ColumbiaRiverCatalina.org		September 2009

It's been a Great Cruising Season!

And it's not over Yet!

Commodore
By Jim Turner, C380, "Makana Kai"

It’s been a great summer!  Rhonda & I have enjoyed good times with everyone on the cruises and at the Rendezvous.    We certainly don’t want to see the summer end anytime soon, but with this season’s Oregon Duck's college football schedule, we won’t be able to join the Hadley's Landing cruise this month.  Rhonda really feels that the Ducks need ALL THE FAN SUPPORT we can give them after our opening game against Boise State!  We plan on attending the Halloween Cruise in October, however!

What a great crusing season this has been!  CRACA's Hawaiian-themed Rendezvous featured fabulous kālua pork and prawns, which clearly were enjoyed by all.   At least that's the only explanation I have for the conversations during dinner degrading into moaning while we focused on eating!  The Rendezvous was a great success with everyone pitching in and sharing scrumptious hors d'oeuvres and side-dishes.   I especially appreciate all the effort that Doug and JoNell McClary put into making this season's Rendezvous unique and enjoyable, thanks!  Thanks to Rick & Cheryl Ward for, once again, whipping up their famous pancake breakfast!   I also want to thank Jess, Doug, Rick, and John for safely hoisting me up our mast to repair the wind instrument transducer!  The views were fantastic, and I really appreciated coming down slowly and right-side-up!  With Jess at the winch, he could have moved up from Vice Commodore to Commodore quickly!

Work commitments prevented our joining everyone for the cruise to Beacon Rock this season.  However we did drive up on Saturday, and were hosted overnight on another club member’s boat, which was much appreciated as Beacon Rock is our favorite spot on the Columbia!  We value the many friends we have in CRACA and are constantly amazed by the hospitality and friendship you all give so freely; thank you all!  On the drive back, we stopped at the Cape Horn scenic lookout and took pictures of Jess & Mary's Kira Lynn coming up the gorge.  While they were itty-bitty, the view was spectacular!

Kira Lynn returning from Beacon Rock at Cape Horn

We spent Labor Day weekend up in Port Townsend with our great friends Jim & Charlene Quandt.  While there, we went sailing on their Catalina 30, and toured Whidbey Island.    Rhonda really enjoyed the long tacks on Port Townsend Bay and is excited about the endless opportunities for us to experience and explore new places! We can hardly wait, and are seriously considering basing Makana Kai up there, possibly next season.  We were awed and a bit taken aback by some of the cruising challenges sailors face there as well.  Looking down at the churning whirlpools, eddies, and current below the bridge over Deception Pass gives one pause.  As was finding three large sailboats lying on their sides on the beach after dragging anchor overnight during squalls in Discovery Bay.

Sailing by the new Northwest Maritime Center facility in Port Townsend on Jim & Charlene Quandt's Catalina 30!

This was the third good sized sailboat we saw in two days that dragged anchor and ended up on the beach in downtown Port Townsend (9/06/09). Picture taken from the Whidbey Island ferry.

November is rapidly approaching, which means my term as your Commodore is ending.  I want to thank all of you for allowing me the privilege of serving as your Commodore; it has been an honor!   I would encourage all members to consider serving as an officer of your club.  I found it to be both rewarding and educational. Educational in a good way, through working with other clubs and commodores, on behalf of our members, through the umbrella Columbia River Yachting Association and Marine Board. We have many officer positions vacant and need volunteers!  We are very fortunate to have Jess Schefstrom, stepping up to Commodore from Vice Commodore this year!  The October newsletter traditionally features officer nominations, so please let us know if you’re interested or curious about any officer positions.   We will help you learn the ropes.  The election/confirmation takes place at the November meeting with the new officers taking office December 1^st.

For members interested in sharing photographs, projects and participating in email-based group discussions, please check it out and join the CRACA Yahoo group.  The group is restricted to CRACA members and requires that you submit a membership request, which must be approved by a moderator. This is to prevent spammers from abusing list members!  The email group discussion feature is elective and you can join the group without participating in the email group discussions by simply choosing “No email”.  Please, feel free to call me if you have any questions.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CRACA/

Smooth Sailing,

- Jim 

Vice Commodore
By Jess Schefstrom, C42, Kira Lynn

It has been awhile since we have reported, and a very full and satisfying Summer has mostly slipped away. From the weekend of July 4th to the conclusion of the Beacon Rock Cruise on August 22-23, we have been quite busy on the river. We have traversed the mighty Columbia from Astoria to Bonneville Dam and back again. In between we have stayed at Coon Island, St. Helens Public docks, twice, Ranier, Cathlamet and Sal Par Bay numerous nights. Somehow the cruising never gets old. We “putt-putt” along at about 6 mph over the ground and get to see sights that are ever- changing and seemingly always new. I recently read Stephen Ambrose’s Undaunted Courage, about the Lewis and Clark expedition, and came away with a new appreciation of, not only of those two men’s incredible achievements, but also, the majesty of the Columbia River and it's surrounding environments.

Capricio & Kira Lynn dockside at Ranier, Down-River Cruise

A few introspective thoughts come to mind on cruising the Columbia that, perhaps, need to be reviewed.

1. The tides on the Columbia are real and can definitely help or hinder your progress up or downstream. When practical, it is advisable to adjust your departure/arrival times to use the tides to your advantage. We found that we could improve our SOG (speed over ground) by as much as a full knot by using the tidal flow. Naturally, the opposite is true when you must buck the ebb tide cruising up river.
   
   

2. Any sailboat that draws over 5’6” must consider the tidal stage upon entering or leaving the Elochoman Marina(Cathlamet). The entrance area near the fuel dock is rather shallow and you will probably ground at or near a low tide. At or near high tide, you will have no problems. We “soft grounded” there on our downriver cruise and while Doug and JoNell were able to pull us off with their Catalina 309, I mostly blame myself for not “respecting” the tidal stage. On our return cruise upriver Doug and I left Cathlamet at 6:30 AM to avoid low tide problems.  I really believe that if we had left just 20 minutes later, we would have been forced to wait for six hours and the next flood.
   
   

3. Cruising is not an exact science. It is more of a whimsical art. The only constant is that firm plans will have to be modified. Stay flexible and go with the flow. During this Summer’s travels we have made adjustments to destinations and departure/arrival times aplenty. One departure at Ranier called for us to vacate the public dock in less than ten minutes as the Cruise Ship “Spirit of 98” was coming in. Another big change was a planned overnight in Washougal thwarted when we realized that the “Gill-Net” Fishing fleet had overtaken the marina and effectively blocked our docking.
   
   

4. Put sails up whenever you can. Apart from the mystical and beautiful nature of sailing, using the wind to help you transit the Columbia is just plain smart. It is amazing how little the wind must blow to help your SOG when you are going downwind. If the apparent wind is more than your boat speed and it is blowing in the direction you are going any sail up will help you go faster. Obviously, main and genoa are best. But even a single sail will help.
   
   

5. Always pay strict attention to your charts. Regardless if they are paper or electronic, charts are the surest, safest way to know where you are located on the river. Shoals, rocks and other submerged objects abound in the Columbia. As the river levels drop in late Summer and Fall, charts become vital to boating safety. Mary and I are always bantering back and forth about “Do you see the next mark?” or “Do you see the next green at your ‘11:00’”? Neither of us take for granted the other knows where the next known marker is. A good pair of marine binoculars are essential. I use them dozens and dozens of times a day.
   
   

6. Be constantly on guard as any boat approaches from ahead or astern. Don’t assume they see you. We had two “strange encounters” this Summer that reminded us that other boaters are not always paying strict attention. One ski-boat above Washougal turned directly back into our path after having just crossed our bow. Give commercial traffic immediate and concentrated attention. Any mistake with a barge or tanker will most probably be fatal.
   
   

7. Beacon Rock State Park and marina is just plain “cool”. It is a long haul up there, but always worth the trip. Don’t forget the “eddy” on the Oregon side after Multnomah Falls. The current really begins to rip above the Falls and the “eddy” will help you cover those last few miles much faster.
   
   

8. Blended Margaritas and Pina Coladas really do taste better with friends after a long day on the river. Generally speaking, Mexican beer and Whiskey tasting contests are fun, but totally unnecessary as you will never be able to “pick” the correct one.

- Jess

Secretary/Treasurer
By John Kerrigan, C30, Different Perspective

The 2009 sailing season's had its ups and downs for yours truly…

It started off inauspiciously with shoulder surgery for a badly torn rotator cuff at the end of May (I don't recommend this strategy for ensuring a successful season) followed by eight weeks in an immobilizing sling, then more time in physical therapy. I'm thrilled to report I'm now able to do all kinds of cool stuff with my right hand like scratching my nose, tucking in my shirt and changing the radio station in the car (this one is particularly appreciated after being unable to change stations and having to listen to that Michael Jackson tribute for 40 miles - auggghhh!).

Things started looking up once the sling came off. The Rendezvous at Sal Pare was fun and the Beacon Rock Cruise is always a high point with amazing scenery, a great moorage, good friends and the resident osprey family to make hanging out in the cockpit more of an adventure than usual. Check out the pix!

-John 

Cruising Chairman
By Doug McClary, C309, Capriccio

Hello again cruisers! It looks like a great summer cruising season is winding to a close. Only two more cruises left this year. Speaking for JoNell and myself, we had wonderful times on the boat this summer, although not without our share of interesting “events”. Here is our summer in review:

June – Coon Island. Our stay at Coon Island West Dock was pleasant with good food, and good company. That is until the last day when everyone was leaving for home: we had just sent Kira Lynn on their way, and as I was helping Jim Eleff in “Fortune” cast off, I handed the stern line to him in the cockpit. The line wasn’t really secured and it looked like the weight of his rubber snubber was going to carry it off into the water. Not wanting the line to foul the propeller, I attempted to give it a little push back onto the boat. Just about that time, Jim gunned the engine. The famed Three Bladed Prop bit the water and Fortune was heading back to Salpare! Unfortunately, that left me in an awkward position; the stern line I was trying to save was now moving away at a dizzying pace. With one last heroic effort, I flipped it back onto the deck thus averting certain disaster. Only one thing … having focused my attention on the job at hand, I didn’t notice how far I’d stretched myself away from the safety of the dock. With Fortune now a distant memory, I began to think, “What am I doing? What can I now do to get back onto the dock? Is there anything I can grab to prevent the inevitable fall?” That’s what I should have been thinking. My actual thoughts went something like this: “Oh, sh**, I’m going to get wet!” And, by Golly, I was right! Into the cold, murky waters of Multnomah Channel I went. As fortune would have it … actually Fortune had nothing to do with it, she was long gone! ... as luck would have it, I had plenty of friends on the dock to help me out, and nothing was injured except my pride. I’m told that it’s kind of a no-no for a CRACA officer to fall in the drink while casting off fellow club members, so I guess I’ll just keep this whole episode under my hat. Wouldn’t want the Commodore to find out!

July – St Helens. Our stay in St. Helens was probably the best cruise of the season. We had a great time wandering around Old Town St. Helens, and visiting the local Brew Pub and Restaurants. There was even a Movie Night in the Park for entertainment (if you’re partial to old Danny Kay movies).

July / August – Down River: The down river cruise was a blast! Only two boats: Kira Lynn and Capriccio, but a blast none the less! There were a few little episodes that happened:

• Episode #1 – Crazy Swimmers
  On our first leg of the Down River, between Tomahawk and Rainier, we had just passed St. Helens when nature called. I set the autopilot to a straight course in the channel near Martin Island, turned the helm over to JoNell and went below. No sooner did I get situated, when the engine dropped from its normal drone to idle. I cut things short, so to speak, and rushed topside. A couple of kayaks had crossed our bows so JoNell was forced to slow down to avoid them. They were trying to get our attention (I suppose that’s one way to do it) to help them search for a couple of teens that were attempting to swim across the river. They lost sight of the swimmers and set off in their kayaks to find them. They had already called 911, so we took up station down stream and started scanning the water. I was very worried that we were going to have a drowning on our hands. One of the kayakers spotted a swimmer coming ashore and went to help. Since there were two swimmers, we kept looking. A couple of Sheriff’s boats arrived and took charge. We were relieved to learn the other swimmer turned back and the Coast Guard cleared the incident on the VHF. We were back on our way after about a half hour delay.
  
  

• Episode #2 – Spirit
  When we arrived at Rainier, Kira Lynn was already tied up on the outside of the transient dock. There wasn’t much room on the inside so we tied up behind them and settled in for what we expected to be a hot, bumpy night. Jess noticed a small sign at the downstream end of the dock indicating that portion was reserved for the “Spirit of ‘98” at 8 AM the next morning. We figured there would be plenty of room for another boat to tie up, and besides we were planning an early start towards Cathlamet anyway. JoNell and I were up early next morning contemplating breakfast when I heard a loud “Fog Horn”. Thinking to myself, “There’s no fog!”, I poked my head out the hatch and there, to my surprise, was a 200 foot passenger ship hove-to off the dock! I checked my watch … 7:00. “Spirit of 98” emblazoned on the hull. Not only was this boat much bigger than I expected, they were early to boot! Jess called the skipper on the VHF and asked how much of the dock he needed. He radioed back, “the whole thing”. We could have offered to have them raft up, but Jess called back and asked the skipper to give us ten minutes and we’d vacate the dock. So it was that the next leg of our trip began a little earlier than expected and breakfast was enjoyed under way.
  
  

• Episode #3 – Doug the Tug
  The third leg of our journey was to Cathlamet, and apart from some rough conditions at Cape Horn, near the east end of Puget Island, and some commercial shipping traffic, we had a pretty pleasant trip. Cathlamet is a wonderful little port with plenty of conveniences. We stayed for a couple of days giving us enough time to enjoy the local hospitality. We even tagged along in Jess and Mary’s new dingy for a leisurely ride up Elochoman Slough. All was good until our departure for Astoria. We hoped to get an early start so we left the dock around 7am. I noticed that we had less than 3 feet under the keel at the dock, but figured that was plenty. Kira Lynn led the way, and we followed along. We were proceeding toward the channel when I noticed Kira Lynn came to a stop near the gas dock.
         
  As I got closer, Jess yelled out that they were stuck in the mud! In a textbook maneuver, (if there is such a textbook), Jess floated a line back to us on a float cushion, JoNell tied it to the bow cleat and Capriccio’s little three cylinder Yanmar dragged the Catalina 42 back into “deep” water. Kira Lynn’s engine helped too, but it’s kind of a “little 309 that could” story! In any case, we returned to the dock and waited for a couple of hours for the incoming tide to give us a little more room underneath. While wandering around the moorage waiting for the tide, I noticed the parking lot was full of HazMat and Coast Guard vehicles, so I walked up to investigate. There on the other side of the entrance to the slough was a Grand Banks 42 high and dry on the lee shore. Word was that they couldn’t get dock space in the harbor so they anchored out over night. Unfortunately, they dragged anchor and went aground spilling some diesel in the process, hence the HazMat team. Seeing that situation put our little grounding episode into perspective.
  
  

• Episode #4 – Clove Hitch
  We went on to Astoria, enjoyed a couple of great days there, and returned to Cathlamet beginning our return trip without any major events. The plan was to leave Cathlamet early and make it to Rainier. This time we would have to leave on an outgoing tide, otherwise it would be noon before we could get out of the harbor. Fortunately we made it our OK and headed for Rainier. With the current and tide against us the whole way, it took nearly 7 hours to get there, but we finally made it and tied up on the inside this time. Next morning as we were leaving for St. Helens, I discovered just how well a clove hitch holds under load! We had just helped Kira Lynn off the dock and I was letting off the lines holding Capriccio. My plan was to leave the spring line attached, untie the bow line, let the spring line loose and hop on board. Everything went according to plan, except I forgot the take out the clove hitch on the spring line and as soon as I released the bow line the pressure of the current caused the hitch to tighten making it impossible to untie. In the mean time the current got hold of the bow and it swung around leaving Capriccio stern-to on the dock, putting even more pressure on the line. New plan: since there was no way to get the line loose, I figured I could try to power against it and swing around (long shot), or just cut the dock line and pay a visit to West Marine later. At JoNell’s panicked urging, I jumped on the stern and got to the helm. About that time she realized that the spring line was just looped around the cleat, so she simply pushed it off and we drifted away leaving the line tied to the dock. I maneuvered back to the dock and JoNell hopped off and retrieved the line. Sorry West Marine! Yep, those clove hitches are some pretty good knots.
  
  

• Episode #5 – No harm, No foul
  Next stop, St. Helens. The current was again our nemesis, but it was a much shorter, more leisurely ride. We planned to spend a couple of days here, capping it off with the Patrick Lamb concert in the park on Thursday evening. Jim and Rhonda, also Patrick Lamb fans, said they would meet us in St Helens and head back from there to Salpare Bay for the Rensezvous. Jim called ahead on his cell just as he was rounding the lighthouse to find out where he could tie up. There was no space for Makana Kai on the downstream end of the “H” dock, so he settled on the inside of the outside finger on the upstream end. I waited on the dock to catch the bow line and watched as Makana Kai made it through the shallows on the south side of Sand Island and into the moorage entrance. Unfortunately, as she turned to approach the dock, the current caught her and put her sideways in the fairway. With no room to maneuver, the only thing left was to slam port side into the bridge connecting the two halves of the “H”. I’m sure what Jim had to say at that moment didn’t start with “H”, however. More like “F” or “S”, I imagine, but who knows. In any case, we were able to get the bow around and tied up next to the pump out station, which turned out to be an ideal place to set a beer bottle. Upon further inspection, there appeared to be no significant damage to either the boat or the dock, only the pride. No harm, no foul!

August – Salpare Bay, Rendezvous: This year’s Rendezvous was a great deal of fun! We had nine boats joining in! Jim Turner took the opportunity to have this motley crew crank him up Makana Kai’s mast to replace the wind direction “feather”. Fortunately, due to Jim’s electric winch, we didn’t have to work too hard. Less so Makana Kai’s batteries. Our theme this year was Hawaiian, so we had several crock pots full of Kahlua Pork cooking all day on various boats. The aroma was incredible! Happy Hour included Jess’s famous Pinã Coladas. We had a few hundred uninvited Guests, however. These were not CRACA members. I checked with John, and not a single one was registered. All they wanted to do was hang around, eat our food, and annoy our women (which we are perfectly capable of doing ourselves, thank you very much). They were the bees, the yellow jackets more specifically. We fought them off valiantly, but they kept coming back. There were too many of them. We put out yellow jacket traps and captured hundreds, but still they came. Hopefully PETA isn’t reading this! If the President got his hand slapped for killing a fly, we’re in deep do-do. Overall, I think this year’s Rendezvous was a tremendous success. Thanks to all who aided and abetted!

August – Beacon Rock: In a word, awesome! We set out right after work on Wednesday evening and met up with Cheryl Lynn at East Dock, just in time for a beautiful sunset. We got an early start next morning heading for Beacon Rock. Not much wind until around Cape Horn (just how many Cape Horns are there … and Sand Islands?) where we picked up a nice little southwesterly. We put up the main hoping to give the engine a little help. Soon we found that the wind was moving us along pretty well, so up went the Jib, and off went the engine! We enjoyed a pleasant broad reach nearly the rest of the way to Beacon Rock. That’s probably the most actual sailing we’ve done all summer! About the only trouble we had was trying to roll the Jib in when we arrived at the entrance to Beacon Rock. With the wind and current, there was a lot of pressure on the jib so we struggled to get it rolled up. By the time we finally secured the jib, the current carried us back so far that it took another 10 minutes to get back to the entrance where we started in the first place! As always, the facilities at Beacon Rock are the best. Our hats are off to Washington State Parks! We were privileged to witness the fledging of a pair of juvenile Osprey while we were there. They were easy to see (and hear) because their nest was on the dock piling just above our boats! The two may have been juveniles, but they had mastered the art of projectile pooping, so we were always on the lookout. In an effort to encourage the kids to leave the nest, the parent osprey would bring a fish, show it to them and fly off to a nearby tree enticing the kids to follow. I seem to remember a similar situation when I was growing up except there was no fish and I don’t think the osprey parents changed the locks on the nest (just kidding, mom!).
We had a Western theme this time and finished off the Barbequed Pork that was leftover from the Rendezvous. A bunch of us picked blackberries and JoNell made a fresh blackberry cobbler for desert, yum.

September – Hadley’s landing: Gotcha! We haven’t been there yet. But we will be on September 19th and 20th. The theme for Appetizers is: Spam-a-Lot. See how creative you can be with this canned meat product. Don’t like Spam? Bring what you like. We’re not picky, just hungry. Also, per request, a Boîte de Vins et Fromages tasting. That’s Box of Wine and Cheese for those of us non-French speakers. Bring some wine in a box and some cheese (not necessarily in a box) to share. See you there!

Don’t forget to put October 17th and 18th on your calendar for the Halloween Cruise at Government Island East Dock!

Well I’d better stop now before my Poetic License is revoked!

Happy Cruising from your Fleet Captain/Cruise Director!

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

Rear Commodore
By Alden Andre', C38, Fly Bye

It has been a very busy spring and summer- where has it gone?   I haven’t made many CRACA functions due to work commitments and running Sailboat races for SYSCO. We did have a great race last weekend to St. Helens, and there were seven Catalina’s in the race. Three Catalina 30s, a 34 Mark II, a 28, and my 38. There were 38 boats total. I had to sail all the way to St. Helens and dock under sail due to a clogged fuel filter. No worries!  I usually sail into my slip in Hayden bay with the motor on, but in neutral, so it wasn’t as big an emergency, and the wind was out of the west at 17 so had plenty of power.

 Three Catalina’s duking it out in St. Helens Sysco Race!

- 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

September

• No General Meeting
• 19th - 20th Cruise: Hadley's Landing (Spam-A-Lot Contest, and Box Wine & Cheese tasting)
• 27th Sail for the Cure
  

October

• No General Meeting
• 17th - 18th Cruise: Halloween Cruise, Government Island - East dock

November

• 18th General Meeting at Elmer's Restaurant in Delta Park, Club Officer elections/appointments.

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.