Departure The weather window for our
departure from Neah Bay apparently closed soon after we left. But while we were there in rainy Neah Bay, happiness seemed to wash over this Indian village at the outermost reaches of the country. While Jim went fishing and Karen contemplated the sky, a rainbow appeared to the east, arcing all the way from Waadah Island to the mountains. Three Makah canoes were paddled with gusto across the anchorage. Later, in foggy twilight, a chorus of male voices sang tribal songs. It was a memorable evening,
and next morning a Makah man in a traditional red felt jacket and straw hat climbed over breakwater rocks to sing to the fleet of moored boats. His voice wove a spell among the fishing fleet, his songs coming to rest on boats with romantic names such as Memories, Roamer, Last Watch, Silver Foam, Deeahks, Makah Maid, and Valorous. His songs reached my ears as I walked the dock, so I stood still and listened with the greatest respect, to something I did not fully understand but knew was good. To top off a great stay in Neah Bay,
the crew of the emergency response tugboat Jeffrey Foss gave us a grand tour and a couple of Foss ball caps. This was followed the next day by another grand tour of the new tug that replaced it, the Delta Lindsey. Cap’n Arch, Chief Engineer Ted and the crew are on call 24/7/365, in case a big ship ever loses power, and the Lindsey’s 6800 horsepower is a first line of defense against oil and chemical spills, and shipwrecks. The Jeffrey Foss left for her next assignment while we were touring the Delta Lindsey. As we left Neah Bay, the Delta Lindsey was just outside the harbor, and we waved goodbye to a talented, dedicated crew with a great sense of humor. Foss rules, guys!
The Trip As we prepared for this passage,
the knowledge weighed heavily that this stretch of big water along the Washington, Oregon, and Northern California coasts is labeled by pilot charts as the most gale and high wave- prone area in the entire North Pacific. We motored out of the Strait of Juan
de Fuca then flew the drifter in light winds through the day. In the evening
the wind died so we motored through the night. The wind picked up in the morning and we had a great day of sailing in sunshine and blue skies. As we continued over the next three days the wind gradually picked up until we were double reefed, sailing at about 4kts in moderate sea. We were too far offshore to get
weather on the VHF, and I was too seasick to go below to work the SSB until the 5th day, when I’d gotten used to the motion and felt OK. So on the morning of the 5th day, off the southern Oregon coast, we decided to heave-to,
take a break and get a weather forecast. Heaving-to is what you do when you want to ease the boat’s motion and just “park” it on the ocean. What we learned was that we were heading right into a 40 knot gale off Cape Mendocino. Wind speeds are often forecast a bit lower than reality. Where we were at was also under a gale warning as well as a hazardous seas warning. Hmmm, we thought, this is interesting. We decided to stay hove-to until
the bigger gale to our south passed. The bad news was that Sockdolager did not heave-to as well as we had hoped.
THIS COULD BE THE BEGINNING OF A BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP Rick’s famous comment to
Louis at the end of the movie Casablanca brings its own meaning to buying a sail.
When you needed a new AP #1 for your racer cruiser you didn’t know where to start. What material, what cut and at what price? You shopped around and ultimately bought a Tape-Drive® from UK-Halsey.
Tape-Drive® construction meant it would give you years of peak sailing performance, and, importantly, it would be a durable workhorse. All up, the sail was a great value. The surprise was what came with the sail — a relationship with your sailmaker.
When you went to UK-Halsey you found a sailmaker who took the time to work with you to select the best sail for your particular sailing needs. And that sailmaker’s still around helping you with repairs, storage and maintenance of your sail. Turns out, that was the beginning of a beautiful relationship.
Now, every time you trim that jib, you notice a little smile. It turned out you bought more than just a sail. You found your sailmaker.
To find your sailmaker, visit UK Sailmakers Northwest
www.uksails.ca or call 1-800-563-7245
UK Sailmakers NW FAST SAILS THAT LAST
48° NORTH, SEPTEMBER 2011 PAGE 31
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