Fall Cruise 2010: Bigger Boat?

Oh What Do We do?

Oh, the dreaded curse of boating..... two footitis! Or in our case, ten footitis!
The thought of a bigger boat has been on our minds for some time now! This is a difficult decision, as moving up would mean giving up Kozad.

We do though have a wish list for what we would like to have in that next boat!

Trawler Style
Raised Pilot House
Single Engine
Covered Large Cockpit
Flybridge
Stand a Lone Shower
Hydronic Heating System
Generator
Increased Living Space
Queen Walk a Round Bed
7 to 8 Knot Cruise

A few of the boats we like:

Krogen 42 for sale in Sidney
Terri & Ki and Steve & Rolynn; both from Anacortes have KK42s




Pacific Trawler 40 for sale in Sidney
Joni and Charlie have a 2000 PT40 without a flybridge

Nordhavn 35 Coastal Pilot for sale in Anacortes
Rick & Jan have a N35 called MV Her's

We have looked at a lot of boats over the past few years; it is very hard to find something in as nice of condition and living space as we have on Kozad. We started looking at 34, 36 & 38 foot boats, but a lot of them did not even have the living space (salon) room that our boat' has. Kozad is very well laid out and for a 30 foot boat has a lot of space!
The only problem is that we would like to cruise for 5 to 6 months and with that amount of time spent on the boat we believe there is a need to go bigger! Either that or Craig might find his way over board.....
Kozad has been the perfect boat for us over the past 4 cruising seasons, and has allowed us both to learn what we want in boating and in a boat! As well Kozad has afforded us the opportunity to gain valuable experience on a boat which is fun to cruise; as well as being easy to dock, maintain and handle!
If a mistake happens while getting on or off the dock, Kozad is easy to correct , fend off and you can even hand walk our boat around the dock! The 30 foot size is also a benefit as we are always found a space at a marina, or can cruise into small bays for anchoring. A big plus is the fuel economy, we only burning 1 gallon of diesel an hour.
The best part of owning Kozad is the uniqueness of her design! Kozad draws many a passer by to inquiry and admire our trawler! Kozad has allowed us to meet many new people at every port! Craig is reminded on a regular basis that this attraction will end if we give up Kozad.

Wait a minute; sounds like we should just be keeping our Kozad!

Jan and Craig on a N35!
One of Jan's Favorite; well next to the N46!
But way too much money as there is an additional 9% duty on this boat!

Of course the major problem about going bigger, is bigger money at each juncture of the boating process: ie. purchase, maintenance, insurance, operating, etc, etc, etc!

We would also be restricted in where we can buy a boat, and for that matter sell our boat; as we must ensure all US and Canada Customs restrictions and regulations are followed. There are guidelines related to selling Canadian Registered Vessels within US Waters and Canadian Tax implications in respect to purchasing a boat which is not under the NAFTA regulations.

As you can see, before we make any decisions, there will be a lot of home work, research and consultation required!

But the big benefit of going bigger is having a bigger boat! And you know how boys like their toys big!

So, for now window shopping is a nice option and one which does not cost anything!

Time will tell..... stay tuned for Craig's winter whining!

Fall Cruise 2010: Our Last Days In Anacortes

26th September to 28th September:

After a sunny day on Saturday (25th) the rains arrived once more on Sunday and continued until Tuesday (28th). The clouds finally cleared and the sun came out; one draw back of having covered moorage is that we are facing East! So we have shade most of the day and do not the benefit of direct sunshine.

We did a Costco run!
Jan was hungry and ordered up an ice cream bar!
She was surprised with a giant hand dipped chocolate and almond bar.
This one is already half gone.

We have spent this week cleaning Kozad and getting organized; emptying/organizing the lazarette and washing out the storage areas, inventorying the inside of the boat and taking off a lot of items that we have not used for a couple of years.

Jan did the laundry and is happy with the marina laundry machines which are only a dollar per load. Jan has the responsibility of packing, loading and finalizing our provisions and gear! Not an easy task.

Jan organizing the car so our boat stuff will fit!
She fits those jeans nicely!!!!

When we went to Sidney on the 22nd Sept. one of our tasks was to drive to "The Harbour Chandler" in Nanaimo to pick up a search light bulb! Craig had not been successful in finding one to fit our Vintage Ray Line search light; we were surprised that this Chandlery had two in stock. We took both as Craig still has not been able to find another one anywhere else!

Kozad's vintage Ray Line Search Light

The allusive search light bulb!

Replacing the search light bulb was one of the easier tasks we completed this week!


Craig was able to get a few extra coats of Cetol stain on the outside wood surfaces of Kozad. The humid and cool weather was frustrating and made applying the masking tape a frustrating job! Even with the sun shining, outside of our dock, it still took 24 hours for the Cetol to dry enough for a second coat!

Craig applying the first coat of Cetol on Kozad's caprails

We were recently contacted by Three Sheets Northwest. This is an on-line boating publication which provides a resource and services boaters in the Pacific Northwest. The site which started nearly two years ago and has about 15,000 readers a month. The site has a daily featured story in addition to shorter news stories; as well excerpts of posts from local boating blogs are provided under a section called: "The Guest Dock" .

We were asked if Kozad's Blog could join the other Bloggers on the Guest Dock! Of course we said yes....

We are very, very pleased with our move to Anchor Cove Marina; Richard is the best Marina Manager around; he is knowledgeable, friendly and helpful! Frank, who also works at the Marina, is also very helpful and has extensive marine experience.

We have met great people here; there is of course are great friends Richard and Gwen on MV Northstar, Jim and Leslie who are two slips from us have an older wood Monk Cruiser; as well as a 42' sailboat in the Panama! Steve and Rolynn have a 42' Krogen and are also on our dock; then there is Charles and Joan who have a 40' Pacific Trawler, MV Sea Eagel, on the outside uncovered dock. They are great people who have invited us for dinner on our first night in Anacortes.

These are just a few of the boaters who are at Anchor Cove Marina; and then of course moving here has also introduced us to Bill and Darith, who have MV Quest a Willard 40PH at the Anacortes Marina.

In our short time of boating and owning MV Kozad, we have met some truly amazing and wonderful people! Boaters are a friendly crew.....

Fall Cruise 2010: Off to Sidney!

22nd to 26th September: Family Commitments!

We took the ferry from Anacortes to Sidney on the 22nd as we went to celebrate Garry's Birthday and take the opportunity to see our son Jim.

This was a fast trip; originally we were going to take Kozad to Victoria but the bad weather kept us on the dock in Anacortes. The trip was also timely as Jim's best friend, Ian (son of our close friends Glenn & Janice) was demonstrating his Engineering Project at Camosun College in Victoria.

Peter, Luke, Jim & Ian

Ian's big project!

On our way back to Anacortes there was a lot of Harley Davidson motor cycles in the ferry line up. They were heading for the annual Anacotes Oyster Run, which has thousands of bikers attending!

Oyster Run Bikes waiting for the ferry.




Killer Whale Pod spotted off of Spieden Island
This is the Victoria Clipper with passengers on deck for a look!

This tug was near the ferry terminal.
The dinghy was doing a kick start!
Pulling the tug which turns the prop to start the engine?

We arrived back to the marina and the sun was shining; warm hot weather! Richard and Gwen met us at the marina; we had a great dinner on MV Northstar, prepared by Gwen! Gwen is definitely one of the better chef's we know!

We joked that now we were back on Kozad the weather would once again turn to our typical wet and cold boating weather!

Sure enough at 1130pm the rain woke us as it cascaded off the boat shed roofs! Thank God for being under cover! I bet the bikers attending the Oyster Run are disappointed; when we attended the run last year it was a beautiful sunny and warm day!

Our black FX sitting in the gloom at Anchor Cove Marina



Anchor Cove Marina
Fog, Rain & Cold!



Jan coming back from her shower in the rain


This trip we put Kozad in bow first!
It seems to be more private than stern first.

Fall Cruise 2010: Wet We Are!

19th to 22nd September: Getting Organized

After arriving back at Anchor Cove and settling into our slip; we took the next couple of days to clean Kozad, do laundry and exploring Anacortes!

Old Waterfront Building next to our Marina


Craig scrubbing the decks!


Takes a while to do a 30' boat with a bronze toothbrush!
Only way to get all the small lichen growth off of the nonskid decks.


We met our friends from the Comox Yacht Club at Anacortes
Four couples with five dogs!
One of our non-rainy partial days


Glenn & Don from MV Whiteshell
LaConner, Washington

The weather has continued to be challenging, having our boat under cover has made a significant difference for us. At least while we are on the dock!

Although wet weather, cool temperatures (averaging 10 degrees below normal) and living on the boat has created more challenges. One of them was dealing with very high levels of humidity: the outside RH has been sitting around 90%.

Kozad's New Dehumidifier!

We purchased a humidifier for Kozad; this has made a significant difference and we were able to decrease the RH inside our boat from 88% to 60%. Things are not so damp and cool feeling now!

We will be leaving Kozad for a few days to go to Sidney to celebrate a significant birthday and the timing is right for us to see our son Jim and the boys from his University House!

Fall Cruise 2010: Plans Change

19th to 19th September: One Long Day!

It was an interesting day, our trip from Seattle to Port Townsend! The morning was nice when we departed early at 0630 to take advantage of the tides & currents, timing our arrival at Port Townsend Canal for slack! The sky cast a nice blue hue on Seattle as we left the Bell Harbour Marina.

Seattle Space Needle
Early morning departure on Kozad


Cruise ships abound!

Craig with boaters hair!
Nice shoes.... again

Yikes.....
Jan's boating hair!

Jan enjoying some rare sunshine!
We had a beautiful cruise to Port Townsend with calm seas.

Our friends Dave, Carol and trusty dog Jasper, on their Nordhavn 43 MV Navigator, called us on the VHF radio. We arranged to meet them on the south end of the Port Townsend Canal.

Port Townsend Cut

MV Navigator
Dave & Carol's Nordhavn 43


Captain Dave
At home on his N43 as well as his 120' Tug Boat


Carol & Jasper

Navigator had left Blind Bay on Shaw Island also at 0630. They travelled to Port Townsend in thick fog; but reported the fog was clearing at Port Townsend. Dave cautioned us about how bad the fog had been and suggested we poke our nose out at Wilson Point to take a peek! The fog does tend to lift between 1 and 3 and we may get lucky.... or so we thought.

We drifted along side one another catching up and then waved good bye as we headed to Port Townsend and they onto Kingston!

Fog clearing as we approach Port Townsend

Fog at Port Townsend

First rule of boating - No Schedules! This is where we made an error in judgment; we thought we had a schedule to keep and were factoring this into our thinking!

As fog usually burns off come noon time, or by 2 or 3pm; and as fog was being forecast-ed for the next day we thought if we waited one more day we would be in the same situation, at the same place and same time, the next day. We made the decision to push on.

Fog Bank, Admiralty Inlet

So, we decided to poke our nose out there and thinking that the fog was lifting (as it had at Port Townsend) we made the decision to continue to Friday Harbour!

We would be there waiting for our friends who were arriving on their boat... schedule kept!

Makes sense right! Wrong.....

Big mistake!!!!

We left Port Wilson and entered a thinning fog, thinking this is not so bad, only a small bank, soon to clear! Instead of getting thinner it just kept getting thicker. We consulted with Seattle Traffic Control on Ch. 5a, who advised we had no conflicting traffic as we were proceeding to cross the shipping lanes.

This was good visibility; at times we could not even see the water around the boat.

Well, at a speed of 3 to 4 kts and 3 hours later, we finally popped out of the fog half way up and 1/4 mile off the outside of Whidbey Island.

Fog Again, off of Whidbey Island

Big Sigh of Relief! This was only temporary though, as 15 minutes later we entered another very thick fog bank which seemed to last forever. Two hours later and still beating against the current, we popped out of the fog just south of Guemes Channel at 6:00pm.

As Guemes Channel leads to Anacortes and to where we have moored Kozad, we decided it would be best if we headed for our home slip at Anchor Bay Marina instead of Friday Harbour which was an extra 3 hours.

We arrived home, some 13 hours & 68 miles later, after departing Seattle. The decision to push past Port Townsend was wrong and luckily we arrived safely in Anacortes! We learned a few lessons on this trip; needless to say one of them was not to take fog lightly!

There is a saying; "God takes care of babies and fools" We are too old to be babies, but obviously, not too old to be fools! Lessons learnt....

Fall Cruise 2010: Seattle

16th to 19th September: Tacoma to Seattle

Our visit to Tacoma ended with us departing under low cloud, rain and fog!

Seattle was to be our last stop with our friends Richard & Gwen on MV Northstar. We departed Tacoma an hour earlier than Richard and Gwen. As we cruise at 6.5 kts and the 40' Northstar travels at 7.5 to 8.0 kts the staggered start allows us to both arrive in Seattle at the same time.

Fog with limited visibility!
Two Naval ships at the entrance to Tacoma
These were the boats with the red boat crew escape systems on the stern


Kozad leaving Commencement Bay
Fog covered Brown's Point
Tacoma, Washington


MV Northstar a Willard 40 FBS
Towing their Portland Pudgy
Just off of Brace Point, Washington


Puget Sound Fog
Washington State Ferry from Vashon Island to Fountleroy Cove
South of Seattle

Kozad following Northstar into Elliot Bay
Seattle Space Needle and Skyline


Bell Harbour Marina, Downtown Seattle

We moored below Pike Street Market; downtown Seattle at the Bell Harbour Marina. This is a great location and we were within walking distance to the downtown area.

Kozad at Bell Harbour
Downtown Seattle Sky Line

We had the benefit of being with our tour guides Gwen and Richard, they had lived in Seattle for a number of years and know the city well! They gave us a great tour; took us to see a lot of interesting shops and a superb dinner at Anthony's Restaurant as their guests!

Seattle Waterfront


Pulled Pork & French Fry Truck!



Famous Seattle Public Market at Pike Street


Pike Place Market

Jan and Gwen taking in the market!
Fresh vegetables, meats, fish, flowers.... great shopping!

Hanging Peppers!


Stall after stall of flowers are offered at reasonable prices.
$10.00 for a large bouquet!


Great Seafood!


Shrimp, Halibut Cheeks, Caribeaan Lobster & Scallops
All giant sized; the lobster tails were 12" long!


Fish Market Humour


While we at the market the Canadian Navy and a Cruise Ship docked!



Kozad docked next to HMCS Calgary
Canadian Navy Frigate

The rain started again; it absolutely poured for hours on end! We had taken out chicken from the freezer and were hosting Gwen & Richard for supper; so Craig had to BBQ in the rain. So for our last evening in Seattle we had a great last supper together before we parted paths; we were heading for Port Townsend and Friday Harbour while MV Northstar had a short cruise across Puget Sound to Bainbridge Island.

BBQ time on Kozad!
Craig needs a bigger boat or at least a covered cockpit.
Notice the attractive shoes and apron

Kozad in Seattle

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Seattle; this fall cruise introduced us to Urban Cruising. Exploring large cities from a boat docked at the waterfront is something we had not experienced before; but one which we will look forward to again!

Victoria, Vancouver, Olympia awaits......