I've been spending my free time working on the boat - more on that later - rather than this blog, but as promised, here are some entries about the transit from Corsair's log. How cool is that - I get to say "ship's log" now and not just sound like a geek!

Friday - 02.13.09

2200

Chrissy is a rock star! She drove us up to Blaine so we could make the transit without having to shuttle our truck. 

Saturday - 02.14.09

Morning

Not many guys' wives would be willing to spend Valentine's Day making a cold winter transit. I have a good wife. 

0715 

Engine won't start, and eventually stopped turning over altogether. Called broker for some help. 

0910

Gary [the broker] showed me the secret handshake. The ingnition switch is loose and only makes a connection as it is first engaged. Any further and the circuit is broken and the starter stops. Started right up and ran smoothly. 

09.20

Departed Semiahamoo Marina

1041

Sighted a pod of 6-10 porpoises as we rounded Birch Point.

1500

Arrived at fuel dock at Cap Sante Boat Haven (Anacortes, WA). I think the boat's original knot meter may be about 1 knot slow, based on comparisons with Bill' GPS. 

1930

Surprised Laura with a Valentine's dinner at The Majestic Inn in Anacortes. Beef Wellington - delicious. 

Sunday - 02.15.09

0740

Departed for Langley Harbor.

0845

Entered Swinomish Channel. Motored against 2 knot current along most of channel. 

1130

Exited channel.

1230

Changed destination from Langley Harbor to Everett Marina in hopes of taking advantage of unexpected speed. May allow us to make it all the way to Tacoma in one last leg on Monday. 

Sighted northern fur seal [rare in this region] in Saratoga Passage.

1640

Arrived in Port of Everett Marina. 

Monday - 02.16.09

0700

Departure for Foss Marina, Tacoma. Sun not quite up yet. 

1200

Passing Elliot Bay and Seattle. 

1530

Rounded Robinson Point. Cut engine and [truly] sailed Corsair for the first time.  Exceeded 7 knots in short bursts.

1700 

Arrived at Foss Marina. New boat is in new home for the first time. Kristen and family, and Wellingtons, came to welcome us home and to see Corsair. 

First Float Plan

Blaine, WA to Tacoma, WA

•Sailing vessel Corsair - 28' Newport sloop, white with blue trim and dodger, white sails
•Crew - Jeff and Laura Barber (cell - 253.301.8130)
•Emergency Contact - Kristen Chu (253-514-6088)
•Coast Guard recommended safety gear including VHF and signaling devices
• 11-horse inboard diesel with 15 gallons of fuel
•Inflatable tender with 2 horse kicker and oars

Modified Course

02.14.09 - 02.16.09

Semiahmoo Marina (Blaine) - 4.13.09

Depart for Anacortes ~ 0700 - 4.14
Motor/sail south
Via Rosario Strait
West of Lummi Island
East of Sinclar Island
East of Guemes Island

Arrive Cap Sante Boat Haven (Anacortes) ~ 1700

Depart for Everett Marina ~ 0730 - 4.15
Motor/sail south
Traverse Swinomish Channel (LaConnor WA)
Skagit Bay
South along Saratoga Passage

Arrive Port of Everett Marina - 1630

Depart for Tacoma (Foss Marina) - 0700 - 4.16
Motor/sail south
Puget Sound
East Passage

Arrive Foss Marine ~ 1700

The Transit

We found Corsair in Blaine, a town right on the Canadian boarder, about three hours north of Tacoma by highway and about 110 nautical miles north by sailboat. Transiting her down here in the middle of winter took some careful course plotting, a hardy and understanding first mate (aka wife), and a bit of luck with the weather. 

We targeted President's Day weekend as we both had three consecutive days off. When we did the sea trial, it seemed the engine could only manage a cruising speed of about 4 knots. Since we had a hard deadline, we plotted the course assuming we would be motoring the whole way, and only sailing if the winds were particularly favorable. We also wanted to spend the nights only in marinas so we could count on shore-powered heat and ready assistance if something went wrong with an unfamiliar boat. 

The days are pretty short around here this time of year, and we had no interest in trying to navigate after dark. Even leaving at sunrise and going until sunset gave us only 10 hours of travel time every day. The charts indicated we would luck out with favorable tides and currents most of the way, but even then the trip plotted out to be about 3.5 days. We figured we would have to leave the boat at a marina in Seattle and go back to pick her up and finish the transit the following weekend. 

As it turned out however, the knot meter reads under speed by a knot, the currents gave us even more of a boost than predicted and we not only had great (even sunny ) weather for this time of year, but we got a strong following wind on the last day. We averaged just over 6 knots for most of the course, and so in the end we were able to make it all the way to Tacoma in a just the 3 days - and with plenty of daylight to spare.

The transit was a blast, presented a few challenges and taught us a lot about the boat. I'll put the actual float plan and some entries from the log in a subsequent post, but for the time being here's a sequence of shots from the trip...