ASD and the Inside Passage

rochepoint said:

14 hours running time Astoria to Neah Bay, hope you had a great trip. Looking forward to the updates and photos. Welcome to the PNW!

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Yes! Now ASD, cross on over to paradise.

Mike; what you tracking them with?
Marine traffic has had them stuck off La Push for the last 4 hours.

Hawgwash said:

Yes! Now ASD, cross on over to paradise.

Mike; what you tracking them with?
Marine traffic has had them stuck off La Push for the last 4 hours.

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Hawgwash, yes AIS stalled out at La Push but the Spot just kept on tracking. Now safe and sound in Neah Bay tied to the dock........

Hope they don't mind the armchair stalking.........

Chapter 2

After 13 hours of a slightly uncomfortable ride we are sitting in Neah Bay. Left Astoria at 0600m just as the sun was peaking over the mountains. We contemplating leaving earlier, but were scared of crab pots. As the sun broke we were in the middle of the Columbia River Bar. Mid-Channel had swells at 6 feet, but calm. As we got further into it the wind was blowing from the south and made for "confused seas." Once we were clear of the North Jetty and Peacock area, we turned NNW out to sea. Once we were a few miles, we got out of the Columbia River zone and the seas were fine with a south wind, wind waves 2 feet and swells at 8 feet, 13 seconds apart. Raised the Cats to a purr at 2150rpms and we were on our way at 12 kts.

Our first waypoint would put us off shore 33.5 miles. We saw whales and dolphins all over the place. One sad note. We saw a baby whale stuck in a green net. Oh and yes on our way out there we saw crab pots everywhere! Some idiot also painted his floats BLACK! yeah black. We are scared of crab traps as they can do lots of damage. Once we were 33 miles out, in 450 feet of water, no crab traps all the way to Neah Bay!

When we were across from Gray's Harbor we started to get shore wind from the east. I had swells on the port bow and these 3-4 foot wind waves from the stbd bow. Made an uncomfortable situation. Another 50 miles and the wind shifted to the south. This pushed the stern and made steering difficult. You got a workout on the wheel. Across from La Push we had everything and confused seas. Once we started toward Cape Flattery the seas died down and we were making almost 15mph!

Never being to Juan De Fuca Straits, it was hard to figure out the entrance. Trust the electronics, but I couldn't help to wonder how Cap'ts Cook and Vancouver missed this entrance at first. We called the Neah Bay marina and got a slip assignment of A-4. Cool. When we were about 4nm from Cape Flattery, we called Prince Rupert Traffic to report our position and intensions. They appreciated us calling. Pulled into Neah Bay with plenty of daylight, but we were tired.

It was a good run, but after 13 hours we were wore out! mmm Auto pilot...Kay!!!!!

Hope you followed us. We will spend a day or two here to explore this Native American Village

So no auto pilot? I can't even imagine hand steering in that for 13hrs. I'm a total whimp.

Glad to hear you guys are on the way and the uphill trip wasent to bad. We didn't like Nea Bay much at all with sunk and abandoned boats. Pretty good oil slick too! We entered Canada at Bedwell yesterday. The San Juans were great as usall and the weather has been Awesome. Our AIS is on so when you guys get close, let's have a few and tell lies!

Crusty Chief said:

Glad to hear you guys are on the way and the uphill trip wasent to bad. We didn't like Nea Bay much at all with sunk and abandoned boats. Pretty good oil slick too! We entered Canada at Bedwell yesterday. The San Juans were great as usall and the weather has been Awesome. Our AIS is on so when you guys get close, let's have a few and tell lies!

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You got it! We also have AIS. Give us a shout too.....

Yep no auto pilot. Not having it I would know how to act with it, but it is on my wish list. That and a water maker.

Alaskan Sea-Duction said:

Yep no auto pilot.

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Respect!

The autopilot was first thing I fixed (just needed calibration) after my two day delivery cruise.

An AP is a significant investment, but it hugely reduces fatigue on longer runs. With the cruising you are doing, I expect you will want one pretty soon.

Enjoy the San Juans. It's a lovely place, and you are ahead of the crowds so will largely have it to yourself.

Tom, Congratulation on making Neah Bay. That is a VERY cheap place to fuel up because it's an Indian reservation and the taxes are much lower.


I hope your trip in the Straits of JdF are better than we had when we took Stuart's boat through there.


Fair winds,
calm seas,
Klondike Bars!

So AIS (Class B) doesn't seem to be working well in the Neah Bay area. I looked on Marine Traffic and it shows me as a pleasure craft, with no further information. I am transmitting.


Hey GFC, thanks and yes we will fuel there and I will post some numbers tomorrow. Freezer has plenty of Klondike Bars in my new freezer!!!!

Alaskan Sea-Duction said:

So AIS (Class B) doesn't seem to be working well in the Neah Bay area. I looked on Marine Traffic and it shows me as a pleasure craft, with no further information. I am transmitting

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Here are two attachements of your Marine Traffic detail page, couldn't get it in one capture. The map still shows yesterdays afternoon location off La Push but the recent port of calls at the bottom of the second capture says Neah Bay.....

Showing up on vesselfinder.com

My recommendation is to always try both sites.

Neah Bay WA

This such a cool little town. Everyone is friendly willing to help you. The harbor is full of fishing boats, a lot of fishing boats. Reminds me of Crescent City CA when I was a kid. This place has gotten some bad press, but I don't see it. We have had a wonderful day. First I made some room in the cockpit and took the dingy out, blew it up and put it on its home. Then we walked about 1/2 mile to the Makah Indian Nation museum. What a treat! Best $5 I have spent so far. Stopped for dinner at the Warm House, then the general store for a few things. We were then surprised by a great sunset!!

We are off to Port Angeles tomorrow morning after we get fuel and see how much going fast is going to cost us.

Hey GFC!!!! Look at what I found!

Port Angeles

I'll be in and out of the Port Angeles Boat Haven today as we are putting on an autopilot. We are moored on the transient dock - please say hello if you see me first.

I will PM you my phone number - please call if you need support/car etc. For dinner, I recommend Strait Slice Pizza (closes at 6pm) or Next Door Gastropub. Both are fantastic and easy walking distance.

IRENE said:

I'll be in and out of the Port Angeles Boat Haven today as we are putting on an autopilot. We are moored on the transient dock - please say hello if you see me first.

I will PM you my phone number - please call if you need support/car etc. For dinner, I recommend Strait Slice Pizza (closes at 6pm) or Next Door Gastropub. Both are fantastic and easy walking distance.

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Thanks Jeff. I'll give you a shout when I get closer this afternoon. I have been assigned K dock.

Chapter 3 Neah Bay to Port Angeles

Took easy today wasn't in a big hurry to leave. The big gale blow didn't happen last night. But.........How things can go to crap in a second. Got ready to leave the dock, the starboard (STBD-Right) engine alternator failed to come on line. I went to the engine room and removed it in about 20 minutes. Crap, oh well I did bring a new spare! That was till I opened the box and the new one did not have a pulley! How did I miss that ? I could remove it and there was no place on the reservation that could do the work, so I reinstalled it so we could make Port Angeles. well surprise, surprise surprise!!! I came on line. Well this bites! So off to the fuel dock.

You know Mother Nature has a sense of humor sometimes, because just as we rounded the corner and the wind suddenly came up and was pushing me AWAY from the fuel dock! Dang it.... Well the other boats got a show as it took me almost twenty minutes to get tied up to the dock while almost taking out the poor fuel guy's shack with the bow pulpit! We fueled up and we were on our way to Port Angeles. Fuel info below.

At first the sea conditions were a little snotty. Following seas with some wind chop. Not bad, but I don't have auto pilot, so you have to "work" the wheel (steering) to maintain a course and it was 63 miles to Port Angeles! But as we worked our way up the Strait of Juan De Fuca, the seas started to calm down. The last 10 miles was like being on a lake, nice and smooth. We pulled into Port Angeles and found our assigned dock, but the show wasn't over. Our dock was an end dock, so I pulled along side and swung the boat around like a professional! I was looking good, so I thought. So we were slowly pulling up to the dock so Kay could get on the dock and tie up the line. The back of the boat was only 4 feet away and drifting closer! A few more feet and Kay was getting off! The stupid me wasn't satisfied with slow and I tapped one of the engines in gear! Crap now the bow was point away from the dock and the stern, where Kay was standing started to move AWAY from the dock! Sound familiar? Just like the fuel dock, but there was NO WIND! It was calm, this was all me! Kay saved the day and lassoed the dock cleat and pulled the boat into the dock. She is my hero!!!

A new friend on the Trawler's Forum, Jeff of the good boat Irene contacted me. He works for the Coast Guard. He offered to take me any place I needed to go to get my alternator pulley switched over to the new one. He took me to an auto shop and 10 minutes later we were on our way back to the boat. I installed the new alternator and we were back in business. Thanks Jeff for all your help. I am hoping we can meet up later this summer. You have a new friend. But you know most boaters (cruisers) are like that willing to help a fellow cruiser out.

So here I sit eating baked Tilapia and Spanish rice for supper, later with scotch in one hand and a cigar in the other as we walked the dock looking at these 115 feet Westport Yachts......mmmmmm

Numbers from our dock to Neah Bay WA:

Total Miles: 236.7
Average RPMs: 2150
Total Fuel used: 308 gal
MPG: 1.3
Total Hours: 19.2
Fuel Burn Rate Per Hour: 16.07 GPH
Price of fuel: $2.24 PG
Total Fuel Cost: $691.15

Cost of going fast. But these numbers aren't bad. We will be slowing way down for the rest of the trip. More pics on the blog

Big thank you to a tf member!

I want to personally thank Jeff of Irene who is a TF member. He went above and beyond the call of help. Thank you Jeff for your assistance. Could have done it without you.......Love TF!

Glad you made it and got your alternator fixed.

BTW, I think your MPG number is inverted. Should be 0.77 MPG

I too have always heard that fuel is cheap at Neah Bay, but I've never bought there. For comparison, does anyone know the current price at Covich-Williams in Seattle? Last time I bought there is was on $1.38/gal, but I think prices have gone up since then.

Awesome trip! Nice job Jeff!

Tom, good job on getting the alternator pulley switched over and Thanks to Jeff for helping out a fellow TF'er.


I loved the pic of the Klondike Bars!

Safe travels

Hey that's our Westport! You should stop by and say hi. Just kidding. But man, are you gonna check into an autopilot soon? I think if you can swing it you'll be very happy with it. We're on the Chesapeake waiting for 7 ft seas with 2 second period to lie down some before we go out.

twistedtree said:

BTW, I think your MPG number is inverted. Should be 0.77 MPG

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You are correct. Thanks

Chapter 4 Port Angeles to Friday Harbor

We departed Port Angeles under clear sunny skies for the 40 mile run to Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands. Seas were calm and like glass as we followed a tug with a tow out of the harbor. Our course would take through Cattle Pass and based on our speed 0f 8 knots, we would be at the pass just as the tide started to come in, or called a flood. I didn't notice it for a while, but when I turned around to see Port Angeles......WOW! The Olympic Mountains stood high and proud with a little snow on top. They reminded me of the June Lake in California. Just wow.... Oh and little brother no sign of Big Foot!!!

We called Seattle Traffic on 5A to give them our intentions to cross commercial shipping lane. These folks are like air traffic controllers, except for water. It was a real pleasant ride to Cattle Pass. Cattle Pass has a lot of rocks so you have to take the entrance mid-channel. This was our first time going through a passage like this during a flood and wow. We were doing 8kts and when we got into the pass our speed jumped to 14kts! The heavy current pushed us around a bit, but a little power and we were ok. In our up coming travels we will come across many of these passes, and we will have to wait until slack tide to cross.

We were now officially in the san Juan Islands. As we rounded the island we called Friday Harbor for a slip assignment. BWB was it and we didn't know it at the time, but the primo spot! You can see the sunrise and sunset off of Mt. Baker. Nice warm sunny day. I like this retirement thing.

After paying our slip fee for 2 nights, we walked the town. Everything is so green and the old store fronts are in great condition with hanging baskets everywhere. Kay visited art stores, I went to Ace hardware for a few things. We are looking forward to our day adventure. Here is a link to the town:

http://www.visitsanjuans.com/about-islands/friday-harbor-san-juan-island

A few pics. More on the blog

Beautiful! Congrats on your progress so far. Great job helping a fellow TFer, Jeff! It's always great to find that there's help at the next town!

So I am on the bow giving my baby a much needed bath. When all of a sudden I hear "Hi Tom!" I look up and see this beautiful lady. It was the Irene. They are headed up to Canada for a few days. We will try to meet up later this summer in the Broughton. Oh and she handed me a boat card too.... Thank Jeff.

Tom, you two are docked in our favorite San Juans town. We absolutely love FH. There's a bar on the south side of the main drag where we watched some Seahawk football a few years ago when we were there. Cold beer, Seahawks victory. Doesn't get much better.

Herb'so Tavern? We ate lunch there today. Great fish and chips.