FLEET 20 NEWSLETTER
September 2001

Catalina 22 - Fleet 20, Portland, OR

From the Captain
By Dennis Thomas

St. Helens Cruise September 15th & 16th

At the present time there are four boats from Fleet 20 intending to participate in the cruise to St. Helens.

• Lematike – Terry and Kathy Annis. Crewing with them will be Dale Mack.
• Little Hector – David, Chris and Ebie Mountford
• WindChaser – Dennis and Sandy Thomas (crewing might be Bob Gales)
• <no name> Don and Diana McGee

Birthdays

Dave Harcombe, September 6 A belated Happy Birthday Dave!!

Anniversaries

Mike & Deb Hibbs September 5. A belated Happy Anniversary Mike & Deb!!

Dave & Linda Harcombe September 18.

San Juan Cruise Bits and Pieces

The Fleet 20 San Juan Cruise this year proved to be an unusual and somewhat trying experience for those who went, when listening to the bits and pieces reported back by those who had gone. Sandy and I did not make the trip this year but were told by those who did go, that if we were going to miss a year, this was the one to miss. From the beginning there were challenges on the horizon.

Bit #1. Prior to the rest of the group arriving at Deer Harbor the first day, Captain Bob and first mate Gale had spent a lovely evening at anchor in Garrison Bay at the northwestern end of San Juan Island with his daughter and her fiancé. When they attempted to leave the serenity of the bay through Mosquito Pass, they had an encounter with a somewhat disgruntled rock. Apparently as they passed over it, (it must have had a bad day or gotten in an argument with it’s wife or something) it lunged up beneath them impacting a blow to the keel so severe that the mayday could be heard here in Portland, and that was not over the radio either. Yes that strange muffled sound that you heard that Saturday morning was not my day but mayday. Anyway, Mr. Rock, (that was his name believe it or not) did not want to let go at first but with some persuasion from a power boat and pleas from Bob, he relinquished his grip and sternly warned them not to pass his way again and to warn other sailors, not to pass his way or else! Upon reaching Roche Harbor, Bob had to do what all Captains worthy of being called Captains did, no not head to the nearest bar. He jumped over board, for sure not because he wanted to, but to check out his hull. It was reported by a bystander that he did have some clothes on, (a diving mask??).

Piece # 1. I was told, by a reliable source, of course no other kind, that while still at the dock at Anacortes, Mr. T.A. took an unscheduled dip in the bay, fully dressed.

Bit #2. After leaving Anacortes the first day the new comers of the cruise encountered a mishap that would get all of our blood pumping. With winds blowing at 20 to 25 knots and swells of 3 and 4 feet, his roller furler disconnected from the stem plate on the fore deck shaking it out to one side like a spinnaker. What a baptism to the San Juans. Upon the return trip, within an hour or so from Anacortes, their motor blow up. Later it was determined that two rods, valves and the crank were all demolished. They were able to be towed back by Little Hector, a fellow C22 with Chris & Ebie aboard.

Piece #2. Apparently there was one other Captain that involuntarily took a plunge, no doubt to check the temperature of the water, to report back to the fleet just how warm the water was. This same Captain N received an added bonus for the trip with a severe infection in his finger, having to get Canadian antibiotics, they are cheaper at least.

Bit # 3. Captain M lost his new and treasured coffee pot over board while in port. I think it must have been made of silver or gold because he too went a diving. (did these folks think they were in the Caribbean??)

In addition to these Bits and Pieces these brave sailors encountered 7 to 8 days of rain out of 14, high wind with swelling seas. You must remember if you are contemplating taking this trip next year, this is not the normal conditions. Also these folks don’t normally behave so oddly, that is except Captain B.

Dennis & Sandy Thomas, Nate & Margaret Hansen, and Terry & Kathie Annis prepare to go out and enjoy a leisurely evening sail in the August 31st Beer Can Race

Beer Can Races 
By Dale Mack

August 31st concluded the 2001 season's of Friday Night Beer Can Races.  The races, which began on June 15th, proved very popular with racers and non-racers alike.

Designed to be just-for-fun, the races were more about getting out on the water on Friday evenings with friends and family, than they were about racing.  The race  committee would drop a couple of race markers, post the course on the committee boat, and then send everyone on their way by 6:30 pm.

Each Friday had a different theme, where participants were encouraged to dress  up.  Themes ranged from sports night, hat night, western night, flag night, toga night, tropical night, formal night, pajama night, reggae night, pirate night, to fiesta night.  There was a social held after each race at Kenton Station, where various crews were recognized for the creativity of their entry.

St. Helens Overnight Cruise
By  Dale Mack

September 15-16.  Fleet 20 will be sailing to St. Helens, located about seventeen nautical miles downstream of the I-5 bridge.  The plan is to rendezvous near buoy "47" (a green navigational aid west of the Burlington Northern Railroad Bridge near the mouth of the Willamette River) and depart for St. Helens at 11 am.  Our destination is the city docks located in front of the courthouse.

Our cruise is timed to coincide with the SYSCO fun race and cruise to St. Helens.  Fleet 20 members who are also SYSCO members may elect to take advantage of the race start (this is not a serious race, no prizes are awarded nor is anyone recognized for passing Buoy "4", a red navigational aid south of Warrior Rock first).

Fleet 20 will share a potluck dinner on the docks Saturday evening.  Everyone should plan on taking care of their own main dish and then bringing a side-dish or dessert to share.

Sunday morning is a depart-at-your-leisure kind of day.  The motor back to Portland will take about 4.5 hrs.  We've usually been able to sail back part of the distance, but it's not real dependable, so plan on motoring.

Report from the Grandma's Cove Rendezvous
By Dennis Thomas

August 25.   Saturday August 25th turned out to be a beautiful sunny day with a light breeze in the late afternoon. Two boats from Fleet 20 met up down river of the I-5 bridge about 5:00 p.m. David, Chris and Ebie Mountford aboard Little Hector and Dennis (that’s me) and Sandy Thomas aboard WindChaser.

When arriving a Grandma’s Cove Little Hector tied up to a dock near shore and we rafted up along their port side (that left if you are facing the front of the boat). We enjoyed BBQ salmon prepared dockside by the Mountford’s as well as other good picnic eats. You should have been there. There was great company according to both the Mountford’s and the Thomas’.

San Juan Islands
By Bob Gales

Editor's Note:  Bob Gales and Gail O'Neill are long time members of Fleet 20, and Bob continues to occasionally crew aboard other C22's since he and Gail moved up to a Catalina 30.

We have all read about techniques to refloat a grounded boat. We have all seen the drawings and diagrams showing us how. Now I have experienced it for real. And, fortunately, it works and my wife finally understands the subscriptions to all those sailing magazines.

Of course I have also learned to not get too overconfident and to always review the charts and tide tables even in a very familiar area.

So, here's my story (as opposed to my wife's).

We had spent a lovely evening at anchor in Garrison Bay at the north western end of San Juan Island. My daughter and her fiance were on the boat for the first time and I was a bit puffed up (ok, that's part of my wife's take on it). We weighed anchor mid morning and headed out the fairly narrow Mosquito Pass, hoping to sight orca whales in Haro Straits.  With my wife at the wheel I finished stowing the anchor, coiling lines and generally doing what the real captain might do. As we entered the pass I commented that the red and green bouys were sure far over to our left. She said we needed to go between them but I insisted we go straight out as we had "always done". After a very brief argument she sent me below to get the chart. As I came back into the cockpit, WHAM, BAM! We hit that rock so hard! And then bounced up on it, with the stern sinking back down. I just knew we were sinking.

I said "get your life jackets on and check for water coming in to the boat!" No panic here. Then I uttered the words, "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday" for the benefit of the Seattle Coast Guard. I quickly regained my composure and assured them we were ok, not sinking but sitting very still.  They informed me that low tide would be in one and one-half hours and it would be a -3.3' That's MINUS 3.3

Now here is where the subscriptions came in handy. A powerboater came near and asked it we needed help (don't you just love those stinkpotters!) I wanted to say no thanks, as we were just resting for a bit but I knew my family would make me walk the plank. Using my spinnaker halyard (with the new spinnaker bail from Catalina Direct keeping it out from the mast) I attached some more line and sent one end to the powerboater. They made it fast and slowly pulled away from us at a right angle. The boat slowly began to heel and before we knew it we were afloat again! So cool! With much thanks and love to the powerboater we held our breath as we started the engine. Sounded fine, no vibration and off we went, slowly, cautiously, BETWEEN the bouys to Roche Harbor. Here, with only a diving mask but an enormous amount of humiliation and guilt laid on me by my wife I lowered myself into the 53 degree water to check for damage. I did get at least six inches under the water, saw that there was still a keel and pronounced everything all right. And, after five weeks, so far, so good.

Some of you have probably already tried this, the rest of you will someday get the opportunity. Now we both read the charts and tide tables before we leave the dock or weigh anchor. My wife has really taken to studying the charts and seems to enjoy pointing out the "Rk" locations for me.

I have been told to wrapp your halyard around the mast a few times so the pull is not directly on the internal sheaves but on the mast. With my halyard and sheave free from the mast and able to turn in the direction of the pull I did not worry about breaking a sheave.

Always something new to learn, keeps the brain alive and well.

2001 Vacation in Puget Sound
with the Catalina 22 with no name
By Don McGee

Players: Me(Don), Ma(Diana), Rigger Rock(Rock Bartlet, our next door neighbor) Catalina #5853(the boat with no name) and one brand new Yamaha 8 hp 4 stroke engine.

08/18/01 Left Washougal at 0615 and had immediate problems towing the boat. Rock and I didn’t properly load the boat on the trailer the previous Sunday and now it is squirrly at any speed over 53 mph. We stopped about 15 miles north of Vancouver and I noticed that the tires needed air, which I got to pay $.50 for. We got ice and headed back out onto the freeway. Adding air just made it worse. Now it felt like I was pulling the trailer across ice. It settled down at about 50 mph, which is where it stayed all the way to Gig Harbor.

We arrived at Gig Harbor at a little after 1000 hrs and searched for the only launch ramp in town. Upon finding it, we noticed that the tide was out and the water was about 10 feet below the bottom. So much for battle plans surviving contact. We all got our heads together and looked for another place to put in.

Since the tide was out, Bremerton didn’t look too promising. Poulsbo had a ramp, so we headed there. That ramp was so steep, I didn’t have a good feeling about retrieving the boat, and there was no parking. By this time we needed gas and stopped at a Texaco. Rock went inside to see what the local angle on launch ramps was. He came back out stating that Brownsville was the place to go.

We checked the map, and it looked like Brownsville was on Bainbridge Island. We headed out in that direction, when Rock noticed that the little circle that designates the town is actually south of Poulsbo on the mainland. I immediately took a left turn and found my way headed back the way we came. Brownsville was the ticket. The launching fee was $2.00 and parking was free. The tide, however, was still way out. It was after noon and we got a bite at the deli there by the launch ramp and went to watch the stinkpotter’s use the ramp.

One guy pulled his boat out that had an outdrive that drew at least as much as we did, so Rock and I finished up our sandwiches and headed for the car to raise the mast. While climbing on the boat I nearly lost my balance and almost fell backwards off of the boat. I didn’t fall, but it scared me enough that I was more careful after that. We raised the mast, attached the boom and rigged the genoa. I drove down to the ramp, which as very narrow with a drop-off on one side and a dock on the other. We got her launched with no problems. Rock and Diana prepared to shove off while I parked the car. We had picked up a brand new Yamaha 8 hp motor last week because our ‘76 Honda 7.5 hp died, and we couldn’t get it fixed. The magic moment was here. I pulled the starter cord, once, twice, several times before she caught and started. My first opinion was that it was running really rough, popping, and cranky, almost like one cylinder wasn’t firing. I looked up at Rock and he shrugged, so did I. One thing I did know was we had to leave, as we were blocking the lane on that side of the ramp. So we chugged away from the ramp, sounding like a bad Walter Mitty dream.

We cleared the harbor and headed north, against a flood tide, of course. (This would be a recurring event all week long). With no sails raised, the best speed we could make according to our knotmeter was 2.4 knots, which isn’t very fast. Rock and Diana got the sails up and we sailed up the Port Orchard Channel at a crawl. The wind was blowing less than 10 knots, but with the motor we were making about 4 knots. We steamed into Agate Passage at full flood, creeping along against the current. It took more than an hour and a half to clear that channel. Diana went down and took a nap. It was after 5 pm by then and I headed for Hidden Harbor at the end of Bainbridge Island for the night. We entered the harbor which was surrounded by million dollar homes with their docks and more importantly, their yachts. There were beautiful sailboats tied up and on moorings. I steered us down to the end of the harbor and had Rock dropped the anchor. Diana fixed us a fine roast beef dinner and we ate in the cockpit, taking in our luscious surroundings. Jose Cuervo joined us for an after dinner swig and I hooked up the tunes. Jimmy serenaded us into the night.

08/19 We left Hidden Harbor at 07:00 hrs. (our earliest departure for the whole trip) and motored slowly out into the Sound heading for Kingston. I hoped to get water, ice, dump the head, get spark plugs for the motor there and get a plug for our inflatable raft. Arrived at Kingston at 09:00 hrs. and tied up to the guest dock. Rock filled the water tank and I dumped the head. After talking to the harbormaster and finding out where to get spark plugs, at a Napa Auto Parts store about a mile away, Rock and I set off while Diana cleaned up the boat. At Napa they had 3 plugs that would fit our motor, so I bought 2 and we headed back. On the way back, we spotted a nautical parts store where we found a plug for our raft.

At the boat I pulled the old plugs from the motor and found them to be carboned up pretty bad. Put in the new plugs and started it up. The motor sounded fine until some throttle was applied, then it went back to its bad habit of chugging, popping and generally disliking life. Disgusted, I inflated the raft and made ready to shove off.

We cleared the harbor at Kingston and pointed the bow north, hoping to make Port Townsend, but the tide was against us (again!) and the wind was just barely pushing us along as we made our way up Admiralty Inlet. We saw the Victoria Clipper 4 times as it made its way back and forth between Victoria and Seattle. We also saw a huge container ship and a large cruise ship heading north. It was passed 20:00 hrs when we cleared Foulweather Bluff and Port Townsend wasn’t in the picture for that day. The wind had picked up and we were scooting along at over 5 knots under sail alone. Quickly checking the chart I headed us towards Port Ludlow, with its inviting harbor, across the Hood Canal. It was late when we finally dropped anchor, and Diana fed us. Tomorrow we’ll make Port Townsend and find a Yamaha mechanic to check out the motor.

08/20 Pulled up the anchor after breakfast and headed for the guest dock at Port Ludlow. Rock discovered that the showers were free, so we all got clean and smelled pretty. Needing gas, I went filled up the spare tank and paid $3.75 for 2 gallons. The raft was looking pretty sad by this time as it leaked air in 2 compartments. I deflated it and stowed it in the lazerette.

It was noon before we got it together enough to shove off for Port Townsend. The wind was light out of the southwest and we motor-sailed north. There is a new canal dug between Oak Bay and Port Townsend Bay that would save us a couple of hours, but we would have to transit this ditch against the tide (of course). A couple of big powerboaters tried to wave us off, but we ignored them as untrustworthy. Approaching the ditch, the water was roaring out. The sails were set wing on wing with the whisker pole on the jib. Progress was so slow it took 20 minutes to pass by a fisherman on the shore, staring at us like we were the biggest fools he’d ever seen. I had Rock go back and play with the throttle, so see if he could squeeze a little more out of the motor. I eased us over to the side of the ditch, hoping for less current. We started to make a little better headway, then it hit me. I had Diana raise the keel and that was what we needed to get through. The boat eased up the ditch at a slow walk, but progress was noticeable. It took over an hour of tense sailing to clear the half mile long canal.

Upon clearing the ditch, the wind swung around to come out of the Northeast. We pulled the whisker pole, dropped the keel back down and beat our way up the bay towards Port Townsend. There were several gorgeous wooden sailboats out, including Legendary’s Araminta, gliding by, looking like a jewel, causing Rock and I to drool as we made our way to the marina.

We tied up to the guest dock and I ran up to the Harbormaster’s Office, arriving at exactly 16:33 hrs. They closed, however at 16:30. There was a self serve kiosk that I was trying to figure out how to work, when a lady from the marina office passed by, assigning us to a berth. Diana wrote us a check that I put in an envelope and deposited in the appropriate slot.

I quickly walked down to the marina businesses hoping to find a Yamaha dealer but had no luck. I found a phone booth and checked out the yellow pages. Sure enough there was a listing and I called it. The man at the dealer’s told me that they were 5 miles out of town (of course) and they didn’t make boat calls. That I was having a problem surprised him, as that model was usually trouble free. He suggested that I get my motor and grab a cab. It was 16:55 and they closed at 17:00, so we were stuck until tomorrow to solve this riddle. I told him that I’d be by in the morning.

Making my way to our assigned berth, I motioned for Rock and Diana to bring the boat over. After getting settled, we headed off towards town on foot, to catch the sites. Looking through some shops I picked up a watch cap and Diana got some wool socks.

We ate at a restaurant on the waterfront, Rock and Diana liked their dinner, but mine didn’t agree with me. During dinner, I was struck with an idea. We could rent a car to take the motor to the dealer and be able to drive around until the motor was repaired. On the way back, we stopped in a kayak shop where Diana found a Patagonia hat that she fell in love with. It cost $35, but well, you can’t take it with you, can you? Back at the marina, we got our towels and soap and headed for the showers. I got in mine and deposited 3 quarters and the water turned on. I got in and soaped up and was shampooing my hair when the water turned off. Shit! I tried to put in more quarters, but they wouldn’t go in, as it was jammed by some fool putting in too many quarters. There I was, naked as a soaped up jaybird. I gathered up my stuff and moved to the next stall, which was fortunately available. I then put in my quarters one at a time and finished my shower.

Arriving back at the boat, Rock and I decided to wander around the marina yard, looking at all kinds of boats in various stages of repair. We wandered around for awhile then headed back, as it was getting late.

Rock and I had been sleeping in the cockpit and would this night, even though it was cloudy. We slept in comfort until about 04:00 hrs when the sky opened up and poured on us. Diana was sleeping on the dinette converted to a small double berth. I threw my sleeping bag next to her while Rock put his on the floor (coffin). The forepeak was full of stuff. We didn’t sleep well after that.

08/21 It was raining hard when we got up. Diana fixed corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast, little did I know that I would need all my strength before long. I got dressed and discovered that I had left my foulweather gear at home. So I put on my coat and watch cap and headed out into the rain. Finding a phone booth I called Enterprise first, but the nearest office they had in the area was at Oak Harbor, all the way across the Sound from us. I thanked them and called Budget. They had a Ford Contour for me but they couldn’t come get me as they were not staffed for such an occasion. I hung up and asked a kid where the local Budget office was. He pointed to the top of the hill in the distance and said that they were up there on the main drag about a mile and a half. I thanked him and started walking. At the top of the hill, I found a Texaco and went in and asked the lady at the counter were the Budget office was. She had no clue. I bought some orange juice and drank it before heading out again. I was thoroughly soaked to the bone. It turned out that Budget was just 2 more blocks up the road from the Texaco station. I walked in looking much like a drowned rat and asked if they had a reservation for me. The lady looked up at me and asked my name, then checked her computer. No reservation, which I should have expected, but they did have a red Taurus available if I wanted. I did, and gave her my credit card. I drove back to the marina, got Rock and we turned the boat around so we could get the motor off. I had a dock cart where we put the motor, fuel line and gas tank and rolled it all up to the car. All three of us piled in and we drove to the Yamaha dealer. The guy there was unfriendly and unsympathetic to our plight and told us that we would be lucky to get the motor back this week. That put a real crimp in our style. The car was going to cost us about $100 a day and we couldn’t afford to keep it that long. We would also be stuck in Port Townsend for that time, as I didn’t want to venture out without a motor. I then had another idea. Since we had the car all day, why not drive down to Brownsville and get our car and trailer and drive it back up here? That way we could turn in the rental and have our car in the mean time. We could also put the boat on the trailer here as they had a great launch ramp. I drove back to the marina and dropped Rock off and grabbed some oil for the motor because I didn’t want to buy anymore from the dealer. Diana and I stopped by the dealer to drop off the oil and I got to meet the guy I had spoken to on the phone. He had the motor in a tub filled with water and it was purring like a kitten! He told me that the motor was a quart low on oil and has a sensor to cut off one cylinder when that happens. I told him that I had checked the oil level and it showed full on the dipstick. He shrugged and turned around and goosed the throttle causing the motor to roar to life. I asked him if I could take the motor then and he said yes. He told me that the motor had about 650 hours worth of wear from our previous 3 days motoring, but if we kept an eye on the oil level, we’d be OK. He also told us that the place we bought it from should have never sold us the motor out of the box without starting it up and checking it out. So I thanked him and paid the man $55 for his trouble and loaded the motor into the Taurus’ trunk.

Now that we had the motor back, far quicker that I’d expect it, we were back in business. The only thing holding us back was gale warnings out on the Sound and driving rain! We thought it over and decided to go ahead and get our car up here, that way we could sail up to the San Juan’s and not have to worry about getting all the way back to Brownsville. So off we drove, taking about 45 minutes to get to Brownsville. I wanted to move the motor into the Crown Vic (our car) and it slipped while I took it out of the Taurus and scratched the paint on the bumper. Shit! (again) I put the motor into the Crown Vic’s trunk and pulled out onto the road and drive back to Port Townsend with Diana following in the Taurus. A ways down the road, she flashed me to pull over. One of the bed boards on the trailer had come loose. I had parts in my toolbox and fixed it in short order. A ways further down the road she flashed me to pull over again. Another part had come loose, which I fixed. As I was working on the trailer Diana noticed a horse that had gotten loose and was grazing along the highway. Several people had gathered, but none seemed to know what to do. As I wrapped up my work, a highway patrolman drove up. I took that as my queue to leave and did.

We filled up the Taurus upon arriving back at Port Townsend and drove it back to Budget to drop it off. I mentioned that I had a boo-boo when I took the motor out, and the lady had her “body man” go out and check it. He mentioned that it would only take an hours time and so she charged me another $45 for my negligence and wished me a good day.

Back at the marina I took the motor down and mounted it back on the boat, hooked up the electrical wires and we were set, except for the weather. I was still in wet cloths so I headed up to take a shower. Diana fixed us spaghetti for dinner and we listened to the weather radio tell us about the next days gale warnings and driving rain. We would be here for another day. I suggested that we drive out to the lighthouse to see how bad it was on the Straight. At the lighthouse we got out and wandered on the beach. Diana found a couple of rocks and Rock found a scallop shell. On the way back we stopped at the store to get more ice and stuff. Diana accidentally left her purse in the cart causing me to break several laws driving back to the store where we rescued the purse from the hands of the shopping cart boy. On the way back to the marina, we stopped at a hardware store to get a tarp and I bought an AM/FM radio to listen to the ballgame on. That night I zipped our sleeping bags together and we slept in the forepeak It had been a long, eventful day.

08/22 Ran and gale warnings keep us in Port Townsend for another day. Put the tarp up and expanded our living area. Went downtown and ate Thai food for lunch. It was very good but went right through Diana, who was hot-steppin it to the public bathroom. Later we got milkshakes, I had Dutch Malt, a new flavor that was great. We drove around and looked at houses. When we got back, Diana decided that we could do some laundry, as fresh cloths would do us good. There were 2 washers and 3 dryers at the marina. The washer and drier both cost $1 to use. It took several hours to get all of our laundry done, but we got clean, warm, dry clothes out of the deal. We are defiantly leaving tomorrow, heading for Friday Harbor. The wind will be between 15 and 20 mph and I figure we can handle that, if it’s from the south as forecasted. We had leftover spaghetti and somehow I got one of the rocks Diana found on the beach in mine. Fortunately, I didn’t bite down hard.

08/23 Left Port Townsend at 10:00 hrs. with 15-20 mph winds from the south with its associated chop. The wind direction made for an easy sail north, and though the motor worked fine now, I was glad we didn’t have to motorsail. We saw 7.9 knots while surfing down a swell. My navigation needs work, as we ended up in Rosario Strait instead of San Juan Strait. There was fog hiding the distant islands and we don’t have a compass, so I made my best guess and sailed too far east. I didn’t notice it until I saw the Deception Pass Bridge and checked the chart. The San Juan’s don’t have a bridge like that, then I figured out where we were. I then plotted a course between Lopez and Decateur Island into Lopez Sound. I figured that the water would a least be flat and we could motor if we wanted. We motored around Lopez Island and finally made Friday Harbor. Along the way we picked up a 2X4 board that caught up between the rudder and the motor. Rock to the rescue! He used the boathook to free us. Friday Harbor struck me as boat city USA. I entered the marina, noticing that the little huts they used for slip assignment were empty. I found a side tie up close to the ramp to the Harbormaster’s office. We tied the boat up and I strolled up to the Harbormaster’s office and paid for the night. I then went off looking for ice. I found it at the fuel dock, and paid $2.50 for a bag. I was horrified. That was more than we paid at any time at Shasta, and stands to be the most paid for ever. The guy didn’t even crack a smile or bat an eye when he told me the price. I bought 4 bags but was disgusted at being gouged so blatantly. Diana and I walked uptown, looking for a liqueur store but had no luck. Back at the boat I fired up the barbecue for steaks. Diana cooked some spuds and steamed some veges. A good meal that produced leftover steak for breakfast. The side tie cost me $17.50 for the night, but we are close to the restrooms. The marina is full of boats, but it isn’t as neat as Port Townsend. Rock and I finished off Jose tonight, sorry hon.

08/24 Left Friday Harbor at 10:00 hrs and headed for Deer Harbor on Orcas Island. Clear skies and mellow winds are the forecast. Arrived at Deer Harbor and wandered around some, but was not impressed. I suggested we sail over to Orcas, where the ferry lands. Rock and Diana agreed. All I had to do was follow a ferry in and tie up at the public dock. There were several stores there to browse through, one where Diana bought Ashley(my granddaughter) an Orca necklace. I bought a fifth of Jose at the liqueur store. We motored over to Roche Harbor, observing kayaks, seals and an occasional dolphin. I spotted a likely anchorage opposite the British Camp in a cove that is too shallow for most of the stinkpotters. Diana fixed burritos for diner. I heated the tortillas on the barbecue. The British Camp played their tattoo for lights out which we all thought of as a treat. We kicked back and enjoyed our last night on the water, feeding a belligerent seagull some of our party mix.

08/25 Woke up to the British version of reveille followed by some high piercing reedy sounds coming from shore, as the activity over there increased. Diana fixed us the last of the steak, potatoes and eggs for breakfast. It was an excellent meal. Rock pulled up the anchor and we motored over to the dingy dock at the British Camp. I had the Honda gas tank full and needed to transfer gas over to the Yamaha tank, as the fittings didn’t match. That completed, we motored up to Roche Harbor to empty the head, buy ice and take on water. We left at 11:00 hrs with winds blowing from the Northwest at between 5 and 10 mph. The distant shores were fog bound so I pointed the boat towards where I thought Port Townsend was. We motorsailed at about 5 knots most of the way. A couple of hours out, we ran into a kelp field, which was a little nerve racking. Rock fended off the rudder and motor with the boathook and we cleared the kelp with no problem. Diana fixed sandwiches for lunch, which were great, as usual. I spotted a guided missile cruiser about 4 or 5 miles off to the west. Too bad we didn’t have time to go in for a closer look. Approaching land, the fog had lifted and of course I was too far west and adjusted our course accordingly. We made Port Townsend at about 19:00 hrs and quickly loaded the boat and dropped the mast. I washed everything down with fresh water, including the engine. I had to change clothes because while loading the boat I got wet up to my thighs. We headed out and I drove at 50 mph, pissing off all the people behind me. Got home at 01:30. An excellent vacation.

Adding a Shelf to a New-style Catalina 22
By Dale Mack

The new-style Catalina 22, introduced in 1985 and built until 1995 when it was replaced with the Catalina 22 MkII, came with several improvements based on over fifteen years of building Catalina 22's.  While features like a molding in fuel locker, and having all the controls lines lead aft to the cockpit added to the safety and comfort of the boat, the new-style Catalina 22 unfortunately lost the port and starboard side internal shelves that come in so handy for holding the small stuff that always comes out, particularly in port.  

Mike Hibbs (Dream A Little Dream, #14924), came up with a do-it-yourself project for his  boat that's both elegant in its simplicity and very practical.  Determined to add the shelf without having to drill into the hull-liner, Mike made use of the teak trim that hides the seam between the hull and deck.

Three supports are suspended from the teak trim, and connected by a 1x1 cut to the same length as the shelf.  Three shelf supports are notched to accommodate the 1x1, and attached to the bottom of the shelf with screws.  The shelf is then mounted to the 1x1 with screws.  

September 15-16.  Fleet 20 Cruise - St. Helens

September 22.  OWSA Sail for the Cure

September 22-23.  Columbia River All Catalina Rendezvous - Hayden Bay

October 13 (sa). SYSCO Awards Banquet

November 17 (sa).  (OCSA) Annual Tropical Party

December 8.  Fleet 20 Holiday Party

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The Fleet 20 newsletter is published online once a month. Articles are the opinions of the authors and don't necessarily represent the consensus of Fleet 20.