Sucia Island Rendezvous 2012

Fossil Bay, Sucia Island, near the Canadian Border in the San Juan Islands is the scene for a gathering of small boat enthusiasts the second weekend in July.

This year was a quiet one. The weather was postcard perfect, unless youre a sailor. Boats came and went in an erratic schedule, so it was hard to tell how many attended. A couple big production boats were in the line-up, which was a new twist.

For the sailors, the week was a tease. When a breeze came up we were all seduced but most often, once out of the harbor, boats drifted on the tides while skippers and crew baked in the sun.



Please make no mistake - getting up to a brilliant sunrise every morning is a wonderful thing! I suppose it would be brash to take credit, though Im convinced the weather was so fine because I made up a heavy-duty boom tent that could stand torrential rains for weeks (nay years) on end. That tent became my penance. It is so heavy and ungainly (and I must say unattractive) it took an hour to set up and an equal amount of time to strike. If it werent for the heavy dew fall, I might have abandoned it altogether.

Lets look at the line-up...

Katie Mae belongs to Lynn Watson of Port Townsend. She was built by the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding, under the supervision of Ray Speck
She is a modified 21 foot Drascombe PeterBoat.
Well sailed and an exceptional design, she is hard to keep up with.
I include this photo to demonstrate the contrast of vessels found in Fossil Bay.

Heres Joel and Tim Bergen in their Welsford Navigator, Ellie. 
Joel has some more details about this gathering on his website.

Paul and Arnie sailed in from Cowichan Bay, Vancouver Island, BC.
Pauls boat is a Friendship Sloop designed by Jay Benford, named Friendship. Weve talked about Paul and his fine boat before.
Arnie is a former bosun in the Canadian Navy and an accomplished sailor. It was a pleasure to make his acquaintance.

Marty Loken, from Marrowstone Island brought his newest acquisition, a Iain Oughtred Willyboat.
Marty is as bad as I am about boats - if he loves um he has to bring em home.
Marty runs the Island Boatshop on Mystery Bay, Marrowstone Island, east of Port Townsend.

Ron Mueller cruises the San Juan and Gulf Islands every year in his power cat, Just Enuf.
This plywood EcoCat from Bernard Kohler has a king sized berth, standing headroom galley, and a private head. Ron stores two inflatable kayaks and two folding bikes in the starboard ama. Cruising speed is 10 knots with a top speed of 15 knots, using a 20hp outboard motor.

 

Bob Ennenberg hails from Vancouver, BC, where he built this Jim Michalak pram, Duck. Its Bobs first build and I was impressed how well it sails. He has no permanent furniture inside and its a regular ballroom down below.
Bob is a grade school teacher with perpetual good humor. Hope he comes back next year.

These folks were not here to join us, but what a happy coincidence!

Their beautiful vessel is a Connecticut River Shad Boat.

James McMullen showed up from Anacortes, WA in his sail-and-oar boat Rowan.
James had places to see, so he was there only one night. He told me later that he covered over 60 nautical miles in four days under sail and oar alone. The man has ambition!

James is part owner of Emerald Marine in Anacortes.

And here we have Jamie Orr of Victoria, BC in his Phil Bolger Chebacco, Wayward Lass.
Ive had the pleasure of sailing with Jamie quite a few times, though Im a bit tired of looking at his transom. The Chebacco is an amazing little boat and Jamie handles her well.
Thanks to Jamie for all his organizational efforts concerning this rendezvous!
He has a website to keep us updated and is one of the best cat-herders I know.

You recognize this guy. Its Doryman in Saga. Jamie was gracious enough to circle around and take my picture before he took off for the horizon.
The jib was an experiment and well come back to that later.
Saga is a modified William Atkin Valgerda faering.

I call this the Mother Ship. Chuck Gottfried, his wife Shay and good friend Dean chartered a Baba 30 for the week. Not my cuppa tea, but what luxury!
Here we see Dean firing up some Super Tramp on his digital music player just before breakfast. Not my cuppa either, but the man is happy and thats all that counts.
They sailed in company with some old friends in a C&C 35 and Im sorry to have not gotten a photo of them.

Martin Schneider came from Port Townsend in his Allegra 24 cutter, Clover

Thats a lot of boat in a tidy package. I hope to sail with Martin someday.






That about covers it, hope I didnt miss anyone.

The slideshow from Sucia Island 2012:

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Whidbey Island Circumnavigation

The Vancouver Expedition (1791–1795) was a four-and-a-half-year voyage of exploration and land acquisition (some may say piracy), commanded by Captain George Vancouver. The expedition circumnavigated the globe, touched five continents and changed the course of history for various indigenous nations and the burnishing British empire that subjugated them. The expedition at various times included between two and four vessels, and up to 153 men, all but six of whom returned home to aspiring careers.

In 1792, HMS Discoverys Ships Master, Joseph Whidbey accompanied Lieutenant Peter Puget in small boats to explore what was later named Puget Sound. On June 2, the team discovered Deception Pass, establishing the insularity of the Sounds largest island which Vancouver named Whidbey Island.

Whidbey Island is approximately 55 miles (89 km) long (from the extreme north to extreme south, and varies between 1.5 to 12 miles (2.4 to 19.3 km) wide, comprising 168.67 square miles (436.9 km²).

My solo Whidbey Island circumnavigation came about because of the TSCA messabout at Hope Island near the northeast end of its much larger neighbor, not far from Deception Pass.

This voyage began in Mystery Bay. The weather prediction was perfect for it, a convergence zone was due over the area, with southerlies on the Friday of departure, developing into northerlies for the rest of a week. I could ride the cool, rainy front north, expecting warmer, sunny weather to bring me back.

It sounds simple. Unfortunately for Doryman, the cool front moved through a full day early. Belle Starr was anxious to go, regardless. We headed south from Port Townsend with the developing high pressure behind us. All the way, through the "Cut" at the south end of Port Townsend Bay and across Admiralty Inlet, to the south end of Whidbey, it was downwind or a broad reach, with a push from a flood tide. Very pleasant. The wind shifted with us as we traveled west until the setting sun brought on a chill.

In a fit of complacency, I hoped the westerly would continue on the lee side of the island as we rounded north at Possession Point. To make this a comfortable three day trip, as planned, we still had at least ten miles to go. Twenty miles to a recognized anchorage. None of this was to be. The wind we found was directly on the nose of my worthy vessel, which was not up to the task of making much headway against a northeasterly growing in force. In the gloaming, two successive gusts struck Belle Starr to starboard, hard enough to bring waves over the cockpit coaming.

This had never happened to me before in my experience with the Stone Horse - Belle Starr being a very dry boat. She was floundering under the added weight, with scuppers underwater and no momentum or steerage. Flustered and tired, it took a few seconds to recognize the water was not draining and there was little else to do but try and bring the boat upright and disperse the intruding water. Most of the water escaped, but enough remained to dampen my enthusiasm. The last two paragraphs comprise four hours of man and boat against the sea, so exhausted and despite an exposed lee shore, we tacked in and set anchor for a restless night. The pile of wet gear in the cockpit would have to wait.

One lazarette had filled completely (something to put on the list...leaky lazarettes have sunk many boats.), thoroughly soaking sets of off-shore rain gear and boots. Although none of it absorbed water, anyone familiar with the Northwest climate will understand it took most of the next day, sailing with gear spread all over the cockpit, to dry everything enough to re-stow.

Well, sailing... figuratively. Saturday, with about fifty miles to reach Hope Island, the wind, still directly ahead, died to a whisper. I disdain the use of motors, as a principle and when I succumb to a rational argument with myself, it is with regret. Crank up the outboard and head for Oak Harbor to buy fuel, a great sin in the world of Doryman.

We reached the Hope Island messabout an hour before sundown. A quick transit around the island, looking for friends, revealed a lovely state park that is primarily a nature preserve. When I found the anchorage, Id just missed a potluck supper on Night Bird, Claire and Johns new Catalina 22, with Martin and his son Trevor, from Clover, Ed, his son and a friend who launched their Core Sound 17 at Coronet Bay, just east of Deception Pass. But I was just in time for an evening chat, watching a fresh new moon, attended by Venus and Jupiter, from the cockpit. Sublime.

Sunday dawned with that misty morning haze, the crown jewel of the summer maritime Pacific Northwest, when sea and sky blend together, like living inside an emerald. You know the day will be bright and warm. Inside the archipelago, the breezes will be light, but we were headed out into open water, with wind funneled directly off the ocean, through the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Deception Pass is a narrow opening in the rock between Whidbey Island and Fidalgo Island and should be transited at slack tide. To meet an ebb in Rosario Strait, we needed to meet the high slack after daybreak coffee.

The entire day was blessed with a steady westerly on the starboard beam. A sailors dream. The hours flowed by in simple contemplation of good fortune until the Point Wilson light and Port Townsend Bay came into view. Sailing about 150 challenging and beautiful nautical miles in 50 hours. It doesnt get better than that.

Hitch hikers to nowhere.

Bald eagles.

Aboard Night Bird.

Raft-up at twilight.

Clovers dingy.

Clover in early morning repose.

Looking west through Deception Pass. You can see how it got its name.

A lot of water funnels through that little opening.

Running free. The old girl could use a new mainsail...

Point Wilson, Port Townsend Bay at the end of the day.

Whidbey Island, by Ron Kerrigan.

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Rat Island

Last weekend the Puget Sound TSCA and the Port Townsend Pocket Yachters co-sponsored a day trip to the unfortunately named Rat Island conservation area at the entrance to Mystery Bay.

Doryman didnt make it, but Marty Loken did and took a few photos for our amusement...

"After Fridays torrential downpour, yesterday was mostly dry and warm--T-shirt
weather at Rat Island for much of the time, in fact. It rained early, but we
stayed dry until later in the afternoon, when the monsoons returned...just as
the last two boats were sailing over from Port Townsend. (Sorry, I didnt get
photos of the late-arriving boats--it was pouring by then and the camera was
stashed in a dry bag.) - Also accidentally erased a few other photos, including
one of Glenn Woodburys Beach Pea...but yesterdays collection offered a wide
variety of boats, including two Rangers (12 and 20); two Oughtreds (Calendonia
Yawl and Whilly Boat), two Welsfords, a Whitehall, Core Sound 17 and others."

 Niks Caledonia Yawl, Sutil

 A Caledonia Yawl and a Whilly Boat, each are Iain Oughtred designs.

 Randys Core Sound 17. This boat is impressive. An all-around design, easy to sail.

 A Whitehall and a Ranger 12.

 Ranger 20. I dont know much about this boat, but she looks very capable.

 





 The line-up

 Whitehall

Scotts Rogue, Lagniappe.
A John Welsford design

 The view from the marsh. Rat Island is a protected area and no camping is allowed. There are marina facilities at nearby Fort Flagler.

 Thanks for the pictures Marty!

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Sucia Island Rendezvous 2015

July 10-13 was yet another great gathering of small gunkholing boats in Fossil Bay, Sucia Island, one of the wonderful Washington State marine parks in the San Juan Islands. Its hard to beat the camaraderie of good friends in a beautiful spot aboard some of the most seaworthy small vessels around.

This year there were nine boats carrying eleven sailors. A small but tenacious group, all with credentials as able seamen and women.

Jamie came from Victoria BC in his Phil Bolger Chebacco, Wayward Lass, fresh from the R2AK, where he made it to Johnstone Strait before succumbing to intense headwinds.
This is the view we usually have of Jamie.

Bob sailed Sally Forth, his beloved Drascome Longboat. Its easy to see why he loves this boat so much. He uses a very well designed cockpit tent for sleeping aboard. Additional photos can be found on the Doryman Flickr site.

Paul navigated from Cowichan Bay, Vancouver Island, in his Jay Benford Friendship. He recently upgraded his rigging by moving the headstay to the masthead and installing a roller furling genoa. Sadly the winds were very light, so he couldnt show us how pleased he is with his new wings.

Claire and John came from Whidbey Island in their new Night Bird. A lot of boat in a compact package. Please note the pop-top deck.

Joel and his son Tim winged from Edmonds in their John Welsford Navigator, Ellie. Navigator Joel employs a tidy clothesline anchoring system to keep Ellie close to camp.

Randy arrived in his new Belhaven 19, Clementine. I sailed with Randy in our annual "race" around Sucia. The winds and currents are fickle around this island of many faces and we have yet to complete a single race, in many years of trying. This year may have been the shortest race of all.

Joe trailered from Texas with his wood runabout. He didnt know he came to see us, it was serendipity. I met Joe four years ago while cruising around the Canadian Gulf Islands after this same rendezvous. It was good to see him again, hes a sailors sailor, with a fruitful life and many interesting stories to tell.








Ron motored in with his efficient outboard driven catamaran, Just Enuf, a plywood EcoCat from Bernard Kohler. Ron really gets around with this little cat. You may have seen his distinctive vessel around the Salish Sea.






I sailed the forty five nautical miles from Port Townsend in Belle Starr. Thats her in the photo near the top of the post. She always gets me there and back, safely and in style.

A small but fun group. The Sucia Island Rendezvous was lovely as ever, a tradition well worth keeping.

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