Check the next box in any surveys

I can now tick the next higher box in surveys. No longer am I 30-39, but I'm in the next higher bracket. And the last few months leading up to this milestone, this roadside birthday, have been whirlwind. Really dazzling in the number of things that I've gotten myself into. Plenty of work. Boat work. Pottery work. Heck, I don't know where the time goes, but I'm sure not bored!

This gift of a trip to New Zealand lit a fire under my buttocks unlike any vow to "start working out next week". It had a deadline. It had consequences if I failed to commit to the task at hand. I needed to get up, get out the door, and get walking!

And walking I have done. With a group of dedicated friends and experienced hikers all, we've gotten out and had a lot of interest and excitement about regular hikes. We've gone to Forest Park, Lower Maclay Park. We've gone to Angel's Rest, Wakheena Falls, Larch Mountain, Hamilton Mountain - all building to higher elevation and longer walks to build stamina. We've added backpacks to get us more accustomed to a little bit of weight. And it has been FANTASTIC. Since we've generally chosen between Saturday & Sunday for our hikes, we've managed to get a decent weather day just about every time. And being Oregonians, we do worship our sunshine when we can get it. We've been able to spend quality time together and do something that we all love. It's been a wonderful gift - a gift to myself of time with my friends. How cool is that?

My birthday hike - Hamilton Mountain - was absolutely perfect. The sun was shining, the leaves were beautiful yellows, and the hike was long and challenging and I could do it with confidence. I felt strong and young and happy, and isn't that just the best way to start another decade?

And of course, what is a birthday without the Birthday Tiara?

Last Sail of the Season

(I'm not sure why I never posted this... back from 10/24... Haul out was on 10/11)

A few weeks ago, the last sail of the season was an outing on Rick's Cascade 29, finally! Mike and I were heading out on my boat, but Rick was already out and Rich needed to head back, so rather than taking my boat out, we hopped on board and away we went. A glorious day of sailing - the wind was directly out of the east, and strong! We would have had to reef my main for sure. A good 13-15 mph, and we pretty much tacked back & forth, back and forth without getting terribly far, but it was so pretty out nobody minded. That's what they say about sailing vs. power boating - power boats are about the destination, sailing is about the journey.

I was excited to see a bunch of boats racing with spinnakers, heading straight downriver. We finally got close enough to see them dropping their sails, which they did surprisingly efficiently as they turned to head back upriver. One boat lost control of the spinnaker sheets and were having quite a bit of trouble dropping their sail. I'll bet their skipper was not happy!

Rick has done some lovely work on his boat. The cabin is very open because he doesn't have a dinette, and the woodworking is very pretty. I cannot imagine how much work he must have put into the interior!

The next weekend was all about preparing my boat for its haul-out at Schooner Creek. They'd given me a list of things I could do to ensure the boat haul out would go as quickly as possible. After breakfast, before the heavens opened with some heavy rain, we got a few folks to the boat and dropped the main, folded it up, and ripped down the boom. Mark and Don got the boom down so quickly I'm afraid what they could do with more than a screwdriver! :-) I've told Mark he's not allowed near my boat with anything stronger that a popsicle stick, since he keeps teasing me about ripping off the deck.

Sunday, Mark and Gail helped get the jib down and prep the rigging, and then we had a very pleasant motor down to Schooner Creek. There were a lot of little touches that I wouldn't have thought of - removing the little rings on the turnbuckles(?) on the rigging that slows down the disassembly process. Mark pointed out that the cotter pins (?) for the upper shroud had been working its way loose - scary, since that is something that keeps the mast from literally breaking when the sail is under tension. Now I have another thing to add to my "check on regularly" list.

Monday morning, I helped pull a few things off the boat, moved it around, and the rigger had the mast ready to go in no time flat. Quite efficient. Eric kept track of the whole process, and we managed to do the work for $500, which was pretty darn close to a minimum once you factor in all the rigging. The pressure washing was also completely worth it. The weather held out very nicely, transfer to the trailer went well. What I would do differently next time is have a better way to secure the lines & rigging to the mast for transport.

Outing #11: A neighborly trip

Finally, finally got Tom, Kathy, and Kelly from the neighborhood out on the water! Tom grew up around boats, so he knows what he's doing, so I had my experienced sailor with me to fall back on, which is good because I don't know how to explain what to do to other people.

Perfect, perfect day for sailing. Really, it could not have been nicer. The forecast was for 11-12 mph winds and mid-to-high 70's, mostly sunny. We gathered ourselves up around 11:30 and headed off to the boat. I took the truck so I could remove cushions afterwards. Kim wasn't in her slip, so exiting was very simple (backing up is still hard - I really need to do some practice). And off we went! The depth sounder did appear to be behaving better, though it was giving some oddly low readings out on the water again. Either the river is running extremely low, or it is being flakey.

We were on a broad reach or downwind up to the bridge. It looked like there were a number of smaller sailboats racing up by the bridge, and generally sailing back & forth, so we avoided them and headed back, getting some nice tacking in. Tom handled the tiller for a bit, which was a nice break for me, and Kelly and Kathy enjoyed the boat heeling over. Kathy hadn't been on a boat that had really heeled over before! There were a few boats flying their spinnakers, but I think with the gusts I was very pleased with the sails I had up.

We puttered around a bit more, heading downwind (up river) some more because we weren't quite done yet, and Kelly broke out her amazing tomatoes and some bagels. Also, an Italian plum that was completely to die for - that was the best plum I think I've ever had.

Docking was pretty much a cinch. The current behaved the way it was supposed to, but it was so low & the wind was balancing it that I was able to just drift in at a very civilized speed. Learning to stay calm...

What lessons? Umm, not sure. I still need to remember to adjust the jib sheet block on the starboard side. I need to scrub down the boat.

Here's my awesome crew:

A week's worth of throwing = 11

It's now officially one week of being back into ceramics, and I have little to report other than 4 cylinders an evening appears to be my current limit. Tonight, I pushed it and threw 4 mug bodies and one large (3.5 lb) bottomless rectangular piece, inspired by Rodrigo's admiration of a similar piece at Hilary & David's house. When I stood up...GROAN...everything was tight. There were even ligaments or tendons or whatever at the backs of my knees that were tight. I think I need to stretch every two pieces, even if I have all the clay ready to keep throwing.

So I now have 7 mugs with handles drying, in various states of stumpieness (seems to be something that's plagueing about half of them), and 4 more w/o handles. It feels good to see my little collection growing - I have a full kiln shelf now, for sure! I'm starting to think I should make the land-locked yacht club mugs for Christmas. If I sketched some boats on them, I think that'd be most excellent. I'll need to dig around in my photos for some good references.

ETA: The 4 w/o handles now have handles - Nolan & Connor, Kelly's kids, came over and watched me pull a handle and attach it to one of them. Now I can be the nutty neighbor with a boat and a wheel in the basement :-).

leather hard up front, bone dry in the back


here's the bottomless piece in progress:

How I can handle one kind of wheel, but not another

Outing 10A was on Jim's boat, Katzenjammer, which is a 34' C&C (pretty sure about the C&C part - I have a lot of trouble remembering boat kinds, though it's quite important to the boat owners). He's taken great care of this boat & has had it for a very long time, and it shows. I'm pretty sure he could drive it with one hand tied behind his back. We took it out and had light winds on the Columbia, and cruised up towards the bridge. It's interesting to me to really FEEL how much larger everything is on a bigger boat. The sails are - to me - enormous. The deck is large, the cockpit is spacious, and I envy the seat he has at the wheel. The seat is curved so when you're heeled over, you can still comfortably sit upright rather than just hanging on. I steered only the very tiniest bit - I actually really enjoy having someone else skipper. I can relax a huge amount more if I'm not 100% responsible for driving. I thought steering with the wheel would not be a big deal - after all, I use a wheel to drive a car - how hard can it be? Well, hard. Apparently finally internalizing the tiller movements needed to change direction on my boat means that I turn the wheel the wrong way. I kept changing "the other right, the other right" but it was not pretty. Brain...hurts... Mike (landlocked yacht club) told me that Don once hit another boat while racing because it was a wheel rather than a tiller. I can believe it!

Jim used the autohelm to hold course while we put up the sails, which worked like a charm, though it made me a little nervous (but honestly, what doesn't?). It's clearly how you can deal with singlehanding, also.

So, the other wheel that I can handle... I finally got back into my little studio after the clearing exercises in August, and threw a few cylinders. I'm trying to duplicate a favorite mug, and... it needs a little work. I made 5 cylinders, but cut through the bottom of 2 of them, and the remaining three look like distant cousins but not all that close. Definitely needs more practice. Oh, I haven't forgotten how to wedge or center, but there are a lot of rough edges in the shaping. The very last one I threw was shorter and stubbier than the others - probably due to leaving more on the bottom, and hand fatigue. I've lost so much strength in my hands and upper forearms! Some preventative icing was applied.

If I can get some mugs that look halfway decent, they'll be for Heidi's birthday present. Fingers crossed, more practice will be in order this coming week! But for now... There were some casualties:


And some that actually look like mugs:

Outing #10: The effect of tides

Labor Day weekend was very, very wet for two out of the three days. However, there was a bright side to all of that rain - first being that I didn't have to get out and water the garden, and second that it gave me a chance to get out and test out my rain gear. Oregon Research hat from REI outlet (a steal at $21, but don't bother checking because they're all gone) ROCKS. I love this hat. As the yarn harlot would say, I want to hug it, kiss it, and call it George. The rainpants worked well, too - I don't feel like I over heated - I work capris under them. The jacket - well, that may need a little work. I don't know if I need to up the water repellance of it with some treatment or if I need a different one.

So, I got out for two walks - one a relatively short one just down to Broadway to drop off shoes (but I did wear my boots). And the second in Forest Park - starting at the Aspen trail off of Thurman, past the bridge, but not my normal trailhead. I walked up to the Dogwood intersection on the Wildwood, which ended up being about 4.7 miles. It was lovely, green, and relatively sheltered from the rain, though there were muddy spots. It had a little elevation, so it was good to work that in.

Monday - partly sunny, and so Mark, Mike & I headed out onto the Columbia. It continues to be quite shallow, and there was no wind. We ended up just motoring up to past the sea scout base, and then motored home. But we had a good hang-out, got to see my depth sounder completely lose it's mind (the channel is *not* 13 feet deep, nor is the slough 18 feet). That's a bit worrisome, because I won't have warning if I am about to run aground.

The current has dropped incredibly. I turned the boat around where I normally do, expecting to have the current push me a bit further away, and I actually drifted past my row...in the wrong direction (upstream). And as I headed toward the row, I had to crab over pointed what should be downstream. The current was very gently moving in the wrong direction, and so I had the bow pointed towards the row behind me, and I had to swing the bow more than 90 degrees to get it into the slip. Mondo bizarre, though it worked fine, and Mike confirmed the bow-swinging timing for me. It couldn'thave been the wind, because there was NONE. I checked later, and it looked as though the tide was rising, which could affect it.

The down side? NO PHOTO! :-( I was in such a rush to get home for an outing that I tore out of there like my hair was on fire. Good thing, too, since I ended up being 30 seconds *behind* the person I was meeting (who, in my defense, was 8 minutes early).

...and I knit, too

Obviously I haven't been posting much about knitting, since the hobby du jour is sailing, but I have actually completed some knitting in my not-sailing time. Primarily while watching Season 4.5 of Battlestar Galactica: The Addiction. (Sad it's over, but also glad, because I couldn't watch just one episode, and I don't enjoy the next day when I stay up until midnight watching the whole darn DVD). Buffy Season 2 also made its contribution to the knitting time...

But, after the Sock Summit, I did feel as though it was time to pick up and, well, knit a sock, since I hadn't yet this year after the unsuccessful pooling start to the yarn I used for the batkus scarf. So I finally picked up some yarn that I'd gotten on sale at OFFF last year - Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival, and out of guilt, cast it on. It's not the oldest sock yarn in the bunch, but it IS a year old. Happily, it didn't pool, and so I was able to keep the knitting mojo happening, and 3 weeks later - voila! Completed pair of socks using the basic pattern. I *think* this is my 9th pair of socks!



Currently on the needles, but possibly requiring a small frog, is some STR (Socks that Rock) brown/black/orange yarn that, even though it's also "lightweight" like my KWB STR socks, the 28 stitches I used for those socks seem to be way too large for this set. Am going to frog the toe. Stay tuned on that front.

This weekend I hope to do a bit of hiking. I just bought (I know, I know, how can I buy them when I also KNIT them, but they were on sale, and I've heard good things about them) some SmartWool (TM) hiking socks. We'll see how they fare, and I also want to try some of my handknit socks, to see if they are hiking-worthy. I suspect that they may be too light - I do like a bit of padding for my precious little feet - but I'm going to have to try!

Outing #9: I have a gennaker, and I have used it!

...although I'm not sure I'd say "I know how to use it". That might suggest more knowledge than I have already.



Another day, another "face your fears" episode in the life of the sailing vessel Cathleen. Gail prompted me the last time we went out to get the spinnaker up (she'd asked at least once before that time, too), and I promised that if she got the spinnaker expert, I would finally remember to haul it out of the basement and bring it to the boat so we could give it a try. So she came up with her buddy Jim who has a 34 foot boat (C&C?) and tons of sailing experience.

So we learned a lot today. It turns out, for starters, that I don't have a spinnaker. I have a gennaker, which is an asymmetric spinnaker and is a little bit like a very large, puffy jib. "Puffy", that's a highly technical sailing term, mind you, that I just made up.

You attach the tack of the sail to the boat, and then let the clew fly out. You don't need to use a pole to hold it out. A proper spinnaker flies out on either side of the boat (I'm not sure it has a tack & clew) and the pole is used to hold out one side of the sail. It's very much like a drag chute in reverse - instead of stopping you, it's there to pull you along. They're best for running / sailing downwind. On the other hand, a gennaker is better for sailing a beam reach, and we proved that it's not very good for straight downwind. It kept trying to collapse.

I had never seen the gennaker out. It turns out that it comes with a sock (also called a snuffer) which neatly allows you to tuck the sail into the sock before putting it away. It also means that you can raise the sail but not be wrestling with it catching the wind - you can make sure your lines are all set, that you're ready to go, and then raise the sock to let the sail catch the wind. A *very* nice feature. We studied the sail and components carefully before we left the dock, because as it turns out, for all that they've sailed with spinnakers, this was the first time with a gennaker!

These large sails are a bit scary. They have such a large surface area that with little gusts of wind, they can be very powerful, and so I was quite intimidated. And we did heel over some, but we learned that you can use the main to help control the sail a little bit. We had squirrely wind by the bridge (no surprise) and it was a bit of work to get through. I'm much more comfortable dinking around with sails - relatively speaking, of course - when I'm not near the bridge. The bridge, with its massive pylons, is rather intimidating too.

We got all the way up past the bridge, until I finally cried uncle. We sailed into the wind but downriver on the way back, and didn't have to tack too much. I like sailing with three people - one to control the main, one to tack, one for the tiller. THen you don't have a fourth person in the way. A fourth can work so #3 doesn't have to dash back & forth to manage the jib sheets, but it does get tighter in the cockpit.

What a BEAUTIFUL day to be out on the water. Not burning hot, partly cloudy, pretty steady breeze. Really lovely, and wonderful company. Next weekend I'll try to get onto Jim's boat, and also get the land-locked yacht club out, too.

Here's a girl and her gennaker:



And here's my adventurous crew!


Oh, and docking? Easiest one yet! The currents have dropped so much, I can pretty much head straight into the row, and make a right turn into the slip. Much easier than earlier in the year. Gail & Jim just confirmed my turning timing and gave some feedback on the distance from the dock, but I was actually pretty comfortable. Without the current you can really get a better feeling for the boat speed w/o overcompensating.

Lesson: You can sail without having the sails set up exactly right, but it probably affects the angle that you can use the sail. Lots of lessons about the gennaker (followed up by some additional research after-the-fact). The bead necklace that we couldn't figure out what to do with is used to put the tack of the sail around a roller furling jib. We had the tack tied directly to the bow. Which worked just fine, but probably limited us to more of a broad or beam reach. Another lesson was that we could adjust the main to change some of the airflow into the sail.

Outing 8A: It doesn't count because it wasn't my boat

...and I wasn't docking.

Saturday, August 23rd, a somewhat spontaneous outing with several members of the breakfast crew (or the "land locked yacht club", as I think Mike & Mark have referred to it. Having a boat in the water makes me an associate member). Bruce said he was going out sailing today, and since he's actually leaving for his WORLD ADVENTURES in the next week, there wasn't going to be another opportunity. Well, maybe on Sunday also, but that wasn't the point. He's going to single-hand it (yikes!!!). Alberto may join him for a bit of it.

The 29' Cascade was very interesting. He named it Ruby - she just got lettered today, in brilliant, sparkling red letters. I have pictures! Because guys never get enough photographs, though Mike did take a few too! She was purchased from the sea scouts (who had it as a donated boat) and had rotted wood and even some mushrooms growing on the inside! You wouldn't know it to look at her now. New wood, new engine, new upholstery (no longer that lovely 1974 plaid). Inside she has a dinette that converts to a bed, head, galley, two quarter berths. The general layout is otherwise relatively similar, except my galley slides. A bit more headroom and space - I'll have to ask what a 29's beam is - it felt wider.

It was interesting comparing how Bruce's boat tracked compared with mine. I did feel as though I had to move the a bit tiller more / adjust more. Normal jib, normal winches. We did get to tack back & forth a bit, so there was some practice there. I steered for a little while, but I rather enjoyed being able to sit back for a change and not have to pay quite as much attention. We had the main reefed - apparently they set that up before I got there, because it's much easier to un-reef it when you're out on the water, than to reef it when the wind is high. That makes sense. And even so, we rounded up a few times - the wind was on the stronger side.

I'm rather tempted by this for my boat bottom: putting "eeeEEEEEEeee" on the bottom, below the water line, to be exposed when the boat heels, would be just brilliant!

My sock yarn is going to participate in these travels - Bruce needed some tell-tales on his rigging, and I (surprise, surprise) came up with the yarn. Luckily, I was able to find the center pull end after pulling out a little clump - worked out perfectly becuase I was able to leave him with a little bit as a spare. How many boats out there have hand-dyed superwash yarn as their tell-tales, I ask you? Not many!!

LESSON: Need to learn to reef the sail and plan to do it in advance to be ready for higher winds.

LESSON: You never know when yarn is going to be useful :-)

The crew (a couple photos) and Ruby!


Note, my sock yarn is in the photo, too, right in front of Bruce's face:




Mark messed around with the pole when we were wing on wing:


And of course, the most adorable ducklings!

Outing #8: OWSA rules!

So, Saturday the 15th, Gail from OWSA and I went out for a nice afternoon sail. My boating neighbors were up working on their boat but they were not taking her out. Apparently they drive up from Salem for such events! Yikes! We left around 2:45 or so - the boat was pretty much ready to go, since I arrived a bit early, and off we went. I still struggle a little bit with backing the boat out. I think this needs a bit of practice next time. Perhaps having a line on the dock and a person at the bow holding the line will help keep the bow lined up. Gail did have to push off Kim's boat, but no damage was done, and away we went. The entrance to the slough is getting very shallow - down to under 9 feet. I'm wondering if I need to hug the shore more, because my normal course of travel seems to be shallower than I like.

We were on a broad reach or a beam reach the whole time! There was no jibing, no tacking required. Kind of bizarre, actually. It was like driving an automatic rather than a stick shift - easier to get a bit complacent. Gail wants to get her friend Jim on my boat, and then we can try to get a spinnaker up. I have a homework assignment to read up on them a bit before we try that. She's such a firecracker! She was telling her buddy Jim about me & the boat, and estimated my age to be around 27 or so. And then she asked how old I am! I would guess Jim, when I finally meet him, is going to be a bit surprised that I've worked for Intel for 12 years, eh? But Gail didn't know that, and now I'm under instructions not to tell Jim since she doesn't want him to think that he's being set up.

The sun did come out for a bit, and we had a wonderful breeze (but not too strong). We got up to about 3.7 knots as our top speed, which is pretty good.

LESSON: experiment with picking up speed with puffs by pointing downwind to accelerate and then resume course.

LESSON: Being on portside when docking works too. And it is possible to come into the dock further from the boats for an easier turn in, especially now that the current is lower. But the current was so low, I hardly was pushed back when I turned towards the row - I got impatient waiting and did some more steering and giving the boat more thrust.

Again - no shaking knees!!!! AWESOME!!! I am so going to help with the class next year. I've learned so much, and if you think about doing something 6 times to "get over it" it doesn't sound like all that much, think about doing something that terrifies you...6 times. It feels like it's been an enormous journey to get here. I guess overcoming fear will do that for you.

Here's the skipper and her fearless crew!!!


(Oh, and I did remember to bungee the oven door shut this time. We didn't really heel over, but that's because we were prepared!).

Also note - one of the keel bolts seems to have some water around it. I dried it off - I need to open up that hatch and really dry things off, and then see if it still is getting wet. And I need to check the diesel levels, get the anti-corrosion stuff on the keel bolts, and check battery #1.

Getting my knitting on! Maybe a little ceramics, too.

It's been far too long since I talked about something crafty here, and the Sock Summit in Portland has given me a strong kick-start into getting back into my sock knitting. Buying 5 gorgeous skeins of hand-dyed yarn will do that to a soul. What happens is you realize that (ahem) you never cast on for any of the yarn you bought at OFFF last year and that not one (not ONE) pair of socks had been completed this year! Horrors! The Anne Shaeffer yarn that pooled and stopped the sock-knitting-mojo in its tracks was transformed into a baktus scarf found on Ravelry that I finally completed after a mini-Buffy marathon. I need to get some nice modeling shots of that scarf, but it rained this evening!

With that guilt-inducing project out of the way, I finally kicked off a pair of blue, white, and seafoam green socks that I crossed my fingers and dove in on. I've been rewarded! They're not pooling! (whew!). And it's moving pretty quickly - funny how just a few more episodes of Buffy can do that for you.

I'm also getting ready for a February Lady Sweater. I have the yarn - it's gorgeous Lorna's Laces Worsted, in "Dusk", which is a greyish-lavender. If I can only finish my Pohjan Neito sweater that is still in progress. I'm stuck on the shoulders - it's been long enough that I have forgotten what decreases I've been using. And whether it's an every row decrease or not (I think it is). Garrrrh. Next time I pick it up, I need to just push through and finish the darn thing. Of course, the complicated collar is also next...Need to figure that one out.

Knitting projects:
socks, pohjan neito, february lady sweater, maybe clapotis out of some of that cashmerino? legwarmers. hat (make a couple). fingerless gloves.

So, a lot of knitting going on, eh? Too bad I'd planned to use August to ramp up my ceramics again... I have made progress on restoring the studio to something workable. The wreath, for example, was taken to the dump, along with a bunch of clay that was too dry, other construction-type debris from the yard. Generally a good cleansing - the floor of the studio is pretty much unobstructed. I need to just clear a work area, pick up some clay, and start a project. I'll need to document my progress here. For now, a clear studio is a good start.

Ceramics projects:
buttons
kimono plate?
yarn bowl (prefer with lid
long bathroom tray
little goblin heads for the yard
mugs for Heidi (I can take a hint, eventually)
apple tree planters
trays for orchids
tile for garden
something to replace the mailbox?

Edited to add a few photos...
I kinneared the Yarn Harlot. She probably appeared in about 13,467 photos during the sock summit. But who am I to miss out on an internet knitting phenomena? Not me!


I also finally got a photo of the batkus scarf I finished (and the latest haircut, styled correctly...it won't look this good again until the next time I get a trim):

Outing #7: the Cascade Breakfast Crew (well, a subset)

Sunday July 19th - It's been a few weeks since my last sail, what with chance of thunderstorms last weekend, and staying the heck away from the water for the 4th of July weekend. But since the OWSA picnic was at Columbia Crossings, just up the street, it was a perfect opportunity to pull together some crew and go sailing before the picnic, if the weather cooperated.

And oh, did the weather cooperate. Sunny, mid-80's, and a forecast of 9 mph winds (down from the 11-12 forecast earlier, but oh, well). Checking sailflow.com, that is about what we had, with gusts up to 15. While I was there, I happily run into Kim, for whom I'd a 6 pack of beer, since she's been SO nice. She's not only been totally supportive and encouraging and not flipping out as this totally inexperience boater backs out right next to her precious boat, but she's called me when strange people (i.e. breakfast crew checking out LPG locker) are at my boat, and made sure that I knew D was at the boat yesterday, cleaning the boat bottom.

Mike and Mark from the Cascade breakfast crew came out - Don was unable to make it - and we headed out. A bit troublesome getting out of the dock. I somehow moved the stern a bit to the right rather than the left backing out, but was able to turn the boat and headed out without too much drama. It's funny how the row is starting to look a little bigger now that I'm getting a bit more of a feel for the boat.

We motored out - passing a sailboat that had apparently lost its engine (I don't know why they weren't readying an anchor, or readying a line to toss to another boat). The channel seems to be not currently well marked - there seems to be more sand / shallower water when you get to the markers. I'll have to keep an eye on that, because we tripped the alarm a couple times in areas that I think should be just fine.

The wind was NW(?), almost but not quite wing-on-wing capable. It was a bit puffy, so the jib would flap around, a bit alarmingly to me, but Mark & Mike didn't seem too perturbed, so I tried to follow their lead. We did some nice slow jibes, controlling the main, and I understand this process a lot better now that I've been on the dinghies. Maybe it's just that you get a lot of practice, very quickly on the dinghy. We made very good speeds through the water - the knotmeter (which is now ungunked, thanks to D cleaning the boat bottom yesterday) was reading about 4 knots pretty consistently. We got up pretty close to the bridge, turned around and practiced tacking. EEEeeeeeee (gasp) Eeeeeeeee. We talked about how the boat wants to round into the wind, and if you can't hold the tiller you end up going into the wind, and reefing the main then makes it easier to actually hold your course. They encouraged me to brace myself inside the cockpit, and we tossed all the slidey cushions into the cabin. When the cushions slide, that's when I get a little freaked (because I'm FALLING OUT OF THE BOAT, that's why). Getting rid of them helped a lot, as did hanging onto one side of the boat with an arm while hanging onto the tiller. Multiple body parts in contact with the boat = less panicky Martha.

We happily avoided a barge, and the sandbar on the other side, and then all the sailboats that were headed upriver. Good practice - and since I'm leeward, I think I have right of way. I really need to go back and study those rules. We were able to almost perfectly hold a close hauled course heading down river, with very little tacking needed. That was really nice for getting me more comfortable, and when tacking, I tried changing sides like I do on the dinghy, handling the tiller behind me.

Packing up went well, we motored in, avoided all the traffic (kayaks, impatient power boats, etc), and then got ready to dock. This time, there was actually a strong tailwind. Strong enough, actually, that I couldn't hold still in the slough! It was actually pushing me slightly upriver! So I started to do a 360 and then realized once I was much more perpendicular to the current, it compensated well for the wind. So, balancing the current and the wind, and closer to a 90 degree angle than I have been before, we headed in. Mark coached me a little bit - getting positioned within the row, but my speed was adjusted well enough that I was able to stand up on the seat and see the bow (I was standing on the starboard side - further from the tiller, but a really good view of Kim's boat). And I asked when I thought I could turn, the guys confirmed it, and it went in just as well as the last time, maybe even better (I probably could have turned a hair earlier). Totally awesome. What a scary learning curve, but I am getting a little less terrified. Actually, I'm not even sure my knees were shaking at the end. WOW!

LESSON: That wind affects you during docking more than you've realized, and it was super obvious this time. Keep an eye on it.

LESSON: Bungee the oven door shut unless you want all the pans falling out...again.

LESSON: KEEP LOOKING AT THE DOCK. Sheesh.

And here's the happy crew!

Outing #6, and it was a doozy!

On the weekend of the 27th, the OWSA cruising class wrapped up with a two night cruise on the Columbia River. I was lucky enough to have some experienced OWSA crew aboard - Gail, who's taken me under her wing, Dawn, who ran the class, and Linda, who's also relatively new to sailing but has taken to it like bandits.

We all had the day off on Friday, so we were able to leave early. I took it off since the whirlwind week of 1266.8 technology cert (don't ask), a Women @ Intel Networking Conference (energizing & morale booster), and the previous weekend in San Diego had me a wee bit behind in preparations. I had food to prepare (my crowd-pleasing standard, the cous-cous, and steel cut oats for breakfast - precooked so we only had to heat it). So it was an early morning, with a mad dash around for propane which ended up taking me to the Jubitz, a huge truck stop with only one poor attendant, a long line of people, and a propane meter that was broken, so he gave it to me for free, which was awfully nice.

We departed with very little fanfare (just one long horn toot) and it went relatively smoothly. We motored out a ways and then put the jib up since the wind was coming over our port side. We passed Dan working on his boat at PYC and waved and shouted a few things back & forth to each other that neither of us probably actually heard, and went along our merry way.

Getting the main up was challening because the jib was rather vigorously luffing on Linda when she went up to help raise the sail. Note: this is why we raise the main first - next time, we should furl the jib somewhat before raising the mainsail. From there on out, though, we were on broad reach and could just about point downwind. We had good wind for a while, but they got squirrely near the 205 bridge, and we ended up putting on the motor and

Gail had me practice with the tiller extender, which I still don't have much fondness for, but I can see the advantage when sailing. You can sit on the side of the boat and see around the sail much better. However, if the boat heels over, I really don't like being on the side because I slide around too much. I think I need some high friction shorts or something...

docking at Gov't Island went smoothly. I docked in front of another boat, but there were no other boats in front of me so I had plenty of space. The east dock is nice, although quite a bit further up. Damien & I were at this last fall, and the current is perpendicular to the dock, which makes departing pretty easy (as opposed to the west docks where there apparently is more of an angle). The other ladies started coming in an hour or so later - Go Propless (Julie, skipper), Mira (Karen), Baliwick (Lindasails), and Songbird (Katherine). We got to our potluck dinner rather late, since we were waiting for the last boat. Food was excellent - there were grilled veggies, lemon squares, salads, chicken, jalepeno poppers.

The facilities were overrun by mosquitoes, so we avoided them rather strenuously. Happily, the head pump replacement seems to have worked like a charm! It worked well all weekend.

We spent a fair amount of time working on the lines from the mast, bungeeing them off so they didn't clank at night - Linda & I put the main and the spinnaker halyards around the spreaders. This worked very well the first night, but we missed something the second night at Hayden Bay.



Breakfast was also potluck - the oatmeal and the excellent toppings that Gail brought went over well. Kay made her crustless quiche (she's gluten free) which we decided would be excellent with the jalepeno poppers inside, though it was already fantastic. The Ft Vancouver Power Squadron folks started coming in - Kathy walked around and asked people if they wanted a safety check done, which is voluntary but nice to have both for safety reasons & because it shows the sherrif & coast guard that you're a more educated boater. She was a wealth of information, also, and told me that the inflatable life jackets only count if people are actually wearing them. This was really useful to hear - it means the people who roll their eyes at being forced to wear a life jacket will now have to listen to me :-) It's not just the skipper being paranoid, it's the law! Apparently many people fail the safety check just for not having their registration on board. But I got all the requirements and most of the "extra credit". I do need to get a first aid kit on board - that was probably the biggest gap from my perspective.

Departure was leisurely - chatting, some folks went off walking. When it was finally time to go, we talked through how to leave (I prefer leaving with my people on the boat). I asked the gentleman across the way to reel in his fishing line since I thought (just in case) that my prop probably didn't want to meet his line, and he agreed. It wasn't a problem, but I wanted that backup plan just in case.

We ended up motoring downstream (I know, such a waste). But the wind was head-on, and we'd have had to tack back and forth, and most of the traffic was going upriver. It's a bit like driving down the street in the wrong direction. Linda was at the helm and was a real champ, and got us most of the way back. I docked it (happily, the other boat moved!), an nice side docking, and then we proceeded to bake in the sun. Baliwick came in, Kay docked it, and they put the Boom Room (TM) up, that Amy from NorthSails had lent them, and it did give them nice shade. They had to get on & off the boat at the shrouds, though, because otherwise there's little room to duck under the fabric to board. It was pretty neat - though not cheap (what in boating is, though?).

With that sun? We hit the POOL!!!! A heated pool so we didn't immediately turn into icecubes, and it was in the shade, so we didn't burn - it was PERFECT. Then off to obtain pizza of epic propoprtions, play "so you want to be a millionaire" with sailing questions, and finally collapse. I do note that our team won, thanks to some brilliant strategy suggestions by Gail.



The morning brought a potluck breakfast on Dawn's boat, which she'd brought in before we left on Friday (it's huge). I made more oatmeal, though not the steel cut oats, and off we went. More good food abounded. You don't starve on these cruises, that's for sure. When we departed, we went straight down to the pumpout dock, which went well (perhaps only because I was the only boat there). Gail wants me to focus on not popping the balloon when I touch the dock... Pumpout went fine, and we headed home.

Home docking - there was a bit more traffic, which makes it challenging because I like having the time to get adjusted to the current. However, since I got to hang out in the channel a bit, I did get more practice, and I think I was able to better judge how much I would be pushed back by the current once I turned into my row. I was able to come in slower than I have in the past, and with less gas on the pedal, so to speak. This gave me some time to actually look more at where the boat was coming into the slip. Getting that speed adjusted was really key, because the time I wasn't spending fiddling with the throttle I could spend looking to see where I was going. I told Gail this was the first time I really looked at the dock, and she laughed and said she was really, really glad that I was starting to look. Pretty sure that's going to be a good story filed away... It's true, though. I've been so focused on the person giving me direction and the throttle (which I was always giving too much juice) that I didn't have the luxury to look around.

SO, I guess the big lesson is: Look to see where your boat is relative to the dock when you are docking. Really, it does help.

And there are also a mind-boggling number of smaller lessons. I'm not sure how many I can remember now, but here they are, in no particular order:

Lesson - put the main up first. If you don't, the jib will beat on anyone who is helping / working on the mainsail.

Lesson - when faced with a wall of sailboats, recognize foreshortening. They're really more spaced out than they look.

Lesson - battery - keep one as starting battery, the other for lights / etc. Don't run on "both" as you'll run both down and you want starting battery to keep the most juice.

Lesson - working with the tiller extender does really help you see around the sail better. But works best if you're pulling, I think, not pushing.

Lesson - if you get good, you can read the wind on the water. I'm not that good, though. I still don't really see the puffs of wind on the water, unless it's super obvious.

Lesson - It is possible to back out of the dock if that works better for the wind. I think I need to practice how much to turn the rudder for this manouver, but it does work (that's how we left the pumpout station, since the wind was pushing us into the dock)



Other lists:
sink faucet keeps popping out
possible allergies on boat - wipedown may be in order
loading the boat with the cart worked nicely
clothespins
more dish detergent
first aid kit
mosquito repellant
fix screen on boat window
about 1.5 icebags per day
need to buy a small cooler
need to check fuel consumption, packing gland
need gloves for when I pump out the head holding tank.
Still need to make my checkout list - post on the door?
Need multimeter to check electrical, battery supply.

Well, that went better than expected...

Changing the head pump went better than expected, which probably means it will fail catastrophically during the OWSA cruise, but I should just revel in the success and completion for the moment.

Before heading to the boat this fine, overcast Saturday morning, I met up with the Yacht Constructors Breakfast Club (I've added the caps...). The Cascade Owners group I found online at multiply.com has a small group of like-minded folk who get together for breakfast every week, alternating between a golf course and a bar on Hayden Island. Since I had to be up that direction anyway, I refrained from my breakfast and met up with them. Now, this bar is one of those little hole-in-the-wall places, with glass doors that have been painted black on the inside, and dark paneling. I boldly walked in and then somewhat anxiously scanned the room looking for people who looked like they owned boats. Don't ask me what that looks like! Actually, the folks who waved me over were the ones who I would have picked out - one had a book open on the table, and I could see there were some drawings / diagrams in them, which made them the most likely candidates anyway.

I met Mike, Mark, Alec, Cheryl, and Bruce. Don, who invited me, was not present, and "Big Tom", one of the Cascade 29 owners is teaching English in Korea. Apparently a group of them go down to his boat in La Paz, Mexico in the winter and help him restore his boat and generally hang out. They were very welcoming, and obviously enjoy talking about boats and trips and offshore sailing. They also kindly volunteered some hints about the boat, like pump lots of fresh water through the head before changing it (already on the plan, but great advice). They also noted that the tubing I had for the waste was the wrong kind - a potable water tube that will eventually start to smell, so that should go on the list of things to upgrade. Alec said he had loads of that tubing. Really, I continue to be impressed with the kindness of the boating community. I will definitely go back!

For the head pump changeover, I brought plenty of paper towels, Clorox wipes, and plastic baggies to tape over the ends of the hoses & to try to catch some of the water that drained out. Overall, water drainage was pretty minimal, but there was some in the pump and at the bottom of the discharge tube, as expected. The flapper valve was in the "Do Not Install this way" position, so the new one went in according to the manual. Probably the hardest part was getting the discharge tube off the nozzle, which took a fair amount of persistent tuggling and wiggling.

I rewarded myself with a shower and a waffle from the waffle house!

A filled-to-bursting weekend. Outing #5

So, on June 7th I ventured out for boating / sailing experience #5. This time it was fearless Gail from OWSA who was my experienced coach, and she (besides being incredibly enthusiastic and encouraging) is also very knowledgable. We got the boat out with the minimum of fuss - walking it back as is my preference. Before we left, though, we did see my neighbor's sailboat - also a 27' - departing and helped walk it back (he swung the bow a bit early). Apparently that boat has 3 owners, and John (and Soleil?) are one set of owners. It was interesting watching them depart - we noted that he was closer to the other side that I would have been comfortable with, and muscled it out a bit with the engine. It was interesting to see the different (more confident) approach.

We had just left the row with minimal drama (the engine had a rough start - almost like the cylinder was sticking, and then it smoothed out), when a figure on the floating home across the way shouted to Gail... It was Helen! So we did a quick touch & go dock not too far from her and picked her up ("hey sailor, you going my way?"), which was both good side docking practice and later really critical to our head pumpout success.

The head pumpout station by the bridge is positioned at an angle to the current, and in such a way as to pin the boat to the dock! We realized this after docking & finding I couldn't power the boat forward at all, nor could I (with the rudder alone) move it out. Well, we pumped out the tank (on the 2nd station, since of course the first one we attempted to use was not functioning). Departing took discussion and Gail's recommendation was the winner - Helen pulled the stern in, Gail pushed it out, I had the engine going & the tiller turned. Effectively, we had to get the current to stop pushing so hard against the keel & give the engine a fighting chance. It worked! Departure was smooth, but that had been worrisome.

Then, we putt-putted out to sail. Going up against the current creates more wake (a note for the future). The wind was overall pretty light - in the 5mph range was my guess. But we hauled up the main, got the jib out, and were able to go upriver, albeit slowly. Gail, racer that she is, instructed me more on trimming the sails and I now better understand what the Cunningham and the Downhaul (if I'm remembering the term correctly) do to the shape of the sail. She's a wonderful instructor.

We didn't sail for terribly long - maybe 45 minutes, but had our share of excitement with hitting a log (no obvious immediate damage done to the prop / rudder, though it remains to be seen if there was something more subtle). It amazes me how there is a magnetic attraction of any floating debris to boats, when it's an awfully big river.

Returning went relatively smoothly. I actually had some good practice compensating for the current when we were chatting with Helen before we picked her up. Entering the row, Gail kept an eye on the bow and gave me hand signals (this is very useful) and Helen relayed shouted instructions to make sure I heard. This worked very well. The docking went very smoothly - we did indeed use the docking lines, and this is now firmly adopted in my POR methods as a better way to give my crew control over the boat when docking. Helen & Gail showed me how disconnecting the main halyard was nice & kept at least one banging line from, well, banging against the mast in the wind. I really need to get more bungees on board in preparation for the cruise...

We heard from Kim, that John & Soleil, upon returning, had bumped the boat on the piling on the other side, having come in too far downstream and (possibly) too much at a right angle to the current. Kim said she heard "S**T!" and came up to see that they'd scraped the piling (there was some white paint present). I suspect that John may be a little less experienced than Greg in boat handling?

On the way out, I learned that Scamp, a Cascade at my marina (already verified as hull #1), is actually hull #1 for the 27's, made in 1978! For some reason, I thought it was the original, original Cascade #1. So, less impressive, but still pretty darn cool. I need to weasel my way onto that boat to get a look around.

Lessons for the Day. Whew! Great docking practice and learning how to manipulate the boat at the dock to deal with the current by pulling the stern in. Learning that the cunningham pulls the sail down by hooking into a ring near the bottom of the sail. That the downhaul pulls in the bottom of the sail a bit and tightens everything up.

Here are my awesome OWSA women:


And with all of that, I still made it to the China Mieville reading at Powells with time to spare, and picked up his new novel (signed!) and two books on boat repair. Gonna need 'em. I also started Batkus scarf found through Ravelry which I'm already liking more than the sock (no pooling). And worked on my sweater, thanks to Karen and Kathryn, pro-knitters that Annmarie had a lesson with on Saturday. Very full weekend! (I need to get some knitting photos on here!!)

My Tree Attacked My Garden

Quite a bit of wind kicked up tonight as a thunderstorm rolled through. I miss thunderstorms. I loved the seeing pouring rain on a hot DC day drenching the street and filling the air with hot, steamy asphalt smells. Or crazy lightening storms while hunkered down in the attic in Ithaca with my roommates to watch the show. But we don't get much of that around here. However, I could have done without this one storm, though, as it finally took down tree #2 in the front yard in the parking strip. Tree #1 was replaced last year (it's replacement fared poorly and didn't make it through the winter). Tree #2 should have been replaced last year, but the City Arborist wouldn't give me a permit to remove & replace it then. I somehow suspect this time he will, since it is half gone already.

But in the meantime, the large piece of tree that fell on my front yard (no people, no babies in strollers, no dogs, and apparently no squirrels either) did manage to do damage to my Flying Dragon plant and my new Daphne. I was just clucking over that daphne, too, and being pleased that THIS one seemed to be doing well, unlike the smaller one that I managed to kill last year. Thankfully the branch knocked over but did not break my two fledgling apple trees, which are still just sticks with a few leaves on them.



So between meeting up with the wallpaper-removal-guy and my evening meeting with Malaysia, I got to whip out the chainsaw and detach the branch from the tree so I could clear the sidewalk. (Afterwards I pounded my chest and let out a Tarzan yell. Well, no, I didn't really, but I should have, because I am just THAT MACHO. All 5'3" of me. Hear me Roar!)

I see this tree thing costing me another 1.5-2 housing units. Sigh.

Sunday, May 31st - Outing #4

Today was another beautiful day for being out on the water - predicted 85F and light winds. I headed out to the boat a little early, since I like to take my time getting ready, and I was also taking the opportunity to study the head pump replacement kit further. It looks as though it should be pretty straightforward, if I can empty out as much of the water in the bowl as possible (perhaps flushing extra water through the system). Of course, all of this will be done with one hand, since the other will be pinching my nose shut and mouth breathing...

Oil level was at about 75%, and already turning dark. I'll just be keeping track of the engine hours from here on out - two hours added today!

Dan and Doris arrived early, excellent boaters that they are. Dan looked at the anchor with me as I was soliciting his opinion on mounting location / security. Both were OK after we determined that the jib will clear the anchor, though just barely. Earlier, I had also pulled out all the chain and rope (which is nicely marked - 30, 60, 90, 120, 150-ish, 200-ish feet - and I found the bitter end which I bungeed to someplace more accessible than at the bottom of a large chain and rope pile. I wanted to make sure if we needed it, we could get the anchor out quickly. While I was finding the bitter end of things, I also dug it out of the lifesling to the stanchion, per Gail's advice.

Dan also brought some extra fenders, for which I will have to thank him again. He and Doris are both being so wonderfully supportive as I whine my way through this whole process.

When we cast off, we did it without walking the boat back, which was a lot harder. Dan cast off the bow first, before we had the stern and spring line undone, and so the bow tried to swing into Kim's boat (eek!). Doris kept us off of it, and I backed it up, got a little help to see when I was clear, and then gunned it out. Getting a bit more of a feel for what it takes, but I'd swear the current was moving extra fast today. My knees were still trembling.

We motored out, and up a ways - about to the 42nd street dock with just the jib up to test the wind. We then hoisted the mainsail and truly sailed for maybe only 45 minutes. It was (in my mind) relatively crowded, but they were supportive in my desire to talk out what the nearby boats - especially the sailboats - were doing. I think as I get more comfortable with the sailing process itself, and how long it takes to change direction, this will get better. Practice, practice, practice.

We took the sail down out on the river for plenty of space. We actually motored well past my row, down near the bridge, so Dan could show me where the head pumpout station is. Happily, it's a port side tie, and there are two pumpout stations. We then puttputted our way back to my row. The current is so hard to judge - I was getting pushed away from the entrance and gunned it to get in & keep my stern from hitting, but then I had too much speed. I need to figure out how to keep the boat a little closer to the side of the dock that freaks me out, so I have more of a clear space to turn. But if I turn when I start to see Kim's boat, that seemed to be about right. My success for the day was that I looked up to see what was going on instead of looking with tunnel vision at the throttle. Kind of hard to drive if all you're doing is looking at the pedals, you know? No damage done, but definitely a bit faster than I should have. Good news? I think the dock-lines tied to the boat will work better, and I will continue this in the future (and in fact, be more specific about where I want the lines).

Now, take a look at these champions, who not only are kind enough to come out with my on my boat and coach me through many things, but are also sweet & gracious enough to thank me at the end of it...



Lesson for the day: Look up and try to see where the boat is going. Do this more. And remember, if you're going to screw up docking and be swept away by the current, try to arrange it so the boat gets pushed against the logs, not the pilings, since you already have bumpers on that side of the boat.

(And you still need to practice manouvering the boat in your slip, just working with the current and small manouvers to feel how it responds). And look up the difference between jib & tack again. And I still need to figure out whether teak oil is good for the cabin floor or not, and I need to test the propane stove / amount of propane.

Sunday May 24th...Maintenence

I failed to mention that yesterday I was able to gather just about all of the equipment necessary to change the oil in the boat engine. Greg (next boat neighbor)had pointed me to Sextant's Marine, where they anticlimactically were able to pull exactly what I needed, right off the shelf. This is, of course, after considerable time spent gathering up part numbers and poring through the manual.

I also failed to mention yesterday how completely difficult the docking was. We missed my slip entirely - having turned too late - and ended up just starting to enter Greg's slip. Of course, I'm in full panic mode at this point, but with a lot of guidance and tugging Alice and Paul were able to get the boat into the slip. We later watched Greg get into his slip, and he started turning a full 2 slips away. So that gives me a little bit of an idea of how early I can turn, while the inertia will still take the boat into the slip. Yeah, so this one freaked me out enough so I cried, which I'm not proud of. Good thing I'm really stubborn.

But today, we're past all of that, and we went to go change the engine oil. Overall, it went smoothly, following Rhapsody J/30's online instructions. I would change a few things for next time... I would warm the engine up more (more like 10-15 minutes rather than 5). I will get another method for pumping out the oil, because I don't like all the excess tubing full of oil that needs to be managed. And the pump leaked just enough so I got it all over my hands. And it was really, really slow. I will tape down the container and hoses again - I thought this worked well to prevent my spraying oil everywhere or accidentally bumping the container over.

I plan to do this again in a relatively short # of hours of operation, because the oil was just so black, and I'd like to get it more cleaned out.

Other boat maintenence - trying to get the anchor mount adjusted. I need to bungee or otherwise tie up (with my non-existent knot-knowledge) the anchor. And I sanded some of the teak that has peeling varnish - just starting to chip away at this process.

Another Lesson of the Day: With the current coming over the bow, the boat responds to the tiller like you are going forward, even when you are being walked back from the dock. This is why you freak out because the bow isn't doing what it is supposed to be doing when you are in reverse. Because it's not. Think about it.

And that's it for boat stuff for today. THis of course doesn't mention the 1/2 yard of compost I spread over my front yard, or the scarf I finally finished and blocked. More on those later, I guess... And one of these days, I'll get the clay back in here, too.

Saturday May 23rd...Outing #3

Today's sailing adventure was brought to you by the Newmans and their friends Dutch & Alice, who are old hands at sailing. The weather forecast was ideal: 6-8 MPH winds, with a high in the low-70's. A sunny-but-not-too-hot Saturday was actually less crowded than I thought it would be. We cast off with a minimum of fuss. I still don't feel in control of the boat as it gets walked back the dock - it feels as though the bow swings around and I don't have control over it.

We slowly worked our way out to the river, and then hoisted the mainsail while facing into the wind (to make it easier to raise the sail). The wind was coming from the W/NW, and so we were able to run on a broad reach for much of the time. We jibed a few times and that went smoothly, and kept working our way upriver towards the bridge. The way they talked about the jibing, it sounds like it went much more smoothly than they might have expected. I think I find tacking harder, because you have to tighten up the sail so much more when you're more in a close-reach situation. We did make it past the sea scout base, but did not venture all the way to the bridge. I was pleased to note that we were (for a little while) keeping up with another sailboat that was under motor!

There were a number of sailboats out, all headed upriver. Mental note - you can learn a lot looking at the other sailboats and how they have their sails trimmed. Some have their sails very tight and heel over (without needing to). Alice, Kathleen & I all prefer the boat to heel over less rather than more, so we got along just fine.

Close reach is a lot harder, I think. Harder to keep the wind balanced, and of course it doesn't help if you get a little panicky when the boat heels more than you're comfortable with. We tacked on the way back - it's trickier with boats coming towards you - you have to plan out when you are going to tack (say, waiting until a boat is just past you, to tack before another boat would cross your path. I probably need to spend more time with the sailboat right-of-way material.

There were also a number of logs, which we did a pretty good job of spotting and avoiding. When not engaged in conversation, that is. I know now that I've been a passive passenger in the past on other people's boats (Sorry Dan & Doris) and I had no idea how much attention you really need to pay to where you are going. That's actually one of the hard things - is trying to do the whole sailing bit when people are talking (sometimes two at a time, sometimes both at you) when maybe you need to figure something out.

We took down the sails on the early side - before entering the slough, because the current was fast and I didn't want to panic about getting too close to something while also trying to keep the boat into the wind. However, in thinking about this rationally, there are benefits to doing this closer to shore - the wind drops off. And when you're more out in the river, there is more wake and more wind (but LOTS of space to manoeuver).

Other things... I think for my comfort level, keeping to four total might be a bit less tight in the cockpit. I had four wonderful, very patient people, but it was sometimes a bit crowded, and I'm over-sensitive to stress in the boat right now. .

I met (again) Greg, my other neighbor, who went out sailing with one other person. He's obviously a hugely experienced pro at this - just zipped out and cruised out, nary a flinch. I wonder how many outings it will take for me to be that blase' about it?

LESSON OF THE DAY:
Try the docking with lines attached to the boat rather than the dock lines. Alice made a very good point that it gives those helping the process a much better opportunity to control the boat and help pull it in. This seems glaringly obvious in retrospect, and we will do this next time. Once the boat is under control, we can always change lines over for the old dock lines if needed.

Next plans:
Get some practice just with the early part of the casting off - I want to get more comfortable with how the boat moves in& out of the slip when it's all lined up.. We could tie a long line, and have someone at the bow to keep me from doing anything too stupid (like, nudging Kim's boat), and I could just pull it in & out a few times.

Get a better feeling for how shallow the sandbar is entering the river proper. Maybe talk to Greg when I see him again? His boat will definitely have a deeper draft.

Work on a checklist for people on the boat - it should include all the safety items, not hanging on the dodger (holding for balance, yes - using it to hoist yourself, no). Show people how to use the auto-tailing winches, how many wraps, and how quickly to let loose the lines when tacking or jibing.

May 16, docking experience #2

This Saturday, it was back to the boat and not letting myself chicken out. This time, Allison and Brian came out, both of whom have more experience than I do. Allison was a dream - I guess there's nothing like working with a bunch of teenage girls in sea scouts to make one ready to handle a worrywart adult female. Although I think I was able to whine with the best of them.

My slip neighbor Kim was also out, sunning herself and just hanging out with her dog. She definitely socializes a lot with the other folks on the dock - I think it's great how much she's out there. She's definitely getting her money's worth out of her boat!

No problems getting the boat out of the dock, though I still don't feel comfortable with it. THe boat seemed to want to swing wide, and I thought I had the rudder pointed in the right direction. I think if I have two people with me, I'll have one person watch the bow, and one the stern to make sure the current doesn't creep up on me while I'm keeping the bow away from the other boats. My tendency will certainly be to stay further away from the boats in the slips, and that could get my stern caught.

So, we motored out of the slough, raised the mainsail and unfurled the jib and... kind of sat. The current was strong, and the wind was relatively light and coming more from the northwest (so it was the right direction but not strong enough). We ended up motorsailing for a bit. We tried a little wing-on-wing action, we were in broad reach for a while, but no matter what, we were slowly being pushed downstream. We did have the motor off for a bit when the wind was slightly higher. But it was sunny and clear and at least we were out. It is kind of entertaining that we were out for two hours with the bow pointing upriver and moving downriver the whole time.

We started to head in a little after 5PM, and (for future timing references) were actually leaving about 6:30PM. It would have taken a little less time, but we stopped to practice on the little PYC dock again to get a feel for the current and the angle of the boat, which was useful and a lower (I wouldn't call it low) stress way to get a little more comfortable. And we actually docked well there. Leaving those slide slips is so much easier than the real slip - you pretty much just fall away into the current and don't over steer so you don't bump the stern into the dock.

The actual docking went much smoother than last time (though I'd swear there were even more witnesses around!). Allison & Brian coached me on the position of the bow and when I needed to nudge the speed a bit. it was a little difficult getting the lines on, but it was done w/o too much fuss. I wonder if I should have a spring line ready just in case the regular lines are being difficult. That might be useful.

TODAY's LESSON: crabbing across the slough with plenty of room to chicken out was a nice, lower stress way to get aligned for entering the row, rather than coming in relatively close and needing to get the angle & speed correct while already surrounded by boats & docks.

I am also constantly amazed at who emerges with sailing and boating skill. It turns out my neighbor Tom has a huge amount of boating experience, and has moved boats from Mexico. How cool is that? He's definitely being added to my list of sailors to take out!

There's still a lot of work to be done on the boat, but I did enjoy being out today, and next Saturday is already scheduled, so I'll keep at it!

Sailing Experience #1

So, on Sunday May 3rd, with the help of a very patient friend with lots of boating experience, and two less experienced crew, I took out MY boat for the very first time. Margie I met through OWSA, and she's a sweetheart - so enthusiastic and willing to just head out anytime! Kevin I've know forever, and he's just enthusiastic, if inexperienced. Dan I've know for a few years and have been a passenger on his boat. I may have been sailing on it once, but more recent trips have involved the motor, and generally rain. Funny how opening day does that to you.

But, my experience. Despite forecasts of 50% rain, and some torrential downpours the day before (that would have been Opening Day...), we left the dock with some beautiful blue skies. Casting off went relatively smoothly - Dan walked it back, I was on the tiller trying not to screw things up, and away we went. Heartpounding. We hung out a little bit - never actually going out to the river, and got a feel for how much power was needed to overcome the current, how quickly she would turn (in comparison to the Catalina 25 we used for docking practice, I thought the Cascade could turn very quickly).

Dan then had me scootch up to the PYC dock that is across from all of their slips and practice side slip docking - just doing a touch & go. That was very effective, though the first time I managed to flip all the fenders onto the dock and scuff the boat. At least I wasn't going fast enough to do real damage. The next several went much better.

Lesson #1: do not aim for the corner of the dock. You'll flip your fenders onto the dock.

Margie took a turn at the tiller, and Kevin basked in the sunshine on the bow and pointed out items of possible concern in the water. "boat". "buoy". "log". "ducklings". A most attentive watchman.

Getting the boat back into the slip was a lot harder. The row entrance seemed absolutely tiny, and so the first pass I actually bailed and didn't go in, I was too freaked. The second I went in, keeping more upstream, and then Dan told me when to swing the bow. Which would have been effective if I had actually been able to believe it was OK to swing it, and then completely forgotten which way to move the tiller in my anxiety. We got it docked, and there may have been some added scuff marks on the boat, but again, no big damage.

My knees were weak.

Oh, and Kim - the woman who owns the boat next door? Also got to witness it. But we didn't hit her boat, so all's good.

Tomorrow, I will go again. Not chickening out yet, as much as I would like to.

Clear.com in Portland

I am not an early adopter. But I am cheap (err, thrifty). And with a really nice employee discount I have been lured into signing up for clear.com, the WiMAX broadband option that is now availble in Portland (Oregon). Here are my impressions so far: 1) easy sign up (hey, they had a booth in the cafeteria) 2) plug & play, literally. You go onto the web, login with the username they send you in the email, create your password, and voila, you're on the web. Now, there's a bit of a catch-22 here...the activation was done by getting an email & doing web-activation. However, I'd bet they can do it over the phone if you really had NO internet access. But really, how easy can you get? Take it out of the box, plug into the wall, see if you get a decent signal indicated by the LED's on the top of the antenna. The power cord has a nice, really LONG cable, so you have good options for getting it plugged in. No weird modem software setup. Nothing. Just plug it in and go.

The phone was just as easy. Plug it all in, hook up the phone, and activate the account on the web (read through all the e911 stuff, it is important). It assigns the phone number immediately. Bada bing, bada boom, a few minutes later, you're making calls with the new phone. Voicemail - first time calling in, it gets you all set up and babies you through changing your password.

I had to poke around just a bit to find out how to port my existing phone number over - it was in the additional phone numbers menu, but really - also super simple. I think that takes a bit (30 days?), and you do have to have an active phone number to be able to port your specific number.

All in all? So far, I'm impressed. Check back once I actually have the wireless router set up. That may be the PITA.

Digging Deep to find the Motivation

Well, the past few weeks, New Years Resolutions notwithstanding, I've been very unmotivated. Sure, I'm up and off to work as usual, and I've been plugging soundly away there. I'd hope they have no complaints. No, this is at-home, looking around at the projects and the things I could be doing, and instead I sit on the computer, wasting time. Lots of time on Facebook (which is a bit like a party and catching snippets of conversation). Catching up in bits & pieces with friends from high school. Dreaming up ways to better market Common Ground (I think I have a pretty good list, too). But er, nothing specifically productive.

I haven't even felt like knitting. A whole week, and I managed a few inches on the sweater cable, which is not a whole lot. I really would like it to be magically on the stockinette brain-dead part, but there are too many decisions to be made still, and hard parts.

Today was a slight change - I'm still arguing myself into doing things, but at least I'm starting to win. I made it out for a 25 minute swim, with lots of breaks. I dropped off D's dry cleaning. I washed the car, made cabbage for tonight's potluck, made steel cut oatmeal for breakfasts this week, and got some bread dough rising. I finally replaced the broken plastic piece on the mini (aka "the princess"). I think the only reason I managed the stuff on the car was the lack of rain - and the fact that this was within the 2 weeks of coming home that I felt I had to get it done. You know how it is - when you have broken something, there's a certain period of time where it bugs you enough to want to fix it. once that time passes, it becomes background noise, and something else broken distracts you. I figure it's about two weeks.

Will the motivation stay? Will I finally get back into the studio? Will I pick back up the knitting? Time will tell...

Bread Cheat Experiments (WIP) - using Pizza Dough

Just before Christmas, my neighbor had a Solstice Party that had loads and loads of delicious baked goods. One item that was revealed was a lovely loaf of bread that the baker (Rick?) had made using 2 pizza doughs from New Seasons (my best guess is that this was a total of 2 lbs of dough). He'd baked it in a dutch oven, along the lines of the no-knead bread dough recipes. I thought this was brilliant, and I've been experimenting to recreate it... with some success.

Damien brought home some dough from Schmitza (2 bags of their largest size - 28 oz), and off I went

Attempt #1: It's best if you remove the bottom...
I used Cooks Illustrated almost-no-knead-dough as a reference, but this created some issues. First and foremost, it had me lower the rack to the lowest setting. This, combined with my oiling the pan, resulted in a "burnt-crispy" bottom, as D would say. The top looked great, and the rest of the crust - that which wasn't burnt-crispy - was delicious. So, we cut off the bottom and rapidly consumed the loaf.

Notes: 450F (Cooks' suggested 500F preheat, and then lowering to 425, but I followed NYT for this instead). Preheated dutch oven & lid(which is seasoned, and tends to burn off its seasoning - less than ideal and tends to flavor the bread with a rather smokey taste). I lined the dutch oven with Aluminum foil in an attempt to keep the seasoning from flavoring the bread too much. I 'm not sure if this helped or not, or if it contributed to burning. Baking times: 450F covered for 30 min, 15 min uncovered.

Attempt #2: Using Calphalon 12" Everyday pan (anodized aluminum, no non-stick coating). Did look on-line to check on oven-safe-ness, with limited success.

Again using 450F, preheating the pot, and baking covered for 30 min, and uncovered for 15. I added parchment paper underneath the bread to help reduce sticking, which did work nicely, though 450F is pushing it (the box said 420 was the max...)

If I'm going to ever do the no-knead bread dough more frequently, though, I'm really going to have to get an enameled dutch oven with an oven-safe knob, not a plastic one that will die above 400F. I've wanted one for a while, and Cook's Illustrated likes the Travertina (?) from Walmart, of all places, as an economical alternative to Le Crueset. This may actually get me into a Walmart for the first time in Portland, like, ever.

And the verdict is...BURNT CRISPY. Doggonit. I think the no-knead dough, with its GOBS more water, bakes differently on the bottom in this situation. I'm thinking, actually, that maybe I should be baking this, well, like normal bread? What a concept. Maybe it is time to roll out the pizza stone again.

Sigh. Pictures later.