I’ve had to travel back to work a few more times than expected this fall. The silver lining of all those trips is that we had the time to get some upgrades installed. Earlier this year, we had to replace our inverters. That project kick started this string of upgrades. We now have a new alternator, solar panels and lithium batteries.
The objective of those upgrades is to allow us to run the systems like the water maker without needing the generators. Making that possible would save us an estimated 300 gallons of diesel which equates to about 450 nautical miles of additional range on our longest planned leg (3,500 nautical miles). That would allow us to not carry deck fuel!
The new alternator will generate almost 100 amps more than the original!
The new electrical system is all Victron making everything pretty easy to manage and control.
At the end of all upgrades comes the sea trial, and this time, Captain Jamie took us out of the marina on a beautiful San Diego day!
On October 17th, we departed Monterey on a foggy morning with an expectation of 4-6 foot seas and 20 knot winds on our way down to Morro Bay. Nothing we hadn’t seen or experienced on our trip so far, so we thought nothing of it.
4 hours into the trip, we had one may call “A Learning Experience”.
An alarm on our stabilizers panel informed us our hydraulic fluid was getting low. A quick look at the tank and connections and nothing obvious was jumping out at us. Seas had exceeded the called for forecast, and we were already healing and bouncing around quite a bit, making movement around the boat a challenge. With Jamie’s help, we refilled the reservoir, but it quickly drained out… with the loss of hydraulic fluid, the stabilizers shut down.
Six Flags ain’t got nothing on a 72 foot Nordhavn in 8-10 foot following seas with wind gusts up to 40 knots. The boat was healing from one side to the other, bobbing up and down, getting tossed about like a ship on the ocean. Thanks Kansas!
In an abundance of caution, with the loss of stabilizers, we contacted the Coast Guard to report we had lost a critical system. We were still navigating under power and in control of the ship, there was no urgency, just for peace of mind. The Coast Guard recommended we continue to try for Morro Bay as that was the first protected anchorage where we could repair the boat.
We kept on for a while longer, and then, the biggest wave yet raised the stern and made the boat feel like it was playing twister. Things were moving in directions and angles we’d never experienced. Our tiltmeter tops out at 25 degrees, and we were waaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy past that. I watched helplessly as our red kayak simply floated out of holder on the bow – normally 8-10 feet above the water. Water washed over the gunwale of the port side of the boat, flooding the walkway and cockpit and pouring into the lazarette.
High water alarms started going off for the engine room and lazarette. We turned the bow into the wind and decided to ride out the storm in the relative comfort of only pitching up and down.
I went down to investigate the high water alarms. On my way, I saw the disaster area that was the salon – it looks like I had relived a temper tantrum from my youth – furniture overturned, stuff all over the floor, broken spices (the boat smelled great!), etc…..
The engine room bilge pump had already cleared the water. I looked through the port hole to the lazarette and there was still water a few inches above the floorboards. The pumps did their job, and in a few minutes water wasn’t visible anymore. The high water alarm continued to sound though, so there was a problem somewhere.
We informed the Coast Guard of our excessive heal, that we took on water, and our decision to ride out the weather facing north instead of continuing towards Morro Bay. Because we took on water, the Coast Guard decided to dispatch a 47 foot lifeboat to assist us.
Coast Guard Boat in Morro Bay, CA 04 Dec 2007 – big waves today! Photo by Mike Baird http://bairdphotos.com Canon 1D Mark III with 600mm IS lens on tripod, RAW Join us at http://photomorrobay.com
As we assessed the damage and cleared walk ways to the engine room, up and down the stairs, etc… the Coast Guard came on the radio again – this time, it was “PAN PAN”
I thought to myself “oh crap, someone else is having a bad night just like us”.
The message continued “A disabled 72 foot Nordhavn” and I thought “what a coincidence, 2 Nordhavns on the same night…….”
And then “17 miles north of Morro Bay” – crap! they were talking about us!
I never felt unsafe or that we were in any danger from forces outside of the boat (flying printers, different story!). Clearly though, the Coast Guard thought it was serious enough to dispatch a boat and put a call out in case our situation worsened. 90 minutes later, we were intercepted by the Coast Guard. They escorted us to San Simeon bay to anchor for the night. We continued regular check ins overnight and throughout the next day until we arrived in Morro Bay.
We hauled anchor early on Friday on a much calmer day. We made good time down to Morro Bay, healing to about 20-22 degrees on even the small 2-3 foot swells. The boat sounded like a Lego factory the whole way there. We pulled into Morro Bay, and spent a couple of days putting Humpty Dumpty back together.
The next day, someone returned our kayak! Humanity is amazing sometimes! A fishing boat went out of their way to pick up our kayak in the middle of the ocean, and bring it back down to us in Morro Bay.
We completed our first multi-day transit, running 24×7, moving from Port Townsend to San Francisco. Our itinerary took us from Port Townsend, to Port Angeles (to get fuel), then to Neah Bay to anchor overnight prior to entering the Pacific for the non-stop run to San Francisco.
We were delayed departing by a couple of days awaiting our escort through the contested near-Canadian waters. Once they pulled on station, we followed them out for about 3 minutes before we lost sight of them…….. those guys go about 25 knots – just a weeeeeeeeee bit faster than us!
Our actual delay was due to waiting out a storm that barreled down from Alaska with heavy winds and big waves. We were hit by the tail of that storm moving up the straight of Juan de Fuca, with winds blowing about 20 knots and 10 foot waves on the nose. It was a rocky and slow ride up fighting the current, and it turned a couple of the kids a little green….
Overnight in Neah Bay we tagged up with two buddy boats – Pendana and Lucky Penny. We motored alongside Lucky Penny the rest of the way down to San Francisco – neither of us could keep up with the speed of Pendana.
Day 1 was pretty uneventful. We entered the Pacific with beautiful weather, winds were light and there was a pleasant (for me) 6-8 foot swell in the morning on the tail end of the storm. A few of the little people on the boat found it less pleasant. Attitudes were positive though! School life, including PE continued!
The first crisis of the trip was discovered early on Day 1. We lost internet connectivity. A quick trip down memory lane to my 1997 internet tech support roots at MCI, we discovered that the problem wasn’t technical. Starlink’s hyper-accurate geo-location capability showed us at 15+ miles offshore, and we had exceed our allocated “ocean bandwidth”. A quick update to our service plan later (and $$$), and we were back online.
The first overnight went off without a hitch! There was low wind and a 3 foot swell that was almost unnoticeable at our speed. We continued alongside Lucky Penny with little other traffic.
Day 2 was much of the same. We saw some whales, a few other fishing boats, but not much to report.
Night 2 was a different story! Overnight, the winds came in and brought some heavier following seas. The computer registered gusts in the mid to high 30 knot range. We moved closer to shore to try and get some protection, but as slow as we were, it didn’t help us too much. In the pitch black, you couldn’t see the sizes of the waves coming. The oddest sensation was surfing in a 72 foot boat. The waves were coming up behind us (following sea), and caused the stern to slide sideways once we were on the face. The crew (mostly Jamie) and boat performed flawlessly and we made it to Day 3 without issue.
Day 3 was more beautiful weather, but a slightly stronger current and a little wind pushing us south. We topped out at 10 knots, which for us felt like riding in a F-1 car! A few hours out of San Francisco, we saw more whales… this time, breaching! Seeing something that large come out of the water like that gave me hope…
Our marina in San Francisco (technically Redwood City) had a pretty shallow approach which required us to hit it when the tide was halfway in or higher. The computer calculated the timing and departure time in Neah Bay, and we hit our target almost exactly on schedule. Coming into San Francisco at night was incredible. The views of the city, bridges and the Navy ships lit up were quite impressive! We are here through Fleet Week, hoping to see the Blue Angels!
And we’re back from a month on the east coast! The boat is as ready as a boat can be! Some new upgrades – washer & dryer, refrigerator, a larger alternator, some new plumbing, new inverters, fixed air conditioner, and a gaggle of other bits and bolts done… The larger alternator has allowed us to run the boat (so far) without using our generators, which will help with the fuel management plan as we start planning longer passages.
Our return trip was delayed a bit by a big storm system coming down from Alaska. Although the boat would have probably been fine in 20 foot seas and 40 knot winds, our crew and personal effects would have taken quite a beating… we opted to sit snug at the dock for an extra couple of days to let things settle down. Our weather window opens up some time very early Thursday (10/3) morning. Our expected departure is about 30 minutes before my first conference call…. about 5am local.
Departing Sidney, BC and heading to San Francisco, by way of Port Townsend (Pick up the family and some food) and Port Angeles (Pick up some fuel). Port Angeles is where Jamie parked the boat for the first time! She’s had a lot of practice bossing around an oversized and slow moving object for the last 15 years, and that experience helped her conquer this challenge like a champ!
We are currently underway making a speedy 7.2 knots towards Neah Bay with Claire at the helm. We are seeing 6 foot swells or so, and nobody turned green! We will spend the night there, and then venture into the Pacific Ocean for about 90 hours of continuous running! This will be our first time running a 24×7 operation, with everyone taking shifts driving the boat! Jamie worked out the schedule and also volunteered herself for the overnight shift We are all happy about that!
With Halloween coming up, we decided to spruce up the boat a bit. The crew named him Captain Jack! Time will tell if he becomes a permanent resident…. I’m sure Jamie will have this place looking like a haunted house in no time! We expect to be in San Diego for Halloween!
Everyone is settling back into boat life nicely. School is in full session. Work continues. The Starlink continues to function with amazing realiability. It is truly incredible technology!
To those of you wondering why we haven’t posted any updates in the last couple of days, it’s because I wanted to finish my evaluation of the Alaskan medical system. I am happy, and here, to say they did an amazing job in both Wrangell and Ketchikan!
I developed an infection in a horrible place. The men out there are probably thinking… “Uh oh… Not there!!” and indeed that’s not where it started. But that’s where it got to! The family jewels had swollen up like an early investment in Microsoft!
The doctors in Wrangell were so concerned about the state of this asshole they wanted to medivac me out on July 4th!
Perhaps it was the massive increase in courage I had suddenly developed, or the lack of available sober pilots on a national holiday, we chose instead to leave early the morning of July 5th and head back to Ketchikan for surgery.
On arrival, the Wrangell clinic had called ahead, and the doctor came in saying he was “looking for an angry asshole” which got a chuckle from everyone. The butt jokes continued… “Full moon” was a common one. Everyone was in on the fun and it lightened the mood.
Full anesthesia was required, and for about 30 minutes there was a hand deeper up my ass than a Jeff Dunham puppet! The doctor proclaimed the surgery a success, but required that I stay admitted overnight.
My pain level and courage had started to diminish by 8pm. Hourly vital sign checks, a lovely dinner of uncrustables peanut butter & jelly (on wheat at least), and a regular TV got me through the night.
My room had a beautiful view of the mountains, the staff was fantastic, and the facilities very modern and comfortable. I highly recommend the Ketchikan hospital if you have to go in for a procedure. I could even see our boat from my room!
I was discharged early in the morning and walked back to the boat. I still couldn’t take a taxi because sitting continues to be impossible. It wasn’t far, only about a half of a mile. Once back on the Sea XII, in an ironic twist, I dispatched my daughters to the store to buy me some maxi pads.
All’s well that ends well… But the moral of the story is, don’t ignore the lump on your hump when you wipe!
The below the waterline work is done! Sea XII was sand blasted to the fiberglass to get almost 20 years of flaking bottom paint off!
From the fiberglass up, next came an epoxy layer, then one coat of blue bottom paint, and finally 2 more coats of black bottom paint. It’s not sexy, but it’s fresh and new! Keel coolers, propellers, shafts and stabilizers were all serviced. Zincs replaced! Just have to get back in the water!
