Log 3: South to San Diego--Sept-Nov '99

Log 3 of Albion (and other travels)

These are selected e-mails sent back to family and friends on our trip from Portland to San Diego down the Oregon and California Coast. It all started with a Bon Voyage Party for us with family, friends and co-workers at Albion's home, Tomahawk Bay Marina, on the Columbia River.




Saturday, 9/11/1999; 09:00
Subject: The adventure finally begins!

Albion is finally on her way down river, ready to turn left and head south. We had a few delays along the way, but are taking advice from veteran Mexico cruisers, Ivan and Bev Murphy and Herm and Nancy Ford, and have our schedule and plans firmly carved in Jell-O! The long-term weather forecast looks favorable. It's hard to leave now with the weather so nice here in Portland. Summer may have been a long time coming, but it sure doesn't get much better than what we have now. There is beginning to be just a bit of a nip in the air in the morning...a sure sign that fall is around the corner. We are taking it as a sign that it's time to get the hell out of Dodge! The work in the boat yard took longer than expected, but we are happy that we had her hauled. She has a new bottom, new dripless packing gland, new strut bearing and the rudder is repaired and good as new, they say. It will ease our mind a bit, I'm sure. The boat went back in the water on 8/2 and we spent the following week checking things off THE LIST! Our RV is on it's way to Tucson with friends where it will be waiting for us next spring. It will be nice to have it there so close. Thanks Nada and Dorsey for all your help. Our plans (again, firmly carved in Jell-O) are to go to Astoria today, cross the bar tomorrow and on to Newport. With both of us having lived and worked there years ago, there are lots of people to see. From Newport, we will be out to sea as weather permits, but should the seas become unfriendly we plan to head for port. We would like to take our time once we get below San Francisco. We are very jealous of Tom and Sue and all the ports they have managed to stop and see. For now.... "We're glad to say we're on our way We don't wanna be back for many a day" All for now,
Molly

9/13/99 Subject: In Newport

We had a great trip down the river on Saturday. We traveled most of the way with another boat heading south, a Morgan 44, Goodnight Irene, which had been in the boat yard at the same time with us. They are heading to San Francisco. They followed right on our stern wake through Cathlamet Channel as they had never gone that way. Since the new buoys are there now, it's a piece of cake! I'm sure they would have been more impressed with the "local knowledge" in years past! We both fueled up in Cathlamet and continued on to Astoria arriving there shortly after sundown. Goodnight Irene chose to continue on across the bar, but we opted not to cross on an ebb tide in the dark, and with just two of us aboard, a good nights sleep was important. We left early in the AM with warm sunshine and a light east wind. We crossed on the waning ebb tide. It was a bit rolly, but a very comfortable crossing. We headed south and put up sails and enjoyed a good beam reach off the port side with east winds. The winds were variable, 10 to 25 knots. We reefed and unreefed again and again. Thank you very much Mr. Harken, we do love that roller furling! The warm winds off shore seemed so out of place for the Oregon Coast. We expected to find tee shirt sailing on this trip, but not in Oregon! Finally the winds all but died out and we motor sailed the rest of the day. It was warm and sunny and we traveled right along the coast enjoying the shoreline. At sundown, we were at Lincoln City and anticipating crossing the bar at Newport about 09:00 with a favorable flood tide. But what had just a moment ago been a warm light easterly breeze turned into a mean cold blow right on the nose out of the south. It quickly grew to 25 to 30 knots steady. Where it came from, we do not know, but it was most uncomfortable. Along with it came heavy fog. We plowed our way along, giving up most of our speed. The wind finally began to die down after rounding Cape Foulweather. By the time we did finally reach the Yaquina Bar, about SIX HOURS later, the wind had settled down to about 10 knots, but still from the south. The tide was still flooding, after checking with the Coast Guard we made our way across via radar, GPS, and computer because of the pea-soup fog. Its was a good thing the Coast Guard warned us about construction on the North jetty with big barges and buoys taking up the North half of the narrow entrance. We didn't see them until we were a few boat lengths away. We charted our way up to South Beach Marina by 02:10. When the Coast Guard saw our lights in the harbor, they checked to make sure it was Albion, and we thanked them for the guidance. Then we secured the boat and hit the sack! Well, I guess you can say the weather gods showed us! We had everything from a great warm weather sail (7.5 kts), to flat calm motoring, to pounding into 30 kts at night in the fog. It is still very foggy here this morning. Guess it was 95 here yesterday afternoon and then within minutes, the southerly moved in and it was cold. Will listen to weather report and plan to head south again on Tuesday, weather permitting. After last night, a day of rest is in order and some friends from Brent's office here are coming down for a looked at our boat today. All for now,
Molly

9/15/99 Subject: Winchester Bay

That's right...that's all the farther we got on Tuesday...to Winchester Bay. More about that later. We left Newport early in the AM. Without fog, we could see the barges and marker buoys and realized we really did thread the needle coming in in the fog. The seas were very calm with some fog, but visibility was okay. We were just below Florence when we heard True Companion (fellow Baja Bounders, Fred and Kathy, also from Tomahawk Bay) on the radio with Coast Guard. They were experiencing alternator problems and checking bar conditions to see what would be the best harbor to pull into. We checked their position and they were about 14 miles behind us. We radioed them and decided to slow down and let them catch us and we would both proceed to Coos Bay. We shut the engine down and sailed along at about three knots in very light air. Finally decided to fire up the engine....only it wouldn't! We checked and rechecked everything possible to no avail. Finally, we, the would be rescuers, became the rescuees! The Umpqua River entry was the closest, but we would be entering on a strong ebb. True Companion would not be comfortable towing us across the bar and neither would we. So, we resorted to the ultimate humiliation....called the Coast Guard for a tow! What a blow to Brent! But, what a job the CG does. It was an experience to see them in action. A great crew of very professional people. True Companion and Albion were finally tied up at the guest dock about 19:45 (7:45 pm for you non-mariners). The four of us had a nice dinner ashore and decided to deal with our problems in the AM. The AM, found Fred and Kathy's alternator working just fine. Go figure! But our engine still would not start. Brent replaced the solenoid...nope, that didn't do it. Fred and Brent spent most of the morning with volt meter checking and rechecking power sources and whatever they could think of. Finally gave up, went to town to seek more professional expertise. MAYBE, tomorrow afternoon, there's a guy who might be able to come take a look. .........Brent's report from here........ Well, Molly found a screw laying in the engine room and there was a screw missing in the back of the starting motor....big deal there were still three holding the back plate, but she wanted it put back anyway so we wouldn't loose it. The starting motor, by the way is almost inaccessible, at arm's reach. So I screwed it in and went on reading more in the engine manual. The next sound I heard was the ENGINE STARTING!!!!! What did you do, I asked????? She just wanted do try it after the screw was put in, just in case it had anything to do with it. I couldn't believe it!! We killed the engine and restarted it several times without a hitch. Guess the real test will be in the morning. Next time something doesn't work, I not even going to give it a try....I'll just put Molly on it! We now refer to that screw as the "Molly" screw!So we're ready to head out in the morning (Thursday) with True Companion, but the weather is very marginal...North winds 25, Seas 4' and Swells 5'. The plan is to leave on high slack at about 7:00 and slowly cruise to Coos Bay and cross at low slack about 11:00 and before the afternoon winds kick in. At least we will be getting closer to California inch-by-inch. Bye, for now.
Brent and Molly

Subject: Eureka, CA

9/16/99 Thrusday
As planned, we left over a lumpy bar on the Umpqua and headed for Charleston in Coos Bay at slow bell. The trip went well as did the bar crossing at Coos Bay at about 10:30am. We both tied to the transient dock and had to go up to the Coast Guard to get a weather report. Still marginal and we took care of a few small projects and decided we may stay another day.

9/17/99 Friday:
Wow, beautiful day...sunny and light NW winds. We finally went over to True Companion about 9:30 to discuss the day. It seemed so nice we decided to take off in about a half hour. The worst that was predicted was NW 25 kts. We had already done that....no sweat! Away we went at about 11:00 for Cape Blanco and Crescent City. The wind kept building as we got out there. We both put up our main sails to stabilize and give us a bit of a push. The wind kept building! We finally passed Blanco at 3:45pm. True Companion had to stay on more of a SW tack to keep the sails from jibing and therefore was several miles behind and over the horizon. We had been maintaining a radio check every half hour. The WIND KEPT BUILDING! We were over the 25 knots that was predicted so it couldn't get much more.......but THE WIND KEPT BUILDING!!! The seas also were nearing 20 foot and the sea was turning completely white with foam. Then on a broach, the autopilot locked up. We could not turn the wheel back to head down wave. With great difficulty, I forced the wheel around and headed south again. I thought something had fallen against the autopilot arm below deck so Molly hauled everything out of the lazarette into the cockpit. But it didn't seem anything was wrong. It had just locked up and was VERY DIFFICULT to turn. AND THE WIND WAS NOW OVER 40 KTS!!! The main was still out and would not roll in. Several times we saw the wind gusts exceed 50 Kts. To say the least it was a wild ride. The bow would drop out of sight and we roared down the swells nearly burying the bow....the knot meter reading 12 and 13 knots!! After dark, about 8:00pm, the wind finally started to get into the lower thirties and a few hours later into the mid twenties. By the time we rounded St Georges Reef off Crescent City the wind had switched around to SE 10 kts, but the left over swells were still 10 feet. Fred and Kathy, being quite a few miles behind, decided to make a run for Brookings. He got a bar report that was music to our ears...SE winds 7kts visibility one mile. But we continued on and finally got into Crescent City about 3:30am Saturday morning. And we rested!!! The autopilot problem was diagnosed and a call to Tim Olsen (the friend who put it in) resolved the problem...the arm on the rudder post had slipped and locked the bar from the autopilot motor...never mind, you had to have been down there in the lazarette! We spent the rest of Saturday cleaning up and RESTING.

9/19/99 Sunday:
We talked to Fred and Kathy and they were headed to Crescent City Sunday, so we decided to take another day off and do some small jobs and wait for them. We also both topped off our fuel tanks today.

9/20/99 Monday:
We didn't have a good cell signal in Crescent City so we didn't send this update. We left about 5:30pm. We have a few things to take care of here and plan to spend another day, then make it to Bodega Bay on Wednesday.
Brent

9/24/99 Subject: Half Moon Bay

Wednesday, 9/22
We spent a nice day in Eureka. We walked across the bridge into town, did some provision shopping and visited the Farmers Market. It was warm and sunny and we enjoyed a day of relaxation. Fred and Brent walked over to the NOAA weather office late in the afternoon and got a weather report. It looked like it should be a nice trip the next day to Bodega Bay.

Thursday, 9/23
It was foggy, but fairly good visibility as we left the marina. Just outside, however, the fog increased. We were traveling by instruments and following a fishing boat ahead. At one point we lost the fishing boat. However, another came along and took the lead and we followed it all the way out across the bar. It was a calm sea and the visibility improved somewhat. We rounded Cape Mendocino about 11:30, still with very calm seas. The weather report for the day was variable winds to 10 knots....we can do that, right? About mid-afternoon, the wind started to fill in a bit from the north. It was very light and variable. We finally decided to put up the main for a "little push." As soon as we had it rolled out, the wind started building, and kept building. It was beginning to look a lot like Cape Blanco. We've been there, done that.....so we rolled that sail right back in! Good move. Fred and Kathy opted to leave their sail up for a while, but shortly radioed that their preventer had broken but they had managed to get the main down. Then their jib caught a gust and unfurled....made for a bit of excitement. The winds and seas were not nearly what we had around Blanco, but uncomfortable, at best. We started debating whether to duck into Shelter Cove or continue on to Bodega. We decided to ride it out and get down the coast. We had a radio call from a local fisherman who had overhead the conversation between us and True Companion. The fisherman agreed that continuing on was the best choice. He was sure we were through the worst of it and it would lay down after dark. It did and we were grateful. We had a pretty comfortable ride the rest of the night. The fog lifted a bit and we had an almost full moon to light up the sea. We got into Bodega Bay about noon on Thursday. We had a beer and shared our stories with True Companion. We will probably be parting company soon, as they are planning to go into San Francisco and spend some time. We are continuing on down the coast and will spend some time in Oxnard where we have family. The trip thus far has been challenging. We've come to know our boat intimately...much more so than one does on those weekend cruises to Martin Slough and such. Those folks who say "your boat will take more than you will" know what they are talking about. We have a lot of confidence in her.

Friday, 9/24
We said goodbye to True Companion at Bodega. They are staying for a few days before moving on to San Francisco. We left the marina about 8:30am in light fog. The sea was calm all day, but gray and foggy all the way. We got to Half Moon Bay about 18:30 (6:30 pm). Was nice to have an uneventful day! Will be leaving in the am for Monterey and will be spending a few days there. Still looking for that southern California sunshine!
Molly

9/26/99 Subject: Monterey and SUN Finally SUN!!

After we got to Bodega Bay, all we wanted to do is rest. But we pressed on to Halfmoon Bay and Monterey in two shorter day trips because the weather was right (albeit foggy) and we wanted to rest somewhere where we could play tourist. We do miss the company of True Companion. It was so nice to have another boat out there with us, especially around both the capes when things got tough. Our hourly radio checks with each other were comforting. We look forward to seeing them again either further down the coast or at least when we both reach San Diego. About a mile out of Monterey, we broke out of the fog and found sunshine and warmth. People were walking around in shorts and playing on the beach. We walked up to the marina office and then over to fisherman's wharf to have dinner. We plan to spend at least all day Sunday here, maybe Monday too, before heading on down the coast. It will be a slow day today, a lazy breakfast....as soon as Molly gets up..., a shower, and a walk around town. More later on the way South.

10/3/99 Subject: Southern California

Friday, October 1st
We are at long last in Southern California! Seas are calm and the sun is shinning...yeah! We spent three days in Monterey enjoying some nice warm sunshine on shore. We met up with Jasmine Isle (another boat in our group) and caught up on their trip. They are taking their time and stopping at a lot of anchorage's along the shoreline. As soon as we left the Monterey harbor we were back in the fog again. We anchored one night in San Simeon cove. It was a bit rolly, but a comfortable night. The fog lifted just a bit as we entered the cove, but came right back down and was very foggy the next morning when we continued on to Morro Bay. We managed to find our way through the narrow opening on instruments in the thick fog (1/8 mile) and tied up at the yacht club. We met two boats (both Passport 40's) headed north (north!?!--why?) They were very friendly folks and greeted us at the dock with margaritas. We left Morro Bay, again in heavy fog and started out for our last major obstacle...Pt. Conception...it has a terrible reputation for wind and sea conditions, but once around it, the ocean is a lot more friendly...they say. We had light winds and fairly flat seas, but still heavy fog until we got around Pt. Arguello and finally the fog lifted and we could actually see the shoreline....something we have not seen since we left Oregon. The entire California coastline has been covered with fog. We had 15 to 20 knot NW winds but very little swell. We rounded Pt. Conception and anchored for the night in Cojo Anchorage. It was windy but flat seas, so a comfortable night. It seemed odd this morning not to have to navigate our way out in the fog...it was bright and sunny. Seas are calm and we are headed for Oxnard where we will spend a few days visiting with family and then on to Marina Del Rey where we have more family and friends. LATER: We entered the harbor here at Oxnard about 5 pm. We will spend several days here while we catch up with our grandchildren's dancing and soccer games. We finally found a use for that SSB radio on the boat..enjoyed talking with Art Zehner back in Portland tonight and last night we connected with Lady L at Casselman's in Scappoose.

SAT. 9/2/99
The slip we were assigned was on the fishing docks and the boat next to us had its generator going all night. So today we started exploring for another slip with some of the private moorage's here in the harbor. Now we are in a beautiful marina (Anacapa Isle Marina) with pool, Jacuzzi, weight room, showers, laundry, no sea gull crap on the docks, and a lot better attitude of the marina operators. Very accommodating as opposed to the County Harbormaster. And the price was only $1.50 more!!! We signed up for three more days. Lynda, David, Megan and Jordan came down to the boat and graciously lent us David's car while we are here. That way we can make it into Thousand Oaks and see the grandkids play soccer games and other activities. All for now...more in a few days when we have more tales to tell.
Molly

10/12/99 Subject: San Diego

For the time being, Albion is "at home" here in Chula Vista, south of San Diego. We spent several days in Oxnard. David, our son-in-law, was generous to loan us his car for the duration of our stay there. It was very handy as we ran many errands and accomplished several boat projects. We replaced our engine kill cable which had broken while we were in Crescent City. It took the two of us to kill the engine in a fashion so we would be able to start it the next time. We also replaced the sink facet in the head. We would have liked to have spent more time in Oxnard and had more family time. Since the marina here was holding a slip for us, we had to get on our way. We left Oxnard on Wednesday and spent a long day motoring to Marina Del Rey. We had an extremely calm sea, no wind, but lots of sunshine!!!! This is what we have been looking for....We pulled into Marina Del Rey late in the afternoon. We had dinner that night with our friend, Bill and Marcia's son, Christian. The next day he took us on a long walk to Venice and Santa Monica for lunch where he worked. Friday night we had a great visit with our niece and nephew (Karen & Robert) who live close by. Saturday AM we left early again and had another long motoring day to Dana Point. At Dana Point, we found no room at the inn...the county moorage's were all full and the anchoring areas were crowded also. We contacted Dana Point Yacht Club and found them very hospitable. They had a member's slip available and then insisted we come to the club for their BBQ night, everything from hamburgers to lobsters. So, who could say no? We met a very nice couple from San Diego who have sailed to Mexico twice, once on the HaHa cruise and once on their own. We really enjoyed their insights on the trip. While there, we gave the club a SIYC burgee and got one of theirs. And Molly bought a Dana Point Yacht Club pull-over for $15. They are nice and friendly and made us feel right at home. Early Sunday AM we left Dana Point and headed for our temporary home in Chula Vista. Again, it was a no wind, motor day. The further south we got the warmer it was and the water kept getting more and more blue. We had a call on the radio from Whisper when we were about an hour away and they were headed out to meet us. As we neared the approach for San Diego, we spotted Whisper and they led us in. Brian and Laurie on Exodus and Will and Joann on Tica, who had both just returned from the swap meet in Newport, were there to catch our lines. It was like a homecoming and champagne and margaritas were enjoyed by all! Today, we managed to change our slip assignment to the same dock as Will and Joann. We took it easy today, but have vowed to start on the list of boat projects tomorrow. Brent & Will drove to town looking at watermakers and solar panels, two of the projects we are considering. We expect Perpetua and Dreamweaver to be arriving probably tomorrow and I heard that Mi Casa was due in anytime also. True Companion and Jasmine Isle are both in Santa Barbara, and Sedater and Reprise are still in Channel Island Harbor at Oxnard. IMPORTANT NOTICE!! OUR CELL PHONE IS NEARLY INOPERABLE HERE IN SAN DIEGO!! We called AT&T and they said San Diego was a very poor area for their service. Calling out is a "rare" happening, but we can get messages by via our voice mail, but not talk directly to the caller. We will check voice mail occasionally, just don't expect a response right away to your call. The best way to communicate with us is probably e-mail. We will be using the marina office land line or our friend's land line on TICA and checking it most every day. Feels like we are in an isolated third world country already! Not much hope for Mexico.
Brent & Molly

11/18/99 Subject: Off to Mexico Tomorrow

Hola amigos; Finally tomorrow if the weather looks good, which it does, we will be topping off the fuel and water tanks and heading for the Coronado Islands in MEXICO!!! They are actually only a few miles away, but it will be the first night out and in another country. After anchoring there for the night, we will sail another 47 miles down coast to Ensenada, the only major city we will be stopping at in the 800 miles to Cabo San Lucas, and check into to country officially. There are five boats from our group heading out tomorrow. We have all been busy getting last minute things done to our boats and, although I could use another few days, we decided everything looks good for a go. We have done some major items to the boat while here. To name just a few, we; -installed a new head, -installed new lifelines, -aligned the engine, -straightened the shaft, -installed a new dripless packing gland (the other new one always dripped), -rebuild the keel (after it was damaged during the haulout for the packing gland installation and shaft straightening) -installed a new stereo system (tape and cd), -installed two solar panels (flexible ones), -made shade curtains for the cockpit, ....and a lot of other minor repairs, purchases and provisioning too numerous to mention. We also ran around and got all our paper work done, ie: tourist visa's, fishing licenses (required), Mexican ham license in Tijuana, and Mexican liability for the boat. And we still had time to visit with Lynda and family twice (in Thousand Oaks), and go to Disneyland on Molly's birthday. We have also entertained some friends that visited here, like Rick Kruger (from my ODFW office), Dorsey Hensley (our Tucson friend), and several other cruising friends in the neighborhood. The social climate here at Chula Vista is great. There is usually a dinner or some activity up at the Chula Vista Yacht Club almost every night. We will miss that a lot. We have made many friends here and are leaving some of our Portland group hear for another year or two before they head south. Our loose schedule from here is get down to Cabo San Lucas about the middle of December. Maybe spend Christmas there or maybe head on over to Mazatlan where some of the group is heading for Christmas and New Years. Although we may also go around the corner if the winds aren't too strong and head up to La Paz. From there we will head to Mazatlan and then down to Puerto Vallarta by Spring to meet Jeanette and family for Spring break week. Then it's back up to San Carlos where we will take the boat out of the water in May and go to Tucson where our RV is waiting. Our car is staying here in Chula Vista with friends and will eventually be driven over to Tucson by May, or if not, we will drive the RV back over here and get it. From here, we don't know how often we will have access to e-mail and phone lines. So if you don't hear from us for awhile, don't get worried, we are just enjoying the sun and cruising slow. We will check in with an update whenever possible. We also don't know at this point if our cell-phone will work or if we can get voice mail on it. These are the exciting things about going to a third world country where they don't have the conveniences that you can count on. Until we get to Cabo;
Brent & Molly

Log 2: North to Canada--June-Aug '99

Log 2 of Albion (and other travels)

These are some selected e-mails sent back to family and friends from our initial shake-down cruise to Desolation Sound before heading to Mexico. Everything wasn't completely ready yet, but it was time to go




6/14/99 Subject: Still here in PDX

We are still here in town, but have now moved onto the boat. The fella that was installing the autopilot finally got it complete last Friday. We tested it out and it didn't work. So while we were out it the river going round and round, he made a call to Raytheon back east and found out he had to switch two wires.....and it worked great!! But now I have another guy working on my anchor chalk on the pointy end of the boat. I wanted to be able to mount two anchors and the one I had only allowed one. Two would allow me to set two in a Bahamian Moor, which is setting the two each at 45 degrees forward of the boat. And I just bought a BIG anchor (capable of holding a 65' boat in high winds) and 200 feet of chain.....most boats only have 20-30 feet. This is my security blanket for those nights that it's blowing a gale in the anchorage.....I want to be able to KNOW that it will hold my boat and I won't drag up on the rocks. The anchor guy said he should have the new chalk completed in time for us to leave this coming weekend. Then we are going to beat feet (maybe fins) up to Desolation Sound (near Campbell River on Vancouver Island). It's time to take Jim & Janice Haas and our friend John Snively cruising for a week in the islands. We have given up on the idea of circumnavigating the Island. We would have to rush too much. We have to be back in town by July 30 for a wedding. This way we can relax and see some places, like Princess Louisa Inlet, that we didn't see on the last trip in our 28 footer several years ago. Here on the boat, we are madly trying to get moved in and get a few other minor things fixed for a more relaxed trip. On the motor home we had nearly a month to find our way around and put things where we wanted them....and then move them again where they belonged. We still had to buy a few more things too.....seems like every trip to West Marine is another $100 or two. Today the jobs are 1) ground the mast to the keel bolts....in case of lightening strikes, and 2) get a cracked lower shroud deck fitting from West Marine (only $93!!!) and re-install it....to keep the mast from coming down in a big blow!!! I am also going to AT&T today to get Canadian authorization on our service so I can keep in touch hopefully. I've heard it doesn't work well, but we'll see. Stay in touch!
Brent

6/20/99 Subject: On our way!!!

Hi everybody; Just a quick note to the kids and our friends that we finally got out of Portland. We wanted to get on our way Saturday, but when the guy showed up to do some final touches to the anchor chalk he had been building for a week, the anchor compartment lid did not close. He had to go back to his shop in Canby and re-fabricate another anchor shaft port into the lid. And then we had to re-tune the rigging. By the time we were done, it was about 7:30pm. So we decided to leave this morning (Sunday). While getting things in the right place, and secured away, I was finally putting the anchor chain back in the locker and finally shut the lid.....ooops, it didn't close again!!!!! Fred, the builder, was there and had to do some final fiberglass grinding to make everything fit and had to take another part off to re-fabricate again. He said he would then send it up with our friend John Snively who is joining us up in Campbell River next weekend. It seems like the project from hell!! But we finally left at about 10:30 and arrived in Astoria about 8:30pm in the drizzling rain, but no wind. The morning flood tide is about 7:00am, but we want to top off our fuel tanks before leaving....they open at 8:00, so we may be a little late for the smoothest crossing. However, the weather report for tomorrow sounds fine: West winds 5-15 knots, Wind waves 1-2 ft, and West swells of 5 ft. If we make a 9 or 10 am crossing, we should be in the Strait of Juan de Fuca 24 hours later and Victoria, BC by Tuesday night. The rest should be just CRUISIN'! Ok, it was more than just a quick note, but thought you all may want to know we ain't there no more!. More later from the Straits!
Brent

6/22/99 Subject: Victoria, BC

To all; We had a later than desired departure from Astoria Monday morning at about 8:30am after refueling. It was already ebbing on the bar by the time we got there at about 9:30. At little lumpy, but nothing breaking, so we headed out between the North Jetty and Buoy 3 across Peacock Spit and slowly came round to 328 degrees for Umatilla Reef 120 miles away. After leaving the influence of the Columbia River, the ocean got down-right nice. There was never any wind over 15 knots and seas over about 4 feet.....that's good stuff! The new autopilot just purred and all we had to do was babysit it for the next 30 hours to Victoria. We rolled out the main sail for some stability and a little push, but finally rolled it back up before dark because the wind had died. We made the turn into Juan de Fuca Strait at 0700 by entering through the "Hole-in-the-Wall" for those who know it and for those that don't, it is a small rock infested passage between Tattosh Island and Cape Flattery. Local knowledge is required to go through because of all the rocks. And conditions have to be just right. We caught a flood tide all the way to Victoria and arrived at the Customs dock at 1530 (3:30pm). Then we proceeded to the dock in front of the Empress Hotel where we backed in to an outside slip, the only one left. A shower was the first order of the day and then a nice dinner over-looking the harbor. After writing this I'm hitting the sack. Tomorrow it's on to Nanaimo, another long day, but we'll be sleeping at a dock again tomorrow and not underway like last night. The weather has been overcast, some rain, but no high winds, although there were Small Craft warnings up on the Strait of Juan de Fuca for this afternoon. We either beat the weather or it never came, we only saw winds to 15-18 knots. It's only 7:45 but I think I'm done!!!!
Brent


6/24/99 Subject: Nanaimo


We pulled into Nanaimo about 6:30 last night. Stayed at city docks. Was a long day from Victoria. But weather was ok. Overcast, but warm. Really enjoyed cruising along the islands. Now I remember what I like about this life. Heading to Comox today then on to Campbell River tomorrow. Should have a day to clean the boat and ourselves before the guests arrive. Keep in touch,
Molly

6/25/99 Subject: In Campbell River


Hi all: Finally arrived at our destination today (Friday) about 1PM. Headed out early from Comox, crossed the reef without any problems, but then encountered some stiff seas and winds from the NW. What we didn't get offshore, we got here. Fortunately, it only lasted a short time and we were back into calmer waters. Except for some adverse currents just south of Campbell River, all was a piece of cake. Tied up to a dock and are just now relaxing with a glass of wine. Looking forward to Jim and Janice's arrival tomorrow and John will arrive on Sunday. That gives us a little time to do some boat cleaning and stowing before they arrive. Not a bad trip, all in all. Some long days, but no real adverse conditions. Left Portland on Sunday and on Friday arrived in Campbell River -- right on Brent's schedule! Weather has been okay, but we're hoping it will improve. Yesterday, rain was predicted. It was our best day. Will take this Canadian rain anytime, if that's what they call it. Planning to spend the next week in Desolation Sound just cruising about. Will perhaps be out of cell range, so if you don't hear from us, don't worry. Probably be just busy having a good time! Will keep in touch as as possible!
Molly

7/2/99 Subject: Back in Campbell River

Hi all; John Snively and Jim and Janice Haas all arrived on schedule last week. We topped off the fuel tank and took off for Grace Harbor, Desolation Sound. The trip down Malaspina Inlet and into Grace Harbor was beautiful. Sighting Bald Eagles, Marbled Muralets, and Bonaparte Gulls were a very common activity during the entire trip. We anchored in Grace Harbor without a stern tie to shore. There were only three other boats in the harbor....nearly empty and very pleasant. The next morning we were awaken to the calls of Common Loons. This was a day of exploring the further reaches of Malaspina Inlet, Mink Island, and eventually into another inner-harbor of Desolation Sound Park in Prideaux Haven called Melanie Cove. Again we were only the third boat and didn't have to stern tie to keep from swinging. Shortly after arriving, we got into the dinghy and explored some of the smaller inlets and coves of Prideaux Haven. They all were pretty excited about the beauty. Next day (Tuesday) was a bummer because it rained alllll day. Nobody got wet however, because of the cockpit canvas. We just had to wipe the windows off occasionally. We went up a mountainous fjord called Hompfray Channel a little ways so they could experience the snow capped mountains coming straight down to the water and the waterfalls. Then we stuck our nose into another small cove, but the tide was too low to enter (Roscoe Bay). Then it was off to Refuge Cove for lunch and a few provisions at the store. Still raining, but we went up to Teakerne Arm to see the waterfall that falls right into the water. The water is deep there so we nosed the boat almost into the falling water. They all took pictures!!! And then it was back to Squirrel Cove for another anchor night out. Wednesday was a better day (no rain). We went to Gorge Harbor to view the pictographs in the narrow gorge entrance. John got almost as excited about the multi-colored starfish on the rocks. That evening, we checked into a marina at Hariot Bay Inn & Marina, had showers, and dinner at the Inn. It was Mexican night, and the meals were great. Jim & Janice had to make an early ferry on Thursday so they could drive all the way back to Wilsonville, so John and I got up at 6:00am and headed out while everybody else caught a few more winks. We made it back to Campbell River and their cars in two hours and they headed off. John was going down-island to visit his sister, Gloria, in Sooke. Molly & I then left the Small Boat harbor and went to the real nice marina at Discovery Harbor. The rest of the day was just a dwaddle day, reading books, re-provisioning, washing cloths, and planning the tides through some rapids on the way to Octopus Islands tomorrow. That evening (July 1) we watched the fireworks from the cockpit for the Canadian Day celebration. This morning will be a late start (about 1200) on our next leg to make an afternoon slack water at Seymour Narrows. We will top off the fuel tank (although we still have nearly 3/4 tank) get some extra oil, fill one of the water tanks, and head North up Johnstone Straight. We haven't been getting a good cell phone signal out in the islands, so I thought I would send this while still in Campbell River. And that's probably why you won't be able to reach us by phone for the next several days if you try! By for now!
Brent

7/8/99 Subject: Princess Louisa, finally!

Hi all: A funny thing happened Monday, the sun woke us up! That's right...SUN. What a beautiful day it was. Made a quick trip to the famous Lund bakery and we were off on our way to Jervis Inlet. It's was a bit of a ways to go but how nice to finally have some warm sunshine to travel in. The cockpit side windows went up and we were soaking up some rays. We passed Albion Point, and you know we had to take some pictures of that! Went to Egmont to spend the night in order to get an early start the next day for Princess Louisa. I thought Egmont was a very quaint little spot. Perhaps having sunshine helped. I'm sure, had it been rainy and miserable, I would have thought it to be the marina from hell. Except for being open to the fast moving current and the wakes of passing boats, it was a comfortable spot. We indulged in a famous Skookumchuck hamburger at the Backeddy Pub. Supposed to be the biggest burger in BC. My guess is probably in North America. We split one and still couldn't eat it all. We needed some exercise after that so we walked to the next marina to get some provisions. There wasn't much available at the store at Egmont. It was a good walk and we enjoyed seeing the area. The next day was sunny and warm again and we got an early start up the inlet to Princess Louisa. We encountered some heavy winds in the first reach out of Egmont and our speed was very slow. We were concerned that if we had these winds all the way, we would not be on schedule and miss the tide at Malibu Rapids. But after we got out of that reach, the waters were calmer and we made decent time. We arrived at the rapids right on schedule, about noon, and could not see any current as we went through. And, WOW, once inside the inlet, it is everything we had heard it to me. Beautiful. I have never seen Yosemite, but I imagine it to be something like this, if you could sail into it. High granite walls coming straight down to the water. With the heavy snowfall this winter and late spring, there is still a lot of water coming off the cliffs. Hundreds of waterfalls. Unbelievable. They should have called it the inlet of 10,000 waterfalls instead of Princess Louisa! Had heard you could count on there being a big power boat anchored right in front of the falls and there was. But also several sailboats were anchored there also. There was still plenty of room at the dock so we tied up there. Chatterbox Falls was beautiful. We could sit in the cockpit and have a beautiful view. We went for the short hike to the falls. With the warm sun today, there is plenty of runoff and the falls are running really full. We lazed around a bit and went for a dinghy ride late in the afternoon. The barometer appeared to be falling a bit, so we thought we best enjoy this day because the weather was probably going to change. And change it did! By late evening we were starting to get some sprinkles of rain, and then it poured all night. When we awoke in the am, we could barely see the surrounding cliffs. Heavy clouds hung over the top everywhere. It rained, and rained, and rained some more. We spent a real lazy day, reading, baking cookies, napping, watching movies. We were glad to have had the day before with the sunshine. Several tour boats came and went during the day. Some were open boats with everyone sitting out in the elements. Was glad I hadn't paid for one of those trips! We kept checking the barometer all day and it was rising again so we were hopeful of a better day tomorrow. The rain finally began to let up by early evening. I don't think it rained at all during the night and the morning brought some mixed clouds with blue skies and sunshine. We had planned to make the 9:05 low slack tide so had some breakfast and started out. Apparently, others had the same plan as there were four sailboats headed out about the same time. We were following another boat and wanted to video tape them going through the rapids. I think he would have preferred someone else to go first, because he really took his time getting there. As it was, we were about twenty minutes late for the tide and it had turned already. We had to power up a bit against it, but didn't have any problems. We are headed out (down) the inlet now. Planning to stay maybe at Garden Bay in Pender Harbor or someplace nearby tonight. Tomorrow, weather permitting we will go back across the straits and head for Nanaimo. Didn't make it to the Dingy Dock Pub when we were there on the way up and we hear it's a place not to miss. Think we will spend a few days in the Gulf Islands and then some in the San Juans or start heading home. Our list of boat projects before Mexico is getting longer and could use some more time in Portland, I think. Should be back in cell range today, so will hopefully get this sent today.
Molly
PS: Made it to Fisherman's Marina in Pender Harbor by 4:00....cocktail hour!!!

7/10/99 Subject: Heading South, slowly

We are back in the Gulf Islands and beginning our trip south, but taking our time. Weather has finally turned good and we have the canvas off the cockpit enjoying the sunshine. After leaving Princess Louisa, we spent a night in Pender Harbor at Fisherman's Marine Resort. A really nice spot. We had a great dinner ashore at the Sundowner Inn. Highly recommend it for anyone coming up this way. Yesterday was sunny and warm and after refueling, we headed across the straits for Nanaimo. We were hoping to do some sailing, and did for a short time, but the wind just didn't materialize. It was just another great day in Paradise. Got into Nanaimo early in the afternoon and anchored off of New Castle Island along with lots of other boats. The warm weather has hit and everyone seemed to be out enjoying it. I understand it is finally warm back in Oregon also. We spent the afternoon lazing about and made a trip to the Dingy Dock Pub at Bud and Lisa's recommendation. What a fun spot. Good food and good drinks. Great view while dining. It was a beautiful night and we enjoyed just sitting on the boat enjoying it. Hated to go to bed. But we had an early tide to make at Dodd Narrows in the morning. We got up early today and made the slack tide at Dodd Narrows about 8:30. We are now headed for brunch at Telegraph Harbor and will spend the day there. Need a catch up day to do laundry, etc. From here we will continue south through the islands and are now planning to be back in Portland sometime the week of the 18th. We seem to be back in cell range pretty much most of the time now, so will try to keep you informed of our location. Hope you are all enjoying the summer sunshine. All for now,
Molly

7/14/99 Subject: Back to the States

Howdy folks, The last update said we were heading for Telegraph Harbor on Thetis Island. They were expecting a large powerboat group in that day, but we were the next to last boat they had room for....and this was 10:00am. We were going to have brunch there, but they only had breakfast rolls and coffee. Still a nice friendly store and marina. Molly did some laundry and later we dinghyed down the bay to Thetis Island Marina and Resort for a late lunch. They also had a large powerboat group in that were all the same make and size. It looked like they had all mated and been reproducing right there in the marina. Sunday the 11th, we left about 10:00am and wasn't going very far over to Montegue Harbor Marine Park so we rolled out the sails. There wasn't much wind, but we weren't in a hurry either! However, about an hour later, we had run out of wind completely so we rolled the sails up and motored the rest of the way. We got there in the early afternoon and some boats were leaving so we picked up a mooring buoy right on the beach and didn't have to anchor. Later we toured the park and dinghyed through the boats in the harbor. There was Reprise (Monte and Barb) from Portland...one of our Baja Bounders. They were not aboard so we left our boat card on their dinghy davits so they would see that we had been by. As we were leaving, however, they showed up in their dinghy and we chatted with them for awhile. THE THING to do at Montegue Harbor on Galiano Island is catch the "Pub Bus" over to the Hummingbird Pub. We had done this in the late 80's when we were here with Jim and Janice Haas and John Snively. The bus was still the same and believe it or not, they still played the same Fats Domino tape (I found my thrill on Blueberry Hill...) on the ride over plus the driver's humor. We met some other great people on the way over too, and had dinner with them. Monday the 12th, there was a good wind so out go the sails and we had a great sail over to Ganges on Saltspring Island. We stopped there for awhile, bought some provisions, had lunch and then headed for Otter Bay Marina on North Pender Island. While we were there, the dock master ("wharfinger" up here) said he had just received a report that the Orcas were coming up the channel. They had a great observation platform and everybody headed up there to watch them go by. They were a long way off, had to use binoculars, and there were a lot of boats around them....but we saw some! Tuesday the 13th, again we tried for about an hour to sail but finally gave up when we were going less than 2 knots. We motored over to Sidney Spit Marine Park. But it was a minus tide and the bottom came up quickly. There were several larger sailboats on mooring buoys so we knew there was enough depth if we could just find a way in. After several tries...and grounding out a few...another sailboat came by that knew the way. We followed him without running aground...but just barely. We tied to a buoy, dinghyed ashore, went for a 2k scenic walk of the spit, had lunch and then decided to go to Port Sidney Marina just across the way. By the time we got there the wind was blowing quite hard (Gale warnings were up on the strait). There was another boat with a roller furling main and it was howling....he didn't put his "flute stopper" up his track. The marina is all they say it is...beautiful! We had an excellent dinner at Newport Restaurant (not the chain!!) and had a walk around town for supplies and a couple of books (we had finished the ones we had!). Back on the boat, we watched a movie and went to bed. Today, Wednesday the 14th, we are still here, but planning on crossing the Haro Strait to the San Juan Islands and check back into the States. Don't know yet where we will end up for the day. It rained a bit last night and the wind is howling out right now. The weather report is for scattered showers, but nice weather is due again by the weekend. Now that we are back in the lower Gulf Islands and the San Juans we will probably be within cell range much more of the time. So it's easier to send these updates.....or GET THEM! Thanks everybody for sending us mail. It's great to get up in the morning and see two or three e-mails from friends and family. Thanks!
Brent

7/17/99 Subject: Port Angeles

Ahoy everybody; We just got to Port Angeles this afternoon (Saturday) after a nice motor sail across the strait. Last Wednesday we headed across Haro Strait from Sidney back to Friday Harbor (USA!). The crossing at times WAS "Haro"ing. There was a strong ebb tide (heading South) and a strong northerly breeze (heading north) which makes for a few lumps (read: white capped swells) where the current really gets going. Anyway we made it to Friday Harbor checked through customs. The agent taught school in West Linn at Bolton Middle school just down the street from where we used to live and where Carrie and Lynda went to school. After check in, and having to pay Reagan's "User" fee of $25 dollars to get back in the states, we went on over to Reid Harbor on Stuart Island and grabbed a buoy. This is the last place Albion anchored when we picked her up three years ago before we headed home. Thursday, the 15th, we fought another strong adverse current up to Friday Harbor. A little more provisions, a few more books, and lunch. Then it was off to Spencer Spit Marine Park on Lopez Island where we picked up another buoy and started reading our new books....getting a lot of reading done on this trip!!We had called for reservations at Rosario Resort for the next night, but they were full. They said we were welcome to pick up a buoy at no charge, but to use the facilities (shower, laundry, pools, sauna, etc) there is a $20 fee. We did that Friday (the 16th) and put our name on the waiting list for a slip at the marina. After our showers and checking out the store, the dock director notified us that we could move into a slip. So we went back out to the boat, and headed in. All of these "strong ebb tides I've been mentioning mean LOWER than LOW tides at the end of those ebbs. The wind was still strong so I was making a wider than normal swing into the slip and a little faster....because we were going to be blown off the slip as soon as we were in the right place. Anyway, BANG!!, we stopped dead aground nearly pitching Molly off the bow. The young lady that was directing us in called for backup help, but with a little maneuvering, I finally backed off and made another approach with no problems. The dock director was over in a motor dinghy in no time and apologizing. I told him I put it aground, you guys didn't! But he insisted that there would be NO FEE for this evenings moorage. At $50/night I didn't fight too hard, but told him I wasn't going to sue anybody. I later put my wet suit on and examined the keel. It had a 3 inch round divot on the bottom of the port wing. I also swam over to look at the rock I had hit and there wasn't any. It just had shallowed out with a hard bottom. After getting the laundry caught up, we enjoyed a nice meal at the mansion and the Christopher Peacock Rosario History show. This morning (Saturday) we left early to have breakfast at Olga. But the Cafe Olga didn't open till 10:00, so we had breakfast rolls and mochas at the Olga Store. Then weighed anchor for Port Angeles. It was a fairly calm crossing with little wind. We sailed for a while, but clearly we were defeating our goal...to get any speed from the sails we had to head in the wrong direction. So, we mostly motor sailed across. So we just fueled up ready to catch the ebb down the Strait of Juan de Fuca first thing in the morning. The ebb is all day long, but we want to miss the strong afternoon westerly winds that are predicted. Next update we will be back across the bar in the Columbia. That, if everything goes fine, will be Tuesday. Cheers!
Brent

7/20/99 Subject: Up the Columbia

Hi all, -- TuesdayWe are back in Oregon and headed up the river. We left Port Angeles early Sunday AM. The forecast was possible strong winds in the strait by afternoon. We wanted to get as far along as possible before the wind came up and we had a good ebb tide to ride all the way out. The winds never materialized and we had a smooth ride all the way. The closer we got to open seas the flatter it got. The weather report, when we got to Neah Bay, was for light NW winds decreasing by evening, light westerly swell, light and variable winds on Monday. Sounded good...so away we went heading south. Rounded Tattosh about 2:45 in the afternoon. The northwesterly wind was very light and not enough to sail by, so we motored along. During the night, the wind increased and we put up a sail to stabilize the effect of the swell which was increasing and becoming a real pain hitting us broadside. With the current and wind pushing us along, we were making much too good of time and it was clear we would be getting to the Col. River bar way ahead of schedule and the favorable tide. We slowed down as much as possible and finally turned off the motor and sailed by the mainsail only. Even at that we were making five knots. Then the fog came in. Thick fog. Long and short of it is when we got to the Columbia, we had heavy swell(20'), strong NW winds (20-25 kts), thick fog (vis. 0.1 mi) and adverse current. Not the conditions we would choose to cross on. Listening to the radio, the Coast Guard was very busy. We heard a call from a 35' Bayliner, out of power and drifting towards the south jetty. He kept calling the Coast Guard asking how much longer before they got there (and the boats name was Getting There), because "that jetty is getting real close!" Finally he put out his anchor and it seemed to hold, because when the Coast Guard helicopter hovered over him, we heard the CG tell him he appeared now to be in no immediate danger and they'd be back later for him. We heard another boater calling for help from "somewhere near buoy 1," he didn't know for sure where he was and wasn't too sure about his fuel supply; could the CG please come and escort him in. Then, we heard a women call for assistance. Her last known position was "somewhere on the bar." When the Coast Guard asked her if she had a GPS aboard and could she give them a lat/long position, she did not respond. I suspect, she didn't know what that was. Clearly, the Coast Guard was too busy with these folks, and we best be making it on our own. Good electronics and Brent knowing the bar well helped. We plotted our course to the buoys. Finally were able to spot Buoy 8 when we were less than 2/10 of mile from it. At buoy 10, the fog began to lift and it was a bright sunny day. And what a beautiful day, we thought. We were happy to see land and know that we could rest in Astoria. We tied up at the marina, had showers and joined our friend Nada for a nice Italian dinner. We hadn't seen Nada since we were in Tucson this spring, so it was nice to catch up. But we made it an early evening and went to bed. Brent had had little rest off shore, so he was ready for a good night's rest! We are now headed upriver and though it will be a long day, we are hoping to make it to Portland tonight. I just talked to Linda at Columbia Crossings and our old slip, G14 is open and she guessed that we probably would be able to find our way there even in the dark! So, Albion and her crew should be feeling really at home tonight! Thanks for all the correspondence along the trip.
Molly

8/23/99 Subject: Good News/Bad News

Hi all; The Good News...... the rudder on Albion does not need to be replaced, just repaired. When we took it out of the water to have the drip-less packing gland put in last week, they found small blisters on the bottom and they recommended that the bottom paint be completely scraped off and new paint put on......ok! Then we got a call that there was serious delamination on the rudder and you better come over right away and take a look. The rudder had some cracks along the leading edge and felt punky in several places. They said they would not know for sure how bad it was until Monday (today) when their rudder man got back from vacation in Hawaii, and that if they needed to replace the rudder (build a new one) it would take a minimum of two weeks. Today's report was that the core material was just fine (and in fact the best foam material that rudders can be made from), had no moisture in it, and that they would just have to cut the delaminated areas away, rebuild those areas and wrap the rebuilt rudder with new fiberglass. The bad news is.....we are still going to be delayed about a week and a half later than our expected departure date of the middle of this week. That means that we will be trying to get out of here on or about September 5th (Labor Day weekend). We still plan to be arriving in San Diego about the first of October. We were planning to harbor hop like everybody else is.....we may just miss a few now, but still plan to have plenty of time to see some sights. Just wanted to let everybody how things were going on Albion and not to have too much fun down there in Chula Vista before we get there. The party sounds fun and we expect a great welcome from everybody upon arrival since we will probably be the last ones to get there. More later!
Brent & Molly

Log 1: RV Trip after Retirement '99

Log 1 of Albion (and other travels)

This, and following pages, are a collection of selected e-mails back to family and friends about our travels. This first Log is about our RV trip through California, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada right after Retirement, March 1, 1999. Please excuse grammar and sentence structure, as these were written quickly for a specific audience. The reason for including them here is for a record of our travels for people that were not included in the original correspondence and friends that we've met along the way that want to know what we've been up to. The other "log pages" include our travels in Albion to Canada and Mexico and more RV trips around the USA. Have fun reading them, we had fun making them!

2/27/99

Subject: RETIRED!!!!!!!!!!!!

YES! We are now RETIRED!!!! Last night was a great party. There were about 40 people there and many from past years that returned to say congratulations and well wishes. The Habitat chief made some presentations including the lap charts for Mexico from San Diego to Panama. She also has a Yamhill winery and gave us a couple bottles of her select wine. Also got a $100 gift certificate at Captain's Nautical and my 30 year plaque. Jeanette & Terry gave us a $100 certificate at Camping World. And I got lots of hugs!! Maybe I should do this more often. It was great seeing some of my ex-coworkers again and hearing some of the stories that they told to the group again. Molly also got to see some of our past friends from Newport/Tillamook. And the girls at Molly's office sent her a big bunch of balloons, with a nice card attached, to the party. Didn't get much time to eat or drink....too busy working the room. But a great time was had by all.

Brent & Molly PS: It's RAINING like hell here right now..wish we were GONE!!!!!

3/3/99 Subject: On the Road!

Hi all, We finally got out of town! Didn't make it too far on Tuesday...all the way to Salem! We had several last minute things to do before leaving town...got a new printer for the computer....went to Captain's Nautical to spend Brent's gift certificate...he got me a new pair of binoculars...what a guy!...stopped on the way out of town at Camping World to spend that gift certificate...got a table, extra water filter and sewer support "slinky". Thanks again! Called JoAnn when we got to Salem and took her to dinner. Went to a Mexican place, had a nice visit with her. She and Mary Ann are busy getting wedding plans in order. Think it will be a good time. Today we got up, did some laundry, went to Costco, Thriftway, and K-mart and finally got on the road about 1:30. It was still wet and very windy. Was kind of a wild ride down the freeway. Got to Grants Pass a little after five. I think this is the first night we have had to just kick back, relax and get to enjoy the RV since we moved in! Tomorrow we will head over to the coast and further south. Still looking for dry weather. Would like to spend some time in the wine country, but if it is still raining, may just keep on going! Will keep in touch. We'll try to check the e-mail daily.

Molly

3/6/99 Subject: "Southern California"

Finally got into "Southern" California, but just barely....Morgan Hill just south of San Jose. We are staying at a Thousand Trails camp here. We activated a 30 day free membership that we got when we bought our Bounder. The stay is free but not a great spot, very dusty......and worst of all cell phone signal is a flat line....and satellite TV will not lock on. The antenna does get a few stations so we can watch them instead of talking to each other. Brief Trip Log: Thursday--Left Grants Pass 10:30, headed over to the coast via the Oregon Caves road (down the Smith River) and hit snow on top. Met several semi's on the narrow mountain road, but they stayed on their side and I on mine.....I think! Moseyed on down the coast stopping at Crescent City (sandwiches while watching the boats in the marina) and Trinidad. Finally stopped for the night at Laytonville in a Good Neighbor Park. (283 miles) Friday--I'm sure we hold the record for the LEAST miles traveled in a day....28. We drove down to Willets to a Good Sams Park and set up camp. Then took the car over to the coast for the day. Stopped in Fort Bragg for lunch, drove down highway 1 past the resort where "Same Time Next Year" was filmed (just watched the movie last night!). The park was nice and we were all by ourselves. Stopped at a couple of wineries. Added to our stock. Saturday (today)-- Left 10:30 after washing the RV and car. Stopped at Dry Creek Winery for a couple bottles of wine and wind breakers with sailboats on them of course!! Then on down 101 through San Francisco......DO NOT take 101 through SF!!!! It takes you right through downtown.....and the red lights are on the side-posts, not hanging over the middle of the street. Missed one and nearly got a car in the intersection!!! You know, one good thing was learned, when you stand on the breaks, the rig STOPS!!!! Also, some of the things that have been riding just fine all long, suddenly, aren't! Then on through SF to here, Morgan Hill. We are staying here two nights. Tomorrow we will drive the car around and visit some of the wineries in this area. Will head out Monday for Thousand Oaks to visit Lynda. Then San Diego and then east. We will probably not head up to Death Valley since it's a little far up there to back-track. So will head east to Tucson a little earlier than planned. We still want to stop and see Anza-Borrego State Park and Joshua Tree N.P. on the way over....and who knows what else. We'll keep in touch.....when the signal is strong enough!

Brent..and Molly, too!

3/9/99 Subject: Thousand Oaks, CA

Whoever said "It never rains in Southern California" was WRONG! We woke up this morning in front of our daughter's house here in Thousand Oaks to rain drops on the roof. Yuk! The last few days, however, have been pretty nice. No shorts yet though. We did finally take the sweatshirts off and after looking at the closet, realized that maybe we took too many. We have been keeping in touch with the kids and other friends with e-mail. This cell phone/modem combination is just great. We write the message, que it up, log on, and it is sent instantly. Total airtime is normally less than a minute from start of dialing to disconnect. The only problem we had was at the Thousand Trail camp where it was up in the hills and the signal was flat-lined. We had to drive down the road four miles in the car and then log on.We spent several days at Lynda's seeing the grand kids activities...Brianna at ballet, Megan at jazz dance and Jordan at baseball. We even took in a Lakers game...scanning the crowd for stars was fun!

3/13/99 Subject: Chula Vista

Arrived in Chula Vista Friday afternoon and drove up in the hills to our Thousand Trails camp.....nice but still just a camp! Again, it's up in the hills and we don't "get any dots" on the cell phone so keep it off. Friday night we went to dinner with Will/JoAnn & Brian/Laurie at the Chula Vista Yacht Club. It was St. Patrick's night with corned beef & cabbage. The marina is REAL nice, quiet, and clean. The yacht club is located right on the board walk and the end of Will & JoAnn's dock. We are planning a "dwaddle" day today (Saturday) although we may head in to San Diego to LOOK! Then Sunday morning we are going in to the yacht club and have their Sunday Brunch with the guys again before we head out of town. Since we cannot get cell reception here, Thousand Trails has a phone hookup for computer e-mail. I haven't ever gone on-line at a "modem friendly" campground before and will try to sent this that way. Remember, on a land line for me it is a long distance call back to Portland, although Teleport does have three phone lines in San Diego....don't know if that's long distance from here or not. If that doesn't work I'll add a PS to this note and sent it via cell phone if we get to town today.....or tomorrow. Short term plans are to head East to Anza-Boreggo and Joshua Tree Parks and then on to Tucson by the end of next week. May spend two nights at each location...Anza-Boreggo has a Good Neighbor Park and Indio near Joshua Tree has a Coast to Coast. Still haven't had shorts on, but I have shaved my legs in anticipation [Molly]! Take care and will be seeing you soon we hope.

Brent and Molly

3/16/99 Subject: Indio, CA

Today we are in Indio....just east of Palm Springs in an AT&T area with good strength. It only takes a minute or two to sent and receive messages in this area....probably depends on time of day too. We went for a road tour of Joshua Tree N.P. today after we arrived. Saw some neat cactus plants and got several more lifers....first sightings of birds. We'll be here for two nights kicking back and sight-seeing. We are staying in a true "resort" RV community with swimming pools, tennis courts, shuffle board, horse-shoe pits, rec. rooms, weight rooms, community center, etc., etc., etc. AND it only cost us $6/night because it is one of our Coast-to-Coast RV membership parks. WHAT A WAY TO LIVE! For the last two days (after leaving Chula Vista visiting cruising friends) we spent a day in Ocotello Wells touring and hiking in Anza-Borrego State Park (the nation's second largest state park). The RV park, however, was a wind swept, sand box. It was across the highway from one of California's off-road vehicle areas. At least it was mid-week and not very busy. The first night there was beautiful. No wind, lots of stars, warm, and very quiet. Just what you picture for a fine desert retreat. Getting to Ocotello Wells required coming down a long narrow winding road. Although I was just touching the breaks occasionally, they started getting a bit mushy and starting to smell. I found a place to pull over and they were smoking. We waited a half hour for them to cool, disconnected the car (Molly drove it down the hill the rest of the way), and proceeded to Ocotello Wells. I will be a little more wary next time and disconnect earlier. Thursday we plan to head east to Phoenix, where we will probably meet up with our friends Bud & Lisa. There is some kind of kite festival there this weekend, so we may do that before we then head South to Tucson to see some other sailing friends that live there now. THEN we are on our own and will probably see some of the National Parks to the North. Hope everybody is fine there. I'm starting to actually think that this is NOT JUST A VACATION......and looking forward to more adventures.

Brent

3/23/99 Subject: Tucson Travels

Had time to sit and do some e-mail catching-up of our travels. Better news than the last one! By the way we are in Tucson. We stayed several days with our friends Nada and Dorsey Hensley and then she had other friends coming and "kicked us out". (Actually, she was willing to stay over at the neighbors so we could all stay there, but we opted to move on.) We moved into the same park that Bud and Lisa Root are staying in. We were storing the RV in another park when at Nada's. We will be staying here until Friday. Then we will probably head to Phoenix to watch Lisa compete in a kite competition. And then we don't know where! The weather is unbelievable, mid 80's, and SUN! There is supposed to be a chance of showers on Friday.....but I don't think they know what showers really mean. We have been seeing lots of sights. Friday was Old Tucson Studios, where they have shot several movies and TV series like Gunsmoke and High Chaparral. There were several shows that Nada guided us to. Saturday, Bud & Lisa and we drove almost to Phoenix to go to the Renaissance Fair. A full day of shows and medieval dress and contests....like real jousting. The best show was the "Birds of Prey". The first bird (Zulu) an African eagle, didn't want to cooperate and was flying from roof to roof, and wouldn't come catch the target the trainer was throwing. Finally the bird took off on a thermal, soaring higher and higher.....and never came back!!! Sunday we went to Catalina State Park and did some hiking and birding in the hot desert SUN, and then a great dip in the pool at Nada's development.....then cocktails of course! Monday was a "work" day! We moved the RV to the other park, but also got it lubed & oil changed. We had the car looked at and an appointment made for Wednesday....the air conditioning (YES AIR CONDITIONING!) makes the car stall out when at idle--a problem we hadn't noticed in Oregon! And I took the RV past a roadside window repair vendor (there are several just along side the road) to check if the crack in our windshield could be fixed. It started as a chip and then one day zipped in a nice arc of about 12 inches. He said they could fill it and it would be about 90% better and not split anymore. We will go back on Friday and get it fixed on our way out of town. That should take care of all the maintenance things we needed done. Tuesday (today) is (as Lisa put's it) a "dwaddle day". After we all went out to breakfast, Molly & Lisa went shopping and bought new dishes and.....well a whole bunch of stuff (good stuff!). Costco here has booze!! and gasoline too! Bud & I put a roof vent cover on his motor home, using the new drill that Molly bought me for Christmas. Bud and Lisa are now out flying their kites and Molly is putting things...stuff away....and I'm doing this in the shade of our awning sipping a beer! Hope the weather is getting better there.

Brent

3/29/99 Subject: Williams, AZ

I know, "Where the hell is Williams, Arizona?" Well, it's about 30 miles West of Flagstaff up in the mountains. We are camping at a little over 7,000 ft., a long way from the desert. It looks a lot like Eastern Oregon pine forests here. We spent over a week in Tucson visiting, and seeing the sites. The last place we visited was Biosphere2 where 8 people lived for 2 years in the early 90's in a 3.1 acre glass enclosed environment without any supplies from the outside (well not quite true...they had to import some oxygen when the artificial cement rocks that had been build started using up the oxygen during it's aging process). The Biosphere had 5 different habitats that they maintained and did experiments in (including a 100 million gallon Ocean habitat with an self-sustaining coral reef). The other habitats included a rain forest, desert, savanna, and marsh. They grew all their own food to live on in those two years too. If you're ever in Tucson, make sure you see it. Then we headed to Phoenix with our friends Bud and Lisa Root. Lisa was flying her kite in competition. And she won first place in the mandatory maneuvers and second place in the free-style flight to music, beating out 4 men. We were proud of her and everybody was impressed that she had her own cheering section all the way from Portland. We stayed in Phoenix three nights at a nice RV park and went swimming several times after a day in the hot sun watching kite flying. The temperatures are still in the mid to upper 80's and we're starting to get a little color.....but we're taking it slow! We had some large umbrellas with us and used them to shade us from the sun......something we had never used them for in Portland!!! Today we drove 150 miles North through Flagstaff and then West to Williams. We thought this would be a good staging area for heading North tomorrow to visit the south rim of the Grand Canyon. We've never seen it before and this is one of the MANY first's we expect to see from now on. We still see RAIN fronts coming into the Pacific Northwest on the National weather reports. Therefore, we're not in too much of a hurry to get home and get started working on the boat.....got a friend doing that for us already! We still plan to see many of the Utah National Parks, then head for Las Vegas. Molly's closest friend from high school sent us an e-mail saying she is getting married in Las Vegas on April 14. So we made reservations for the 13th through the 15th at a Coast-to-Coast RV park right near the strip (only $6/night!). After that we will probably head home slowly working our way up through Reno and Northwestern California. Let people at work know that it's not getting boring yet and I'M NOT COMING BACK!

Brent

4/1/99 Subject: Blanding, Utah

Hi! Don't know when we may be able to send this. We are in Monument Valley--"roam and no dots!" on the cell phone. We spent Tuesday (3/30) in the Grand Canyon. We parked the RV in a park just outside the park headquarters and drove into the park in the car. Weather was very windy but comfortably warm. We took the rim tour and hiked back to the village on some of it. They were doing some controlled burning in part of the park so some of the views were a little smokey--made our pictures a little hazy looking. Wednesday we awoke to stronger winds than the previous day and looking like it could get stormy. We drove back into the park but then headed east along hwy 64 along the east rim of the canyon. It was much cooler today and really windy at all the stops we made along the rim to view the canyon. As we left the park and dropped back down to the desert, we encountered very windy conditions from the side. It was more than a little scary at times. Brent had a good workout just keeping the rig on the road and then just being able to see the road at times was a challenge! We had the lights on and at times it was like driving in heavy fog because of the blowing dust. Would have liked to be able to shorten sails--but couldn't find any reef lines! No place looked like a good place to stop, but continuing on at times didn't look like the best option either. At one point, the gusts rattled us so bad that it made the awning latches come loose. We had to stop several times right on the road and finally strapped then up with Velcro and bungee cords. But we continued and finally the wind was at our back and made travel a little more comfortable. We stopped for sandwiches in Kayenta and considered spending the night in a parking lot there, but decided to go on to Monument Valley to a Good Sam park there; it's at the location John Wayne stayed and filmed when here. We haven't been able to see any of the monuments--too much wind and blowing dust. They say they are out there, but can't see anything! We were going to visit the park headquarters, but there was a fee to enter and since we couldn't see anything, decided to wait until tomorrow to see if the visibility is better. The RV park is pretty nice and we were able to pick a good spot where we could orient the rig into the wind and not be broad sided by the gusts. We did enjoy just kicking back for the afternoon. I spent some time learning the scanner and printing some pictures from the camera. I got in a real twit; thought I had lost some pictures I had transferred the other night. They were the ones with Herm and Nancy and also Lisa's kite pictures. Knew I had edited and transferred them from the camera, but they weren't in the Kodak albums where they were supposed to be. I had cleared out the camera to make room for Grand Canyon and beyond. Finally did a search for all my "jpg" files and found them and put them where they belonged! Hate to have the computer get the best of me! It's after dinner now and it seems like maybe the wind has died down a bit--or maybe we are just getting used to it! We are hoping that this will pass by the morning. If it does, we plan to see this area before moving on north to Natural Bridges, Arches, Canyon Lands, etc. Thursday--The wind did stop during the night and in the morning it was .... snowing! Thought at first Brent was playing an April's fools joke! Not snowing hard, but enough to make the ground white. The snow at least settled all the dust from the day before. And, yes...there were monuments out there. See attached picture view from our front window. After breakfast we returned to the park headquarters. It cost $2.50 per person ... and very well worth it ... when you can see something. We took the self-guided drive and I took a lot of pictures. Weather was clearing up so after noon we left for Blanding. Arrived here in early afternoon and spend a "dwaddle" afternoon. Really needed to do some cleaning ... everything had a layer of dust after yesterday's trip. We will spend a couple of nights here (I think!). I have Roam and lots of dots so will send this tonight. We will take a car drive tomorrow to Natural Bridges and Glen Canyon--Lake Powell. On Saturday we want to go on to Moab, where we will stay several days seeing Arches and Canyon Lands National Parks. I say we want to do that on Saturday, but am not sure because it is again snowing here where we are tonight, so all these plans depend on what the weather allows us to do. But the weather reports seem to indicate that the weather will be improving over the weekend, so that's probably what we will do. Will keep you posted.

Molly

4/3/99 Subject: SNOW Bound

Friday... HELP! We thought this was desert country.....and SPRING...not Winter in the mountains. It's been snowing all day! We slept late and finally the snow abated a bit so we decided to drive up to Natural Bridges N.P. about 30 mile away from here (Blanding, UT). We got up there but couldn't see a thing because of the poor/snow visibility. We did walk to one over-look and saw where the natural bridge should be, but good visibility would have been better. The only picture we took was on the way out at the entrance (see picture). We came back to camp and just lazed around (I mean dwaddled!)....watching the snow fall the rest of the day. Right now (6:30 pm) there is about 2-3 inches out there. We made reservation tomorrow in Moab UTAH, but don't know if it will be do-able. Even if we can, I'm not sure we are going to see any arches or canyons! This weekend is an off-road jamboree in Moab, so the Good Neighbor park said they wouldn't honor the reduced rate. We are getting pretty depressed, after all the nice weather we had and now this. But there seems no place to go to get out of this. They had about 3 inches in Phoenix, I hear, and they canceled a Pro Golf Tournament in Scottsdale. I guess we will save some of the sight seeing in this part of the country for "the next time". I guess we can just sit it out, work our way up to I-70, and then head on over to Las Vegas. Apparently I lied to Molly.....I told her she would never see the SNOW again and here we are snow-bound in Blanding....where-ever the hell that is!Saturday am.... I didn't get this sent last night. The connection was acting up. The sky looks a lot better this morning, but it's white outside. The highway looks clear, so we will wait around til late this morning and then take off for Moab. Last night after we went to bed and were watching TV, we heard a knock on the door. It was the park manager saying it was going to get down to 20 degrees tonight and that the water should be unhooked. He said he'ld do it if I wanted, which he did. After awhile, however, I went out and drained and coiled the water hose and put it back in the basement. I also unlocked the car doors and took the emergency break off. I thought I was done will all this winterizing shit! Oh well, hope you're warm.....if you are we may be heading that way sooner than expected!

Brent

4/3/99 Subject: Moab, Utah

Today was a better day!!! Sometime during the night, it stopped snowing....and the skies cleared and in the AM we had sunshine! It is amazing what a difference a little sunshine can do. Yesterday, was gray, gray, gray skies and snowing all day long, I swear. Today, although it was still cold, everything was clear and crisp and bright! We left Blanding mid morning and had about 80 miles to go to Moab. Fortunately we had heard a news report about there being a "Jeep Jamboree" weekend in Moab this weekend and had called ahead for reservations .... there are more jeeps in this small town this weekend than we have seen in a lifetime! Our poor car needed a car wash after being towed on the wet road ... you can imagine the wait at the car wash as all the jeeps were there to wash after being off-roading! There are a lot of RV parks here, but they are all jammed as is every motel. Glad we didn't have to find a place to eat tonight .. am sure every restaurant is packed. We made some sandwiches and then headed out for Arches National Park. So far, this is my favorite place. I felt a little like I did when we went to Glacier Park. When I saw the first glacier, I got so excited ... not knowing there were dozens and dozen more to come. After a while, it was ... "oh, it's another glacier." I am glad we had just taken John's geology class because we were able to look at the formations and identify them and appreciate their formation. Really made a difference. It was a full afternoon in the park. We made a lot of short hikes out to viewpoints and took lots of pictures. Am finally beginning to use the camera efficiently ... I take every picture I see, then come back and review them on the TV, eliminate the ones I don't like, then transfer them to the computer and clear off the camera to be ready for the next day! One of these days, I am going to have to get serious about printing them ... oh well, I have a lot of time. Had an e-mail from Jeanette ... first retirement check arrived. YEAH!! Now it's real!!!!! Don't know what tomorrow's weather will bring. Report is for another storm front to be moving in, but not as strong as the previous. We want to see Canyonlands NP tomorrow, but if the weather is anything like yesterday and Natural Bridges, we may pass and have another "dwaddle" day. They aren't so bad.

Molly

4/5/99 Subject: Moab to Vegas

Didn't get a chance to write anything and sent it off this morning so I am writing this as Molly is driving across Utah at 65 mph. I will try to put an update together by excerpts from other e-mails in the last week. ......... SUNDAY (4/4)... Snow on the ground again today, but decided to go to Canyonlands anyway...about 30 miles from our park. As we entered the park another snowstorm hit and didn't look like it was going to pass anytime soon. Upheaval Dome, which I wanted to see was another 10 miles inside the park. We drove a few more miles and could barely see the sides of the road, so we turned around, went back to Moab and went to a movie, then to dinner. When we got back to the rig, we called our friends Bud & Lisa, who were in Bullhead city in their RV, and asked then how the weather was there....they had sunshine and were still wearing shorts!!! Although we really wanted to do the rest of the National Parks in southern Utah, we decided maybe next time! We told Bud & Lisa we would be heading for Bullhead City tomorrow. Well, that's where we are now....heading for it, that is. We figure we can make Las Vegas late this afternoon and have an easy day tomorrow (Tuesday) to head South to Bullhead City. Actually they are just a little South of that in Fort Mojave. That's as up-to-date as I can make it for now. If I don't get this sent on the road, I will include some pictures and send it tonight. By for now,

Brent

4/12/99 Subject: Las Vegas

We are in Las Vegas (Monday night) but were unable to locate a soccer tournament. We didn't get here til after noon. Checked into a beautiful RV park right near the strip ($6/night as Coast-to-Coast member). Then drove in and toured some of the casinos. We decided to go big pig (whole hog to others) and get tickets to some shows. We got tickets to see Wayne Newton and Crystal Gayle. Lots of shows to see but these were the only ones we had heard of. There is a storm system over LV right now and it did spit some moisture today, but when we were sitting outside watching the wave pool at the Mandalay Bay Casino, we just sat there having a drink and everybody else ran for cover.....they weren't from Oregon! The temp, however, was 67 today. Actually it is thundering and lightening out right now (8:40pm)!!! The eats here are great too. Tomorrow we plan to go to an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet for $3.45. In-expensive on the pocket book, but very expensive on the waistline! After L.V. we plan to see Death Valley then on to Reno/Tahoe and then slowly work our way home to Portland by the end of the month. See you then. It seems awful strange now that we have not worked for a month and a half, the longest vacation I've ever had so far, but I'm getting to like it a lot!!!

Brent

4/20/99 Subject: Still in L.V.

Yep, we're still in Las Vegas!! We decided to stay an extra week because we were having so much fun and there are so many sights. We have gone to see three shows and have tickets to see the Righteous Brothers tonight. We have also seen most of the "free" shows and attractions, the best of which is the fountain show in front of the Bellagio that is synchronized with music. Bud and Lisa have been here since last Thursday and we have been going to most of the attractions together. They are leaving today (Tuesday) and we are heading to Death Valley tomorrow. The weather is getting warm!! The pool at our RV park resort has been well used. Yesterday was 93 and it's predicted as 94 today. Death Valley was over 100 yesterday so we may have second thoughts tomorrow if it is staying that high. We're not looking forward to heading home, especially when we see on the national weather map that it's still getting wet up there. But we do have to start getting the boat ready for Vancouver Island in June. The fellow I have working on the electronics is done and only has the new autohelm to put on.

Brent

4/26/99 Subject: Reno

We are leaving Reno this morning in cloudy and predicted windy conditions. Temp today will be 64 and yesterday was in the mid 70's. We did it all in Las Vegas. The last show we saw was the Righteous Brothers, sang all the old songs and it was great. We left L.V. on Wednesday and headed out the back door of Vegas, through Pahrump, Death Valley Junction, and into the Valley from the south. The temp was about 92 when we got there. We drove back down the valley to Badwater (-282' below sea level) and then another 30 miles South to take a picture of a hill that is located right on top of the fault that formed Death Valley. The East and West side of the hill actually slipped North and South of each other. Like splitting an apple and moving each half along the same plane about an inch. We stayed in Furnace Creek campground with no facilities except just a place to call our own. Had dinner at the Furnace Creek Ranch Restaurant and saw some Harley Davidson bikers with "Beaverton Oregon" on their shirts. One asked me if I knew Kay Brown (when he found out I worked for ODFW). I told him of course....she was my new boss (Asst. Dir. of Habitat Division) just before I retired. His name was Rick Williams and is Kay's brother-in-law. So I have to say Hi to Kay from him when I get back! The next day we drove to the North end of the valley to Scotty's Castle and Ubehebe Crater, then up to a very narrow canyon where we took some pictures of the car wedged in some of the corners. The canyon is called Titus Canyon, but some of us in John Snively's Death Valley class (Clackamas Comm. College) several years ago corrupted the name a bit because it was so "tight"! That night we filled the motor home with gas so we wouldn't have to worry during the next long day in the outback. The price....$2.03/gal! The trip, when we left, was up a monstrous hill (the Panament Range) out of the valley and then down the other side. No roller coaster was ever like this, you know the coaster is safe, but if the breaks get too warm coming down this narrow 9% hill for five miles, that's all she wrote!!! Then it was cross the Panament Valley (another one just like Death Valley) and up and over another mountain range. Molly drove the car behind the RV from Death Valley until we got down off the second mountain range, much less to pull up one side and hold back down the other. We were headed for Mono Lake, CA that night, but it was getting very cold and snowing. We drove through snow on the highway over one of the passes (8,000 feet). We were going to stay two nights in Mono Lake (actually Lee Vining) and drive the car over the mountains into Yosemite N.P. the next day, but the pass was closed because of snow. Therefore, we only stayed one night and hoped the pass beyond Mono Lake toward Reno would be ok the next day (8,100 ft). The next day was fine, dry roads. So we are in Reno now in a park (actually in Sparks). There aren't many shows here like LV. We went into town and did some nickel slot machines just to get rid of what we had left from LV. We kept winning more, however, and finally cashed out, then went to the Nugget for dinner. We are heading out today (Monday) toward Susanville-Alturas-Klamath Falls-Bend and over the hill to Portland. At least that's the plan for now. We should be back by the end of the week. Not too rushed but in the right direction! That's it for now. Talk to you when we get back.

Brent