriage saver and takes her place like the maidenhead of a ship from long ago. Maidenhead may be a stretch for anyone on this boat, make that more like a guardian angel, helping Howie through the dark night of the soul. Looking down as the Blue cuts through the dark water, I’m thrilled and delighted to see wonderful lighted orbs of bioluminescence as wondrous as the Milky Way.

Arrival: 1:13am

(Howard) There is a pretty good moon, but it’s covered up by cloud and heavy fog. In approaching Newport, we have to dodge a big tug towing a barge (there’s surprising amount of commerce that pours in and out of that harbor at all hours), which was a little scary since he kept changing course and we kept dodging. We slowly make our way through high-density fog – visibility being maybe 100 feet. Between my chart plotters, radar, and Lori on deck, we made it in. Luckily I had been in Newport before and knew where to go in the marina.

(Celina) It’s now 1:13am and we’re on the dock. We pour a little wine and toast ourselves and that we’ve come safely this far.

Newport Boat Basin

Sunday, August 31, 2014, I wake up at 7:20 even though no one was supposed to get up earlier than noon. So be it. We get up, one by one and Howard and I head to the bathrooms and the office to check in. We go through the RV park and see the behemoth RV’s, the fishermen’s trucks and trailers, and are impressed with the quality of the park with its well groomed paths and the laundry and shower facilities offered to folks in the park and at the docks, like us.

Breakfast is a scramble of eggs, spinach and cheese with torts, turkey bacon and crockpot cooked frijoles that cooked all the way here. Now Howard is washing the boat and I journal while Lori washes dishes.

Over the bridge

We all grab our ditty kits and quarters and head to the showers. $1.50 buys you 5 minutes of hot water at power washer pressure in a fairly clean and roomy shower. We’re feeling clean and refreshed and when we get back to the BB, we’re ready to hit the Rogue Beer Brewing center’s garage sale (easy walking distance) and maybe grab a bit to eat at the restaurant there. The line is way too long at the restaurant but we stop on our way back to the boat and Lori and Howie both buy tee shirts. On the boat it’s lunch of bangers, salami, cheese, crackers and beer. Howard and I lay down, he sleeps, but I don’t, I fiddle around on my iPad and iPhone, satisfying the ever present need to stay connected. Lori goes for a walk to scope things out. After a while, Howie and I go to the laundry room where we’re told the free WiFi signal is strongest. Back at the boat, I make soup and we eat our soup and talk about our journey, so far. The movie tonight is “The Safe House”, they watch, but as soon as I see that it’s a shoot ‘em up, I retire to the v-berth where I keep myself busy with reading and writing, but no arithmetic.

Monday, September 1, 2014

Under the bridge

When I wake up I’m in an emotional funk. I can’t turn my head or take a step without feeling like someone’s tapping me on the shoulder asking me to pay attention to how I’m feeling…sad, thoughtful, contemplative, something different. I am quiet, but in my quiet thoughtfulness, I get busy.

Breakfast for Howard is 4 small bean and cheese tostadas made in the Presto, smoothies and coffee for the girls. Now we head out to catch the free 9:41 bus to town and get to the bus stop at 9:45. Woops! Missed the bus! I’m doing arithmetic now, we all are. We head back to the BB with our tails tucked and return to the bus stop in time to catch the 11:07. From our seats in this city bus that resembles an airport shuttle, we get a street tour of the town and bail out at Fred Myer. We start hoofing it back towards the marina that’s a few miles away and decide to stop in at Flashback, a diner themed hamburger joint, and have lunch and an ice cream cone.

Celina art at the Rogue House of Spirits

We continue to walk and come to a second hand store where I find and buy a small, 6-cup muffin pan that I know will fit in the Presto, which will then become my oven. We keep walking and talking over the Newport Bridge. Of course the beer was delish and on the way back to the BB we stop and Lori buys a case of Dead Man that we take back to the BB on a loaner dolly. We return the dolly and then visit Rogue House of Spirits. The bartender is friendly and the view of the bridge is nice. There are only 4 customers in the house and I notice that there are Rogue coasters pinned to the bar and walls with patrons’ drawings on the underside. So,,,,I draw on one and it gets pinned up with the rest.

Back to boat for a dinner of pasta with pesto, spinach, garlic and egg. I make chocolate muffins from a Manischewitz cake mix and add mayonnaise and chocolate chips in the batter and flavored the frosting with mint extract since Howie and Lori both love mint chip anything.

Tonight’s feature film is “The Creature from the Black Lagoon”!

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Breakfast is a quick toss of zuke, frijoles and egg tacos and then the cleaning begins. The forward berth is funkidelic and the bedding is talking to me saying…”WASH ME!!!” I go beyond washing bedding and clean the cabin thoroughly. Then, Lori and I go off to the laundry room, dusty bed duds in tow. I leave Lori there with her damp sleeping bag and Wi-Fi madness to deal with and return to the boat to find there is a smell of burning rubber. Howie tells me while he was poking around in the engine to find out why the alternator wasn’t charging, smelly smoke comes into being and what the Hell?? He’s discovered that the switch that connects the alternator to the batteries was never switched on since the new inverter/charger was installed. He tightens the fan belt and the smell of burning rubber is gone. With those two actions, our electrical issues are over.  Hopefully.

Lori at the Rogue Brewery train station - fond UPS memories?

Now we head to the Rogue brewery restaurant for an early dinner. I have an oyster shooter that is made with the biggest oyster I’ve ever seen. I share my cup of clam chowder with Lori and pick at some of Howie’s fries that fill out the plate with his Kobe beef burger. He gives us each a sample and Lori shares her Albacore fish tacos. We’re tired and ready for bed early tonight.

Letting myself travel through the funk and taking emotional inventory always help me walk around the block of who I am and where I am in my life. I’m so grateful to be connected to one who always supports and cares deeply that I am content and stimulated. Thank you Howie.

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Sense of humor at Bayfront

First thing we do today is take down mainsail and ready it for the canvas guy who is due at 1pm. We have a big rip that runs about 10’ along the leach of the sail. We must take the mainsail down before the wind comes up, which it is expected to do early today. I make some bean, cheese and salsa for Howard tostadas, hand Lori a plate with cheesy beans and a few tortillas. I’m enjoying handing her a cup of coffee the way she likes it as soon as I can in the a.m. Right after breakfast, Howie and I head to town on the little bus to grocery shop at Safeway. I’ve been craving salmon and today, I buy some at Safeway. Wild and bright salmon colored – who’d have figured? – one big filet for the three of us.

The ride back takes us to the ocean side of the route and we get a glimpse of the houses, hotels and resorts crowding for space along the beach that we can barely see for the structures stacked there like books on a shelf. It’s not long after we return that Howie goes off with the only canvas maker in Newport and Lori and I take the bus to the Bay Front. We are tourists and behave accordingly, going into every shop we see. I pick up some goodies at the kitchen porn shop: a small rack to fit in the Presto, a cheese mill for you-know-who and a dish drying mat. Down at the end of the row of shops, we head down to the docks to check out the fishing boat that dwarfs the Blue Bossa in size and industry. Some friendly young men are selling live crab just hauled in this morning, whole Silver Salmon as well as Albacore tuna, all fresh, whole and really affordable. Lori’s dad fished commercially for years, so she’s got it in her blood and she gets a kick being so close to the world he was close to, while wearing his old baseball cap as she ruminates on his impact on her life. 

Lori can be in 2 places at the same time in "Oceanico"

We go to “Oceanico”, the sushi place our Rogue House of Spirits recommended, and had wonderful sushi rolls.

(Howard) The canvas guy stopped by the marina to pick me and the mainsail up and headed back over the bridge, heading north of town to his house in the woods. His canvas shop is under the house, with his big platform and sewing machine. He was in his 40’s, an ex-Navy guy who learned all his sewing tricks making parachutes for the military.  While he was struggling getting his needle thru the thick part of the mainsail, we talked about Newport and living here. He’s very happy living here with his wife who works for NOAA (the center is right next to us in the marina, south of the harbor), but he’s also happy to do a lot of traveling with his wife. He also supplements his income by doing canvas work for businesses not associated with marine. In all, the cost of picking me up, fixing the tear, and bringing me back only cost $80. Not bad!

Good times at 'Oceanico'

(Celina) Howard calls and let’s us know he’s done and will meet us on the bay front. We meet him and go back to “Oceanico” so that he can try the sushi and we can have another beer.

When we’re done, Lori decides to walk over the bridge, back to the boat. We will take a taxi and what do you know, we arrive at the BB at the same time!

We try to cook the salmon on the Magna BBQ on the stern of the boat, but it isn’t working well enough, so into the Presto it goes. Skin down in a little olive oil with a modest sprinkling of granulated garlic. As soon as I’m done tossing the salad of Romaine, cranberries, grapefruit, bleu cheese crumbles, celery, grated parmesano regiano, oil and vinegar, the fish is done and we sit down to another great meal. It’s so fun to cook for these two.

I get to choose the movie tonight and pick a movie with Tom Cruise (not my favorite actor) “Oblivion”. Totally dug it, and highly recommend it to my fellow sci-fi fans.

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Yo ho ho! and a bottle of "Dead-Guy's Ale"

This morning we are all more snoozy than usual and nobody gets up until after 9am. Lazy morning all around. I want to make toast and scrambled something, but to make toast in the Presto but timing isn’t right, so I cut up two slices of the nice seeded bread and mix it into the egg, cheese, spinach and sausage mixture. It turns into a nice frittata and we all like it a lot, especially with a little salsa on top. I throw together some Blueberry Muffins to which I added 1 tablespoon cinnamon and ¼ cup chocolate chips. The muffin pan on top of the little rack gets the job done in about 20 minutes. We enjoy them after breakfast.

Next, we slide on over to the fuel dock which is directly across from us and add about 55 gallons to the port tank. Then we move the boat to a starboard side tie in a berth on the other side of the dock from where we’ve been. But then someone comes along and tells us we have to move it on over and make it a port side tie. Oh well, all three of us are running around the deck, messing with lines and cleats and the neighbor from the big yacht across the and the older lady from the sail boat next to us pitch in. Howard and I are ready for showers, so we walk on down to the facilities, do our thing and come back to the boat.

Lori’s relaxing in her stateroom watching a movie on her laptop.  I’ve had the slow cooker going with turkey, Safeway Southwestern bottled salsa and tangerines since this morning and it’s smelling mighty fine in the boat. Who knows what it will taste like, but these two will eat anything. In the Presto I sauté some zuke, red pepper and onion in coconut oil and to it add long grain white rice. Howie breaks out his small keyboard and hooks it up to the boat’s stereo system and we make some music together. Something we haven’t done in a while. I open a bottle of some TJ’s wine and we sit to down in the main cabin for dinner. Yum, yum. There are no left overs, which is good because space in the refer is soooo limited. It’s really cooled down and although the wind has been blowing pretty steadily hard, it’s quiet as we watch “Star Trek” (the first of the two new versions) and Howie and Lori eat popcorn made in the Presto. We are each in our quarters where we all get quiet, each with his and her own book, movie or computer, winding down. Tomorrow will be a busy day as we are prepping for our departure from here for a 36-hour run up the coast. Whew! At least the weather looks very calm compared to what we’ve experience and what it’s been like the last few days.

Friday, September 5, 2014

This morning the offshore is slight and it’s warm and bright out on the cockpit.  Howie gets a banger sandwich and Lori and I grab our coffee, laundry and computers and head to the laundry room where the Wi-Fi signal is most effective. Doing our last laundry before heading out means a lot, it’s a ritual that means we’re outa here and will not be doing laundry for a while because we are making water tracks!

After getting back to the boat, I make each of us a smoothie and then Howie and I set out for Englund Marine in the Bay front and shopping down town. The temperature is climbing and when we leave Englund’s we hear someone remarking that it’s 90 degrees out. Our taxi driver says it’s the hottest it’s ever been in his ten years. But there’s no global warming, it’s just god huggin’ us tighter…..

The bay shrimp we buy at Fred Myer is in danger of becoming Scorpion fish to our digestive system and the little bus can’t get to us soon enough. Finally he arrives and on board, we see our dock neighbor, a Canadian woman who arrived a few days ago with her husband on their way south. She’s super talkative and tells us lots of stories about their maritime life and I share some nuggets about galley stuff. We get going and the open windows bring relief, but after about 5 minutes of looping around the city, the driver takes his mandatory break in front of

Big yacht underwater lights

city hall. We are basically sitting in a chiminea and I see myself melting. Because we are engrossed in conversation, it doesn’t occur to me until I feel like an Edvard Munch painting that we really should have stepped off the bus. But to where? There is no shade and now the 90 year old bus driver is on the bus, talking on his cell phone, playing with the switches and revving the engine. FINALLY we are moving again. We get to the RV park/marina and because I was raised right, I offer to take some of our Canadian friend’s bags. We walk across the black top all the way to our dock and gladly say adieu to her. Now Howard’s off to take a shower, Lori’s on her way back from her walk and I’m in the galley making our bay shrimp salad and drinking an ice-cold beer. I’m cheating because there is only one in the refer and though I’ve put more in the freezer for a quick chill just this moment in anticipation of Lori’s return, I hog the coldest one because I know the Bitchometer is red-lining. Oh, yes, there is a Bitchometer and it lives within me as a gift to those around me. I let everyone know when it is spiking so that they may either gird their loins or run. It’s activated by ungodly heat and the boat is hot. I’m hot. Everything I touch is hot. But, I get the salad together and serve myself first because you know….

Then we eat outside and try to enjoy the delicious meal while we boil.

Lori and I will take our last showers here and then we’ll watch the “Star Trek-Into the Darkness”. I’ll make popcorn for Lori and Howie and then we’ll all try to get some sleep because we shove off at 4am tomorrow morning for a 36 hour run to Neah Bay, Washington.

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Newport Entrance seen from the bridge

Howard let’s us sleep in until about 6:30 when we scramble like a well-oiled machine. Howie gets the systems ready, Lori gets her gear on, I’m making coffee, sandwiches, instant miso soup and putting snacks in the self serve Presto. Now we’re tearing off fenders, pulling in and stowing lines and starting to move under the bridge and through the long channel that takes us to the big blue ocean. Lots of Saturday sports fishing boats accompany us.  Lori and I each take a bunk in the main cabin behind Howie at the helm.

We wake up at 10:30 when Howie says the alternator problem still exists. I can smell a hint of burnt rubber. Apparently the fan belt is slipping on the alternator when it’s engaged. Howie thinks that the regulator is not running right, so he turns off the charging system in the boat. Now we really have to watch what we use electrically, running only the chart plotter and autopilot constantly. Luckily we have huge banks of batteries and we just need to recharge when we get some electric shore power. We still need to keep a constant check of the voltage meter to see how filled the batteries are. I take the watch after Howard. About three hours each watch, we go round and round and round…

Traffic of boats in and out Juan de Fuca

Sunday, September 7, 2014

At midnight, it should be Howie, but he hasn’t slept much and instead of the Dramamine making me sleepy, I think it’s got me hyped. We’re using radar. The clouds are thick and it’s really dark out even with an almost full moon. The boat and the surrounding sea conspire to fool me into thinking I hear whales blowing and I imagine the same little porpoise that have markings like Orcas may be playing in our wake like they did earlier today.

9:54am

I take the Sentinel’s Throne and Lori goes about getting comfy doing her thing. Howie is, I think, asleep behind me on the starboard bunk in the main cabin. We are nearing Cape Flattery, the big point where we take a 90 degree right turn to head down the Strait of Juan de Fuca which runs west to east to Puget Sound. The cape is another three hours away and then Howie will take over.

 3pm

Cape Flattery-channel between Tatoosh Isl and the mainland

We are rounding Cape Flattery and entering the Juan de Fuca straits via a tumultuous channel flanked on either side by Tatoosh Island on the left and enormous rocks on the right, some submerged and creating white water warning to stay away. The current is extreme as we push on at a lower speed. We’re making all the baby shower noises, oohing and aahing as we pass this treacherous place and come out to a little bit of sun shining on more scenic overkill. We’ve done it!  The rest is all downhill!

5:00pm

Entering Neah Bay Marina

After arriving at Neah Bay, Howard takes us to dinner at the “Warm House” here on the Makah Nation reservation. The fish and chips are reeeelly good and Howie shares his with me. The chowder is more like potato soup with a little bit of clam, but tasty. I pass that to Howie, as potatoes and me don’t get along anymore. Lori’s burger hits the spot and now we’re back on the boat. Showers take quarters for hot water and it’s blowing cold out and, like the first nation member at the little grocer tells us, “Well it is Washington you know.”

Lori’s bundled up and off to the shower, Howie and I will go when she comes back.

Neah Bay

Monday, September 8, 2014

We leave Neah Bay and the Makah people’s land about 10:45. The ride is mellow and we are in awe of the view of Canada to the north and Washington’s Puget Sound Coastline to the South. There are lots of fishing boats, commercial and otherwise in our vicinity. We see large tankers, freighters and even a ferry. All of those are in “shipping-lanes” designated on the chart. It’s good to know where they are meant to be, so a little boater like ourselves can avoid it when possible.

The wind picks up as we are nearing Port Angeles and it gets a little hairy with west winds of 15 knots or more against an ebb creating choppy following seas. We make it

Moose antlers for good luck!

into the guest docks. Lori and I are at the ready with the bow and mid-ship lines and just as we are about 6 inches away from the dock we realize we have neglected to put up the fenders. It’s the first time I hear Howie say the most common expletive in the English language and Lori and I both know that it’s because of our mistake. We are all moving frantically to remedy the situation; Howard on the dock, pushing with all his might against the BB and against the wind that is insisting that the port side of the boat resemble the blemished starboard side, Lori in the smallest frame of all three of us is doing the same and I’m running around untying fenders from their storage spot and tying them where they should have been if we had not all forgotten to put them there in the first place. I love Howie and nobody says too much until we are in the middle of silently eating our soup. Lori was the first to apologize, and then me and then we all start sharing accounts of how we have royally fucked up in the past.

Looking across the Juan de Fuca Straits at Canada

We are eating cold cut, cheese melt sandwiches a la Presto to go with the Split Pea soup I made in the crock pot yesterday and stored in the refer ‘til now. We finish and put things away and I do dishes tonight since Lori will help Howie, either tonight or tomorrow morning, empty the port laserette in the cockpit in order to get to the steering mechanism which Howie thinks is coming loose again. We all decide to take a dock walk and check out the neighbors. Several large yachts, power boats that have all the bells and whistles and are large enough to house the Blue Bossa, some fishing boats and one wooden boat we saw come in just after we did. It’s a cold-molded, 46ft old International Ocean Racing boat. The woodwork on it is spectacular. Her lines are rounded, even the deck, which is flush (no cabin on top) is rounded and not level giving the crew a challenge when moving about on top.

It’s being single handed by her owner, Mike Keyser, a Canadian who is taking her south.

Washington coast along Juan de Fuca

When we stop to admire it, her skipper invites us to a tour of his boat on the inside, in exchange for a tour of the BB. This is a work of art and he’s a very knowledgeable and friendly fellow of 65+ years or so. His wife can no longer sail with him because of her knee replacement surgery, so he’s off on his own to visit their daughter and two grandsons in San Diego. They live in Nanaimo, Canada, and I get the feeling we will be friends.

When we’re done admiring his amazing boat, which he showed at the Wooden Boat Show in Port Townsend, we come back to the BB, and Mike says he saw her once in Nanaimo when Howard visited there during his time cruising British Columbia. He actually remembered talking a little to Howard then, but Howard doesn’t remember that part. As we chat and show off our beloved boat, he mentions a few times that he hasn’t had dinner and do we know a good place to eat. I offer him the last of the soup we had for dinner and a beer. He’s thrilled and is impressed with how quickly my little Presto has heated up his dinner. He’s grateful for the hospitality and says in return he will show us an amazing little anchorage in BC that only he knows about. We get out the big laptop where Howard’s BC charts live and we all enjoy another half hour of talking story around where these two sailors have been and

Heavy commercial boats in Port Angeles

where we might go in the future. One thing that Mike repeats several times is that a Northeast 400 (the make of the Blue Bossa) is going to be his next boat. I pipe up and say, “Well, we are considering selling her and getting some sort of trailerable tug in the future”… so we exchange contact information so that we can keep in touch and when or if that day comes, he’ll be our first consideration. I also give him a Little Lanikai CD as well as a Skylark demo CD. He’s a happy camper as we all are.

Off to bed then, no movie, just us bugs in our rugs with books in our hands. Howard is borrowing my iPad where I’ve got “The Gift” loaded in my Kindle. I read it first and recommended it to him. Glad he’s liking it. He wasn’t too pleased with Meg II. Oh well…. tomorrow’s another day.

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Port Angeles

We get going a little later than usual. I feel like I’m catching a cold or some allergic reaction to something and I get out the Thieves’ oil, Emergen-C, MSM and do my witchy thing.

Howard’s up and at ‘em and so I get up and get our last BB breakfast going. Using the last heel of Dave’s bread, I tear it up and add it to the cubed zucchini in the Presto, dry roasting. Now comes the scrambled eggs and cheese for a frittata a la BB. We eat, have our coffee, gas up, pump out and we’re ready to leave for Friday Harbor. We have been so fortunate to have come this far and are looking forward to a little fun sailing at least part of the way through the Sound, our hearts now singing excitedly about going home.

11:50am

Yeah, Friday Harbor!

We’re underway and it’s close to impossible that the day could be more beautiful than it is. The water is flat and although the traffic is busy, we have an easy few hours crossing over to San Juan Island. We are all filled with anticipation and smiles abound. Lori does a little dance in the galley, we continually remark about the beautiful weather, and our heads are full of unexpressed thoughts about what landing at Friday Harbor will bring. As we are very near to the island, the water changes faces and now we see the interplay of current activity on the surface. In front of us and all around are eddies, white water and smooth as glass water that is alive with birds, some small logs, bunches of kelp that are trapped in unmoving, continuous whirlpools. At one point the boat gets shoved by a bully of a current but rights herself as Howard shouts out, “Did you feel that?”  I answer back that I thought it was he pulling a “crazy Ivan”, but he says no. As we round the corner of the last land head hiding the marina, my heart wants to leap up and fly as a very sweet warm breeze replaces the chilled air that has been on our nose.

There it is. The ferry has just left and we see the cluster of boats, and masts, trees, and the foot of Spring Street where it stands in the harbor district. We feel we are home.

4:45pm

Yay! We're here!

We find a slip on G dock and tie up the Blue Bossa WITH fenders on both her hips this time. I run inside and grab two beers from the cooler. Howie and I split one and we all clink our drinks, toast each other and group hug on the dock as some onlookers surely wonder why we are celebrating. We did it. We did it!

Before landing, our realtor and new friend, Rebecca Hughes, has invited us to a pot luck dinner and meeting of the San Juan Island Sailing Club. We think it’s a great way to start meeting folks and we heartily accepted. So now we have to hurry and pack overnight bags and walk to the Rose House so that we can then get over to the Grange on First Street by 6pm.

The walk to the house is mostly uphill and after spending so much time on the boat, our legs are remembering what they’re for. When we get to the house, we give Lori the tour and show her to the guest room. We spend a very small amount of time at the house and then run off to meet our new friends.

The group of folks we spend the evening with are mostly 50-70’s and down to earth, happy folks. No snobby, yachties here, and the food is great - especially the “Frickadillos”. After the particulars, the guest speaker gives an interactive presentation on weather and what causes wind. We’re learning a lot as we take it all in and one very important thing we’ve learned is the name of the diesel mechanic who may help Howard fix our alternator problem. John and wife Tweetie are really cool folks. They are true boaters although, like us, they now have a home on the island. They lived in the Marshall Islands as government contractors and I can hardly wait to spend some time talking story with them.

Back at the house I get Lori towels and set her up with necessities; bedding and DVDs.

Howie and I are reading upstairs and I finally give up, close my eyes and sink into the new dream of life in Friday Harbor. Blessed be!

Friday, September 12, 2014

T

The Rose House

he last few days have flown by with all of our organization projects, moving off of the boat, moving into the house, again. Waking up in our Rose House was such a great feeling. And since there’s nothing in the fridge, Howard takes Lori and I out for a celebratory breakfast at my new favorite place, The Lime Kiln Café in Roche Harbor. They make their own hand-dipped donuts everyday, and the thing we like best is the 2-2 and 2 AND the Frittata Sandwich with grilled red peppers, onion, Swiss cheese and cheddar cheese and egg on grilled sour dough. AMAZING! I’ll be making that at the Rose House eventually. From our table by the window, we look out at all the big yachts and see that although it’s bright and sunny out, the wind is chilly and coming up. Some folks two tables away have left their little Swedish Fox Terrier bitch just outside our window and she is reminding me of

my beloved Django who we won’t see until the 19^th of this month. I’ve missed him so much and knowing that he is loved and over-the-top cared for eases the misery of missing him.

Each day we go to the boat and bring a carload of things to the house. Living on the boat and traveling for almost a month means there’s a ton of stuff to be moved. We have a fun evening Wednesday when Lori picks up a few bottles of brut for a celebration dinner that we throw together. We eat, drink and laugh about out adventurous time on the water and being stuck reluctantly on land. I break out our Mexican guitar, La India, and Howard sets up his Nord keyboard and we make music. We also listen to some canned music and I get Lori up to dance the hula to the Makaha Sons’ Little Grass Shack. Howard’s getting a kick out of us girls dancing like the island girls we are.

There are more trips to the boat and more unpacking and organizing in the house. We go

Blue Bossa in Friday Harbor

out to eat a few times, once to breakfast at the Rocky Bay Café on Spring Street and Lori treated us to early dinner at the Hungry Clam for AWESOME fish and chips yesterday.

Last night we watched “Burn Before Reading” and enjoyed some mint chip ice cream.

Now the contractor is here working on our siding issues and we have discovered we may have a formidable leak under the house as evidenced by a water bill twice what it should be. The day is early yet….

Saturday, September 13, 2014, I try to dig my heels in and say that I don’t want to do anything but hang out at the house. We send Lori off to the harbor on Howard’s folding bicycle and then I send Howie off to a gig he’s been asked to play at downtown. With him gone, I crank up the music and get busy. Lori and I leave ourselves open to maybe checking out local wine tasting or a cold beer at a cool place somewhere in the thick of the down town action by the water after we’re done with our chosen tasks.

I’m amazed at how much physical density we’ve moved in the last week and how great the house is shaping up. Howard has dealt with our contractor over the siding needing repair, secured a painter who is coming by on Thursday to bid on interior as well as exterior paint jobs, arranged for two months of winter moorage at the main harbor, got the outboard motor off the boat and to the house and managed to do it all with kindness and a smile.

After doing so much on Saturday at the house, I don’t feel like going down town or anywhere, just wanna be here and chill. Lori lets me know from the docks, where she’s been polishing the Blue Bossa and exploring our little town, that she is bringing home 2 pounds of Manila Clams she’s picked up at the little fish shop on the wharf. When she gets here I’ve got pasta cooking and a salad made. I steam the clams for a very short time, dump them in a cast iron pan and into the remaining juice, I add onion, butter, garlic and wine. Then, I pour it over the clams, add pesto sauce to the pasta and voila, we’re chowing down and drinking up. We feel just a little bad for Howard who got old-folk-bunk-pot-pot-luck dinner at his gig.

He comes home and now we’re ready for a movie.

Entertainment Center

Earlier in the day, while they were both gone, I moved the little settee into the back room where the TV is and moved the sling back easy chair in there as well. I swung the small computer desk around in front of it all and set up a little theater room for us. Tonight we watch "The Fifth Element".

Sunday morning we moved slowly but everyone was up, our guest in “Tracy’s Room” and in El Nido, el dueno y la duena. We’ve started naming the rooms. The upstairs is El Nido – the nest, where we agreed we won’t have a TV and only a small boom box for radio and music needs. We also will not be bringing Wi-Fi into the house. There are so many places to find it on the island, like the library, which is a very cool place. Only our one iPhone will connect us to the web when we’re home. Because we have our entertainment center, my sewing center, our printer and admin stuff in the back room, we call it the Omni Room. The large walk-in closet that is connected to the Omni Room and holds miscellaneous things is now known as the Way Way Back.

The guest room is called “Tracy’s Room” because she said so. Right Tracy?

When the living room is finished, it will be the Studio. Everything in it will be about music. We’ll know soon if we are going to Hawaii in October or November to size up the Parlor Grand Steinway Howard may be bringing to Friday Harbor. It will be shipped to Seattle or further north on the mainland to be restored, and refinished. Once we get it in the house, it will be the centerpiece of the house and I’ll have a live concert when making breakfast for my baby.

We leave Lori to head back to the harbor on Howard’s bike and I mess around in the garden for a while. We’ve moved the small greenhouse around from the west side of the house to the north. It’s a bright sunny spot and all I want to do at this point is put some of the vegetable plants in there to see if we can squeeze as much yield out of them as possible. When we return in October, I’ll need to pull some plants from the garden and hopefully, clear out all the weeds. The soil is sandy and it’s beautiful. The former owner tried but failed to plant correctly and the poor plants, which have survived against all odds, are showing their roots, still in the square form they held when purchased.

We get lots more done and then it’s time to get to the Rumor Mill to see our friends, the San Juan Jazz Quintet, play two sets. We were asked to sit in, but when we arrive, we are told that it’s the bass player’s last night with the band and they will be recording, making it inappropriate for guests to sit in. No worries, we order an IPA and a hard cider and just sit and listen. Lori joins us and has a cider too. We order some really good food, beet salad for Lori, Greek salad for me to share with Howie and a burger that he’ll share with me. Compartimos. Y bailamos! I ask Howard to dance a swing tune with me and he’s the absolute best partner there could be. We move around the dance floor, enjoying the moment.

Another great day on island.

Monday, September 15, 2014, Lori’s scheduled to leave San Juan Island and take a whale watching boat to Port Townsend where she will stay over with a friend whom she hasn’t seen in 3 years. First, though, we need to get the big outboard motor off of the boat and into our garage. Howard and I manage it using the “come-along” with the block and tackle. Thank god and the person who invented these tools. You can move just about anything and safely too. We get the motor to the car, say bye-bye to Lori and head back to the house. The rest of the day is busy, but we’re moving a little slower. We take it easy and watch “Clay Pigeons” in the Omni Room at the end of the day and then head up to El Nido for a well-deserved rest with a capital R.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014, we barely make it onto the 8am ferry and arrive at Anacortes by 9. We grab a quick breakfast of grilled ham and cheese with hash browns for him and oatmeal for me. We stay in the car for the one-hour ferry ride, reading our books. I’m reading “A Curve in Time” and he’s reading “Mad Dogs”. Mine’s better.

Friday Harbor

We head straight to Home Depot where we use our 10% off coupon to buy a nice cordless weed whacker and some garden tools. Next, we hit Ross for bed sheets to fit the new guest bed, queen sized for our royal friends who’ve promised to visit, and an extra set of king sized for my king and me, then, off to Costco for gas and food. Howard renews his membership and makes sure I have my own card too. I get an early birthday present of a nice Cuisinart so that I can play in the kitchen and make delicious food for us. Now that we have a fridge and a deep freeze, we can stock up on the frozen but it’s a warm day and we didn’t bring the cooler we thought we’d remember to bring with us for keeping things cold all the way home. Now we improvise by first laying a sweatshirt on the bottom of a cardboard box and then layering the frozen lasagna, turkey, veggie and salmon burgers, fresh chicken, cheese, berries, smoked salmon and some other items in and then another fleece jacket and close up the box flaps. Everything we buy that has packaging is opened at the car, dismembered and placed in our canvas shopping bags. We leave the cardboard and Styrofoam in the shopping cart since recycling and trash disposal is so expensive on the island, which is styrofoam-free. We’re not huge consumers and we think Costco and Home Depot can deal with this one-off re-gifting of recyclables.

Now we have to high-tail it back to Anacortes to get on the 2pm ferry back to Friday Harbor before all our stuff melts. When we arrive, the toll troll – nice lady actually – takes time to discuss with us our return fare of $73. I finally pull out the owners manual for my Toyota Matrix and learn that it is 14’2” long and therefore, 2” longer than the cheaper $63 ride.

Pop-eye

We’ve learned a lot on this trip. First, we can buy gas at Costco, Home Depot has a gong you hit on your way out of the store if you’re happy with the service you received and the great values there, it pays to buy the discounted scratcher ferry fares which brings the round trip cost down by 50% and we are a really good team who can get things done!

At home it’s put stuff away and get dinner made. Howie wants a casserole for dinner and I’ve got all the stuff, so while that’s come together and heating through in the oven, I’m movin and a groovin. He is too and it all comes together as we sit in front of the TV in the Omni watching “The Intouchables”. Great French movie, realllly good.

Now it’s to the nest and sleepy land….

Wednesday we come closer to getting things shaped up. Howard is fussing with the lawn mower, which was left by the previous owner. It is gas operated and won’t start. I leave him alone while he figures it out and I get busy using my new tools, a shovel and some pruning sheers to get the last remaining zucchini plants re-adjusted in the sandy loam. I’m pulling out all the green onions and cabbages. The cabbages must be of the Swiss variety because they are riddled with holes. Upon further inspection I realize I’m also harvesting Earwigs. I’m chopping the spoiled, lacey outside leaves and happy to get 50% of what I pulled from the ground due to the infestation. As I’m hacking away, a backstroke lands a little brown guy right down my blouse and even though I know the bug won’t climb in my ear Chekov style, I do the “get this off of me” dance at high speed. What is THAT all about? I’m a farm girl but still got punked by a bug. Now I’ve got a box of tomatoes, onions, cabbage and some apples. More work and I’m grateful for the abundance. I clean and chop and make a big pot of dieter’s soup, which contains bug free cabbage, onion, tomato, zucchini and onion soup mix. I bottle it in two half gallon Kerr jars, let it cool down and then cap them off and into the fridge they go. They’ll be fine to eat when we get back from Santa Cruz in the first week of October.

Celebration feast!

Big feast day for us when Howard and Lori both return from errands, exploring and shopping. I cook up some pasta with pesto and scallops, steam 3 pounds of clams, make garlic cheese torta bread and toss a quick salad. The wine is local that Lori picked up and has had chilling for the last week or so. We clink glasses and talk some more about the experiences we’ve shared since leaving Santa Cruz on August 16^th.

Tonight I thaw a couple of frozen cookie dough Toll House jobs in the toaster oven for Lori and Howie and they eat them with their mint chip ice cream. The movie tonight is “Mars Attacks”.

In the middle of the movie our friends Rich and Margaret come for a quick visit and we sit around the dining room table, since there is no couch in the living room. We have to fix that. I’m so happy these two find people are in our lives. I really like them. Margaret is an amazing woman, with a beautiful smile that is easily prompted. She’s got all the info and is a perfect match for her winning husband, Rich, who not only is a first class saxophone player, but has a very dry and sharp wit. I’m not just writing this because I think she’ll read it. I’m writing this in spite of that probability. I hope we can become very good friends in the coming years.

The visit is over and back to the movie, which, even though we’ve seen it many times, still delights and entertains us.

Celebration!

We’re tucked in reading in El Nido and I’m bummed that the book I’m reading, “The Curve of Time” is down to practically nothing. I’ll be sad when I’m done with it, but I have so many more to read. Tomorrow is our last day to button things up before leaving for Santa Cruz one more time, so to restful sleep we go.

Thursday, September 18, 2004. We’ve had a wonderful time this morning, both agreeing without saying a word that there’s no reason to jump out of bed on this cloudy morning after a slightly rainy night. Finally, at almost 11am we’re up and making coffee and breakfast. Howard gets 4 small quesadillas made from left over casserole and melted mozzarella cheese. He doesn’t complain. I have coffee, a pear and an apple from our trees and a few slices of extra sharp white cheddar cheese, Howard’s favorite. We talk about what our priorities are for the day and get a move on. I send him out to hunt and gather off the boat and at the market and hardware store. I make a great push to settle my kitchen as best I can for now and move some other items from room to room for a clearing of space. I pull up all the green onion, cabbage and zucchini from the garden and pick the remaining apples and grapes. I get the stereo hooked up to the TV in the Omni Room and then the DVD, CD player and hard drive. Howard and I take a break to have smoked salmon sandwiches and then back to work. I catch up on the business of journaling and Howie fixes the drawers that line the walls of El Nido. Lori is out at the harbor and doing her thing. Even though I’m tempted to think she’s over being our third hand, I know she’s a wise one and knows there’s not much for her to do here with us going to and fro, fixing this and organizing that. She’ll be back around supper and we’ll have a last go at  anything perishable and then watch another movie.

We’ll be taking our road trip tomorrow and squoosh into the Matrix closer than we were on the Blue Bossa. Junk food and talking story, naps – maybe, but good times, certainly!

Great dinner, good movie “Let Me In”, apple crisp from our very own apples, last minute packing and now to try and get some sleep before we catch the red-eye ferry at 5:45. Santa Cruz, here we come.

 Friday, September 19, 2014. Up at 4:30am, board the ferry at 5:45am, arrive Anacortes at 7:00am. Drive, drive, drive, drive...arrive at the Blue Beach House and DJANGO!!!! at 12:00am Saturday morning. Thank you Universe, and thank you Kathleen and Scotty :)