Sailing home in the rain

If we thought it was a bit damp getting up to Kingston, that was nothing compared to the drenching we got on the way home from there! Yesterday was wet and chilly out on the water; yet despite that, we had a nice, fun sail down to Shilshole, where we are now tucked away again, safe and warm.

Mandy actually sailed most of the way. We pulled out around 1100 with the rain and winds both relatively light in Appletree Cove, so we motored out into clear air beyond the southern point (query: the point forming the southern tip of Appletree Cove isn't named on my chart... does it have a name? or does the cove extend technically all the way out to President's Point further south?) and picked up a nice 10 knot breeze from the southeast to raise sail in.

After that it was just a matter of beating south, which was not terribly onerous as the wind remained moderate and from a favorable direction. We took some pains to stay out of the shipping lanes as the intermittent showers hampered visibility somewhat, but there weren't many other vessels out on the water. Not a great day for it according to conventional thinking; but it was kind of a fun little trip for us. The wind kicked up as we got closer to Shilshole and we made the trip in about three hours.

We also took some advantage of the rain to go pump out our holding tank. For those unfamiliar with the process, consider again something I have mentioned here before: there is nowhere "down" in a boat for anything to fall or trickle out of. Everything that comes into the hull stays there unless removed, settling to the lowest point physically possible and cluttering or messing the place up in the meantime. This, of course, includes sewage.

We have a small chemical toilet installed by a previous owner, rather than a more conventional marine head, but we improved the installation a couple years ago with the addition of a holding tank that we can empty the toilet into while we are out and about. This extends our cruising range in the no-dumping environment of Washington State (BC, with fewer pump-out stations and laxer environmental regulations, is simply a very large and diluted open sewer) considerably. But eventually, one must pay the piper, and when we do so by visiting the conveniently located pump out station provided at the marina fuel dock, we prefer to do so in the rain... Nature's hose, constantly directed over our shoulder to flush away any gruesome bits of evil stew that somehow escape the massive vacuum system that sucks the tank empty.

Because of our unusual setup, flushing the system is more complicated than it is on other vessels. We have a two-stage process, where sewage is pumped from toilet to tank, and then sucked out of the tank. To flush everything out, we go through that process a couple of times, which involves a lot of getting on and off the boat, turning the vacuum on and off, turning the flushing hose on and off, and crawling into the cockpit to work the pump. Mandy hates everything to do with the head. Still, I am not sure she wouldn't hate a conventional marine head even worse, with its greater complexity and propensity for breakage. I am pretty happy with what we have. A different setup would necessitate a much larger holding tank to serve for the same period, which would eat into already limited storage space.

But the tank is emptied and we're here where we can use the marina facilities now. We're hunkered down with the heater on full blast, drying out foulies, waiting out what looks like a week or so of pretty miserable weather coming on. Our timing isn't usually all that great, but I have to say we timed this trip just about right. We probably enjoyed about the last week of continuous decent weather this year, and finished up just as things are getting worse. I'm not sure how often or where else we might go this winter, but trips will probably be considerably less frequent. We will probably be kitty-sitting for much of the winter, as my folks take their RV and head south for sunshine. There is probably at least one sailing trip up to Port Townsend in the cards sometime in November or December for a haul-out; the hull needs re-painted and our rudder stuffing box needs repacked. Apart from that, I think I may be content to sit in a marina and wait for spring!