Sailing Jolly Roger

Landlocked

I know you're expecting this to be an update about Jolly Roger.  Ha!  Tell Captain Dave he needs to brush up on his typing skills and get to it!  Seriously though, we are in the middle of Utah today.  Not really prime sailing country.  We did see a marina at the Great Salt Lake.  I think Dave took a picture of it to commemorate the moment as we drove by.  

So while we're cruising through the landlocked states of Idaho, Utah and Colorado, Dave's friend Phil and his lovely wife are staying on Jolly Roger.  Phil and Dave met in Panama and share a mutual love of all things sailing.  Phil has (or had??) a boat that he was sailing around and living on at the time.  So now Phil is in Seattle and living on the Jolly Roger.  And guess what?  He’s WORKING on the Jolly Roger!  The pesky aft head (now just an aft shower) lights that we hadn’t put in yet?  Phil called us the day he arrived to tell us he’s putting those in.  If this is how much work is going to get done, I’m thinking Phil should live on Jolly Roger for a few months the next year and then the boat will be done!  Oh wait….then we wouldn’t be able to go sailing for a year and I’d have to live with a Dave without a boat.  Nevermind.  I like the Dave WITH a boat. 

Still, I want to publicly say that Dave’s friend Phil (who I haven’t met since we left town the same day he arrived) is freaking awesome.  I can’t wait to see the aft shower with light!!!  I will now be able to put in my contacts in the morning without poking my eyeball and complaining about the lack of light!  Yippppeeee!

Other projects that have been completed since our last update include a working forward head, new faucet in galley, finished paint in the aft shower, cleaned out the really disgusting smelly stinky gross ice box/cooler/fridge and re-wired the electrical.  It may not look like a huge amount but that is some serious progress.  We’re off to drive to Colorado from Utah today but we’ll be thinking about all of you and about our future sailing trips  work parties on the Jolly Roger.

Xoxo

mona

Mona Sterling

www.posterous.monasterling.com

www.monasterling.com

We Have Heat!!

I will make Dave get on the computer to tell the story of putting in the heater.  My involvement was limited to turning the switch on and rejoicing in the feeling of warm air.  Tomorrow we will check and see if the hot air is enough to actually heat the boat effectively.  But we got it up to a balmy 54 degrees today.  Practically tropical.  

Coming to a Head

This is the aft head before.  What is that hideous stuff you ask?  It's cork.  Marbled cork.  There are two problems with this.  One, it's the ugliest stuff I've ever seen on a wall.  Even uglier than the blue and red plaid wallpaper my brother put up in his room when he was ten.  Two, it's cork.  Who in their right mind would put CORK in a boat bathroom??  What were they thinking?  So I spent some time (and by time I'm talking in hours and hours) chipping away at the walls and trying not to gag.  I lit some lovely scented candles while I worked, but that just resulted in the small space smelling like lime and vanilla scented barf.  There's a special gross smell that comes from boat heads and the cork had just soaked it up like a big 'ol sponge.  Peeee-uuuuuu. 

memories of the summer

I just received an email from Todd of Sugata.  He was one of the boat that was sailing the pacific when we where. He compiled a video of the passage from Hawaii to California.  It is a great little video, and just watching this make me long for the open ocean... maybe i will be back out there sometime soon.

Rescue at sea!

Geoff, and Stan Rescued at Sea.  Oct 2

By Capt Dave

October 2, my wedding day.  We had moved the Jolly Roger up North for my bachelor party (see blog post) and she was sitting calmly on a mooring off the beach at the Guemes Island Resort. 

After our great delivery sail, Geoff and Stan decided it would be fun to sail  Geoff's boat Solana up for the wedding.  They would have a place to stay for the weekend and like myself, Geoff just loves sailing.

Geoff and Stan had left Thursday night to allow some extra time to make the trip with a goal of arriving Friday night for the pre wedding party.

On Friday afternoon I get a call from Geoff,  they are near Point No Point.  That puts them just West of the SOUTH end of Whidbey Island, or more accurately, a long way from Guemes Island!   The wedding was the following day.  If they sail on through the second night, they should still make it in time for the wedding(?).  They are fine, have lots of food, but are low on fuel.

The following day, October 2, I get another call from S/V Solana.  They are near the island, but it doesn’t look like they are going to make it in time for the wedding without some assistance.  They are out of fuel, batteries are low, it is a lovely day with sunshine, and only a whisper of wind on the water.

My first thought is to row out to the Jolly Roger and go rescue Solana.  They were not in danger, and would have made it to the resort sooner or later, but they had come a long way, been out on the boat for two days just to miss the wedding. I don’t think so!

I started asking around to see who wanted to be on the rescue crew and it became apparent that my judgment was under attack!  “You are getting married in a few hours, what in the heck are you thinking?!”  We didn’t know how long it would take to tow in Solana and no one seemed willing to risk missing the wedding to save Geoff and Stan.  This was just not going to do!  The first rule of a mariner is to lend assistance to other mariners and I was not going to just let them drift out in the Sound without at least trying.  I was able to convince a few friends that they had 3 hours and that they could head out for an hour and a half, and if they didn’t have Solana in tow, they could turn around and head back without them and still make the wedding.

We headed out to Jolly Roger where I was going to fire up the engine and head back to the shore.  It was clear that I was not allowed to go on any rescue mission with my wedding only hours away.  From the deck of the Jolly Roger, we looked North and there, just past the island were Geoff and Stan slowly sailing in a light wisp of wind.  Judging the distance to Solana, I figured it would take me more time to row back to shore than to go on the rescue, so I tied the dingy to the mooring bouy, fired up the motor and with me on board, motored over and threw my friends a towline.

Back on shore, Mona was frantically working to get the reeption tent sent up when she noticed Jolly Roger sailing away from the mooring buoy.  Someone told her that I had decided to take some people out on the boat.  After a brief moment of wondering if she would be walking down the aisle alone and a brief moment (or so I'm told) of yelling a few obscenities about guys who go sailing three hours before their wedding, Mona decided that if that's what I needed to go (go sailing) three hours before my wedding than that was what I needed to do and it was all going to be okay.  This is one of the many reasons I am glad to be married to Mona.

The rescue was successful and we all made it to the church on time.  And best of all, I got to go out on the boat on my wedding day!!!

(download)

Click here to download:

untitled-huunGfpbmBekCgqxzpyo.zip (88 KB)

Capt Dave

Bachelor Party!!

Bachelor Party!

I asked myself what I wanted to do for my last hoorah as a single man.  Wild night in Vegas? Dancing girls? Wild party with Jell-O shots and waking up in jail? No, the first and only thing that came to my mind was a weekend sail with a few good friends.   Not only would I get a weekend out on the boat and a night of drinking beer in some salty dive bar, I would also be able to move the boat to Anacortes so that the Jolly Roger could be part of the wedding plans. So I assembled a crew of “willing” able-bodied seamen as pressing unsuspecting men into service went out in the 1800’s.  Damn shame too.

The willing crew:

Geoff   - Live aboard sailor who crossed the ocean on Jolly Roger

CB – Live aboard sailor and all around great storyteller

Rich  – Live aboard sailor with a vast rum collection and cigars to match.

We had two choices, Coupeville or Oak Harbor and if the going was really slow, we could possibly stop at Langley for the night, which would make for a very long day #2.  When you plan on sailing, you are at the mercy of the wind. 

We left just after 10am with a nice South wind and an out going tide.  We raised the sails and the Jolly Roger took off North.  What a fantastic day!!!  Soon we were doing over 7 knots and we kept on going at over 7 knots all day long.  The sun came out a couple of times and the wind kept us moving along and before we knew it we had passsed Oak Harbor and were at the entrance to the Swinomish channel. 

We stowed the sails and motored through the calm water to La Conner and tied up at a street side dock where we toasted to our day sail with a shot of rum.  We had made it over 50 nautical miles in only 8 hours.  We averaged over 6 knots for 8 hours straight!  What a fantastic day!  This was topped off by us finishing off a bottle of rum, a great pizza dinner and a few rounds at a local bar where the bartender had a laugh that reminded me of the Wicked Witch of the West.  A bit un-nerving and I was happy to head back to the comfy confines of the Jolly Roger to find Geoff asleep in the cockpit. 
 
Some time in the night it started to rain. Sunday morning was as gray as our communal hang over.  We motored on to Anacortes, each in our own thoughts, hardly saying a word.  A nice hot meal and 10,000 motorcycles welcomed us to Anacortes and the annual Oyster Run weekend.

My Bachelor Party was everything I wanted.  A great weekend sail with a few good friends.

Capt Dave

C-C-C-Cold

We've gone sailing a few times this fall.  We didn't really have much of a summer so even if the boat HAD been here for the summer we wouldn't have had a whole lot better weather.  I'm slowly getting to know the JR and starting to feel a little less overwhelmed.  But I keep running into one problem.  I'm cold.  Not just a little uncomfortable kind of cold, but COLD.  Crabby cold.  Freezing cold.  Numb fingers and toes kind of cold.  Here's a picture of me before I got cold.  I'm wearing long johns, long wool socks, jeans, foul weather pants (these are like ski pants) long sleeve shirt, sweatshirt, another sweatshirt and a hat and gloves.  And for a moment when I was in the sun and there was no wind, I was comfortable.  Then I put on my heavy jacket and was comfortable for another few minutes.  And then I was cold.

Here's Dave that same day.  Dressed in about half what I was wearing and perfectly comfortable.  Jerk.

So obviously I need better clothing to keep me warm.  I want your opinions.  What's the best way to keep warm?  I'm not a warm person in general (I mean, really...can't you tell how ice cold and bitchy I am yet??) and the wind just seems to cut right through me.  This is going to put a damper on our winter sailing and I KNOW that Capt. Dave is itching to take her out again.  So please give me suggestions on how to stay warm.  And no, we won't be trading her in for a cozy warm power boat any time soon.  

xoxo

mona

Mona Sterling

---

www.monasterling.posterous.com

www.monasterling.com

A Three Hour Tour

What started as a casual day sail on a warm sunny Saturday  became a spur of the moment trip to Liberty Bay.  The weather was warm, the wind was just enough to get us going somewhere and we were both ready for some serious time on the boat together.  So we just kept going.  Despite the fact that we did not have pillows, blankets or much in the way of food, we sailed off into the sunset.  We arrived at Liberty Bay at sunset and set our anchor.  Then we enjoyed some steak, a bottle of wine and we may or may not have played adult card games.  I forgot how much fun it can be to not have a television or a clock or a toddler.  

It's All About The Gear

New sailing jacket:  Check

New bibs (that's what they call sailing overalls apparently): Check

Mustache: Check

I'm ready to go sailing.

Mona Sterling

---

www.monasterling.posterous.com

www.monasterling.com

Rainy Day on the Jolly Roger

Is the Jolly Roger filling up with water? Are those little leaks getting worse and dripping on the teak? Is the wind picking up and did I do a good job with my spring lines (rope running fore and aft used to tie the boat to the dock)?  These are thoughts that go through my head as I lay awake at 6:50am on Labor day. 

I didn't have to think about these things with five people on board out in the Pacific.  I knew there was nothing I could do about it and that they would take care of getting her home and they were nowhere near a dock! 

I roll out of bed and drive the 45min in the gray morning to the marina.  It isn't raining. "They" said it would be raining, but it is just gray and overcast.  I am not sure who predicts the weather in Seattle, and I am finally getting comfortable with them being unable to predict the weather.  Sometimes it seems they must not even have windows in the weather center.

On the Jolly Roger I light the three oil lamps to take the dampness out of the air.  The oil lamps are an addition since getting her to Seatle, thanks to Geoff!. Those little lamps put off some heat that would not be welcome in Central America. So far, these lamps are the only heat on the JR.  They also provide a nice warm light without electricity. Jolly Roger hasn't been plugged in to an electrical outlet for over 5 years now. Go Green! Go Off Grid!  She uses her three solar panels to charge the batteries. It will be interesting to see how she does in the short days of the pacific NW.

Looking around the boat I do not know where to begin.  There are a few puddles of water, but without the rain it is hard to tell where some of them came from.  I walk throught the galley and notice that the ice box once again has the smell of a swamp with water the color of ink.  It is clear that the project for today is pulling out the old insulation that has become water logged and slowly releases its contents from behind the fiberglass barrier.  Yuck! Gross water logged 30 year old insulation!

I spent three hours and filled three big black trash bags and it's all gone!  No more black water, no more smell. It feels good to have one more thing checked off the long list of boat projects.  Time to head home.

As I pull into the garage it starts to rain.

Capt Dave

Cartoon Source: http://fuffer.wordpress.com/2007/12/04/swamp-thing/