Tag Archives: Liveaboard

Lessons in Anchoring

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DSC_0597 2.JPGI had only anchored a few times before I met Indigo. Never having anchored overnight, I was excited to take her downtown and have a romantic night anchored off of Waterfront Park. DSC_0906 3.JPGPerfect wind! Too bad we had to drop sail for the bridges.

After waiting patiently for 4 bridges to lift, we made it from the Columbia to the downtown waterfront on the Willamette. In the calmest, most protected spot a sailor could find, I threw down our little danforth. I had read briefly about scope and knew to let out more than the depth of water we planned to anchor in…. but what was that ratio again? Ehh, 10 feet of water, no wind, calm river, 25 ft. should do it, right? WRONG!  Displaying a level of confidence befitting an old salt, I let out 25 ft of rode and reversed on it until I felt we were securely in the ground. After a wonderful dinner and sunset, we headed below for a sound night of sleep. In the morning I awoke to a large wake rocking the boat and hopped out of bed to see a police boat roaring out of sight. After a quick check of our reference points, I was overjoyed to see that our anchor had not moved an inch. Our first night at anchor had been a success! About 10 minutes later, we were interrupted from some morning “activities” by a slow, knocking sound coming from our stern. I leapt up…naked, my heart pounding, and saw, to my horror, that we had drifted into another sailboat and were gently knocking hulls, the sound being magnified throughout our fiberglass shell. Apparently, a 2:1 ratio is not sufficient if the water you’re in plans to move at all.  The wake had lifted our anchor right out of the soft ground and left us adrift until it wrapped into the stern anchor line of our only neighbor in the anchorage. We were just upriver from the Burnside Bridge, who’s height was less than the height of our mast.  If we had not caught on this other boat’s anchor line, we would have surely drifted into the bridge and possibly lost our mast, resulting in a much more terrifying sound than the knocking of two boats.  Hastily putting on pants, I went outside to amend the situation. After an exhausting effort from Indigo and I, we were able to free the anchor and head over to the public dock. Luckily neither of our boats were damaged and we were able to get a hold of the skipper later to explain what happened. Fun fact: that stern anchor that held two boats was a homemade contraption of his, consisting of sections of rebar shoved through a 5 gallon bucket filled with cement. This was a hard way to learn an important lesson but after a lot of research and practice, we are happy to report that we’ve had hundreds of carefree nights at anchor. Other than dragging anchor, there are various things that can go wrong at anchor. To hear about our first hand experiences with some of these less expected incidents, stay on the lookout for Fair Winds Ahead!

Loveaboard

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So there I was, having just purchased my first boat, a Columbia 26 mk II, knowing very little about boats beyond the fact that they offered a certain freedom I had never experienced on land. Although I was thrilled to be on the water, I quickly learned that this boat was not going to suit my needs for offshore cruising or living aboard comfortably (the mk I may have been better suited). We love the Pardey school of thought (go small go now) but believe it should be a stout small boat with enough water, food and fuel storage to sustain its crew for extended periods of time offshore. I soon came to learn the importance of these features and that my Columbia 26 mk II did not possess them. After some medical issues that left me believing I may not have long to live (a long story for another time), my plans for circumnavigation and a life of simplicity were kicked into high gear. I sold my car and everything I could. At the time, I was unable to find a suitable pocket cruiser in my price range, so I bought a Newport 28, a very capable coastal cruiser, with the hopes of modifying her for long distance cruising.

newport2Newport 28’s small but functional galley.

I encourage anyone interested in getting on the water/cruising to take their time researching boats before making a purchase. Boats aren’t easy to sell and you can avoid a lot of headache by purchasing the right one the first time. That being said, ALL boats have trade offs and there is no such thing as a perfect boat. You have to really examine the give and take of each design and choose what works best for you personally. We will get into choosing boats in a later post with some better explanations of what we did and didn’t like about a few of the designs we’ve owned and thought seriously about buying. For now, let’s stay on topic. The Newport 28 sailed beautifully, turned on a dime with its fin keel/spade rudder and made me fall in love with sailing more than ever. It was during this time that I met Indigo.

newportIndigo enjoying the downtown Portland waterfront from the cockpit of the Newport.

She had been living in Portland for about a year and had reached a point of restlessness I was all too familiar with. Having sailed only twice in her life, the idea of living on a boat was not something that she had ever viewed as a possibility before meeting me. She grew up between Northern California and Hawaii and had spent a few scattered months backpacking around Costa Rica, Indonesia and New Zealand. Spending much of her childhood swimming in the ocean and recently getting into scuba diving, a life on the water was easy to embrace. She moved out of her apartment, sold most of her belongings and was soon living aboard with me. I equipped the Newport with solar panels, a few away-from-dock comforts and we left my slip on Hayden island to spend time in public moorings and anchored on the Willamette. The following months were filled with mishaps as we got the hang of anchoring, dealt with various engine failures and much more. These adventures would soon lead to yet ANOTHER new boat and the addition of our smallest, furriest crew member, Marina. To read more about our progress, stay on the lookout for Fair Winds Ahead!

Where to Begin?

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Ah, to start a blog. It sounds easy enough to just start at the present but I’m not too keen on the idea of throwing readers into the center of our life story without having a general grasp on how we got to be here. How do we pull people in and keep them coming back to follow our journey?  On our most recent trip to Washington, we were explaining this dilemma to our friend and cruising guru, Dave. His sage advice on the matter was, “If you build it, they will come.” So here we are, creating the foundation of what will soon be a Noah’s Ark of hopefully informative ramblings. We will try to summarize from the beginning and be caught up to the present by the time we’re back to Osprey and our summer projects. We hope that you benefit in some way from our experiences and the multitude of snafus we encounter along the way. Most of all, we implore you to bear with us as we get this venture underway. Stay on the lookout for Fair Winds Ahead!

The Path from Land to Sea Started with an RV

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I grew up in an untraditional way. I began travelling the country with my parents at about 5 years old, while living in a 30 foot RV. By the time I was 14 we had seen nearly every state in the US but had never left its borders. Being 15 and living in such a tight space, you can imagine I was ready to get out on my own. Being homeschooled, this was actually a realistic goal. I saved up money working as a dishwasher at Chili’s and set off. My parents supported my decision but told me I was on my own financially. For five years I travelled the country trying to figure out who I was and what I wanted in life. Growing up the way I did, there was a need for constant change instilled in me, making it difficult to be content in one place for very long. After a while all of the tall buildings, bright lights, bars and restaurants just didn’t do it for me anymore. I moved all over and worked countless different jobs. No matter how much I liked a place at first, it was only a matter of time before I wanted something new. At 21, I moved to Portland and, you guessed it, eventually became bored again.  I decided it was time to change more than my location, so I sold my car, ended my apartment lease and moved aboard an old Columbia 26.

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After some life altering health scares, I learned firsthand that life is a blessing, not a guarantee. To spend my years working with no end in sight until I could retire (if I was lucky enough to make it that long) seemed like a complete waste. I knew nothing about sailing and started to devote all of my time to learning everything I could with intentions of circumnavigating the world. Although the Columbia 26 wasn’t the right boat and I was far from ready, this shift started a new chapter.It brought me down the path that led to meeting Indigo, 3 more boats and a lifestyle that has proved to be anything but boring. To hear more about how we got to the present, the countless lessons learned along the way and the work and adventures to come, stay on the lookout for Fair Winds Ahead!