Blessed Lady

This is the cruising blog of the sailing yacht Mabrouka. The Favorites in the side bar allow those with discriminating taste to filter for just the stuff you want to read. Thanks for visiting, Roy.

13 September 2015
21 August 2015
21 August 2015
20 June 2015 | Marina Mazatlan, Mazatlan, Mexico
15 June 2015 | Marina Mazatlan, Mazatlan, Mexico
15 June 2015 | Marina Mazatlan, Mazatlan, Mexico
15 June 2015 | Mazatlan Marina, Mazatlan Mexico
13 April 2015 | Off Club Nautico, Mazatlan Commercial Harbor, Mazatlan, MX
15 February 2015 | Marina Mazatlan, Mazatlan, Mexico
13 February 2015 | Marina Mazatlan, Mazatlan, Mexico
25 January 2015
06 January 2015 | Mazatlan, MX
24 December 2014 | Marina Mazatlan, Mazatlan, Mexico
24 December 2014 | Mazatlan, MX
22 December 2014
21 December 2014
18 December 2014 | Playa Isla de la Piedra, Mazatlan, MX
18 December 2014 | Mazatlan, MX
15 December 2014 | Ensenada des los Muertos, Mexico

Stern tie (back-dated from 09/05)

01 September 2013 | Princess Bay on Wallace Island, Canada
Roy / Mostly sunny with light breeze
Stern ties

I awoke just before 8am to the sound of a seaplane landing in the bay, buzzing loudly on its way through the anchorage to load/unload passengers at the dock. No noise restriction enforced, I guessed, so after breakfast I cranked up my generator to charge batteries. Eventually I got bold enough to get out my orbital sander and kicked off some varnishing projects with an hour or so of obnoxious power sanding.

Having sufficiently disturbed the peace in the anchorage, I hoisted the hook in early afternoon and headed to Princess Bay on Wallace Island and my first shot at stern tying in a crowded bay. It was less than successful.

I put my engineering mind to work trying to anticipate how to do this thing. It would have been straight forward if I hadn’t been by myself and there hadn’t been a moderate breeze working at cross-purposes, but I proceeded as if I could either figure it out or brute force my way through the process.

There was another boat departing a prime spot, so I waited for them to leave and dropped my anchor about where they’d had theirs, figuring I would run my stern line to the same tree that they’d used. Well, the first part was routine, so easily accomplished. Then came the hard bit. Safely anchored, I got into the dinghy with my stern line in hand, but the wind had swung Mabrouka’s stern farther from the intended tree than the line would reach. After tugging and pulling unsuccessfully with the dinghy for a while, I gave up in favor of a place further down the island that I actually could reach, at least with the end of the line.

The point, though, is to double the line and resecure it to the stern of the boat so that, upon departure, you can just let it go, pull the loop back in, drop the anchor and set off for the high seas. Even with all my engineering and sailoring tricks in play, I just couldn’t pull Mabrouka’s stern far enough up wind to double the line up. The guy on the next boat finally stopped being entertained by my antics and came over to help, but even so we could not overcome Mabrouka’s weight and windage and I decided to give up and wait for the wind to die down a bit.

Several boats came into the anchorage after that. I soon became worried that all the anchoring spots would be used up and implored one of them to send help after they got secured. Mike and his son, James, showed up about half an hour later and, with their help and guidance, we got Mabrouka secured at the inner end of the bay. Whew! It’s simple when you have enough hands for the chore.

Safely stern-tied
Comments
Vessel Name: Mabrouka
Vessel Make/Model: CT-41
Hailing Port: Seattle, WA
Crew: Roy Neyman
About:
Mabrouka and I have been partners in crime since October 1998, hanging about in West Coast waters, first in San Diego, then in Seattle. All of that time we've lived together aboard. [...]
Extra:
I've called this blog "Blessed Lady" because that's my preferred translation from Arabic for "Mabrouka". She's a 1980 CT-41, one of several clones of the original Bill Garden design Mariner ketches. At 50 feet from the tip of her mizzen boom to the tip of her bow sprit, she's 16 tons of [...]
Mabrouka's Photos - Main
Photos 1 to 10 of 10
1
On the streets of Freemont
Street art edited.
Elvis the stuffed cat is a memento of my daughters at the age of about 5.  The peace sign was a gift from good friend, Karyn Borcich.  Thanks to both!
This is Swan as I knew him, though in a more rugged environment than we ever shared.  We usually met at the coffee shop or at Voula
This is of Swan as I would also like to have known him, ...cigarettes, cameras and wine.
This is Steve hosting our Elliott Bay Design Group company picnic at his vacation home in Darington.
I never went fishing with Steve, although he let me try out his fly casting rig in the river by his house during one of the company picnics he hosted.  I
The winter slip on Lake Union
Temporary raft up with Molly Bella near my old slip at Stimson Marina
 
1
This album shares photos from mainland and Baja Mexico.
1 Photo | 3 Sub-Albums
Created 1 March 2015
The beginning of the South Pacific cruise, heading to San Diego and Mexico
1 Photo | 6 Sub-Albums
Created 15 August 2014
Killing time with local sailing and projects before heading south with the Coho Ho Ho cruiser's rally
56 Photos
Created 29 June 2014
Kathy and Karyn (with a "Y") used me as an excuse for a party. I was just fine with that!
25 Photos
Created 31 May 2014
On Lake Union where Mabrouka and I spent the winter
20 Photos
Created 31 May 2014
Shakedown cruise to Port Townsend
7 Photos
Created 25 May 2014
Gunkholing in the Seattle area, with me and Mabrouka getting our sea legs back under us.
50 Photos | 28 Sub-Albums
Created 14 April 2013
Custom made sailing skiff hand-built by NW School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Port Hadlock, WA
18 Photos
Created 21 March 2013
Pre-retirement cruising pics
27 Photos
Created 21 March 2013
Photos accompanying Projects blogs.
43 Photos | 1 Sub-Album
Created 12 March 2013