Chapter 33 Neah Bay to Home Dock

Neah Bay to Home Dock

We left at 5 AM before sun rise. I had Kay on the bow to help guide me out of the bay.  By the time we reached Cape Flattery it was daylight.  We made the turn SSW and we had 4 foot swells hitting us on the stbd been.  After about 2 hours we turned south and we then had following seas.  Then it happened.  ORCAS!!!!  We finally saw a pod od killer whales even if it was for a short time.  Kay was so happy.

This route was recommended to us by the Vickie Lynn.  Instead of 33 miles off shore when we were cruising north, this course was just about 15 miles off shore.  We came across 7 crab traps and they were derelicts, meaning they broke loose from where they were placed and are just floating. This can be dangerous as you props can such them up and tear apart your running gear. The weather was agreeable. As we got closer to the Columbia River the wind picked up from the NW and wind waves started to build. When we crossed the bar it was on a flood tide. We turns to the port and we immediately started to feel the wind waves on the port beam.

Kay and I were discussing the greatest point of the voyage north.  We tossed around a few ideas as we passed the north jetty and the waters calmed.  The 50 yards off the bow a humpback whale breached the water, waving its tail as it dove under the surface.  A whale inside the Columbia river!  WOW!! This was a fantastic sign as if the whale was saying" Thanks for coming, come back again soon!  This was the BEST thing to happened.

As we past Astoria, we decided to push for winter camp.  30 minutes before we hit Fisher Slough it turned dark.  As we motored up the slough I was trying to remember where our dock was.  Kay was out from and she asked " Do you know where we are?"  I responded "of course I do!" She said " Then why are you passing our dock?"  mmmmm  I had to turn around.  We docked up, hooked up electric and water and we were done.

It took us 12hours to go from Neah Bay to the Columbia River Bar and another 3 hours to reach our dock.  15 hours total from Neah Bay to our Dock. That cost us 326 gallons of fuel.......


We have been at the winter base for a weeks now.  The rain has started and Kay and I are feeling ho-hum.  It is hard to describe how we feel.  I know we are ready to go again.  We have our "fix it" list and starting to build our list for the 2017 Seattle Boat show. We went from moving every few days to stop.

We have learned a lot on the maiden trip to the inside passage.  When we started we were scared to death to anchor.  Now we prefer it.  It still takes us 15 minutes to raise the anchor because of our chain locker causes the chain to pyramid and has to be knocked over every 40 feet.  Along with anchoring we discovered how to side tie.  Between ASD, Pairadice and Endless Tymes we could side tie very quickly.

We discovered that a 30 amp battery charger was way too little to charge 2 house banks.  Chargers are very expensive in Canada.  Well EVERYTHING is expensive in Canada.

Taking waves/swells on the beam really sucks!  I learned that lowering the trim tabs on ASD does dampen some of the roll. We also found that slowing to 6-7 kts and only traveling 40 miles makes the trip a little more enjoyable.  We are not zoom zooming by everything.  Its ok to shut off the engines and drift while watching whales.

Kay learned how to make sourdough bread from scratch!  Thank Chris for teaching her.

Preparations was key to a successful day.  We learned to stay put if the weather was questionable. Because of this we didn't enter into running during bad weather. Its ok to sit still for a week if needed. Fix your boat before you leave home base.  There are those who mocked me as I was anal in fixing stuff.

Be willing to being flexible. Don't be afraid to talk to folks about your experiences as they will share theirs with you and you can learn.  The rapids were not that scary so long as you prepared.

On our shopping list for next year is a new davit and dinghy with a water maker.

NUMBERS :

Total Days: 116
Total Distance: 3299 Miles
Total Engine Hrs: 376.2
Total Fuel (U.S. Gal): 1998.4
Total Fuel Cost (USD): 5826.5
Average price per gallon (USD) $2.49
Average speed (mph): 9.3
Average fuel burn: 5.3
Total Cost of Moorage: $2667.59

Until Next year.....