Ketchikan, AK to San Francisco, CA

Fellow TFers,

I have just arrived home after bringing my new-to-me Krogen 54 from Ketchikan, AK to the San Francisco Bay Area. I flew out three weeks ago with Jeff, my first mate and spent the first week doing a shakedown cruise and some maintenance. Exactly two weeks ago today we left Ketchikan. Last Tuesday we arrived in Anacortes, WA, dropped off all the crew except my first mate, and then headed out down the coast. We only stopped last night in Drakes Bay, Point Reyes, CA and came under the Golden Gate Bridge at around noon today. Stillwater is now safely in her new slip at Westpoint Harbor in Redwood City, CA.

That's the short version. I'm too tired to write any more tonight. I will do a more thorough write up later in the week when I get my head back in landlubber mode. Suffice to say it was an adventure packed with amazing experiences.

Here's a teaser picture of Stillwater tucked into Rushbrooke Harbor in Prince Rupert, BC, Canada.



Once I'm finished with my cigar and cognac, I'm off to bed - those three hour watches take it out of you!

Richard
Stillwater
1988 Krogen 54

Welcome to the Bay Area. Staying long?

markpierce said:

Welcome to the Bay Area. Staying long?

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Yes - I've lived here for 25 years! I bought the boat while she was in Ketchikan and just delivered her here. Hopefully we can meet up on the water sometime when I join one of the local TF cruises.

Richard

Really glad to hear it went well for you and Jeff. Welcome home!

Can't wait to hear the entire story. The Admiral and I brought our boat from Oakley CA to the Columbia River about a year and half ago. I am interested in your trip down Jaun De Fuca and down the coast of WA. How far out you went, issues with crab pots, weather ect.

Fantastic! can't wait for more..... get some sleep

Alaskan Sea-Duction said:

Can't wait to hear the entire story. The Admiral and I brought our boat from Oakley CA to the Columbia River about a year and half ago. I am interested in your trip down Jaun De Fuca and down the coast of WA. How far out you went, issues with crab pots, weather ect.

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I'll post more later - but I'll answer your specific questions. We were lucky to hit a patch of very calm weather leaving Anacortes. We had winds mostly less than 10kt until the last part of the California coast. Sea state was NW swell 2-4' at 12s most of the way. San Juan de Fuca was as flat as a pancake. We stayed about 20-30nm offshore all the way down the coast. No crab pots that far out - too deep.

The weather built near Pt Reyes, CA and the sea state worsened. But that's another story for later...

Richard

Cool. Did you hit Jaun De Fuca at slack? What time? Thanks for the response. I have mapped my route on Active Cap't to be at least 20nm off shore for the trip up and around the horn. As I get to know the aera better, I will take the "short cut" around Cape Flattery. I am figuring I can do Astoria to Neay Bay in about 13.5 hours.

When I came down from Neah Bay to the mouth of the Columbia it took 23 hrs at 7knts.

Weather permitting I plan at least 12kts. My boat sweet spot is 14-15kts, but that is a chevron moment.

Alaskan Sea-Duction said:

Cool. Did you hit Jaun De Fuca at slack? What time? Thanks for the response. I have mapped my route on Active Cap't to be at least 20nm off shore for the trip up and around the horn. As I get to know the aera better, I will take the "short cut" around Cape Flattery. I am figuring I can do Astoria to Neay Bay in about 13.5 hours.

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We saw ebb and flood currents. It took us about 10 hours at 7.5kt average so we inevitably saw a couple of tide changes. We left at 1430 on 4/7/15 at the tail end of an ebb. We saw the next flood and the beginning of the following ebb before we rounded Cape Flattery. The currents weren't that large - maybe 1 kt or so max. The advantage of being in a slow trawler is that the currents tend to average out over a day!

We turned south about 6-7 nm beyond Cape Flattery and then gradually eased offshore to around 20-30nm depending on what the coastline was doing.

I hope that helps

Richard

Here's what San Juan de Fuca looked like at sunset that day

Hello Richard. I met you on the dock at Rushbrook. Glad that the trip went well. You may not remember me but I enjoyed meeting you (and the crew) and I'm happy you are home safe and sound. Take care and be safe.

Ted

Richard, Pleased to hear that the trip was successful. Amazing time given the season, truly a fine sea trial!! Sorry we had not the opportunity to meet, came to the boat on an occasion however nobody home. Trust you enjoyed the area as you could in the short time.
I am passing your post on to Dave Johnson. He will be pleased.
Best Regards,
Al

TedB-BC said:

Hello Richard. I met you on the dock at Rushbrook. Glad that the trip went well. You may not remember me but I enjoyed meeting you (and the crew) and I'm happy you are home safe and sound. Take care and be safe.

Ted

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Ted,

What a small world (or a large forum). Yes I remember you - how was the apple pie?

You met us after the trip across Chatham Sound - we really shouldn't have been out there that day as you well know. We had a nice day recovering in Prince Rupert and visited all the local sights - Rona hardware, Saanich Plumbing and Napa! We were real cruisers that day. To be fair we ate a wonderful dinner that night at the Cow Bay Cafe. I had the duck - it was wonderful - and a creme brûlée afterwards. The next day was a pleasant jaunt down Grenville Channel and a night in Coghlan Anchorage just off Wright Sound. A Nordahvn 60 joined us for the night - they were on their way north to Ketchikan.

All the best

Richard

Al said:

Richard, Pleased to hear that the trip was successful. Amazing time given the season, truly a fine sea trial!! Sorry we had not the opportunity to meet, came to the boat on an occasion however nobody home. Trust you enjoyed the area as you could in the short time.
I am passing your post on to Dave Johnson. He will be pleased.
Best Regards,
Al

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Al,

I'm so sorry we didn't connect. It was a busy time trying to get us ready to leave. We had a rather aggressive schedule and much to do before setting off. Our shakedown cruise in Rudyerd Bay and Punchbowl Cove was in itself the trip of a lifetime. Quite amazing. Here's a picture



Thanks for letting Dave know - I'll drop him a line too. Mike and Molly Benson were terrific too. Mike spent 11 hours on the Friday to fix our Hynautic controls and do a full engine service. He's exceptionally thorough. I was very glad to have a reliable engine, very happy indeed.

I'll be back to visit again - I loved Ketchikan. I'll likely fly back next year for a visit.

Richard

Richard

I like your style. Just do it, with a minimum of fuss and chatter. Enjoy the Bay area and the fine folks down there.

Hey Richard,

Thanks. You seemed to hit San Juan De Fuca at the right time! I have heard some horror stories about that area......

Alaskan Sea-Duction said:

Hey Richard,

Thanks. You seemed to hit San Juan De Fuca at the right time! I have heard some horror stories about that area......

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I guess I got lucky. How bad does it get? I saw 15'-18' wind waves and 50kt winds in Chatham Sound. After that I wasn't worried about this part of the journey...

Richard

sunchaser said:

Richard

I like your style. Just do it, with a minimum of fuss and chatter. Enjoy the Bay area and the fine folks down there.

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Now that he has the boat down here we'll try to help him enjoy it. Missed him at Pittsburgh and I missed the USCG tour but we Bay Area TF'ers tend to get together a few times per year.

Congrats on the successful delivery run Richard.

sunchaser said:

Richard

I like your style. Just do it, with a minimum of fuss and chatter. Enjoy the Bay area and the fine folks down there.

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Thanks so much. I can't wait to enjoy Stillwater down here in my old stomping grounds. Everywhere is going seem new all over again. I'm looking forward to meeting up with more TF folks down here too.

Richard

CPseudonym said:

Now that he has the boat down here we'll try to help him enjoy it. Missed him at Pittsburgh and I missed the USCG tour but we Bay Area TF'ers tend to get together a few times per year.

Congrats on the successful delivery run Richard.

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Craig,

Thanks - looking forward to meeting you at the next SF TF event.

Richard

Congratulations on getting your Krogen home.

Wxx3 said:

Congratulations on getting your Krogen home.

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Thanks Richard. My journey aboard Stillwater has only served to increase my admiration for Krogen. No doubt you feel the same way. I have never skippered a power boat before and I was frankly blown away by the performance of the Krogen 54 in some very difficult seas. I have the utmost respect for the boat and her designer.

Ok, so the engine room is more of a crawl space. But that never deterred me from going down and whispering sweet nothings to my John Deere even in 18' seas. I turns out that even in big seas it's not that hard to do the engine room checks. And if anyone questions the value of them - on one we found a 5 gal diesel can that contained hydraulic fluid had been poorly stowed and fallen against the belts - which had already melted a long gash in the can. None had spilled, the belts were still fine, but I cannot begin to imagine what would have happened if we had left it much longer. Needless to say, the next day I removed everything from the engine room that wasn't bolted down. No oil, no fluids - nothing that could possibly move. All in the lazarette now.

Never short change your engine room checks - not even in (especially in) big seas.

I hope all is well in the Emerald Isle.

Richard