Marian's Tales from the Sea: Day 13, August 30, 2007, Neah Bay

We got up that morning to hear a nice weather report and good conditions. The seas were fairly calm, and the conditions couldn’t be better. So we headed out with a floatila of three – The Alanui, Paloma, and the Wayward Wind. We were feeling very comfortable with the other boats along side us. I could tell that Scott enjoyed talking with the other boats along the way and that it helped keep the trip more interesting. We reached Neah Bay around 4:00 that afternoon, and then turned south for a long night of continuous traveling.

The winds were fairly calm with 4 foot rollers about 10 seconds apart. I had put a quarter piece of scopolamine patch on the night before, and then kept adding more pieces on to add up to a whole. I was feeling great for most of the day until I had some of that left-over spaghetti and spent a good amount of time staring down at the computer. Big mistake. Lost it. I felt better after that, but was leary about doing too much after that. I went to bed around 9:30 that evening. Scott diligently stayed at the helm through most of the night
-Admiral Marian

Today dawns a new life for Marian and I. For the first time we will venture into the Pacific Ocean and travel down the coast of Washington, Oregon and California on the way to the FUBAR Odyssey. By the way, FUBAR is an acronym for Fleet Underway to BajA Rally. It’s the brain child of Bruce Kessler an accomplished race car driver and film producer who is passionate about the trawler life style. Bruce conceptualized the FUBAR in the fashion of the Baja Ha Ha, a sailboat rally from San Diego to La Paz Mexico. Bruce decided it was time for a powerboat version of the rally, and so he started this event. Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself. As I said, today dawned a new day and the scene was spectacular. The winds were calm and frankly we had a forecast that was simply unbelievable. The Strait of Juan de Fuca can be a nasty body of water. Aligned with the prevailing westerly winds, it’s not uncommon for it to blow 20 to 30 knots for days on end. Today the forecast was for light and variable winds for the entire length of the strait. There are several reasons why this was beneficial for us. Today we hoped to travel the length of the strait and perhaps round the corner at Tatoosh Island and head south. We could only accomplish this if we had calm winds, because the prospect of spending our first night at sea after a rough transit of the strait was intimidating. If the forecast held true, today might mark the beginning of our first night at sea, as well our first travel in the Pacific Ocean, for Marian and I as a team.As Marian tended the lines Alanui lead the way out of the marina. We had agreed on a 6:30am departure and in good form, the three boats had their engines started and warming up at 6:15. A bit about our traveling companions. Paloma is a 43’ Nordhavn owned and operated by Patrick, Susan and Jonathan Coonan. I mentioned before that Patrick and I met at several Trawlerfest events and thought that cruising together might be fun. We coordinated this departure date and time, but really this begins the first significant time we have spent together. Paloma is a beautiful ship, as well appointed as any you will ever see! We hope to cruise with Patrick, Susan and Jonathan for quite some time, so it will be very interesting to see how this works out. Wayward Wind is also a 43’ Nordhavn owned and operated by Bill and Linda Edwards. I met Bill and Linda at the preliminary FUBAR event in L.A. several months before. It was by sheer coincidence that we arrived in the same departure location at the same time. Bill and Linda were on their way back to L.A. after spending the summer voyaging to Alaska. They were picking up additional crew at Pt. Angeles and shipping their beloved dog home so as not to expose him to the rigors of a multi day passage in the ocean. Bill and Linda had a very different approach to the passage than Patrick and I, as they hoped to transit the coast as quickly as they could, rather than harbor hopping as we were hoping to do. So, the stage is set. The three boats departed right on time and began the trip down the strait. We agreed that no single boat would lead the way, but that we would simply steer individual headings and keep within eyesight of each other as we made our way west. For the most part we were within a half mile of each other, sometimes Way Ward wind at the lead, sometimes Paloma and sometimes Alanui. It was a relaxed, easy voyage the entire length of the strait. There were patches of kelp and fishermen here and there, but for the most part it was a milk runAs we progressed through the day Patrick and I discussd logistics and travel plans. We agreed that conditions were so good and the forecast so favorable that we would not stop in Neah Bay, but rather continue in the ocean with Bill and Linda to proceed directly to Astoria OR. I’ll take a moment to describe what goes into this planning. You see, you can start with an idea of what you want to do and accomplish, but you have to remain open to changing it as conditions dictate. Just as the presence of a bad forecast or winds could have stopped us from leaving in the morning, the incredibly favorable conditions and forecast for the next 24 to 48 hours caused us to modify our plans. We had previously planned on making very few night passages, and certainly not the first night. However, with a forecast and previous 12 hours that was so calm we realized it would give us tremendous advantage to go ahead with a night passage on this first day of cruising. There really wasn’t much to see along the coast of Washington and we were anxious to put some miles under the keel. We used our navigation software to play with different speed and arrival times and determined that if we continued through the night we could be in Astoria by noon the following day. We planned to stop in Astoria, and the idea of getting there a day or two early was really appealing. So, we put a radio call into Bill and Linda telling them they would have company this evening.There are defining moments in every voyage. Major turning points that mark significant events, some are bigger than others, but each unique in its own way. Tatoosh Island is a windswept rock at the furthest point Northwest on the continental U.S.. For us it marked the turning point South and our entrance into the Pacific Ocean. You actually feel the rollers of the Pacific long before reaching Tatoosh, but this is where you’re really IN the ocean. Often your insurance policy will state that this is where your coverage ENDS! As we approached Tatoosh I swung Alanui around to get some good pictures of Paloma and Wayward wind.For me this was a very important moment as this was the first time Marian and I were outside the Puget Sound operating the boat. We have spent a lot of time preparing for this, but it’s never enough. We prayed for calm weather and good experiences to see us through this important phase of our journey. I so wanted Marian to have a good experience. So far she had been doing just great! She had begun using her Scopolamine patches and had reported no signs of nausea. She warmed up some spaghetti which we both consumed rapidly. Marian hopped up in the pilot house and started to capture some of her thoughts on the computer. The long, slow swells under the boat caused enough motion that as Marian used the computer, she became sea sick. She exited the pilot house to get some fresh air just in the nick of time. I remember watching her bend over the Portuguese bridge and I thought, oh no, this can’t be, is she really getting sick! It was my worst fear. We had voyaged in the Puget Sound for years and Marian had been able to fight off seasickness, often by going to sleep. We hoped the Scopolamine would do the trick. What we learned later is that even though you have a Scope patch on, you still have to manage the symptoms of seasickness very carefully. The combination of fixing and eating dinner, then trying to use the computer proved too much. We agreed that in the future will be pay very close attention to this and not simply assume the Scope patch will solve everything. Oh, note to self, make certain to discuss the use of the leeward side of the boat, rather than the windward side when dealing with seasickness.As Marian settled into the saloon to sleep off the effects of the nausea, I captured the picture below, of our first sunset at sea.As the sun sank I started to prepare the boat for night operations. This means dimming all the lights and paying very close attention to RADAR, cartography, autopilot headings and so forth. Loosing your ability to see while operating your boat at night is something that takes time to get comfortable with. I was also very anxious to see how my investment in an Infrared camera was going to pan out. I spent about $12,000 to buy a FLIR Mariner camera and a 19” Nauticomp display. My rationalization was it would pay for itself if it enabled me to dodge crab pots at night. At first I thought it was going to perform very well, but as I compared my visual picture with the IR picture I realized the technology has limitations that were going to prevent me from getting the kind of capabilities I’d hoped for. While you can see waves, birds and other objects, time and time again I’d approach a crab pot and only be able to pick it up on the display because I saw if visually first. Had I been just looking at the screen it would have been very, very difficult to see them in time to avoid running over them. Regardless, the technology is good and there are numerous other benefits it will provide. Common practice is to divide the day and night into “watches” and rotate crew through the responsibility of piloting the ship. There are many reasons to do this and often an insurance company will require you to have adequate crew onboard to insure a night can be transited with each member only standing one watch. I didn’t feel that Marian and I could adopt this approach right away because both of us are still building experience. Asking her to take command of the ship for more than an hour or two at night was asking too much. The approach I was adopting was to make certain I got rest during the day and that Marian headed off to bed as early in the evening as possible. I’d man the helm to the point where I knew I could go down for an hour or two of sleep and then turn it over to Marian. I knew if we tried to adopt a “watch” schedule I’d simply lay there in my bunk worrying about Marian being at the helm alone. On the other hand, if I stood watch to the point of really being tired, I could insure I’d go right off to sleep and get enough rest to then make it through the rest of the night. The risks of this approach were that I’d make some dumb mistake associated with being very tired. Well, this was my plan and I was commited to implement it. So, with Marian in bed I watched the helm until about 1:00am. At this point I woke Marian and she took the helm. I collapsed in the saloon and fell fast asleep. About an hour later I heard some radio chatter between Bill and Patrick and that woke me up. I sent Marian back to bed and watched the helm until Marian woke about 8 or 9. All in all watching the helm that night was not very difficult. I had enough to keep me occupied and I was very satisfied with the result. As the sun rose we had calm seas and almost no wind. Alanui, Paloma and Wayward droned on into the daylight.