ColumbiaRiverCatalina.org		June 2009

“Summer is here and the livin’ is easy…..”

Commodore
By Jim Turner, C380, "Makana Kai"

The warm beautiful weather has just been outstanding. Rhonda and I had a wonderful time at the cruise to the new Sandy Beach (East Government Island) docks last month! While we enjoyed our time there with friends, I can't say that the trip there or home was pleasant or fun. This may seem odd since we can see Sandy Beach from our Marina, Steamboat Landing, and it takes all of 10 minutes to get there.

While I would prefer to forget many of the details of that weekend, Jess suggested that I share them with all of you, so that others can learn from my mistakes. While Jess may have phrased his suggestion with more sensitivity, it’s hard not to feel like the “village idiot” after a weekend where nearly everything I did went sideways, literally!

Rhonda and I were hustling to complete final loading of the boat and cast off and join everyone. As we descended the ramp with our last load, we saw a Catalina 36 fighting against heavy reverse eddy current and clearly loosing the battle. We dropped everything and rushed to help, leaping onto the back of boats, and fending off. After much excitement, we successfully got them safely in their slip with no damage. The visibly shaken Captain thanked us profusely and expressed that he had never seen the eddy so strong.

After loading the boat, with the help of a neighbor, we cast off and backed out. I then reversed and went to make my turn up the fairway, quickly realizing that we weren't going to make the turn before the current slammed us against the boats. When Rhonda heard me say “I screwed up”, she knew we were in real trouble, only having heard me say that once before, at the helm that is! Seeing that we were about to crash into a Tanzer berthed next to us, I asked Rhonda to take the helm and rushed to fend us off it's large unprotected rudder! There we were hard against the piling and holding off the boat unable to get off without making things worse. With this being a common occurrence in our marina, people rushed to help. Someone yelled to Rhonda to power off the boat, which only moved us up the line of boats, where we ran into Lani and David's new Meridian 368, Kona Kai! Kona Kai was tied bow out with her bow roller and large anchor just above our deck. I can't begin to tell you how big that anchor looked and how effective a can opener it makes! I yelled to Rhonda to stop, and tried to hold us off Kona Kai. David ran to the front of his boat and in a state of protective adrenaline heroics, forcefully pushed us off with both feet, allowing me to reverse and back away. The splash that followed was David plunging off the bow of his boat and into the river, as we quickly pulled back! David was quickly assisted up on the dock by a helpful moorage neighbor!...a bit wet, but safe. While you might expect that we should now be in the clear, not so fast, there’s more! Since we moor in the third slip inside from the main walkway, I was quickly cornered by the walkway and the boats on the opposite side of the fairway. I applied just enough power to counter-act the current and sit in front of the first boat, but didn’t think I could make the turn up the fairway without a repeat of the current taking us into the boats again. Lani recalled a friend offering a stern tie, so we threw a line to Dave, who used it to hold us, while we powered & turned up the fairway against resistance, at which time Dave released the line, allowing us to drive straight up the fairway. Now with the Captain visibly shaken, we headed to Sandy Beach. Coming into the docks, still shaken, I suspect, I cut in too tight and bumped into Rich and Cheryl’s, Cheryl Lynn. (Checked with Rick....no harm done – whew!)

Drink anyone?! Boy, did this shake our confidence! Once safely docked, we could finally relax a bit and be thankful that nobody had been injured. We took stock of the damage and determined that Kona Kai’s anchor roller needed to be slightly straightened and re-bedded. Makana Kai had her own issues - a bent bow pulpit, two bent gate stanchions and a destroyed boarding ladder, ouch! At least no one was hurt! After lots of discussion amongst us, we agreed that it would be best to back into our slip on return, since it is with a heavy reverse eddy current. I’m thinking this is just great, I haven’t done a damn thing right yet this weekend, backing in should just be a piece of cake!

On leaving Sandy beach on Sunday, we had an ugly, but clean departure, when I tried to slide out and back up with the current, it sure looked easy when Nate Hansen did it! I couldn’t keep the boat quite straight, then the current catches the side of the keel, and Makana Kai is aggressively heading back into the dock sideways, where many helpful boaters ran to fend us off. Could Makana Kai be trying to tell me something? They try to spin us around, but the current catches the keel and the attempt ends prematurely with us sideways to the current, and crabbing backwards out between the many rafted up boats and concerned owners. At least I have this down, having done ugly departures twice before at East Dock with our Catalina 30!

You can imagine how stressed Rhonda and I were about having to back the boat in with the heavy current, especially given my track record for the weekend and diminished residual confidence. We were somewhat encouraged, as Lani and Dave went ahead and assembled a welcoming party to greet the return of the Turner's and to hopefully keep the mayhem and damage to a minimum. Prior to heading into the Marina, I practiced several times backing against and with the heavy current coming of the wing jetty, directly in front of Steamboat Landing. With churning guts, we headed into the Marina and made the turn up our fairway. I turned up in front of our slip, reversed and backed in without touching or bumping anything....a miracle! Rhonda nonchalantly handed a line to one of our neighbors, who promptly asks, “What did you need us for, so you could show off?” Whew!

It is through experiences like this, should you survive them, that we learn. I’m not suggesting that our ordeal was the preferred way to learn, nor the best! Here are a few things that I learned from this experience.

• Don’t be in a rush to depart

  • Always remove boarding ladders prior to departure

  • Close life lines, and wear life vest (we did this)

  • Assess wind, current, traffic in advance, and have a plan.

• Always think through what course of action to follow should something go wrong (Plan B)

  • I should have used full reverse power when I saw we couldn’t make the turn rather than simply reducing power to reduce impact and fending off

• When dealing with a strong reverse eddy current (docking with the current)

  • Backing in is safer, because should anything wrong, you have steerage when powering forward for another try

  • Pulling straight out is safer, allowing you to crab into the current and up the fairway

• When pulling in front of a obstruction or boat to dock in strong current

  • Don’t angle in when passing in close quarters until your stern passes, or the current will catch the side of your keel and push you into it. Once the current starts pushing you in, trying to turn out will likely only move the impact from the bow to the stern (boat pivots about its keel)

• When you move up in boat size, lots of things change!

  • Mass and windage are much greater

  • Turning forces (bigger keel and turning radius)

  • Possibly Slip (in our case, from docking into the current to with the current) – big change!

• Good friends are the best! They encourage you when you’re down and feeling like the village idiot!

• You clearly don’t have to be the most experienced or proficient boater in CRACA to be Vice Commodore or Commodore. So if anyone hasn’t stepped up or volunteered because they doubt their qualifications, I think I’ve put that concern to rest having been both!

Last weekend I helped rescue a Meridian 41, which also lost the battle with the reverse eddy current and ended up hooked on a friend's bow roller and anchor and fast up against boats in our Marina. I didn’t feel quite so bad knowing that even with twin screws and a bow thruster, he faired little better than I!

I apologize for the newsletter being late this month. It was my fault, as I’ve been focused on repairing Makana Kai’s damage and making her new Dodger. Happy Sailing! See you at Coon Island!

- Jim

Vice Commodore
By Jess Schefstrom, C42, Kira Lynn

“Summer is here and the livin’ is easy…..” What a blessed run of nice weather we have had lately. Our cruise up to the new facility at Sandy Beach in May was wonderful. We had several of the old standbys and several boats that we just don’t see often enough. The new docks are so nice and big that we had no problem fitting a couple of clubs for the weekend. There is plenty of depth on the inside for even big boats. I think we saw something like 24 feet on our depth sounder Sunday as we peeled off to go home.

The composting toilet ashore even has a solar night light. The State Marine Board is to be commended for providing such nice facilities to the boating public.

Saturday a group of members took a hike ashore downriver to Commodore’s Cove. The Spring flowers were out and the walk was “easy-peasy”. The only problem was Abby found a fresh cow pie to roll in that she thought was pretty cool. Commodore’s Cove, while idyllic in appearance, would I fear be too noisy as it is directly below the Glen L Jackson Spans of I205.

Commodore’s Cove

Saturday afternoon Doug and JoNell planned a belated “Cinco de Mayo” buffet that was just sumptuous. Jim Elieff brought some frozen strawberries, I brought the tequila and so frozen strawberry margaritas were flowing copiously. It was a memorable evening with wine tasting provided by Nate and Margaret Hanson, a wonderful potluck and decadent desserts. These themed cruises seem to be a hit.

In the boat project category I recently purchased a dinghy and outboard motor for the “Kira Lynn”. But like all good boat projects, that is just the beginning of the “fun”. While I could schlep the outboard on and off the stern of the boat, I know that, in the end, I would need a crane of some sort to assist with the unwieldy motor.

Naturally, I began the project with research into the various vendors who provide such a device. There are several and most are very expensive. Generally, the cranes range from $450-$800. I got on the Catalina 42 owner’s forum and posed the question as to what other Catalina 42 owner’s have on their boats. I got a number of helpful replies that began to point me in the direction of a crane called the “Nova Lift” made by Forespar. After asking about installation pictures and locations on the stern of the boat I was encouraged to look at the Garhauer product. If you haven’t heard or dealt with the Garhauer company from Southern California, you have missed out on, what I think is, one of the best companies out there for Catalina sailboats. The gear they make is extremely well engineered and way “overbuilt” to make the job that much easier. To top it off, the equipment you order is always finished in gleaming stainless steel.

So, with Mary’s help, we began to decide the exact placement of the lower end of the crane. As you know most MK II Catalinas have graceful sloping walkthrough sterns. So placing a flat object on a curved surface is challenging. Garhauer, has apparently sold plenty of these units to Catalina 42 owners and have actually come up with a bracket that allows the “ball” of the crane to be mostly level to help with the look and safety of the device. An extra $20, it was a “no-brainer” to add to the original order. The install took all of about 30 minutes. Bolt the upper support to the backrest rail of the stern perch seat. Drill four holes in the stern for the “ball” bracket. Bolt the bracket with Mary’s help. Done. The following pictures show how clean the install went.

So if you need a good product on your Catalina, remember Garhauer. You will not be disappointed

- Jess

Hello again Cruisers! Our May cruise to the new Sandy Beach dock was fantastic. We had great weather and a good turn-out. Even though we were the only club scheduled for the weekend, the dock was full in no time. I counted 35 boats at one point! The Cinco De Mayo theme pot luck was ¡muy bien!. On the return trip to Tomahawk, JoNell and I had the opportunity to shake out the sails and let the wind carry us home. All in all, a very pleasant weekend

Our June cruise will be Coon Island. We’re scheduled to share the East dock with NOTS (Northwest Outboard Trailer Sailors). I learned two things about NOTS: 1) they are a pretty large club and 2) they have some pretty good sized boats.

My assumption when scheduling the shared dock, based on their burgee, was small outboard boats. Wrong assumption!

While we may still be OK with the shared arrangement, West Dock is probably a better choice in this case. It’s an older dock but still a nice facility and no clubs are scheduled there for the weekend. To that end we’ll see you on the West side of Coon Island June 26^th to 28^th. I haven’t been able to think up a theme for this cruise, so its open season! Bring your favorite appetizers to share Saturday

The Down River Cruise is fast approaching. I’d like to arrange a meeting of those interested in participating so we can plan out the trip. If you’re planning to go or just considering, please call me at 503-997-4915 or Email at capriccio309@gmail.com.

- Doug McClary – (503) 997-4915 – doug.mcclary@comcast.net

Secretary/Treasurer
By John Kerrigan, C30, Different Perspective

<No Submission>

- John 

Rear Commodore
By Alden Andre', C38, Fly Bye

<No Submission>

- Alden Andre

Communications Officer

Open Opportunity for someone wanting to gain experience as a web master!
Vacant

Safety Officer

Open Opportunity!
Vacant

Historian

Open Opportunity for a scrap booker!
Vacant 

Catalina Newsletters of the Northwest

Checkout these links to Northwest Catalina newsletters and local racing:

Catalina 22 Fleet 20 of Portland www.c22pdx.org Sail Portland www.sailpdx.com Oregon Women's Sailing Assoc. www.owsa.net

Catalina Assoc.  of Tacoma and South Sound home.earthlink.net/~catss/CATSS Web Page.htm Catalina Association of Puget Sound capsfleet1.com/News Letters.htm Small Yacht Sailing club of Oregon (SYSCO) www.sailpdx.com/sysco.htm

Upcoming Events

June

• No General Meeting
• 27th - 28th Cruise: Coon Island West side!

July

• No General Meeting
• 11th - 12th Cruise: St. Helens - Public Dock

August

• No Meeting
• 8th - 9th Catalina Rendezvous at Salpare Bay Marina
• 21st - 23rd Cruise: Beacon Rock

Down River Cruise

See the calendar

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The Columbia River All Catalina Association newsletter is published once a month online at ColumbiaRiverCatalina.org.  Articles are the opinions of the authors and don't necessarily represent the consensus of the Association.