Tag Archives: Sailing

How I’m Going to Spend My Summer Vacation! I Mean It!

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In naming this post, I’ve thrown down the gauntlet; drawn the proverbial line in the sand between us and the Universe.  It began when I realized two things: we haven’t had a really long sailing vacation since 2010, and we never get to use our boat since we moved it down to Olympia. We’ve had such lovely warm days here of late, and there has even been a bit of wind. We eat dinner on the patio, overlooking the pond and garden and watching the koi spawn. This is lovely. The garden is amazing this year and watching koi spawn is a lot more interesting than some things I can think of.  But sometimes we’d both rather be on the boat, eating dinner in the cockpit.

The koi are spawning early this year and the shallow end of the pond is covered with eggs. The koi will probably eat them all. Got to love an animal that eats its own young without even regretting it.

The koi are spawning early this year and the shallow end of the pond is covered with eggs. The koi will probably eat them all. Got to love an animal that eats its own young without even regretting it.

Just as I was about to get lulled into a nice, deep complacent lack of giving a c**p about boats and plans; just as I was about to throw caution to the wind and stop caring about any of this stuff because it’s just too much out of my control anyhow,  these two simple facts converged in such a way that I began to panic. I feared another summer would go by without a really good sailing vacation. I thought about the coming winter. (We Pacific Northwesterners always start thinking about winter just about the time the Summer Solstice comes around. It’s our way of pre-grieving the loss of the sun.) I thought about things like ‘carpe diem’, and other ubiquitous sayings that mean you should stop what you are doing now and go sailing. And I was seriously not amused at the idea of owning a boat without being able to use it, even if that boat is for sale. I felt my temper rising, just a little bit.

I have NEVER had waterlilies bloom before August. I have three in bloom this year already.

I have NEVER had waterlilies bloom before August. I have three in bloom this year already.

So I made a suggestion. It was really more in the form of a pronouncement, as my dander was up with frustration, but still, it was well thought out: If Moonrise does not sell by the end of June, we are retrieving our boat from Olympia, getting her ready to go, and heading back out to the west coast of Vancouver Island. I want to remember what the big ocean looks like and feels like, and that’s about as far as we can reasonably go in the amount of time Mike has.  I need to remember why we are doing this because it’s been such a frustrating experience so far. We’re not even to square one and already we are behind schedule.  I know that if I get out there and see even one whale, I’ll remember.

This was 3 years ago. That's too long between good, long trips.

This was 3 years ago. That’s too long between good, long trips.

We also need to practice doing things like charting, setting way points, paying more acute attention to weather, and keeping watch. We don’t need these skills very often around here as we’ve been sailing here for 10 years and we pretty much go to all the same places most of the time due to time pressures.  If you don’t have much time, you don’t go very far in a sailboat. So this kind of trip would allow us to get offshore, even if not for long. There will only be the two of us on the boat for this trip, unlike our previous trip to the west coast when our son, Andrew, was with us. He is good crew.

Also this cave almost ate me the last time we were there. I probably should go back and have a little conversation with it, just to clear the space between us.

Also this cave almost ate me the last time we were there. I probably should go back and have a little conversation with it, just to clear the space between us. It’s bigger than it looks. And darker. Much darker. 

Now that I’ve begun planning for our trip, the gauntlet is thrown, the die is cast. Now that the decision has been made, it wouldn’t surprise me if we get a last minute buyer for Moonrise.  If that happens, we’ll have to cancel the trip. But then we can spend our time looking at boats for real.  And that will be just as much fun.

Just in case the Universe is unclear about the plan, if our boat doesn’t find a good buyer before the end of the month, we’re going here. Let it be written, let it be done.

 

 

Another Year Ends…In Failure

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The decision was made early in the day, as soon as I looked at my smart phone and saw that the temperature was going to drop below freezing last night. I wanted to go home. We had not spent much time on Moonrise lately, as is usual for the winter months, and I was feeling guilty. We have this great boat, we pay for the slip each month. We needed to use that boat! Plus, she was just sad sitting at the docks all by herself. Guilt can be a good thing when it moves people to action, but when it leads to actions that are not based in reality, it kind of sucks. What reality had been denied? The reality of winter: that the cold sucks all the fun out of sailing.

The unretouched actual color of the sky.

The unretouched actual color of the sky.

There was going to be a raft up of folks from the Puget Sound Cruising Club, meeting in Blakely Harbor to watch the fireworks over Elliot Bay in Seattle for New Year’s Eve and it sounded like fun. Never mind that most of the people in that club either live in Seattle, a short ride across the water to the harbor, or very close by and we live 5 hours away by motor if the tide is with us.  We decided to go a day early and spend two nights on the boat. This was our second mistake.

We made arrangements for Andrew to watch the animals, packed some food, and headed out on Sunday. There was no rain, and also no wind. Zero. After a 5 hour motor boat ride up to the harbor yesterday (and that is a record time for us) we anchored in peaceful little Blakely Harbor yesterday. I would like to say that we were excited to be there, and excited to be back on Moonrise, surrounded by cozy looking homes with their Christmas lights up. It was quite festive.

The reality on Moonrise, however, was quite different. Guilt had pushed me to want to do this trip and while excited to be back on the boat, by the time we got to Bainbridge Island, I had reached a state of chill that was pretty uncomfortable and was remembering why we didn’t do much boating in the winter. You see, I have all these memories of being out on Moonrise, enjoying the big outdoors. This time I was actually quite grateful for the lack of wind as it would have dropped the temperature even further. I have mentioned before that I do not do very well with cold. It occurs to me that I may have to give up dreams of sailing in colder locations if I can’t figure out how to stay warm. This leads to a deep depression, so I won’t talk about it.

We hunkered down in the cozy cabin with our propane heater going, had dinner, watched some videos and turned in early. Even though we were warm all night, and the v berth really cannot be beat for sleeping soundly, I awoke with a swollen throat, feeling worried about the weather, my ears hurting down deep and with that inner knowing that if I spend another day on the boat in that kind of cold, I would be well and truly sick. As long as we stayed in the cabin, we’d be warm, but going outside to sit around and visit with people was not going to happen. Not to mention the difficulty using the head with two pair of woolen leggings, polar fleece pants, my sailing bibs, and multiple shirts, plus a jacket, gloves, a muffler, and two hats. I’m not kidding. That kid in “A Christmas Story” has nothing on me when it’s winter on the boat.  In the end, it was the prediction that the temperature would fall below freezing last night, and there was a slight possibility of snow, that made me verbalize my longing for home. And Mike agreed.

This kid has nothing on me. At least he has a mom to zip him up.

So there you go. Our big ‘winter trip’. Five minutes with the jib up. I freely admit that I breathed a sigh of relief when we tied the dock lines in our slip, and the first thing I did when we got home was take a nice long extra hot bath.

The saving grace was the Dahl’s Porpoises playing by the boat in Colvos Passage at the beginning of the trip. Here is a short video, with about 1 split second of playing porpoise, followed by footage where I search the water for them. Exciting, no? You can pretty much stop watching after the first 3 seconds. Happy New Year to all!

Oh, and it was a beautiful, sunny 28 degrees this morning. Thank the good LORD I am home!

Best Sailing Gloves Ever Invented

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These gloves allow me to hold the wheel with one hand and the camera with the other. That is not an antenna sticking out of my head. It is a backstay attached to Moonrise. Cheap headphones allow me to listen to my book and also keep my ears warm.

I love it when I read product reviews on other people’s sailing blogs. We learned about Tate and Dani’s new Boss anchor (and other important things) on their blog, and about all kinds of good things over at The Ceol Mors. We appreciate knowing people who are just that far ahead of us in outfitting a sailboat for extended voyaging.

So how about outfitting the sailor? When you sail in the waters up here, protection from the elements is always a consideration. How I would love to be able to just hop on the boat without giving a thought to how cold the water is, how cold the wind is, how hot the sun might be on my bare, middle-aged skin while the rest of me is freezing. Our sailing friends who live in warmer climates have commented in the past on how we’re always wearing jackets and hats in our sailing photos. Know how we can tell that it’s summer when the above photo was taken? I’m not wearing two hats and a wooly scarf around my mouth. Sad, isn’t it?

The scenery is worth it (and also the whales, of course) but one cannot take these things for granted so whenever I’m out and about I’m always on the lookout for new and improved ways of being comfortable while under sail. And I have a decided tendency to think ‘outside the box’, refusing to be limited by product marketers who label things as ‘marine’, or ‘sailing’.

Thus, while shopping for fishing gear at our local Sportco I stumbled upon what have turned out to be the perfect sailing gloves: the [amazon_link id=”B0040GJ7V8″ target=”_blank” ]Madgrip Pro Palm Knuckler Grip 100[/amazon_link]. They were pink and less than $10.00! I figured I could gamble with ten bucks, especially since I can always use new gardening gloves if they didn’t work out.

Have you shopped for women’s sailing gloves lately? A quick Google search will bring up a ton of possibilities, none of them for less than $25.00. I am not averse to spending good money on good gloves if they do the job nicely. But I have some ‘sailing’ gloves produced by one of the leading makers of sailing clothing that leave me less than impressed, to say the least. Price is no guarantee that the glove will suit my needs, I guess. So what do I require as a sailor?

I want a glove that is made of breathable fabric, that protects my hands from wind and sun, that offers good grip to the wheel and extra cushioning for my joints, and that is flexible, allowing for decent manual dexterity. I don’t want to have to take off my gloves to mess around with my mp3 player. And I sure as H-E-double-toothpicks don’t want a glove that will get wet and soggy if water happens to splash into the cockpit. Call me picky. I’m not too worried about them being waterproof, but I do want them to work even when wet, and I want water to drain from them, not make them nasty. Also, I’ve given up on ever finding a glove that will keep my hands warm, other than wool. There is no glove made that will turn my body into a heating machine. That’s what husbands are for.

I am madly in love with these MadGrip gloves. Sorry, Mike.

I am madly in love with these MadGrip gloves. Sorry, Mike.

So I couldn’t wait to try these MadGrip Pro Palm Knuckler Grip gloves on our last trip. My gosh, the name alone is worth the price! Final rating? Excellent! This glove grips like a deprived child given an ice cream cone and surrounded by older siblings. I barely even have to hold the wheel, which is great because after hours of motoring with no wind, my hands get pretty sore from constant steering (yes, we DO need an autopilot). I’ve been known to steer with my feet. The glove is lightweight and breathable, easy to take on and off, and the fingers are the right length for me. As a bonus, the inside of the glove is soft and supple, almost comforting to the skin. At this price, I could have several pair in different colors just to shake things up a bit, which appeals to the girly side of me.

The only downside to this glove is that the cushioning material used actually seems to make my hands colder, like somehow it soaks up the heat from my already cold, lifeless fingers. But, again, I cannot hold the glove responsible for this since my hands are always cold anyhow. Besides, once they reach a certain level of coldness I can’t feel them anymore so what difference does it make? It’s a small price to pay for the incredible cushioning and grip these gloves offer and the sense of protection from the great Mother that they give. If my fingers get too cold to grip the wheel, these gloves will keep gripping it for me.

Attentive readers may have noticed in a previous post that Mike was wearing huge orange gloves while sleeping in the cockpit.

These gloves are nothing if not a bold fashion statement. They allow Mike to look serious and masculine, even when sleeping after a long, long night.

These manly gloves are worn by professional fishermen in this area. They are heavy, lined with fur-like substance, and offer no dexterity at all. But they do keep the hands protected from wind, cold water, and the more dangerous parts of fish. That is, they offer protection from cold water unless one happens to have the misfortune of getting water down inside the glove. And then the gloves will never, ever be dry again without turning them inside out and exposing them to a heat source. Just try getting them turned right again afterwards. Just give it a go. Still, Mike appreciates them on an overcast, cool day on the water. And at less than $20, they are pretty cheap. We also have some unlined ones, which I wear with a polypropylene liner. Those are probably better.

So far, I like the MadGrips much better than any of the dedicated ‘sailing’ gloves I’ve bought.  If you need a good, everyday sailing glove that you can wear home and use in the garden, too, give them a try.

 

Another post script about WordPress: Why is it messing up my photos? Last week it sent everyone an email for an old post, and this week it’s posting photos in weird places and I can’t make it stop. Grrrr. This blogger is getting a wee bit frustrated. I wanted to get this posted, so if the photos are weird, try to ignore it while we determine what the heckfire is going on.