Journey of a Lifetime

Thanks Humph. It's good to be here and knowing we've come well over half way. We're probably going to be holed up here tomorrow and maybe the next day as there are some small craft warnings for then. That's what we were running in between Neah Bay and Ilwaco and we decided that wasn't much fun.

I have some serious vertigo (spatial disorientation) issues that have prevented me from being on the keyboard while we're moving so I haven't been on here as much as Doug and Stuart. Being holed up here tomorrow will give me a chance to spend some time on here and get caught up. Not necessarily a bad thing.


That why we cant find you on marinetraffic.com? If you're not under way the AIS is off? I was wondering yesterday what I was doing wrong.
 
Good Morning. We're going to sit it out today in Eureka. It's as calm as can be right now but winds are forecasted to be in the 30-35 range with 8' seas on 8 seconds. That probably would mean an 8' sea + a 2'-3' wind wave which would result in 11' seas on 8 seconds.

I've learned on this trip that the longer the period between swells and the shorter the waves, the more manageable they are. When they hit the magic number where the swell height + the wind wave height are approaching the time period between swells, that is not a good time to be out there. An example of that would be a 5'-8' swell with a 2' wind wave on 10 seconds.

That's about what we were in on the way to Ilwaco and you've seen what that looks like. It's not so much the swell height that's the problem. We were in some 8' swells yesterday, but the time between swells was very long so they weren't any problem. The boat just rides up and over them.

As some of you may have noticed, I'm not posting during the day while we're moving. I have a vertigo problem that prevents me from doing that but if I maintain my eyes on the horizon I'm fine. It's when I start looking down at instruments or trying to read or type that it kicks in and it ain't fun. That's why you'll usually only see my pics and videos posted after we're at the dock.

Thus far, this trip has been a good education for me and it's getting me better prepared for when GW and I take our boat around the coast and spend a summer in Canadian waters. I'm grateful for the opportunity to get this first hand knowledge before we strike out on our own.

This boat is very well equipped and quite comfortable for cruising. It's about the same length as mine but 1.5' wider and has a different roll rate than mine. That took a bit of adjustment when we first started but after a day or so I've gotten used to the roll rate of Following Seas.

It's amazing to me how those diesels just keep on ticking. When I was buying my boat I talked with a Cat dealer about my 3406C's and he said they were designed to run at or near WOT 24/7. We've been running 12+ hours and day and the hum from the diesels is almost putting us to sleep, especially on a day like yesterday.

Walking around on the boat is a bit challenging even with calm seas. Every step you take when you're running on the ocean requires having a hand on something....cupboards, stair rails, etc. Even a simple thing like coming down from the helm to the galley to get something requires holding on. I know that before I take our boat around the coast I'm going to be putting some additional grab rails on the interior.

I'll take a few minutes and reply to some of the comments and questions that you've posted....

Some of you have wondered about the fuel burn rate and, while we haven't calculated it, it's probably going to be somewhere around .5-.65 mpg.

Wyrman, we talked about that last night but nobody seemed to be strongly in favor of it. We've all seen it and since those trees have been there for hundreds of years, they probably haven't seen much change since then. Our only real plan for today is Doug and I are going to hike 7 blocks to Costco and do some grazing on the samples, maybe pick up a dog and a pop for lunch and some coffee.




Thanks for the comments and questions. It's fun 'talking' with each of you on here.
 
just throwng this out....
this full moon phase is supposed to be the closest pass to the earth this year
I would assume this affects the tides greatly :huh:
 
On the subject of tracking us, let me offer some insight. The findmespot.com system is satellite based and does not transmit to a land based receiver, whereas AIS is VHF based and is limited in distance, mostly by line of sight across the curvature of the earth. Class B AIS transponders, those used mostly on pleasure and fishig vessels, only transmit and receive between vessels in their immediate area. However, if one or more of those vessels happens to be a ship, it is likely a Class A AIS which is communication with not only us, but also Vessel Traffic Control, the Coast Guard, etc., and that is how you are able to track us on the Internet using vesselfinder.com, marinetraffic.com, etc. The class A ships act as a repeater, sending our data along with their own to the 'authorities'.
 
<p>
On the subject of tracking us, let me offer some information. The findmespot.com system ( http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0Oe4p9Ah2dLYX5K3Fuq0fcucvkqJPUC9O ) you are using to track our position is satellite based and does not transmit to a land based receiver whereas AIS is VHF based and is limited in distance, mostly by line of sight across the earth's curvature. Class B AIS transponders, those used mostly on pleasure and fishing vessels, only transmit and receive between vessels in their immediate area. If one of those vessels is a ship, it is likely a Class A AIS transponder which is communicating with us but also reporting as a repeater to Vessel Traffic, Coast Guard, etc., and that is how you pick us up on the Internet. Frequently we are not showing any AIS targets in the vicinity, so no Class A's, so no repeaters to share our vessel name, MMSI, position, speed, and heading information with 'authorities'.* Ps.* I don't know where these page markers came from (I did cut and paste part of this from my post on another forum) but I cannot get rid of them* The are embedded somehow.* Sorry.</p>

StuartT! Happy birthday! I can't imagine a better way to spend a birthday than bringing your "new toy" home. I have purchased 3 of my Sea Rays on my birthday Two coincided with my age!) My 46' was purchased early, when I was 44. Now when I'm your age....Sea Ray better start building bigger boats!

Congrats on the purchase! It appears as though you are having a great trip. Mike is a good man to have on board as he and I have shared a few beers here in Portland.
Smooth waters!
Stuart (From Portland)
 
On the subject of tracking us, let me offer some insight. The findmespot.com system is satellite based and does not transmit to a land based receiver, whereas AIS is VHF based and is limited in distance, mostly by line of sight across the curvature of the earth. Class B AIS transponders, those used mostly on pleasure and fishig vessels, only transmit and receive between vessels in their immediate area. However, if one or more of those vessels happens to be a ship, it is likely a Class A AIS which is communication with not only us, but also Vessel Traffic Control, the Coast Guard, etc., and that is how you are able to track us on the Internet using vesselfinder.com, marinetraffic.com, etc. The class A ships act as a repeater, sending our data along with their own to the 'authorities'.


Thanks... Aside from being fun to watch you guys... I just learned something! :)
 
On the subject of tracking us, let me offer some insight. The findmespot.com system is satellite based and does not transmit to a land based receiver, whereas AIS is VHF based and is limited in distance, mostly by line of sight across the curvature of the earth. Class B AIS transponders, those used mostly on pleasure and fishig vessels, only transmit and receive between vessels in their immediate area. However, if one or more of those vessels happens to be a ship, it is likely a Class A AIS which is communication with not only us, but also Vessel Traffic Control, the Coast Guard, etc., and that is how you are able to track us on the Internet using vesselfinder.com, marinetraffic.com, etc. The class A ships act as a repeater, sending our data along with their own to the 'authorities'.

Another path that MarineTraffic uses are shore-based receivers located near shore, in simplest form an AIS receiver attached to a PC connected to the internet. They will actually give out receivers to volunteers in uncovered areas (see "Cover Your Area" at the top of the MarineTraffic screen). By inspection it looks like Eureka does not have a station currently, looking at a wide view it's fairly clear where the stations are (Coos Bay and San Francisco look like they are well covered). The ID of the station sending the AIS track is shown in the data box when a track is "hooked".
 
Good Morning. We're going to sit it out today in Eureka. It's as calm as can be right now but winds are forecasted to be in the 30-35 range with 8' seas on 8 seconds. That probably would mean an 8' sea + a 2'-3' wind wave which would result in 11' seas on 8 seconds.

I've learned on this trip that the longer the period between swells and the shorter the waves, the more manageable they are. When they hit the magic number where the swell height + the wind wave height are approaching the time period between swells, that is not a good time to be out there. An example of that would be a 5'-8' swell with a 2' wind wave on 10 seconds.

That's about what we were in on the way to Ilwaco and you've seen what that looks like. It's not so much the swell height that's the problem. We were in some 8' swells yesterday, but the time between swells was very long so they weren't any problem. The boat just rides up and over them.

As some of you may have noticed, I'm not posting during the day while we're moving. I have a vertigo problem that prevents me from doing that but if I maintain my eyes on the horizon I'm fine. It's when I start looking down at instruments or trying to read or type that it kicks in and it ain't fun. That's why you'll usually only see my pics and videos posted after we're at the dock.

Thus far, this trip has been a good education for me and it's getting me better prepared for when GW and I take our boat around the coast and spend a summer in Canadian waters. I'm grateful for the opportunity to get this first hand knowledge before we strike out on our own.

This boat is very well equipped and quite comfortable for cruising. It's about the same length as mine but 1.5' wider and has a different roll rate than mine. That took a bit of adjustment when we first started but after a day or so I've gotten used to the roll rate of Following Seas.

It's amazing to me how those diesels just keep on ticking. When I was buying my boat I talked with a Cat dealer about my 3406C's and he said they were designed to run at or near WOT 24/7. We've been running 12+ hours and day and the hum from the diesels is almost putting us to sleep, especially on a day like yesterday.

Walking around on the boat is a bit challenging even with calm seas. Every step you take when you're running on the ocean requires having a hand on something....cupboards, stair rails, etc. Even a simple thing like coming down from the helm to the galley to get something requires holding on. I know that before I take our boat around the coast I'm going to be putting some additional grab rails on the interior.

I'll take a few minutes and reply to some of the comments and questions that you've posted....

Some of you have wondered about the fuel burn rate and, while we haven't calculated it, it's probably going to be somewhere around .5-.65 mpg.

Wyrman, we talked about that last night but nobody seemed to be strongly in favor of it. We've all seen it and since those trees have been there for hundreds of years, they probably haven't seen much change since then. Our only real plan for today is Doug and I are going to hike 7 blocks to Costco and do some grazing on the samples, maybe pick up a dog and a pop for lunch and some coffee.




Thanks for the comments and questions. It's fun 'talking' with each of you on here.

Mike...

great updates! I sure hope you're keeping all this to read when you're done. Say Happy Birthday to Stuart and please know we're all sending good vibes your way.

Mark
 
Mark, nice to see you on here. Welcome aboard.

We're going to spend another night here in Eureka, but that's OK because it's REALLY nasty out on the water. The plan at this time is to pull out of here around 0530 Sunday morning and make a run down the coast. That certainly is subject to change as weather conditions change. We need to cross back over the bar as we go out of here so we'll have to be aware of that in addition to the weather out there.

Doug and I walked about 3/4 mile to Costco this afternoon. I picked up a 1.75L jug of Cuervo and some coffee so we wouldn't run out on the rest of the trip. Cuervo is $20 here and ~$52 at home. I wish I could have carried back a dozen or so bottles. We got back to the boat and I took a little snooze while Doug walked downtown. He called me about 4:30 and told me about this neat brew pub he found (we'd heard about it earlier) so I hiked up there and joined him for dinner. Good fish & chips, great oysters and good beer. Life is good.

No pictures today and no videos. Probably none tomorrow but I'll sign back in and respond to any comments.

Smiling GFC (loved those oysters!)
 
I must of missed something, but just what boat are you on? Make, Type, Length, etc or are you on your 550, this thread starts out like you are own your boat, but then it reds as if you are on another type boat?

Thanks
 
Great updates! This voyage thread is right up there with Hampton's 340DA trip and TurtlesBoat's trip up the ICW. Loving it!
 
I must of missed something, but just what boat are you on? Make, Type, Length, etc or are you on your 550, this thread starts out like you are own your boat, but then it reds as if you are on another type boat?

Thanks

It's a 57' Bayliner.
 
Well the 3 Musketeers are having a relaxing day, but it's been frustrating because we want to get underway and can't because of the winds south of here. It looks at this time like we may try to sneak across the bar early tomorrow a.m. and head out and play it by ear to see how far we can make it before we decide to pull in somewhere.



In the meanwhile, much of what we've done today could be considered twiddling our thumbs. The three of us walked up to Englund Marine and poked around in there for awhile. It's interesting to see the difference between a marine store in a fishing town and a marine store in a downtown area. Much more "big boat" stuff here....chain big enough to tow a building with, ball fenders I couldn't fit on my boat, harpoons, gaff hooks with a 5'-6' handle on them, etc.



After that we came back and Stuart changed the fuel filters on the Mans and I gave him a hand.

aIMG_20130622_115254_911_zps51ddd98d.jpg


aIMG_20130622_115303_152_zps7e178b3c.jpg


Check out these bad boys and how clean the engine room is.....
aIMG_20130622_115309_017_zps8d4b768b.jpg


aIMG_20130622_115316_590_zps03efcabf.jpg


I did take one short video to show you what this area of the harbor looks like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cspJz_WvoQE



So that's about all we've done today. We're going to hike back up to the Lost Coast Brew Pub again for dinner.



Bored GFC
 
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Love an engine room where you can get around relatively easy


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
We just got back from dinner at Gallagher's Irish Pub where I had the best fish & chips I've had in quite awhile. Good place to go if you're ever in Eureka.

Yesterday I had an opportunity to use something I'd read about but never used....fender boards. We had gone to the fuel dock to top off tanks but when we got there they didn't have the typical dock recreational boaters are used to, it was just pilings. The pilings were about 2' diameter and some were broken off just above the water line. There's no way we were going to take this beautiful boat up against wooden pilings so we went back to our original side-tie at the marina to see if they had any fender boards.

They did so we borrowed them and they worked just fine. For those of you who haven't used them before, they can be as simple as a 2x4 about 8' long with some holes drilled through near each end and some lines to tie them to the fenders. We got them rigged as we were heading back to the fuel dock and they worked just fine. Obviously they spread the load of being up against the piling between two fenders.

We had to position the boat so the fender boards were next to one of the pilings but that proved to be easy enough to do. Then we just had to adjust the height of the fender boards on the fenders but that also was a no brainer.

Here's what they look like....


FenderBoards_zpsd671aa07.jpg
 
Left Eureka at 4:40am and after picking our way down the Humboldt River in the dark, we crossed the bar in fog and darkness, with all eyes on watch, on a 3 knot ebb (after being briefed by locals) and moved out into open ocean without event. Notorious Cape Mendocino, 25 miles our south, allowed us to pass in relatively smooth water and rain.

Off Point Arena now, over 1/2 way, and we have actually had to slow down a knot so as to arrive San Francisco at or after 7:15pm, slack turning to flood on the Golden Gate. Good ride for the most part, little rough here and there, but mostly light chop on a WNW 4' swell. Could take this all day long, and probably will.

Once under the Golden Gate we will hook around to Sausalito and anchor for the night in Richardson Bay.
 
Looks like you have smooth sailing coming past Bodega Bay right now. The funny thing is that the Delta has been blowing 25 knots or better all day! Calmer on the damn ocean today but still had a nice weekend trip. Have a nice stay in Sausalito, nice place to hang out.
 

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