Ben's Guest Blog from San Fran

We've arrived in San Francisco from our roughly 56 hour run from Newport, OR!  Recall that we were trying to squeeze past Cape Mendocino before the serious weather moved into that infamously tricky point by Tuesday night and Wednesday and we were able to do just that.  As we approached the latitude of Mendocino Sunday afternoon, well off the coast about twenty miles, the USCG weather reports curiously started giving forecasts for less severe weather in the near coast range (0-10 miles) than for the offshore range (10-60 miles).  Go figure!  So we changed course slightly and maintained a 6-8 mile cushion from the shoreline through the night.

Although this was the right move, it didn't mean that we escaped one hundred percent of the rough stuff - a 'near gale' joined us for dinner and stayed for the sunset.  Thirty knot winds and seas of 8-10 feet, both following us from the north luckily, made for a moderately bumpy ride for a while.  It seemed as if the cockpit was going to be swallowed up by each approaching wave, nearly cresting onto the swimstep (see photo).  Nothing the stabilizers and an extra pillow (to keep from rolling out of bed!) couldn't handle, and by mid-day Monday the seas had calmed to an easy 3-4 feet, perfect for our passage under the Golden Gate Bridge.

Besides that slight weather hiccup, the transit was more or less straightforward and easy.  Noteworthy for me, however, was one of the most memorable birthdays I've spent, complete with one of Susie's famous three-layered carrot cakes!  (If you're planning a birthday, try to schedule it while you're on board Last Mango - you won't be disappointed!) 

Now in San Francisco Bay, we've stopped at KKMI Boatyard for some troubleshooting of the house battery bank which doesn't seem to be holding a charge and to look into the anemometer (wind indicator); it's nonfunctioning forcing us to use more primitive devices such as the 'door-ometer' (the arm strength required to open or close the pilothouse doors under the force of the wind).  Hopefully we'll be able to move on to our planned mooring at the Oakland Yacht Club tomorrow, where David and Susie will stay until next week before they head further south. 

I thoroughly enjoyed my time onboard Last Mango and I'm deeply thankful to my hosts for their hospitality along the way.  I'll be following the blog as their journey continues and will be wishing I was going the full distance with them.

Written by Ben

Washington to Oregon

Mercifully, our time in Port Angeles was brief. Since we had a free afternoon the waterside trail beckoned but, although the burghers of PA have tried their best, it will probably be a while before the trail is truly scenic - the smoking towers of the paper mill do tend to dominate the landscape. In the morning we were delighted when UPS delivered our precious hydraulic system part at 1000 and within an hour it was fitted by our guest engineer, Ben. Excellent! So, it actually took less than 24 hours to diagnose the problem and get the part shipped from the Californian manufacturer. It is a shame that Last Mango can be brought to her knees by a $150 switch 2 inches long but if you want the stabilizers to work................. such is boat life.

By midday we were on our way again up the Strait of Juan de Fuca. On the right is our view of the water - not a bad day at all! Glassy, smooth, perfect. We headed to our last anchoring stop, Neah Bay, before we head round Cape Flattery and turn South. Looking forward at the weather, I could see that the most difficult part of the trip is going to be Cape Mendocino, California; from midnight Tuesday the wind forecast is in the 30 to 40 knot range so that certainly is going to mean we have to have crossed the San Francisco bar by then. So, first thing yesterday morning we were on our way at first light and headed out and round the corner.

And here is what we encountered straight away - fog. Visibility was around a quarter of a mile so we watched carefully for the local salmon boats on the radar. The fog cleared around noon. Afterwards the weather got better and we had a good run down the Washington coast. In the late evening, first watch, there was some traffic some 20 miles off the Columbia River, then the traffic died out as we headed South. With three of us on board, we can neatly divide the nine hours of darkness into 3 three-hour watches; 2100-2400; 0000-0300; 0300-0600. In the morning we cruised down the coast and headed into Oregon and one of the less menacing bars to enter, Yaquina River, Newport. I had been recommended this stopover by another Nordhavn owner who has his home port here. On the Oregon Coast, all the ports are on rivers and each river has its own sand bar. The bars are impossible to enter in rough conditions and can be difficult to enter in good conditions, especially on an ebb tide. It takes some planning and listening to the weather and the bar condition announcements made by the Coastguard, along with a study of the tide tables.

Ben and I are here at the most important bar! It just so happens that the famous Rogue Brewery is next to the marina. And we can vouch for the IPA which is called 'Brutal"; I have a worrying feeling that is what it feels like the morning after. In the morning we are going to leave as soon as we have the flood tide - sometime after 0600. The weather at Mendocino is up to 40 knots from Tuesday pm so we are going to get out of here and head South; we have a two-nighter run to San Francisco and should arrive there Monday evening - I have booked us a guest slip
at our favorite yacht club, Oakland, for a while to recover.
We just have to wait and see what the weather gods are going to throw at us. We have a small craft advisory here in Oregon for the next 36 hours which we believe we can cope with.  And we have a situation where the offshore waters (over 10 miles offshore) should be better than the inshore waters. And we have the deteriorating situation at Cape Mendocino. We hope to get through the area before the problem develops. Mmmmm.........watch this space.

Port Angeles Diversion

Half way up the Strait of Juan de Fuca we have diverted to Port Angeles for an unscheduled engineering stop.

Backing up a little on the story, on Monday morning we set off from Gabriola at 0600, first light. The weather had changed significantly and we were heading into over 20 knots of South wind. It was a Small Craft Advisory all day (Last Mango is not a "small craft" - Ed) and further up the Strait of Georgia there was even a gale warning. The seas were fairly flat but wind streaked. We had an easy passage into US waters and went into the routine changeover from Rogers to AT&T (for our internet and telephone) and swapping the courtesy flags. The weather actually got worse and worse and at the Friday Harbor customs dock yours truly was soaked by the driving rain. But our day was brightened straight away when the familiar figure of Officer Tarantino stepped out of the CBP shed, looked at us and immediately said "It's the Panamanians!". Since we already had our cruising licence (issued in Alaska) and already had our visa waiver stamp (from Seattle on Friday) there was, unbelievably, no paperwork at all. Knock me down with a feather. Just the usual questions, like do we have any of that Cuban rum Sir? Er, no. And we didn't have any peppers or tomatoes to cut open either. Ten minutes later we were on our way to Anacortes dodging the San Juan ferries, which I think actually have a location round some headland or other where they multiply in secret. On the way to Anacortes we wandered into a procession of Grand Banks who were obviously on a rally. In line, all with AIS on, faithfully following their leader. I stepped on the revs and rather unfairly did my 10 minute WOT (Wide Open Throttle) routine just before Anacortes and smartly tied up at the fuel dock while they all circled hopefully. Just to answer your question, yes, a GB will always need fuel. But what they didn't know is that I had not fueled up since Alaska! And that I still had over a thousand gallons in my tanks! But I am afraid that they did have to wait while I loaded up another 1,250 gallons. And the price..........had gone down by nearly half a dollar since April, so that was a good surprise. That fuel dock is the second busiest, apparently, in the United Sates, does a massive turnover of fuel. So it is (a) fresh and (b) cheaper than other places ($3.50 per gallon). While we were fuelling our crew member arrived - good timing to assist with docking in our slip in the marina since the wind had increased even more. Ben Lee is our crew - a very bright engineering graduate with a lot of hands on Nordhavn experience; in between advanced college courses at present.

This morning we started off on our 86 mile course to Neah Bay; the weather had flattened out totally and things were looking settled at least for the first part of the trip. But, at the first engine room check - carried out every two hours while under way - we immediately noticed a leak of hydraulic fluid from the stabilizer manifold. There have been the occasional drips here before but this is different; it is a persistent leak. After some inspection and observation we checked out the manuals available on the internet, and then called the TRAC service contacts to discuss the problem. The consensus was that the low pressure monitor was probably compromised or ruptured inside, and that what is now a small leak could easily worsen and become a massive leak as the system runs under 1,200 pounds of pressure. Not taking any action is not an option; the part needs to be replaced. It is really a question of whether we do this now, Neah Bay, somewhere on the Oregon Coast, or San Francisco. Having looked at the weather report for the Cape Mendocino Buoy, round which we need to pass in a few days, I want to be able to rely on my stabilizer system! So we have ordered the parts (thank you to Ernie Romeo from Trac for his most helpful assistance) and diverted to Port Angeles to await the Fedex delivery hopefully tomorrow.

Quick England trip and Goodbye Canada (sob!)

Yes, this is unmistakably London. It is August 2011 and as you can see the recent public disturbances were nowhere near Tower Bridge I am pleased to say. Susie and I wanted to get to England and catch up with family and friends; we started in our old stomping ground in London and had a few days strolling round old haunts and a leisurely walk in the City to places where I used to work way back. It was high tide on the Thames and we happened to be near St Katherine's Dock; it reminded us of our first Nordhavn viewing about six years ago. Time has certainly flown since then.

Our timing was pretty good since the first weekend was Susie's brother's 60th birthday party. Steve is a great collector of fine wines and there was a concerted but failed attempt to make inroads into the collection. A great time was had by all, and we even had an extra day to recover which was a bit of a bonus.
The wildlife photos in England are a little harder to come by but this year Bev's tortoise harvest has been exceptional as you can see below. There are many more stll to come from the eggs; the hatched little fellows are wonderful in minature - see the 50p coin in the foreground of the picture.

Off to Devon we went with Susie's grandaughter to see my parents who are keeping very well. There was very important news to deliver - they are going to be great-grandparents and I am going to be a grandparent! No doubt there will be more news on this in due course........like sometime in early 2012. Well, although our England trip was fairly short, it was wondeful to see all our loved ones and make plans for the future as regards various visits to the New World to see us. Yes!

While we were away the emails kept flying in relating to various future plans; life's admin does seem pretty relentless. It is probably my fault, making life as challenging as possible. And it is important to do some advance planning; unfortunately, when travelling far and wide by boat, a lack of forward arrangments can leave you stuck somewhere. Metaphorically of course. On the return trip, we flew from London to Seattle and stayed a very comfortable night at the Red Lion Airport Hotel. And there is a great place for supper nearby, the 13 Coins (check the frittata). Entering the US by airplane means that we qualify for visa waiver and will be able to take Last Mango down the coast to California for the next three months. So there was some method involved. After a night in Seattle, we had a 33 minute flight to Vancouver and a short hop by seaplane to Gabriola. Today we have cleaned the boat inside and out, done the pre-departure checks in the engine room, examined the route and the tides. I have been looking at the weather on windfinder, passageweather, buoyweather, oregon weather, every weather I can find ......... today there is a small craft advisory in the San Juans, and the weather at the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca is unsettled. But it looks better for Wednesday so the fingers are crossed that we can round Cape Flattery and head South. Tomorrow we have a 66 mile run from the Gulf Islands to the San Juans to Friday Harbor then Anacortes. Familiar territory for us and we are looking forward to this terrific adventure of taking Last Mango to Panama over the next four months.

It will be very hard to say goodbye to Canada. We can't believe that we are actually leaving. We first entered Canadian waters on 22 June 2010. In the last year we have made many, many new friends here. And we have travelled three and a half thousand miles. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Our memories are full of happy times, beautiful places, and wonderful people. Thank you to all our friends in Canada; we have so much enjoyed our visit to this wonderful country.

Chilling out and Forward Plans

We had a chilled time in Victoria; in fact we always do! There are good walks along the water to Fisherman's Wharf, along with clams and mussels for lunch at Barb's. One evening we found good Indian food at JR's Curry House, it goes down well especially after the Hop Circle IPA which you can find at the Sticky Wicket. Then there are the book shops in Victoria; a seemingly endless supply of secondhand books to browse through; our bookshelves are getting nice and crowded. We very much enjoyed our few days but finally it was time to move on. We had picked a day when the wind was going to be 30 knots; we backed carefully out of our slip since the wind was already up in the harbour.There were only a few boats out that day, the cruisers we saw had no stabilizers and were being steered from the flybridge - no thank you, Last Mango nosed through the hefty seas no problem. We had an appointment to keep; I had been monitoring the main and gen hours carefully and we were coming up to a significant service for both, so I had called Delta Marine in Sidney to get everything checked over. We would have been quite happy to change fluids and filters but I wanted some expertise to do the valve clearances and all the other things on the 1,000 hour list. Johnny did appreciate the attention, after Kane had spent two days with him one-on-one, he was really purring. Thank you Delta Marine for a job very well done.


Goose-neck barnacles, Vancouver Island

  We left Sidney and headed north; I think Last Mango knows her way to Gabriola on her own. Pulling into Degnen Bay there was a certain eagerness to tie up at the friendly dock she was tied to over the winter. On this occasion, we will be here for just two or three weeks while we head off to Europe for a round of family visits.

Now we have a few spare days we have been able to do some planning for the months ahead. Indeed it is a luxury to have the time (and decent internet service!) to get things organized. One of the first things was to get our mail sent to us for the first time for six months. Through the four addresses we get with our Mail Boxes Etc service our mail accumulates in the local office around the corner in Via Argentina, Panama. All it takes is an email and it is FedExed to us wherever we are, and it took only four days to arrive. That was one day to go through it all and get up to date with the filing, reassured that there was very little that hadn't been already dealt with over the internet. And the magazine bank is now full once again. I even had some back copies of "Accountancy" to catch up on (no, don't take this seriously, they hit the recycling straight away! - with apologies to those that are not retired - yet).

I have now also had time to invest in reviewing Last Mango's bank of spares. In the forward hold (aka the "Wine Cellar" on some sister ships!) we carry a number of large storage boxes full of recurring maintenance items (oil and fuel filters) and some replacement parts for key systems. This is one area up for some serious review and we need to widen our spares inventory and extend the regular items - my plan is to give us a suitable measure of independence since John Deere/Northern Lights dealerships will be less frequent on our travels soon. Looking at forward plans, we leave Canadian waters later in August and head south. The first stretch is the notorious Washington and Oregon coast, known for its strong winds and few harbours, all of which can only be accessed after bar crossings timed at particular states of the sea and tide. We take on board an experienced crew member for this leg of the trip to San Francisco since we will probably have to stay well offshore for much of the passage to avoid the heavy seas - and the crab pots. Down in California we have some plans and we will take time to review our communications equipment to see what upgrades it might be useful to make. 

Scarlett fearlessly faces the raccoon........

And we will actually get to our yacht club, Pacific Mariners, in Marina del Rey. That is going to be a party!

Here in Degnen Bay the wildlife show carries on around us. From time to time a raccoon is bold enough to scout around the rocks on the shore underneath Rooks Haven but often he is detected by the fearless mother-and-son team of Scarlett and Winston. Susie and I have also been out exploring in the dinghy, there is a Sunday market over in Silva Bay where the Gabriola artisans sell their wares. We also went to dinner with friends Bill and Lyn from s/v Canik, last seen heading East from Haida Gwaii, who had sailed to Gabriola to meet up with other friends.....who knew our friends.....who knew.......(six degrees of separation theory proved again).

In the advance plan category, Last Mango is now signed up to join the FUBAR rally into Mexico in November. This is a biennial event for motor yachts and there are over 30 boats already signed up - including 8 Nordhavns - so far - so it should be quite a trip. Our good friends Iain and Sandra will join us as crew for the rally; Iain's sailing experience and their knowledge of Mexico and Spanish will be very useful. And FUBAR stands for Fleet Underway to Baja Rally, by the way, so we are not planning to be joined by Snafu, Tarfu or Fubar originals ("Three Brothers" 1944).

For advance visitor planning, after Mexico we are heading home to Panama for Christmas where we will be for a couple of months. Then, in February, we depart across the Pacific. This timing of a Pacific trip allows for about eight months' cruising across and through the islands before one exits the cyclone zone by November, when boats move on to New Zealand. For the first long leg of the Pacific crossing we have another captain with us. For the onward legs from French Polynesia, the Cook Islands, Tonga we look forward to adventurous visitors!

Tofino and back down "the Ditch"



He needs more room to dock!

From our anchorage in Friendly Cove we had a grandstand view of the sport fishing boats patrolling up and down with their downriggers just outside the bay. I was somewhat curious as to the salmon prospects so out we went in the morning with the hoochies and the flashers. Curiously enough, round the Point come the salmon. Out there the fishing was slow. But just outside the cove, only in 80 feet of water, we found the answer - suddenly our sounder was showing huge quantities of bait fish, and that was where the salmon were biting. Only half an hour later we had our supper (for several nights). We set off for our next destination, Hot Springs Cove, where there was plenty of room at the dock since we were a little late in the day. Just long enough for us to head off along the trail and for me to get my photo taken under the hot waterfall. 

That water is HOT!

The next morning we headed for Tofino. From reading the guides I found that
dock space is pretty limited in Tofino, so I had booked in at the Weigh West resort. Nothing to do with the fact that there is an excellent dockside pub there of course. Anyway, for those of you planning to take your boat to Tofino one day I have just this one word of advice - Don't! The current is just too tricky for comfort. At most states of the tide there is 3 or 4 knots passing along the dock. To get in there I had LM in full reverse gear; it was not a smooth operation, the only strategy was to get those docklines on damned quick! And getting out was not pretty, thank heaven it was 0630 and too early for spectators. There is a very narrow channel and shoal close by, and the current is rushing the wrong way. Still, Tofino is a busy tourist place and we enjoyed a few days strolling around the boutiques ( not me) and even going out for breakfast, now that we are near to civilisation.

After Tofino our next stop was Ucluelet, since we really wanted to walk at least some of the Pacific Trail again following on from our visit three years ago. That was the time there was a memorable dinner at the Wickanninish Inn, but that is another story. This time we docked in the small craft harbour at Ucluelet; a great place to moor up and very well managed by the harbour manager, Steve. Ukee is just the total opposite to Tofino. Very quiet and laid back compared to frenetic and full of tourists.

So it just so happened that the Pacific Rim Summer Festival was on, and Ucluelet was hosting the Rock section! I turned up for the workshop, led by Graeme, Spencer and Derek from Speed Control, a great band from Whitehorse, Yukon. http://speedcontrol.ca/site/

The workshop is mainly for local young musicians to play in a rock concert so we had two afternoons of rehearsals and then a memorable concert. This is the first time that I have ever actually performed "Smoke on the Water" or "Highway to Hell"! The youngsters that we played with had a great time; they had limited (ie none) live experience but after a few hours practice they were whipped into shape and shoved into the limelight! Speed Control asked me to jam with them and it was brilliant, loved every minute. Thanks guys, and good luck on the tours.

Stardom was short-lived and we headed off to sleepy Bamfield. Once again we had space at the public dock - we don't seem to have had any problems with getting space all the way up to Alaska and back. The boardwalk was good and also the short hike to Brady's Beach. We decided that we would return to civilisation and head to Victoria, so I looked at the route and the tides. Victoria is at the other end of "the ditch" - the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It is a 90 mile run, so it is essential to get some help from mother nature. Once we were in the Strait, the flood tide would start running at 1144 and last until 1746 with a maximum speed of 1.3 knots. It may not seem much, but it means that our speed of 8.5 would get to over 10, much better than being knocked back from 8.5 down to 7. And the trip at that speed would be easily viable in one day - the actual journey took 11 hours. And the sea was wonderfully calm; after all, I had checked the weather. We travelled with new acquaintances on Northern Comfort, folk from Seattle. All along the Strait of J de F there were fishing boats at every headland and river mouth, just trying to catch those elusive salmon, who are all intent on getting home to spawn. Now here we are again at Victoria, on the floats under the Empress Hotel. It seems like home. Just to reward ourselves we headed for the Brasserie Ecole for supper http://www.lecole.ca/. Victoria is a city crammed full of restaurants, but the BE is highly recommended. Located in an unassuming part of town. You can't make reservations. At 630pm it is..........absolutely packed! I do love those places that just "have it", you can keep all the other restaurants in town but here the food, ambience, service, wine ..........(enough!).

We were last in Victoria 2,200 miles ago, on April 22nd. It really has been a great trip over the past few months. And we have now travelled over 5,000 miles on Last Mango. Here is some forward planning, important if you are planning a visit to us. We are heading soon up into the Gulf Islands where we will take a short break from cruising while we visit family in England. In five weeks' time we turn south and head for California; we will be in San Francisco in the first week of September and then Los Angeles thereafter. November we head into Mexico on the FUBAR rally.

A shot from the archives - Last Mango transiting Louise Narrows, Haida Gwaii. The channel dries at low tide. But is is dredged, so with a sensible level of high tide it is easily passable. But note the Admiral on the bow checking that we were in the middle of the channel and that there were no unexpected hazards.

Inland to Zeballos and Nootka

Checking on the weather at Kyuquot things were looking a little windy; time perhaps to head inland and circumnavigate Nootka Island? We headed up Esperanza inlet, a near 40 mile run to Zeballos; a place probably relatively infrequently visited by cruisers. There is a public wharf and thankfully there was enough space in the deep-enough water end. Without our bow thruster we were taking extra care docking, especially with wind or current.

Once we had tied up, there right in front of the dock was young bruin, taking his time chewing on the grass. We went exploring Zeballos, population 200. In the 1930's there were 1,500 people here for the gold rush, but it didn't last long. The remains of the town retain the old wild west character and ancient facades, and the walking trails are nice and wild. Linda at the Other Place Cafe will cook a superb breakfast, lunch or supper for you at virtually any time of day. The museum gives the history of a town which showed great promise for a while. In recent times there have been mysterious fires which have destroyed various buildings in the town; likely to be the indicator of social challenges which are endemic to the area. Although Vancouver Island has a sophisticated old colonial City - Victoria - at its southern tip, in the north and west there are tiny communities which struggle for their existence. Vancouver Island is about one quarter of the size of England - puts things into perspective; and there are some very remote areas. Our next stop, Tahsis, is another example of a community facing huge survival issues. A few years ago there was a lumber mill here and a population of 3,000. Now there are less than 300 people, and a tour of the virtually abandoned town was grim. Reminded me immediately of England.

Last Mango was docked at Tahsis right next to the Smokehouse Restaurant at the superbly run Westview Marina, run by Cathy and John. http://www.westviewmarina.com/ This is primarily a sport fishing lodge but they make all cruisers most welcome; the lodge is out of the town area and in its own cocoon. Dawn will handle your lines for you and cook a superb supper later. The girls will ensure that there is a steady flow of good ale to your patio table. And the fish coming in from the sport fishers were impressive; good size salmon and halibut.
The stop at Westview gave me an opportunity to investigate the bow thruster problem. An email to the Nordhavn Owners' Group gave me an immediate series of diagnostics to investigate - the experience around is such an excellent resource and it is essential to be plugged into the group which is exceedingly well run and moderated by Milt Baker. It seemed that the motor was running but not connected to the turbine. Taking the motor out I discovered that the three bolts securing the flexible coupling had all worked themselves free and were lying around the housing. Thankfully I was able to reconnect and tighten...........and we have our bow thruster again. Lack of it was good for boat handling experience but not good for the nerves.

It was good timing that there was

a "Rock around the Dock" night so it was great to play with Perry for his booking; then with Gooey-Duck Dave - a great new guitar player who is really into the old style of blues. And then we also played with Whelan, a BC lighthouse-keeper who has more stories than anyone we have yet met on this trip! On the run down the inlet into Nootka Sound we saw three bears nosing the beaches at low tide. Pulling into one small beach for a closer look we saw something else..............yes, a wolf, right there at the edge of the forest. A quick look around and he was gone. But the first wolf we have seen in the wild. We anchored at Friendly Cove, Nootka Island.

Nootka is another one of those locations full of intrigue and history which one comes across in BC. Friendly Cove has been continuously populated for over 4,000 years and when Captain Cook arrived in 1778 there were an estimated 4,000 people living there under Chief Maquinna. The little church has stained glass windows donated by the Government of Spain, to commemorate the signing of the Nootka Convention in 1790. But for that treaty, Vancouver Island could have been called Quadra and the local language Spanish. The treaty set aside Spain's claims to the Pacific North West (voyages dating from the 1490's) in favour of claims by Britain (Sir Francis Drake in 1579 and later, Cook). It has been all very well for the explorers to arrive in the eighteenth century and then the colonists to follow on later. Cook's log records a successful trading session on 29 March 1778; fifteen years later relations were fragile; Maquinna took the ship Boston on 22 March 1803, massacred her crew and seized her armoury. Issues between the descendants of the ingredient peoples continue to this day and no doubt will be around for many years to come.