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| On our way |
We had wanted to go to Tumbo, as followers of this blog know how much we love that spot, but the anchorage there is too exposed to the N and NW to risk an imprecise gale forecast.
Plus, it had been a few months since we had been at Stuart and we all felt the need to return. As usual, people stayed away by the millions! I've been in Reid Harbor in July and counted over 100 boats. Plus an additional 50+ in Prevost Harbor on the other side. But if you go between October and about May, you will likely have it to yourself, or close enough to not matter.
The voyage from Cap Sante Marina in Anacortes to Stuart is really scenic, and diverse. Last time we saw the baby Orca before it was even in the news! This was our second trip of this sort since moving Aeolus to Anacortes from Friday Harbor. It has felt like a great choice. You cross Rosario Strait on the way and this body of water can be quite rough in a strong NW or SE blow. I've crossed it on the ferry when there was about 35 knots SE and I'd say the waves were 4-5 feet. No safety concern for a Gulf 32 but unpleasant.
On this day we cruised right across. The forecast was for 15-25 which always means 10-15. We didn't even have that. Had to motor the whole way.
It is 30 miles to Reid Harbor from Anacortes and it took us 5 hours. We go through tiny Pole Pass, which is the closest thing we can get down here to Dodd Narrows or the northern passes. Deception is of course better and famous, but it is quite wide in comparison.
We got to Reid, found it deserted, and dropped our trusty Mantus anchor. We had enough time to hike around the Parks isthmus that night, and then snuggled in for a stormy night. I set the anchor snubber line and our anchor riding sail.
At about midnight it started, and at 1am we were woken by a strong gust. From then until dawn it blew hard, rather like Williwaws. Reid is so sheltered that there is no fetch unless the wind blows precisely from one direction, which it never does, and even if it did, would amount to nothing of concern.
A strong gust would hit the boat and we would heel over some amount. In our bunks it always feels like you are heeled at 45 degrees, though it is probably more like 10!
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| On the porch of the Coast Guard house at Turn Point |
One of the low points of the trip was to see how much logging is happening on Stuart. Whether legal or not, it is certainly not legal for them to use no erosion control methods whatsoever. The rain just runs down the torn up logging roads and washes every bit of soil down into the rare wetlands or into the nearby ocean. Horrible. But who does San Juan County have to go and enforce their permits? What political will is there in this beautiful county for implementing conservation protections? My family experience unfortunately confirms that far too many people in the Islands are still wishing it was 1950 and protest any government at all, any conservation measures at all, any restriction of what they perceive as their "rights". Tragedy of the Commons stuff.
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| Logging road erosion-No erosion controls-Drains right into a wetland |
But while out at Turn Point we saw passing storm clouds and a stunning rainbow!
That night at dusk I took the dinghy out for a long row around the harbor. Peaceful, alone, silent. Perfect.
On Monday we had a quiet and uneventful return journey. Tons of birds. Flotillas of Pelagic Cormorants and many other common seabirds. Even saw some Marbled Murrelets.
A storm forecast kept everyone at the berths, but we had a perfect weekend by choosing the right anchorage and going anyway. Once returned, the NWS confirmed there were winds of 40 knots in our area. No trouble for us or our Mantus anchor in Reid Harbor.
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| Gorgeous-And no one around! |
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| Why do we go? |
6 comments:
Thanks for another great post... hoping to be an eventual Gulf 32 owner and it's great to read about not only the boat itself but the travels in our favorite boating grounds.
BTW, you may find this amusing, but you're apparently considered enough of a Gulf 32 guru that you're being quoted by boat brokers:
http://tinyurl.com/kdnqq4m
Okkkaaayyy.
-- Bass
Glad you find this site useful. As I've said many times, it gives me great happiness to think this little thing is useful to people given how much I have relied on the internet to answer so many of my own questions over time.
And no, I had no idea I was being quoted by anyone. But I need to get back in and adjust that hull speed to 6.2!
Brian, if you have any Gulf 32 specific tips to share pre-survey (I am in the processing of a careful reread of all your posts with note taking this time), any little specific thing you wish you'd checked or noticed or anything really Gulf specific, I'd be interested to hear... having a 1980 surveyed in about two weeks, excited but nervous!
-- Bass
(you can email outside of comments if you want, email is "bass AT croy777st DOT net" (remove the 7's and change the AT and DOT to appropriate symbols)
Hi Bass,
There is not much that is specific to a Gulf 32 survey in my view. All the same mechanical, electrical, rigging and fiberglass issues. The decks of Gulf's were done with plywood, and some are certainly rotten. That's a big one. But even that is not unique to the Gulf.
I have a 1,000 things I would look for but they are not Gulf specific. I will say that they make such relatively nice live aboards that some have been abused or neglected in that fashion. Others, like mine, are beautifully maintained for cruising and sailing.
Congrats and good luck on your search!
Hi Brian,
Thanks for your input. We did a survey on one boat and I do actually have a Gulf specific question for you (if you don't mind, I understand if you've got other more pressing things to take care of like, you know, life!).
This boat has a seemingly pretty decent deck leak somewhere on the forward, starboard side... decks aren't spongy (a bit of creaking but aren't too wet according to surveyor), but the wood siding in the starboard side of the v-berth is wet to the touch and pegs the moisture meter. Three stanchions and the holding tank pump out in that area all show signs of cracks around them (and imagine all the stanchions should be rebedded) so I *think* that is logical place water is getting in.
My Gulf specific question is do you know what it looks like behind the wood trim on starboard side of v-berth? Is there a fiberglass liner back there (hell to get through) or is everything reasonably accessible? I'm wondering how hard it's going to be to try to visual the leak and access underside of hardware to start rebedding the stanchions in that area.
Thanks in advance!
-- Bass
Bass,
If I understand your question I believe the answer is good news. The teak Vberth trim, which I have never removed, is all there is. Behind that is just the hull, and access to whatever is there. I have seen back there, but not accessed it.
I've posted many times that I have found the original build on the Gulf 32 to be fine, but not perfect. The bedding and backing of things was not designed for a 30 year or longer life. It is just required that you get in and replace aluminum backing plates with something better, and rebid things. Good luck.
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