Winter Reflections

Okay, okay, so you think June 12th to December 19th is enough time away from blogging? Several friends have chided me about failing to remain current with my blog. Lots has happened since June, obviously!

As I sit at my computer, bundled snugly on a snow shrouded Whisper, it is easy to daydream and reflect on warmer cruising waters.
You can view my Croatia photos on Picasa. June and July included overnights to Lake Washington and Poulsbo with SSYC (Seattle Singles Yacht Club).

The highlight of my year was 5 weeks away from Lake Union. I departed July 25th, spending the night in Oak Harbor on Whidbey Island. The next morning, along with Cupcake (Bonnie Rieser) & Gone With the Wind (Larry Gill), we ran Deception Pass on our way to Fossil Bay on Sucia in the San Juan Islands.
An early start on Sunday had us riding the current across Boundary Pass to clear Canadian Customs in Poet's Cove/Bedwell Harbour on South Pender Island.

While Bonnie & Larry decided to make Ganges their homeport for awhile, I took my leave to spend the night in Annette Inlet. I phoned Alan Vogt on Blue Fin to discover their whereabouts. Wendy & Alan were in Smuggler Cove on the other side of the Strait of Georgia on their way to Princess Louisa Inlet.
I decided to chase them & prepared to cross the Strait the next morning with a good flood running. I spent the next night at anchor in Smuggler Cove, fueled up in Pender Harbour & rafted up to Blue Fin right in front of Chatterbox Falls.
You can pick up the balance of Whisper's first trip to Desolation Sound on my Picasa site. When we returned to Lake Union on Labor Day, it was to a new home. We now reside on the West side of Lake Union at Westlake Landing. My new mailing address is 2132 Westlake Ave N, #103, Seattle 98109-2404.

Merry Christmas!

DAY 1: Kremik to Piskera ACI

Sunday, May 25th, we have spent our first night at the Sunsail dock in Kremik, a small port west of Trogir. I have been pleasantly surprised to find that Lola is BRAND NEW, as in we are the FIRST crew to use her. As a Cyclades, she is without a traveler or a rod boom vang, but she does have a Raymarine C80 chartplotter. The Navionics card is incompatible with the unit, but I can use it with the Raymarine software on my laptop. Another major improvement is that we have a genuine refrigerator that will make ice ALL OF THE TIME!

Bruce, Lynn, Walter & I had our chart briefing Saturday afternoon folllowed by our boat brief, so we are ready to depart for ports heretofore unknown. While briefing, the crew completed phase 3 of provisioning (phase 2 having been the Konzum in Trogir). The 4th & final phase will be in Primosten, "around the corner" to the north from Kremik.

The Croatian pennant bearing crests of the 5 counties. You may continue to see the red & white checks as team Croatia progresses in the World Cup.

Lola's layout with ample room for the 5 of us for our 2 weeks.
The first two thirds of our route to Piskera ACI. "ACI" is an acronym for Adriatic Croatia International Club, a network of marinas with which we became all too familiar. Can you say, "Kuna, kuna, kuna"? That's Croatian for $$$.
Aquafile & Mango Tango ride at anchor as their crews complete phase 4 provisioning.
Good bye Primosten.

Mango Tango underway.

Aquafile underway.

The Lola crew awaits their fish dinner in Piskera.

The Aquafile crew is joined by Kate & Cathy in their search for Walter.

Stern tied to the dock in Piskera.

Tomorrow we will walk the island in the morning & then sail the 8 nm to Telascica...

Croatia 2008--Two weeks from Kremik to Dubrovnik

This is neither a travelog nor a ship's journal--it is simply a daily collection of images and observations from our recent trip to Croatia. Croatia lies on the eastern shore of the Adriatic across from Italy. You will see a strong Venetian influence in the architecture.

Sixteen Seattlites booked three monohulls for a two week bareboat charter through Sunsail out of Clearwater, Florida. You will learn more about skippers Bruce Connel & Lynn Bain on board Mango Tango, a Beneteau 423, Walter Friesen on board Aquafile, a Beneteau 393, and me on board Lola, a Beneteau built Sunsail (Cyclades) 43.

From many routes & itineraries, 15 of us converged on Trogir on the evening of May 23rd. Paul, who was in Sibenik, would meet us on Saturday in Kremik, where we were to board the boats.

You can see from this photo how patiently they were awaiting Cathy's & my arrival in Trogir. By the time we arrived from the Split airport, they had finished dinner and we were on our own. We are such a close knit group.

This is a 180 degree panoramic shot from the lift bridge over the Trogirski Kanal.

The view of old Trogir from Walter's hotel skylight window.

The first of 4 phases of provisioning, this in the Trogir farmers' market.

The centar (Croatian) Cathedral in old Trogir.

Lunch on the lawn in Trogir. Do you see the grocery bags?
Picked up in Trogir, we have loaded all our gear and provisions on the boats and enjoy our evening dinner together in Kremik at the Sunsail base.

Tomorrow, May 25th, our first day on the Adriatic...

OPENING DAY OF YACHTING SEASON 2008

With registrations completed months ago, Seattle Singles Yacht Club was prepared to compete is several categories for Opening Day trophies. Seattle Yacht Club brings in a special floating dock to Portage Bay for visiting boats. We had been assigned 140 linear feet of Dock 0 (zero) for our six boats from SSYC. Larry Gill, our SSYC Commodore, and I were the only two skippers from SSYC with boats there as early as Thursday.

Gone With the Wind, Larry's Tashiba 37, was to be our club Bridge Boat for the Saturday Parade. Whisper would compete in Dressed Sail against 7 other boats; Lucky Dog, Gary Bradley's 48' Chris Craft, in Sponsored Decorated; and Surt, Mike Sinclair's C&C 41, in Decorated Sail.

The weather on Thursday & Friday was glorious! We had a club dock party on both Friday and Saturday evenings.

While I would like to say that Saturday began with a beautiful blue sky and sunshine, such was not the case!

With 14 crew aboard Whisper makes her way through the Montlake Cut on the way to 1st Place in Best Dressed Sail for the second year in a row. Below her crew receives the Seattle Mariner/Friedlander Perpetual Trophy.

We hear that it was a real cat fight on Lucky Dog as they brought home 3rd Place in their category.

Kris Anderson to starboard and Dolly Leber to port announced to everyone that something special was coming. Surt won 1st Place in Decorated Sail with a lot of work, energy and the assistance of a 7' dancing elephant.

Gary, Joe & Mike, three proud skippers show off their trophy plaques. To quote Steve Franklin, Past Commodore of Tacoma Yacht Club concerning SSYC, "You guys are FABULOUS!"

Seattle Singles Yacht Club may not be a member of the Grand Fourteen of Puget Sound Yacht Clubs but no one can deny that we bring spice to the table.

Until my next post, which will be from Croatia,

Be Safe.

A Minor Irritation--A Simple Solution!

This may not even pass the sniff test for most skippers, but as a liveaboard I find it irritating the way my lifeline gate, when open, would slip along the lifelines until they were sitting on the weatherdeck getting dirty. This is/was especially true of the fabric coated cushion on the top one. If I were to pull forward to keep them off the deck, then I was marring the surface of the lifelines. A visit to Fisheries Supply for 3' of bungee cord and 4 - 1" rings and I am off to a solution.


THE STEPS:

1. Cut the bungee cord in half for both starboard & port applications; burn/fuse ends.

2. Stitch the one end together after passing through the ring.

3. Whip the end to cover stitching & to secure the bond.

4. Using a clove hitch, secure second ring in the appropriate position.

5. Clove hitch assembled unit to the midship stanchion.


While it may not be your problem, this is my solution.

This is all a multi-staged process for getting Whisper ready for Seattle's Opening Day of Yachting Season sponsored by Seattle Yacht Club which is scheduled for the week preceding Saturday, May 3rd.

We will be defending our 1st Place in Best Dressed Sail.

My next project is to work on gelcoat blemishes (can you say holes?) that many feet have found that were missed by the surveyor four years ago.

More about both of those topics in future posts...

At home doing my kind of yardwork, I remain...

just Joe, the skipper

Meydenbauer Bay Yacht Club Spring Sail Regatta

Whisper was an entry in this year's invitational MBYC regatta. Pam Driscoll assisted me in moving the boat to Bellevue for the weekend.


We were assisted by our able crew of Walter Friesen, Don Bernasconi, Kris Anderson and helmsman, Mike Sinclair. With three races on Saturday, the first proved to be a bit of a shakedown for us. While we placed fourth out of six boats in our fleet, our start was less than stellar and further complicated by an unforced tack at the windward mark due to excessive weather helm. Easing the main traveler took care of that problem and we sailed on.
Our starts in races two and three were spectacular. The wind gave us all of the variety we could handle from 16 to 0 knots. We finished third and fourth respectively.
With Sunday's twice around race we thought we might have a chance to move up. Well, close, but no cigar. We held onto our fourth place overall.
Our hosts at the Meydenbauer Bay Yacht Club are to be commended for their hospitality for the entire weekend. To quote Arnold (Ahnold), "We'll be baack."

Whisper moves on this week, making the Friday trip to Langley on Whidbey Island for our annual SSYC Gray Whale Watching. More about that next week.

Seafaringly yours,

Joe

Chasing the Schooner Zodiac

Temporarily moored on Lake Union in Seattle, the schooner Zodiac prepares to get underway.

With her keel layed in 1924, the 126' schooner is the largest sailing vessel in the Pacific Northwest.
This historic photo from her forward companionway shows her full suit of sails.

Zodiac's topmast just clears the center arch of the I-5 freeway bridge on her way toward the University Bridge and finally Lake Washington.

Zodiac's crew hauls the yard to hoist her mainsail.


Underway in light air.

The view from Whisper's cockpit.

Everyone had a good day...

Joe