Want to go for a boat ride?

I rounded up a crew to help get the boat around to Seattle. It’s going to be about 650 miles and we expect it to take 7 days unless we run into weather issues. There will be 3 of us on the boat from here to Longview, WA where one of the crew (Jim) has to leave to take his daughter to college. He’s had some cruising experience on Beachcomber, having helped me take her to Portland and back.

Jim will be replaced in Longview by Doug who will be on the boat as we finish the trip to Seattle. Doug and I met in 2014 when he and I helped a new friend (Stuart) take his boat from Seattle to Stockton, CA. So Doug has some very welcome open ocean experience in addition to being an accomplished skipper in his own right.

The third part of the crew is Tom. Tom and I met when Doug and I took the boat to CA. Tom is also an experienced skipper, having taken his boat from Longview, WA where he lives and docks it, to Alaska every year. So lots of open water experience plus experience going back and forth over the infamous Columbia River bar.

Me? I’m just along to do the cooking and cleanup. Now you may chuckle at that, but I’m party serious. I’ve just finished a round of chemo treatments to fight off stage IV cancer. One of the lingering side effects is an unsteadiness on my feet. I’ve promised my wife I would NOT go out on deck unless someone’s life was in jeopardy. I also made that unsteadiness clear to the other crew and made sure they knew about it ahead and were OK with taking on my share of the deck duties. All readily agreed to take on any additional load.

So, with this kind of a setup and crew, what could go wrong? Well, my biggest concern is the weather, and not the weather on the ocean. My concern is the winds on the Columbia. We have to pass through the infamous Columbia River Gorge area that’s widely known for being the wind surfing capital of the world. We also have to pass through 4 locks on the Columbia and 1 in Seattle.

The Columbia River locks can be tricky on a calm day. In one of the locks on the Snake River, I had the wind spin my 330 Sundancer (33’ express cruiser) in a full circle when they opened the downstream (upwind) gate to let me exit. It acted like a venturi with the wind. To say that I was experiencing a major pucker would be a gross understatement.

I’m going to do all the boat driving when we’re going through a lock or in any docking/undocking maneuvers. Other than that we’re going to do 2-hour shifts with each of us getting a turn at the helm, as a spotter for debris/crab pots etc. The third person will have his turn to rest before coming back on the helm. We did that on the way to California and it worked well.

We’ve also decided that ANY of us has the right to say “Nope, we’re not going out today.” That takes the burden off anyone and relieves them from feeling bad about making the call.

We’re leaving Tuesday, July 7th around 0845 or a little earlier. The first lock we encounter is McNary. It’s about 36 miles downriver and has an average lift of 183’ though that may be a bit higher now because the river is high. All the locks on the river have lock times for downstream travel of 9:30, 12:30, 3:30 and 6:30. We intend to make the 12:30 lock. That let’s us out of the lock around 1:00p and it’s another 47 miles to our first stop of Arlington, OR. We should be in there around 5:00, just in time for dinner.

So, come on along with us. We’ve all decided this is going to be a FUN trip and the only schedules we’re setting will be to make the lock times at the dams. Please put your tray tables in the upright and locked positions and get ready to go for a lengthy boat ride.

So glad you are bringing us along! I've been itching for a boat trip.

I have not boated on the Columbia, but I have camped along the banks and watched the crowds of colorful kite boarders. That wind is not to be trifled with! Anything set down outside (when on land) will quickly be well east of you

I've boated that stretch of the coast one time (in the opposite direction, twenty years ago, in September). An enclosed steering station would have been well appreciated.

This voyage sounds like it will make some great memories. There's nothing like a long trip with good friends. I'm tuned in for the duration

Wifey B: Sounds like it will be a great trip. Another great case of making the best of a bad situation. I will be following along. And your rule on going or not is the same as ours. No one can say "yes, we will go" and anyone can say "no." It's not a vote, one "no" wins. Hope it's a fun time all the way with friends enjoying themselves.

,,

Wish I was going, guess Ill just follow along like everyone else here, Cheers and have fun!

Following

Looking forward to following along...

Do you have AIS ? can we follow you on one of the AIS tracking sites ?

Hey!
I'll be crossing the I-5 bridge about noon on Wednesday, enroute Tacoma. I'll be sure to wave.

Would love to go but I’m a fairly high risk for Covid.
We’ve stayed quite well isolated and a week on a boat w others seems like stepping off the high dive.
I did that in the Navy in 1961. We all stepped off the 50’ platform at the big indoor pool. Was really scared but like many others didn’t want to show it so off I went. I followed directions (unusual for me) .. pinched my nose shut w my elbows tight on against my chest and put my head well back. And lastly crossed my legs together tightly.
It was a rush to be sure but the fear disappeared quickly as I went for another jump later.
But against the covid I’ve been taking few chances. We haven’t had a single person in the house since it started.
But I’ll watch here on the pad.

Good Luck, I'll be following along. Very Exciting

Well they say that hindsight is 20/20 and I’d have to agree with that. We were planning on leaving this morning but after checking on the winds all day, and watching them build throughout the day, I decided last night to canx todays’ start. It was the right decision and, after looking at the winds this morning it was the right decision. Winds at our first destination this morning were in the mid 30’s with gusts to 41. Ain’t no way I’d want to be going through the lock or docking the boat in that kind of wind. Tomorrow’s winds are showing steady at 14 with gusts to 20. That’s OK so we’re just shifting our schedule back one day.

Safe travels GFC! Good luck on weather northbound.

We turned the corner on the 4th and stumbled into a great fireworks show at Neah Bay. Drizzle in Port Townsend today.

No unfortunatly no AIS. Who need AIS this far up river. Looks like the bar crossing will happen on the 13th. Out the bar at 6 am, high tide is 0830. Heading north predicted winds are from the north at 17 mph. Seas NW at 4 feet, 7 seconds. Captain hard at work.

Nomad Willy said:

Would love to go but I’m a fairly high risk for Covid.
We’ve stayed quite well isolated and a week on a boat w others seems like stepping off the high dive.

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I am too, but one thing my wife insisted on was that everyone get tested right before the trip. We all did and we're all negative. That doesn't mean that one of us might have picked up the bug after the tests but the chances of that are slim. We're starting with a clean slate and will be careful as we venture out.

What's prompting the boat move to Seattle? Upcoming travel plans or something?

Good to hear that Mike.
We haf’ta do certain things like taxes and the grocery store. We get over a weeks food. And our two acres helps. However my friend wanted to go into a Starbucks but I said no. We broke out our camp chairs that we both had in the car and put on masks. Seemed like overkill at first but as I drove away it didn’t seem overkill at all.

Weather is usually unstable in the spring. For me it was the hardest time of the year to fly ultralights. But it was the time of year when we wanted to fly most having just finished winter and seeing much sun. Hope you don’t get stuck in Ilwaco too many days. Cheers and arm waving.

Nomad Willy said:

Good to hear that Mike.
We haf’ta do certain things like taxes and the grocery store. We get over a weeks food. And our two acres helps. However my friend wanted to go into a Starbucks but I said no. We broke out our camp chairs that we both had in the car and put on masks. Seemed like overkill at first but as I drove away it didn’t seem overkill at all.

Weather is usually unstable in the spring. For me it was the hardest time of the year to fly ultralights. But it was the time of year when we wanted to fly most having just finished winter and seeing much sun. Hope you don’t get stuck in Ilwaco too many days. Cheers and arm waving.

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Wifey B: And kudos to you for being prudent and minimizing your own risk. There are no guarantees but we all must do what we can.

rslifkin said:

What's prompting the boat move to Seattle? Upcoming travel plans or something?

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Not upcoming travel plans but a change in travel mode from a boat to a Class A motorhome to do some cross country cruising. The stars aligned and now happened to be the right time to do it.

Wifey,
Yes no guarantees except that there are no guarantees.

NO BOAT TRIP? Just when we got on the edge of our seats?
Could have been a blustery trip though.

Our little MH is a class C .. I think. One can see it’s a Ford in the front.

rslifkin said:

What's prompting the boat move to Seattle? Upcoming travel plans or something?

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Mike is moving the boat to Seattle in the hopes for a better resale than in the Tri-Cities. His is one of the largest boats in the area. It was also a item on the bucket list to get out in the open ocean.

Cheers

I'm thinking you have the range to make the trip non-stop. But just in case you had planned on refueling enroute here's what I encountered departing Scappoose July 1 for La Conner.


Westport fuel dock closed.
La Push marina and fuel dock closed.
Neah Bay marina and fuel dock closed.


Of course that was 8 days ago and things may have changed.

Mike:

Good luck with your little boat ride. Where are you today?
Are you into that class A yet? What did you decide to get? Let me know if you have any questions that you think I may be able to help with.
All the best with your course of treatment and Hi to Tina.

Well we had planned on leaving the slip at 0845 and we were exactly on that time mark when we departed. All went well even as we cruised toward the area where if there are going to be high winds, they start here. The winds kicked up about a 1.5'-2' chop but not bad. We continued on, rounded the bend at Wallula Gap to the stretch where the winds are usually blowing like the devil. Surprise, surprise, no wind, calm waters, blue skies and a beautiful day to be on the water.

When we got a bit further downriver we spotted about a 32' houseboat that appeared to have been blown up onto the rocks at the shore, most likely by the winds from the prior day. We called it in to the USCG and continued on our way.

I had planned an early departure in case we ran into high winds and waves and had to slow down. As it turned out we were going to arrive at McNary lock about 45 minutes early thanks to the 2+ mph current helping us along. I called the lock on the radio and asked if we could pass through on arrival instead of waiting for the scheduled time. They OK'd the early lockage so we got in and tied up about 45 minutes early. They lowered the water and we were out of the lock in about 15 minutes from when we had tied to the bollard.

When we left the lock we still had no wind and a beautiful day. That was not to last long as we had an engine overheat alarm about 2 miles from the lock. The port engine showed as the hot one so we shut it down. Tom opened the engine room hatch and couldn't even see in because of the heavy smoke/steam. We drifted around for about 30 minutes until he could get into the engine room to inspect the engine.

He found what looked like the source of the leak. A 1/2" 90* "street ell" coming out of the heat exchanger had a length of pipe screwed into the femail end of the ell and there was coolant dripping from the fitting. It looked like there was a possible crack at the threads. Here's the ell he thought was faulty.


Had there been any winds blowing we would have gone into the Umatilla marina rather than risk going back through the lock on one engine. There was no wind so we called the lock on the VHF, explained our plight and asked for another early lockage rather than wait another 3 hours to the next scheduled one. They obliged us so we started back to the lock.

I must admit that my "pucker factor" was extremely high as we entered the lock. I could just see us crashing into the wall and damaging a boat I was about to put up for sale. Then, to top it off, there were 5 people standing on the walkway at the top of the lock watching and waiting to the the big boat smashed to smithereens inside their lock.

As it turned out it took me 3 attempts to get up next to the bollard so Jim could get a line around it. He did and secured us tight to the wall. Thank heaven for bow thrusters. We got out of the lock after being raised to the top and started a loooong journey home, now on one engine and running against the current.

We got home about 6:30 without incident and got Beachcomber secured in the slip. We unloaded a bunch of perishables into dock carts and my wife picked us up. We got home, went for a swim then stuffed ourselves on her wonderful spaghetti with homemade sauce.

I had called the owner of Columbia Marine Center from the boat while we were drifting around. He suggested we take some photos of what we thought was the damaged part(s) and send them to him, and he agreed to meet us down at the boat at 10:00 today.

He spent about 2 hours down in the engine room and found this:


The 1/2" galvanized ell had a pencil lead-size hole in the bottom and that's where the coolant had leaked out. He disassembled it and took the bad part and adjacent parts so he could find replacements.

On the way back all 3 of us decided that we would wait a few weeks before heading back downriver. We all have things on our schedules that need to be taken care of so in a couple of weeks we'll regroup and see how everything looks for the dates for the next trip.

All things considered this could have been a LOT worse. The silver lining is that ell could have given way when we were crossing the bar or 25 miles offshore in the Pacific. It was a beautiful day to be on the water and the day just happened to be turned upside down by a $1 part. That could have been a LOT worse.

Stay tuned.

Well now, if we can finish up with the doctor visits we just might be able to join this “3 hour cruise”, LOL.
Might just work out after all!

Here are a few pics of the crew and McNary Lock.

By way of a followup. Yesterday (Thursday) I think I had exhausted every bit of energy left in this tired, old, chemo infested body. It was all I could do to stay awake until 8:00 when I hit the sack. I didn't even roll over until about 5:00a.

Today is a new day and I'm back to feeling good. I've already been on the phone with Sea Ray customer service to find out the coolant capacity of my engine. They referred me to a super secret phone number of some people in a super secret division of Cat that takes the basic engine and converts it to a maritime version.

I got the information I needed and relayed it to the mechanic. My marinized 3406C's take a minimum of 65 quarts of coolant, but he suggested we start with 70 to be sure we don't run out.

The marina is absolutely swamped with boats needing to be fixed so I told him to put my boat on a lower priority and take care of the boats in their shop. We're not leaving for about 3 weeks so there's no rush on mine.

Leaves time to also clean the ER. The purple stuff is the best. Wal-Mart has it for about $9 a gallon.