JCTownsley.com

Welcome all to the first installment of the “Dream Catcher” sailing
journey. As some of you know, I was asked to help bring a 38′
Freedom Sailboat down the Pacific Coast. Leaving from Port Angeles,
we will make our way out the straits of Juan de Fuca, round Cape
Flattery, beat down the Pacific Coast, and finally make the long
journey up the Columbia River.
Currently I am en-route on highway 101. After checking over the boat
today we might go out for a quick sail-trial on the Straits.
The tentative itinerary is as follows:

Sunday: Boat check and sail trial in Port Angeles, WA
Monday: Port Angeles to Neah Bay WA — At this point it looks like a
long day. According to our Mr. Tides X program, slack is at 3:53am.
If we can get out by 5am, we could ride the ebb until about noon.
While we would still get hit by the flood, leaving early with the
ebb will save us from motoring against current all day long.

*Tuesday: Neah Bay to Columbia Bar– This part is debatable. First
of all everything depends on the weather. Saturday the coastal
forecast looked snotty. Today’s forecasts are looking better. It
appears that Tuesday through Thursday will be our window. But we
will have to keep checking the forecasts. If we went for it Tuesday
morning, we have three bar crossings available. According to Mr.
Tides X, the first low on Wednesday would be at 8:42am. Crossing the
bar between 9:15 and 9:45 would be good timing then. However, the
ebb is a ten foot tide change, meaning if we were early, and coastal
conditions had turned for the worse, we would be in for a nasty
crossing. I am more inclined towards the 3:36pm high, and the 8:24pm
low. I don’t want to cross at night, but if we went for the slack
tide in the afternoon, if we were making slow progress we would still
have the evening slack. Like I said, all of this depends on the
weather.

When I crossed last year there was a significant discrepancy between
my calculations from Mr. Tides X, and the US Coast Guard. Feeling as
though the Coast Guard should know what is going on, I went with
their slack times, and boy were they off! I believe they told us a
slack was at 10:20 am or so coming off an ebb. Funny that we were
making over ten knots of boat speed then. Usually motoring at 5.5
knots, that means we had at least a 4.5 knot current flowing out of
the Columbia. I’ll call Cape Disappointment tonight, get their
times, compare them with times online and my times, and go from there.

Well I think we are almost to Port Angeles, so another update later.
I assumed who would like these updates, so if you are like me and get
way too many emails a day, please feel free to let me know that you
don’t want them. These updates are also automatically being posted
to my website, www.jctownsley.com, and to the Cascadia Pacific
Northwest Sailing list.

I will not be monitoring my regular emails during the journey
(including the PacNW list). If you would like to email me, mail to
sailing@jctownsley.com.

Thanks!

Josh Townsley