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Hmmm....

Shilshole for the Night

Quijote was tied to the dock at Shilshole last night. We arrived yesterday morning shortly after oh-eight-hundred. There was a lot to do, cleaning, unpacking, and organizing gear and leftover food. Danny did a great job scrubbing her down and giving her a belly rub before he and Mark departed for the airport. Three cheers for Mark and Danny, Quijote crew for the Pacific crossings.

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Plan B

The fuel dock at Sekiu has a depth at low tide of 1.6 feet. Time for plan B. Since Quijote's deck is stacked with empty fuel jugs, we walked a few of them to the pump from one of the outer docks, then transferred the 20 gallons to Quijote's tank.

While there we enjoyed a restaurant meal for the first time in a month. The halibut burger was awesome.

Now, with sun setting, we're gliding across glassy water (Bob: at 2400 rpm) listening to Santana and thinking about what a great trip it's been.

Adios to the Pacific Ocean

We are into the Strait of Juan de Fuca! 30 miles or so will take us to Sekiu, where we'll refuel. Then 96 miles to Seattle. We should arrive 9 AM or so on Tuesday depending on the currents.

Flinging Birds

It feels like it just keeps getting colder. I'm wearing my OR hoodie and my Primaloft jacket with my foul weather bibs below deck and add my heavy sailing jacket and foul weather jacket top side. I'm warm, but only just.

I did fuel math today (5/1 @ 16:00) . Fuel remaining by counting engine hours: 21 gallons. Fuel remaining by gauge: 35 gallons. 188 miles to refuel.
Engine rpm options:
2000 rpm: 20 gallons needed, 3 am arrival at fuel dock.
1800 rpm: 18 gallons needed, 6 am arrival at fuel dock.
1600 rpm: 15 gallons needed, 11 am arrival at fuel dock

We set the rpm to 1700. The burn rates are guess work. We really have no idea if we're going to run out of fuel or not. No wind in sight. We have food for a week if it's needed to wait for wind.

Danny tells a story from his watch last night of small birds being harassed by big birds until they were forced to land on the deck or crash into the dodger. He'd scoop them up with the fishing net and fling them into the air where they flew away.

Genny, rip

Six knots of wind is hardly enough to fill the sails. They're protesting, asking to be let in. As long as the boat speed is higher than the motor alone will provide, I'll leave them out. It's becoming a contest of wills, like whining dogs. The problem is the wind is coming from directly astern. The main sail blankets the genoa, so the genoa feels left out. Hence the tantrum.

The wind/water generator is finally out of service for good. In the first half of this trip it provided electrical generation from the wind turbine. When that failed we changed out the wind turbine for a water turbine and pulled it along behind us for most of this half of the trip. Now the shaft to the water turbine has broken.

Offshore sailing is hard on gear. Wear and tear and exposure to the elements is relentless, so the parade of equipment needing maintenance is relentless. A guy really gets to know his boat on a trip like this.

Bruce Frank, we're thinking about you.