Pacific Northwest Adventure Summer 2015
| Vessel Name: | Mojo |
| Vessel Make/Model: | J35 |
| Hailing Port: | Stockton Sailing Club |
| Crew: | Bob New, Pat Felten, Capt. George Siro |
09 August 2015 | Oregon Coast
Pacific Northwest Adventure
After checking out all the breweries from Astoria to Portland we used our last $30 to get our food supplies for the trip south with plans to visit friendly harbors. Friday late afternoon July 24th ventured out of the Columbia sandbar for our next stop. The first night the clew of our down wind Spinakker came off as if someone cut it with a knife. Continued with 150 genoa without sacrificing any speed. Next day the wind died and the crew started motoring not able to handle the swells and no wind. Before dark we caught a nice albacore tuna that fed us for the rest of the trip. Our motor also died and after checking it had run completely our of oil. Added oil but never started again. At that our safe harbor options were eliminated and only one way to go to San Francisco Bay. Seven foot seas and wind In the twenties or low thirties mojo flew thru the waves some times double riffed and no head sail and still hitting 10 knots. After crossing in to California the winds and seas got more challenging at night but Mojo handled like a pro. We crossed Golden Gate Bridge Wednesday 7-22-15 9:40 am. I decided to press on thru the delta for Stockton another 80 miles of river sailing arriving too late for the beer can race at 7:45 sailing into our slip. Many thanks to the merit 25 Columbia River sailors for their advice and hospitality. I do regret not making it to Portland and racing with the famous merit fleet. We spend several days in Astoria a historic town known for its ships, salmon fishing and timber. We really appreciated the camaraderie and hospitality of the Astoria Yacht Club. A group of die hard sailors with the largest concentration of Olson 30s on the west coast sailing in the mouth of the Columbia River next to the infamous Columbia sand bar that has been named the graveyard of the pacific for the hundreds of ships and lives lost. This was too much of a challenge for three Delta Bay sailors and raced in the Astoria yc memorial race with our loaded to the hilt J35. Even after taking two seconds and a first across the finish line we finished 4th overall thanks to our low phrf rating. (No credit for our payload roller furler etc). We really fell in love with Astoria, and it easily ranks as the best place we visited on the west coast from Canada to California. Since there are no merits in Astoria I would appreciate
Pacific Northwest Adventure
