A Good Day

Yesterday was a good day. Plenty of wind, and that's important. The highly anticipated Bridge to Bridge race last weekend ended prematurely, due to a significant lack of wind. Only 2 of 11 boats finished the race, and only one of those under the time limit. So the boys turned around after 10 hours (and 22 miles) of sailing.

Yesterday we took advantage of a day off work to take the boat out for a fun sail. The wind was just right (out of the southwest), and the river flat. We headed down river initially. There were two or three other sailboats out, very little ship traffic, and quite a few small fishing boats to avoid.

A little history

In this post I would like to introduce myself and my boat " Footloose IV". My name is Chris Hogan and my home port is Astoria Oregon. I am 51 years old and currently work as a registered nurse in the local E.R. . Sailing has been a pleasant obsession for me since my twenties. I wish I could report that I have sailed the world but my voyages to this point have been limited to the pacific northwest. My most common outing is daysailing on the mighty Columbia river and the occasional foray over the Columbia bar into the pacific ocean.

I have made several trips up and down the coast visiting the San Juan islands, Canada, and the straits of Juan de Fuca.

We found "Footloose IV" in the Port Townsend area two years ago. Her owner at the timehad trucked her over from Chicago and my understanding is she was a " project boat" ( an appelation that should strike fear in the heart of any reasonable man). Fortunately the gentleman had the talent and the means to return "Footloose" to a useable state and when we first saw her she was functional though not really fully found, lacking a working depth sounder and a few other things.

We brought her home to Astoria in a two day trip noteably free of any wind. Forty some hours of confused seas, deisel noise and exhaust fumes. Needless to say we were glad to cross the bar and sail (finally) up the river to Astoria.