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Too fat to float

OK. The Surgeon General says we’re too fat. It’s his business to keep track of our health. But now the Coast Guard?

Eat Drink & Sail!

I wish I had someone else’s picture for this, but all the ones I found were too insulting or showed fatalities. So I used my own, and by God, I’m going on a diet.

Here’s the deal — the Coast Guard has changed the calculation for carrying capacity raising the assumed weight of passengers to 185 pounds. According to Soundings, since 1960 the assumed weight had been 160 pounds.

The call for change stemmed from two boating tragedies. In March 2004, a pontoon water taxi called Lady D overturned in Baltimore Harbor with 25 aboard. Five people died; four were severely injured.

In October 2005, a monachal called Ethan Allen sunk in 70 feet of water on Lake George in New York while carrying 49 passengers. Twenty elderly people died.

This doesn’t affect cruise ships or recreational boats, but does impact so called T boats. One Miami cruise operator points to his craft, which before the modification was allowed to carry 49 passengers and is now limited to 35.

Though we haven’t heard of a Fat Patrol, it’s not a stretch to imagine that Harbor Patrols will start looking a bit more closely at boats that are riding low in the water.

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Santa Ana winds roar through Oxnard Plain

Santa Ana winds regularly whip through this area about this time of year. But you don’t have to quit sailing just because the wind is out of the east.

NOAA doesn’t call all easterlies, not even all strong easterlies, Santa Anas. I’m not sure what NOAA’s Santa Ana criteria are, but looking at the Sailflow chart, you can figure out that the heart of this thing is moving along at 30 knots.

That’s not a lot, especially not when you consider that historically these winds have clocked in near 100 mph (NOAA thinks mostly about effects over land, hence mph rather than knots.)

Yesterday’s Sailflow looked about the same as this morning’s. It was a warm — better than summer — day here in Oxnard and we were eager to sail. So off we went.

As we reported yesterday on Facebook, it was a rip-snortin’ day, but on reflection, there were some lessons to take aboard for the next bout of Santa Anas …. which happen to be lashing the palm trees right now.

Sailflow was exactly correct: the winds were NE and not affecting Channel Islands Harbor. We started out on a broad reach heading south. We were in the yellow band — the margin of the flow. We saw winds in the 20 regime, but what is weird and dangerous in the margin is that the air is very turbulent and wind direction and velocity swing wildly. We saw 20 from the NE and then a 10 second calm, when the windex did a 360 and then 15 knots out of the NW.

That happened over and over: the water would boil with short period gusts and we’d get ready for a forced jibe, then it’d settle down and we’d be rocking along on an 8 knot sprint.

We had a great time: starboard rail in the water and almost instantly a lull was followed by a wind shift that put the port rail in the water.

Great fun, actually. Had we wanted more consistent wind, we could have sailed a bit more to the south and had all the NE flow we could stand, or we could have sailed north into more consistent (though still gusty) W to NW winds. In the gusty region we explored, we elected to keep the main in pretty tight, mostly because we were uncertain that we would be able to predict when the boat might jibe. We also remained scrupulously clear of the boom.

Only two other sailboats were out there with us, but they returned early. One looked like a Hunter with  a jammed main furler. The other guys just quit.

Our helmsman was worn out at the end of three hours and we replenished our strength at the Lookout, where they tapped a new keg of IPA for us.

Altogether, a very satisfying day on the water.

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Landing Cove at the far east end of Anacapa Island is the only place that you can gain access to the east island. Most days, it’s pretty difficult to get there in a kayak or dinghy because there is usually a pronounced swell, which makes getting into and out of — but particularly into — a small boat very tricky.

You’ll likely find yourself dropping the hook in 50′ of water. And even at that depth, your boat is going to be very close to the bluffs. I think it prudent to keep qualified boat driver aboard at all times when anchored here.

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Santa Ana depiction Thursday night

Gusts to 60 Wed to Friday. The Oxnard Plain really lights up Thursday night.

Read the detailed NOAA warning.

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Yesterday the moon was the closest it gets to the earth– 359691 km and today there is a New Moon.

So what(?) you say

Since you’ll most likely be home and not near or on a boat, a mighty shrug is all you need to convey your interest. But if you are near the water, you’ll see the greatest tidal range. In our marina, the low tides will find a few boats sitting comfortably on the bottom for a couple of hours. Look for masts canted to one side or the other, those are the ones in the mud.

We really don’t worry much about tides here. Our range is skimpy compared to much of the world — somewhere in the six foot range on a full or new moon, but for the next day or so it’ll be closer to nine feet, with the low a foot and half below datum (-1.55).

Low tide -1.55

It’ll be a good idea to favor the center of the channel and keep a closer eye on the fathometer as you transit near shore.

But what’s the problem with high tide? How can that cause a problem?

Hi tide +7.14

It’s a low probability worry, but a little surge could turn these floating docks in to, well, boats. That was one of the big factors in boat destruction in Florida in the last big hurricane.

The Florida disaster wasn’t because of a perigean tide, but it’s easy to see that the risk of having the marina drift off to sea is higher on these days.

Without mentioning all of these facts, NOAA has compressed it all into a coastal flood warning for today. They’re not forecasting much flooding, fortunately. We wouldn’t want to have to scramble to get underway with turkey on the table.

Hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving. You probably don’t care that this is my favorite holiday, but it is, principally because there is no holiday song that must be sung today.

BTW — there’s a hybrid solar eclipse, but we won’t see it.

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The public was sorely limited in its access to Santa Rosa Island .... until this January

Cattle, vaqueros, horses, tack,  a sprawling ranch house, the foreman’s place — we’ll all be able to get a close look at the  artifacts of the ranching, and — later — hunting operation on Santa Rosa Island very soon.

Though we, the taxpayers, bought the property 25 years ago for $30 million, our access has been limited due to continued ranching and hunting operations that were part of the transition deal. On January 1, 2012 we’ll finally get a look.

It’s been pretty quiet out there for some time. The families that have owned and managed the ranch had scaled down operations over the years and have been saying their final good-byes to their more than century old homestead since the 80′s.

The Ventura County Star has an article on those families, their heritage, their final good-byes as well as a very sketchy account of how the National Park Service will manage the land at Santa Rosa.

We are looking forward to exploring the island beyond the thin stretch of beach, the mile or two of roadway we were allowed to traverse and the Torrey Pines that we’ve been confined to. Even with it open entirely, I doubt we’ll get to a large percentage of the island as it is huge.

A note to sailors: I feel unsafe leaving the boat unattended at anchor. We’ve left our boat a couple of times and had to hightail it back each time when the wind kicked up, clocked around and put us on a dangerous lee shore. Add to that the difficulty we (OK, I) had getting my kayak off the beach in the building surf and you can see why I’m nervous about getting out of sight of the boat.

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Typical weekend day in Channel Islands Harbor

About 98% of all the boats around here stay tied up about 98% of the time –

I’ve said that often. But I’ve been corrected. Many locals who should know — harbor patrol, marina managers and the like — think I’m an optimist. They say it’s more like 99% and 99%.

So why would someone invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in a boat, then spend something north of $500 a month on a slip, several thousand dollars a year on taxes and insurance and let the boat sit? Unless you’re a member of the Bottom Cleaners Benevolent Society, it just doesn’t make much sense.

I’m sure there are lots of answers. One, I’m sure is the dream that didn’t work out as planned.

“Marge, I declare if we buy this boat, we’ll spend every weekend on her. EVERY WEEKEND!”

And for the first three months Marge, the kids and the Old Man sail every weekend. And then soccer happens and they lose a Saturday. Then ballet. Maybe someone has to study and there is an interlude in the boating.

That’s one theory. My new theory is that somewhere early on in the boating adventure the Old Man screws up a departure or a landing. He is chagrined, maybe develops anxiety feeling he’s going to ding his boat. Or be laughed at (some more). That’s a strong deterrent to going to the boat.

I think there is an antidote. It’s in three parts.

ONE:

The first is the realization that not every docking will be perfect. From time to time, I find myself at some crazy angle on approach and have to try it again. In fact, a couple of months ago it took me three attempts to master a strong crosswind before I could nestle Wiley — a boat I’ve sailed for 20 years — into her berth. And yes, I’ve bumped the dock harder than planned more than once.

I once encountered a highly experienced captain-instructor who said that every landing he made was perfect. Don’t believe that. And if you happen to hire him, make sure you’ve got him in a Drug and Alcohol Prevention program and have him sign up for Liars Anonymous. At a minimum, find out what he means by perfect. Maybe it’s simply no gaping holes below the waterline.

TWO: FENDERS FENDERS FENDERS & DOCKWHEELS

These items aren’t cheap — especially those dockwheels, but they’re indispensable if you have a slip that lies crosswind. Unless you’re in the 98% in question, you’re going to contact the corner of the dock some day. One firm contact will cost as much or — likely — more than a set of dockwheels.

THREE: LESSONS AND PRACTICE

Get some lessons on your boat. Learn how to use spring lines to get out of your slip in a strong crosswind. Learn how to use variable power on twin screws and how best to use a bow thruster, learn how prop walk can screw up a landing or make it slick as a training video. Figure out your bailout tactics for blown approaches. Even if you don’t hire a coach, you need to practice on your own. Like parallel parking — you’ve got to practice more than once in a while to be any good at it.

Then join the 2% who love to sail.

(If you want coaching, I’m happy to help: 805.750.7828. I’m not inexpensive, but then neither is your boating investment.)

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Lunge feeding — it ain’t dainty. Obviously, there is a risk here, especially because there isn’t much indication that the whales are on the way.

Even if you don’t get swallowed, the fine just for bothering our big friends is quite large. And by bother, the authorities mean just being inside 100 yards. And by large fine they mean up to several thousand dollars.

Of course these whales are right off the Santa Cruz Amusement Park Pier … all kinds of cute remarks in there, but I’m not going that way.

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Every boating publication in the northern hemisphere has published — or will publish — at least one article on winterizing your boat this fall. No need for me to bother, especially not here in southern California where the ten degree change in mean temperature is not an actionable event.

Even though the weather doesn’t change that much here, the racing season does end and many weekend sailors will take the next several months to attend to other things recreational.

June gloom, which splotched here and there into July, August, Sept etc. had me acting like a winter sailor all year. But, rather than drain my anti-freeze, or wrap my boat, I settled in with several classic boat books. I selected these books because they’re classics that I needed to attend to  and the Kindle versions were FREE.

I just turned off/put down Joshua Slocum’s Sailing around the World Alone.

He made the trip just before the calendar flipped into the 20th century, so alone meant no-body went with him. But he was also alone in that he had no SSB, no VHF, no GPS, no chart plotter, no SAT phone … no refrigeration … pretty much no nothing. In fact, on the last leg of his journey his goat (too long a story to relate here) ate his charts.

He frequently encountered hostile tribes, then garden-variety thieves and, having sailed from Massachusetts to Gibraltar, rerouted himself to avoid pirates east Suez, making his trip Around the World plus an Atlantic crossing.

Weather? Even though his descriptions are graphic, my mental pictures are probably far too tame to be accurate. And he was taking his time and picking his seasons and so reduced the frequency of getting pounded.

I learned a great deal from this book, learned stuff about boat handling, weather prediction, navigation and the role of experience (Slocum had been at sea most of his life) and of blind-ass luck. I also learned that I don’t have (nor ever had) the patience to circumnavigate. I also confirmed that it is insane to send one’s children on such a quest … unless you can get rich even if they don’t return.

Go to my book page for a link to the Kindle version.

PS — I just bought the newest Kindle. It cost less than my old one (about $80), is faster, lighter and more compact.

My other two Kindle recommendations are Richard Henry Dana’s Two Years Before the Mast, a true story that takes place before the Civil War and largely takes place in our sailing area. Think California without any cities: San Francisco is hardly a village and Los Angeles is nothing but the Mission. But you’ll recognize the lay of the land and the weather and it will make you very grateful that your boat can sail within sixty-degrees of the wind.

Finally, Mark Twain’s Life on the Mississippi. Obviously not an open-ocean story, more about coming of age (and later impending old-age) on boats.

See the top line (below the Kindles themselves) of the book page for all of these Free Kindle books.

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Above: Walton takes a break after polishing off half a dozen projects aboard Sancerre.

Rob Walton, ever-so-recently retired from environmental engineering and recycling firm, has been named Chief Maintenance Officer of Sail Channel Islands, LLC.

In his first half-day on the job, he completed an electric head install, rebuilt the pump on a manual head, fixed a sagging hatch and cabin sole as well as beefing up some of the “cheap-frenchy” pieces that “allegedly supported” the commode and then fixed an ailing shower.
Top: he takes a break at our alternate office sometimes called “The Lookout.”

Rob heads a new division of Sail Channel Islands that offers maintenance training, concierge services, sailing yacht buyer’s consultation as well as maintenance services for boats — power & sail — in Oxnard and Ventura.

For a more complete bio, see ROB.

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