I remembered the following experience the other day and thought it was worth recording. It happened the first summer we had our own boat (the irreantum) anchored out from the boat launch. I'm pretty sure it happened on a Sunday because if as I recall...
We were still attending church at the Gig Harbor building which overlooks the harbor; at least part of it. As we were leaving church that Sunday, I looked for our boat as i always do. An anchored boat is not the most secure boat and it had been windy. To my horror, the boat had moved; in fact, it had moved a LOT! It was now close to the shore next to the boat launch. Well, a boat in the mire was close enough to an ox in the mire for me. We hustled home, where I changed and headed down to the boat launch.
I had no clue what I was going to do exactly, but I through a couple extra 2x4 into the van just in case. At the boat launch, my worst fears were confirmed. The boat had drifted into shore and was stuck in the muck. I waded out to the boat to see if I could shove it off. I spent quite a bit of time, rocking, twisting and heaving the boat, but I couldn't get it out. Part of the problem was that I was working against the tide. The tide was going out, and every moment the boat sunk deeper and deeper. Once I accepted the fact that I couldn't manhandle the boat free, I knew I needed to keep it from tipping over when the tide was really low.
If the boat were to tip low enough, at low tide, it would be possible it would begin taking water; at which point, we would have a really big issue. I'm pretty proud of my solution; hokey as it was.
My solution was to lash an oar and a 2x4 to one side of the boat (the side it was leaning towards). This created a tripod with the keel of the boat being the 3rd leg. As the tide left, the boat rested on the oar, 2x4 and keel and remained upright until high tide.
I then, waited until high tide to go back out to the boat and re-anchor.
It was embarrassing to have it happen in the first place, but pleasing to successfully handle the situation. That's seems to happen to me a lot when I'm dealing with boats.
Jan 9, 2007
Sailing into the New Year!!!!!
Departure: 1:00pm
Return: 4:30pm
Weather conditions: Cloudy/overcast, but nice steady breezes
Tide: Low was at 3pm
Boat: Blue Club Boat
Crew: 5 (Woody, Tom, Chris, Dave & Carol)
Sailing is a funny thing. It's so random. Each sail is going to be a unique experience. It's as changeable as the weather it relies on. It's all about stepping into the unknown and having an adventure. I think that's what I love about it so much. And maybe why some don't. Take yesterday for example.
Yesterday was our first club sail of the year. Naturally, I wasn't going to miss it for anything, but it didn't look promising. Looking out my window, I couldn't see a lick of wind and the forecast confirmed it. I forged ahead anyway: packed my food, and extra clothes and headed out. At the dock, it was more of the same: calm. But it didn't matter, I would take what the day gave and enjoy it.
Another club member, Carol, had an even tougher decision; it was raining at her house. Should she go, or should she stay? She came. As it turned out, both our decisions were well rewarded with a very pleasant sail that included a good steady breeze and no rain. And that's my point. With sailing you just don't know what the weather is going to deal you, and sailing has everything to do with the weather.
Outside the harbor we picked up a nice steady 7-8 knot wind. It doesn't take much wind to move a boat. In fact, you can quickly get too much wind and end up reducing sail area to compensate. This was nice breeze that moved us along with mild steady heeling, no swells and small waves.
We saw a couple of seals and other birds but that was about it for the wildlife.
A new member, Chris, joined us for this sail. He and his family recently moved to Poulsbo from Colorado. I should mention that for him to attend, he had to drive 45 minutes. For someone who loves to sail, that's just what you do. It was a lot of fun telling him about the area and welcoming him to the club.
Return: 4:30pm
Weather conditions: Cloudy/overcast, but nice steady breezes
Tide: Low was at 3pm
Boat: Blue Club Boat
Crew: 5 (Woody, Tom, Chris, Dave & Carol)
Sailing is a funny thing. It's so random. Each sail is going to be a unique experience. It's as changeable as the weather it relies on. It's all about stepping into the unknown and having an adventure. I think that's what I love about it so much. And maybe why some don't. Take yesterday for example.
Yesterday was our first club sail of the year. Naturally, I wasn't going to miss it for anything, but it didn't look promising. Looking out my window, I couldn't see a lick of wind and the forecast confirmed it. I forged ahead anyway: packed my food, and extra clothes and headed out. At the dock, it was more of the same: calm. But it didn't matter, I would take what the day gave and enjoy it.
Another club member, Carol, had an even tougher decision; it was raining at her house. Should she go, or should she stay? She came. As it turned out, both our decisions were well rewarded with a very pleasant sail that included a good steady breeze and no rain. And that's my point. With sailing you just don't know what the weather is going to deal you, and sailing has everything to do with the weather.
Outside the harbor we picked up a nice steady 7-8 knot wind. It doesn't take much wind to move a boat. In fact, you can quickly get too much wind and end up reducing sail area to compensate. This was nice breeze that moved us along with mild steady heeling, no swells and small waves.
We saw a couple of seals and other birds but that was about it for the wildlife.
A new member, Chris, joined us for this sail. He and his family recently moved to Poulsbo from Colorado. I should mention that for him to attend, he had to drive 45 minutes. For someone who loves to sail, that's just what you do. It was a lot of fun telling him about the area and welcoming him to the club.
Jan 2, 2007
Last sail of 2006
Departure: 11:30 am
Return: 4:10pm
Weather conditions: Partly Cloudy, hazy, slight breezes
Tide: High to low
Boat: Blue Club Boat
Crew: 5 (Woody, Aubrey-Anne, Robert, Gabby & Rob)
I think sometimes my entries run a little long - probably because I wish the experiences were grander and more exciting (to others) than they are. I'll try to keep this one shorter.
As a member of the Gig Harbor Sailing club, I get 4 free days to use the club boats each year. A year sounds like a long time, but it's really not. With school for the children, long winters and work we mostly sail on the weekends. That gives 52 weekends, and once you factor in our long winters, it's much less than that. I guess what I'm leading up to is that I had one day left that I needed to use before the end of the calendar year. "Free" + "Sailing" = "There's no way I'm going to let that go!!!" I planned to use my last free day on the last day of the year which happened to be a Saturday.
I think you readers have caught on by now that you can't plan a good sail because you just don't know what the weather is going to be like. Take this last sail for example. The weather turned out to be very calm. Very light, to no winds to start with, followed by some light breezes, followed by more extremely light winds. The word excitement, didn't really come up while we were out. But, the words pleasant, enjoyable and relaxing did.
The entire family was invited, but only Aubrey-Anne wanted to go. For some reason I don't understand, I can't stand to have an empty boat. I called a couple of friends and invited them to come along. Robert and his daughter Gabby came, and later in the day my friend Rob (yes, a Rob and Robert) joined us as well.
I'm realizing that kids don't last long on a boat. They get bored. Aubrey-Anne and Gabby did well for a while but by the end they were ready to be done. Aubrey-Anne was a real trooper though. She makes a good sailor.
Destination-wise, we sailed around outside the harbor near point defiance.
The day had a surreal quality to it because of the haze and dim light of the sun. It helped make up for the lack of wind. We saw a couple of seals and one sea lion.
That's about it. Tune in next week after I go on the January club sail.
Return: 4:10pm
Weather conditions: Partly Cloudy, hazy, slight breezes
Tide: High to low
Boat: Blue Club Boat
Crew: 5 (Woody, Aubrey-Anne, Robert, Gabby & Rob)
I think sometimes my entries run a little long - probably because I wish the experiences were grander and more exciting (to others) than they are. I'll try to keep this one shorter.
As a member of the Gig Harbor Sailing club, I get 4 free days to use the club boats each year. A year sounds like a long time, but it's really not. With school for the children, long winters and work we mostly sail on the weekends. That gives 52 weekends, and once you factor in our long winters, it's much less than that. I guess what I'm leading up to is that I had one day left that I needed to use before the end of the calendar year. "Free" + "Sailing" = "There's no way I'm going to let that go!!!" I planned to use my last free day on the last day of the year which happened to be a Saturday.
I think you readers have caught on by now that you can't plan a good sail because you just don't know what the weather is going to be like. Take this last sail for example. The weather turned out to be very calm. Very light, to no winds to start with, followed by some light breezes, followed by more extremely light winds. The word excitement, didn't really come up while we were out. But, the words pleasant, enjoyable and relaxing did.
The entire family was invited, but only Aubrey-Anne wanted to go. For some reason I don't understand, I can't stand to have an empty boat. I called a couple of friends and invited them to come along. Robert and his daughter Gabby came, and later in the day my friend Rob (yes, a Rob and Robert) joined us as well.
I'm realizing that kids don't last long on a boat. They get bored. Aubrey-Anne and Gabby did well for a while but by the end they were ready to be done. Aubrey-Anne was a real trooper though. She makes a good sailor.
Destination-wise, we sailed around outside the harbor near point defiance.
The day had a surreal quality to it because of the haze and dim light of the sun. It helped make up for the lack of wind. We saw a couple of seals and one sea lion.
That's about it. Tune in next week after I go on the January club sail.
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