Here you will find tales of voyages past and present on our trusty Pacific Seacraft Dana 24, "Sockdolager," and our Bigfoot29 powerboat, "Raven," from Port Townsend, Washington, USA. In 2009 we sailed north from Puget Sound up the west coast of Vancouver Island to the Queen Charlotte Islands (now called Haida Gwaii.) In 2010 we went back to the west coast of Vancouver Island. In July 2011 we left the Northwest, sailed to Mexico, and in March 2012 we crossed the Pacific to French Polynesia, then on to the Cooks, Niue and Tonga. We spent several months in New Zealand, and in May 2013 loaded Sockdolager (and ourselves) on a container ship for San Francisco. In June and July 2013 we sailed north along the California, Oregon and Washington coasts, and in August we arrived home. In October 2016, Sockdolager found new owners, and we began cruising on Raven, a unique wooden 29' powerboat. In 2018 we cruised up to Glacier Bay, Alaska, and back. But in 2024 we had the chance to buy Sockdolager back (we missed her), so we sold Raven. We hope you enjoy reading about our adventures as much as we enjoy having them. (And there will be more.)



SITE INDEX (Updated June 2019)



To help new readers navigate this blog, and to make it easier for longtime readers to find information, we've added this Site Index featuring click-through links to blog posts organized by topic and year. Not all blog posts are indexed, but reader favorites and those with topics of interest are. Because many blog posts cover multiple topics, several links may take you to the same post.  Currently this index covers the voyage from Port Townsend to New Zealand and back, from mid-2011 through the present time. We'll expand it to cover other years, too.

Part one includes passages, meaning posts written at sea or about a particular passage.
Part two contains posts about places: islands, cities, ports of call.
Part three is humor posts, but much of the humor writing is embedded in larger posts.
Part four is seamanship. 
Part five is health topics. 
Part six is about wildlife.



Summary of VOYAGE STATISTICS: Port Townsend to New Zealand


PART ONE: PASSAGES
PASSAGES 2011

Pacific Northwest
Port Townsend to Neah Bay, Washington: 1, 2.
Neah Bay to San Francisco, California,
     via Eureka and Drake’s Bay: 1, 2, 3, 4.

 California

San Francisco to Monterey.

Monterey, CA to Los Angeles via Channel Islands: 1, 2.

Los Angeles to San Diego via Channel Islands and Dana Point.

San Diego to Ensenada, Mexico.

 Mexico
Coastwise in Mexico.
(See "Places" section for posts about ports of call in Mexico.)

 PASSAGES 2012

 Mexico to South Pacific, 37 days
     Start here, leaving from San Jose del Cabo.
     End here, arriving Marquesas, French Polynesia.
Pacific Crossing Photos.
Jim's Assessment of our Pacific Crossing.
(See "Places" section for posts about individual islands.)

 French Polynesia
Marquesas to Tuamotu Archipelago: 1, 2, 3.
Tuamotus to Tahiti.
Tahiti to Bora Bora via Moorea.

 Cook Islands
Bora Bora to Aitutaki: 1, 2.
Aitutaki to Palmerston.
Palmerston to Niue.

 Niue
Niue to Tonga.

 Tonga
Tonga to New Zealand:
     Start here, leaving Vava'u for Nuku Alofa, Tonga.
     End here, arrival at Marsden Cove, New Zealand.

 New Zealand
(See "Places" section for posts about cruising in New Zealand)

 PASSAGES 2013

 New Zealand to San Francisco, via container ship
19-day diary posted from sea:
     Start here, leaving Tauranga, NZ.
     End here, arriving Oakland, California.
     4-part trans-Pacific "Shipping News" recaps with photos: 1, 2, 3, 4.

 California to Port Townsend
San Francisco to Crescent City: 1, 2. 

Oregon:

     Coos Bay: 1, 2.

Washington:
     Columbia River (Ilwaco)
     Neah Bay
     Port Townsend 1, 2.

 PASSAGES 2018

 Port Townsend to Alaska, May to August 2018  (MAP)
Departure & first week; Canadian wilds to Prince Rupert; Prince Rupert to Hoonah, Alaska;  Glacier Bay; Icy Strait to Juneau; Juneau to Craig via Tracy Arm; Craig, AK to Prince Rupert via Barrier Islands; Prince Rupert to Port Townsend via Seymour Narrows.

 Off Center Harbor video with footage from Glacier Bay & rest of Alaska voyage.

 PART TWO: PLACES
PLACES 2011

 Washington
Port Townsend
Neah Bay

 California
Eureka and Drake's Bay (Point Reyes.)
San Francisco Bay Odyssey (6 weeks)
     Part 1
     Part 2
     Part 3
Monterey, Big Sur and Santa Cruz.
Northern Channel Islands and Marina del Rey: 1, 2.
Catalina Island.
San Diego.

 Mexico
Ensenada, Turtle Bay, Bahia Santa Maria, Cabo San Lucas: 1, 2, 3.
Bahia de Los Muertos: 1, 2.
Espiritu Santo and Isla Partida.
La Paz and the Sea of Cortez: 1, 2.

 PLACES 2012

 French Polynesia
Hiva Oa, Marquesas.
Tahuata and Hiva Oa, Marquesas: 1, 2.
Nuku Hiva, Marquesas: 1, 2.
Ua Pou, Marquesas.
Fakarava, Tuamotus: 1, 2.
Tahiti and Moorea, Societies.
Bora Bora, Societies.

 Cook Islands
Aitutaki: 1, 2, 3, 4.

 Niue
Niue.

 Tonga 
Tonga: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

 New Zealand
All NZ blog posts:
     Start here.
     End here.
Kawau Island.
Auckland: 1, 2.

 PLACES 2013

 New Zealand
Hauraki Gulf; Waiheke Island.
Great Barrier Island.
Great Mercury Island.
Tauranga, North; South Island road trip, Stewart Island.

 California
San Francisco: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
Crescent City: 1, 2.

 Oregon
Coos Bay: 1, 2.

 Washington
Columbia River (Ilwaco.)
Neah Bay: 1, 2, 3, 4.
Port Angeles.
Port Townsend: 1, 2.
The Case for the World Feeling Bigger.

 PLACES 2018

 Alaska
See posts from May through August 2018

 PART THREE: HUMOR PIECES
(Most humor text is embedded in a larger post)
What is Sailing?
Small-Boat Zen.
It's Not My Memory, It's... I Forgot.
Effective Use of the Stinkeye.
Gringo Lingo Bingo.
Mental Games for Mental Cases.
Blubbedy-Sploosh.
Cooking = Chasing Food.
Bowling For Sockdolager.
The Dark Side of the Cantaloupe.
Fwactured Fwench.
How Not to Start Your Day.
The Duck That Lit the Dock.
The Fun of Having a Boat With a Name Like Sockdolager: 1, 2.
An Epic Tale Involving Robin Knox-Johnston.
How a Fish Saved our Marriage (after nearly wrecking it). Also, the Attack of the Foam Blob. And in the same post: The Enraged Pet Beaver that Destroyed an Entire Village. 
How a Fish Saved our Marriage (Again). Also in this post: The Stealth Iceberg Attack and a Recipe for 10,000 Year-Old Iced Cocktails. 
Ominous Bear Poop.
A Whale Selfie and a Macho Kayaker.
Aground! Psych! Also in this post: The (Fishy) Battle of Thermopylae.
Bowling for the King and Queen of Slow. Also in this post: Showdown at the Dodd (Narrows) Corral.


Back to Top
PART FOUR: SEAMANSHIP


Learning to make the boat sail in unusual conditions: 1, 2.
Conserving fuel: 1, 2, 3, 4.
Being becalmed: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
Anchoring in coral.
Sail repairs.
The Mother of All Groundings.
Summary post on Heaving-to.
Other posts in which we hove-to: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
Abandoning a boat at sea.
     Update on abandoned boat.
Unbelievably dumb hazards at sea.
Passive-aggressive anchoring techniques.
Flopper-stopper in use (photos.)
Outfitting a small boat for voyaging (part 3 of video series.)

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)