July 27, 1994 Hollis Anchorage Voyage of the Trafalgar

I'm Anchored up near the State dock in twenty-four feet at high tide. Tide is fourteen feet with a two foot low. I stopped into Kassan this afternoon to see if Harry Wasserman was there. (He had been interested in buying the boat.) But he is no longer working there and has gone up to Sitka on another job. I talked to an older fellow there at the dock for a while, but I got the impression that I wasn't wanted there, so ... I departed. It was only a two hour run from there to the town of Hollis. I was going to tie up to the state dock, but there were too many small skiffs using it. This is probably better any way. There are two float planes in the vicinity, and the people in skiffs don't slow down when they come by.

Tomorrow I think that I will Hitch-hike into Craig and collect my mail, drop Robert's stuff off, and say good bye to Jerry and Nola. Then it will be off to Ketchican to get fuel and grub for the trip south. I'll see if I can pick-up somebody to ride with me down the inside or else I will solo down the outside.

July 31, 1994 Hollis Anchorage

I hitch-hiked into town yesterday morning, and spent the day with roaming around

Craig. I found out that Robert was in town on July 29 and he had left some of his gear at Mike Mckimmon's house. I put the stuff that he had left on the boat in Wrangle with his gear there. Mike and I had lunch at Lacie's then I bought 10 computer disks and copied his Auto Cad and Word for Windows Programs off the computer at his work shop.

I also ran into Bob Hall. He wants me to fish Halibut for him this September. I like Bob a lot. He was a good guy to work for. I Told him that I will have to see where I am, but that if it is feasible, I would go.

While I was at Mike's house he told me that Rick Mayberry called him from Arcata looking for me. This evening I gave Rick a call from here at Hollis. We talked for almost an hour and a half. He is starving for adventure. He kept telling me about the daring shit that he had done and how he wants to do more. He said that he would ride his bicycle up to Seattle and sail down to California with me whenever I was going that way. As it is right now I have a strong urge to sell Trafalgar and do something different.

Anyway, I'm going to try to call Harry Wasserman in Sitka and see if he can make me a realistic offer for the boat.

August 3,1994

I'm now in Prince Rupert, BC. I pulled into Rushbrook Harbor at about 3 PM. I departed Ketchican the day before yesterday and spent the night last night anchored up near Dundas Island. It was a good spot. The weather today started off very good but as soon as I got out into Catham Sound, fog came in. To make matters worse the GPS lost its signal and would not get another. I was on a good course and just kept going. Before the fog moved in I saw another boat to the West of me. Some islands came into view a little later. Then, that boat I saw earlier showed up again. I really didn't know where I was and that guy had a radar, so I called him on the radio and asked him if I could follow him in. He didn't know were he was even though he had a working GPS and a radar. We were able to figure it out and we found the right buoys. The fog lifted and I was able to motor right into Prince Rupert with no problem.

I tied up next to a sail boat called the Rascal then went up to call the customs office. I went back down to the boat and waited for them to show up. While I waited, I changed the batteries in the GPS, and what do you know, it works. If the fog isn't too thick in the morning I will take off early. If it is thick then I will wait till after noon.

After checking in with customs, I walked up town exchanged $50 into Canadian, bought a couple of beers in a couple of different bars, looked around, and then walked back to the boat. I dropped off $14.88 at the harbor office for the one day stay that I am planning on staying. I'm thinking that I should top off with fuel before leaving here. Maybe I will buy a chart of Skid gate Inlet on the Queen Charlottes. I don't think they will charge me for another day if I leave before noon.

August 4,1994

I did not leave today. I got up this morning and went to look for a chart of the Queen Charlotte Islands but the chart makers stopped making the ones that I wanted and instead made two for one. I got to look at the channel that goes over to the west side, and it looked very shallow. I don't think that I could make it over there in one high tide. I changed plans and now think that I will go down Hecate Straight to Port Hardy. It should only take about three days, even it I anchor up every evening. The main reason that I didn't leave today was that the fog was a bit thick this morning. By the time it cleared, I had decided to wait till tomorrow.

August 5,1994 18:59 Lat: 53° 56.9" Long: 130°45"

I notice that I have not changed the clock in the computer. It is actually 21:49. I have my anchor out just inside the spit of Freeman Passage, on the west coast of Porcher Peninsula. This morning I changed my mind, (surprise), and decided to go to Queen Charlotte. Tomorrow I will depart this anchorage early in the morning and run across Hecate Strait to Skidgate Inlet. I don't think that I will go through to the West coast of the Islands unless I find it to be much different from what I expect. One interesting note is that my tide program is predicting fairly high tide though that area for the next few days.

I motored the whole way here from Prince Rupert. What wind I did encounter came on the bow. I suspect that tomorrow will be calm in the morning, and blow from the South later.

I just looked out the cabin and saw two trollers anchored further in the inlet, and one just entering the inlet. I've been watching them troll past outside all afternoon, and expect more to come in as it gets later. I turned on my anchor light. A seiner passed me by this morning. It looked as if he was headed for the Queen Charlotte Islands. I'd like to be able to follow one of those guys though the passage to the West coast.

August 6,1994 18:59 Queen Charlotte Lat 53°13' Long 132°

Darn if my GPS didn't lose its satellites again today. I was only about 2 miles from the town of Queen Charlotte when it happened. I put new batteries in it, I took it apart, I put it in the oven for a while, I goofed around with the antenna connection, and it still does not want to pick-up any satellites. I tried to get my loran working but it would not do anything. It looks as though I am without navigation besides the sextant, charts, compass, and what I can see. Tomorrow is Sunday. No banks will be open. I will not be able to get a decent exchange rate for my dollars.

I calculated that I am getting almost 1/2 gallon of fuel to the hour, or 10 miles to the gallon. Anyway I should be able to make it to Port Hardy under power. If worst came to worst, I could just sail right on down the coast of Vancouver Island and into the Straits of Juan the Fucker. Then it would be a straight shot into Friday Harbor. Instead I think that I will buy a chart of the south part of the Island and cruise on down to the Hot Springs.

August 7,1994 18:59 A8/P8 Lat 52° 34.4' Long 131° 24.9'

I am tied to a mooring buoy in a little bay on Ramsey Island. Hot Springs Island is only about 2 miles to the West. I'll go over there tomorrow morning and see if there are any good places to anchor.

I had an excellent sail from Queen Charlotte to here. Getting across the bar at Sandspit was a bit scary. The bottom came up in a matter of seconds, from 80 feet to 5 feet. I did not hit bottom. There were some choppy waves and some nervous moments. Once I got around the corner, I had the wind at my stern, so I put up the Main Sail and the Jib. I sailed with the motor helping for a while, but the wind began to pick up at about 10 AM, so I shut the engine down. The wind really did pick up. It was a great ride. I sheeted the Jib in tight and let the Main out. She loves to sail that way. We blasted on down the coast doing about 6.5 knots.

The wind died when I got to Lyell Island, so I started the engine and brought the Jib in. Then the wind picked up again and we blasted on down Gogit Passage. When I got past Agglomerate Island I turned into the wind and took down the Main. It was blowing hard, so I didn't do a very good job.

This little hole is a bit exposed to a swell, but the moorage looks very secure. I don't mind rocking around a bit. I will see what tomorrow brings.

August 8,1994 0914

Good morning Captain. It looks as though it is going to be beautiful day today. First thing after breakfast I'm going to row over to the beach and look for some clams. Then mosey on over to the hot springs to take a bath and shave.

It was a bit rocky last night, but other wise a pleasant, secure evening.

1145

I ran over to Hot Springs Island and tied onto a public mooring. The swells are rolling much more here than at Ramsey Island. At Ramsey I rowed to the beach and dug two big clams out of the mud. They are sitting in a bucket on deck right now. Maybe clam stew tonight.

0808

I'm on my way to Vancouver Island. I heard a weather report while at the Hot Springs. It said that the winds will be from the north till Tuesday night. I thought that I had better go for it.

I had a very good wind when I left Ramsey Island this afternoon, but it petered out at about 1800 hours. I've had the engine running since about 1700 hours. I am headed more east than I am South, so I will most likely sight land tomorrow afternoon somewhere North of Vancouver Island.

The hot springs were nice, but a little more civilized than I expected. It looked as though there were some permanent dwellings there. A couple of Haida Indian houses or something. The springs were great. I got to take a bath and then I just hung around for a while soaking in the sulpherated pools for maybe two hours. It sure feels good to be clean. I was getting a little bit rank.

I cooked up one of the clams that I dug out this afternoon. For the size of it in its shell there was not much meat on it. It was a good meal. I steamed it, then cut it up into small pieces and mixed it with some rice and some Raman. I've got a pot of coffee on right now as I have a feeling that it is going to be a long evening.

I can see Cape Scott off in the distance on my Starboard side. To my Port is haze. The sea is calm right now, with a three foot swell coming from the NE. Winds are calm with a less than five knot North breeze. The engine is running at 1500 RPM. It is loud.

August 9,1994 2113 Lat 50° 52.4' Long 128° 02.5'

I'm anchored in a small bay in the lee of Cape Sutil. It is on the farthest North part of Vancouver Island. Port Hardy is only about twenty miles East. I can't believe that I got here from the Queen Charlottes in only twenty-four hours. I motored the whole damn way. I saw quite a few boats traveling North last night. Not bad for a shot in the dark; literally. My first sight of land was Triangle Island. I was headed right for it. It was perfect. I just took a left after I confirmed where I was, and here I am, three hours from Port Hardy.

The trip across was really very uneventful. After it got dark yesterday, I brought out the seat cushion from the main cabin and put in the cock pit. I slept out there and listened to the radar detector. It went off all the time, as there were boats traveling North constantly. When the sky brightened this morning, I just had to go on faith that I was headed in the correct direction. It was reassuring to see a lot of boats coming from the direction that I was going. I was secure enough that I didn't try to contact any of the North bound travelers to get a position. It is unsettling after having the GPS for the last year, to not know ones exact location. It will be easy from here on out.

I'll get fuel and some groceries in Port Hardy, then take off down the inside of Vancouver on Thursday. I want to stop in at Comax and visit the steel boat builder, so I should probably by a detailed chart of that area. It will be nice to hit Lascueti Island and eat oysters. I ate the other clam for lunch this afternoon. I have decided that I don't particularly care for those big clams. I found that they are just too messy. The little ones are so much easier to eat; you just suck them off of the half shell.

August 10, 1994 0850

It is a beautiful morning. The shy is up, the sun is blue. The wind is out of the North three to five knots. I just checked the tide/current program and it says that the current will begin flooding into Goletas Channel at 1100. I think that I'll hang here a while till the current is in my favor.

2030

I'm anchored in front of Port Hardy. I tied up to a dock when I first got here and walked up town to change some money, but the banks were already closed. Tomorrow morning they open at 1000. I'll change some money and buy some groceries, then I'll try to get some fuel. There are hundreds of fishing boats here right now. The fuel dock was busy when I came in this afternoon. I hope that I'll be able to get some tomorrow. I don't think that I am going to try real hard to get out of town tomorrow, I'll just get money, groceries and fuel. I can leave early on the 12th. The tide will be against me, but it will be going with me later on. There are a couple of narrow spots that would be nice to go through at slack tide.

August 11,1994 2120 Lat 50° 31.5' Long 126° 33.7

I'm anchored in Boat Bay on the West end of West Crachoft Island. I got the anchor down at about 2100. That makes 7.5 hours of engine running. I stopped in Alert Bay to get two liters of automatic transmission fluid. The transmission cooler has a leak I suspect. I have been seeing a little bit of oil coming out of the exhaust. I Should have checked the oil level in the transmission, but I didn't think that it was coming from there. I figured it was just some blow-by. The transmission started to slip out of gear. When I checked the oil in it, there was none. It was also very hot, and it has a bit of water in it. I shut it off and sailed into Alert Bay. There, I tied up to a mooring buoy. Then I rowed the dingy over to the fuel dock bought two liters of fluid, put them into the transmission, and motored away. It was about 1800 when I departed there.

About Port Hardy:

I got up fairly early this morning. I rowed over to the public dock, tied up, and walked around for a hour and a half till the banks opened. I missed then last night by about ten minutes. I got a very good exchange rate; $137 CN for $100 US. That is almost 40%, but everything here is about 40% more in cost than in the States. I bought myself some breakfast. It wasn't as good as I make for myself. After that, I bought hamburger, eggs ,cheese, and some sunflower seeds at a grocery store. The cheese cost more than the meat did. I spent about $20 CN there. I then went back to the boat, pulled the anchor up and motored over to the fuel station. I didn't even have to wait. I just pulled right in there. The boat took 62.34 US gallons. That means that I had only eight gallons left in the tank. The fuel cost $107 CN. For the whole day I spent less than $100 US. That's pretty good. I paid $1.25/gal for the fuel, that's what I paid for fuel in Craig. I paid $1.55/gal in the Bay Area.

When I left the fuel dock, the fog had moved in. It was thick. I couldn't see fifty feet in front, in back or anywhere around me. More boats were coming in for fuel and I had to get out of there, so I groped along using the fathometer to find my way back to my anchorage. I could not believe that I motored right to it. After about an hour the fog lifted in the bay, and I pulled anchor. I then followed the receding fog bank as it dissipated toward the East. It was hard to navigate; not knowing what was in front of me, only seeing what was behind. It turned out to be a good run. The wind picked up, so I hoisted the main sail and motor-sailed into Johnstone Strait with a nice flood current helping also.

The current went slack at about 1900 and by 2030 it was noticeably strong on the nose. I'm not too confident that it will be fog free tomorrow morning. If it isn't then I'll wait till around noon before I start to worry about losing a day. I'd take the oil cooler off and look at it, but there isn't much that I can do except plug a bad tube with some RDH material. I think it will hold for awhile.

August 12, 1994 0930

The fog is thick. Even thought the shore is less than 200 feet away on both sides of me I can't see it. Lots of gill net boats came and anchored up in here last night. It was quite crowded. Hopefully the fog will dissipate by this afternoon. It would be nice to get through race passage this afternoon. This has been a very winter feeling summer. I dread having to find a place for the boat down south, but I can't handle the adverse weather on the boat up north.

2115 Lat 50° 22.4 Long 125° 31.5

I'm anchored in small bay East of Edith Point. I didn't get out of the wind much, but maybe it will calm down later.

What a day. The oil cooler is 'Tits up.' I had to disconnect it, because so much water was getting into the transmission that it was coming out of the breather on top. I tried plugging the bad tube with a piece of brass rod, but it didn't work. I don't think that it is the tube, but the interface between the tube and the wall. I ran out of transmission oil, so I put 10-40 W motor oil it. It works, but I'm using it sparingly. It gets awfully hot.

I had some great wind today. The tide was flooding, and the wind was on the stern. I was hauling ass. I only had to us the Engine a couple of times, once going through Current Passage, and again coming into this anchorage. The wind died just as I entered the rapids of Current Passage, and I needed the ability to make some radical course corrections. The transmission got hot , but I think it is all right. I hope that it is not foggy tomorrow morning. The flood starts at 0400. If I got out of here by 0600 then I could get four hours of sleigh riding. It is possible that I could make it to Seymour Narrows by noon.

August 13,1994 1520 Lat 50°16.3' Long 125°23.3'

The wind died down early this morning to nil. I took off from the anchorage at about 0830. The current was supposed to be i my favor, but it didn't appear to be. I keep hoping that the wind will pick-up soon. I'm still 8.5 miles from Seymour Narrows. Slack tide is supposed to be at about 1700. There is no way that I'm going to get there in time for slack. It will be flooding. The wind will probably start blowing after the tide change.

Lat 50° 03' Long 125° 13.2'

I'm anchored in Quathiaski Cove, which is a little bit North and East of Cambell River. The wind, when it did pick up, came from the South. I motored all the way here from Bodega Point, 13.5 miles. It doesn't sound like a long way, but with the transmission not getting cooled it might have been a stupid thing to do. When I shut the engine down after dropping the hook, I noticed a haze in the air of the cabin. It was hot oil. I hope that I didn't smoke the transmission.

August 14,1994 0530

I've got the coffee pot on, even though I've been up since 0300. I didn't realize that there was going to be so much current in this little bay. I anchored in over 50 feet of water, and didn't put out all of my chain because I thought it would be calm. I was wrong. The anchor dragging over rocks woke me up. Although I have not moved much it is unsettling to hear the grinds and growls of the steel on rock. The weather said the wind was going to be from the South East at 15 to 25 kts. That does not sound helpful to me.

1030 Lat 49°53' Long 125° 06'

No wind. I motored for about 45 minuets this morning, then raised all sail and drifted South. After About an hour I started up the engine and motored for an other half hour. I shut the engine down again to let the transmission cool. Right now I'm not even drifting. I'm just sitting here. The auto-pilot is busy.

There is really no use trying to get anywhere today. It is Sunday. I'll just sit here and wait for the wind.

2115 Lat 49°29.5' Long 124°21.5'

I'm anchored in False Bay on Lasqueti Island. I ended up motoring damn near the whole way, and then about a half hour before I got into the bay the wind picked up. It was a nice South Westerly, but now it's blowing right into the bay. I'm not comfortable at this anchorage. It is bouncy, deep, windy, and crowded. There must be thirty boats here. It looked good on the map. This place looks noting like I remember it. Last time I was here, nobody else was.

The closer I get to Washington the more I dread the hassle of dealing with the money grabbers. First I have to find a place to keep the boat, then I have to find storage for all the stuff in the boat. Then I have to work on the boat. It sure is nice just cruising around. A smaller boat is what I need, one that is inconspicuous. I don't need to live on it either. I'll just take it out when I want to sail around. Then I need to find a place to live, but hell, I need to do that anyway.

August 15,1994 0735 Position: No change

Good Morning. Well, I guess that It's off to Nanaimo to fix the cooler.

2000 Lat 49° 09' Long 123° 55'

I'm anchored in Nanaimo. I put the outboard motor on the dingy, and scrubbed some of the black exhaust stuff from the side of the boat. If I ever get any of that sound insulation foam I'm going to put it in the engine room. I'll have to get some mufflers also. I had to motor the whole way from the last anchorage. The wind was right on the nose. I ran her very slow in order to keep the transmission from getting too hot. It worked, but it took 11 hours to get here.

Plan B27-1: I'm thinking about what to do now. Maybe I'll stay here for a couple of months; working for money, and fixing the boat up. After a while I'll sail down to California, pick up the solar panels and the tester and sail to Mexico. I'll need to get a lot more sail material. Oh, boy. Here I go again. Off on another path of life.

August 16,1994 0720 Position: No change

This is a very good anchorage. I'm way in the middle of the bay, and it is still less than forty feet deep.

1910

I dropped my heat exchanger off at a radiator shop this morning. They said to check back at about 1430, then they changed it to 1600, then they said call tomorrow morning around 1000. They also said it would cost about $60, I hope they weren't lying about that also.

I found a great place to eat; The Salvation Army Kitchen. It only cost $1.75 for a bowl of chilly, salad, roll, vegetables, and fruit. It was good also. I found it when the weather turned bad and it began to thunder and lightening. Right as I jumped into the doorway, it began to down pour. It lasted long enough for me to get done eating, and then it was clear as could be.

I walked around quite a bit today. I like this town. It is a cool place. I wonder how hard it is to get work around here? I walked up to the chandlery to see about an exchanger, and met a guy who ran me around in his car to a couple of different places. Jeff Thomson was his name. He finally ran me over to the radiator shop then back to the boat basin. I picked up some epoxy to fix the toilet. Oh, I guess I didn't note that down. The friggin' toilet bowl broke this morning while I was sitting on it. It had broken once before. Now it broke in the same place and some more in another place.

Work, computers, boats, relationships, bills, this is complicated.

August 17,1994 1845

I called the radiator shop about my heat exchanger at around 10:00 AM. Linda, the office girl, said that I should, "come right down. The exchanger was shot." When I got there, I saw that they had taken one end off. I could see that it was no-good. They even pressure tested it for me, and sure enough air was coming out all over the face plate. Linda told me that she could sell me a new one for $175. I looked at the new one. It was a bit too long and the water inlet was too small. I could make it work. I asked her if she would sell it to me for $100. She said, "Sure, I just want to get rid of it." Then the shop guy came in. She told him that she was going to sell me the new one for $100. He said, "No way. We can't sell it for that little." I think I pissed her off anyway. I was being a cheapskate. So then I started telling her that if the exchanger was back together I could limp on down to the states and get it fixed there. She told me that they could put it back together for $30. Then she started giving me all these excuses about how busy they were, and how they didn't need my business. I felt that they should at least put it back the way I gave it to them. They give me my unit back all in pieces, and Linda adopted a very bad attitude. I guess she figured that they had me one way or another. If I didn't buy the exchanger from them I'd have to buy one from somebody else. I left with my exchanger in pieces in a bag. She came running out after me, saying that the shop guy had left a fitting of his on it. I brought it back, he took his fitting off and I left again. I got about a block away when I noticed that the fitting that I had put on the unit was not there, so I went back to get it. We could not find it. The shop guy wanted to give me a galvanized fitting, but the one I had left was brass. We looked some more. Linda came out wanting to know what was going on. The shop guy told her that we couldn't find the brass fitting I had left and to give me $3 for it. She said, "I not giving him anything. He's wasting our time." And she went into the office. I told the shop guy not to worry about it and walked out the door. I only got about 20 feet when I turned back and went into the office to see Linda. I told her that I just couldn't leave without telling her that I was very disappointed in the way I was treated. She started giving me the excuses again about how busy they were, etc. I let her go on for a while, then I interrupted her and said. "I'm not interested in hearing excuses about how you can't help me." Then I really pissed her off when I gave her my $3,500 line. "Excuses are just a detailed account of your failure." She was a trooper though. She had to have the last word. She said something stupid and irrelevant, then she turned her back on me. I left feeling no joy.

I spent the rest of the afternoon gathering parts to build a heat exchanger. I put one together for less than $30. I took two 1 inch pipe tee's with a 8 inch length of pipe between them so that a 1.5 foot length of 1/2 inch copper tube would fit straight though it. Then I put a 1 inch to 3/4 inch reducer on each end of the tee's so that the copper tube now goes through them also. Then I slid a 1/2 inch compression by 3/4 inch pipe male fitting over each end of the copper tube so that the pipe end of that fitting threaded into to the reducer. Then I tightened it all down. Now I have a length of copper tubing that goes through a piece of pipe that will not leek. I then put a 1 inch elbow on each of the remaining tee's. To the elbows I threaded pipe to hose nipples, and attached them to the raw water inlet and outlet there by providing the cooling to the inserted copper tube. I then attached the hydraulic lines from the transmission to the copper tube. I started it up and checked for leaks. There were none. All that remains to be seen is the cooling ability of this genuine RDH repair.

August 18, 1994 0845

It is Thursday. I don't want to enter the Nazi US on the weekend, or after 5 PM; they charge extra for that. I don't feel like leaving Nanaimo right now either. The boat is still a mess. I'm just a slob.

I tried to drink $40 CN last night so that I wouldn't have it laying around down south. All I could manage to spend was $25, and it is expensive to drink here. The drinking age starts at nineteen. I got my butt kicked playing pool with a bunch of kids. It costs $1.25 to play a game. I'm hung over.

1955

The anchor is down. I am now only a short run from Friday Harbor. If I leave here early enough I could get there a little after noon.

I had a fun time going though Dodd Narrows. The current was full bore against me. I just crawled through. There was a lot of traffic going the other way. This whole trip down the inside was a poor idea. I think the thing to do is to up this way and then down the outside.

I just finished reading another Ken Follet book. He is a terrible writer. He's got a 200 foot freighter with a 30 foot beam and a 2,000 horse power, six cylinder, gasoline engine, that does 13 knots, hauling uranium ore in 55 gal barrels.

A little rain squall just passed over. The wind has been gusty. The boat is in 25 feet of water and she appears to holding well. I've got over 100 feet of chain out.

August 19,1994 1455 Lat 48°34' Long 123° 05'

I'm currently anchored in Friday Harbor. I called the customs office when I got in. They cleared me over the phone, and will send me a bill for the privilege of entering the United States of America. I talked to Customs Agent 9121. He gave me a number and told me that I should keep hold of it for a couple of years. My customs release number is 441 493 B. My Canadian customs number is RO 401-I03.

Friday Harbor is crowded with tourists. There are many boats here also. I checked the fuel prices here. They want $1.24 + $0.24/gal. Fuel was cheaper in Canada. I'm going to go in and make some phone calls a little later. At least I was able to fill the water tank while I was at the customs dock.

I should start calling for a place to put the boat, but I may just clean her up a little bit then sail down to California. I've got to talk to Rick Mayberry, and find out what he has in mind.

August 20, 1994 0700

I went to the Fair that was going on here last night. It was very, politically correct. It reminded me of a miniature hippie town.

The only person that I contacted on the phone was RDH. He was irrigating and was a bit tired. What to do now.

When I came into the Harbor here yesterday I saw a boat that used to tie up next to me over at Shipyard Cove. The Sea Gypsy is now anchored out and it is looking very bad. The paint is peeling off of it, and the seams are all opened up. I don't want that to happen to this girl. I went over to the Sea Gypsy to see if the same guy owned it, but nobody was home. There was a lot of growth on its bottom and rot all over her. She is or was a nice boat at one time. She's very beamy, and has a lot of deck space.

I'm going in to make a few phone calls this morning. Maybe I'll stop by the Sea Gypsy on the way back to Trafalgar.

1645

I'm anchored in front of the Sea Galley restaurant in Port Townsend. I motored over from Friday Harbor. I know that I was going to wait until Monday, but I got a wild hair and left. I called Rick Mayberry this morning. He's coming up to Seattle on Tuesday, so I told him that I'd take him out sailing. I also call Barbara's house and talked to Angella. I told her I'd take her out sailing also. Maybe I can get this beast cleaned up and we can all go for a sail. I think that I will sail down to Winslow and anchor out there for a couple of days. I'll get the van and clean some of the clothing out of the boat. What I need is a truck with a camper. Robert had a good idea when he got his rig. I'll search for a vehicle and then sell the VW van after I buy something. Maybe I'll do some work for Sunmar to get some cash.

2110

I need to get some light bulbs. Now the steaming light has gone out. I hate going up that mast. I'll kill myself one of these times. I should get small gas lantern to hang in the rigging for an anchor light.

The wind has been blowing very hard. This is the way it goes. In the day, when I want to go some place, it is either calm or blowing in the wrong direction. At night it picks up.

I'll probably move from this spot tomorrow. I'll go up closer to the boat yard.

August 21,1994 2020

It is Sunday. Most of the important shops are closed. Tomorrow I'll walk up to the boat repair district and look for a transmission cooler. I also need to buy some oil absorbent pads and clean out the hydraulic oil in the bilge. It is getting time to start the repair list. I've been thinking about putting in a decent navigation desk. I would have to take out the port bunk. Thinking ,thinking, thinking. I need book shelves, and a place for the computer. I want a forced air heating system, and a refrigerator freezer. I also want a hard dodger. I guess that means that I need to get a job, and a place to work on the boat. This could take a couple of years.

August 30,1994 1605

It is Tuesday. I'm in Winslow on Bainbridge Island at Winslow Wharf Marina. I started renting the slip on the 23 rd and have it till the 7th of September. I bailed on Sunmar Shipping. I was supposed to go over there this morning and work. Rick Mayberry was here yesterday. I'm burnt out, I feel some sort of depression coming on. Yesterday I went down to the Sky to talk to Terry, and just seeing that ship turned me off. I don't want to work on it. I've been cleaning the boat and making it look good. I put an ad in the Seattle paper a few people called, and a couple of people came over and looked at it. I got hold of Mark Fernandez. He acted very interested in buying her last week, but when I called and talked to him this morning he seemed like he wasn't interested in it. I think that I'll drive over to Barbara's house tonight and talk to Angella about some money making scams. I've got to set up the printer and print up some resumes along with some other stuff.

September 10,1994 0750 Port Townsend, Washington

This is the weekend of the Wooden Boat Festival. I brought Trafalgar up from Bainbridge Island on Thursday and will probably go back down Monday morning. There are many beautiful wooden boats here. I ran into Peter Fromme, a friend from when I first bought (Fanfare) Trafalgar, he is here with his boat Uwilla. It is a bit lonely knowing nobody. I keep meeting new into people, I just can't remember their names. I should look around for work here. Maybe there are some wiring jobs I could do.

September 11, 1994 0750

It is Sunday and I've been here since Thursday. One fellow, Don Layton, is interested in buying Trafalger, I'm supposed to take him for a ride down to Seattle Monday. I'm getting a bit excited about selling her. If nothing happens with this guy I'm going to put an add in the, 48 North boating magazine. That should generate some activity. I am burnt out on this boat. I saw a slide presentation of Peter Fromm's last night. It was on the subject of wooden boats. I liked it but it did not connect with me. I don't believe that I have the patience or the temperament let alone the skill to be a craftsman of the caliber shown in his show. So, I picture myself free from this situation and chained to another.

September 12, 1994 0710

Yesterday afternoon I took a couple of new friends out sailing. The sail was incredibly satisfiying. Charlie and his wife, (for the life of me I can't remember her name), cruised around and I entertained them with stories and humor. We sailed off the anchor. When it was over we sailed back to it and dropped the hook. I put up the Jib, Main, Mizzen Staysa'l, and the Mizzen. Charlie is a very serious New Ager. He is into conspiricy theory, soverien citizenship, UFO's, and astrology. He has written a couple of books on the meeting of eastern and western philosophy and is now into writing science fiction. I read the introduction of both his Eastern religion books and like them alot. I have a tendency to talk too much and I think that I just get a bit boring after a while. I could tell that I was starting to get on their nerves. They drove me to get some dinner and over to the store to get some grub. I'm to go over to their place this morning to get some Freeman articles to copy. I believe that I will make three copies, send a copy to Bruce, (Ginnny's son), and another copy to Rick Mayberry.

It is very foggy this morning. Too foggy to travel.