23 January 2015

Northern Goes North


An explanation for the radio silence lately: I took a job up north in Bellingham, Eli hopped a hitch on a deep sea tug to Honolulu and between the two of us there has been little time for writing lately.  Shortly after we moved up here, Eli and a group of dudes headed back south to Oly to pick up Northern and bring her to her new (new) home in Anacortes.  They had entirely too much fun on the way (Nate, we found your hat in the V yesterday and Vince I still have your crockpot) but everyone got here none the worse for wear.  Except our anchor.  Which didn't get here at all.  Anyway.

This one is photo heavy.  As dictated by the Cap'n, because I wasn't there.

We pushed most of this 3/4" thick ice out of the marina--70 by 100 feet--on our way out in the morning.
It was brisk. 
Cold, even.


Floating bird bus on Budd Inlet. 
At first we thought these white things were chunks of foam.  They were not.  They are icebergs, awaiting a very tiny Titanic to capsize.
But all in all a beautiful day for a cruise.

Alpenglow on Rainier in the evening.

Course from Poulsbo to Anacortes
Leaving Poulsbo on day 2, cruising under Agate Pass Bridge at seven a.m.

Looking west at Port Madison, with the Olympics in the background early morning.
Passing Hansville around Point No Point, Eli's hometown.
The very small speck of a person on the beach below the lighthouse is Eli's Dad, Eric.  Hi Eric!
Photos of Northern from the beach.
Perfection.
Through the Port Townsend channel between Quimper peninsula and Indian Island
Heading toward Port Townsend Canal.  Not entirely sure we will fit....
There were about 30 feet on either side of the boat in the channel, and maybe five feet clearance overhead under the bridge to Indian Island.
Rather narrow!
Safely out of the chute, toward PT
Port Townsend from the water.  We'll be back in September for the Wooden Boat Festival!
Fort Worden at Port Townsend.  Eli and I spent many days here at camp in junior high.  In fact, this is where I once loaned him my bicycle and it came back to me with two flat tires and no kickstand because he had jumped it off of a ten foot flight of stairs repeatedly.

Remind me one day to dedicate a post to Eli's insane hobbies.  Like, more insane than this crazy wooden boat thing.
Through the San Juan Islands to the last night in Friday Harbor.
Cattle Point Light on San Juan Island
San Juan Island on the left, Lopez Island on the right, Shaw Island and Mt. Constitution on Orcas Island dead ahead.
The intrepid voyagers from left to right: Nick, Vince, Ryker, Nate and Eli
Looking back south toward the Misty Mountains the Olympic range
Making our way through the San Juan Channel
Approaching Turn Island on the way into Friday Harbor.

Now this is where it all goes south.

Sadly, when the gents dropped anchor in the harbor that night, the anchor just
kept
dropping.

And took all of our cable and half the line with it.  So they rolled into the marina for the night and picked up a diver at the bar (ha! a dive bar!) to go hunting for it the next morning.
This is the dive boat with Ryker and Vince manning the lines, anchor hunting unsuccessfully.  This diver was able to go to about 75 feet and it looks like our anchor is deeper than that.  We are still waiting on someone to find it for us.  My only consolation is that in the meantime it is probably not going anywhere.
The next morning, starting for home past Willow Island.
Blakely Island--love that aqua green.
Looking toward Thatcher pass and the edge of the San Juan archipelago
Burrow's pass into the marina; home at last.




A Little Light Housework

As we have been told (over and over and over by every single person who has heard we own one), wooden boats require constant upkeep.  So between all of our journeys and the big jobs like demo'ing the interior, we're trying not to let the little things slide.  Especially in a Northwest winter, keeping on top of caulking and leaks is paramount to a healthy wooden boat.

In Poulsbo on our way to Olympia we had a layover day.  We spent that day scraping the old crumbling caulk from between the hull and rubrails and replacing it.
Trying our best to keep nasty bits out of the water.
Northern in her new spot at Swantown.  Eli took our little sailboat out of its slip and used it as a workstation for stripping and caulking the water side of the boat.
Gimbal is just the right height for painting the covering board (the top plank on the hull which abuts the decking).
Some day we will take her down to bare wood and repaint; right now we are just taking off the flaking bits and touching up.  Next up is painting around those battens with anti-rust paint.
Rough spots sanded down (the pipe on the left is the downspout from the top deck above the wheelhouse...classy).
Taping off to paint.  Somehow this photo turned blue; our boat is not blue.  It's not exactly white right now either but it's definitely not sky blue.
And after a fresh coat.  Much more presentable!  Still need to touch up that rub rail.
But on the whole a little more suited for a private marina.
Brighter!
Now if only we had time to do something about this stem.



Poulsbo to Olympia


The second leg of our voyage home took us from Poulsbo (my hometown) to Olympia, where Northern would be moored at Swantown marina.  It was a gorgeous day for a trip.  We had a pretty good crew for this jaunt: Eli, his friend and fellow boat nut Ryker, myself and our two dogs Salty and Indiana.  The fur kids were of course outfitted with proper floatation devices.  I wish I had some video of the dock staff anxiously watching us depart (a perfect dismount, no property damage or injuries sustained) but we'll have to start a little later.

Pretty much immediately after we got out into Liberty Bay, we ran into a boat trying to tow this boathouse whose propeller had fouled.  They flagged us down for help but fortunately while we were trying to get our behemoth maneuvered around to toss a line, the Poulsbo PD showed up and took over for us.  Good deed for the day taken care of.
Salty in the wheelhouse.  He occupies 99% of available floor space.
Our boat is also a ropes course: swinging from the rigging to the hatch.
Ryker the monkey man.
We no longer have this anchor but that is another story for another day when I can tell it without gritting my teeth so hard I am in danger of cracking them.  Headed toward Blake Island.
South of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, looking back at a stunning day.
It's so beautiful, man!  A DOUBLE rainbow!
Looking smooth, manning the autopilot.
There is a very nice but not dog-friendly spot just above the wheelhouse.
True mariners sleep best on the water to the sound of a diesel engine apparently.  This also illustrates just how large the captain's cabin isn't.
A nice view.
The guys inspect the deck steering system.  There are so many toys on this thing it is like they have been set loose in FAO Schwarz on black Friday.
Rounding south into Budd Inlet toward the end of our trip.

Dog is our co-pilot.

And that is pretty much Indy's opinion on the matter.
We made it home safely!  More later!