Bandwagon, Big Food, Hornpipe & Rowan do Barkley Sound

[Eric Hvalsoe]

Thanks Tom,
390$!? That sounds like a steal. I have my eyes on the Kokatat dry suit that Tim bought, But it retails for $750. I can't take that bite right now. I would like that level of comfort and security for winter and foul weather.

So if anybody's got a steal of deal on the Kokatat GoreTex lightweight paddling suit . . .

[keyhavenpotterer]

I've got a Musto HPX Ocean Drysuit and the side bits go up and cover your ears which is nice to keep the wind chill off and noise of the wind out. Also the face coverage is really good. Also it can be inflated through a pipe, for more insulation and buoyancy and longer survival times.

I got mine from Ebay, and its worth keeping an eye out at certain times of the year, as they are compulsory to carry by all the round the world, pay for a leg, race sailer type events. Typically they don't get used accross the atlantic or pacific more than a day, then they sell them back home with sometimes very minimal use. Paid £3-400 for mine. when they are £1000 new. Same price as a dinghy drysuit I know but they are top quality and well featured. Its heavily built compared to 'dinghy' drysuits which also work well though. Anyone looking in the UK, I can recommend Ravenspring as they are made to measure and a good price. Definately get one with dry feet, and bigger shoes to get the whole clobber in easy else you can rip the feet. After you put one on, bend over and hold the neck seal open to evacuate most of the air inside. otherwise swimming can be even harder. With a drysuit and life jacket, swimming speed is reduced, the only potential negative, but it allows winter sailing in the UK to be much more comfortable and safer. That and a fleece black balaclava.

Got a top Henri Lloyd drysuit the same way a few years back and any repairs were done free of charge. Very good after sales from them. That was a very good suit also.

Ed

[James McMullen]

I'm still using the paddling drysuit I got way back when I was a whitewater kayak bum. It's on its second or third set of gaskets everywhere by now . The goofy thing is that it's still got the extra flap that you tuck over the top of your sprayskirt to deal with, something which is irrelevant and kinda in the way for a sailor.

[WI-Tom]

Thanks Tom,
390$!? That sounds like a steal. I have my eyes on the Kokatat dry suit that Tim bought, But it retails for $750. I can't take that bite right now. I would like that level of comfort and security for winter and foul weather.

So if anybody's got a steal of deal on the Kokatat GoreTex lightweight paddling suit . . .

Eric,

if you go second tier Kokatat, you can get this suit (the one I have): http://www.outdoorplay.com/Kokatat-M...Kayak-Dry-Suit for about $500 new. I lucked out and found mine on the clearance rack, the last one left, in my size. No goofy spray skirt thing either.

Tom

[Eric Hvalsoe]

Thanks

[darroch]

Nice thread...

I kinda thought you hardcores rowed at least 5 miles before breakfast each day but it turns out this was just a glorified fishing expedition.

I've been rowing my butt off trying to get in shape to hang out with you guys.

Clearly, I've been deceived.

[Yeadon]

You can pretty much play catch between the islands there in Barkley Sound. The distances just were that great, and anyways, we sailed 90 percent of every day. In fact, I bet we gained weight during the trip.

But then, I really like Nutella.

[smithb9]

Man, you guys are living the life up there, makes me want to move to Seattle.

Not much that is similar around here in Boston, we have harbor islands, but they all get daily visitors courtesy of the island ferries. Shellfish in the harbor are essentially banned for consumption, although my uncle tells me he's been eating them all his life and is fine. I suppose further out in the outer islands might be better, but then again the sewage treatment plant on Deer Island pumps out that ways through an underground tunnel. We don't seem to have many fish anymore either, I suppose you could find some Stripers (rockfish as you call them) if you get lucky, and the random cod/black sea bass gets caught every now and again (I could also just be a terrible fisherman too I suppose ).

Maybe Maine might be more comparable, I've never really been up that far though to explore. Either way, I'm currently working on a sail/oar boat myself to join in on the fun, even if I am 3,000 some odd miles East. Keep up with the expedition threads, they are highly enjoyable to read.

PS - to Yeadon, I found the dog collar holding the boom to the mast both hilarious and a great idea that I'll probably steal!

[smithb9]

A question that I don't think I've seen answered before (although I'm sure it has been at some point). What or how do you guys pack for food on these multi-day trips? Cooler of ice? dry ice maybe? Just wondering how caught fish, dutch-oven-biscuit stuff, etc is kept prior to cooking (and the beer's gotta stay cold too, right?)

[TomF]

My memory of the waters off Vancouver Island was that it was a great temp to sink the beer. Aside from a couple set aside for emergencies, I'd prolly keep cooler space for other stuff.

Worth noting too that the daily temps aren't exactly Texas-like in that region either ... especially right on the water. When we were fishing just for that day's eating, we'd often just keep the fish in a tub in the shade somewhere, covered with wet cloths. Wouldn't be too surprised to hear these guys do the same.

[James McMullen]

No cooler or ice, nor any room for such overcivilized decadence. But the water is cold, that helps. For the fresh fish thing, you only catch as much as you are going to eat, and eat it that very same day. And dough is better when you let it sit out for the yeast to ferment and really do its duty. For beer, the British style ales work perfectly at "cellar temperature" (the cellar of course being the water under your boat)--and I'm not particularly a fan of the nearly frozen vaguely beerish swill variety of brew in the first place. I'm pretty sure why they serve crap like MGD or Bud ice cold is to try and numb your taste-buds a little so you won't be so quick to notice how blandly mediocre and forgettable that stuff is.

For other foodstuffs, the typical rice and pasta dishes that just need boiling are easy on the camp stove, as are those boil-in-the-bag goodies like the great Indian curries from TastyBites. I think Tim and I each had about a third of our foodbags stocked with channa masala and palak paneer. All shelf-stable stuff that needs no refrigeration. Cheese and crackers and peanut butter and sardines and stuff for lunches.

Tim has his portable espresso maker, and Alex actually grinds his own coffee beans fresh every morning. I've been on more of a Japanese green tea kick myself mostly, though I also tend to bring instant cocoa.

For fresh veggies and fruits, some things are very much more durable than others. Lettuce don't work, but a cabbage lasts just fine for a week, and fresh coleslaw is pretty nice after days of preserved stuff. Likewise, carrots, onions and potatoes last better than cucumbers or tomatoes. If you bring those, you'll need to eat them within the first couple of days. For fruit, oranges and lemons come with their own wrappers. Apples do okay. Bananas are a disaster waiting to happen though. You want to try to keep all of these things cool by keeping them right next to your hull, and do your darnedest to avoid squishing them, cause a bruise will make the whole fruit go south much, much quicker.

I don't generally bring meat or anything that needs refrigeration on any long trips, though for a single overnight trip, if you pack something like bratwursts frozen solid ithe morning, they won't have time to thaw enough to go bad by dinnertime.

It's definitely all part of the game for me to try and eat as well as possible and cook stuff you wouldn't necessarily expect to be able to have on these boating trips. I've been on enough backpacking and backcountry ski trips where you were so very limited by what you could carry on your back that I really enjoy the extra room and weight allowance that sail and oar camping allows.

[Paul Pless]

Most excellent James.

It's definitely all part of the game for me to try and eat as well as possible and cook stuff you wouldn't necessarily expect to be able to have on these boating trips. I've been on enough backpacking and backcountry ski trips where you were so very limited by what you could carry on your back that I really enjoy the extra room and weight allowance that sail and oar camping allows.

I used to be an avid back country hiker. I gave it up for the comparatively exceeding luxury that canoe camping allows, followed by a progression of small fishing boats that I owned. I will confess to sometimes carrying an ice chest, both for keeping stuff cold on the way in and then packing fish in on the way out. Dry ice is a good option for this, and in a proper cooler can last five days if you only open the cooler once a day. In a boat such as yours I can't imagine the extra weight would be too noticeable.

[AJZimm]

. . . and Alex actually grinds his own coffee beans fresh every morning.

I'm willing to put up with a lot of things when kayak and sail and oar camping, but bad coffee is not one of them.

I also find that bagels (the real kind that are boiled first then baked) will last at least a week at the temperatures encountered on our shores. They just get progressively a little chewier. Hard cheeses ( moisture content < 35%) will last a week too. If you don't fish up your own fresh protein every day, jerky and/or dried sausages also work well.

Wine in a box also works well - the box/bag can fit in odd corners. Wine shouldn't be over-chilled either and the seawater in our area is just about right.

[Yeadon]

I've had some amazing meals out on our cruises. James fed us so much fresh seafood on our last trip that I think everyone was a little embarrassed at just how well we were being fed.

Inspired by the trip, I've gone ahead and bought a collapsible crab trap, which Kara and I deployed over the weekend during a quick Sat/Sun cruise from Shilshole to Blake Island and back. We caught a pair a dungeness keepers, which we promptly boiled and ate fresh. Fresh crab is amazing.

I also have a few fishing rods that I've collected over the years, but really don't know what type tackle I need for jigging or trolling. Anybody have an opinion on that?

[callsign222]

Wine in a box also works well - the box/bag can fit in odd corners. Wine shouldn't be over-chilled either and the seawater in our area is just about right.

Pfff any sailor on the New England coast knows that sharp cheddar will last forever and bait bags work best at chilling wine so we dont' have to stoop down the box level. Plus, you can tow them behind the boat so they are chilled to perfection on arrival.



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[Yeadon]

Just for the record, I took a half dozen or so canned pints of Smithwicks, which tastes the same warm or cold. And a bit of scotch. We also had a fair amount of wine, rum, and Jameson to pass around the campfire.

Personally, I like to celebrate a safe landing at the end of long long day with a pull of Johnnie Walker straight from the bottle. Mmmmmmm.

However, while on the water, I always stick with water.

[TomF]

For jigging alongside the kelp beds, I always did best with "buzz bombs" in a variety of colours. They dropped through the water fluttering on their sidesd like injured herring - most wonderful for sea bass, rockfish etc even salmon, when casted. For ling cod, always did better with bait - mussels pulled off the rocks.

I've never trolled from a sailboat, but cut plug herring was what my salmon guide friend and I had the best luck with.

[James McMullen]

For this trip I was using the lead-head weighted hooks with a plastic wiggly worm thingy on it. It was almost too easy there in Barkley Sound. I caught those two big ling cods one after another in only about ten minutes. . .and then was left trying to figure out just what I was supposed to do with the rest of my afternoon, since I'd already caught all the fish all four of us could possibly eat in one dinner. I ended up going for a row and a sail, as I recall.

[AJZimm]

Forgot I had taken this video.

Not terribly exciting but it does show the line-coiling, anchor-raising and general fiddling about that goes on as we prepare to depart. This is the last morning of the trip, at Hand Island.



It also shows the strange, heathenish ritual aboard Big Food of raising the dry suit to mast head prior to getting under way. No one knows why this happens.

[Mad Scientist]

...the strange, heathenish ritual aboard Big Food of raising the dry suit to mast head prior to getting under way...

Looks like somebody got hanged from the masthead!

Tom

[Gerarddm]

I've never trolled from a sailboat, but cut plug herring was what my salmon guide friend and I had the best luck with.

Freshest fish I ever had was bluefish. We were doing the Annapolis-Newport Race and I threw off a line off the stern pulpit with a spinner. It was just enough line to dip under, then break surface sporadically in the swells. After a half hour or so I go below for a bit of gear, come up and discover the lure no longer breaking surface. Hauled it in, and there's a nice bluefish. Cook whacked it on the head and hey presto not too long after we are eating bluefish steaks with capers. Man was that good.

[darroch]

I briefly contemplated taking up fishing to complete my nautical apprenticeship but decided to learn how to drink rum instead. I'm starting to get the hang of it.

[James McMullen]

Practice makes perfect, Rod. Have you been getting your reps in lately?

[darroch]

Just finished a set of Appleton's .

[SteveJW]

So, I'm a bit late to the trip report.

It's great. Thanks for taking the time to share!

[Alan H]

I'm also, very late to this thread.... but I just read it from one end to the next and loved it.

Thanks, guys! It sounds like a fantastic trip!

[neilm]

You got me thinking about dry suits. They certainly don't look fun to wear and would be useless if you were not wearing them. I was wondering is a survival suit would be better? A boat in Sitka recently flipped and everyone was able to get in their survival suits in the water. I'm sure it's not easy though.

Neil

[WI-Tom]

You got me thinking about dry suits. They certainly don't look fun to wear

Well, they look goofy, I'll agree. But I've come to actually like wearing mine--usually when I do, it's windy enough (and my boat takes enough spray, especially to windward) that I appreciate the comfort. But then, I have one with a neoprene neck seal that's not 100% waterproof--you get a few drops down the back of your neck if you swim.

For rowing it's not too bad, either; I can take the top off and tie the sleeves around my waist and it's not too bad.

The real fun comes from trying to get that sucker on and off in a small tippy boat...

Plenty of days, though, I don't wear it. Depends on conditions and water temps and general scariness.

Tom

[SteveJW]

Regarding bottom protection, three boats utilized UHMW shoes.

Do you attached the UHMW plastic in the same way you would a brass strip (screws and bedding compound)?

Thanks,
Steve

[Eric Hvalsoe]

Do you attached the UHMW plastic in the same way you would a brass strip (screws and bedding compound)?

Thanks,
Steve

Yes, although the bedding will not really stick to the UHMW. However anything to protect the actual keel of the boat is good. Careful, the stuff will alternately clog and then allow a countersink to run wild. It does not have the same stiffness or tensile properties as lumber, gotta think about your fastening spacing.

[AJZimm]

Do you attached the UHMW plastic in the same way you would a brass strip (screws and bedding compound)?

Thanks,
Steve

I dispensed with the bedding compound and just have screws holding the shoe on. So far so good and the boat has spent a lot of time on the beach.

[chas]

"I dispensed with the bedding compound and just have screws holding the shoe on."

Roofing tar is good for that. Keeps the water out when that shoe gets bent out of shape. / Jim

[gilberj]

Roofing tar is difficult to paint over. It stains through easily....

[Eric Hvalsoe]

I dispensed with the bedding compound and just have screws holding the shoe on. So far so good and the boat has spent a lot of time on the beach.

It is a good idea to at least run the fastenings in with bedding compound

[Christopher Morgan]

It is a good idea to at least run the fastenings in with bedding compound

Do you normally put on the shoe before or after painting the keel?

[Yeadon]

I've done this project. Here's the basic order:
Paint the keel, get it all sealed up, fit the shoe, drill for fastenings, take the shoe off, bed the shoe, and the fasteners, then fasten. Then go sailing.

[bott]

Can you run that last bit by me?

[James McMullen]

Man, what great trip! These pics make me wish I had gotten to go Oh. . .wait!

I was asked a couple of weeks ago if I could maybe fill in for the previously scheduled speaker to give a presentation for the September 27 Fall Meeting of the Fidalgo Yacht Club. So I am putting together a slideshow of all these pics with the permission of Tim and Alex. (I think I could probably even just throw this forum thread up on the screen, you know?) Anyways, even though public speaking is kinda scary, I am really looking forward to sharing the joys of really small boats with the yachties this Thursday.

[Gerarddm]

Do you have to wear a blue blazer, red pants, and a rep tie? LOL.

[James McMullen]

I will be wearing my typical attire for yacht club events: a buckskin loincloth and red war paint spelling out "Outboards are for Sissies!" across my chest.

[sailoar]

No, no - go for the codpiece, Jethro Tull style!

[SteveJW]

even though public speaking is kinda scary

Take along the well provisioned Bar Tender, and public speaking will be rendered a non issue.

[Yeadon]

I find it hard to believe that James "Bullhorn" McMullen finds public speaking scary.

[BBSebens]

One guy will ask," where does the outboard go?" and that will be the beginning of the end.

[Yeadon]

Check this out ... some guy in Toquart Bay got his anchor rode snagged by a whale. Hope the whale is fine. He has a blog post on it, too.

[davebrown]

Wht an enjoyable thread ! You guys are living the life.

[BBSebens]

I heard rumor of another longish trip being contemplated for next summer.

Make it July or later, and I can be your official medical support, as I will have just completed my Licensed Practical Nurse certification.

I will also be in serious need of a vacation.

[sailoar]

Lock up your daughters!

[Eric Hvalsoe]

Sailoar,
Thank you, I needed a good chuckle!

Ben,
Oh, I expect there to be a longish trip every summer of one sort or another.

[Barbinskate]

I propose we go here:



Start in the fresh, end up in the salt. Sort of an Oregon meets Washington gig.

-Bruce