Black-Footed Albatros


into calmer waters. That night the stars were crystal clear and the wind and seas were fair and much reduced. Looking at the extended forecast we saw more gales predicted, so instead of continuing on to San Francisco, we made landfall at Eureka.


On “a good passage.” It’s difficult to write this


The good news was that we didn’t get knocked down and there was no damage whatsoever. I’m still very happy with this good little ship. We ended up being hove-to for


two days. We were under storm trysail with no jib/genoa. The boat was mostly beam on to the seas; oscillating between heading a bit into the wind, beam on, and sometimes a bit stern-on to the wind and seas. Speed was about 1.5 kts mostly to leeward on a beam reach. We did observe the slick to windward that is expected when heaving-to. But the motion was extreme. Seas were at least 10-12 feet with breakers, and wind was gale force. We have no way of measuring wind speed, but estimate it at 35 knots and probably no more than 40 in gusts. We got hit by breaking waves perhaps a dozen times. They broke right over the entire boat. Several times it felt like the boat was going over, but she never did. After two days the forecast to the


south was better than where we were (still 30kts). So, we kept the storm trysail up and a little bit of the genoa, and sailed for about three hours in those big seas under bright blue sky,


account because we don’t want to overemphasize or gloss over the difficulties we encountered, or make you think this was a walk in the park, or brag, or sound smug, or like we barely escaped with our lives. There are plenty of prosaic things


that could define what makes a good passage, starting with the uneventful: no breakage or damage, no major screw- ups, no horrendously scary incidents. But that’s just the start, and in the 1970s Eric Hiscock no doubt knew it, when he summed up his 3,000 mile ocean passage by simply saying it had been, “unevenful.” Whoa! Uneventful? This one word revealed a sublime concept: that with the right combination of preparation, seamanship and care, ordinary people like you and me can, if we want to, self-reliantly sail serious distances across oceans in small ships, uneventfully. It was both a revelation and a caution. Since it was our first time down the


coast, we can’t tell you if the conditions we encountered were typical or not. But most knowledgeable people are saying 2011 is an extraordinarily stormy year. “The seasons are a month late,” say others. We believe it, but can also report that this was a good passage, reasonably sailed with no breakage or damage to either boat or crew. We mostly stayed about 100 miles offshore, in deep water


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48° NORTH, SEPTEMBER 2011 PAGE 32 (206) 784-0883


away from the continental shelf and the weather influences of land. The Scopolamine patch Jim


wore didn’t prevent an awful day of seasickness followed by three days of nausea. Karen experienced the nausea for several days, plus bruises from small stumbles. There was some raw fear at the thought of being at the mercy of a sea bent on giving you a gale, and a hazardous sea warning too late to escape from. Eleven to thirteen foot waves as forecast would be okay, but only eight seconds apart is not. These are breaking seas, and after you secure the boat hove-to for the night and go below, you listen to them crashing into the hull, punching like prizefighters. In the night a few of them send you over on your side and you feel fear, but also confidence that this stout little boat will come upright again. The extreme motion of a small boat


in big seas requires vigilance, or you’ll be thrown against a bulkhead. Closest comparison: Think of getting into a small capsule and throwing yourself into a washing machine on agitation cycle for eight days. Cooking a meal in a gale when


it’s blowing 35 knots and seas are “hazardous” is a form of juggling. Almost impossible until non-jugglers develop a system for handling one thing at a time, because the minute you set anything down it’s going on a wild roll around the cabin. Snacks become mini- meals until one evening you get tired of stupid granola bars and fruit leather, and you cook something simple, hot, and served in a bowl. Boil some water in the kettle, but don’t let it spill or you’ll be dealing with a burn. Dump some instant mashed potatoes and a can of string beans in a pot, and pour


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