tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22479732411194895602024-03-14T00:45:06.022-07:00Sailing With Albie!Make a Living Sharing What You Love!Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger60125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2247973241119489560.post-39562749124969069292021-02-27T21:14:00.003-08:002021-02-27T21:21:45.732-08:00Ever had your life (or your boat) flipped upside down?<html>
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<div style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span background-color:="" style="color: #333333; font-size: 22px;" trebuchet="">Hi! </span><br background-color:="" font-size:="" style="color: #333333; font-family: sans-serif, Arial, Verdana,;" trebuchet="" />
<br background-color:="" font-size:="" style="color: #333333; font-family: sans-serif, Arial, Verdana,;" trebuchet="" />
<span background-color:="" style="color: #333333; font-size: 22px;" trebuchet="">Albie here. :) </span><br />
<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYGv3qtUgwcIjy9FEeKveWTzD7fyzLMQTb6tNDT8WIc2xPAijZzgb6hvS55Q8Q2VVDw0vtItcPUuprWxZPgf4-625c7sdzEdOOWjK2UbLsG7G7N_S45wtFOIBmR7QdFpyga7V5bfOT9u6F/s800/Sailboats+%2526+Storms+at+Sea.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="800" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYGv3qtUgwcIjy9FEeKveWTzD7fyzLMQTb6tNDT8WIc2xPAijZzgb6hvS55Q8Q2VVDw0vtItcPUuprWxZPgf4-625c7sdzEdOOWjK2UbLsG7G7N_S45wtFOIBmR7QdFpyga7V5bfOT9u6F/w349-h218/Sailboats+%2526+Storms+at+Sea.png" width="349" /></a></div>
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<span background-color:="" style="color: #333333; font-size: 22px;" trebuchet="">As you can see, I love sailing out to sea. As you might know, not only can sailing be fun and a <strong>beautiful experience</strong> but it also can be <strong>downright dangerous.</strong></span><span style="font-size: 22px;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 22px;">Sailing downwind or close to it on a broad reach, is exhilarating and very different than sailing into the ‘teeth’ of the wind. The wind is coming mostly from behind and you often </span><strong style="font-size: 22px;">end up ‘surfing’ through the waves on a fast track that appears much easier than beating into the crashing waves.</strong><span style="font-size: 22px;"> But its dangers are perhaps even more real than sailing into the wind. Wonder why that is? It's because during a storm or gale, the wind and waves can literally spin the boat around if you're not paying attention. And if you're hit broadsides by a big enough wave, then even a big heavy sailboat with thousands of pounds of weight in their hulls can be literally flipped upside down. </span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span style="font-size: 22px;"><br /></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span style="font-size: 22px;"><br /></span>
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<strong style="font-size: 22px;">Why am I telling you this? </strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 22px;">Good question!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 22px;"><strong>Well, it's the same for real life. </strong>All you need is <strong>enough stress</strong> compacted into one place and life gets unbearable. Bad things can happen at those times - really bad things. On a scale of 1-10, ten being the worst, any level of things can take place. <strong>Your life can turn upside down in a few moments. </strong><br />
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So what's the point of all this? <br />
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Well as a sailor, understanding the elements that can create a broach are helpful to know. It's even more helpful if you have experience dealing with them. And it's the same for life. <strong>One thing that can dynamically change a situation is just keeping calm and not allowing yourself to panic or do something out of fear.</strong> This is probably the worst thing you can do. <br />
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<strong>Honestly most situations can be appeased</strong> with a breath of <strong>air</strong>, some <strong>patience</strong> and if your allow yourself to <strong>think</strong> apart from fear. One time I remember having to fix a broken shroud that had come lose during some rough waves and only having a couple seconds to get it right and do it. Instead of panicking, I just breathed and got to work. Thankfully a little adrenaline helped me and I was able to fix it before the mast broke. However, I can say truthfully that panic nearly got me. <br />
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So all this to say, that life can sometimes hit you real hard. <strong>And sometimes it just builds really slow so that you don't realize that your getting more and more behind.</strong> But you have to wake up and fight back. One moment, or day at a time. And if you don't, then life will defeat you one little struggle at a time. <strong>Each moment you decide to let balance in your life slip and take the easy route.</strong> So don't let it. And don't let your dreams get taken either! People literally live on hope, so keep yours alive.<br />
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So here's your chance to not let that moment slip. Take advantage of every opportunity and win your dream back! Here's a link to take a free <strong>7 day tour of the Power Lead System</strong>. This system has everything you need in it to succeed financially online - if you are willing to work a little and learn the skills from us. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://report2.swalbie.com/"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYCRCCZetGIj_sdI5fBabhLcwePqF38NqWIuklK7ym4i_yzc01WtWt_TEYfOFre3Dl5A2Kn5kzTiUWrwNgUarzcs7uOUvHoVa1yIEGA0MSBHLa9EmWwHWZWExGWEqElc2hfgaco1WuubtW/s815/Red+Click+on+me+button.png" style="height: 44px; width: 500px;" /></a><br />
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I also want to let you know that I'm open if you need additional help to figure this whole internet earning thing out,<br />
simply reply back to this email with this subject heading: "<span style="color: firebrick;"><strong> tell me more</strong></span>" and I will send you some further information. :-) <br />
<br />
~Albie </span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span style="font-size: 22px;"><br /></span></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span style="font-size: 22px;">PS: Want to read more about my adventure trying to keep my boat from broaching? <a href="http://sailingwithalbie.com/?p=425" target="_blank">Go here: </a><br /></span>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 22px;">1-877-521-5505<br />
<br />
cell: 626-379-5692<br />
<br />
SailingWithAlbie@gmail.com</span><br />
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REQUIRED EARNINGS DISCLOSURE: We can not guarantee that you will be able to generate any income amount as this is based on work ethic, persistance and possibly your skill set. </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2247973241119489560.post-50602198102055051532016-04-09T11:35:00.000-07:002016-04-09T11:35:18.030-07:00Sailing into Danger<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It was a sunny afternoon and I was happy thinking about sailing today! <b>I could see myself attaching the main sail to the halyard and pulling it to the top of the mast and then setting out over the blue water.</b></div>
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All went like I had imagined it - at first. <b>My suspicion that something was not right happened when I got out to the main harbor. </b></div>
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The wind was pretty strong and it took some of my advanced sailing skills to keep the boat in the right direction. It wasn't till I was about to head out past the lighthouse into the open ocean when I noticed it. <b>A massive fog bank rolling in with the rushing wind.</b></div>
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<b> I could see the fog moving past like ghostly fingers. </b>Wow! I exclaimed. It was truly amazing! It was huge like a mountain and dense too. Looking out, I could only see maybe a mile to where the first green buoy was, marking the shipping lane. <span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">And it could get worse. I have sailed in fog before and honestly I don't like it. You lose all sense of direction. Immediately I went and got my compass and jotted down my heading in the log. If ever you get lost you can take the reciprocal compass route back. </span></div>
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When I got out to the open ocean, it wasn't the fog only that I had to be concerned about. It was the wind. It was blowing really strong and whitecaps were forming on the wave tops.</div>
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I then got my life jacket on and went out on the bow to get a better look. When I got settled out there and had a tethered myself to the boat, I could see it was actually worse than I thought.</div>
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<b>Spindrift was occurring and you could see where the white water was forming streaks over the waves. </b>As for the waves themselves, they were not big yet. Maybe four feet high sometimes.</div>
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<b>Being out on the bow is one of my favorite places to be. You can see every facet of the wind on the waves and at the same time get a really good look at the horizon.</b> In this case I could only see the massive fog bank.</div>
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Usually I just relax and breath in the freedom being out there. <b>Today though, I could feel the urgency and the danger. I had too much sail up and I knew it</b>."</div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If I pulled the sails in tight the boat would heel too hard and I would put way too much pressure on the shrouds. Right now I had the sails so that some of the excess wind was lost but not loose enough for them to crack and shake. <b>Eventually if you leave the sails too loose they will rip.</b> For a little while I sat at the bow watching how the boat and the sails were reacting to the heavy wind and the ever increasing waves. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It was just a matter of time before the waves would get bigger. I carefully made my way back to the cockpit holding on to the shrouds as I crossed the deck. <b>Looking in the pilot book to give me some info about how strong the wind was, I saw that spindrift accompanied a gale. I knew it was not a gale yet but it was not looking good. </b>I determined to only go a mile and then turn around. Eventually that time came. The green shipping lane buoy was now to my left on the port side. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I then turned the boat into the wind and let go the jib line and waited for the main sail to switch sides. But it didn't happen. "Rats!" I yelled. I was afraid of this. <b>The wind was too strong and was not allowing the sails to pass through the eye of the wind.</b> The boat now turned right back to the same course as before. </span></div>
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<b>I tried again. This time I helped the boat gather a little more speed before I turned the tiller. But the wind pulled us right back. I sat there a little stumped at first. "Ok" I thought. Don't panic. Yes, I still have a few more tricks I can try."</b> And I did. If one couldn't tack into the wind, one could always jibe away from the wind. True, I would lose some of my way, but I couldn't help it. So turning the tiller I turned the boat the other way - but this time there was no response. There was simply too much sail up to be able to jibe. The power in the sails wouldn't allow the boat to turn. "Great!" I said. "Now what?" Yes one more idea came to mind before I would simply have to take the sails down and use the engine to turn around. This time I pulled in the sails a little tighter (something I hadn't wanted to do) and this is turn brought the boat closer upwind. Now I was closer to the eye of the wind and if I could just keep the boat speed up I might be able to do it. </div>
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After seeing the wake of white water passing the side of the boat (which meant I had speed) I turned the tiller again. <b>As soon as the boat rounded into the wind I held on to the port jib line so the jib would get back winded if the boat passed the eye. It did and we turned! "Hurray!" I yelled and sprung to life pulling in the starboard jib line like a snake that was trying to get away.</b> Letting out on the main sheet I then headed back to the San Pedro light house. I could still see it in the fog. "Whew!" I said relieved. The worst was over now.</div>
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After passing the lighthouse, I turned on the engine and motor sailed on a close reach against the wind. Soon I was sailing into my marina and had the sails down. It had not been the calm and relaxing sail I had imagined. More of an adventure really! </div>
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Thanks for your comments! </div>
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~Albie</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2247973241119489560.post-38637285196346971062015-10-26T21:45:00.000-07:002015-10-27T05:36:41.564-07:00SAILING Atop the World in October! <br />
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<b><i>The ocean brings you up on a wave and then the boat falls down into the waves valley like trough. </i></b><br />
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<b><i>You feel the rhythmic drop throughout your whole body. And then just as you settle in, the wave surges with power under the boat lifting you up high again. </i></b><br />
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<b><i>You feel the powerful ocean current under you lifting the boat up with its invisible 'wings' and for a moment feel atop of the world! It's as if the ocean is singing with the sea chanty: 'Way ho - up she rises...way ho! Up she rises!'. </i></b></div>
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As you can see I was having fun sailing yesterday afternoon - even though the wind was really wierd and blowing from a strange direction in the middle of the day (usually without fail it blows from the northwest during the day). And on top of that the wind was as fickle as anything, Sometimes blowing, sometimes not. So I was sailing under power most of the afternoon. Sailing atop the world in October can only happen with some kind of power and honestly without an engine and without wind, it's more like floating with frustration atop the world instead! Lol! </div>
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<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><b> In the past, I had a lot of aggravating sailing days in October because for three years I sailed without an engine! Man, you learn a lot about sailing that way! But it has a big price tag, I can tell you. And it's not always 'safe'. Not having an engine in October is just like asking for trouble - especially when sailing along the coast in California.</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7019607843137254); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); font-size: 17px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">For one, what happens when a big ship comes along and you're in the middle of the channel? Well, you have to get creative! I learned how to row a sailboat - and that's not easy - or fast. And two, what happens when you're out at sea and suddenly the wind dies on you? What then? Well, your stuck having to sit around and wait till it comes back and meantime using the tide to the best of your advantage to get inshore a little. </span></span><br />
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October sailing has its drawbacks. Honestly it's not my favorite time of the year to sail. Maybe its because the sun does not shine as long during the day nor is it as hot since the colder weather is approaching. I have always found October to have a lot of days when the wind is variable - sometimes blowing and sometimes not! It seems that in the summer that the wind is like clockwork - up and running at 10am and ready to retire at 11pm. But in October the wind decides to 'sleep in' on many days and 'get up' at 12pm and then take lots of 'naps' in the afternoon - finally getting going around 3pm but then often finishing early at sunset! Crazy!<br />
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So anyway, I wish you the best of 'sailing atop the world in October' (and in this season) and my advise to you is (and I thought I would never hear myself say this) is that if you don't have a reliable engine right now, find a way to fix it or get a better one! And if that's not possible check out my website <a href="http://albiesailingwithoutengine.blogspot.com/">http://albiesailingwithoutengine.blogspot.com/</a> and maybe that will help you prepare for some of the problems you may face.<br />
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Thanks for your comments!<br />
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~Albie<br />
SMILE :-D<br />
http://GodsBeautifulName.blogspot.com<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2247973241119489560.post-28270492822694361182015-06-18T18:40:00.002-07:002015-07-01T09:10:58.251-07:00 Sailing from San Diego to Los Angeles Part X: From Point Vicente to Marina Del Rey <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm9iTFrvNNMyHoJQRt2DsnD0HwXSZjTtTZB6sKtnRvlMcD-IMEALArJ2g0X2IwIVXmJVAk3IQ3dl2oxpgDcIrobXFfvTiJqKkkx0Kqo2_qZS9u7hrs6TITk_IRin_tfk02sC0GwVHBb0r5/s1600/MalibuMountainsatSeaIMG-20111001-00463.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm9iTFrvNNMyHoJQRt2DsnD0HwXSZjTtTZB6sKtnRvlMcD-IMEALArJ2g0X2IwIVXmJVAk3IQ3dl2oxpgDcIrobXFfvTiJqKkkx0Kqo2_qZS9u7hrs6TITk_IRin_tfk02sC0GwVHBb0r5/s320/MalibuMountainsatSeaIMG-20111001-00463.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marina Del Rey Breakwater</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> It was while crossing from Newport Beach to Long Beach and then from there through the San Pedro channel that I had my hardest battles with the sea.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b> For one the winds were really cooking at beginning speeds of 15 knots.</b> These rapidly changed into gusts to 20 knots and up. One can tell by the development of <b>whitecaps</b> on the waves. It was during this time that, though the waves were yet small, they were nonetheless still very powerful and had a very aggressive nature about them. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>I can remember standing in the cabin opening to the cockpit resting my arms on the top hatch and feeling the pounding the boat and I were getting on each wave about every 5 - 6 second intervals.</i><b> The boat would go down and them up and smash into a forceful wave trying to win the battle the wind was playing too of pushing us back into the lee shores of despair</b>. Of course the waves were not winning, but with the giant force of the pressure on the sails - and ultimately the shrouds (metal cables that hold up the mast), all the wind and waves had to do was send my mast crashing down for their victory. So I watched and nursed the sails (by moving the tiller of the boat) in and out of the gigantic loads of pressure against them.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b> Finally I had to make the decision to stop the boat, head it into the wind and get a smaller jib head sail up (that would cause less strain on the boat). This helped, but as the gusts increased in velocity even this sail had trouble later on. As I watched the sails pulling down the boat lee rail near the rushing white ocean water, I had to trust God that the boat could handle the strain and just try to relax a little.</b> </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So I would often pop down into the cabin to get some lightly salted peanuts to munch on or some Gatorade to drink and refresh my mouth a little. Finally, the sea and the wind leveled out and things got back to normal. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I was reflecting how I enjoyed the cool air on the ocean. I would start off by wearing just a wind breaker during the day usually to keep the sun from burning my skin. But the sea breeze eventually would cool me down to a degree where I was thankful for its warmth. As the evening drew on I would put on another jacket over the wind-breaker and eventually I would then pull the hood on my windbreaker over my cap. This really seemed to keep most of the cold air out and I would be very cozy and warm in this, but still enjoy the cool night air against my face too. Sometimes I remember the wind blowing very aggressively at night and making my head cold even inside my hood, so I put on my warm woolen cap under the hood and put a scarf on too.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b> This seemed to help, but on this particular night only the shelter inside the cabin was the answer. I would go below and suddenly the chill of the night would leave. Looking out the dark cabin windows the bright stars would shine. I could see the dark ocean waves passing by too. </b>Turning on the cabin lights would add a warm glow inside. Looking at the map to get my bearings on the distance my boat was from shipping lanes, I then turned out the light and went back outside to the cockpit. Here I could see the stars truly gleaming. I put a blanket around me to keep off the chill and settled down near the tiller (like the wheel) and made sure the boat was truly on course.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">For an hour or two more I sat out watching the boat sailing with a slight angle to the wind blowing against me. The <i>Point Vicente</i> oscillating light was now clearly in sight and remained so until the wind died around <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://0" x-apple-data-detectors-result="0" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true">11:00 pm</a>. </span></div>
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Finally the morning came and with it the hope of the wind coming out again and being able to finally get going and sail on again to <i><u>Marina Del Rey</u></i>! </div>
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<b>But the wind wasn't listening to me or my hopes and didn't come out for most of the morning. </b>Nine<a href="x-apple-data-detectors://1" x-apple-data-detectors-result="1" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true"> o'clock</a> came and went and I thought 'well, the winds not going to be early today.'</div>
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After <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://2" x-apple-data-detectors-result="2" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true">10 o'clock</a> rolled past I said 'well, the winds not going to be on time either.' I conveniently found a sail to sew and mend up and after doing that I cleaned up the boat. It was a bit foggy but the sun burned it off later in the day. I was generally happy but with only one thing missing - wind! As <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://3" x-apple-data-detectors-result="3" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true">11:00 am</a> came and still nothing, I started feeling upset that I was just going to sit here all day and waste it by just waiting. <b>Suddenly I felt something on my cheek. The wind was light but there it was. I finally set off - very slow at first but I was moving and happy. </b></div>
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Soon I could see the orange ball buoy between Redondo and <b>Point Vicente</b>. The very same buoy I saw floating on massive twenty foot waves coming back from Catalina in a gale. This time I passed it on three foot waves as I sailed north to <b>Marina Del Rey</b>.</div>
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Here's what my wife and I texted each other around this area: </div>
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Albie no just fog but I'm only 15 miles from MDR. It should be easy. I feel like a mess. I want 2 take a shower so bad. But the boat is in top shape. Even mended sail.</div>
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Wife: Glad 2 hear boat is in shape. Call or text when u r entering MDR. Will u b ready 2 b picked up and head home?</div>
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A: Oh today's mom & dad's anniversary! Oh - I wish I could be there. Don't wait 4 me though till I call u @ MDR. I want 2 see the movie too! Yeah - I'll be ready! </div>
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A: <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://4" x-apple-data-detectors-result="4" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true">10:23</a> and still no wind? W/ all the fog the land must b taking longer to heat up and create the wind. Getting a lot of little things done, but frustrating wait.</div>
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J: Mom said she will take us to dinner @ Souplantation in MDR. U can shower down there. Where r u now?</div>
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A: Passing Redondo! That would b real nice!! Tell mom great idea! Doing 6 knots right now! Should be there by 2 at this rate! We'll see. So look forward 2 seeing u</div>
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A: Comin up 2 big ships near MDR!</div>
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J: Yeah! Call when u r entering the harbor. Love u. You have been sailing 4 2 weeks!</div>
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<b>Soon I had passed R2 Buoy and within the hour would be coming into Marina Del Rey's breakwater.</b></div>
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It had taken me two days and a night to sail down to San Diego, have a few days vacation with my family at Mission Bay and two more days to sail up to Dana Point. From here I spent a couple more vacation days and then set sail back up to Los Angeles. From Dana Point to Marina Del Rey took me two and a half days (without the benefit of an engine). In all I had been gone for two weeks of which I was at sea nine days and nights out of fourteen. It was a highly memorable trip! </div>
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Thanks for your comments!</div>
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~Albie</div>
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SMILE :D</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2247973241119489560.post-4556936891126859482015-03-30T00:27:00.003-07:002015-03-30T01:14:20.275-07:00Sailing Up From San Diego IX: From Newport Beach To Point Viscente<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> "As the sun was going down twelve dolphins jumped out of the water and at the same time surfed a big wave. Water flew everywhere!</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><b>Later the stars were beautiful out at sea and the lights on the mountains were intriguing. The rushing of water past the boat was restful.</b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">San Pedro was trying to win the award for most lights blazing the night sky!"</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Earlier that day...</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">A</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">fter the wind came out late that morning, I sailed on from Newport Beach area up towards Long Beach and San Pedro. I was already about five miles out at sea and had been out here all night waiting for the wind to begin.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><b>After sailing for a while I knew my next obstacle would be passing through the Long Beach shipping lanes that pass near the oil rigs out at sea. The first shipping lane was at least a few miles wide so I knew I was going to need a steady amount of wind to pass across it.</b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Since my average speed was about 3 - 4 knots, it would take me about an hour to cross it and if the wind got flaky on me - I would get stuck there. One thing you don't want is to get stuck in the Shipping Lane with a huge ship bearing down on you!</span><br />
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">I didn't want to risk that and so I needed to be pretty sure the wind would hold. After about an hour of sailing at a constant speed, I figured that would be as much assurance from the wind that I would get - so I went for it!</span></i><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">At this point I texted my wife and let her know what I was doing:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Albie: "Ok. Passing through shipping lane in 15 min. I love u very much. Whatcha doin today?"</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Wife: "Helping Atiana, recycling, getting flyers out 4 Prince (our dog)."</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">A: Oh good! Tell Atiana hi. And our kids too!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">W: K</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">That was it for the text messages - now for the Shipping Lane. All went well for most of the way across when all of a sudden I saw a big ship coming!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><b>The distance of the ship was at least five miles off but those ships come fast! I figured that the ship was moving at least 10MPH and maybe faster so that meant it would pass my way in 15 mins or at least in 1/2 hr. I knew I would be across before then so I felt ok. But I undid the jib line from the winch and held it in my hand and pulled it in and let it out manually to help the boat go it's maximum speed.</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyn0RijLylv3i8RTshac2YtKt8_ARWm2nLMSWbJIwiqzrnfdADY4kcaNHoYhpOX2MHs5EoIcohgcGP_LPt7G02b-f0P1S2IJ4TwksktuQHYMh9sHCD2dSnrRaN4VBTSa-1hmeMzyqXzE0/s1600/SailsBoatandSunsetIMG-20111001-00466.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyn0RijLylv3i8RTshac2YtKt8_ARWm2nLMSWbJIwiqzrnfdADY4kcaNHoYhpOX2MHs5EoIcohgcGP_LPt7G02b-f0P1S2IJ4TwksktuQHYMh9sHCD2dSnrRaN4VBTSa-1hmeMzyqXzE0/s1600/SailsBoatandSunsetIMG-20111001-00466.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">All went well and I passed the shipping lane without incident. I now could see the big ship passing by where I was.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Soon I sailed right by an oil rig! It was amazing. I've seen these oil rigs from the beach many times but always wondered how it would be to see them up close. Now I was getting that chance. And I can tell you it was really wierd!</span><br />
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<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><i>Those oil rigs stand really high and tall out of the water like you can imagine. It's just the craziest thing when you've been sailing out at sea and seen nothing but water for two days to all of a sudden pass by one of these! It's really not anything I can explain...you just kind of have to do it to understand!</i></span><br />
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<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Anyway, after passing to the left and right (port and starboard) of a few of these oil rigs, I finally came to where I could see Long Beach off to my right. It wasn't long before I was getting near San Pedro too.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><b>In the mean time I thought I had sailed far enough out to sea to clear San Pedro and Point Vicente but the wind was driving right in my face and I was on a close haul tacking harder towards land than I had hoped. So much harder that soon I realized that I wouldn't even clear San Pedro - not to mention Point Vicente!</b></span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">So I tacked again out to sea towards Catalina island. I was not really getting much farther ahead - maybe just a little so I didn't like this tack. It just would mean getting home was going to take that much longer.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Here's a text to my wife around that time:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">A: Hey! I'm cruising @ 6knots along San Pedro. Trying 2 pass Pt Vicente. It juts out into ocean & the wind blows in ur face making it hard to pass.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">A: Plus the wind is blowing 20 knots & waves r short n steep (but only 2 feet). I will b SO glad when make past Visente (Gods help). Miss u!</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">W: Dido</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">W: B safe</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">W: Mom is wondering where u r @ this point and how far u have gottin.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">A: Can see San Vicente pt. Am half way across Long Beach/ 1/2 way out 2 Catalina. Super wind. If continues u can come get me this eve!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">And a little later...:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">W: Where might u b?</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">A: 1/2 way up Point Vicente. It stretches 10 miles. In an hour or so I expect to be past it (i hope!). Am hoping 2 get 2 Redondo n sail 2 MDR</span><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_2090498505" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">tomorrow</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">. How r u guys?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">A: I love and miss u So much. </span><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_2090498506" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Tonight</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"> was a beautiful sunset and San Pedro Hill was pleasant 2 sail by. Was very lonely 4 u all.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><b>A: Wish u were here w/ me seeing all these beautiful sights. The stars r beautiful and the lights on the mountains. The rushing of waters past the boat is restful.</b></span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">A: San Pedro is trying 2 win the award 4 most lights blazing the night sky! 12 dolphins jumped out of the water @ same time surfing a big wave. Water flew everywhere!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">W: How cool.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">A: Having 2 heave-to by Vicinte Pt. </span><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_2090498507" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">tonight</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">. Wind died just as getting close 2 rounding it. :-( But, Lord Willing, will b able 2 go 2 MDR</span><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_2090498508" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">tomorrow</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">. I Love u! Xxooo</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">W: U must b tired. Hey u r almost back. R u excited? JUST AROUND THE RIVER BEND... Kisses</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">J: U needed to rest in Newport Beach last night. R u out of shipping lanes? We r going to sleep. Ur mom seemed disappointed u were not home yet. Miss u.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">A: Yea - out of shipping lanes! Been getting some rest by hoving-to. I get up every 15 -30 mins 2 look if all is same. Usually is. JUST AROUND THE RIVERR BBEND!"</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"> By this time I had tacked toward Catalina until I was about five miles away from land (in hindsight I would go further out if I was to do it again).</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;" />
<b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Then I tacked again towards Point Vicente - hoping that I would clear it but it was at this time (11:00pm</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">) that the wind died again leaving me two miles from shore. In the morning the drift of the tide and waves had brought me in about a mile or so from shore. I was thankful I was far enough out during the night so I wouldn't get too close to shore by morning!</span></b><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><i> I hove-to all night (putting the sails in opposite directions so that the wind would just move the boat back and forth or sometimes just in circles). It's kind of like parking out at sea. Sometimes people ask me why I don't just drop the anchor but I explain that the water is so deep out there that I would need close to a thousand feet of line to even anchor at all (the depth being 300 ft or more).</i></span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">It was as restful as a night as one can expect having to wake up and check for boats and ships every 10 or 15 mins all night. I had gotten used to it by now though. I don't have any bad memories.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><i>In fact I can only remember the fascinating things like watching the oscillating light from Point Vicente shine bright and then disappear for seven or eight seconds as it shined bright in its circle wide path.</i></span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Then I remember waking up and seeing a fishing boat coming my way and passing by or a ship in the horizon passing along the shipping lanes - some going north up toward San Francisco and some heading south to Long Beach or San Diego.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">I felt a little vulnerable out at sea without much power - except an oar in a real emergency. But at the same time I felt fairly safe too - knowing I was far enough away from the shipping lanes and not really in the way of fishing boats either. So it was a strange feeling of happiness and concern all mixed together!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><b>I really enjoyed the rhythm of it all - the constant movement of the waves against the boat, the silence and solitude. The only sounds were the sounds of the sea and the main sail moving from side to side (windless) with the motion of the waves. The darkness with the slight light of the stars shining from above was also amazing.</b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">I was nearly back. Redondo Beach was 'just around the corner' - so to speak and then after that was Marina Del Rey (about 10 miles off). As soon as the wind came out (in the morning or later tonight</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">) I would be off."</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Thanks for your comments!</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">~Albie</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">SMILE :D</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzn9gj7zq0c4WG8jvlMSYoPl8Z9UY8DiYZarvOQabVJ49WYGzXMZbpm-SWGmRlhz86WJ_QstMJwNhlyq1ZftKelZY_bCLU6DWIHI7PZe110UoZWhX10ildREOf9PSqj1cNxtKZkIY27IA/s1600/IMG-20120121-00114.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzn9gj7zq0c4WG8jvlMSYoPl8Z9UY8DiYZarvOQabVJ49WYGzXMZbpm-SWGmRlhz86WJ_QstMJwNhlyq1ZftKelZY_bCLU6DWIHI7PZe110UoZWhX10ildREOf9PSqj1cNxtKZkIY27IA/s1600/IMG-20120121-00114.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">It was blowing ten to fifteen knots of wind with baby whitecaps and 2 foot waves. It was a nice day and I felt excited to be heading out on another adventure! </span></b><br />
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I had just left Dana Point. Here's what happened from the beginning:<br />
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Having just sailed from Oceanside, I had anchored in Dana Pt.<br />
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During the night I had managed to row my dinghy ashore and get my battery charged. The next day, I then hooked it up to the electrical on the boat and sat and waited for the wind to start.<b> It was a nice morning with pelicans flying overhead. </b>The wind usually begins around 10:30 am or so and when it did I pulled up bow and stern anchor and set sail out of the harbor.<br />
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I texted my wife the following soon after I left:<br />
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<i><b>Albie:</b> "My route is 170 S for 10 miles (as wind is against me), then 300 -310 N between Catalina and San Pedro, and then to Redondo or Marina Del Rey.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><b>A</b>: Left Dana Pt at 10:30 am. Out at sea now on course. I love you!</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><b>Wife:</b> I love you too. Thank you. Travel safe. Kids send their love.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><b>A:</b> I love them too! Only text me. Can't get voice mail at sea.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><b>W:</b> Come home to the land. We miss u.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><b>A:</b> Comin! :-D xxxooo</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><b>W:</b> Have fun!"</i><br />
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<b>Out at sea I saw a pod of whales. Every ten seconds I would see another whale shooting out water high into the air. Then black dolphins came.</b><br />
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After an hour or two, I turned north on 310 degrees. I was about 7 or 8 miles out. <i>Visibility was only 5 miles so I could barely make out the land.</i><br />
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After checking my course, plotting my route and doing the math, it seemed that I would get to Point Vicente by 8pm (if I had good winds). Then if I had light winds at night it would take 8 more hours to get to Redondo. It would take me all night and morning to get to MDR.<br />
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I was enjoying the trip. But not looking forward to the sleepy parts and the light winds and possible rocking when and if the winds died. <br />
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The afternoon sail was pleasant despite the fact that the wind was not exactly favorable.<br />
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<b>Pulling in the jib and mainsail tight, I tried to head up as close to the wind as possible. My aim was to head north - toward Marina Del Rey. But it was almost in vain. The wind was coming directly from the north and I was only able to head north west - and more west than north.</b><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>So that meant the only way I could head north was when I tacked north east - toward the shore. This tack allowed me to head more north than east but it also brought me inland.</i><br />
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<i>This would mean it would make passing Point Vicente later on really hard. In order to pass it, I kept having to lose time by heading west instead of north - back out to sea again.</i><b> So I was plagued by the need to head NORTH AND WEST at the same time but only getting ONE OR THE OTHER. And each time I gained one - I LOST THE OTHER! </b>Oh well, I would just have to enjoy the sail for what it was. At least there was wind!<br />
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<b><i>Eventually, I found myself following a beautiful sailboat ahead of me. it sped up though and disappeared out of sight.</i></b><br />
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<i>By six pm the winds were already light</i>. I was thinking of anchoring at Newport Beach instead of getting caught in the shipping lanes with no wind.<br />
<br />
So much for my plans for reaching Marina Del Rey by morning!<br />
<br />
The wind was changing direction and was against me. <b>The jib was luffing a lot with dying winds too.</b><br />
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I watched for the Newport harbor entrance. The sun was getting lower on the horizon and I looked for the harbor entrance and soon found it. The entrance was still a mile or two away. <b>By the time I got near the harbor, I could see the green and red harbor entrance lights. Sunset was upon me.</b><br />
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As I entered Newport Harbor, I began to study the harbor map. <i>It wasn't long before I realized that the entrance was two miles long.</i><br />
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Without an engine and having to sail against the light inland winds, I made another change of plan. It was going to be a LOT of work just to get in and then anchor.<b> I decided to spend all that work getting home instead of getting into the harbor.</b><br />
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The wind was not favorable toward going north (as it was very light and I could only gain way on a close reach). I headed south west instead out to se a once more.<br />
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My wife texted me wondering if I was crazy to leave the safety of the harbor at night and head out. I texted her back letting her basically know all my reasons. I would rather work at getting home since I was going to have to work at one or the other. My wife didn't like it.<br />
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It took me a while even to get a mile out of Newport. For sure I wouldn't head north through the shipping lane till a really strong breeze came up.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Eventually I hove-to about 5-10 miles out. All was ok. I could see the fishing vessels out with their bright lights out over the horizon. But I was tired.</b></span><br />
<br />
I texted my wife again:<br />
<br />
<b>A:</b> I am well. Just woke up. I am about 10 miles off Newport. No wind last night except very mild which took me out.<br />
<br />
<b>W:</b> Come home.<br />
<br />
<b>A:</b> Miss u all.<br />
<br />
<b>W:</b> I am sending these text with a fun tone. We just want u safe. Have fun. We will see u when u get home.<br />
<br />
The next day I awoke to a windless morning. <b>Because of this, though, I was able to see through the mirror-like water and see a ball of silver colored fish swimming around my sailboat! </b>It was absolutely beautiful and amazing at the same time.<br />
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I'm not sure what was going on with the weather but it would be the third morning I would experience on this trip where the wind started late. It was also very overcast too which added to the mysterious feeling I was having bobbing around out here at sea. <br />
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<b>Finally the wind came up, slowly at first, and blew away the clouds!</b> I was off again - this time for Marina Del Rey!<br />
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Thanks for your comments!<br />
<br />
~Albie<br />
<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2247973241119489560.post-82862330574425594452014-12-20T13:56:00.000-08:002014-12-20T15:17:13.376-08:00Sailing from San Diego to Los Angeles, Part VII: Oceanside to Dana Point<br />
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<br />
After leaving Oceanside, I sailed the rest of the afternoon toward Dana Point.<br />
<br />
<i>It was late afternoon when I was sailing past San Onefre Nuclear Plant.</i><br />
<br />
<b>I was about a mile or two from shore and the closer to land I got the heavier the kelp got.</b> It started getting really thick all of a sudden and I decided to change tack and head out to sea and get away from the kelp. The kelp must have been good for fishing as I saw a couple fishing boats near the kelp beds.<br />
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While I was doing this I was reading a book. <i>I didn't have to worry about steering as I had the tiller on "auto" by using a rope that connected to the tiller extender and then back to the port and starboard cleats - essentially locking the tiller in place. It was easy to keep the boat balanced with the rudder/tiller on a close reach (sails being pulled tight to head up as close to the wind as possible).</i><br />
<br />
<b>Soon sunset came and then darkness.</b> And sailing out here there were hardly any lights from the land and it was <i><b>really</b></i> dark! The wind came out too and I was sailing along at a good clip. The waves started getting bigger too and in an hour or two they were four foot high.<br />
<br />
Suddenly I happened to notice something swinging loose on the starboard side. <b>I went to investigate by crawling on the cabin top and discovered that the lower shroud had come undone</b>. I was stunned. How had that happened? The bolts that held it in place were not easy to come loose. <i>But it had and I had to deal with it, in the darkness with a strong breeze. </i><br />
<br />
So with a flashlight in my mouth, two sets of pliers on the moving cabin top (both put in place so they wouldn't fall into the sea) and some miscellaneous parts to help me get the job done, I held on with one hand and tried to work on the shroud with the other.<br />
<br />
It was very difficult and time after time I failed getting the shroud secured. It was a very tight fit and hard to do when the boat was moving and tilted on its side from the power of the wind in the sails. <b>My teeth could not get the flashlight to focus on the right area. I kept failing over and over and was beginning to feel desperate. </b><i>What would happen if I couldn't do it?</i><br />
<br />
Thankfully the boat was on the other tack. <b>But if I had to tack the boat to the other side the mast would not be secure and could fall!</b><br />
<br />
<i>Finally, with a little creative power, I was able to get it done and get it to be tight too! But it had been a very stressful struggle. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Hours went by out on the dark sea and finally I saw a lot of lights on land far ahead of me.</b><i> It might be Newport Beach</i>. That's the only place I could think of that would have that many lights. It would be a while before I was able to get there as it seemed far away. At least the wind was strong and steady.<br />
<br />
<b>By 1 am I was getting closer to the lights on shore when I happened to notice a blinking red and green light.</b> I carefully observed how many seconds before the lights came on and realized that they were not traffic lights. They were definitely ocean navigation lights.<br />
<br />
<b>Suddenly it dawned on me that this was the harbor entrance to somewhere!</b> I wasn't exactly sure where but maybe it might be Dana Point. I couldn't believe that I had just accidentally seen the harbor entrance lights. I had almost passed on by too!<br />
<br />
<b>So I sailed directly toward the lights. Still it was SO dark I couldn't even see the harbor entrance. All I saw was a rocky wall and was sure hoping I wouldn't sail into that!</b><br />
<br />
The closer I got the more I could see the angle I needed to sail at to get into the harbor.<i> It was a little tricky but suddenly the way was obvious and I sailed into the harbor.</i><b> I called the Harbor Master and asked them where I could dock or anchor. They asked me if I was Albie and being very much surprised, I answered 'yes'. They immediately informed me that my wife was worried about me and was waiting for me at the dock! That was really great news!</b> They then told me I could anchor for four days for free at the southernmost part of the harbor.<br />
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I then proceeded to sail up toward the harbor wall to anchor. My first attempt failed and I pulled the anchor back out of the water. I then reattempted it and sailed closer to the sea wall this time.<b> I then dropped the anchor and pulled on it to see if it had caught hold. It had. I was in about twenty foot of water and put out 100 foot of line including the anchor chain.</b> I then dropped the stern anchor too.<br />
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I then texted my wife to see exactly where she was. After I found the place where she was, I rowed the little row boat over to it:<br />
<br />
Wife: Where is the jetty?<br />
<br />
Albie: Let me know when there. I'll row back. I'm on boat waiting 4 u 2 find it. So tired darling.<br />
<br />
A: No sweet friend - at the boat launch! Diagonal 2 where u first parked resting waiting 4 me. Where u bring ur boat down to launch. There's parking lot right next to it.<br />
<br />
W: K<br />
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<b>I then rowed the family out on the dinghy and we all slept on the sailboat that night</b>.<br />
The next day we had fun exploring Dana Point together and playing at the beach. :-)<br />
<br />
<br />
It would be a couple days before I would set sail again out of Dana Point for Newport Beach and then Marina Del Rey.<br />
<br />
Thanks for your comments!<br />
<br />
~Albie<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2247973241119489560.post-40123649100721911082014-10-26T17:23:00.001-07:002014-10-26T22:01:12.593-07:00Sailing from San Diego to Los Angeles. Part VI Up to Ocean Side! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The wind was up and all seemed well until I got a ways out to sea. From that point it was apparent that the wind was going to continue from the north making it clear to me that I could only sail north west close hauled.<br />
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<b>After a couple hours I got about five miles out and then the wind promptly stopped! </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>So much for getting anywhere today. I watched the sun go down and then darkness came on</b>.<br />
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I could do nothing but take the sails down and wait for the wind. But there was nothing but sheer calm all night!<br />
<br />
I took notice of all the land sights and lights around me. Tonight I decided to sleep in the V-birth instead of out in the cockpit. Basically the reason for this was because of the dead calm. The ocean waves were pretty flat too.<br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
<b><i>Throughout the night I would wake myself up every fifteen minutes or so and look out the hatchway above my head to see if any boats or ships were coming my way. Nothing came.</i></b><br />
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<b>I could see the fishing boats bright lights however, scattered here and there over the ocean horizon. For some reason this night is etched in my memory but for what reason I am not sure. Not really anything happened!</b><br />
<br />
But perhaps it was the feeling of being alone at sea overnight without any stress or adventure that I remember.<br />
<br />
I reflected back on what we did in San Diego as a family before I left. Basically, here's what happened:<br />
<br />
<i>Upon arriving and anchoring in San Diego (Mission Bay), my family had a nice time swimming in the clear water around the boat, making sand castles in the sand and collecting shells.</i><br />
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After taking the dinghy over to the boat or swimming there, we cooked dinner on my boat stove, lit some candles for light and eventually fell asleep on the boat night after night.<br />
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On the way down to San Diego, my lower shroud had broken near Catalina Island and I had to fix up a jury rig to help support the mast on the trip. Now during the vacation, I took the time to take the jury rigged Lower Shroud off and attach it to the mast with a real stainless steal 'S' hook. This seemed to really do the job and I was ready again to sail.<br />
<br />
So to test it out I took the family sailing around Mission Bay.<br />
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This was a bit of a dream come true as my wife and I had always wanted to sail there.<br />
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<b>At one point we were sailing under a bridge across from Sea World and the mast barely cleared the top of the bridge! That was a harrowing experience! We sailed on the calm water all around all the different isles and bays. It was fun!</b><br />
<br />
On our last day we visited Sea World! But I eventually had to sail back up to Los Angeles and left the following day out of Mission Bay. Bringing us back to where I was now.<br />
<br />
It had been a nice vacation! I especially liked swimming in the warm teal green water near our boat. So that's what happened in San Diego.<br />
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The dark night at sea passed peacefully. I remember the faint glow of the candle I had lit glimmering in the cabin, the occasional flicker of my flashlight on the countertop to get a snack.<br />
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Slowly through the night I drifted with the current unawares a couple miles south down toward Point Loma.<br />
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<b>In the morning I was not aware I had drifted so far as the landmarks had not changed that much. It was only the visit from the Coast Guard that woke me up to the fact that I was further south than I realized. </b><br />
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After giving them permission to check my boat for drugs and hideaway people - they promptly believed that I was not hiding anything after I confirmed I had nothing and after checking my drivers license. They then decided not to come aboard.<br />
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Revving up their four huge outboard engines, they took off.<br />
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<b>I was then left alone to wait for the wind. And I waited and waited</b>.<br />
<br />
<i>Usually the wind picks up around 10 am but not today. I waited while the suns heat beat down upon the boat. Thankfully I could go down into the cabin and open the hatches for ventilation and get some relief from the sun! </i><br />
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Finally around 1pm the wind came out and I slowly began to sail north past La Jolla.<br />
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But it was a slow ride as the wind was not exceptionally strong an I was fighting the current too. What should have taken a couple hours took all day and I was just clearing the San Diego area by nightfall.<br />
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Thankfully the wind kept up nicely till 11 pm and even after this there were enough spells of wind to leave the sails up and I very slowly made my way toward Oceanside.<br />
<br />
<b>I just kept o</b><b>n sailin</b><b>g</b><b> a</b><b>s long as there was wind and by early morning had made my way to the two big smoke stacks near Carlsbad. It took a while to clear them but by morning I could see the Oceanside area. </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>I remember the feeling of sailing up the coast that night. The wind was constant but not very strong. Sometimes it seemed like it had completely disappeared but when I looked at the sail it was still full - so there was must have been some wind somewhere! </b><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>By sunrise I was closing in on the harbor. But I couldn't see it. In fact only the landmarks I could identify on the map confirmed I was even at Oceanside. Without the map, I could of been anywhere!</i><br />
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The closer I got though, I started to identify a lot of tall masts rising up. But for some reason I couldn't see the harbor entrance.<br />
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The wind came out stronger as the morning progressed and I kept heading closer and closer. The thing that surprised me was how long it took to actually get in. By 11am I finally came in through the rocky harbor entrance! I docked the boat at the harbor patrol extra dock and finally got to get a solid hour of rest!<br />
<br />
Thanks for your comments!<br />
<br />
If you like this content, be sure to share it and subscribe.<br />
<br />
-Albie<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">PS: Come check out my blog post: <b> 5-elements-of-mental-toughness</b></span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2247973241119489560.post-91429818557949310992014-08-06T22:25:00.003-07:002014-10-26T21:54:32.601-07:00Sailing to San Diego Part V<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: blue; font-weight: bold; text-align: start;">"Before my eyes closed I noticed how beautiful it was sleeping under the stars out at sea! And then I fell alseep for a short while. All went dark in my mind and then I woke up about 15 minutes later to adjust the tiller slightly as the sails were making noise and the boat was slightly off course."</span></div>
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<b>Many hours earlier however, I had been on a mission to sail into Mission Bay by evening time.</b> But the wind had almost died and the current was against me. Besides this I didn't have an engine so that put me at the complete mercy of the wind.<br />
<br />
Here's what happened: I was constantly watching the wind when after discovering the red harbor beacon, the wind decided to blow so slightly that I could barely feel its effects on the sails. Yet it was still there as the windex still held its true position. But the current now I believe was stronger than the wind and I sailed around for the whole hour realizing in time I was getting nowhere really fast!<br />
<br />
<i>But I had been so excited th</i><i>at I had made my goal of getting to San Diego today and I was determined to g</i><i>et in that </i><i>harbor so I kept hoping against </i><i>hope that I was surely making at LEAST a little he</i><i>adway.</i><br />
<br />
I tried staying awake for hours in my<br />
quest. I remember nodding off many times. I would wake up trying to spy the red harbor beacon again and sometimes lose its excact position again and having to fight for five minutes or more to reclaim its position. <b>By 2 am, my body was becoming quite cold - even with two jackets on. My body temperature was dropping as it does late at night and also I was exhausted.</b><br />
<br />
So I jumped down into the cabin and then into the V-birth to grab my sleeping bag and blanket and dragged it up into the cockpit. Also I grabbed the smaller blue rectangular seat cushion as it was so perfect for me to lie on tonight. Then placing them out on the cockpit seat, I got in<span style="color: blue;"><b>.</b></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="color: blue;"><b> Looking all around me I took notice of every boat out at sea. There was still a couple boats on the horizon shining their bright fishing spot lights out into the dark ocean night. But they were far away so they didn't bother me. It was then while thinking all about this that I decided it would be best to turn on my upper shroud deck light just for added safety besides my running lights, so other boats were sure to see me.</b></span><br />
<br />
<b>After doing this I hastly got back into the warmth of my brown sleeping bag and then pulled my daughters 'Sleeping Beauty' blanket up over my shoulders.</b> <i>Before my eyes closed I noticed how beautiful it was sleeping under the stars out at sea!<b> </b></i><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b>And then I fell alseep for a short while. All went dark in my mind and then I woke up about 15 minutes later to adjust the ti</b></span><span style="color: blue;"><b>ller slightly as the sails were making noise and the boat was slightly off course. I took a</b></span><span style="color: blue;"><b> look around me another time, then I went back </b></span><span style="color: blue;"><b>to sleep. Thoughts of some boat crashing int</b></span><span style="color: blue;"><b>o me some</b></span><span style="color: blue;"><b>ti</b></span><span style="color: blue;"><b>mes worried me. But the lonely sea was still just as lonely when I sat up in t</b></span><span style="color: blue;"><b>he</b></span><span style="color: blue;"><b> sl</b></span><span style="color: blue;"><b>eepin</b></span><span style="color: blue;"><b>g </b></span><span style="color: blue;"><b>b</b></span><b style="color: blue;">ag and looked around</b><span style="color: blue;">.</span><br />
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And then I went back to sleep again. After a while and the boat and I had really not gone anywhere, so I hove to. I backed the jib sail on the opposite side and this made the boat go back and forth but not really forward. But as the wind was so slight it took a while for the boat to do anything!<br />
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;">This routine of waking up every fifteen minutes went on for at least a couple hours untill the sheer exhaustion had left me, but I was still tired.</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>And then suddenly the wind just died out completely. I could tell because the boat rocked and swayed in the three foot swells without the pressure of the mainsail or jib keeping the 'nose' of the boat tilted slightly into the waves and moving forward. Without the winds pressure, the waves just rocked me around any which way they liked!</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> And</span> the waves were not tiny.<i> There was a big swell running tonight and the waves were typically about three foot high - but not dangerous.</i> So I got up out of the brown sleeping bag and hooked the boom up to the back stay. <b>Now that it couldn't jump around from side to side with the boats motion and whack me i</b><b>n the head, I jumped up to the deck and took down the main sail so that it wouldn't flap around making noise and such</b>. Then I went back to sleep. I continued to watch every fifteen minutes or so but I was very tired and only cast a seconds look for ships and then fell asleep again.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b> So this time I must have slep</b></span><b style="color: blue;">t longer for when I awoke I notced that the boat and I had drifted into the kelp bed.</b><br />
<br />
<i>So I carefully put </i><i>on m</i><i>y life j</i><i>ac</i><i>ke</i><i>t </i><i>and got a flashlight and an oar and put them and the large ropes into the </i><i>dinghy.</i> I then attached the two ropes together and attached the new larger rope securely to the boat by way of the back cleat. <b>Then un-attaching the line that held the dinghy to the boat I pushed the dinghy and </b><b>myself away from the boat out over the big three foot swells.</b> Even in the kelp the waves were substantial.<br />
<br />
The dinghy just rode them 'matter of fact' like but it was more of a serious matter for me because about a month ago I had tipped the dinghy upside down and had to swim back to my sailboat. But getting back to the big swells - the previous reasons though, for tipping the dinghy, were nonexistent tonight so in that I was glad and when I got out to where the dinghy finally stretched the rope taught and was at a place to tow the sailboat, I paddled harder trying to manually pull the boat out of the kelp.<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>It was kind of hard and at first all I managed to do was row in circles! With the weight of the sailboat pulling hard against any forward motion, I was getting frustrated. </b></span><i>At last though, I figured out that if I paddled at a steady pace first on one side and then the other, the sailboat began to move.</i><br />
<i></i>I got the boat a certain distance with great struggle and effort. After half an hour I was truly worn out and had only pulled the sailboat half way out of the kelp. I gave up at that point and knew that I was going to either have to try again later or wait till the wind came out for more power. So I returned to my sailboat.<br />
<br />
As I pulled myself in with the connector rope, the distant lights off of Mission Bay and Point Loma helped illuminate the dark night sky and the dark black ocean. <b>Each wave was illuminated on its hump as it rolled i</b><b>nward toward shore.</b><br />
<br />
When I got back, I wanted to go to sleep but I was partly fascinated by the boats slow movement with the tide and partly worried to see exactly how far and at what speed I was traveling through the kelp bed. At first it appeared as though I was not moving at all. But after a few minutes I saw that this was not true and that I was indeed moving very slowly.<br />
<br />
I realized that the kelp was kind of good and bad. It kept you in but it also kind-of held you still so you wouldn't drift much. So I was kind of thankful. I must have sat there watching my slow movement through the kelp for at least half an hour. By that time I knew that I would have some time to rest, but at some point the boat would get too close to the shore.<br />
<br />
I attempted an experiment and threw out a bucket on a rope as far as I could toss it. I wanted to see if the pressure on the bucket caused any further reduction of drift. But I couldn't see any real difference so I brought it in. Then I decided to sleep in the V-birth on my bed instead of out in the cockpit as I was extremely tired by this point having been awake now for an hour and a half at least. Also I was not in danger of hitting anyone or vise-versus inside the kelp bed.<br />
<br />
The next morning before the sun had fully risen, I tried to reach down over the side of the stern and unwrap all the kelp that had worked its way around my rudder. I knew that the keel probably had a bunch of it too but there was little I could do about it. When the wind came up around 9 am or so I sailed very happily out of the kelp. I was surprised how easily I did so and realized that this would not be the case if I was a motor boat!<br />
<br />
I thought I saw the entrance to Mission Bay, so I headed straight for it. But alas, as I entered that area I saw that it was a beach instead of the harbor entrance and that the entrance was just on the other side of this sea wall!<br />
<br />
<b>I saw that I still had time to cut across and get to the other side without tacking - so I did just that. In hindsight it might have been a little impulsive though because just as I was cutting across the sea wall, a huge breaking wave hit my boat broadsides and knocked me and the boat for a major roll. Even though I've been out in huge ocean waves during storms and gales, I've never been hit by a breaking wave like that before.Thankfully it just have me a big shock but the boat handled it quite well!</b><br />
<br />
Soon I had got over the shock and was heading into the harbor entrance. I called the Harbor Master on my VHS and they told me a good place to anchor.<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Soon I was dropping the anchor in about 20 feet of clear water from the beach. I had found a place that was away from the other boats and in no danger of swinging near them. Dropping the stern anchor too - just in case helped give me peace of mind. I was finally here! I immediately gave my wife a call and went down into the cabin to relax a little.</i><br />
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<br />
Come visit my blog next week to see what adventure I had next leaving San Diego and then heading back up to Los Angeles once more!<br />
<br />
Thanks for your comments!<br />
<br />
If you like this content, be sure to share it and subscribe.<br />
<br />
-Albie<br />
<br />
http://SailingWithAlbie.blogspot.com<br />
<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2247973241119489560.post-77489093517973924582014-03-22T23:14:00.001-07:002014-07-27T10:44:17.177-07:00Sailing to San Diego Part IV: Sunset Sailing Past La Jolla <span style="color: blue;">"...Darkness had almost taken over the sky and yet the wind was as sure as ever. In fact with all the attention I gave the boat and with the good steady wind, I felt like I was cruising along at six knots! I could feel the wind in my face and I felt the exhilaration of speeding along with waves breaking white on either side of the boat." This was the highlight of sailing and passing La Jolla in the evening. But before I had reached San Diego and was only half way down, this is the situation I faced:</span><br />
<br />
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<br />
I had let the boat sail herself most of the night. Having tied down the tiller I just kept up a real basic watch in the light winds. I finally had fallen asleep around four am and woke up two hours later wondering where I was!<br />
<br />
The day started with cerial and evaporated milk which I mixed with water. The milk tin I opened with my big pocket knife that I kept on board. Then I had a banana. That really helped. Some hot chocolate would have been nice, but lacking the ability to heat water put an end to that idea.<br />
<br />
I looked at my map to get a sense of where I was. Using my pencil and fingers, I estimated using the average speed I had traveled throughout the night and the map. My Dead Reckoning position placed me somewhere near Oceanside.<br />
<br />
Off to the left horizon I could see large skyscrapers. I couldn't help but wonder if I hadn't already passed San Diego and was now heading to Mexico! But if that was the case I sure had traveled fast in the night after all. There was quite a difference between Oceanside and San Diego. I suddenly became very confused and fearful thoughts of going into Mexican waters came to mind. The thought of passing San Diego and having to turn around and go back was also a big decision. Suppose I was wrong and went back and it turned out to NOT be San Diego. That would be a waste of two to four hours at the least. <br />
While I was thinking these things I made sure the empty horizon was still empty and then stepped down into the cockpit and grabbed my cell phone out of my shell and attempted to text my wife Janette. I wasn't sure If I was too far out at sea to send a text but after all on the sailing race to Ensenana I had managed to get a few messages through. The texts did go through and these were what they said:<br />
<br />
Albion: Goodmorning darling!<br />
<br />
Janette: Where r u now? R u safe?<br />
J: We r @ moms. Where r u sailing to?<br />
<br />
A: Well, I believe I'm near San Diego as I heard them come on Channel 16. I think I see La Jolla Mt. I'm a little unsure yet as I cannot get an exact fix yet.<br />
<br />
J: Hi. Miss u. Mom just made banana/blueberry bread. Can u smell it?<br />
J: What else do u see? How long have u been awake?<br />
<br />
A: Yum yum! I'm hungry 4 that! Does Capistrano or Oceanside have large buildings?<br />
<br />
J: Oceanside does<br />
J: I love u.<br />
<br />
A: Mmm. I am ready to eat the bread. I love u 2<br />
<br />
A: Just spotted the 2 domes. What r they called? San Onefre?<br />
A: On map there is a dome near La Jolla 2. But two? And one @ San Onefre is not on side of Mountain? San Diego it is?<br />
<br />
J: Yes. U have spotted Dolly Parton. U r North of Oceanside and Camp Penelton. B safe. Love u."<br />
<br />
<br />
Seeing San Onefre confirmed my whereabouts. It made me realize that I still had quite a ways to go to San Diego. I was unsure if I could make it by the days end, but I was sure going to try.<br />
All during the night I couldn't keep my eyes off the bottom of the mast to see how my lower starboard shroud - I had jury rigged - was doing. I had shined my flashlight up on the mast step to see how it was fairing. Now this morning with the morning breeze, I noticed how the mast continued to lean ever so slightly. It was threatening, by small degrees, to break free of the mast step and callapse. That would mean disaster and I knew I would most likely have to call for assistance by the Coast Guard if that happened. That was one of my fears that I tended to not want to think about. So I very carefully kept my eye on the pressure the wind was putting on the mast instead of worrying. And every time the pressure increased significantly and the mast would lean even harder, I turned the tiller slightly to turn the boat on a less stressful tack. I kept this up also during most of the day. But often I laid down to rest a little as I got tired; but only when the wind and tack remained constant and as the boat didn't need my assistance so much. After a while past San Onofre I could see these big round white bubble like formations on the land a couple miles away which were on the map showing that I was soon approaching Oceanside. I was excited to be in that area. But no matter how hard I looked out at the shoreline even with the binoculars, I couldn't make out anything that looked like the harbor for Oceanside.<br />
<br />
Around 3 or 4 pm I finally came to the tall stack tower off of Carlsbad. Time was going by and much progress would need to be done before the afternoon turned to evening and the winds settled down to a calm or reversed direction after dark. Each evening it seemed almost to be a roll of the dice whether the wind continued after 7pm or a calm would settle on the sea and I would then face an evening rolling around in the windless calms. But this evening would not be a windless evening.<span style="color: blue;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="color: blue;"><b>It started out a little slow and for a whole hour it seemed I was sailing but not gaining any distance as the large stack tower still persisted to stay in generally the SAME spot as 1/2 an hour ago. I couldn't seem to figure out what was going on! For one moment it seemed very obvious that I had passed it and then about 10 minutes later I realized that in fact I had NOT passed it! How could this be so? I was thinking hard as to the reasons for this and could only figure out one reason at the time. Perhaps it was because I was I was subtly heading in a diagnal direction slightly out to sea and as I was going two steps forward - so to speak - it was only actually one step seaward and one step past the stack tower. In hindsight it also could have been 1/2 step seaward, 1/2 step passed the stack and one step backword with an undercurrent of some kind. But I would think the current is southerly so the current should have been one more step in my favor. But passing the stack seemed like three steps back and one forward! But finally I managed to clear it as the sun was intending to set. I knew I did not have much time. It was at this time I noticed that the wind had picked up slightly. And to help the boat along even more, I pulled on the jib line to tighten the sail - when the wind lightened momentarily. I was furiously passionate in my longing to get to San Diego this evening and anchor before 10 or 11 pm. I didn't know if I could do it, but I was going to give it 100% of my attention and effort to make it happen. And as the sun slowly </b></span><span style="color: blue;"><b>made its glorious departure - every moment of its beauty was etched in my mind along with the memory of the total concentration I gave to the tiller, the sails and the boat as </b></span><b style="color: blue;">it sped </b><b style="color: blue;">along over the </b><b style="color: blue;">dark blue waves.</b><br />
<br />
As I held on to the jib line, I could feel the power of the sails pulling on the boat through each wave. The waves would come against the boat either pushing against it or pushing it gently forward. Though there was a general pattern to the waves, there also was an intimacy with each one as each contacted the boat slightly differently. As evening gave way to night and darkness crept firstly over the sky, and then over the water and then into my cockpit, I took every last inch of light the sky could produce to create productive energy within myself to make the journey faster. Surprising, to be sure, was the fact that darkness had almost taken over the sky and yet the wind was as sure as ever. In fact with all the attention I gave the boat and with the good steady wind, I felt like I was cruising along at six knots! I could feel the wind in my face and I felt the exhilaration of speeding along with waves breaking white on either side of the boat. But when my averages were done later on my map, if I did do six knots it was not consistent. Three or four knots showed up as the average. Still I made great time. I measured each section of land in my minds eye seeing how long it took me to reach each. Each section of say, one or two miles, could be seen quite easily at sea with the land creating its own notch of measurement by a section of trees that stood out, or a cliff, or a piece of land jutting out into the ocean. And as I counted off 5-7 miles down the coast, I could see as far as the huge land mass of La Jolla that stuck out by at least a mile into my ocean world. After that darkness seemed to loom. And when I would arrive there my distance to land would shorten by that same distance nearing me to the shore.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b>And in the time it took me to make </b></span><b style="color: blue;">10 miles that day - I made it in half the time that evening. Across the water - now in the twilight - was the</b><b style="color: blue;"> darkness </b><b style="color: blue;">of La Jolla Shores with all its trees. To me it was </b><b style="color: blue;">a long stretch of mysterious black seen three miles away on the restless ocean. I was drawn to its loneliness because it looked how I felt: alone, hidden from most of mankind, dreamlike.</b><br />
<b><span style="color: blue;">And so I passed off each mile finally arriving a mile off the looming land mass of La Jolla. All was dark except the red port, the green starboard light and the white stern lights on my boat. The ocean was a hidden world of waves that I felt but could only see faintly. Sillouttes of their form rose up out of the blackness. Their shadows could be seen in the faint lights from shore. Lights such as street lights or red and green traffic lights were like stars far away. Yet the warmth of human kind could be felt from them.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: blue;"><br /></span></b>
From La Jolla I thought it would be only a skip and a jump to the harbor of Mission Bay, San Diego. But it took me a whole hour to just clear its protruding land mass. From there I then sailed another hour down the long stretch to the opening harbor entrance - which I finally found with my binoculars. There were so many red street lights that competed for my attention that it was so hard to make out the red harbor light that blinked three or four flashes before pausing. I finally found it and was exctatic with joy. However, it should be noted that from 10 pm to 11 the wind had been waning and I knew it would end soon. I was only hoping I could get in the harbor safely first. But all my work to beat the dying wind was in vain. For before I knew it, I was becalmed only a mile from the harbor and now would have to be out at sea all night waiting for favorable winds! Come check out Part V and read what happened after passing La Jolla, the adventure that befell me that night and how I finally made it to San Diego!<br />
<br />
Skipper Albie<br />
Http://albiessite.blogspot.com<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2247973241119489560.post-8401473077638855842014-02-15T14:19:00.001-08:002014-03-02T16:58:55.201-08:00Sailing to San Diego Part III. Passing Avalon by Night<br />
<b><span style="color: blue;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="color: blue;">That evening as I rowed my dinghy over the teal green sea I enjoyed looking down, down into its clear mysterious depths. I slowly arrived back at my boat. As I climbed up over the four foot sides of the boat, and then proceeded to set my things down in the cockpit, I looked out to sea just in time to see a glorious sunset. I looked up at my pirate flag and saw the wind blowing it steadily and so having had lots of rest during the day, I decided that with the wind being strong and myself feeling well, I would venture out tonight for San Diego. As I got some food from a tin ready to eat, my mind was still racing in thought. The night would be upon me soon and so I would have to act fast so as to at least be able to clear the harbor with some wind.</span></b><br />
<br />
As I ate more of the delicious canned peaches, I then began to think hard upon the best method of raising anchor and realized that having no engine, I would have to raise one anchor, then raise the jib sail, raise the main anchor and then the main sail very quickly all in very strict order and with as much preciseness as possible, for a big mistake could end up getting me in trouble at the least and end up washing my boat on the rocks at worst!<br />
<br />
So that is what I did and when my hands started undoing the halyard line (rope) that raised the large mainsail, I began to feel very stressed and couldn't seem to do it skillfuly as I usually do. But I managed nevertheless, and pulled hard on the mainsail. It stopped half way up and I about had a heart attack (you know how I felt). I suddenly noticed that one rope line was still holding the sail leashed up to its resting place on the boom and I jumped down into the cockpit with urgency and unleashed it quickly. I then looked out at the water and noticed the jib sail was pulling the boat in the right direction and then ran back up on deck pulling the mainsail up as soon as was humanly possible. With it up, I soon felt the boat make it's way steadily out and head upwind in the channel between the other boats. I felt mostly relieved. Now if only the wind would hold to get out safetly! It did, but sometimes with a little difficulty tacking; and in half an hour I was sailing away from the dying sunset, away from the little island a mile from shore, and dangerously between another island and the rocky Catalina shore. I say 'dangerous' as I was afraid the island would block the wind and the tide would wash me up on the rocks. I had little choice in the decision as this was the best, safest and fastest route (at least it could be argued). But the wind did not get blocked and instead seemed to funnel right around it getting me out and away safely to sea.<br />
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<b><span style="color: blue;">In fact the wind had really picked up out here a mile from shore and I was really 'clipping along at a fast pace (at least 6 knots I recorded in my log). The waves this evening were about four foot running with speed up to my boat. The waves would appear like they wanted to crash aboard but then just as you thought they might hit, the stern of the boat would lift up and they would pass under pushing the boat with great speed through the water. What with the wind and the waves pushing so hard the boat was really going fast! I had to really hold on to the tiller and watch as the waves came from behind and make sure that they didn't do any mischief. The wind too, as it was just waiting for me to mess up so it could jibe the boom really hard to the other side. But I was wide awake and watching. About a mile away, I could see the dark shore of Catalina passing by with each wave. Tonight the moon shone a brilliant yellow and made the water sparkle. It was such an amazing night. I had imagined it so much differently - mostly many fearful thoughts of being stuck out at sea on a dark night without much wind and having a long way ahead of me going all the way to San Diego. But thankfully my fears were not validated. Only the strong wind gave me any concern as it was giving me trouble. But as soon as I let out the main</span></b><b><span style="color: blue;"> s</span></b><b><span style="color: blue;">ail all the way, it settled into a manageable position and sped me quickly on toward Avalon - ten miles away.</span></b><br />
<br />
I was quite surprised when I suddenly noticed some very bright lights far away on the island (now about 5 miles off) and began to wonder what area that could possibly be. I then realized that the island had a large cliff on the southerly end and that it appeared very familiar. Familiar like the end of Catalina island: Avalon itself.<br />
"No!" I said to myself. There's no way I've arrived here so soon! It was at least ten miles down the coast and I had only been sailing for a couple hours. Well I had been going quiet fast - at least 5 knots an hour to get here so soon. I couldn't believe it. But there it was in a perfect silloutte. There Avalon lie for sure - wrapped in mystery from sea. I wondered how I had at first not realized it was Avalon, because everything about it now gave it away. Even a boat passing mine did as well. For where do you suppose they were heading for after having just come across the channel - Avalon.<br />
<b><span style="color: blue;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="color: blue;">I can't quite express the feeling of being alone out amidst the dark ocean waves at night passing the sillouette of Catalina many miles to the West; the lights of Avalon shining warm and cheerily to me as if waving "hello!" My boat pressed on with the wind driving it and as if waving back "Goodbuy! We're on our way alone to San Diego. Say a prayer for our safety!"</span></b><br />
<br />
An hour or so later away from Catalina - it now being a smaller black sillouette on the horizon, the wind suddenly and completely died. It was now around 11:00 pm. "Oh no!" I groaned to myself with a touch of fear. Fearful because I was somewhat near the shipping lanes. Fearful also of a passing ship on the way to Avalon not seeing me -though I turned on my navigation lights anytime a boat or ship was in sight. So some of my fear was groundless. But still the unknown fears and thoughts of being out at sea without wind had finally begun to unfold. The sails flopped lifeless. Without the pressure in the sails the boat lost its speed and angle beating through the waves. Now the waves had complete riegn over the boat and it bounced to this side and then that making the sails and the boom swing dangerously from side to side nearly hitting me in the head! Besides this the noise from the sails cracking, the boat rocking and the boom swinging was truly a nightmare! Sometimes the boat would rock so violently that the angles of sight were dramatically different than moments before. One moment I would be viewing the sea and waves, the next the sky and moon. At first I felt overwhelmed and wondered what to do first. The only thing that I could think of was to take the main sail down to stop that awful cracking sound and then set the boom in its hanger so it wouldl stay still.<br />
With the rocking it made it a bit like playing dodge ball or some other interesting sport that kept you on your toes. One wrong move and I would bump into something, bruising my shin or elbow or knee. With difficulty I brought the mainsail down and then with it done realized that the main halyard had swung around the mast and got messed up and tangled somehow just like on the night arriving at Two Harbors. But this time there was no land to fix the messed up rope. So I fiddled with it for fifteen minutes just hoping to figure out how it got so tangled. Finally I got the long 'man overboard pole' and 'fished' it out from the mess it was in up the mast. When that was done, I tried to relax but it was still emotionally draining and all I could think was 'how long was this going to continue?'<br />
<br />
At some point the boat caught a newborn wind at a perfect angle and actually stayed on course without my help. And so I actually got to rest for two hours without interruption which really helped me out tremendously. I almost felt like I had rested all night. But the key word here is 'almost' as I was still tired but I felt comparably very much better. I awoke to the beauty of the morning just before sunrise. A large fog bank stood more in toward land. It was 6:30 am and I was thankful I wasn't caught in that.<br />
<br />
-Skipper Albie<br />
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PS: Come back soon to see what happens next after passing Avalon. Thanks for your comments! :-)<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2247973241119489560.post-12700718875662025252013-11-30T14:32:00.000-08:002013-12-01T10:09:01.389-08:00Sailing to San Diego Part Two: A Day at Catalina<br />
<b> After a difficult time sailing to Catalina the day before, I was looking forward to fixing the broken rigging and resting up. I had no desire to sail further to San Diego today and besides there were things I needed to complete before I left. </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
My day started early at 5:30 am. I awoke, got myself ready and then set the jib sail and texted Janette as I awoke to the most glorious sunrise:<br />
<br />
Albie: "Oh my gosh! Most beautiful sunrise I've seen since Philippines! can see distant mountains toward San Diego wrapped in golden light shooting 2 heaven!"<br />
<br />
Albie: "Goodmorning darling! By the time u get this I'm already had a good sleep and am rowing or sailing 2 shore 2 get my shroud fixed. I love u. Talk 2 u when awake."<br />
<br />
<b> I undid the mooring lines (similar to an anchor) connected to my boat and floated clear. Raising the jib sail halyard, the boat now had power to go to Two Harbors. I stood up on top of the deck near the mast overlooking the peaceful sea. Passing by the island and the other boats, I could see the gentle wind blowing softly on the ocean and into the jib sail at the bow. It was so beautiful to watch the sail fill slowly with wind and see how it pulled softly on the boat taking it where you would like to go. The morning was so peaceful and the deep blue and green sea so lovely to sail upon. The cliffs and coves of the island passed on by. It was such a refreshing moment that I inhaled and remembered why I loved sailing so much!</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
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<br />
At Two Harbors there would be a place to fix my shroud and also retrieve my mainsail halyard (rope). The night before it had got stuck in the rigging and got all mixed up. Unfortunately I had made a bad mistake in trying to undo it - accidentally letting go of it and the rope had gone up to the top of the mast! It is truly amazing, now I think about it, how many problems I had the day before! Also how the next two two nights sailing to San Diego would bring more painful moments to really learn how to deal with these situations at sea. For instance, when the wind would stop blowing and the windless waves would rock the boat, it would make the boom swing out of control across the deck and the mainsail halyard rope would often get snagged on the upper mast light. It's hard to understand even for me being on land reading this in my comfy chair but these painful gut wrenching moments would have to happen a couple times before I would learn the 'secret' trick to un-snagging my twisted halyard and how to keep it from getting mixed up like that.<br />
<br />
So after sailing peacefully by under a light breeze, the harbor patrol man named John came roaring by in his patrol boat and knowing I had had problems with my mast the night before, saved me a lot of time and gave me a tow into the dock where I could retrieve my halyard and attempt to fix my shroud. He also set me up with a man who was good at repairs to help me. With his help I was able to finally get my halyard rope down. To do this I had to attach my oars to my long 'man overboard pole' and rig a hook attached to the top of it to snag the line. Swaying back and forth on my feet with my eyes and head strained upwards at the top of the 30 foot mast (holding a very long - wildly swaying pole and aiming for a small knot hole to snag onto) was almost insane to even think I could succeed! But with my friend holding me steady so I wouldn't fall into the water, I finally achieved it and we shouted with joy when we pulled it down on deck!<br />
Once this was done, the kind gentleman left and this whole proceedure gave me an idea of using an extra strong bungie cord hook attached to a rope in which I would hook into the place on the spreaders and tie down the attached rope to the deck in order to procure a make-shift shroud. The spreader arms (which look like a cross on the mast) are only half way or so up the mast - so I accomplished finishing the whole job in only half an hour! This being done, I tightened my new make-shift shroud and believed it would work quite well! In reality it did get me to San Diego but as I would later find out, the metal bungie hook was not really strong enough. The metal needed to be stainless steel in order to take the heavy pressure of the mast and sails pulling on it. But this I would find out later sailing in San Diego harbor.<br />
<br />
I then got another tow from the Harbor Master to an area I could anchor. While anchoring near the sandy beach on one side and near these beautiful protruding rocks on the other, I noticed a lady sitting on her boat anchored near me curiously watching us set the anchors. After two anchors were set, I promptly went below into the v-birth and fell asleep for a couple hours.<br />
I awoke to the sounds of children and parents swimming in the beautiful aqua green sea just offshore. I decided I needed a try at that too and promptly got into my swimming things. The lady from the other boat was still watching everything going on and all I was doing now as I jumped over the side of the boat. Truly the water was as glorious as it had looked! The water was refreshing from the hot summer sun and beautiful to swim in! I swam all the way around my boat and then got out. As I was changing out of my wet things, there seemed to be no escaping the ladies eagle eyes, so I went below and shut half of the hatch door so the beautiful cool breeze could still come through, but not those gazing eyes! After changing, I ate some tinned fruit. I had had such an unrestful night I then realized I was still tired. So I opened the forward hatch to get some cool sea air while I rested and fell asleep again.<br />
<br />
I awoke the second time hearing the lady outside yelling: 'Columbia!' I awoke realizing that she was calling out the the model of my boat. I then looked out the forward hatch and realized my boats' anchor had slowly drifted during the afternoon. I climbed out the hatch and began to hesitate a little in fear what I should do to remedy the problem. I promptly began to pull the boats main anchor line and the boat moved away from her boat. The lady in the meantime had called the Harbor Master on her cell phone or portable VHS and this didn't help much as when they came out it seemed like I had everything under control. But that did not stop the lady and the Harbor Master from getting in a nice argument over it all. She seemed to have a chip on her shoulder about them for some reason and the Harbor Master could feel it and didn't appreciate her grumpy and whiny attitude. She blamed the whole incident on the fact that they had said to call if there were any problems. The Harbor Master came back at her for being unappreciated of their help and there necessity to take care of important business and leave that which could be handled by mariners on their own - to themselves. I however, tried to distract the argument from going any further and suggested to them that I lengthen my back anchor and also attach my third anchor 10 feet from the end to hold it down since I did not have any chain on that line. He thought this a good idea and also suggested that I row out and drop this extended anchor much further away this time and I did so, while his boat revved up his four engines and steered through the green ocean and held my boat at bay so that it did not drift toward the ladies boat in the meantime. This, it seemed, worked really well and as I look back on it, became a standard procedure with my anchoring and I am very grateful to that negative circumstance for teaching me this lesson. Due to this I was never to have an anchor problem during the three more times on this trip that I would anchor.<br />
<br />
So after this incident was over, I stayed on the boat for a good while longer just to make sure the anchor was holding. When I saw that it was, I put my cell phone in a plastic watertight bag and got into my dinghy and rowed to shore. Once there I pulled the dinghy up on the shore and taking the paddle with me for a walking stick, took a pleasant walk up through the campsites over the hills near the beach. The walk was very pleasant and the trek over to 'Cat Harbor' was beautiful. Over there the dreamy blue mountains on the far side of the bay meat the sea - truly lovely! After all the hiking, I arrived at Two Harbors and then called Janette. I needed to get her insight on my new plan I had just come up with. You see, I had begun to entertain the possibility of leaving Catalina this very evening and sailing to San Diego at night. Before my walk, I had pretty much convinced myself to stay the night at anchor. But sitting around doing nothing is hard for me - especially when I feel refreshed and ready to go. And also Janette was leaving for San Diego tonight too. I wanted to be there with her and didn't want to waste a moment. So I discussed these thoughts with her. Ultimately the decision rested with me so while I was at the dock I got the weather, coastal wind and wave report to help me. This report seemed to support my belief that there would be plenty of wind and so I felt encouraged further to leave this evening. <br />
<br />
Later when getting back to the boat it would take all my skill and strength to get the anchors in fast enough before I drifted too close to another boat, the sails up and sail the boat upwind and downwind, in and out of all the other boats - without an engine and get out to sea fast enough before the wind had a chance to die down for the evening.<br />
<br />
This night sailing to San Diego was to be one of the most adventurous sailing moments for me - one I would not forget! Join me next time in Part III to hear the rest.<br />
<br />
-Skipper Albie<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2247973241119489560.post-53584424080809195442013-11-10T10:29:00.003-08:002013-12-01T09:51:29.482-08:00Sailing to San Diego and Back - Alone without an Engine The First Leg: Sailing to Catalina Island.<br />
<br />
<b>It was our vacation time! We had a couple weeks open and we thought that it would be fun to stay on the water in San Diego for a holiday. So I thought I would sail down there so we could stay on the boat in Mission Bay.</b><br />
<br />
I was impatient to start the trip and began the voyage late at night. However. the wind was too light and there was not enough wind power to sail very far. So I headed back and instead went to bed in the v-birth. First thing in the morning when the wind came up, I sailed out of Marina Del Rey. Here is what my wife Janette and I texted each other:<br />
<br />
A: Just heading past lighthouse. Wind is light we will see how wind gets when @ the breakwater! Love u<br />
<br />
t
J: Don't push u r self...pace urself.<br />
<br />
A little later...<br />
<br />
A: Position is about 33.46 and 118. 29. Just wanted to let u know. I can see Long point (& Pt Vicente) at about 9 o clock from me<br />
<br />
J: K thanks<br />
<br />
A: All is well. About 1/2 - 3/4 way across. Heading 180 from MDR. For 2 harbors. I love u all! Xxxooo please tell mom too!<br />
<br />
J: I will tell mom. Be safe. R u going to rest? Sail in morning to Oceanside. Love n miss u.<br />
<br />
<b> It was only shortly after texting this that I made my big mistake. I had begun to feel nauseous. At this time I usually didn't get sea sick unless the waves were getting five foot or higher. And this is what was beginning to happen as I got out past Point Vicente. And it was this sick feeling that made it harder for me to take more careful action. All too slowly the wind had been picking up faster and faster without me really identifying the significant change - or if I did it was without care as I didn't want to move. And so the wind was putting an enormous strain on my large genoa jib sail. Since it had taken the strain okay up to this point, I thought it could take just a little bit more until I got to Catalina. But it came to pass that suddenly, the wind did for me what I should have done myself. Indirectly it took that sail down, because my lower shroud (one of six super strong wires that holds up the mast) suddenly snapped! The mast instantly flexed and bent and looked like it was going to snap!
In terror I quickly turned the boat into the wind - taking the pressure off the sails and mast. Then I crawled over the cabin top to the bow and trying to stand up amidst five foot swells, I let out the jib halyard allowing the sail to fall quickly to the deck. Then very carefully I crawled back to the cockpit and guided the boat back on course with only the mainsail up. Now that the big genoa sail was down, the pressure on the mast was not as great. I turned the boat onto the other tack so that the boat would sail at another angle to the wind and thus relieve all pressure on the right starboard side shrouds. In this way I was able to sail to Catalina without having to turn back for home. I still had no idea how I was going to fix that broken shroud and finish sailing to San Diego. But I was still sailing and thus thankful.</b><br />
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<br />
I arrived at Catalina around seven pm and was so glad. I thought that only another half an hour would take me into Two Harbors. But I was really mistaken, because the main prevailing wind decided to end its day and left me just outside the harbor without enough wind to get in! If I had an engine things would have been much different but that would have been a different story. Now I had no other choice but to tack another direction and try to come in the harbor at an angle where there was still some wind blowing.
Even though the giant rocks rising from the sea, the tiny mystical islands around Catalina and the evening sky were all so beautiful, all I could focus on was trying to get in the harbor and anchor before dark. But it was not to be. I was going so slow due to such light and varying winds that it was dark before I even came close to the harbor. In fact it became quite a battle. One time the wind suddenly died completely - leaving the boom swinging back and forth from the high swell, when it swung dangerously close to hitting me in the head. As I pinned the boom away on its hanger so as to stop it swaying and moving from side to side, suddenly the boat moved to a different position, and a huge gust of wind arose that pulled the boat down on its sides nearing me to the water! The mainsail being hung on its hanger was reacting to the gust and creating all the power. Yelling with anger, I quickly unleashed the mainsail again, letting out some pressure as I rode along. As I went quickly through the dark water, I felt utter frustration and anger at the seas for playing games with me and such games as could possibly bring the mast crashing down too!<br />
<br />
Finally I arrived at an area where I could drop the mainsail completely and attach the bow securely to a mooring cann and rest for the night. But when I did I was 'anchored' (so to speak) to one of the most unshielded mooring canns in the harbor and the ocean swell would rock the boat like crazy making a lot of noise. In order to get any sleep I had to put ear plugs in my ears! Little did I know but this was to be one of many nights sleeping on a rocking boat at sea. But before I end this part of the story, there is a little more to tell as I realized I had attached the mooring cann ropes to the boat completely backwords and as I tried to rest I could hear the rope pulling against the bottom of the keel. I couldn't help but think this was dangerous as it might put unneeded pressure on the keel and perhaps create a leak or something bad. So I got back up, very irritated, and pulled the boat around undoing everything and pulling on the wet ropes and finally half an hour later got the boat secured properly. But as I was involved in this, the Two Harbors Patrol came out and wanted to tow me over to a better mooring cann (to a more sheltered area) and while this was nice - I was just plain tired and didn't want to do a single thing. So we worked out a deal and I went to sleep!
I missed Janette and couldn't wait to see her in San Diego. My text to Janette that night and hers back to me went like this:<br />
<br />
Albie: I'm safetly over @ Catalina! I'm moored to a mooring cann (like an anchor). I miss u too! I will try to call later. :-) xxxooo<br />
<br />
Janette: Yeah! U r safe.<br />
<br />
This was the first leg of my voyage sailing to San Diego. In the next section I will share how I temporarily jury rigged the lower shroud and headed toward San Diego. I will add the next leg of the voyage to San Diego shortly. Feel free to share any comments with me about the trip. I would love to hear them! -Skipper AlbieUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2247973241119489560.post-23786820364350632612013-02-16T12:33:00.003-08:002013-02-28T02:35:05.614-08:00Winter Gales<br />
<br />
<b>The last three weeks in a row, Marina Del Rey has been hit with small
craft advisories and winter gale warnings.</b> Last weekend I was out in
one. Preparing the boat (before I left) for high winds took an hour in
itself. The harness was set in the cockpit ready to attach to the safety
line. The hatch doors were ready at hand to put in place. I had started
the engine ahead of time and it was warm and ready for me to turn it
on. I always have my life jackets ready - so that was one detail I
didn't have to worry about.<b> <span style="color: blue;">I had three sails ready to set and up on the
bow from the smallest up. First the storm jib then the regular jib and
then my genoa. The wind swept through the marina at high speeds until
about 3:30 pm or 4:00. And then just as I was untying the dock lines,
the intense wind dropped in intensity from around twenty knots to about
fifteen.</span></b><br />
<br />
Setting sail without the engine (as I usually do), I set out down the
basin. Tacking back and forth in fifteen knots can be a little
challenging for most sailors who are not used to tacking in tight
quarters and strong winds. <span style="color: blue;"><b>This is because you HAVE to build up enough
speed to cross the wind before you tack or the wind WILL pull you right
back in the direction you were going before - and that could mean
suddenly wondering if you are going to hit someone's boat (NOT fun).</b></span><br />
<br />
So tacking in 15 knots is kind of like a good exercise for me but its
the real deal at twenty knots and up. So I practiced turning the boat
from reaching as close to the wind as possible to a beam reach half way
across each tack just to build up that extra speed - even though it
means gaining less ground over water.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b>After a nice sail down the main channel I entered the ocean and was soon
met by five to seven foot seas that had built up over the day.</b> </span>The
waves were not cresting and the wind had suddenly dropped from fifteen
knots to ten and I honestly was struggling to get the speed I really
wanted with that little front sail set. So I jumped up on the cabin top
and held on tight to the rigging as I crossed the deck to the bouncing
bow.<b> Once there I grabbed the wild head sail and brought it down and set
the larger genoa. I began to get a good clip after that and passed an
anchored boat to port.</b> The sun had already set and I was sailing along
the dark ocean in the ever fading red twilight.<span style="color: blue;"> <b>It's a strange thing but
the most fearful time of sailing for me, is right as the light is
leaving the sky and darkness is falling. That is the time when you are
used to the light and the darkness seems more intimidating than it
usually is.</b></span> I can't even remember how many times I've been sailing out
at night and I usually am just fine with it. <b>In fact there is a
fascination with it for me as I love to see the shore lights many miles
away creating a silhouette of the mountains in the distance. </b><span style="color: blue;"><b>The silver
light on the waves is beautiful too as they come and go from bow to
stern. But right after the intense beauty of sunset has left and the
afterglow is fading, I've noticed how lonely I feel and how apprehensive
I get about facing the dark sea. And add the possibility of racing
winds and growing waves and white caps and it all becomes that much
worse!</b></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;"></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: blue;"><b>And true to form, the seven foot waves now appeared bigger for some
reason and the reason I was sailing further and further away from the
welcoming green and red harbor lights made less and less sense! </b></span><b>But I
kept going for another half an hour.</b> In this time the wind began to
increase again and soon the boat was healing hard from the pressure in
the sail. Time to bring down the sail and put up the smaller one again!
Soon the small one was up and I was safely back in the cockpit taking
over the steering from the tied down tiller in 'auto-pilot'.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b> The wind was fairly cold and despite two hats, three jackets, a scarf
and gloves - my hands were still cold. It was probably all the times I
had taken off my gloves to fiddle checking my cell phone or some details
on the boat that had made my fingers get cold.</b></span> I promised myself that
it was time to get serious and leave the non essentials alone. So I
entered the cabin and got my thermos of hot water and made myself some
hot chocolate. Just holding the warm cup - helped my fingers warm up
again. I sat in the cabin for a little while as the boat carried on
faithfully up and over the mounting waves. Thankfully it was not a
blowing like a full fledged winter gale or it would be a LOT colder and
going in the cabin would have been out of the question. In fact, I did
not even feel concerned about closing the hatch doors - which I would
have if the wind had been blowing much harder.<br />
<br />
Speaking of the wind, <b>I suddenly began to realize that even the small
sail was pulling the boat hard now too.</b> Okay, time to really contemplate
what really made sense. Continuing on and preparing to put the storm
jib up and fight my way back through a real winter gale or turn back now
before it got worse. I chose the obvious - my wife would be proud!
Besides, I was beginning to feel a little queasy anyway and was at this
very moment sucking on a butterscotch candy. These candies have a real
way of taking my mind off how I feel and making me relax. Maybe its the
taste or something but it really helps a lot. I can't tell you how many
times these little butterscotches have saved me from getting sea-sick. I
turned through the waves to head back. Opening the main sheet I let the
main sail fly. I then uncoiled the jib sheet and let it out too. The
head sail caught the wind - now coming from the boats side and you could
see it belying out. Winding the jib rope around the winch three times, I
then sheeted it down on the cleat and it was set. <span style="color: blue;"><b>Before it was all
over though, I was to be taught an old storm lesson over again. Suddenly
a big gust hit the boat at probably thirty miles an hour and within
micro seconds the boat headed up dangerously into the big waves.</b> </span>
Crossing the waves broadside would normally have been dangerous but as
the wind was not causing the waves to brake white, thankfully I could
get away with it. Nevertheless, I was determined to not be controlled by
the sudden gusts and let out my main sheet much further than usually
required so that when the gusts hit - the boat refused to listen to the
storms call and I stayed on course!<br />
<br />
Shortly thereafter, the wind was funneling through the breakwater wall
and now making it hard to beat back into the marina against its force. I
really did not want to sit out here for another half an hour tacking
back and forth against the wind just to get in the harbor. Normally it
wouldn't have bothered me, but the wind was increasing and who knows
what it would be like in half an hour! So with that, I turned on the
engine and cranked up the horse-power and got back in the marina in
great time.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b>I thought that after that my problems were over but I wasn't expecting
twenty know winds as I came around the corner past the Coast Guard
Station and into the main Channel of the Marina. These winds were
blowing directly at me and tacking into them was pulling hard on the
sails</b>. </span>Thankfully I still had up my smaller jib and as it was just a
notch below dangerous, I didn't have to put up the storm jib. But I was
concerned about coming into my slip under sail as the wind was blowing
really hard and I would be going too fast. <b><span style="color: blue;">So I either would have to
keep the sails up and then drop my big main sail right before I got to
my finger channel or use the engine. I chose the engine! Ha ha! You
would have thought that all would be well and that would be the end of
it - but after having dropped the main - the engine then suddenly
refused to start. Imagine my surprise! It was just like an engine to
work all night but then when I really needed it - to give me problems!</span> </b>
So now I had no choice but to try and tack up the G-Basin but I only had
my jib up and couldn't tack up wind with only the jib. So now I had to
turn the boat into the wind and raise the main again. But, wouldn't you
know it, the wind was blowing too strong to turn upwind - the wind kept
blowing me back! Really, this was beginning to look just like de-ja-vous
from four years ago when something similar had happened and I (being
MUCH less experienced) began to freak out and NEARLY crashed into the
boats at the guest docks. I knew my skill was much better this time. And
yes - they were! <b>I decided if I couldn't head up into the wind, then I
could wear (or jibe) downwind and get up enough speed to come up. </b>And
this worked. However, just in time or If it hadn't I would be having to
enter an unused dock and take a time out there! Lol!<br />
<br />
So thankfully I got up into the wind and got the mainsail set once more.
After beating upwind for another twenty minutes or so I got to my
finger channel, and with a sudden surge of energy jumped up on the
cabina and dropped the main sail to the deck in a matter of seconds.
Using the jib, I entered my slip - still very fast - and jumped off the
boat onto the dock and tied down the boat. Another big adventure was
over!<br />
<br />
~Albie<br />
<span style="color: blue;">Thanks for your comments about Winter Gales! </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2247973241119489560.post-60017125170141161022013-01-07T02:01:00.001-08:002013-01-07T02:01:15.731-08:00Sailing All Night!<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Sailing All Night!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: blue;">Carl and I left around 10pm for our sailing all night adventure! </span>Before we left we made sure we had extra supplies and gasoline. I always carry extra jackets and food, so I wasn't too concerned if we forgot something. The one thing you don't want to forget when your sailing all night is an extra supply of water - which we definitely had.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">There was some wind blowing when we left so we sailed out into the marina, but it was fairly light, so we then turned on the engine and sailed out to sea where the wind seemed to now be blowing quite nicely. <span style="color: blue;">We sailed out into the dark night heading for R2 buoy three miles away.</span> After reaching that we kept going on toward Redondo Beach - another three miles away. It was now my watch and Carl was to sleep for a couple hours or until we reached Redondo Beach - which ever happened first. I was okay with being alone for a while as I enjoy the solitude. <span style="color: blue;">However, after sailing much of the night, I began to get sleepy and got up and made something to drink to keep me awake. </span>We had hot water already made so we could make coffee of hot chocolate. I made sure to keep the Captains Log up to date whenever the wind shifted or whenever I altered course. When arriving a mile away from Redondo Beach, I altered course away from the harbor as the wind was coming directly from there and it would have been difficult to go there tacking straight into the wind. <span style="color: blue;">Instead I headed for the more mysterious Point Vicente Light Beacon a couple miles south toward Catalina Island.</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="color: red;"><span style="background-color: white; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Suddenly a bunch of dolphins showed up and cleared the water with blasts of air. I immediately woke Carl out of a deep sleep (as it was his watch anyway now) and he came out to see. By now the dark clouds had cleared and the western sky was ablaze with stars. Long four foot swells passed under the boat and ran past the boat on there way to shore - miles away. At night they had a silver tone to them and the big rollers were fascinating to watch. Along with the dolphins and the stars, it was a magical moment! This is what sailing all night was all about.</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> <span style="color: blue;"> We were now out by San Vicente near the second red buoy from MDR. The oscillating light beacon could be seen shining out to sea in our direction every 17 - 20 seconds or so.</span><span style="color: lime;"> <span style="color: purple;">I remember sailing out here one night on my way home from San Diego and losing my wind here all night.</span></span> As I didn't have an engine at that time, I was helpless to get underway and slept and awoke keeping watch off and on all night long. <span style="color: purple;">Other times on the way to Catalina island I remember passing here just before heading into the shipping lanes.</span> And the one time <span style="color: purple;">I will never forget being here was in that terrible gale with giant twenty foot waves pushing us on toward Redondo Beach. The wind was howling in the rigging and the white water atop the huge waves behind us threatened to submerge the cockpit.</span> I remember being almost numb to the seasickness and roller coaster like motion and suddenly seeing that red buoy floating atop a huge wave as we passed it by about a mile or two to the north west.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">I shared some of my memories with Carl about this spot and then at last laid down in the V-birth and gave the helm over to Carl. Every once in a while I peaked my head out of the forward hatch to see how he was doing but I was not disappointed as he did a great job and kept the boat headed for the ships lights and home. <span style="color: blue;">I closed my eyes and put my hands under the blankets to keep warm. The sound of the waves moving under the boat and along the side were very relaxing and interesting to listen to.</span> I tried to completely shut down and sleep but my mind was still too excited and I had a very hard time. I had thought that if I sailed all night with a friend, that I would be able to sleep - but surprise, surprise!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Eventually Carl needed some assistance with the sails and I got up to help him. After pulling the head sails in tighter, I then went up to the bow and held on to the bow pulpit watching the waves pass us by. <span style="color: blue;">Looking up at the stars, I was surprised how many had disappeared already in only a couple hours by the dark rain clouds coming in!</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">In little less than half an hour, we passed the big ships once more. <span style="color: purple;">The dark night sky was turning grey and then gold as the sun was slowly arising in the early morning sky. I took a picture of a sudden burst of gold coming through the rain clouds just above the still brightly lit ships. It was an amazing picture!</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Soon the morning wind that had been so constant all night finally began to subside and we turned on the engine and revved it up to full blast and headed for MDR harbor. As we entered the marina and sailed down the channel, I had had such a great trip with Carl and even though we were both tired and worn out we continued to talk all the way back to the slip.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="color: blue;"><span style="background-color: white; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">~Albie</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="background-color: white; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="http://albiessite.blogspot.com/">http://albiessite.blogspot.com</a> </span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Thanks for leaving a message about our sailing all night trip!</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2247973241119489560.post-60616471133870166702012-12-28T11:20:00.002-08:002012-12-28T11:20:42.366-08:00Mysterious Winter Sailing!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgStRwdvJI0cN9HavBf21Wl9SsdWBGs2TmtEJ-6FzMsz_sRHAh2ulqErn6V3_2zn4H1eJLwMYOsN-B790yQ12RgDLIpOLJT995B3EXGfTyukSoZwoHW013MzucEqnW359uX-0QbP0aMlKY/s1600/1154.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgStRwdvJI0cN9HavBf21Wl9SsdWBGs2TmtEJ-6FzMsz_sRHAh2ulqErn6V3_2zn4H1eJLwMYOsN-B790yQ12RgDLIpOLJT995B3EXGfTyukSoZwoHW013MzucEqnW359uX-0QbP0aMlKY/s320/1154.jpg" /></a></div>
Yes its a very peculiar sailing day. I'm almost the only one out here sailing over the seas in the falling drizzle. I'm coming up to the seals on the R2 buoy near the anchored ships a mile out at sea.
Its really strange - the wind is blowing from the east so its creating small waves in the face of the westerly swell! Very strange indeed! So in other words there are waves coming from the east and waves coming from the west!
When I left the marina, since the wind was coming from the east, I thought that by heading south I would have the 'weather gage' (advantage) by sailing the first half of the journey in the harder direction (as I thought the wind was coming more south easterly). Then on the way back, I thought the wind would be blowing a little behind me (from the south) and across my beam so I would have full control over what direction I wanted to go. But on the contrary, I seemed to have a very easy sail heading out and a harder sail coming back in!
What really happened was that when I turned around, I found myself sailing a more difficult tack into the wind on a close reach because the wind was coming more north easterly. What a shock!
On the way back there was a Hans Christian sailboat passing me to starboard. It looked like he was coming back from Catalina Island. They are really strong boats - made to handle heavy seas with a stern pointed like the bow. How beautiful it appears, with full sail set, sailing over the waves! The white sails stand in direct contrast with the dark grey clouds behind it.
I pulled in a little harder on the ropes controlling the sails (jib lines). I thought about some of my friends reactions to wanting to come sailing with me. Its interesting because some of them didn't want to go sailing these days because its too cold. But my response to them was:
"Are u kidding me! This Is the best sailing! Lol! I wear two jackets and have hot chocolate made to warm up my innards and hands ! Ha ha! Its great! =D"
I mean, here I am going four knots through the gentle seas. Little birds are shooting across the small waves! The wind is blowing about ten knots (MPH). Its drizzling here and the water is beautiful and mysterious. I can't really explain it except that its an amazing feeling!
After a while darkness came upon me and the boat. The mysteriously dark grey skies and strange watery world I was surrounded by, were now cloaked in darkness and now the only horizon in view were the lights way off on land. They sparkled over the water and waves. As the dark waves passed under the boat, the heaving seas were silhouetted against the shore lights. With two jackets on, a baseball cap, a snow hat over that and a cup of hot chocolate in my hand, I was nice and snug! But take those off and the wind chill sweeping through the sails and over the deck would be enough all by themselves to make you immediately cold.
Tacking hard into the wind back and forth a few times finally allowed me to enter the harbor. What a beautiful day/night it has been on the water! Maybe some day you can join me and see for yourself how amazing it is. :-)
~Albie
http://lovethishomebiz.com
PS: thanks for leaving a message. I would love to hear from you!
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2247973241119489560.post-60822934916154795072012-12-11T01:55:00.002-08:002013-01-07T02:07:30.309-08:00Opposing Forces.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: cyan; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Tonight out at sea, every ripple on the water glowed from the phosphorus - a magical green color as the boat motored through the waves. It was beautiful and majestic and it has been a year or so since I remember seeing it. </span></i></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Last time I remember it, I was sailing through dense fog at night and could see nothing except the magical looking green light streaking through the water as dolphins made their way like torpedo's to their destinations.</span></li>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The wind had died about an hour ago and I now motored through the waves back to the harbor. I was going to get back in the Marina and then turn off the engine and wait for the wind to come back out. But as I came down the harbor entrance toward my dock, the wind gave no trace of coming back. So I kept on going till I got near Chase Burton Park and then killed the engine as I saw the wind making patterns over the dark water.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: cyan; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I was thrilled to turn off the engine and to watch the wind fill the sail again and be off. There's nothing quite like sailing with the wind. Its quiet and beautiful but must be watched and nurtured to make sure the boat stays on course with just the right amount of wind powering it</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">. Otherwise without careful maintanance the boat will end up going in circles. Eventually I got it all balanced perfectly and could take a few minutes out and go sit on the bow and watch the boat and I glide through the dark mysterious wind blown water on our way around the marina.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> After an hour and a half, I took the boat up to G - Basin and turned on the engine again as sailing up this stretch of water meant battling the wind head on the whole way.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: blue;"> Last week I had run out of gas and had been forced to sail up this against a strong tide and opposing winds that were not strong enough to even beat the tide. So though it had appeared like I was moving forward - I had actually been moving backward with the strong current! As I was grinding my teeth in slow agony to try and beat the tide and get home I thought about it in a philosophical way. Here I was making every effort to get ahead and every inch that I actually won was HARD earned. Life is like that. Sometimes it gives you joy and beauty and everything you want on a platter but other times you have to struggle for every inch you get and in the face of imminent failure. But you must press on. In the case of the ocean - the sea will get you if you give up. I'm so blessed writing this now as it encourages me in a financial situation I'm in right now that feels very much the same.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: cyan; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Interesting thing is that after persisting through the the head winds, I eventually got to a place where the land caused the wind to come from a different direction and gave more power to the boat</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">. And in time the wind became stronger too and then getting back was not as hard. So this also can be understood that after a certain mount of persistence, life will often change and SUPPORT you instead.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: blue;">Thankfully tonight the engine purred like a cat and all these heartaches from last week were just memories. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Tonight the engine caused the bow to push through the opposing forces and soon I turned the tiller hard and the boat rounded up into the slip. Ah - now to put the sails away and then heat up some hot chocolate! I couldn't wait!</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">~Albie</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://www.albiesonlineincome.blogspot.com/">http://www.albiesonlineincome.blogspot.com</a></span><br />
<br />
PS: Thanks for your comments! :-)<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2247973241119489560.post-1271365860560484972012-11-05T23:33:00.000-08:002012-11-05T23:54:17.323-08:00Catalina Gale: Part IX The Last Two Hours...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<span style="background-color: cyan;">After Eight Hours In the Gale:</span><br />
<br />
I tried to let Brad rest as long as possible but when I saw the blue Whale wall, I cried out through the raging wind:<br />
<br />
<b><i>"Brad! We're nearly back!"</i></b><br />
<br />
Soon his head popped out of the hatch and placing the doors back in, he climbed up the very steeply sloping cockpit and joined me on deck. After clicking his harness into place, he looked around. I was used to the loud hissing of the wind beating across the water at forty miles an hour but I'm sure to Brad (after resting in the semi peaceful cabin for a couple hours) the sound was startling. Besides this, I know he was interested to see how the huge waves were towering from behind us now.<br />
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<b><i> "Brad we're going to need to let out the mainsail." I cried above the roar of the waves. "The wind is starting to come from off our back quarter."</i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
<b><i> Brad looked at the sails and the waves with a grim face. "If we're not careful, the force of the wind will tear off the mast." He almost yelled. "But you better do it! We don't have a choice."</i></b><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: cyan;"> Quickly, but carefully I let Brad hold the tiller while I let out the main sheet and sail. We were thankful when the sail and mast held against the furious wind that was now blowing from astern.
Atop a giant mountain of a wave, Brad looked forward as I pointed to the Blue wall of Redondo beach. </span>He looked at me with a happy grin. But the war was not over yet!
I had been losing strength and was so glad to see Brad come back on deck. I was feeling very sick and had almost begun to care less what the waves were doing beyond my peripherial vision. I had enough strength left to focus on steering the boat through the waves in front of me but that was almost all the strength I had left. Now that Brad was back, its as if I came back to life again! With pleasure I handed the tiller back to Brad to take us in.<br />
<br />
We still had a little ways to go with huge waves still bearing down on us but we were so close to safety we could taste it. All I had tasted up to this point was a non stop deluge of salt water in my face, mouth and eyes each time we passed through a waves white foaming water. Now we were almost home! I still could not believe we were this close. An hour ago I was not at all sure we would make it back. It had only been five hours back when I had prayed and found Gods peace. Home had seemed like a thousand impossible miles away.<br />
<br />
And though it was not all that sudden, to me time had seemed to speed up. Redondo's bell buoy appeared among the foaming waves. The huge waves pounded with fury into the stone breakwater to our left. And then we about surfed in the entrance on this cresting wave. With a simple turn of the tiller the boat heeled dangerously to broadside along the wave as we sped into the still waters of Redondo Beach harbor.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: cyan;"> Suddenly, all was still...like an impossible stillness - like...heaven! No more falling and lurching up and down twenty foot waves and feeling the wind whip across your face at terrific speeds. The peace was startling and so sudden and so majestic</span>. We all seemed to breath freely again. Inside all of our hearts the confirmation we had made it home safely was now spoken. I pounded on the hatch and then opening it, we all began to laugh at the terror we had just passed through.<br />
<br />
<b><i> "This has been the worst day of my entire life." Max yelled laughing.</i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
<b><i> "Well at least you now have one!" I laughed back</i></b>.<br />
<br />
Later in the jacuzzi at Brads marina, we all sat and laughed in amazement of what we had just survived. The spa water was so hot and relaxing - we couldn't believe we were there! Only an hour ago we had been cold and wet and battered<span style="background-color: cyan;">. The warm water was quickly taking off the years of stress and white hairs we had added to our bodies in the eleven stressful hours it took us to cross the channel. The Catalina Gale had been implanted in our minds for all time and we all knew it!</span><br />
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<b> ~Albie</b><br />
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PS: Thanks for your comments!
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2247973241119489560.post-63817756508477041192012-10-08T19:25:00.000-07:002013-01-07T02:52:35.149-08:00Catalina Gale: Part VIII, Overlooking The World, Atop a Huge Wave<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Opening up the hatch was like opening up Pandora's Box. The wind outside was gusting past 40 miles an hour and the howling of the wind in the sails and the huge monstrous waves crashing against the boat was frightening.<br />
<br />
I went outside feeling like I was entering a war. Immediately I found myself literally having to hold on for dear life as I had to CLIMB up the cockpit to reach the tiller. The boat was healed over 45% at least. I climbed into position and clicked my life tether in.<br />
<br />
Brad's face was pale white and I honestly had never seen him like this before. I carefully moved into position to take over the steering. I could tell Brad was very cautious in giving over the tiller as one wrong move and the boat would be capsized. But Brad's need of rest overcame everything else and he moved down into the hatch.
"Watch for the the blue whale wall of Redondo Beach." Brad said firmly before closing the hatch. "We're not too far off now."<br />
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<br />
I nodded in agreement and looked around me. But with the huge seas all around me, I very much doubted I would ever see that wall. Still it gave me an objective and an understanding of where we were - as honestly I had only the faintest clue. Suddenly Brad was gone and I was alone to face the seas alone and the lives of all my dear friends was now completely in my hands. Taking a firm grip on the helm, I soon realized that holding onto the tiller was hard. The pressure of the water and waves against the rudder was intense. It took a lot of strength to keep the boat on course. The waves were huge 'mountains' all around me. I could see the next line of waves coming at us with cascading white foaming tops high on their peaks. All I could do was try and aim the boat for the least menacing waves. We headed down the trough and the world was lost all around me. Only the tremendous size of the waves surrounded me. I remember one dangerous looking one in particular that was steep and cresting and thinking that it would be all over if I was forced to take that wave on.<br />
<br />
Fortunately we passed it on by - as we did most all of the worst looking waves. I still believe that this was a matter of my efforts mixed with chance. And somehow afterward I knew God was watching over us too. At the top of the next wave, suddenly I was met with tons of water and spray. With the fierce wind hitting the boat, as we got towards the top of the wave, we sped right through the top of the wave and crashed right out of it and landed with a bang on the opposite downward slope. I knew this could hurt the boat and I wondered how much it could take! I tried desperately with all my being to stop this from happening and four out of five times I was able to slow the boat down enough so this wouldn't happen. Despite all my efforts I could not prevent it every time, however. And as this all happened, water flew over the bow, washing right into my face. My tongue could taste the salty water in my mouth. At first the taste was welcome as the salt took away some of the over-taste of throw up still left in my mouth. As far as the wet cold water, I didn't notice it too much because of my layers of clothes and the sailing wet gear Brad had let me use over top of it. In fact I was quite warm - except for my cold hands gripping the tiller. And so it went on for another two hours like this.<br />
<br />
At first, the little sleep I had gotten had taken most of the seasickness away. But after a little time with all the continuous heavy motion, I began to get sick again. But throwing up was not hard as the boat was often angled at forty-five degrees and all I had to do was 'aim and fire' right into the ocean - so to speak and continue on. Actually, throwing up made me feel better - for a while. But the sickness seemed to always come back and soon I had nothing to throw up and I was just dry hacking. Still, I was in control to the best of my ability and there was really no other choice if we wanted to live. And then I noticed the mountain range near San Pedro. Very soon after this, I saw the orange fishing buoy (I had seen at night on the way out toward Point Vicente) show up atop of a big wave far in the distance. I now knew we were near Redondo Beach. This gave me a lot of hope!<br />
<br />
At some point I began to notice that the waves were coming from behind instead of aiming themselves at our bow. I'm not exactly sure when this happened, as I was feeling very worn and fatigued after an hour an a half of all of this. I almost didn't care anymore as I was beginning to lose it. But at least I still held on and aimed the boat in the right direction. Suddenly I looked behind and noticed a huge breaking white wave looming up behind me. I knew that if it caught up with us it would swamp the cockpit and tons of water would enter the boat. Already half a foot of water was in the cockpit floor, flowing back in forth with the motion of the boat (the water was half mixed with gasoline too - as the smell was horribly present. Hours ago Brad and I had tried to figure our where the gas was leaking from. The gas tank was clearly closed - so it was a bit of a mystery really). But that was the least of our problems. Thankfully the hatches were all closed and most of the water would not get in. But still I was fearful. I tried my best to aim away from the wave that was looming from behind but it followed us like a guided missile and soon the boat rose up to its ugly white head. As soon as I expected the horrible drenching, suddenly the boat's stern rose right up on the white water - hardly letting an inch of water come in!<br />
<br />
I was so ecstatic thanking God we had escaped it!
We were closing in on Redondo Beach as I suddenly saw the blue whale wall Brad had spoken of. I could only see the wall on the top of the big waves though. It was kind of like being atop a big hill looking over the world. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2247973241119489560.post-39776239913440294972012-09-16T08:34:00.003-07:002012-09-16T08:54:28.145-07:00Catalina Gale Part VII: Reality of a Storm <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0HyLQZ1LJVxtqv6ufrPQFMPKUZRkHSRX2Jo-re3ScgQ5BNDDurbs-YZRicXL_LBAyhSncNam-B7QasoATrQ_oo6RkNbXSpFySZo01aJfE3gTjPCITnerirqUZm1DkeES6q4XXtzX2ba0/s1600/IMG-20111120-00779.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0HyLQZ1LJVxtqv6ufrPQFMPKUZRkHSRX2Jo-re3ScgQ5BNDDurbs-YZRicXL_LBAyhSncNam-B7QasoATrQ_oo6RkNbXSpFySZo01aJfE3gTjPCITnerirqUZm1DkeES6q4XXtzX2ba0/s320/IMG-20111120-00779.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5788800989162613298" /></a><br />Skipper Albie continues: <br /><br /> "It was at this time that Brad asked me if I would go into the cabin and get my wet things off and get some rest because he was going to need me in a couple of hours. I told him I would and was actually very happy to go in even though I really wanted to support him. At this time we had become aware of our own danger just being in the cockpit and we had buckled ourselves into the lifeline that Brad had so wisely set up before the trip.<br /><br /> Now I went below, thankful that Brad at least was buckled in. The first thing I noticed was that the table had fallen again and that everything had fallen all over the floor. <br />The cabin was such a disaster. I couldn't believe my eyes. And on top of that, Brad Jr had decided that the floor with all the mess was just the place for him to lie down (even though there was plenty of room in the v-birth for him and Max. This puzzled me greatly, but I was too sick to disagree and even too sick with so much up and down motion to do ANYTHING except lie down. I didn't even take any clothes off. I felt warm and that's all I cared about. I lied down in the V-birth and rested. I had no energy to do anything and just lied there listening to the sound of the boat rising up and down the waves and to that of my own thoughts and that of my stomach.<br /><br /> Sometimes I would even get sick just lieing there and throw up again. This time we would all pass and use the big gray bucket. It sounded like a throw up festival. First Brad Jr would throw up, then me then Max. Twice I even heard Braddock outside throwing up too. I never heard Louis though. He had some cloth over his face and I thought he was fast asleep, but I found out later he was really awake!<br /><br /> Now the sounds of the boat were extremely interesting. The wind was so powerful in the main sail that it made a whir or a purring sound not unlike that of an engine. I was amazed at the sheer intensity of the wind. I had never heard this much wind in my life. Then the lurching of the boat was quite amazing. This was so similar to that of a rollar coaster. Two weeks later when on Screamin' at California Adventure, I took the coaster in strides (hardly thinking it a big deal at all) having felt the very same motions for 10 hours on our trip. The boat would go up then down then lurch to this side then that. Then up steeply then down steeply with a thud. Sometimes it would come down with such a crash that I thought we had hit a rock! But no - we just carried on. As long as the 'purr' of the 'engine in the sails' carried on, we knew all was well. Then we hit down and crashed again. This time it smacked with a violent shudder from the bow to the stern. It felt like the boat had been completely out of the water - even with a thousand pounds of weight down in the keel. I almost didn't want to look in the cabin floor as I was almost positive I would see water seeping in through the floor boards as a leak seemed so likely. But again - no. We just carried on again. The 'engine' would purr again in the sails and I would try to sleep. Once in a while the purring would stop and the boat would seem to lie dead in the water. But not even giving a minute and the boat 'engine' would start right back up again and the wind in the sails would move the boat back on course.<br /><br /> By now my wet socks were making me cold, so I happily took them off and put my feet in my daughters pink but warm sleeping bag. <br />I fell asleep a little and wondered if an hour had passed or even two hours. It only felt like an hour, but things were so strange I can't remember. At any rate Brad had had enough and opened the hatch calling for me. <br />I quickly rushed to put on my socks and opened the hatch to go out on deck. Just taking the hatch cover off and suddenly I was hit with the loudest wailing noise I had ever heard. It sounded like a war was going on outside. I literally was terrified of going back outside. The wind was screeching, the waves and water were moving and pounding against the boat, the sails were vibrating and the whole boat was heeled over and I would have to climb sideways out the door just to get out there..."<br /><br />~Albie<br />PS: Thanks for your comments!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2247973241119489560.post-78816141367748190242012-09-06T09:12:00.002-07:002012-09-12T11:45:26.486-07:00Catalina Gale: Part VI, Nightmare at Sea<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirk9FDAYhsoGZq19ae5ye7UH4P1AdbmAQ_ttr56UQPaC4l5CnADxQ8oKGUKEBdGtQEvGLMCdBXjmubU-Pa8V_-D9X2oWzOZiwhzbOc6No8WYsjbLETHojNUsCIpIXeE-LICgsFp7194iQ/s1600/IMG-20120128-00158.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 236px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirk9FDAYhsoGZq19ae5ye7UH4P1AdbmAQ_ttr56UQPaC4l5CnADxQ8oKGUKEBdGtQEvGLMCdBXjmubU-Pa8V_-D9X2oWzOZiwhzbOc6No8WYsjbLETHojNUsCIpIXeE-LICgsFp7194iQ/s320/IMG-20120128-00158.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5785108426731445634" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Captain Brad Continues saga:<br /><br />After this close call, I suggested that Albie take a break, so that in case the worst was not over, he could regain some of his strength. As for myself, I was feeling chipper enough, but knew that I was not going to last forever under these circumstances. It was such a relief to know that I had Albie to relieve me when I couldn’t take it anymore. I am quite sure it would have been far more terrifying to be alone and even further out to sea like many single handers that have sailed around the globe alone.<br /><br />I was determined to steer “Canta Libre” until she and her crew were safely inside the shelter of the Harbor. I was holding the tiller with white knuckles, as it was almost ripped from my grip on more than one occasion from the tremendous force of the Ocean surging underneath our hull. I eventually began to shiver uncontrollably from the combination of being soaked to the bone and from the wind chill over eight or more straight hours. One usually resists throwing up as it is rarely a pleasant experience. More often than not, it is followed by a period of relief and then eventually subsides when it comes to matter of sea sickness. This time that was not to be the case. Despite years of working and being in some of the worst seas on the planet, I could not stop yakking, and no relief seemed to be in sight. I remember that for most of my life, I was completely and I do mean totally immune to motion sickness. I hate to admit it, but I would actually laugh and make fun of friends and acquaintances alike that would succumb to its powers. I guess this was time for payback. I will never ever make fun of anyone ever again, guaranteed. I was so weakened from the cold and dehydration by this time that I would be physically useless should any emergency arise. I ran through the hypothetical in my mind, that even if the ship were to begin sinking, I don’t think I would have lasted for more than a few minutes. Time to get Albie. As I cracked the companion way hatch open slightly, I tried to yell out for Albie to come relieve me for a while. Instead a faint croaking whisper emitted from my lips. The hydrochloric acids from my stomach had taken a toll on my throat and vocal cords. Despite this, Albion not only heard me but was quick to respond. It was trickier than I expected to be able to hand off the tiller to him without the boat being tumbled over. The timing had to be perfect, and it was. I had been anticipating this moment for hours now as I stumbled into the safety and shelter of the cabin, I was not prepared however for what I was about to witness. The entire interior of the boat was the unequalled example of chaos. The table was dispatched from the wall. Every item to have at one time been stowed in its place was cast on to the cabin floor and walls and corners. Intermingled throughout were perceptible chunks of vomit. My son Brad was seemingly passed out on the floor, although I do believe I saw his hand move in a gesticulation resembling a wave, perhaps to briefly acknowledge my presence. Louie was propped up against the starboard side with his head covered. Max was huddled up in the V-birth. No one seemed worried or concerned as to the situation, so I figured why not join the club. Besides, I had only one thought on my mind: To get dry, and lie down and rest. Even if it were only for a few minutes. I feebly, but as quickly as I could manage, stripped off my sopping wet shirt, and found a damp one to put on instead. Ah! To be seemingly dry. There is nothing to be compared to that feeling. I was feeling a hundred percent better already. I found a wonderful spot to lie down that had amazingly been left vacant by everyone else. I just barely fit, but it was otherwise perfect for what was next on my list of priorities, sleep. Although my whole body was being flung around to and fro as a result of the bow of the boat plunging into waves just to the other side of the thin fiberglass walls that surrounded me, I could not be dissuaded from the thought of closing my eyes and drifting off into a state of ecstasy. No sooner had I laid my weary head down when a compelling amount of water erupted through a gap in the forward hatch and descended down upon me in geyser fashion, drenching me with chilly cold salt spray. Well, being dry for one and a half minutes is better than not being dry at all. I tried to ignore the irratic showers of cold water that seemed to aim themselves at my face, but it was not an option. Every time a particularly big wave would engulf us, it would find its way to say hello to me inside the v-birth. So much for sleep and shelter. That’s roughly when I realized that I was still sea sick despite all. Max was watching me with empathy, as he generously handed me his personal barf bucket, that he had been hugging up to that juncture. I noticed that it was far from empty --- to hydrate myself unless someone had a bottle of 6% saline solution and an I.V. needle handy. I looked up and saw that he had a peculiar look in his eyes. It was a combination of him trying to be polite and respectful to his elders, and desperation all at the same time. And that’s when it dawned on me. I was hogging his bucket. So we kept passing it back and forth taking turns at fairly quick intervals to vomit, and then vomit some more. At around this juncture in time, I heard Albie calling out “Were not far away”. I climbed out into the cockpit again, just in time to see some huge following seas pushing us towards shore. We were virtually leapfrogging towards the rocks. Just on the other side of the rocks was the safety of the Harbor we were so earnestly longing for. But we were not safe yet by any means. We were surfing so quickly down the front of each wave that we would have to time the entrance like clockwork. If we turned too soon, we would be dashed on to the rocks. If we turned several seconds too late, the same would result. We changed our direction of sail to a quarter reach, so as to gain both a little more control and speed, and seemingly flew past the safe water buoy labeled RB, and in-between the red and green harbor entrance buoys, past the demarcation line. The British and most other parts of the world are under the AYALA-A system. When we fought the Revolutionary war back in the 1700’s we would switch the buoys around at night, so as to confuse the British ships, and make them crash into the rocks. To this day the United States and its influences are still under the AYALA- B system, which is the opposite of the British. Remember this next time you are sailing into port at night time in a foreign country. This means that as you travel clockwise around our country, the red navigational buoys are supposed to be on the starboard side of the ship (Red Right Returning). Just to make it confusing though, this does not apply to the inter-coastal waterways, or the Great lakes. Well, all history and navigations lessons set aside, we were safely home Alas (At last). The Harbor Patrol boat came out to escort us in. One of the officers had bet his Commander $20.00 that no one would be crazy enough to venture out in these conditions. I think he came out to get us just to win his bet. Regardless, when they heard we had just crossed all the way from Catalina, they were speechless. Of coarse we were glad for the assistance; since the waves had ripped our engine completely off the transom of the boat. Now that is some violent sea conditions! May it rest in peace.<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2247973241119489560.post-41504240276167119992012-08-24T23:02:00.001-07:002012-08-24T23:02:51.833-07:00Catalina Gale Part V: Caught by the Wind!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRahDXj4xRH8ACLx36Sw_CQpH0ZUlrn09p-uDIEi6sRBFJOGJGlafNwhXGnEzC3um_h5v8LgzAzGPZ-TtIMgmxrzs4GYa7VaHYwp7mYN-VWzGkQXKlt9IE3LEbfshjv8mdPuB9O3_jKIY/s1600/IMG-20111120-00780.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRahDXj4xRH8ACLx36Sw_CQpH0ZUlrn09p-uDIEi6sRBFJOGJGlafNwhXGnEzC3um_h5v8LgzAzGPZ-TtIMgmxrzs4GYa7VaHYwp7mYN-VWzGkQXKlt9IE3LEbfshjv8mdPuB9O3_jKIY/s320/IMG-20111120-00780.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5778992238648289458" /></a><br /><br /><br />We left Catalina at 8:35 am.<br /><br />We had calm seas for the first half mile from Two Harbors (Catalina). Bigger swells came and then waves pick up to three to five feet. Winds were gusting 20 - 30 knots while we were behind Catalina island. This was about two or three hours. During this time I remember looking at the waves with awe as they sloped upward, every fifth or sixth wave breaking white. Braddock Jr. was out in the cockpit for a long time talking with me. Then Max came out for a while and took a picture of the scene. To our left was Catalina. I could see an anchorage as far off as maybe a mile as well as a sheer cliff and a giant jutting rock that protruded out into the sea. The island looked so green, soft and peaceful, it was quite a contrast to the large angry breakers confronting us wave upon wave. I watched the shore, gazing my attention upon it at least every five minutes just watching to see if we were passing the anchorage and the giant jutting rock. The anchorage, with its sailboats nestled in near the shore, was now well behind us. But the large jutting rock just seemed to be laughing at us as it didn't seem like we were ever going to pass it! Brad was concerned about our course since we had been 10 degrees off now for an hour or so. I kept thinking of ideas of how to get our boat to go closer into the wind or a way to tack and use the angle of the wind to our advantage. As it was, the wind seemed to be coming in the exact direction we were wanting to go and it made it very hard on us. However, after about an hour and a half either the wind changed a bit, or we did and we were able to steer close hauled as near to the wind as we could. This also helped keep our reefed mainsail from catching more pressure in it's sail than it could handle, because the wind was easily doing 20 - 30 MPH for sure by this time. I didn't get seasick for about an hour or two - but I didn't realize it was because I was sitting in the same position and hadn't moved around any. Brad went up on deck after he had taken an hours rest down below, and took down the jib - which was causing me a lot of stress due to the tremendous stress on it from the wind. With the jib down and the mainsail reefed we were doing so much better. But for Brad all the crazy tossing of the boat on the waves and him having his eyes off the waves made him get sick. I noticed his beard looked like it had salt water on it, but then realized he had thrown up over the bow. Brad then tried to make the jib into a storm jib by knotting down most of it. But he felt unsuccessful and came back into the cockpit. Later I examined the knots he had used to tie and lash the jib and was quite amazed. I've been practicing knots for a long time but couldn't make out his masterful knots! I told him later how amazed I was by them. And him having done all these knots with the boat tossing everywhere too! Ok, so then Brad came back to the cockpit.<br /><br />Some hours had passed by now and we had come far north of the protection of Catalina in our journey at 1-4 knotts (depending on how we caught the waves). The waves were easily ten feet big if not bigger. We were passing through the shipping lanes now and every once in a while a huge ship would cross in front of us. I was watching the angle of the ships as I saw them on the horizon. Then I noticed a tug boat at an awkward angle to our own pulling a huge ship with large cables a quarter mile behind it. I must have not seen it as it was at an odd angle and the waves periodically hid it from view. When the angle did not change I began to get really concerned. I knew it was on a collision course with us and unless one of us changed course it would not be good. Brad encouraged me to come about and head back until the ship had passed. With the waves so big it would be a real challenge. But I carefully judged the next wave and after it had passed under us I had a minute in the trough to come about. So I did. The boat changed direction and I steered up the safest part of the wave. But as we came up over the wave the wind came so hard down on us it wouldn't let the main sail or the boom flip to the other side. Brad shared with me later that we didn't have enough power to get fully across the wind. So now the tug boat and the ship were on a direct collision course...<br /><br />Captain Brad continues: <br /><br />"The seas were so big that the sun was able to penetrate through them at an angle usually unwarranted for this part of the Pacific. The result was that the waves began to take on a slight hue of green and white. These are known as the infamous green water waves that legends and disaster are frequently made of. I was confident that things could not get any worst, when Albie began to yell something in a loud voice trying not to be drowned out by the gale force wind. Even though I was literally right next to him, all I could make out were the words “Ship” and then something about “run us over”. Instead of asking him to yell louder, all I had to do is look up in the direction he was pointing. Barreling down on us from the North was a 500 ton Foster tug with a massive steel barge in tow. We just could not imagine anyone else being caught out here in this nasty storm. What was even more unbelievable was the fact that the vessel was unmistakably what in nautical terminology is known as CBDR or constant bearing, diminishing range. In laymen’s terminology, on a collision course with us! Unfortunately, not only were we crossing within the freighter zone for commercial traffic, but even if we weren’t, a vessel restricted in her ability to maneuver has supremacy even over a sailboat according to the International rules of the road, otherwise known as COLREGS. In other words, time to get out of the way, and quickly! On Albie's command we initiated the procedures to tack. There was only one problem. The boat was not responding to the tiller. NOOOOOO! Not now! But refuse it did. The steel ship was getting a lot closer by now. I’m sure the Master of the tug had tried to hail us on channel 16 VHF, but we decided to leave it off so the batteries would not be depleted in case of an emergency. I was actually glad we didn’t turn the transceiver on, because odds are we probably would have heard a lot of obscenities from the Tug Boat Captain by now. We were barely able to maintain steerageway as we clawed our way towards home, but did not have enough forward momentum to bring her about (to tack). We could have adjusted our sail and our course to accelerate, and then attempt to tack again, but there was no longer time to even think about that option. Things were getting very close now. Unfortunately, ships don’t have antilock disk braking systems, like a Ferrari convertible. In fact sometimes it may take a ship of that size over a mile to come to a stop. With a big barge behind there was not much recourse for the tugboat but to just run us over, and literally keep going. As the feeling of despair became more eminent, we again looked towards his vessel. He was trying to take evasive action by dramatically changing course so as to go behind us. “I hope he has enough room” I was thinking. Our only other option was to jibe, but I was certain that an attempt to do so would rent our mainsail to shreds, or cause serious damage to the standing rigging, which was already hanging on by a thread. --- After this close call, I suggested that Abie take a break, so that in case the worst was not over, he could regain some of his strength. As for myself, I was feeling chipper enough, but knew that I was not going to last forever under these circumstances. It was such a relief to know that I had Albie to relieve me when I couldn’t take it anymore. I am quite sure it would have been far more terrifying to be alone and even further out to sea like many single handers that have sailed around the globe alone. <br /><br /><br />Check Next week for the continuation of the story! <br /><br /><br />~Albie<br />Thanks for your comments! Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2247973241119489560.post-87851540094755209502012-07-29T03:20:00.002-07:002012-07-30T04:33:30.464-07:00Catalina Gale Part IV: Monstrous Waves!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbiPe-vq2V5z_zmN8CQ6-ox7JhJl0oVvYu1Oo0L572RcFyYWAfpV_anYeMA3km8GNHJ-MQqYB-PEsPqeIG3xMAynYp9P2B-w-mMG6xQxeJsq0F2ZN7XB_c0IxOhnxJVxro1wKtFkUBZZM/s1600/43.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 241px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbiPe-vq2V5z_zmN8CQ6-ox7JhJl0oVvYu1Oo0L572RcFyYWAfpV_anYeMA3km8GNHJ-MQqYB-PEsPqeIG3xMAynYp9P2B-w-mMG6xQxeJsq0F2ZN7XB_c0IxOhnxJVxro1wKtFkUBZZM/s320/43.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5770535768664721746" /></a><br /><br /><br />Captain Brad continues:<br /><br /> At the crack of dawn we got on the cell phone right away to call the guys. “Hello? Yea, you all need to take the tent down immediately, and …..What’s that!?“ To our shock, not only were they awake, but they had already broken camp. Furthermore they had also hiked with all their gear into town, and were in fact in the proximity of the pier. They were waiting for us! Man, the Navy S.E.A.L.’s could definitely use these guys. We got everyone on board, and ate an improvised breakfast (this would unfortunately not be the last time we would see our food as we quickly gulped it down), so as to gain an immediate departure. We checked the weather one last time for good measure. This time it was predicted for breaking seas, and very high winds. But not until the evening. We could already see the tops of the palm trees moving from the wind as it attempted to blast through the narrow isthmus, but it was otherwise a beautiful sunny day for all we could tell. For good measure, we lashed everything down, and set up a jack line to snap into, incase we should have to leave the safety of the cockpit. We also reefed down (tie it down so it is smaller) the mainsail, so as to prevent the boom from injuring someone, assuming it would be inevitable to do so latter anyways judging from the increasing wind.<br /><br /> Even with the shortened sail, we made surprising good speed as we zipped out into blue water. The truth is that I hardly got any sleep during the night, even though I had felt exhausted. It was starting to catch up to me. I told Albie that I was going to lie down for a few hours, so that I would be rested incase things got worse latter. As it turns out, later was not far away. I was just about to drift off to sleep when I could feel the bow of the boat being jolted with increased violence. I could overhear Albie telling Max that the boat was refusing to stay on our course. I climbed out into the cockpit, and was interested to see that the surface of the ocean was covered by whitecaps. The wind was strong enough that with our jib sail still up, it was impeding the bow of the boat from heading up. I put on my upper body harness, and clipped into the jack line before leaving the safety of the cockpit. I began to make my way forward but was immediately forced onto my hands and knees, in order to keep from being thrown overboard. With some difficulty, I was able to pull down the fors’l (for-sail), and lash it off to the lifeline. This being accomplished, the little ship was now capable of heading up a little further into the wind, which allowed us to get back on course. Unfortunately, during the brief time that I was on the foredeck, the pounding of the bow in to the weather began to have its effect. It was not long at all, as I was hanging on with both arms and legs to the stanchions, seasickness began to overcome me. The wind was powerful enough that even with the jib down, the boat was heeled (leaning) over a good 25 degrees. I remembered the words “One hand for the ship” meaning that at all times you are supposed to hang on to the boat no matter what else you are doing. And hang on I did. As I yakked over the windward side of the vessel, the chunks flew straight back towards Albie, who was at the helm, carefully keeping the boat on a close reach. If the boat fell off the wind at this time, I would easily get thrown overboard, and harness or not, it would no doubt result in injury. I thought some of the vomit had hit Albie, but with so much spray and wind it was hard to say for sure. My Son Brad was out in the cockpit for quite a while, but only Albie and I had upper body harnesses rigged up. Twice we felt the boat toss and lurch so hard that we both looked over apprehensively at Brad who seemed relaxed and calm despite the building madness, as he was resting on the starboard side. If the boat were to capsize suddenly, he would be thrown into the drink, no question, and the vessel was starting to respond as if she might do just that. We suggested that he retreat into the safety of the cabin, which he obediently did. Well, this was certainly not a good start to our return voyage.<br /><br /> I kept looking back earnestly at Catalina wondering if we should not turn back. However, by now we could not find any shelter on this side of the island, and besides, we were already at least a quarter of the way across the channel. I was disconcerted that the swells began to get steeper, and the frequency (how often the waves would hit us) was also increasing. I just kept vomiting as the weather worsened, and began to feel my energy draining, despite the adrenaline and exhilaration of the wind and the building seas. The little boat began to really get pounded from the steepness of the seas. It was as if we were driving into literal solid walls of water. And it was relentless. Most people can never appreciate the power of the substance otherwise known as H2O. --- While being a liquid, seawater actually weighs in excess of 8 lbs. per gallon, or 64 lbs. per cubic foot. That is of course when it is stationary. When it is being driven by the wind, its power and weight becomes exponential. Then add on to that the force of it breaking down on top of you as it swirls and collapses upon its self, well you really don’t want to be in its way at this point. But of course it was too late to choose to be safe and dry at home watching TV.<br /><br /> As the vessel fought to climb over these ever increasing mountains, we could all feel the entire hull shudder from the violence. Upon the pounding of each consecutive wave, the fiberglass would literally bend and twist under the great pressure. My concern was mounting as my thoughts began to consider the gravity of the situation we were in. Just how much punishment could this little ship take anyways? Certainly not much more. What would we do if she began to break apart?! I did not want to even consider that possibility. Of course that’s when I did what any logical person would do. Pray. “Lord, please don’t let the mainsail give out. Just help us get these young men back safely.” I began to feel this huge burden of responsibility for the safety of these young lads, especially since their Moms had entrusted us with their well being. To our amazement the waves just kept getting bigger and bigger, and BIGGER. It became ever more urgent to steer the sailboat with the uttermost skill and accuracy. The seas were starting to get confused (like a washing machine). If the helmsman misjudges even a single wave, it could be all over in less than a second. When the waves get that big proportionately to the vessel, it becomes necessary to pick the exact course of the sailboat as it weaves in between the breaking whitecaps. It’s like playing the video game Pac-man, where little goblins are trying to devour you, and all you have to do to avoid “game over” is to out-maneuver them. At the last minute some of the waves would be bigger than anticipated, and rouge waves were coming upon us from our quarter as well, just within the peripheral vision, and sometimes looming over us seemingly out of nowhere. This was just a little too intense. ONE mistake, and I mean only ONE, and the boat would be thrown sideways (known as broaching*). That is a guarantee to be knocked down (on to your side), and possibly rolled over and over, while taking on water, and most likely resulting in the mast snapping off. And of course that would be getting off easy. The balance is to maintain enough SOG (speed over ground) to be able to get over the top of the crests of the mountains of water, but too much speed and it subjects the boat to pressures beyond its ability to withstand. The result is that it can and will break to pieces. Speed is obtained as you surf the boat down the back side of the wave. Unless the vessel is turned gracefully at the exact moment it is arriving into the bottom of the trough, the bow will dig into the oncoming face of the next wave, resulting in what is known as pitch poling. This is an even more horrific scenario, where the boat literally attempts a somersault (usually not successfully). The boat comes to a screeching halt, and is then propelled backwards, jamming the rudder off to one side, or snapping it off altogether. Then you go sideways, and …..yes you guessed it….refer to the previous paragraph pertaining to broaching*. <br /><br />As Albie and I took turns at the helm battling against the unmerciful conditions, we were both awestruck at the sheer monstrosity of these waves. In-between waves, when free falling down into the trough, we would literally be obscured from everything around us, including the wind. It would seem for just a brief moment a repose from the elements, almost serene you could say (that is besides the gargantuan foaming waves all around us). When cresting over the top of the swells, the wind would suddenly unleash on us with a scream consisting of white salty foam being sprayed into our eyeballs at an estimated 50 of so miles per hour. The mainsail and mast were straining under a ridiculous amount of force." <br /><br />Captain Albie: " That about says it all! I just couldn't believe I was seeing twenty foot waves out here only coming back from Catalina! I had heard of waves this big, but to see them in real life was just amazing and scary at the same time. You would not believe how much fear was building up in me. I couldn't even see getting home safely anymore. That just seemed like a dream to good to be true. After talking to God at this point, I felt this unbelievable peace and knew I was in His arms. I must say one last thing. Even though I was feeling SO sick, I remained on deck to help Brad in any way I could. Looking out at the ocean,it was terrifyingly <br />beautiful - if that makes sense! <br />I will leave it at that. But stay tuned for part V! If you haven't signed up your email to stay connected to the blog-sight - do so! That way you will be the first to know when the next section comes out and can finish reading the story! <br /><br />~Albie<br />P:S Thanks for your comments!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2247973241119489560.post-83298922278664673482012-07-19T09:46:00.001-07:002012-07-19T09:58:43.715-07:00Catalina Gale - Part III Ignorance of the Sea.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoLjtzB0QMsSAOIgJVzLFO_spKLSt7SdHj4lc1f4esEYK3bBgFgxppZNq6CaIdyqGawktOy6LrhkUnQxtSAEZbHSfbz2PtkSS-YNXwJ9q8XLNTtLl_ArOZ_FRCICfpIDSNwpWL3MrinUQ/s1600/IMG-20111119-00766.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoLjtzB0QMsSAOIgJVzLFO_spKLSt7SdHj4lc1f4esEYK3bBgFgxppZNq6CaIdyqGawktOy6LrhkUnQxtSAEZbHSfbz2PtkSS-YNXwJ9q8XLNTtLl_ArOZ_FRCICfpIDSNwpWL3MrinUQ/s320/IMG-20111119-00766.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5766925981354402530" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />After having sailed all night and arriving at Catalina in the morning, we docked and let the three teenagers, Braddock, Matt and Louie off to find a camping spot.<br /><br /> Brad continues: <br />"But they were denied with the explanation that only an adult could make the reservations. In the meantime Captain Albie and I were busy getting our boat “Canta Libre” settled in for the night on her hook (anchor). We made our way onto the beach using a system of lines to comically pull ourselves back and forth from the sailboat to the beach in a little toy inflatable that as it turns out would barely - and I do mean barely - float under our weight. We would have to refill it with lung fulls of air after each short embarkation since as it turns out; it also had a very significant leak. While we did not seem to have avoided getting soaked in the process, we were fairly successful in getting the sleeping bags and other camping essentials onto the shore in relatively dry condition. At last we had made landfall. Now our greatest concern was that the weather forecast had taken a turn dramatically for the worst. The following is the entry of the Captains log accordingly: "It was now predicted for gale force winds the following day with 20 foot seas."<br /><br /> We walked into town to talk with the Harbor Master, as well as some of the more knowledgeable locals to find out what they advised under these circumstances, being intimately familiar with the Isthmus. They informed us that because of the direction of the intended wind, Two Harbors would be converted into a lee shore, meaning that if we stayed where we were, we were likely to experience 10 foot breaking waves which they believed would undoubtedly throw the sailboat on to the rocks no matter how well we were anchored. If they were trying to scare us, it worked. They further informed us that the only safe option was to sail all the way around the West end of the island to Catalina (“Cat”) Harbor. We did the calculations, and deemed it about the same distance to just sailing home instead. The only problem is that we had just got there, and were too tired to just pack everything up and leave. When I spoke to my wife on the cell phone she wisely commented that if the storm was going to kick in, it was not a good idea to attempt a crossing at night, since it was far more dangerous if someone fell overboard in the dark. Besides it was such a beautiful evening, it was difficult to be worried about such things for the present. Since the young men were not allowed to pay for a reservation, we were all going to sleep on the boat, but I decided to at least try to speak with the people in charge of the campgrounds. They were kind enough to hint that even though their offices were closed, and therefore could not accept money for reserving a campground, that in lew of the approaching storm, we were welcome to go ahead and set up camp anyways for safety sake. How awesome is that! There are still some decent people on this earth when it comes right down to it. We spent the remainder of the evening hiking around and then set up camp on the side of a hill overlooking the harbor and Albie's little ship. We were in a wonderful mood, despite the uneasiness of what might follow in the wee hours of the morning. The one peculiar thing that I remember from that evening was a group in an adjacent campground trying to light their camp fire with gasoline. However, the fuel would consume itself, and the fire kept going out. This caused them to take action by pouring even more fuel onto the now simmering coals. To their amazement (but not to ours as we watched) there was suddenly a huge ball of flame - gasoline having a flashpoint of -40degrees Fahrenheit - and as everyone ran around trying to put out the miniature, but growing forest fire, the gas can itself began to engulf itself in flames. We couldn’t help but be entertained and bewildered at the same time as everyone in their group began to attempt to extinguish the fire with bottles of what appeared to be Evian drinking water - which was causing the gasoline to splatter, and to spread even further. I had just recently completed an advanced fire fighting training course at the Navy Base in San Diego for fires on board ships, and tried to advise the group that water was not always a good idea when extinguishing a type B fire. To our surprise, they not only rejected our advice, but were visibly upset that we weren’t minding our own business. We ended up making our own campfire, as well as some exquisite hot chocolate while we gazed off towards the horizon at the distant glow of greater Los Angeles where over 12 million souls were either asleep, or no doubt too busy to stare back. We were in a different world out here on our little rock, so peaceful and serene, without a single worry. That is what we thought anyway, but as we continued gazing up at the stars and the clear night sky, we noticed a particularly dark mass of clouds meandering across our view. It seemed just moments before the stars were devoured by this ominous presence, until everything was pitch black. Even the lights of L.A. were extinguished. This did not look good at all. No Sir! Albie and I began to discuss some of the options in case the storm hit us during the night, which looked likely. We decided to move the boat over to a mooring ball as close to the protected side of the isthmus that we could maneuver into. We explained to Braddock, Matt and Louie that it was paramount for them to monitor their cell phones in case we had to leave in a big hurry, rather than be trapped in the harbor by huge breaking seas. As I squirmed my way into the quarter birth (sleeping space), I found that I could barely fit. I had no room to turn on to my side, or to even take a deep breath for that matter. Definitely not for the Closter phobic. Not to worry, as I heard the rain begin to pitter patter down on the cabin top of the boat, I was just extremely glad to be warm and dry. AAAAh! Good night everyone.<br /><br />Captain Albie continues: <br /><br />"Yes, it was a good sleep. Having little sleep from the night before, crossing over to the island, I was very tired and slept soundly. In rethinking it all though, I wonder why I let Brad sleep in the quarter-birth? The main birth would have been much better. I only had to drop the chart table and put out the cushion that goes across it and Brad would have been much more comfortable! But all this is in hindsight. Also I don't remember the weather report indicating 20 foot waves for late sunday night. I do remember hearing 40 knot winds. But after hearing these reports often and having been out in seas that were supposedly reported to have 40 knot winds, I didn't take it too seriously. I expected some five or so foot waves but could not imagine it could get much worse than that. But this was my ignorance of the sea! I may have sailed in areas where up to 40 knot winds were PREDICTED, but to actually sail where 40 knots winds WAS - is entirely different! <br /><br />~Albie<br /><br />Thanks for your comments!!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2247973241119489560.post-25587457603534083452012-07-01T12:10:00.002-07:002012-07-01T13:24:16.614-07:00Catalina Gale - Part II, Darkness, Increasing Winds & Then Dolphins! No Signs of A Big Gale Coming...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHj0lxcbYnLxCZZmfwfkKVFTSZni0G_5YBGASdxOG2zlMbNkaaBmFZa430E1ieZkQYVBQxLYmIS7syXs3oLF_9BFBY9JSS4d5W4vpb5gT9pfKagolzrW-Iycjp95lV7BmZLZH2lokEeP8/s1600/IMG-20120623-01000.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHj0lxcbYnLxCZZmfwfkKVFTSZni0G_5YBGASdxOG2zlMbNkaaBmFZa430E1ieZkQYVBQxLYmIS7syXs3oLF_9BFBY9JSS4d5W4vpb5gT9pfKagolzrW-Iycjp95lV7BmZLZH2lokEeP8/s320/IMG-20120623-01000.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5760295720268147602" /></a><br /><br /> We finally cleared the breakwater wall and got on our rhum line (straightest possible line of travel) towards the isthmus, bucking gently into the swells on a close reach. The further you get out, the darker it gets and you begin to wonder if you were sane to decide to go out to Catalina at night. The Shipping Lane was coming up too - as if I needed the extra worry about being hit by a big ship in the dark! <br /><br />As we got further out toward Catalina that night, the wind came up and we bucked through bigger waves and stronger winds. It was a lonely watch at 3 am in the morning while everyone was asleep and you're out there by yourself watching the dark seas and white caps breaking on the waves. I had the luxury of taking a couple hour nap earlier in the evening. Still, early in the morning one feels very sleepy but the seas at this time of night - approaching Catalina - were worth watching. But everyone was sleeping down on the v-berth or cabin berths as I moved the tiller to starboard and then to port a bit as each wave tried to knock us slightly off course. <br /><br />Captain Brad continues the story: <br />"Our heading was 170 degrees magnetic. It is important to distinguish between magnetic and true headings, since there is about 14 degrees of variation (difference between true and magnetic) in this part of the world. This phenomena being the result of unknown influences or disturbances on the earth's magnetic field. Deviation is another type of error that can have a devastating effect on a ships compass as well, but usually results from metallic objects on the boat itself, that throw the compass off. This could be something as simple as a set of binoculars or a tool set down in close proximity of the compass, to an even stranger situation with ships that are made of steel. While the vessel is being built in the ship yard, if it is sitting in a position from east to west, it will actually become magnetized accordingly, and will always remain that way no matter which way it is facing while on the ocean. These are some of the many things that a prudent mariner must familiarize himself with not to find himself drastically off coarse. One degree off on the compass can be the difference between arriving home safely, and ending up on a reef in the fog. But enough about the technical stuff.<br /><br /> Needless to say it was the ultimate night for sailing, and it was a great chance for us to clear out thoughts of those things left behind, as the land became more and more distant, and the millions of stars, normally obliterated by the prevailing city lights all of a sudden began to portray themselves in all of their magnificence. Wow!<br /><br />After some time elapsed, we began to take watches (turns). I can easily remember some of my most profound nights of rest being out on the ocean with the fresh air and the gentle lulling of the sea, rocking me into the most blissful R.E.M. imaginable, but this night it was a little different. With all the excitement of the adventure, it was hard to sleep too soundly for fear of missing anything. Soon this turned out to be the case at dawns early light, when the damp grey darkness began to reveal both earth and sky with prevailing hues of golden colors, which then in turn quickly transformed to shades of green and blue. Now I understand what must have inspired poet Robert Frost when he wrote one of his well known thoughts:<br /><br />Natures first green is gold, her hardest hue to hold<br />Her early leafs a flower, but only so an hour.<br />As leaf subsides to leaf, so Eden sank to grief.<br />So dawn goes down to day, nothing gold can stay<br /><br /> I can’t be sure, but I believe that Frost was trying to help us realize that there are certain moments in life that God grants us that are just incredible, but that they rarely last for long, and it is sooo important to appreciate them while there is still time. That’s how I was feeling sailing upon the Pacific Ocean with my son, his friends Matt, Louie, and my good friend Albie, who I consider like a brother.<br /><br /> Just when I thought things couldn’t get better with such a sunrise as that, we began to see and hear dolphins playing in the wake of the boat. As the day continued to materialize, we began to witness more and more of them, until it became literally impossible to count them anymore! They seemed to have great interest in us as they would take turns darting over to jump and splash all around us. We saw a particularly thick pod of them feeding in a team effort upon a giant ball of smelt (fish) which were literally boiling on the surface. The scene was complimented by squadrons of sea gulls and pelicans dive bombing on to the bait fish, pushed up so close to the surface and to their advantage by the attacking dolphins below. We called all hands on deck to see the spectacle. Braddock and Max took it upon themselves to jump into the freezing cold water to interact with the Dolphins first hand! They told us later that they could literally hear the high pitched communications from the dolphins as they darted back and forth in immediate proximity to both of them. From our vantage point in the cockpit of the boat, we could see they were literally surrounded by the porpoises the whole time with Catalina as the backdrop. The island was definitely beckoning us by now and after retrieving the lads from the icy water, we continued towards the green isle, past ship rock, and into the sheltered waters of Two Harbors. We briefly tied up to the pier, while the three amigos ran up past the harbor masters office to secure a camping spot, just before the place closed."<br /><br />Next week, come back to check out Catalina Gale - Part III. Thanks also for your comments! <br /><br />~Albie<br />Columbia 22, 1969Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0