Astoria Regatta weekend sail

We took Deanna's sister and nephew (Debbie and Dylan) sailing, Sunday the 16th. The day started out cool, cloudy, and breezeless. But by the time the afternoon rolled around, the clouds burned off and the sun came out. As did the wind. And the waves. Dylan did a great job tailing the sheets and keeping an eye on ship traffic via the laptop navigation program (thanks!).

The Astoria Regatta was this weekend, so there were many boats out on the river ~ sailboats, fishing boats, and a few ships and barges. We motored, then sailed upriver to avoid most of the traffic. It was an exciting sail, and "Footloose" performed really well with a reefed genoa and main (the jib needs a little work, or we would have used that sail). 7 knots over the ground, I think.

A Great Sail, Part 2

After lunch, we decided to motor the short distance to the West End mooring basin. It's a boring video, but my battery ran out before I could get anything better. I'm standing on deck, hanging on to the mast. The Astoria-Megler bridge is in the distance. It spans the Columbia River, which is about 4 miles across here. Astoria is on the left, Washington on the right. It was a gorgeous day, with no ship traffic (Saturday).

The camera is my little Fuji FinePix. I'm new to uploading to YouTube, so this is an experiment...

A Great Sail

We had a great sail today. Left about 10:30 Saturday morning, and motored upriver, around tongue point, and into Mott Bay (X marks the spot).

This is the approach around Mott Island, toward Lois Island. We maneuvered around many fishing boats to arrive at this calm and private area.
I think this is an osprey.

By the time Chris and youngest son Kyle decided to take a dip in the cool (but not terribly cold) water, the sun had come out.

Kyle sunning himself on deck after swimming many laps around the boat.







By the afternoon, the wind had picked up. We reefed the main, and sailed (carefully) through all the fishing boats. Then we tucked into the East end basin, docked, and lunched at the Rogue Public House in Astoria ~ Pier 39.

FINISHING TOUCHES

Skipper's Lament

There once was a boat quite perverse
that refused to go straight in reverse
her owner lamented
"She acts quite demented
but my previous boat was much worse"

By Chris Hogan

Transmission Upgrade

"OLD AND IN THE WAY"
Hurth HBW-50 makes way for new ZF-10

We hadn't planned to haul our boat until the end of the season this year, but our Hurth HBW-50 transmission became increasingly dodgy - slipping while in forward gear, to the point where the only reasonable voyage we could make was to the boatyard.

Luckily, Astoria now has a boatyard with a new travel lift right next to our marina.

On May 25, we hauled the boat having ordered a new ZF-10M transmission (thanks to Miki at MMI of Seattle for the great service). This new transmission is rated for higher horsepower than our engine develops and will hopefully provide us greater reliability.

In addition, we replaced the engine mounts and added a flexible coupling between the transmission output and prop shaft, all in an effort to reduce vibration and prevent the transmission suffering an early demise. We obtained these parts from PYI in Seattle, who were very helpful.

Installation was straightforward and notable for the conspicuous absence of seized bolts and busted knuckles. We did have to cut the prop shaft back about two inches to accommodate the longer transmission and the flexible coupling. A right-angle grinder and a steady hand were all that was required.

Bottom paint and fresh zincs, and we were good to go.

The boatyard staff were very accommodating and skilled. Thanks, guys.