San Juan Islands - Day 3 - Rosario, Orcas Island

This is part three of a four part series of our sailing trip to the San Juan Islands over Memorial Day weekend.

Day 1 - Launch, Bellingham to Matia Island

Day 2 - Matia Island to Friday Harbor

Day 3 - Friday Harbor to Rosario, Orcas Island

Day 4 - Rosario, Orcas Island to Clark Island

Since it seemed like the cold and rain was going to stick around we were looking for a place to go where we could warm up a little. So off to Rosario Resort it was! We left Friday Harbor in a light rain and as soon we were out of the harbor we realized that the wind would be perfect for sailing. So we raised our only sail and were off to a nice downwind run (read this if you are wondering why we only had one sail).

We were happily sailing along when I went below to get get us a snack and heard an odd noise. At first I couldn't place it, but then I remembered that we had recently installed our new bilge pump and it appeared that it was busily pumping water. I moved a few things to get to it and noticed a fair amount of water in our bilge! I immediately alerted Captain Mike and was asked if it was salt or fresh water. I have tasted a lot bilge water in my time and this time I was grateful that we do not have an inboard engine. Our bilge water was pristine so I did not hesitate. It was very salty! Not good! I immediately started to search everywhere for a point of intrusion and after a few nervous minutes we determined that it was likely an attachment point for the rudder and a very slow leak. Since we had been running with the wind and had the boat more loaded than usual, the stern was more exposed to the water than usual. It was a fix we would have to make when the boat was back on the trailer and we would just have to keep an eye on it.

We were getting close to Rosario Resort and readied the boat for arrival. We arrived just in time for the Organ concert and headed up the hill after securing the boat. After the concert and a tour of the mansion we got our bathing suits and went to the hot tub and warm indoor pool. All this was followed by lamb cooked on our rail BBQ and dessert of Nutty Cookies I found on GalleySwap. We don't have an oven on board so had I made them ahead of time. It was a great evening! If you've never been to Rosario it is defiantly worth a visit!

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PASSAGE NOTES AND PHOTOS

When staying in their marina the spa facilities in the mansion are included! Pool, hot tub, unlimited hot showers, gym, sauna, fireplaces, and beautiful locker rooms. Rosario Marina can be reached on 78A. Visit their website for more info.

Rosario Resort

The organ pipes

The 85° pool

The marina at Rosario Resort

San Juan Islands - Day 2 - Friday Harbor

This is part two of a four part series of our sailing trip to the San Juan Islands over Memorial Day weekend.

Day 1 - Launch, Bellingham to Matia Island

Day 2 - Matia Island to Friday Harbor

Day 3 - Friday Harbor to Rosario, Orcas Island

Day 4 - Rosario, Orcas Island to Clark Island

On Friday I woke up to a wet and cloudy day. Captain Mike had already been up for some time and had gone for a run around the island. After we had some breakfast we donned our long undies, foulies, hats, gloves, and life vests and pulled up the anchor. We were still deciding whether to go to Roche Harbor or Friday Harbor. I really like both towns but Friday Harbor has a bigger selection of restaurants and Friday is date night! And no Friday would be complete without visiting Friday Harbor. It was a wet and windy ride, heading straight into the chop. Knowing there would be a hot shower at the end we had a lot of fun getting wet and keeping warm with hot cocoa.

When we got within 5 minutes of Friday Harbor we called the marina via VHF and were immediately assigned a slip on one of their large overnight docks.  They charge roughly one dollar per foot (I say roughly because it varies by season) and a couple of dollars for electricity. Be sure to bring lots of quarters since showers are a quarter per minute with a five minute minimum. 

Since our little boat does not have a heater we brought a small electric heater with tilt-shut-off from home which we would only be able to use at the dock. Friday in Friday Harbor was very chilly and we had lots of wet cloths so we were glad to have remembered it... until it stopped working... Our boat is equipped with shore-power and two GFCI protected outlets. After running the heater for a while we heard the outlet go "pop" and off went the cozy heater. We tried and tried to push the reset button but it was stuck. Captain Mike turned of the shore-power and unscrewed the outlet. There was quite a bit of corrosion so we headed into town to scout out a new outlet and some lunch.

A little ways up the main road (Spring Street - it's hard to miss) is an Ace hardware store conveniently located just across the street from a West Marine Express. At Ace we bought a new outdoor GFCI outlet and then had lunch overlooking the harbor at Blue Water Bar & Grill which had fairly average food. Everyone's tastes are different so I won't make this into a food critic blog but it wasn't our favorite. The view sure was nice though!

When we got back to the boat Captain Mike installed the new outlet and voilà! we had heat. Our little boat almost felt like a luxury yacht. We cleaned up, took naps, and caught up on some reading since, of course, it was raining again. When the rain let up we partook in one of our favorite activities: Dock Walking. It is always amazing to see all the different states of disrepair some owners let their boats be in. After we had our fill of of Ooohs and Ahhhs and Would-you-look-at-that-boat-can-you-believe-its we headed into town for our dinner date.

When we got to the restaurant I had eyed earlier we were told that they were already closed. I was appalled until I looked at my watch and noticed it was already after 9 o'clock. The long Pacific Northwest had fooled me again. Of course since we had not seen the sun all day it is perfectly excusable. We walked all over town and found that the entire town shuts down by nine. We were starting to head back to the boat via the high road (1st Street) when we saw a sign for a restaurant and tried our luck. They must be the only restaurant in town that serves dinner until 10pm. Not to mention that the Bluff Restaurant is very nice with a gorgeous view of the harbor below. Perfect for date night! We enjoyed fresh mussels, crab cakes, and a couple of drinks. A perfect ending to another rainy day in the San Juan's.

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PASSAGE NOTES AND PHOTOS

Quick overview if Friday Harbor amenities

A blustery day

Though you have the right-of-way look out for float planes pulling into Friday Harbor

 

San Juan Islands - Day 1 - Matia Island

This is the first part of a 4 part series of our sailing trip to the San Juan Islands over Memorial Day weekend.

Day 1 - Launch, Bellingham to Matia Island

Day 2 - Matia Island to Friday Harbor

Day 3 - Friday Harbor to Rosario, Orcas Island

Day 4 - Rosario, Orcas Island to Clark Island

We towed Webfoot up to Bellingham from Portland, this being our third trip (second with this boat) to the islands one would think not too much could go wrong...

We left Wednesday after work with a fully loaded boat and truck. On the way we pulled off at a closed truck scale. Even when closed they usually don't turn off the scales and it's good to know we aren't nearing the truck's towing capacity of 5,000 pounds. The boat weighed in at just under 3,500 pounds with most of our gear on board - save the cooler, some food, and tools which were in the truck. When we arrived all we needed was fuel for the boat. As of last weekend, Bellingham gas stations still have ethanol free gas which is a big bonus!

We got to Squalicum Harbor in Bellingham just before midnight, parked in the trailer lot, and went to sleep in our cozy aft berth. The new curtains really came in handy in the well-lit parking lot. In the morning we got some quick coffee and breakfast at that famous Seattle coffee shop and started getting the boat ready to launch. I was below organizing the items we had just brought in from the truck while Captain Mike was getting ready to raise the mast when I heard him exclaim: "OH NO!". So I popped my head out and after quickly analyzing the situation realized our biggest mistake to date: We had left the jib and its furling system hanging on the garage ceiling. So much for my detailed checklists... It's a long drive to Bellingham so going home to pick it up was out of the question. We had to come to terms with the fact that we would not be doing much sailing on this trip. We used the line to lift the mast as a fore-stay and added an extra line for safety. We weren't about to lose another mast, but that's another story....

After everything was ready to go we drove to the ramp to put Webfoot into the water. The aft end was floating just fine; only the boat wouldn't budge from the trailer. We pushed and pulled to no avail. No matter how far we backed into the water the bow kept resting on the V-shaped cushion that stops the boat from moving farther forward. The entire boat was off the trailer except the upper bow section. Captain Mike did a sort of backwards "mac-bump" (a real "mac-bump" is done by driving forwards with the boat on the trailer and then slamming on the brakes to slide the boat forward on the trailer). After several "bumps" we were finally able to launch and ready to go by noon!

We high-tailed it out of Bellingham on a cloudy day headed for Matia Island (pronounced: MAH-tea-ah). We arrived on Matia in the late afternoon - plenty of time to explore the island thanks to our long summer days in the Pacific Northwest. Matia Island is a state park and must hold the record for the most slugs per square foot. They are taking over! We anchored at the head of a huge cove on the east side of the island and had it all to ourselves! Despite it being Memorial Day weekend it appears that most people stayed home due to an unpleasant weather forecast. While hiking around the island on the roughly one mile long trail we passed by Rolfe Cove which had just two boats in it. We had stayed there last year waiting for weather to pass before heading back across Rosario Strait and found it to be very well protected - so well that we were unable to tell when the weather had improved. Rolfe Cove has a small dock, several mooring buoys, a bathroom, and a long beach.

After our hike around the island we cooked up some dinner, enjoyed a nice glass of wine with our Wild Salmon over Penne (see recipe here) and relaxed in our cozy cabin (it had started to rain and it lasted all night and most of the next day...).

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PASSAGE NOTES AND PHOTOS

Squalicum Harbor Launch Ramp, $5 to launch and park for free up to 5 days, longer if you call ahead

The temporary forestay

Rolfe Cove with dock and mooring buoys

Privacy Concerns

We've been sailing aboard Webfoot without any privacy for a year now. At anchor it's not a problem but when we are at a public dock everyone can see inside. Especially at night when the lights are on. I finally replaced my aging sewing machine for a fancy computer-aided model and have been busy sewing. I've never made much more than pillows and the occasional baby quilt but now I'm ready to broaden my horizons. Last weekend I made a couple of rail-bags for our BBQ propane bottles and I also made some curtains! Actually I cheated. I bought dark blue valances for $10 each and sewed them to fit. Two valances made all the curtains I needed. Here is a shot of my galley before curtains:

And here are some photos of the "new look" aboard Webfoot!

Galley

Galley with curtains open

Settee

Settee with curtains open

Installation was simple. I used very strong white fly-fishing line and attached it to the bolts that hold in the window panes. By temporarily removing the small white "buttons" that cover the nuts I was able to hide the  knots. I strung line top and bottom and fed it through pockets in the curtains using a safety pin. By attaching them top and bottom they don't swing around when the boat moves. Questions or comments? Leave a comment below or email me!

Boat Projects

A friend of mine recently asked why the heck I was not out on the water yet. It is a friend that does not own a boat, so I tried to explaining that we still have projects to complete. They looked confused because we had been "working on the boat" all winter. It is hard for someone to understand all the little things that add up to projects on a 26' boat. Another friend of mine - who is a boat-owner - asked about the boat , all I said is there is still much to do, he nodded his head knowingly and we discussed project lists.

I have found in my not so experienced sailing career that the projects never end. There will always be something hanging over your head; and to keep the right things hanging over your head - most notably the boom and sails - one must ignore some of the more trivial projects.

I decided to summarize what I have already done and what still needs to happen in order to get on with my summer, which is hopefully coming soon (the lists are below). It is always good to start with the engine. I know it is a sailboat, MacGregors however are powerboats of some sorts as well and without the engine it is difficult to get anywhere on the river. Thankfully Webfoot has a very trusty BF50 Honda outboard. For the non-technical that is a 50 horsepower engine that hangs off the transom (back-end).

We started engine work late last summer with a trip to a good mechanic who has worked on a lot of engines. He dismantled the carburetors and ran the parts through a state of the art parts washer that gets all of those tiny little annoyances out of the most difficult places. The mechanic replaced all of the gaskets with genuine Honda parts ($$$) and then synced the three carburetors so that they would work in unison. The mechanic also pressure checked the lower unit and replaced a gasket.

After the $850.00 trip to the mechanic we took his advice and installed a fuel water separator (Racor Fuel/Water Separating-Filter) in hopes of avoiding the damage that ethanol may do to the engine. Before taking the boat to the mechanic I replaced the gas tanks, fuel lines, connectors, and fuel filter. After every use I run the engine out of gas by disconnected the fuel supply and then drain the fuel bowls on the carburetors.

Late in December it was getting pretty cold around here, a few times it was dipping below freezing. I lay in bed at night thinking of that small cavity somewhere deep in the engine block that still had water in it. I was imaging that water freezing, expanding, and eventually destroying the engine block. With this unpleasant thought in mind I headed to West Marine to grab some winterizer.

To start the winterizing of the engine project I warmed up the engine as I usually do, so that the thermostat would be open and this will allow the coolant to run through the entire block. My big mistake was that I purchased some engine muffs that did not fit all that well. After turning on the hose and starting the engine to let the coolant run through the engine block the muffs slipped off. Maybe it was the unusual sunshine that distracted my attention...but when I checked on the the water return there was nothing coming out. Horrified I shut the engine off. After a few more attempts with the muffs and no water return I put the engine back into the water bath.

I use the cooler liner as a "water bath", works great!

With the engine running, the water would not consistently stream out of the pee hole, yikes. My first thought was that the impeller had melted to the point of dysfunction. Once I opened the water pump housing I realized this was not the case, hmmm strange. Impeller looks like new and still no water return??? So after beating my head against the wall I came up with the idea the thermostat was damaged. I went to the point of installing a new thermostat and still had the same problem. I flushed and flushed the system, still no dice. Then I went and checked the water pump again to see if I missed something, lets see the impeller looks brand new. But wait check out the lower water pump housing. Looks like somebody had taken a cigarette lighter to it. The lower housing was melted just the slightest bit, I reasoned that the pump must not be building up enough pressure to push water through it effectively. Eighty dollars later I had a new water pump housing installed with all the trimmings. Now she is "peeing" like a champ!

One other problem that I noticed while digging around the thermostat is the amount of corrosion on the thermostat. After I did some web surfing and found a post by a very ambitious Honda enthusiast who was rebuilding his entire engine which helped me to decide it was time to replace the internal sacrifical zinc. There is a manual that I checked out at the library ( Seloc Marine Engine Maintenance And Repair Manuals Honda Outboards) that helps the average do-it-yourselfer with these types of projects.

Another routine maintenance item that I vowed to keep on top of, after seeing the amount of corrosion that can develop after a long rainy winter, is the steering tube. I have read more than a few posts that mention the difficulty of steering when this tube gets corroded. It might even seize up unexpectedly and leave you somewhere you do not want to be. It takes only about 5 minutes and is very much worth it to keep the steering tube well greased.

One quality about the German captain, whom I share the boat with, that I admire is her strict adherence to order. She needs a proper place for everything and I am beginning to see the light on how having a proper place for everything can be extremely beneficial if only to keep the peace aboard the boat. One of the items that creates disorder on our boat the most is books. By now you should know how spartan a MacGregor comes from the factory. I broke out the power tools and went down to the hardware store for some shelving material.

I do not necessary like to make modifications to the boat that can not be easily unmodified. I hate drilling holes in the boat, even the interior liner that does not have any structural purpose on the boat. So I decided to use an excellent adhesive that would allow me not to have to drill holes in the liner: Gorilla Super Glue. I glued on some scrap 1"x2" pieces to the liner and then screwed 4" and 6" strips of ply to the 1"X2"s. The result is sturdy and effective book shelving/junk drawers that in my eyes looks pretty darn good.

The next project will be installing an anchor light. This item is one that all Macs lack coming out of the factory. We purchased an all around LED white light  as well as 40' of 16 gauge wire and a Perko replacement plug. We will keep you posted on how that progresses. Please let me know if I can answer any questions about my upgrades, I would love to hear about your projects as well.

Examples of some of the items on my to do list may be found at http://www.macgregorsailors.com

PROJECT LIST

Engine

Replace internal anode

Carburetors rebuilt last season

Oil Change
Replace throttle cables

Replace Water pump

Replace Fuel Filter

Install New Fuel Tanks

Install New Fuel Line

Install Fuel Water Separator

Prop tune
Fresh gear lube

Deck

Gas Tank Covers

Replace 12v sockets

Anti Screech tabs in sliding hatch

Cut hatchboard into 3 pieces

Install fishing rod hangers

Install Anchor light

Install Down rigger

Fit Bimini

Cabin

Install Bilge Pump

Ventilation in Head Compartment

Composting Toilet

Bookshelves

Replace Plumbing to thru-hulls

Double secure all thru-hulls

Galley

Install cabinet shelving

Install water system

Steering

Lube cables