Sailing class San Juan Islands, Washington September 2016

We finished up the summer of 2016 taking an ASA 104 sailing class out of Anacortes, WA with Captain Rodrigo M.  He is a Chilean native that got into sailing by racing in San Francisco during his university years.  He and his wife had been instructing for several years on their own boat for the Puget Sound Sailing Institute.  

The first night Rod put out a crab trap with Costco frozen rotisserie chicken.  He said the crabs like it better than raw chicken. In this video he is measuring them and throwing back all of the females.

Some of our crew. They had each been thru all of the classes we had and some more.

Little church in Roach Harbor on the northwest side of San Jaun Island.

Roach Harbor

Rod cracking the crabs open.

The 3rd weekend of September was the last class of the season.  We wanted to experience northwest fall weather.  Friday Harbor on San Juan Island is the major commercial center of the San Juan Islands archipelago.  Population in 2010 was 2162.

Ferries run all day around this island paradise.  Most are free for walk-ons.  The islands are part of the Washington State Park system.  You can stay for 3 nights free on boats or camping.  Then you move on to the next island for a 3 night stay.  Affordable family vacations for Washingtonians.

Captain Rod has a 46 foot Jeanneau named Puelche .

Rosario Resort on Orcas Island.

Rosario Resort

Mark practices catching a mooring ball.

Our delightful crab dinner made by Christina, Rod's wife.

Captain Rod going over our tests. 

Captain Rod let us two older women finish out test the last morning.  The 2 young ones and Mark finished the night before.  We just were worn out by the time we came to the charting and mathematical part which was at the end. It did not help that everyone finished was outside drinking wine and celebrating.  We were excited to finish the next morning.  

Celebrating my first blog post

Little did I realize setting up a blog would take so much out of me.  My first post had some odd duplication of pics and content at the bottom.  It will stay as I cannot find a way to delete them.  Facebook was a mystery to me for some years.  Now I find it easy.  I hope blogging as will become just as easy.

In July 2016 we took American Sailing Association classes 101 and 103  from Genevieve Evans on Flathead Lake out of Dayton, MT.  We just happened to see her teaching a student the first season she started teaching there.  She was confident and strong enough to tell Mark to shut up and listen.  He really respected her for her knowledge and emphasis on safety .She has over 10,000 hours of accrued sailing in the waters of Belize, Bahamas, US and British Virgin Islands, Montana, California, and Florida.  She is  a USCG Captain and certified American Sailing Association Instructor . We were in good hands.

Captain Genevieve's dog. .

This was our spinnaker.

It is higher off the bow than the jib.

Captain G at the helm.

A spinnaker is very light weight but very powerful.  We were sailing downwind. The spinnaker makes this more exciting.

It was amazing to me.  Usually sailing downwind it is very boring and you don't feel like you are moving very fast.  The spinnaker took care of that.  We were flying.

It was just massive.  you can see how high it was raised.

Shortly after this photo the wind really picked up.  We were passing between 2 islands.  Captain G ran forward and release on line.  Mark was trying to release the other.  I was oblivious to the danger we had found ourselves.  All I remember is that when both lines were finally released, the spinnaker took off on it's own across the water.  I had worked hard on not panicking when the boat heeled.  This time the boat was heeling toward to bow and I did not notice.  Captain G said she was afraid that it would pull us into the lake bow first.  Mark had seen this also.  No harm done,. We just turned the engine on and motored to the sail and pulled it from the water.  It had one small tear the spreader had done; easily repaired with glue.  It is material like parachutes.  

Since our B&B was full in July, we had to stretch out the spinnaker in our apartment to dry.

Cloud at the end of that day.  I was suppose to be learning out reading clouds.  I do not know it this was a message of the weather we experienced earlier in the day.  However it was neat.

We managed to get our motorcycle buddies to venture out with us.  They had owned a sailboat in Madison, WI and were over the sailing bit.  They had stayed with motorcycles.  Mark was selling all of his and moving on the sailing.

We had been on some Princess cruises with them and Scott particularly likes being on the water.  He is a navy man from the Vietnam era.

Sailing wing on wing (mainsail on one side and jib on the other) going down wind. Sorry have not managed to rotate

pics yet.

This boat had manual wenches and the sail needed to hauled in and tied up.

We saw a plan land and take off from the water twice in one day.

We first thought it was water plan for the fires in Montana.

Someone told us it was a plan owned by some rich New York stock broker that owned one of the islands on Flathead Lake.  They had regular training whether he was home or not.

Wind vane was very important to watch on this boat as we did not have radar and electronic guides.  We had electric an manual compasses and an auto-pilot.

Monday, December 18, 2017

It has been over one year since we purchased our second sailboat.  The first was a small Sunfish for 2 that we bought in California and moved with us to Tennessee.  It had fallen off of our friend's car in transport onto the freeway.  He did not have the money to repair the body.  Got it cheap, Mark thought he would launch it in Tennessee and teach Wesley how to sail. It was stored in the shed at my father's house with the 1970's pop-up trailer, never to be used again.  Someone took it away, can't remember who.  Not much sailing in Tennessee, at least not for us. 

Sometime in 2014 to 2015 Mark started searching the Internet for retirement options.  He came across a whole world of regular people sailing around the world with little or no experience. It was no time at all until he was practically a member of their extended families following them around the world on YouTube in his lazy boy rocker during the cold Montana winters.

He has always had more energy than was needed for one person.  Multiple Sclerosis has slowed him down a bit physically.  He became emotionally heightened by the idea of being off the grid and so far away from people.  The romantic idea of being self sufficient, beholding to no one; a pioneer of sorts was appealing to him.  I thought it was a phase and kept right on thinking my retirement would be a series of traveling cruise ships, learning to quilt and playing with grand children.

Spring 2016 came and he was shopping for a sailboat in Flathead Lake in Montana.  This is the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River in the continental US.  Their are 2 harbors for sailboats.  Mark made quick work of finding which he would like best and found a suitable boat.  Our motorcycle buddies we had been traveling with over the past few years were surprised he was giving up life on the road for life on the water.  The lady was a 27 foot Catalina with no name.  Lovingly cared for by a then retired Whitefish English teacher.  He had her for many years and informed us of her entire history being in Flathead Lake since new.  

Mark hired one of my fellow Medical Technologist's husband to give him sailing lessons.  This particular man had just sold his sail making business in New Jersey and moved to Montana.  He did not have a boat anymore, but raced with the local sailing club each weekend.  Lessons were on a small 22 foot boat that responded immediately to any change.  Luckily I was not onboard when our Catalina healed the maximum and laid the mast in the water for a millisecond before righting itself.  Once the wind blows your sail over as far as it can, the wind goes over your sail and the sail has no wind to hold it in position so it pops back up exactly vertical. Of course it helps to have a 4,000 pound ballast of lead at the bottom of the keel.

Navigation station

Saloon area with table up

Dayton Harbor Yacht Club

Mark liking at the telltales and the wind indicator on top of the mast to see the direction of the wind and how to trim the sails.

Shot of mainsail from captain's position.

I am enjoying a nice day on Flathead Lake.

Mark in bow stateroom during a daily siesta. He could just fit.  The saloon was only 6 feet tall so he had to bend over if standing down below.

My turn as skipper.