Officer elections are on the 18th of November,
It's not too late to get involved!
Commodore
By Jim Turner, C380, "Makana Kai"
This month has found me battling the Norovirus….sure hit me hard, but at
least it wasn’t the H1N1 bugger! Recently feeling better, we decided to get
out of the house last weekend, and join Jim & Charlene Quandt in Kingston,
WA on a Port Townsend Yacht Club cruise. The Kingston Yacht Club hosted the
Port Townsend Yacht Club for a wonderful pot luck dinner Friday night. On
Saturday we walked on the ferry for a short trip across the Sound to
Edmonds, where we explored the quaint shops and galleries. Saturday evening
featured a great Bratwurst dinner and blind beer tasting with Jim &
Charlene’s fellow Port Townsend Yacht Club members. It was a great time.
Sailors are terrific people! On Sunday morning, we discovered FROST on the
boat, the docks; everywhere….it’s getting close to winter!
After our farewells, we drove to Tacoma for a Sounder train ride to Qwest
Field for the Seattle Seahawks game, where we cheered the Seahawks to a 41 –
0 blow-out victory!
What fun! All-in-all, I would say that we had a
pretty awesome weekend! On returning home, Lola shared that she had spent an
awesome weekend with Uncle Rick and Aunt Cheryl Ward! They really spoiled
her….she had a great time!
This weekend plans to offer wind and rain, so I’m guessing that the East
Dock Cruise will be poorly attended. I look forward to seeing everyone at
CRACA’s general meeting on November 18th, at Elmer’s, to welcome our new
Commodore and vote to confirm club officers. Please plan to be there to
support your new leaders!!
I want to thank Gary and Jeanine Jaeckel for submitting not one, but two
great articles, for this months newsletter! Their really interesting articles,
be sure to check them out! I encourage everyone to submit articles and items of
interest!
I'm sure that many of you have noted that I've begun cutting back
on how frequently I'm publishing the newsletter, and often publishing late.
With busy lives, and few people submitting articles, I moving to bimonthly
publication, especially in slow months, like this one. With many
long-standing officer vacancies, and fewer members
actively participating or stepping up, we're running out of interesting
things to say. I encourage everyone that wants to continue to have an active
Catalina owners association here on the Columbia, to become more active and
engaged with CRACA. Come to the next meeting and help us make the club
worth your time!
It’s been my privilege to serve as your Commodore this year! I’ve learned
so much and look forward to my new role as Rear Commodore!
Happy Sailing,
- Jim
Vice Commodore
By Jess Schefstrom, C42, Kira Lynn
September was a busy month for us as we were
“up to our elbows” in kitchen remodeling stuff. Our cruise to Hadley’s
Landing was therefore a welcome reprieve from the hectic schedule we had
been keeping. The weather was great and the cruise was, as usual,
wonderfully relaxing and scenic. The nature “walk” around the wetlands area
near Hadley’s Landing is one our very favorite hikes. The leaves are just
beginning to turn and the usual pests of yellow jackets and mosquitoes are
mostly gone. Doug and JoNell had come up with the idea of a “Spamalot” theme
for the cruise and the “Spam” dishes and hors d’oeuvres were surprisingly
good. I hadn’t had Spam for over 40 years, but upon my first bite I knew I
was in heaven.
Saturday evening Doug brought the equipment
needed to show a DVD on his mainsail. Projecting the movie from the deck of
the “Kira Lynn” across the dock to “Capriccio’s” main sail was beyond cool.
“Captain Ron” with Kurt Russell and Martin Short never looked or sounded so
good. We are already planning movies for next Summer’s cruises. As a side
note, it is truly amazing how electronic technology has advanced. We used
the inverter on my boat to “power” the projector and DVD player. At no time
did these electronics use more than 3-4 amp hours from my house bank. We had
my Honda 2000 generator hooked up to go, but was glad to not have to use it.
October’s cruise to East Dock is our last
cruise of the year and we are all hoping for a nice “weather window”. Doug
and JoNell have come up with another great idea and we hope everyone can
make it.
I know it is way early to think about the
“Holidays”, but mark your calendars for Saturday December 12. That afternoon
Mary and I will host the CRACA Holiday Potluck. As an added incentive, that
evening the “Christmas Ships” are making their appearance in St. Helens, so
we will plan on attending that show. Details and specific directions and
times will follow in the November and December newsletters.
- Jess
Cruising Chairman
By Doug McClary, C309, Capriccio
Once again, hello Cruisers!
September’s cruise to Hadley’s landing started
off a bit on the moist side. We left Tomahawk in the rain, waited at the
railroad bridge for two trains in the rain, and motored down the Columbia in
the rain. We finally got past the rain as we turned the corner at Kelly
Point and had pretty good weather for the rest of the whole Spam weekend.
Since the subject’s been broached, I have to say I’m amazed at how creative
CRACA cruisers can be with Spam, the meat in a can. Spam-itizers were
suitably enhanced with Box of Wine and Cheese tasting. While well-received,
the general consensus was … Spam was fun, but we probably don’t need to do
it again soon! For evening entertainment, we did a test run of “Movies on
Sail”. The conditions were ideal; no wind, early sunset, chilly temperatures
… well nearly ideal. I set up a video projector and Jim Eleiff’s DVD player
on Kira Lynn’s deck, ran a 50 foot audio cable to Capriccio tied up directly
across the dock and plugged into the stereo aux jack. I raised Capriccio’s
main sail (actually un-rolled it from inside the mast … love that roller
furling!) and showed “Captain Ron” on the sail for all to see. Awesome!
Well it’s finally happened. The Last Cruise of
the Season! Oktoberfest at East Dock. Yes, that right, Damen und Herren,
German Beers and Wines for tasting, Oktoberfest appetizers and Pot Luck
foods. So help us celebrate the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess
Theresa of Saxe-Hilburghausen by bringing your best Wursts and your winner
Schnitzels; your Marzen beers and Rieslings. Lederhosen and Chicken Dances
optional! Weather permitting!
Had Weather forecasts not been for heavy rain,
we would have attempted another “Movies on Sail”, but the forecast is for
lots of rain!
"ein Prosit der Gemütlichkeit", a toast to
contentment, congeniality, and relaxation
Happy Cruising from your Fleet Captain/Cruise
Director!
- Doug McClary – (503) 997-4915 –
doug.mcclary@comcast.net
 22nd annual "Pirate Bash"
By Gary Jaeckel, C30, Mistress II
Mistress II ‘s Down River Cruise to the 22nd
annual “Pirate Bash”.
My wife and I have put on a “Pirate Bash” for
our land lubber friends for 22 years now. It started when we had our first
sailboat (a 1972 Coronado 23) and we wanted to get our friends off the couch
and experience a taste of life on the river. We have had the Bash up and
down the river from Beacon Rock to Cathlamet. The Bash is pretty simple with
a pot-luck or two, a treasure hunt and stories around the camp fire. Because
all of our friends are getting older, Cathlamet has become the choice
location because of the cabins, hot showers, yurts and camp sites. I think
the days of roughing it on Sand Island are a distant memory.
We start planning our down river cruise in
January! My co-captain likes to have planned spontaneous trips. We down load
the tide table for Astoria with corrections and look for a week where the
tides will work for us without leaving in the middle of the night. Some
years work better than others. This year we had some pretty early morning
departures. With these dates in hand I march into work after the New Year
holiday and mark them on the vacation calendar before anyone else can take
my dates!
This year we left our marina (Marina Way is
just inside Multnomah Channel near the Sauvie Island Bridge) on Thursday
July 30th at 4:00 AM. At this early hour my crew (my wife Jeanine and my 14
year old son Tanner) are very much still in their bunks. The stars are out
and the city is just beginning to wake. Just as we our heading down the
Willamette I notice near the St. Johns Bridge a very large ship coming my
way. You must keep a sharp eye out for shipping traffic in particular when
it is dark because their running lights blend in with the city lights.
Despite their size, they can be very difficult to see. Hugging the east bank
a Chevron oil tanker silently slipped by me leaving me in his wake. As I
headed down the Columbia the sun rose when we reached Frenchman’s Bar, and
we were on our way.
 We
typically motor down river so we can make Cathlamet on an in-coming tide and
save the sailing for our return trip. With the help of the current, we
chased the outgoing tide and reached Cape Horn at about 12:30.
We have been making this trip for many years
and have most always encountered some stiff head winds and waves here, but
this year was exceptional.
  The
head wind and waves would slow us down to a stop where Mistress II would try
and come about but slowly she would regain some momentum and move until we
hit another big swell.
It was a pretty rough ride with water coming
over the bow. The pictures don’t look so bad now, but I will admit I was a
bit nervous and hoped our old diesel would not fail us. Once past Puget
Island it calmed down and my knuckles regained color.
We made Cathlamet with an incoming tide and
plenty of water under our keel. The entrance into Elochoman Slough can be
skinny especially when you make the turn near the fuel dock. We tied up at
the transient dock where we met up with Kira Lynn and Capricio.
  Saturday
Morning I got out of bed just in time to snap some shots of Kira Lynn
and Capricio heading down to
Astoria. I also got a shot of a
Grand Banks that had slipped its’ anchor the night before and
landed on the beach.
 The
22nd Pirate Bash brought a pretty big turn out. Anyone from the club
interested in joining us next year is more than welcome.
We set off for home on Monday at 5:00 AM. This
was about 2 hours before low tide and afforded us enough water to get out of
Elochaman. In two hours the tide would turn and give us a boost up river. I
am not comfortable navigating on the Washington side due to some close calls
we have had in the past so we always head around and take the main channel.
We motor- sailed with the genoa out until we made Longview at which time we
raised the main and made 4- 7 knots under sail all the way to St. Helens. We
were going to stay at Sand Island but thought better of it because of the
strong winds, so we made for Coon Island. We spent the rest of the week at
Marina Place in Portland where we found a crew repairing the docks. They
should be done sometime in October. We enjoy people- watching and window
shopping, as well as eating at one of the great spots near by. Though
Portland is fairly big, we find we can cover a lot of ground by walking and
riding the trolley that now has a stop just south of the Marina.
Right now these annual trips are the closest
thing that Mistress II can call a long distance cruise, but for us it is a
great family adventure getting us away from work, TV, video games and
allowing us time to read, talk and get to know each other again. Give us a
shout if you would like to join us next year.
Crew of Mistress II
Gary, Jeanine
and Tanner Jaeckel
New Ports Project for Mistress II
By Gary Jaeckel, C30, Mistress II
 Our
1987 Catalina 30’s ports were looking pretty shabby. Viewing from the
outside in, they did not look too bad, but from the inside out they showed
their age. I put off the project because I expected it to be expensive and a
tough job, but the ports degraded to the point I could not put up with
it any longer. I researched on line for replacement ports from all of the
usual Catalina resources. The fixed port pricing was $430.00 for the four,
and the Dow adhesive was over $14.00/tube. The opening ports to match were
$32.00 /ea. This seemed a bit pricey, so I started to look around locally. I
took dimensions and photos of all of the ports and went to Tap Plastics.
(Next door to the Tigard West Marine.) They quoted me $100.00 for all eight
ports. Next I checked with Atlas Supply on SE 10th between Sherman and
Caruthers for the Dow adhesive. They sold the same material for under $5.00/
tube. Across the street from Atlas is General Threaded who had in stock the
exact screws that Catalina used to attach the windows. General Threaded is a
funky little place that heats the warehouse with a wood stove and presto
logs but they are a great source for SST hardware. Armed with prices that
fit my, and more importantly my co-skipper’s budget, I decided to move ahead
with the project.
 To
remove the fixed ports, I used two utility knives, one with a straight blade
and one with a hook. I first used the hook blade to remove the adhesive from
the outside being careful not to knick the fiberglass.
I then used the straight blade from the inside to cut the port loose. After
removing the port, I was left with residual adhesive to remove. Here I used
a very sharp putty knife and mineral spirits.
 Removal
of the opening ports is a breeze by just removing the bolts and dogs. I
sealed up the windows with heavy aluminum foil and blue masking tape. This
part of the project took most of a Saturday and left me with some pretty
sore muscles.
Monday morning I went to Tap with my removed
ports in hand. We chose ¼” acrylic for all of the ports and made them all
from the darkened material. The opening ports were originally Lexan and did
not match the original fixed port’s color. The Lexan is slightly thicker
than the acrylic so on installation I added a rubber gasket to the inside of
the hinge and dogs to compensate. The fixed ports have beveled edges that I
had Tap duplicate with a 45 deg. angle. To duplicate the fixed ports, Tap
attached the old ports with double faced tape to the new material and copied
them to near exact as the original. They drilled all of the holes and had
the entire project ready for me to pick up before noon on Tuesday. I was
very pleased with their workmanship, and for the amount of work they did, I
felt $100.00 was a bargain.
The edges of the acrylic are very sharp. I cut
myself right off the bat, so I took a flat file and dressed all of the edges
and slightly rounded the corners. This next part of the project was what I
was dreading. I am not very good at applying adhesive and caulk so that it
looks great, and I expected this to be the case here as well. I got help
from my co- captain where we first masked the inside of the port frame,
applied a generous amount of the Dow adhesive on the flange and smoothed it
out with a putty knife. It is important to use a generous amount so that it
squeezes into the voids as much as possible.
 I
fashioned two alignment tools from coat hangers to hang the port from the
screw holes so we would avoid smearing the glue on the plastic. We pushed in
the plastic and screwed it into place.
We used a Formica sample, towels and mineral
spirits to clean up any adhesive that oozed inside. We then masked the
outside of the port both on the boat and the acrylic and carefully added the
adhesive to the outside. To do this well takes patience and skill, which I
do not have, and fortunately my co- captain has some of both. The first port
took us well over an hour but by the time we were done with the last one we
were down to less than 45 minutes. It is very frustrating and time
consuming. We learned the hard way that the Dow material is very sun
sensitive. Do not leave the tubes in the sun, and avoid applying it in
direct sunlight. When we were done, we were reasonably happy with our job
and felt it looked as good as original if not a little better.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Masked Port |
Finished Port |
We can see
outside again! |
I had a lot of apprehension about this
project mainly because of the unknown. I was afraid removing the old
adhesive would pull the fiberglass apart. I was afraid I could not get the
old ports out. I was afraid I might damage the frames and have extensive
repairs to make. I was also afraid that I would make a mess of applying the
adhesive. My patience ran a bit short when we were finishing the outside
adhesive, but with my co-captain’s help and reassurance it came out OK, and
now that it is done, we are happy with the results. If you are patient and
can spend two long days, it is a project most anyone could take on.
Gary and Jeanine Jaeckel
Crew of Mistress II
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:
Upcoming Events
October
- No General Meeting
- 17th - 18th
Cruise: Halloween Cruise, Government Island - East dock
November
December
- December 12th, CRACA Holiday Potluck, Jess & Mary Schefstrom's house in St
Helens, OR. RSVP to
jhse27@hotmail.com for details!
See the calendar
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.
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