29 Sep 23

Duty called at about 07:30, so we got up to cold (44F in the cockpit), but mostly clear morning. After breakfast, we dropped the mooring ball at 08:48, said quick goodbyes to Jim and Peggy, and got underway. The tidal currents were with us nearly the whole way and we were tied up at slip C-12 at Cap Sante Marina at 12:14, having first spent a while repeatedly pumping out both holding tanks. The fuel dock was full of stink-potters, so we decided to leave that until Monday or Tuesday. After a quick lunch, we jumped straight into de-commissioning activities. First, I hosed down the storm jib and spinnaker and bags and then hoisted them up the forestay to dry in the breeze. I also hosed off all the shore lines. Then, I picked up the car and got the pressure washer and a few other items from the storage locker. Back at the boat, I emptied the water jerry cans, then tackled the generator as the replacement capacitor had arrived. After a bit of difficulty, I had it all together and pushed the start button, but the starter motor did not engage. I assume I reassembled the starter solenoid incorrectly, having taken it loose when originally looking for the capacitor. I tried to reassemble it but could not figure out what was wrong and finally gave up after an hour. I will defer this problem to Pacific Marine; more boat bucks gone. Then, I dropped and packed the spinnaker, dropped, flaked and packed the storm jib, pulled and coiled the main jibe-preventer lines and the spinnaker pole down-haul and pulled the two jack-lines. I also disconnected the anchor winch controller and drained the anchor wash-down hose. Then, I realized that the cap to the anchor winch control wire was missing, so I had to pull all 135 feet of chain and 250 of rope rode out to the anchor locker to find it. Lots of work, but not much progress on the de-commissioning list. After that, it was happy hour; I hauled the two sails up to the car and took a shower. Ashley joined us later, with her Celtic harp.  

48-30.739’N, 122-36.508’W; Log = 15.9 N-m, Sum (2023) = 3103.4; Eng. hrs = 3.5, Sum = 3603.2

30 Sep 23

I went to bed early last night, totally exhausted, not long after Ashley arrived. We were up at 08:30 and after breakfast, went to work. I took some more stuff (spinnaker, storm jib, crab trap, floats, propane tank, water and diesel gerry cans) up to the storage locker and Terri and I spent a few minutes going thru our collection and pulling some stuff out to dispose of it to make more room for the stuff we want/need to store. After lunch, we all dropped the jib, flaked it and put it in the sail bag and took it to the car; it needs to have some minor repair work done on the leach, so I will take it up to Ullman Sails on Monday. Then, I power washed the deck, which took nearly two hours. We went to Anthony’s for dinner. And, finally, the Astros clinched a playoff berth by beating Arizona 1-0. This was a good day.

1 Oct 23

We struggled out of bed at 08:00 and finally dragged Ashley out at 08:45 so we could go get breakfast and get on with the day. After an excellent breakfast at Calico Corner, we came back and continued cleaning and prepping the boat for bailout. I got Ashley to work on cleaning up the BBQ, with lots of help and advice from our dock neighbor (who keeps his grill immaculate by cleaning it weekly). Ashley and I dropped the main, flaked it and loaded it in the bag and car. Then, I disconnected the boom vang and the boom and laid them down on the deck and lashed them down. Ashley and I got the kayak cover on the kayak and lashed the kayak down on the deck. I disconnected the 4 wires to things up the mast (VHF antenna, anchor light, steaming light and wind speed/direction indicator), pulled the wires out through the water-tight glands and wrapped the wires in a baggie taped to the mast; then, water-proofed the 4 glands. This operation also involved a trip to Sebo’s to get di-electric grease (to protect the wire ends); while I was out, I stopped in at West Marine and bought 2 more de-humidifiers. Then, it was time for an early dinner, since we missed lunch; after that, we got Ashley on the road back to Seattle. In the meantime, the Astros beat Arizona again and clinched the AL West division championship, thanks to Seattle Mariners beating the Texas Rangers. After we got Ashley on the road, we came back to the boat and I spent a bit more time trying to scrape off accumulated layers of baked-on grease from the BBQ.

2 Oct 23

The wind got up just before midnight and I had to get up to stop the spinnaker halyard and the topping lift from banging on the mast. Then, the stupid furling foil in the mast kept me awake half the night, but I could not think of what to do to stop it. We crawled out of bed at 08:30 and had breakfast aboard. Then, I carried on with the BBQ, cleaned off the transom, took the main and jib sails to Ullman Sails, stopped by Pacific Marine to sort out a few details for the haul-out on Thursday morning, took the life-raft, car cover and power washer to the storage unit, then came back to the boat to start on scrubbing the inside of the holding tanks. The guy from Northwest Rigging stopped by about 13:30 to discuss the standing rigging replacement; we agreed on the preparations for unstepping the mast and he agreed to give me a quote for the work, plus an extra quote to relocate the radar from the post on the port-side back stay to the mast, just above the steaming/deck light fixture. After I finished cleaning the holding tanks, I washed the dodger top and canvas surrounding the Isinglass, then made a couple of tweaks to the running rigging to help keep these lines above the deck. It sprinkled a bit in the morning, but by mid-afternoon, a soaking rain had commenced and carried on all evening, so we stayed in for the night and Terri fixed a couple of omelettes.  

3 Oct 23

We both slept poorly after about 02:00, when the wind gusted up for a few minutes and set things to rattling on the boat and in the marina. We dragged out about 08:00 and after a quick breakfast, started up the boat and ran over to top up the fuel tank, then pump out the holding tanks one final time. We were back in our slip by 10:00. During the remainder of the day, Terri did two loads of laundry, defrosted and decommissioned the fridge/freezer and the beds. As soon as we were back in the slip, we got under our bed and checked the spare parts inventory and retrieved oil and fuel filters, etc. Then, I changed the oil, oil filter and fuel filter on the main engine. I had a quick chat with NextGen and they said it sounds like the starter motor has failed; great - I don’t have time to fool with this now and will have to turn in over to Pacific Marine. It took a while to dispose of the spent oil, as O’Reilly’s tank was full, so I had to pay to dispose of it at the marina. Then, I stripped the bimini and surround canvas and packed it away (some in the boat and the bimini top and back sections of the surround to be taken home to be cleaned and water-proofed), cleaned and re-waterproofed the dodger top and installed the protective canvas cover, installed the canvas cover over the salon skylights, installed the canvas covers over the dorade boxes, cleaned the dinghy and installed the freshly cleaned cover (thanks, Terri) and hoisted it up on the davits. I reassembled the aft head and winterized the aft holding tank and shower drain. Then, we unloaded all of our personal gear, excess food and booze and books and hauled it all to the car. We had a quick dinner of appetizers at the bar in Anthony’s, then checked into the Marina Inn in Anacortes, showered and crashed.

48-30.739’N, 122-36.508’W; Log = 0.6 N-m, Sum (2023) = 3104.0; Eng. hrs = 0.6, Sum = 3603.8

4 Oct 22

Neither one of us slept well in the hotel last night; wrong pillow, different mattress, not enough noise, etc. Anyway, we struggled out of bed at 08:00 and made our way back to the boat to finish up. Terri did a couple more loads of laundry and I finished the winterization chores: cleaned the bilge (ugh!), winterized the forward shower drain, forward holding tank, the bilge pumps, drained the aft water tank, winterized the fresh water tanks and system with Vodka, and cleared the rest of our stuff out of the boat. About 15:00, Peggy Merrill called to advise that she and Jim, on “Carisma”, had just arrived at Cap Sante and wondered if we would like to get together for dinner. We agreed to meet at 18:30, after we had a chance to finish on the boat and clean ourselves up. We were all done on the boat at 17:00 and went back to the boat to shower. Peggy and Jim collected us at 18:30 and we drove into town to have dinner at Brown Lantern Ale House, a very nice pub with awesome gumbo. We had a grand time and got back to the hotel about 21:30, whereupon Terri and I immediately went to bed. 

48-30.067’N, 122-36.251’W; Log = 1.3 N-m, Sum (2023) = 3105.3; Eng. hrs = 0.5, Sum = 3604.3