NautaBytes

OK... I freely admit I stole the line for the title of this Post from "Star Trek, The Voyage Home" But I thought it was appropriate for the content of this post. It was my Sister's first day of her six day visit aboard Dulcinea, and she was excited, because we were heading across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, then into the Famed Haro Strait.... Famous for seeing whales that is. The route (in Blue) from Fort Flagler to Reid Harbor, Stuart Island    It was a beautiful day on the water, A little on the chilly side, but not bad.  Based on feedback from friends, I timed the crossing with the outgoing tide, which really helped.  Wind was light, so we motored across the strait, aided occasionally by the Jib, which, when the wind was right, would add about a knot to a knot and a half to our speed.  There really wasn't enough wind to justify raising the main though.  When we entered the Haro strait, and my sister started into high surveillance Mode... getting her camera

This is the third summer I have owned Dulcinea.  Every summer I have taken some sort of trip, each year doing it a little bigger, and this year I planned the longest trip I have ever taken... almost 3 weeks!  Now, I am aware of the Cruisers superstition of never starting a passage on a Friday, but I reasoned that this was a vacation , not a passage , so therefore it wouldn't apply to me.... WRONG!  Now, don't get me wrong, overall I had a great time, it is just that I went through some pretty rough times as well. Really?  Again? Looking at Quartermaster Harbor entrance...  2 boats or more so it must be a race! But I am getting ahead of myself...  This years trip was starting on Friday, August 14 and would go through Sept 2nd.  This year I planned well ahead of the trip, and had all of my provisioning and loading done by Thursday, a minor miracle!  Still, I didn't leave as early as I intended to (0800) and by the time I had fueled and left Foss Har

Mt. Rainier in the background, My Sister's decorations in the foreground... So for the third time in as many summers as I have owned Dulcinea, I have talked my family into coming out with me to watch the Air Show and the fireworks, but this year we did it with a twist.  Since the 4th fell on a Saturday, and we all had Friday off as well, My Sister (1 of 4) and brother in law decided we would spend the 3rd on the hook off of Vashon Island, then we would come in on the 4th to pick up the rest of the family, go out and watch the air show, then come in, eat and then go to Quartermaster Harbor, drop the hook and watch the fireworks and come back in on Sunday.  My Sis and Bro in law so we headed out on Friday to a little anchorage on the east side of Maury Island.  We were in no hurry so we sailed all the way there, even though the winds were fairly light and Variable   And along the way the Views were pretty great! we saw quite a few of these jelly fis

 No, My friends, this post is not about one who travels.... on the contrary, it is about that necessary piece of hardware that I rarely used, because it was such a pain in the @$$ to use.  Of course, if you own or have owned an older Catalina 30 like mine, you know I am talking about the Main Sail traveler.. Even though this is screaming for a traveler adjustment I didn't because it was such a PAIN!    The stock one that came with the boat (ergo it is about 37 years old) is curved, and could only be adjusted in a very awkward manner... that is: let out the main sheet, pull the pin for the side you want to go to, slide the stop to the location you wanted, re-seat the pin in that hole, move the traveler car, move the opposite stop to lock the car in place, then readjust the main sheet.  as you might Imagine, I didn't use it very often, and I am sure that affected my sailing.   So I ordered an upgrade kit that Garhauer Marine Hardware had for my Catalina 30 (on sale