Spring Break!

Cruise #8 - Crew : Chief Engineer Boston, Acting Ensign Dabby, occasional rope pullers or looseners - Jacque, Smellen and Wheelie Guy Mark.

Weather : Warm! Felt like high 60s in the marina, a little cooler in the wind, which was blowing lightly but steadily from the east or upstream, which I guess is the norm. 

We tacked back and forth for a few hours. It felt like we were going fast through the water but we barely made any progress upstream. When we turned around we were back at the marina before we knew it. That current is some serious business.

 Boston steady at the tiller. There were a few other sailboats out and we watched what they were doing and sometimes tried to match headings or point slightly off to catch up.

Grace O'Malley

Cruise #7 - Spring Sailing

Crew : Chief Engineer Boston, Assistant Helmsperson Tricia, Chief Rigger Cory the Kid, Honorary Admiral Eric Spence with Shelley and Ingrid.

Weather : Balmy. Light winds from the west at first, so we motored upstream for a while then caught some moderate wind from the south.

The voyage started with a tiny bit of panic. "Why is the inside of the boat filling up with water?" Not my favorite phrase. It turned out it was because the fresh water outlet from the engine was leaking into the cockpit locker. Boston jumped right in there and fixed it, displaying exactly the qualities I look for in a chief engineer.

 Once the boat was no longer actively sinking we raised the sails and had a very pleasant cruise back and forth across the river.

 The wind freshened from the south and we got going pretty fast a few times, I'm looking forward to a good season of sailing.

Team Wreck Yacht Club

I've been chronicling the new adventures of the Team Wreck flagship over at S/V Grace O'Malley on facebook. Unfortunately some key crew members are stubborn luddites who refuse to accept the good book into their hearts, so for them I will take the time to repost here.

Cruise #1 : test run

Crew : Chief Engineer Boston, Acting Ensign Dabby

The first time Grace has been out under her own power in about three years. Minor panic upon starting the engine, as water didn't seem to be recirculating. We shut it down and Boston took the water pump apart and inspected the impeller. It looked good, he reseated it, put everything together and it worked fine.

Leaving the slip for the first time was a little nerve wracking. We're on an inside dock very close to shore, with no current or wind it would be relatively simple, unfortunately there is current and wind. We made it out and back in with no incident, I'm sure it will get easier with time. I've also asked Dabby to not shout "Full reverse!!!" in my ear whenever he gets nervous.

Once out in the channel we ran the Yanmar diesel
 almost to St. Helens and then back again. Everything worked fine, a little smoke at full throttle to start but she was soon purring.

Big thanks to the Boatyard at Rocky Point, super friendly service and she was done ahead of time and $80 under estimate, amazing. Special thanks to yard manager Travis, who gave us lots of great advice.

Cruise # 2 : That's not dirt...

 Crew : Cory, Boston, Tricia, Jerry, Travis

A lovely day on the river. We raised the mainsail for the first time in a few years, or tried to, the halyard broke on the first try (must replace running rigging) but chief rigger Cory tied some clever knots and we tried again. As the sail went up a rain of dirt came down on our heads. At least I thought it was dirt until I looked closely, heavy gray lumps of clay like stuff mixed with bits that looked like the leftover pupae from insects of unusual size. Moths maybe? Whatever they were, they didn't like to eat sailcloth, which I am grateful for. I would imagine that main sails, like every other part of a sailboat, are ridiculously expensive.

The wind was barely blowing but we cruised along for most of the afternoon and had a nice swim off Kelley Pt. Might have to invest in a swim ladder, climbing up the dinghy steps on the stern is tough.

Cruise #3 : All systems go

Crew : Boston, Dabby, Captain McCarthy, Cory the Kid, Smellen

 Great wind today, we raised the genoa and were flying. It was terrific to have the Captain on board. He sailed an Alberg on Boston Harbor for many years and has a lot of knowledge (and hilarious stories) to share.

It's hard to show how far we were heeled over from the deck, but the rail got wet and a lot of stuff slid around below. Exciting!

We also deployed the new swim ladder to great acclaim, $46 well spent.

 Smellen was delightful, as always.

Big thanks to Chief Rigger Cory for all the knot tying and stuff.

Mid tack.

Cruise #4 : Fishing with Cowboy

Cruise number 4 - Sunday afternoon, crew : Dabby, Mace, Junko, Cowboy, Michelle

Warm and sunny, winds light and variable with occasional gusts to 20 knots (I'm guessing here)

We motored up the channel to the Willamette, then raised the main and motor sailed past Kelley Pt. Park. Cowboy and Michelle dropped lines rigged for salmon off the back but there was only one bite, and minority opinion held that it might have been a piling or log and not a fish.

This was my fourth time at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers and the most exciting so far. Between wind, current, giant freighters, swarms of fishing boats and jet skis there is a lot to pay attention to. With the wind gusting strongly at times and two thirds of the crew asleep or drunk, acting first mate Dabby and I decided against raising a headsail. We sailed with the main for a few hours, just getting used to the river and all the traffic. Good practice, and another mostly pleasant day on the boat.

Cruise #5 : Overnighter to Sand Island

Crew : Eric Spence, Boston, Tricia, Jaqcue, Ted

A super fun overnight trip. Dead calm early in the day, even when we made it out to the Columbia, so we set off to circumnavigate Sauvie Island. When we made it up to St. Helens a few hours before dark the wind picked up and we tacked and jibed around downriver for a while, dodging salmon boats.

Eric Spence, King of Leisure

Grace at the Sand Island dock. We were stuck on the outside so it was a bouncy night (must get bigger fenders) but we felt lucky to find a spot, the other free docks we saw were all packed.

St. Helens from Sand Island

Boston and Tricia's campsite on the river side of Sand Island.

Breakfast and bocce, good times.

News from Boat Farm

We harvested some lovely garlic. Just enough for personal use but we plan to expand next year.

Move this pile over there!

Look for our Chiogga and Bulls Blood beets at Wild Pear in Salem.

La Capitale is also featuring our wild cherries with their cheese plate.

We finally started phase 1A of Project Chicken Coop : fix the leaky roof.

AAhhh! Sunlight on the garlic and quiver!

We raised the sails on Grace O'Malley for the first time.

A good excuse to break out the stainless steel martini glasses.


Co-captains, steady at the helm.

Jaden flying the Teamwreck colors at 8th grade graduation.

Team Wreck Yacht Club

We finally brought Grace O'Malley down the Columbia and up the Willamette.

Spence was kind enough to hook me up with two of his sailor buddies, Nate and Chris. In addition to their charming, old-timey style they have a lot of nautical experience, including stints on the Lady Washington.

I was glad they were along when, 20 minutes into the voyage, the tiller delaminated and broke off at the base. Luckily we were in the middle of the river and nothing was close by or it could have been ugly. We all stayed pretty calm and soon enough located some hose clamps and twine, lashed it together and kept going. Yikes!

Justine at the helm, approaching the Broadway Bridge.

Attempting to look intrepid.

A working river.




Chris on VHF channel 13, hoping to cause the Hawthorne bridge to raise.

Success! Under the bridge and we were quickly tied up at Grace's new home, Riverplace marina, where we'll be most afternoons, rebedding and caulking every single deck fitting in an attempt to slow down the leaks.

DeathSail 2008

On the weekend of my birthday I sailed out to Government Island with Spence and Beefa. It took about 4 hours going upstream and 3 coming back.

I thought about pushing Beefa overboard several times, this was one of them. It would have been funny, right? Spence was for it in principle but was afraid of the aftermath.



Under the 205.


Spence was steady at the helm.

Beefa throwing a ball in the upper meadow. We camped up here and played some great rounds of extreme bocce ball.


A tricky lie





We instituted a new rule that if your ball (or the white ball) gets wet you lose a point. It made for some interesting strategies, if you're behind you can throw near the water and hope for a wake.


Coconuts looked lonely after the daysailers had left.

Leaving Government Island.