Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Tel Aviv Marina.... I wish I were....

This week I am in Tel Aviv for business having nothing to do with sailing or the CarolMarie, except.... I found a way to book in The Carlton Hotel in west Tel Aviv.  The hotel is excellently placed in the heart of the city right on the marina.


The Carlton 

But what's amazing to me is the Israelis are into sushi, seemingly more so then Hawaiians. The make excellent sushi.


Anyway here's the Tel Aviv Marina.  I took the photo in the morning during breakfast at the hotel restaurant.


Finally as the a boat was leaving I was wishing I were on the boat, or my own sailing out to the sea.






Saturday, May 25, 2013

Trouble and reflection....

Nothing gives us more please or more grief then our children.  The same can be said for mine.  Late last Thursday night my son got in serious trouble, problems that most kids today face -  risky behavior and in choosing the hard choices.  He choose wrong, leading him down a path we were none to proud of.  So rather then fly out on business Friday, I cancelled the trip and had serious discussions with him about his choices. All on the CarolMarie - a peaceful place removed from the real world.

Soon he came to his senses and in a stream of tears apologized and worked to be on the right track.  On Saturday he begged to go to boat, seeing it as a peaceful escape, where he could focus on the right things in life.  Grabbing up a book he has been reluctant to read for homework, he blazed through it.


Through the dodger I capture a photo of him, focusing on the working toward being on the right path.  It reminded me of the true words in the opening paragraph of Moby Dick. "Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off- then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship."

Perhaps Mr. Melville had it right all long, and we should all find solace to "quietly take to the ship."

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Video of the Christening


For all the  friends and crew that didn't make it to the event here's the video.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Pictures on the water....

Well it is rare to get photographs of your own boat sailing on the water.  Thanks to Ashley and her husband Capt. Ron (no joke) who own Columbia River Marine Assistance (http://www.crma-pdx.com) for sending the two snapshots to us.  Capt Ron was the one who dove on the NiSe to assess the damage  to the rudder after her last race.
Opening day early before the "incident"

After the tack on opening day, new mainsail and happy crew.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Christening of the CarolMarie

On on Sunday May 19th. 2013 we had the commissioning party at Salpare Bay Marina to christen the CarolMarie according to Maritime Tradition.  

Tradition states that the old name is never spoken by the crew, or captain once taken over from the old owner.  The old name must be removed from the vessel for at least a month so the sea forgets her old name.  All offending paperwork with the old name had to be removed from the boat.  Then the following words must be said at the christening with her skippers and as many of her crew as can attend.  So with the crew and friends we gathered on the dock, and held up our glasses filled with champagne. 

As I stood on the deck of the boat and dumped another complete bottle of champagne on her deck into the river. It was to ensure the waters were completely satisfied with her, and would forget her old name once drunk.  While doing this I spoke the words with my best authoritative voice,
 "I name this ship CarolMarie and may she bring fair winds and good fortune to all who sail on her. In the name of all who have sailed aboard this ship in the past, and in the name of all who may sail aboard her in the future, we invoke God to favor us with their blessing today. Mighty God that moves the waves; and guardian of the winds and all that blows before them: We offer you our thanks for the protection you have afforded this vessel in the past. We voice our gratitude that she has always found shelter from tempest and storm and enjoyed safe passage to port. We ask that when she is again presented for blessing with another name, she shall be recognized and shall be accorded once again the selfsame privileges she previously enjoyed. In return for which, we rededicate this vessel to Your domain in full knowledge that she shall be subject as always to the immutable laws of the wind and the sea. In consequence whereof, and in good faith, we seal this pact with a libation offered according to the hallowed ritual of the sea." [ok – I made most of it up… borrowing from John Vigor's work…. But hell you guys know me already…. we were just having fun christening the boat].

Afterwards she seemed to sit up there a little more pretty and a little more proud, with her name and new port displayed on her stern.


Special thanks to my friend Stefan who came all the way from Germany to attend, and help me put the new vinyl on for the name.  And a special thanks to Kevin and Linda for cutting the vinyl for free at their shop. Thanks to Lee, Michelle, Katie, Evan, Isaac, Jim, and Linda for attending to see she was properly done up. But most thanks to my co-skipper Charing for making my dream hers and making it happen.  

In other news I met another Hans 38 MKII owner on the way to lunch.   After getting the name on the boat on Saturday before the party, Stefan, Isaac and I headed over to lunch at the Island Cafe.  Looking into the boatyard at Danish Marina I saw the stern of a 38 MKII up on stands. 

We soon met Brad the owner of the boat.  He gave us a tour and it wasn't long before we were comparing notes and trying to figure out what to use from each others best ideas.  Brad had owned her for the last two years and was in the process of repairing years of weathered damage and tear she'd suffered. Turns out that Brad's boat and mine were made in the same year even.  That was very cool.  Brad came over and toured the CarolMarie, giving me points on he'd learned over the years.  It was a great time.

For now I am done for all the planned maintenance; now its time to get out there.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Test fitting the name.....

Before opening day we actually did test fit the name on the carolmarie.  We also took some shots of the new varnish on the cap rail.  She is turning out to be a real looker down at the marina.



Test fitting the name on the boat

Charing had the surface waxed and polished to remove all the dirty and try to erase the old name.  The next step is wet the surfaces and wet the vinyl lettering.  The place and smooth the lettering down.  On the NiSe this process took about three hours for the transom.  That was only one surface, and one application, now I have four to do.

Once the test fit was done we took a couple of shots at the Britol Finish on the cap rail.  Here you can see how smooth and glossy she it is.


Its hard to see where the cap rail ends and the sky begins.  From further away she looks like this....


Well I can't wait any longer the name must go on the boat this week as per the Coast Guard Regulations.  Therefore we will be having a commissioning party at Salpare Bay Marina to christen the new name on the ship.   The christen will take place according to Maritime Tradition at noon on Sunday May 19th. 2013.

Tradition states that the old name is never spoken by the crew, or captain once taken over from the old owner.  The old name must be removed from the vessel for at least a month so the sea forgets her old name.  All offending paperwork with the old name had to be removed from the boat.  Then the following words must be said at the christening with her skippers and as many of her crew as can attend.

"I name this ship ___________ and may she bring fair winds and good fortune to all who sail on her. In the name of all who have sailed aboard this ship in the past, and in the name of all who may sail aboard her in the future, we invoke God to favor us with their blessing today. Mighty God that moves the waves; and guardian of the winds and all that blows before them: We offer you our thanks for the protection you have afforded this vessel in the past. We voice our gratitude that she has always found shelter from tempest and storm and enjoyed safe passage to port. We ask that when she is again presented for blessing with another name, she shall be recognized and shall be accorded once again the selfsame privileges she previously enjoyed. In return for which, we rededicate this vessel to Your domain in full knowledge that she shall be subject as always to the immutable laws of the wind and the sea. In consequence whereof, and in good faith, we seal this pact with a libation offered according to the hallowed ritual of the sea." [ok – I made most of it up… borrowing from John Vigor's work…. But hell you guys know me already…. Let's have fun christening the boat]

So please come join us, at slip E3 Salpare Bay Marina at 11:30 am Sunday morning.  Mimosas will be served, and at noon, while the sun is highest we'll christen the CarolMarie. Then stick around for a bit of fun and conversation.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Opening Day Disaster......

Two weeks ago was opening day for the sailing season and boating season here on the Columbia River.  It was also the first time the weather was good and the cap rail was done.  Before I get into the epic that led to a great deal of skipper talk, let me show the before and after photo from the cap rail.  It was amazing to say the least.


Hopefully you can see the difference from the two.  In the bottom photo was the state she was in when we bought her, while the top is the finished product.  The Bristol Finish claims to last 10 yrs before another application is needed.  We will see.

Now on to the epic.....  It all started the night before when the co-skipper called one of her friends.  The friend warned her about the massive amount of boats that would be out in the river on opening day.  Never mind I say, I know the Navigational Rules, and we'll be fine.  These came to be the famous last words.

The day started out simple enough; for crew we had Charing, Kevin, Michelle, Rachael, Cheryl, and myself.  I had been watching the weather the night before on sailpdx.org.  It showed the winds building to 10 knots by 11am then shifting after lunch 180o, building to 18-20 knots by 4pm.  The goal was to be off the river by 4pm, so we didn't have reef, and could go out with the main and stay sail up on a nice blustery spring day.

By 11am we had the stay sail and the main up and we were nicely making way from Salpare Bay Marina toward the I205 Bridge.  Charing brought out the GoPro and took a couple of nice photos of the crew and the boat in action.





As you can see my good friend Kevin is there by my side. This last photo was taken right about when all the bad decision I made turn into the epic humiliation. As I stood up from the helm I looked forward to see another cutter rig in the distance ahead.  Breaking out the binoculars I could see the blazing black insignia on the mainsail, HC 38.

No way I thought to myself, another HC38 out on opening day, on my river.  "Well," I said to Kevin, "should we catch him?"

He looked through the binoculars and said, "well not at this speed." Ok, for two engineers we should have known better, but we decided to run forward on the bow sprit to put up the new 110% lapper.   It was about this time the motor boats start coming out on the river.  Not just a couple of sink pots mind you, but every one of them that was over 30ft. All of them wearing the little blue blazers and fancy shirts, waving all types of banners and flags.  I am not exaggerating when I say there was a line of stink pots  from the airport to the I5 bridge in three lines. And we were dead in the middle of them wrestling the lapper trying to get it up.

Once it was raised about half way, the co-skipper calls out that the helm isn't responding.  She can't keep the boat on course. I look upward to see the wind vane has spun around 180o; we are lock in irons. With the wind building and the helm all the way over the rudder acted like a sail underwater pushing us back with the current, while the wind kept us straight pointed up wind.

I stop putting up the lapper, and with it half way up run back to the cockpit to get the boat moved in one direction or another. We needed steerage because we were being encroached upon by a horde of power boats, whose skippers are out on the water only for opening day, because the price to run their ships is too expense with today's fuel prices.

When I finally get steerage our northerly course is set directly into the parade of boats.  Now to say interrupting their once a year time on the river time on the river was frowned upon would be an understatement. Frankly I have never in my life seen so many air horns outside of a sale at West Marine in my life.

Horns going off everywhere while I tried in vain to bark out orders to the crew. As we drifted through the parade we were soon coming up on the other side of the river.  Did I forget to mention that the winds, once they changed directions came on us at 18-25knots.  Whitecaps were seen suddenly all up and down the river as if they came out of nowhere.  The lapper was flogging on the forestay with such noise it became harder to hear the morons with their air horns.  Even with half the lapper up the other half was now in the water at risk of being torn as it beat itself against the bow sprit.

Remembering the ASA course lesson of when in trouble - heave to, I whipped the boat around southernly stopping our sail and causing us to drift back into the parade. I ran up toward the bow to lower the sails only to find the stiff breeze was pushing us faster toward the parade once again.  With even greater zest, the power boat skipper once again lay on those air horns as I struggled to drop the stay sail, the main sail and the rest of the lapper.  Of course by the time I had them all down we were once again in the middle of the parade.  At this point I was steaming mad; I raised my middle fingers and in my loudest hailing voice used language only the French and true sailors knew.  I believe the power boats didn't take either French or knew much about sailing language because after my rant the horns went off again with more enthusiasm.

I started the motor and got far out to their way, heading back to my slip.  I was glad in the end that nothing was damage and no harm came to anyone outside of a bruised ego or two.

Well next weekend is our commissioning party.  Hopefully having a proper name on the boat will bring us better luck.  And next time I should stick to my sail plan from the beginning.