Saturday June 27 in Port Angelies
Trip hasn’t started yet, but the work has. It’s another day in Port Angeles crossing our eyes and dotting our T’s. Knot practice, re-lashing dinghy and jerry cans, replacing cams in the rope clutch after finding them not holding the main halyard all make a busy boat and help take the minds of the crew off all the unknowns that lie ahead.
The part of this job I didnt take pictures of and which was the most tedious was removing and reinstalling the headliner inside the boat to get access to the nuts of the bolts holding this clutch on.
Replacement ceramic clutch cam and base for the win.
A messenger line is purchased and the new halyard is run thought the wash to improve the clutches grip on it. A spare halyard or and a messenger line is key for a passage like this. This; paired with a needle and palm to sew the ends together and reave thought the mast is key. Unfortunately we didn’t have a splicing kit which would have helped rigging the new low friction rinds we were using for the preventer lines.
The Valiant and many boats like it have boom vangs that lead to the rail instead of to the base of the mast. This its great for tacks the last for days but comes with some drawbacks for maneuvers. First the three lines have to be coordinated by the crew. This means to tack or jibe the mainsail requires easing and hauling on three lines in addition to the jib sheets. Second drawback is that the tackle for these vangs runs out to the rail meaning that the jacklines have to be run over them. To add to the tangle on Endeavor the running backstays are stowed on the same padeyes that the vangs are run to making the leeward jackline pass between these tackles of the vang and the backstay thereby making moving forward on the lee side even more challenging than usual. When possible it is best of course to head forward on the windward side but when two people are leaving the cockpit it is better to be on separate jacklines. As the most agile and experienced I was going forward on the lee side when another crew member was heading forward as well.
It was not all boat work though..yesterday afternoon found us doing some crew overboard practice in the afternoon everybody got some time at the helm and feel for the boat and no fenders were lost in the process. We also practiced setting the whisker pole. This is something that is significantly easier on a small sloop inshore but a big heavy cutter offshore requires some serious crew coordination. Our pole is a telescoping aluminum pole capable of extending out to reach almost 25 feet and the staysail stay prevents us from swinging it over to the other side easily. We didnt see wind over 10 knots so it will be an entirely different story offshore if we have a MOB and when we need to set the whisker pole..
These delays due to mechanical failures are frustrating when the weather windows are good, but are almost welcome when the forecast is rough and we are looking at 10 to 15 foot seas offshore on Monday so it’s a good time to get these things done and Port Angelies is fairly good place to do them. It’s not a fun town but there are good resources here, all be it a long walk in and out of town.
The recondition propeller was not able to push the boat over 5 knots and calm seas and definitely not into the wind that we were in on our shakedown sail over here. So we have ordered a new max prop (not a small purchase) and it is being delivered on Monday currently coordinating with divers. We have found a diver, but he has never removed and installed such a complicated propeller as the feathering “Max prop”. The other alternative that we are weighing is taking advantage of the travel lift here and changing the prop in the yard. We don’t have a prop puller and experience ourselves with this, so we’re probably looking at hiring somebody. Most likely it would be more expensive to haul out and do it however there is the fear that one of the bespoke Max Prop parts gets dropped during installation and we are even more delayed.
As far as weather is concerned if we get out of here Tuesday morning, I think we can be well timed for our Cape Mendocino rounding later in the week as the sea from this blow is laying down. We do have 10 footers diminishing at the entrance of straight of Juan De Fuca when we would be arriving at the ocean and some periods of motoring beyond that, perhaps necessitating going in for fuel and making our calm rounding of Mendocino a impossibility. Always lots to consider dealing with the capes on the West Coast.
More to come. Spirits are high.
Capt B out