It has been a crazy year, and the craziness didn't stop until we left town on Sunday. As most of you know, we purchased Balancing Act, an Ericson 35 Mark III, just over a year ago. After looking at numerous boats made by a number of manufacturers (honestly, we did!) we decided that the boat for us was an Ericson 35. Just enough boat, but not too much, with nice lines, and reports that it sailed well. We spent about five months looking for one on the west coast - all the brokers kept telling us that E35 owners just don't want to sell their boats. We finally found a 1984 Mark III for sale in Alameda, CA. Cory drove down to CA that day, called me and said "she sails like a dream!" That was it-we had to have her. We knew that it needed some work, but figured we'd have it all done in a few months. Well, as one friend told me, all boats are projects. We finally made it into the marina after three months in the boatyard, and have been working every spare moment on the boat since that time. Balancing Act is now a new old boat.
Cory was hoping to get out of town in Mid-May. We were pretty happy to make it out on Sunday, June 3rd. We finished up most of the boat and work chores by Thursday, and spent Friday and Saturday provisioning the boat and getting the house ready for the housesitter. Provisioning the boat was an truly surprising experience. We kept bringing more food, clothing, and boat parts to the boat, and kept finding places to put everything. How can such a small space hold so much stuff? Balancing Act is 35'7" long, and 11'3" wide (in the widest spot). She has a reasonable amount of storage space, but not as much as some boats of the same size. However, everything we brought to the boat seemed to magically disappear. We loved our E32, but this boat is just the perfect size.
We decided not to rush leaving on Sunday, and spent a few more hours trying to make the house presentable for Amber, our housesitter. (Can't let those cats get lonely!) I'm afraid that the house has been neglected recently, although we really tried (we worked on the house until 2 am Saturday night), we appreciate her willingness to deal with imperfection. Thank you Amber!
We finally made it out of the marina about 1:30 on Sunday, and decided to head to St. Helens. The boat handled beautifully, but we heard a worrying rattling noise. As a master mechanic (ok, just an inexperience grease monkey), I decided that it was the bolts on the propeller shaft hitting other bolts - we'd had this problem early on. So, we kept the engine speed below maximum until we reached St. Helens. As Cory (at 6'2" tall) can't fit into the space required to reach the propeller shaft, I had the pleasure (I mean the pain) of wedging my body into a small space, with my head, arms, and shoulders jammed between the waterlift muffler and the sides of the engine compartment. The propeller was below me, and I couldn't lean on it, so I leaned on my hands on the floor around it. After about 15 minutes of inspecting the bolts while moaning every now and then (Cory is great with the sympathy), we finally decided that it probably wasn't the bolts. I managed to wiggle my way out of the hoses and boards wrapped lovingly around me without too much blood loss. After some thought, we decided to head on to Astoria the next day and troubleshoot the problem prior to heading out to the ocean.
Cory and I are notorious for not being able to go to bed at night and having great difficulty at getting up in the morning. Well, on the boat we don't seem to have that problem. We left St. Helens at 5:30 am and made it to Astoria by 2 pm. The tide was with us, so we made good time. On a 35 foot sailboat, that means 7.5 to 9 nautical miles per hour. I believe that a nautical miles is 1.15 miles per hour (or the other way around), so, as they say, it is the journey that matters, not the destination. It was so wonderful to be on the river again. The wind was always on our nose, so we didn't get to sail. But, that was OK. The water was fairly calm, the weather was great, and Balancing Act is a joy to be on. We kept the engine at full throttle, and worked on troubleshooting the rattle. We finally decided that it isn't coming from the engine. We think that either a board is rattling or one of the tools that got lost in a secret space on the boat (she has many of those) is letting us know it is there. We will try to track it down, but as the engine seems to be working perfectly, we plan to head out of Astoria early Thursday morning.
We are so excited to be heading on this trip and appreciate everyone who put up with our busy schedule for the past year. We don't expect this trip to be completely relaxing - we are on a boat after all! But, we are already enjoying being able to use the boat, not just work on it. We will spend some time working in the next month, but will be able to focus on having an adventure.
The ocean journey will take about 30 hours. It's nice that we have made this trip before. We still are a bit nervous before heading out into the big green sea, but that is OK. It is important to respect this great body of water. Our first stop will be Neah Bay, where we will probably sleep for about 12 hours. Then, it's off to Victoria, and good-bye to the US for a few months. We'll be sure to give you updates on our adventures, and try to include a few photos every now and then.
Cory was hoping to get out of town in Mid-May. We were pretty happy to make it out on Sunday, June 3rd. We finished up most of the boat and work chores by Thursday, and spent Friday and Saturday provisioning the boat and getting the house ready for the housesitter. Provisioning the boat was an truly surprising experience. We kept bringing more food, clothing, and boat parts to the boat, and kept finding places to put everything. How can such a small space hold so much stuff? Balancing Act is 35'7" long, and 11'3" wide (in the widest spot). She has a reasonable amount of storage space, but not as much as some boats of the same size. However, everything we brought to the boat seemed to magically disappear. We loved our E32, but this boat is just the perfect size.
We decided not to rush leaving on Sunday, and spent a few more hours trying to make the house presentable for Amber, our housesitter. (Can't let those cats get lonely!) I'm afraid that the house has been neglected recently, although we really tried (we worked on the house until 2 am Saturday night), we appreciate her willingness to deal with imperfection. Thank you Amber!
We finally made it out of the marina about 1:30 on Sunday, and decided to head to St. Helens. The boat handled beautifully, but we heard a worrying rattling noise. As a master mechanic (ok, just an inexperience grease monkey), I decided that it was the bolts on the propeller shaft hitting other bolts - we'd had this problem early on. So, we kept the engine speed below maximum until we reached St. Helens. As Cory (at 6'2" tall) can't fit into the space required to reach the propeller shaft, I had the pleasure (I mean the pain) of wedging my body into a small space, with my head, arms, and shoulders jammed between the waterlift muffler and the sides of the engine compartment. The propeller was below me, and I couldn't lean on it, so I leaned on my hands on the floor around it. After about 15 minutes of inspecting the bolts while moaning every now and then (Cory is great with the sympathy), we finally decided that it probably wasn't the bolts. I managed to wiggle my way out of the hoses and boards wrapped lovingly around me without too much blood loss. After some thought, we decided to head on to Astoria the next day and troubleshoot the problem prior to heading out to the ocean.
Cory and I are notorious for not being able to go to bed at night and having great difficulty at getting up in the morning. Well, on the boat we don't seem to have that problem. We left St. Helens at 5:30 am and made it to Astoria by 2 pm. The tide was with us, so we made good time. On a 35 foot sailboat, that means 7.5 to 9 nautical miles per hour. I believe that a nautical miles is 1.15 miles per hour (or the other way around), so, as they say, it is the journey that matters, not the destination. It was so wonderful to be on the river again. The wind was always on our nose, so we didn't get to sail. But, that was OK. The water was fairly calm, the weather was great, and Balancing Act is a joy to be on. We kept the engine at full throttle, and worked on troubleshooting the rattle. We finally decided that it isn't coming from the engine. We think that either a board is rattling or one of the tools that got lost in a secret space on the boat (she has many of those) is letting us know it is there. We will try to track it down, but as the engine seems to be working perfectly, we plan to head out of Astoria early Thursday morning.
We are so excited to be heading on this trip and appreciate everyone who put up with our busy schedule for the past year. We don't expect this trip to be completely relaxing - we are on a boat after all! But, we are already enjoying being able to use the boat, not just work on it. We will spend some time working in the next month, but will be able to focus on having an adventure.
The ocean journey will take about 30 hours. It's nice that we have made this trip before. We still are a bit nervous before heading out into the big green sea, but that is OK. It is important to respect this great body of water. Our first stop will be Neah Bay, where we will probably sleep for about 12 hours. Then, it's off to Victoria, and good-bye to the US for a few months. We'll be sure to give you updates on our adventures, and try to include a few photos every now and then.
6 comments:
Very cool you two. Congrats on finally getting out of Dodge. Dave and I know what the rattle is, but we're not telling.
Frank told me you guys are sailing to Alaska, I can't believe it. Best of luck! Toby knows what the rattle is because he accidentally dropped a few of his Risk soldiers in the engine during a drunken night of board games -- that's how he lost so quickly.
Alyssa says the noise is a cat toy that the cats hid so you would not forget them.
Be safe!
Bon Voyage, you two. Wish we were heading out at the same time. Southern Cross should be ready (finally!) this weekend, but now we can't leave until about the 20th. Hope to catch up to you later this summer!
Nancy and Cory,
Vive La Balancing Act!
Yes, I would love to see some photos.
Kristen
Kristen-I've been meaning to add pictures, but somehow it seemed like it would be difficult. It wasn't, so here is one.
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