Category Archives: Preparing to cruise

All Is Lost

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Worry not, dear reader! All is not lost aboard our Cal 34, Moonrise. Sadly, I cannot say the same for the Cal 39 featured in Robert Redford’s latest movie, All Is Lost.

Movie Poster from All Is Lost

Movie Poster from All Is Lost

 

The Cal Owner’s newsgroup is abuzz with posts about Redford’s latest movie which features the the comely s/v Virginia Jean, a 1978 Cal 39. In fact, three Cal 39 sailboats were used in the making of the movie which was filmed somewhere on the Mexican Baja. Just last night, Melissa was drooling over a beautiful Cal 39 and it remains a favorite of ours.

What more could a cruiser want in a movie? Sailing, Cal boats and Robert Redford? We will disregard, for the moment, that he loses the boat and must face life adrift in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

Here is a quick synopsis of the film taken from the Cannes Film Festival Notes:

Deep into a solo voyage in the Indian Ocean, an unnamed man (Redford) wakes to find his 39-foot yacht taking on water after a collision with a shipping container left floating on the high seas. With his navigation equipment and radio disabled, the man sails unknowingly into the path of a violent storm. Despite his success in patching the breached hull, his mariner’s intuition, and a strength that belies his age, the man barely survives the tempest.
Using only a sextant and nautical maps to chart his progress, he is forced to rely on ocean currents to carry him into a shipping lane in hopes of hailing a passing vessel. But with the sun unrelenting, sharks circling and his meager supplies dwindling, the ever-resourceful sailor soon finds himself staring his mortality in the face.

In other words, it’s the feel good movie of the year.

The movie opens on October 18th and you can bet that Melissa and I will go. Until then, here is a trailer to whet your appetite:

By the way, Robert Redford is 76 years old. Just a little shout out to the old guys.

All….Most….There….

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Ah, what a weekend! Today was sunny and very warm for us, 82 degrees.  It was one of those days that came together just like clockwork. After Mike’s hard work all week, he really needed a break and this was our only opportunity to get one before we leave for the long vacation. How is it that we need a break from preparing for our vacation? That just sounds weird, and yet it’s true.

Thursday I met Mike down at Moonrise to help him install the final piece of the autopilot. He drilled holes, I passed wires and retrieved tools, and before we knew it, he had completed the job. Next was the commissioning and sea trial of the unit.

Mich

Mike, puddling around. Isn’t she cute?

At the same time that Mike was working on the autopilot, I had been thinking about the dinghy situation. Several years ago Mike built our dinghy, Puddler, and she has been a great little boat. She has ridden the waves behind Moonrise on every trip. We like her. But she is, in a word, heavy. She was Mike’s first pass at building a plywood boat and he used,    um, plenty of fiberglass. You know how they say those fiberglass boats of the ’70s were ‘overbuilt’. Enough said.

Mike really wanted a tender that could be easily brought up on deck during rough passages and Puddler does not fit that bill. In addition, she needs some minor repairs that may turn into major repairs if we take her through rough water. And we just don’t have time to get to those right now.  Barkley Sound isn’t exactly the end of the earth, but it’s wild enough that one wants a dinghy that is easy to maneuver and stow.

No, it was time to try something else so I turned to Craigslist. I had been looking every day this week and had found a few possibilities, but they were not anywhere close to home and I really wanted to find one that could be outfitted with a sail. So when I pulled up Craigslist last night and saw that the very first dinghy listed was an 8 foot Walker Bay with a set of really nice, adjustable oars with good looking stainless steel oarlocks, my heart started beating faster. The price was about 1/3 what that set would cost new, and it was in good condition. There is a place for a mast, a centerboard, and a rudder. The clincher was that it was sitting on the dock by the guy’s boat in Gig Harbor, right across the water from us. I emailed him. Could we sail across this morning and take a look? We could!

Hey, Moonrise! What's that up on deck? The dinghy can actually lay flat when we pull it forward a bit.

Hey, Moonrise! What’s that up on deck? The dinghy can actually lay flat when we pull it forward a bit.

So we got off the dock around 9:00 this morning and sailed over to Gig Harbor, bought the dinghy and oars, and then tied up at the dock at The Tides tavern for lunch, right behind a really cool Coast Guard boat. The Tides has great dockside service this time of year and is a very popular spot for local boaters. It’s so popular that you might not be able to leave when you want to if people raft up to you, but the show is free and the weather is fine, so who cares? I love those kind of days.

These Coast Guard boats are pretty cool, when their engines start. Unfortunately, this one didn't.

These Coast Guard boats are pretty cool, when their engines start. Unfortunately, this one didn’t. We were sorry for the Coasties. 

After lunch we spent time commissioning our newest crew member, Stella. She is going to be an awesome addition to the boat. We don’t know how we lived this long without her! For her first test, she took us directly to our favorite anchorage off Vashon Island where we dropped the hook for a few hours.  With this heat, and all the activity, we were both in need of a nap.

Mike with our new crew member, Stella. We love her already.

Mike with our new crew member, Stella. We love her already. 

The boat is pretty much ready to go now except for fuel and water. I still have some grocery shopping to do and we need to pack clothing and take my kayak down to the marina. But the end of preparations is in sight.  Four days and counting!

Time Warping

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Ever notice that when you are waiting for something time seems to slow down to an excruciating minute by minute experience? I think this is some kind of quantum time warp that happens when vacations loom in the near future. You would think that with the craziness that is our lives this week time would simply be flying, but such is not the case. We’re moving at warp speed, but time seems like it is standing still. There must be some strange law of physics at work here.

We are packing a whole lot of living into one little week around here.  We’ve got one kid leaving for Turkey and Europe tomorrow, another kid moving home this weekend in advance of her own adventure to Scotland and beyond. There are rooms to get ready, bags to pack, tickets to double check, sheets to wash, travel snacks to pack, and what’s left of an apartment full of stuff to move home with said oldest child. And the dog looks like he feels puny. I can’t tell if he’s just responding to the stress or whether there is something wrong.

Mike and Andrew in the process of what has become alarmingly commonplace at our house: moving people and furnishings around.

Mike and Andrew in the process of what has become alarmingly commonplace at our house: moving people and furnishings around.

Our oldest is doing it right. She is taking the plunge and casting her net into the wide world, expecting it to work out. She has started by selling almost everything in her apartment. She made about 1000$ toward her travel plans. A pretty good haul if you ask me. Only a few pieces of furniture are coming home, and it’s because of me, not because of her. She’s a brave one. I’m trying to envision doing that same kind of thing with a 3000 square foot house and I’m coming up short in the vision department. I guess it’s just going to take us longer.

She got to enjoy living in this lovely building in Seattle for exactly one year. Now on to other things.

She got to enjoy living in this lovely building in Seattle for exactly one year. Now on to other things.

So her move is the background music of our lives all the time right now, and Andrew’s trip to Turkey and Europe is coming up starting tomorrow. We’ve been scurrying around helping him with last minute things, and just being with him until he leaves. By the time a kid gets to be this age, he can pretty much do his own packing and all that, but, you know. Moms.

Meanwhile my practice is busier than ever. I’m completely booked until the day before we cast off. Go figure. But it did feel good to change my voice mail message, which I did a few days ago already,  announcing that new client appointments had to be scheduled the first week of August. That should slow down the tidal wave so I can keep my head above water.

Last weekend we retrieved Moonrise from her place in Olympia and brought her home. She’s still ours and we’re just going to take her up to Canada and enjoy the heck out of her. Mike is working on getting the autopilot installed and it’s working really well so far. He works his day, then goes to the boat and puts in hours there. Guess which hours he enjoys more? He’s taken loads of photos and will be posting his finished product coming up. This is good practice for the next boat, whenever that is. We were able to get most of our things back on the boat and get them stowed this weekend, so all that’s left is the stocking of food and clothing and entertainment items. Eight more days and counting. Even time warps must come to an end.

South sound anchorage off Anderson Island. No wind, but pretty day.

South sound anchorage off Anderson Island. No wind, but pretty day.