NautaBytes

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...

 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 ...

I got a surprise when going through my RSS feeds yesterday.  I found that one of my blog entries was now listed on another web site that I regularly read... Three Sheets Northwest !  This is a site that has really interesting and timely reporting of all things nautical happening here in the Puget Sound Area. You see, awhile ago I had an on-line discussion with Andy Cross and mentioned my blog to him.  one thing lead to another and now I am being published on a much bigger site than mine!  It really has made a difference on the number of visitors I get... up about 300 percent so far.  Now let's see if I can keep making posts that are worthy of continuing that syndication! Thanks Three Sheets Northwest!!!!

You've heard of Words with Friends? Well, this is even better! No, there is no App for that! But all you gotta do is take some of your friends out to enjoy the great sport of  boating! My first trip out this year was with my good friend Michael Boyte of S/V Galapagos .  It had been a long time since I had been out with the electrical refit and all, and Mike was the same way, so we decided to take the day, stop all projects and just enjoy a day sail.  We had great sailing with winds around 10 to 12 kts, as the following pictures will attest... On the way out of the Harbor, We saw this beauty.  This is the S/V Adventuress .  She is a 133-foot (41 m) gaff-rigged schooner launched in 1913. Here is Mike on the bow of Dulcinea, getting his own Pics of this historic ship.  Mike at Dulcinea's Helm SELFIE TIME!!! Heading back in.... The next sail was with my Nephew, Eric.  We had another great day of sailing w...