Whisper Splashed--FINALLY!

With proper project management, Whisper could have gone in the water by Friday, September 23rd. While this image is date stamped November 1st, Whisper did not splash until Tuesday, November 10th.

Even on the 10th, it could have easily been as early as 2PM. With little project management and NO customer service, it didn't happen until 4:45. Do you know how early sunset happens in those latitudes on Nov 10th? Was I going to spend another night in Nanaimo? NOT!

If you want to see what I saw running Dodd Narrows at 6:00 PM, close your eyes real tight. After running into 18 knot winds, I dropped Whisper's anchor in a cove on the north end of Thetis Island at 8:00. Wednesday was a 78NM run to Friday Harbor.

Thursday morning friend Gary Bradley arrived via Kenmore Air. We left Friday Harbor with fuel & water tanks topped off.

You can see from this photo that we had a smooth crossing of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, now a part of the Salish Sea. With a decent ebb current running against us we saw our SOG drop from 6.4 to 2.8 knots. The wind finally came up enough south of Bush Point to unfurl the genoa and motorsail. That strategy got us almost an added knot. It took us 13 hours to run the 60NM through the Ballard Locks to M/V Lucky Dog at Sagstad Marina.

Whisper finished the short trip home to Lake Union on Friday. It was a good decision to make the trip when we did! The next day the storm track settled in & it has been windy & rainy ever since.

Is it good to be home? Silly question, he says.

Winter crab season is open in the Seattle/Bremerton region 24/7 so we will venture out this Sunday in search of Dungeness.

Fair Winds!

Seattle to San Diego--Part 2

The last leg of our trip was Santa Barbara to San Diego. By leaving SB mid morning we knew we would be approaching San Diego 24 hours later during daylight. The three of us rotated our watches, 3 hours on & 6 hours off watch.

Point Loma lighthouse from inside San Diego harbor.

Furthur is equipped with two radars and chartplotter with Automated Information Service-B. AIS-B uses GPS & VHF technology to notify other AIS equipped vessels with your information. This information includes name, type of vessel, heading, speed over ground (SOG) and your bearing. This same information appears on your chartplotter for other AIS contact vessels. During my final watch from midnight to 0300 while passing seaward of the Long Beach Vessel Traffic System (VTS), I had some challenging excitement.

With no moon but clear skies, we had the lights of Avalon Harbor on Catalina Island behind us on our starboard quarter. Derek was in quarters & Brian was asleep in the pilot berth behind me. At 0200 two blips appeared on radar off our starboard bow six & eight miles out. I watched as they approached our heading. AIS-B revealed that the closest ship was the Orion Express making 16.4 knots, obviously heading NW for the Longbeach Harbor VTS lane. The second ship was the APL Holland, further out to starboard but closing on Orion's heading making 21 knots. Who would get "there" first? But more importantly, how was I to deal with them? Furthur was on autopilot making 7.5 knots, turning 1050 RPMs.

As I plotted my solution, it became obvious, IF NOTHING CHANGED, that we would safely pass between them as they closed on Longbeach. I maintained course and speed.

The lead vessel crossed our bow at 1 nautical mile (NM). The APL Holland crossed astern 1.25 NM. About ten minutes later when our bow began to pitch, Brian woke up. In an excited voice he said, "What did you do, change our course?" Calmly I informed him, "No, that's just the wake of a freighter."

As we near the end of 10 days at sea Derek rejects Brian's obvious show of gratitude and affection.

Are they dolphin or porpoise? I haven't checked yet but we saw hundreds of them. Here are six of them surfing our bow wave.

Santa Cruz knew we were coming & had this stenciled on the dock ramps. No one had told them that ours was a dry voyage.

From Seattle to San Diego by Sea

I flew from Victoria to SeaTac on Saturday, Sept 19th and boarded Furthur on Lake Union. Furthur is a Selene 48 Ocean Trawler, powered by a 330hp Cummins diesel. Skipper Brian Calvert, a fellow skipper in the Seattle Singles Yacht Club, plans to circumnavigate the Pacific Ocean. The first step is to move Furthur to San Diego & so I signed on. We slipped our lines at 1945 & made for the locks in Ballard.

The 10 knot westerlies in the Strait of Juan de Fuca had built to 25 knots out of the NW, so we ducked into Port Hudson for the night. Leaving the next morning at 0530
we enjoyed this view of the spires of Cape Flattery at 1700.

We ran nonstop to Bodega Bay, north of San Francisco.

We are traveling in tandem with Big Chill, a Selene 43, that will end up in Alabama.

Derek gets ready to photograph a pod of feeding California blue whales.

Here you see these baleen whales feeding on krill.

As I key this in, we are in Santa Cruz, California, having arrived here at 2100 last night. We are docked at the Santa Cruz Yacht Club. We are currently 310 nm from San Diego & will likely stop in Santa Barbara along the way.

After two days of coastal fog, the day is clear. A good day to be on the water!

Repairs Continue...

On Friday, Sept 4th, I returned to Seattle for the week after Labor Day. Back in Nanaimo on the 15th, the work had progressed.

The hull exterior & keel trunk were being ground down to the new layups on the inside.

This is the "T" beam rewelded in place after gyping in the front portion of timber.

The keel bolt holes have been redrilled through the multiple layers of new glass, amounting to 7/8".

I left Nanaimo on Friday, Sept 19th, to travel from Seattle to San Diego on an ocean trawler, but that is another blog.

In my absence Extreme Fiberglass Solutions will gype & glass in the new bulkhead/stringers, smooth out & gelcoat the interior. When I return to Nanaimo on Oct 1st, we should be close to returning to the marina to reintroduce Whisper to her keel.

YAHOO! The Layups Begin

After extensive grinding on previous days, today the laying up of layers of various kinds of fiberglass began.
This image shows the first build up of many layers. Initially, several layers were laminated to fill the hole in the forward port side of the keel trunk followed by 5 more layers.

This will be faired out & followed with more and wider layers. The outside of the hull will then be ground down to this new construction to remove all of the damaged layers from the outside.

Stay tuned after the holiday weekend for the ongoing saga...

A Busy Day--A Lot Got Done

As you can see, a lot of grinding happened today including the removal of two more bulkheads.

This image was taken from the back of the cabin looking forward.

This view is actually from the bow looking back and is two images stitched together.

Tomorrow grinding will begin on the starboard outside of the keel trunk.

It's Monday--another day in Nanaimo

This the bulkhead/stringer that you saw yesterday in one piece now cut apart to reveal the "T" beam that will be rewelded on either end with new wood & glassed in place.

This is where the new bulkhead/stringer will go. This is looking forward to the head of the keel trunk.

This is that same section from the bow end of Whisper. Tomorrow, Tuesday, reglassing the outside of the keel trunk will begin.

Weekend Work

Saturday, Toby ground down the port side of the keel trunk to reveal the damaged fiberglass along the entire side. The lighter beige color indicates fracturing. After more feathering to the hull, this area will be reglassed on the outside before the inside is ground to meet the new glass.

This is where the main bulkhead/stringer used to be in front of the keel trunk that supported the compression post & mast. It was removed on Sunday, Aug 30th.

This is the cut out section. Note the "T" beam that shows on either end.

This is the "T" beam that will be built into the new bulkhead/stringer, once it is liberated.

It is now Monday morning. I am eager to see what can be accomplished this week.

...and the Beat Goes On

This is where it happened on one of the reefs while exiting Porlier Pass. While I put a waypoint on a rock, you will note that the red line to the left goes nowhere near any rocks. The range of this shot is 1 NM from top to bottom.

The red line is the track that the vessel leaves on the chartplotter and cannot be altered. I have traced Whisper's track and she crossed neither reef nor rock according to her chartplotter. You can see this in this range of 1/32 NM.

Apparently, what we have is the discrepancy between the chart datum of 1984 which precedes the introduction of GPS and its accuracy.

LESSON LEARNED: When in tight quarters--SLOW DOWN and WATCH YOUR DEPTH!

The rudder post was bent about 3 degrees to port & has to come off.

The nose of the keel trunk showing the fractures.

The keel ground down for reglassing.

After the insurance company's surveyor inspected on Friday, Aug 28th, the decision was made to truck Whisper to the shop to expedite repairs.

Loading on the lowboy.

Ready to roll through Nanaimo.

Backing into Extreme Fiberglass Solutions' shop.

Whisper is swallowed up by the large interior.

Tomorrow, Saturday, Aug 29th, the next phase begins...

Stay tuned; there is more to come. . .

The Repairs Begin. . .

After a week of waiting, with no word from my insurance company, I authorized repairs to begin on Monday, August 24th.


Who says repair has to be costly & extensive? Some Sikoflex & Duct Tape and we're going back in the water.

Just kidding...we are going in briefly to remove the mast.

Today we noticed that when the rudder hit it was torqued to port.

On the Travelift to unstep the mast to relieve pressure on the keel through the compression post.

The mast comes off.

Six of the nine nuts are off & Toby of Extreme Fiberglass Solutions works to free the keel.

Exposing the hull/keel joint.

The keel is off.

The mast is unstepped & the keel is off. Tomorrow, Aug 25th, the dust begins to fly.

Summer Cruising Comes to an End--ABRUPTLY!

Aft of compression post--starboard side fractures.

Cabin sole removed & pan cut away.

Cabin sole pan--prior to cut away.

Keel & hull port side.

Coming out of the water at Newcastle Marina.

What have you just seen? Read on...

While, All good things must come to an end, is a familiar quote, I did not appreciate its recent application!

On Monday, August 17th, I pulled Whisper's anchor out of Conover Cove on Wallace Island at 0640 and made slow progress toward Porlier Pass at 1500 RPM, waiting for the tide to turn. By 0830 with Porlier Pass in front of me, I increased RPMs to 2800 and watched the SOG (Speed Over Ground), normally 6.1 knots, increase to 8.4.

Once clear of the pass with its swirls & eddys and with my route across the Strait of Georgia already entered into my chartplotter, I zeroed in on the location of Musket Island near Jervis Inlet, my day's destination. Having located Musket Island, my gaze shifted to Whisper's depthsounder which had shot from 98 to 20.6 feet. I immediately reduced speed & hit the "Find Ship" soft key on my chartplotter. Simultaneously, Whisper bucked to an ABRUPT halt. Caught in the rocks with a flodding current, we wallowed for about 5 seconds, that felt like forever.

First thing to do was to get clear of the rocks and then to assess Whisper's condition. Whisper maintained propulsion & the rudder worked. I went below to discover chaos. After a quick return to the helm to insure course & safety, I removed the cabin sole to find fractures to the hull all along the starboard side of the keel. The bilge pump was working, but not totally keeping up with the water level. With use of the manual Whale Gusher pump at the helm every 10 to 15 minutes the automatic pump would shut off.

While not in a MAYDAY situation, it was time to contact the Coast Guard. Using my Uniden handheld at the helm I hailed the Coast Guard on Channel 16. Port Angeles Coast Guard responded with Victoria listening. Victoria took over & we switched to 83A; I described our condition. With Whisper making way at 5 knots and winds out of the NNW at 12-14kts, I told them my destination would be Nanaimo. They asked that I aprise them every half hour beginning at 1000.

Wind waves were 1-2 feet. To take them head on would result in too much pounding of the hull and so I quartered them--tacking up the east side of Valdes Island. At the 1000 check-in, Victoria Coast Guard informed me that they had dispatched a rescue vessel from Nanaimo to meet me in approx 45 minutes.

Fearing the wind waves outside of Gabriola Island on the north side rounding to Nanaimo, I chose to go inside of Gabriola Pass and take Dodd Narrows on the flood. As I was entering the east channel of Gabriola Pass at 1130 with Victoria Coast Guard on the VHF, a 25' Coast Guard Canada Rescue inflatable appeared on Whisper's port quarter with a crew of six. Acting as a guide dog, they pointed me through the slowest current. Even at that, turning 3000 RPM which will normally result in 7 knots through the water, at times Whisper was only able to make .3 knot SOG and some of that was crabbing. It felt like we were standing still.

Gabriola Pass has two narrows. Once through the first & most trecherous one, we pulled into the north bay to assess our situation. One of the crew, Eric Ross, joined me on Whisper to give me helm relief while I cleaned up Whisper's interior. Eric gave me the helm for both narrow passages & docking in Nanaimo.

We turned into Newcastle Marina at 1300 with my adrenaline in short supply.

As I post this blog, I am quartered in the Moby Dick motel in Nanaimo with Whisper on the hard a long block away. We got here Monday at 1300. I phoned claim information into my insurance broker to initiate a claim with the insurer. It is now Thursday morning and I am still waiting for that claims adjuster phone call.

In the meantime I have prepped the rigging to lift the mast: removed the mainsail, boom, boomvang & genoa; lifted the cabin sole and cut away the pan for damage inspection.

And now I wait...

Too late am I reminded of the watchword of the U.S. Maritime Academy: ALWAYS KNOW WHERE YOU ARE! Some lessons are too late learned.

Living on the hard & thankful to be safe,

Joe