Astoria to Newport
We left Astoria on Tuesday, knowing that we had a short weather window. The forecast was calling for strong contrary winds starting Wednesday and continuing through Thursday. The wind wasn't that much of a concern, but the forecast seas were - up to 15 feet when counting the wind waves and swell. That didn't appeal. […]
Cape Flattery to Astoria
We left Neah Bay Monday morning, bound for the first leg of the Big Adventure. Headed for Astoria, OR, 145 miles away, we were cautious and excited. The Washington & Oregon coast is reported to be a wild and woolly place, and while we had a great weather forecast (20 kts from behind, and 5-6 […]
Neah Bay
We spent the last couple of nights at Neah Bay, waiting for weather and news from our insurers. Neah Bay is the usual stop for Juan de Fucans before turning the corner of Cape Flattery to head down the US coast. I assumed there wasn't much there, but I was wrong. There's a large marina […]
Harbour Hopping
The Oregon coast is the term for the area from the northwest tip of Washington state to San Francisco, CA. This region is not friendly to boats. The harbours are few and most of them are dangerous to enter. Their entrances are mostly quite narrow and shallow. The old salts discuss two strategies for traveling […]
Port Angeles
I've been to Port Angeles a few times by car before, and I haven't thought much of it. The town itself is the centre for the Olympic Peninsula, but it really isn't that interesting. However, for the boater, Port Angeles has a few things to recommend it: You can clear US Customs here, and they […]
Big Adventure: Day 1
Scream departed Canada for our world tour today. We left Cadboro Bay in the morning and motored to Port Angeles, where we cleared US customs. The weather is sunny and warm and the crew are in good spirits. We will post more regularly now that we are underway.
What Lies Beneath
When my Vancouver crew and I returned from Grambier Island, it was not the most wonderful sailing day. The winds were strong and contrary, the weather was crummy, pouring with rain and we had a deadline. In short, not an auspicious day. However, the crew were fantastic, perhaps not realizing how far from perfect the […]
Vancouver
We got to Vancouver on August 15, and we tied up to the docks at Fisherman's Wharf for the weekend. We had people over for a couple of nights and got caught up on laundry and that sort of thing. Then, we moved over to anchor in False Creek. So, while Steven has been in […]
Whisper 100 Wind Generator Not Suitable for Sailboats
We ordered a Whisper 100 Marine wind generator from Southwest Windpower this spring. We'd done a lot of research and had decided that it had the best price performance of any saltwater-resistant wind generator. However, we were unable to mount it on Scream, our heavy 45 foot cutter with a wide beam. The blades are […]