A July 4th to Remember

At Rest in Finley Point

 One thing I adore is having a boat that is not just functional, but beautiful too. I get questions and stares everywhere I go. From the Yacht Harbor to the gas station, everyone seems drawn to my little boat. The most asked question is "Did you build it yourself?" At this point I'm really close to answering yes. Because it sure feels that way.

 Over the beginning of the summer we've had quite a few days on the water. I sailed from Big Arm to Finley Point, a bucket list sail I've wanted to do for awhile. Spent the night on board with The Lady, and spend a fine 4th of July weekend out at Dayton. I've also lost one anchor, broken the lazy jacks, and seen what fine manners the boat has when sailed close hauled. And in front of me this week I have work. But more on that later.

Replaced the halyard cam cleats with horn cleats.

 The fact is we're still spending money at a decent rate to get the boat to the proper condition. And a lot of the work can only be found through empirical testing. This last weekend is a good example of that. My main ground tackle for the last few years has been 100' of nylon rode, backed with 10' of 1/4" chain and a Mantus Dingy Anchor. Other then a want to not stay put this has been a tried and true anchor system for awhile now on my boat. Never drug, reset with wind changes and reliable. On Independence Day however that was not the case.

 The forecast for the whole weekend was perfect sailing weather. The sun would be out to power the thermals that make the Big Arm/Dayton area some of the finest and most predictable sailing in the northwest. And if the morning of the 4th was any indication then that would be the case. I ended up overnighting in Dayton Bay after failing to make Cedar Island from Big Arm. I woke up and spend a wonderful day sailing to Wildhorse and back. By my count we had 17 sailboats out on the bay, enough for me to have to try and remember my rules of the road. That's rare.

Didn't quite make that Cedar Island on the 3rd

Hot breakfast=Luxury on a small boat

Sailed all the way to the beach

Wild Horse Island was very busy

Anchor down for the evening

 Recently I've been playing around with a stern anchor to stop the boat from dancing. Seemed to work well. With the usual solar easterlies blowing I dropped my bow anchor and set the stern one as well and got to work making dinner. Unbeknownst to me the wind has shifted 180 degrees and picked up. Dayton, unlike Big Arm is very deceiving when it comes to wind strength and apparent effects. Whereas Big Arm will become a churning mess of whitecaps and obvious doom, Dayton simply gets a touch lumpy. It took me a few minutes to figure out why my stern anchor was suddenly taut and my bow anchor line was slack. And then my sense of time goes out a bit as tends to happen when things happen rapidly. I let out all the scope to my rear anchor and that held for a bit. But as I watched the parallel shoreline it started to move. My first anchor dragging event. Knowing I could not reset as I drifted closer to the massed boats at the dock I tied the end of the stern rode to a fender and tossed it over board. Firing up the electric spanker I managed to work my way upwind and into the Bay. I reset my bow anchor and felt it bite. But the boat, true to it's nature swung broadside to the wind and took the full force beam on. That was enough for my hook to start dragging once more. I was again headed for a wall of docked boats. The hook reset temporarily and I thought "The hell with it!" hauled in the anchor and made a beeline for the service dock at the Dayton Yacht Harbor. I just needed to attached to something with no chance of movement. A fellow sailor caught my lines and helped make me fast. Everyone I spoke to up at Harbor House told me to get a slip. I spoke with one of the owners and secured an offer for a slip. I mistakenly tied up in the pump out dock but made sure to get out early in the morning.

Dayton Winds 7/4/20

 There was an upside to all this. I got to watch the most amazing fireworks display on my literal doorstep. I woke at 0530 to the sound of wavelets on the hull. The wind was still from the west, down a bit from what I remembered but decent sailing. I sailed off the dock around 0610 and figured I'd wait the wind out then anchor. Or I could beach on the dingy dock. But I was hungry and hauled the sails down in preparation for the morning respite.  The electric spanker refused to respond. With appropriate salty language I hauled the sails up and bore away from the boats back into the bay. The original plan was to sail to Big Arm, where my car was waiting, but I had instead asked The Lady to come haul me out at Dayton. I needed to ensure the Yacht Harbor got my payment for services rendered. So I simply sailed around the bay as the sun came up. I attempted to be as technical as I could. Worked on close-hauled sailing a bit, seeing where the luff would ruffle and catch the lifts and the headers. On Kat Boat the 1st reef is a good amount of working sail for all conditions. We chased the puffs as the wind slowly died down. By 0845 it was still again. I dropped my bow anchor on a short scope and waited. And sure enough, like clockwork, at 0900 the easterly solar wind set in. I hauled in the anchor and sailed to where The Lady waited at the new Dayton city dock. Although set up for power boaters it's a fine place to end a trip. It certainly was a 4th of July to remember.

What a display!

Morning rush hours at the dock

Famous Flathead Water

On the way to the dock.

Now sitting at home I can touch on a few things I learned. I lost the mushroom anchor when a powerboat removed my fender, which thankfully was retrieved. I've replaced it with a Danforth and the original 10' of 1/4" chain on a 100' of rode. My bow anchor now sports 20' of chain. I feel better with this tackle. I would like to thank all of my fellow sailors I interacted with on the 4th. My imposter syndrome not withstanding all knew the wind was not in the forecast, was not usual, and wanting to ensure my safety. They made this small boat sailor feel welcome all during the week and that meant a lot. I learned later someone blew a mainsail lug in the blow. And true to form Big Arm was a washing machine during the wind event. I'm not the only sailor who decided not to anchor that evening. We'll go out and anchor again in Dayton Bay I'm sure. But with some knowledge and forethought we'll hopefully be in a better way. And isn't that what this is all about?

My SPOT track.