San Francisco Yacht Club

I flew into SFO at 11:30 and made it safely to boat to go right out on a fantastic day sail around the bay. The wind was ripping and we were hauling back and forth, playing in the waves and with the wind.  SO MUCH FUN, made me realize how much I missed this boat in the two weeks I was gone. Though I am a mix of emotions about being away for a year, I know that it is going to be an adventure like one I have never had before. Through all the smiles, laughs, and tears, I know it is going to be an experience I will never forget. 

We are moored at the San Francisco Yacht Club (a very fancy place) for at least the next week or so doing presentations and tours. We then hopefully move onto some other clubs in the Bay.

P.S. Sorry about the short post, we are off to explore San Francisco today!

Just a couple photos from this summer!

Sea Lions on Whale Rocks in the Straights

Great Blue Heron on my last day in PT

Mt. Baker looking majestic as ever

Sand, Varnish, Repeat

My last days here in Port Townsend have been filled with work and more work to get the boat ready for offshore!! We have started tackling some big projects but also trying to knock off some of the smaller ones. 

As of yesterday, Robert finished installing the water maker (takes salt and desalinizes it) and we successfully made water! Yipeeeeeeee!! 

The High Frequency Radio has been installed and is working. We can even listen to what they are saying in Hawaii! 

Our small boat, Ryder, has been sanded, primed and gotten a fresh coat of white paint outside and we flipped her over today to the inside. Her oars were also sanded, varnished and painted to make things nice and shiny once again! 

The combing rail in the cockpit has been repaired of its wounds and is ready for the big sand and varnish once the fog lifts and the rain clears!

The forestaysail and jib have been bent on and with a little love here and there, are flying wonderfully. I spent yesterday at the sail loft with Holly and we working getting a bag for the storm trisail figured out (plus put Martha's race number on, 226!), built the mid-ships bimney, and made covers for the kayaks. 

With only 2 days left here in PT, the coming year is becoming more and more real. It sinks in a little bit more everyday. I truly can't wait for what the next is going to bring. I know that it is going to include adventure, experience, and whole lot of laughter, maybe some tears to. Anyhow, it is going to be AWESOME. 

Can't to share this experience with you all :)

love always, Meryl

P.S. Here is a great article about Martha's upcoming year from the PT Leader! http://www.ptleader.com/news/schooner-martha-is-bound-for-transpac/article_820d984a-227b-11e4-9fb6-001a4bcf6878.html

My parents surprised me!

The 28th started out as any old turn around day filled with laundry, grocery shopping, and cleaning. Until there was a knock on the boat that turned out to be my parents surprising me! They kept is a secret for months, I don't know how they did it honestly, and the rest of the family knew to. 

July 29th-

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!! Now it is a little late, but hope it was a great one, wish I could be there to celebrate with you. We started out with a very exciting sail across the straights into a big fog bank. We tested the stomachs of all on board. We headed up Rosario St. bound for Spencer Spit. In the southern end of Lopez Sound we found Adventurous (a fellow schooner) and played around with them a little bit, racing back and forth across the sound. Sailing is great and all, but its fun when you can play around with other boats, especially schooners :).

July 30th- 

While went for a hike, I hung out on the beach with the girls and we played around and made a driftwood fort! It was pretty awesome (if I do say so myself). We set sail early in hopes to make it to Sucia (another new place for me!) and anchor up in Echo Bay and we did! It was a long sail, but totally worth it, it is an amazingly beautiful place. Just as we were sitting down to dinner, someone came up and asked if we had any tools to help another boat. Turns out that a small sailing vessel has hit the reef while trying to get out of a tide rip and had been demasted. The rigging brake on one side and the mast and sails went under. However, the rigging was still attached on one said with the mast lodged under the reef and stuck.  Robert went over with the fellow and was able to work with the elderly couple to break the boat free from the rig and move the boat away from the shoal and moor them safely to the Coast Guard Buoy. It is a good lesson for all that you always need to be paying attention to what is happening around you and to not rely on just one piece of equipment. In the end, they were both ok, just a little shaken and were able to motor home the next day, and we finally ate down to a cold dinner, but delicious either way!

July 31st-
We had an early breakfast and then went ashore on Sucia for some exploring and with every intention of a hike, but the beach/rocks proved much more interesting. I'm still a little mountain goat at heart. We found a big log on the beach and rolled into the water with every intention of riding it to the rocks and making a bridge, but as you can imagine, that didn't happen! We happily got wet and played around for a couple hours building bridges and riding the currents down between rocks. There was absolutely no fun had today :). We headed to Deer Harbor for ice cream and fuel and then onto a friend of Robert and Holly's to moor up for a couple hours to visit and play in the water (which was much warmer than usual). We took the small boat out for a sail with no wind, which always proves to be interesting. We had dinner and then a lovely evening sail/motor to Fish Creek for the night. 

Aug 1st- 
After an extremely relaxing morning of pancakes and bacon, we headed out to hike Mt. Finlayson and then out to Cattle Pt. Which was beautiful per usual, and Mary hike the whole thing only a week after getting out of her cast. YAY!! While motoring out to the straights, we came across some quite beefy sea lions lounging on Whale Rocks, those things are HUGE! And we were able to sail onto the hook in Watmough (which has very quickly become my favorite place). 

Aug 2nd- 
We hiked up the cliff for the AWESOME (yes, it is still just as great as the first time) rope swing. Swung high and soared free. Last day is always the hardest, but we sailed beautifully off the hook. 

With this being the last trip and having finalized a few things I can now make this public. I have been invited to join Martha and the rest of the core for their entire offshore year!! And of course I said yes. We are going to be heading down the coast to California for the fall doing races here and there. Onto Mexico for the winter to work on the boat and play and then back up to California in the spring to do more races and then Transpac starts in July! After Transpac, we will head back to Victoria for the Wooden Boat Festival and then home to PT! If you are interested in more information or want to see me before I leave, the week of aug 25th is your time! I will continue my blog and posting pictures so you can keep track of where I am :)

<3 Meryl

Driftwood fort. I will always be a kid at heart. 

My parents having fun at the rope swing on Watmough. 

This view never gets old!! 

Just to give you an idea of the crazy amounts of water moving around here. 

A basic idea of the year! You can also find it here http://www.schoonermartha.org/schedule/ if you have trouble reading that. 

Wooden Boat Foundation Trip

July 25th- 
The Wooden Boat Foundation Auction Winners boarded today and we set sail for the Straights. We made it up Rosario with the flood and all the way up the east side of Cypress Island to anchor at Pelican Beach (new place for me!). It is a more exposed place to anchor so we have to time when there are not going to be big tidal differences. 

July26th-
We hiked up to Eagle Point in the morning for an amazing view as well as some very intense fog banks rolling off the water and up the land, very very cool(see pictures). We then tried hard to fight our way down the west side of Cypress against a very strong flood but started to go backwards so we turned the motor on and made it to Lopez Sound for some great sailing and then out again to anchor in Watmough for the second evening. 

July 27th- 
Once again hiked up the side of Watmough for the rope swing and view. No matter how many times I do that hike, it is special every time. There is something about Watmough that just pulls you and makes you feel special, it is a magical place that you really can't describe to someone, you just have to be there and feel it. We had a blast on the rope swing, I swung so high I went horizontal! I just love that swing, maybe a little to much.

The three couples that we had the pleasure of sharing the trip with were a blast. They jumped right in and started hauling on lines and tying knots. They even jumped in the water with us! Thanks for a great trip, wish it was longer.

Very cool bug we found! 

Purple starfish!! My favorite :)

I have been working very hard out here, just in case you had any doubts. 

Fish Creek to Watmough Bay

Just to start, 3 days is not enough time to do a proper trip! We were just settling into thing and, poof, the trip was gone!

July 20th- Anyhow, we had three wonderful couples join us for a 3 day trip around the San Juans. They were avid canoers and so we had lots to talk about and shared our favorite canoeing places! Tex's Riverways in Moab, UT was on top of the list. We headed out of PT and across the straights bound for Fish Creek. The straights gave us quite the lumpy ride as it was extremely windy the night before. But we were able to sail a good portion of it and sail onto the anchor in Fish Creek!

July 21st- We started the morning with a beautiful hike around San Juan Island ending at the lighthouse on Cattle Point and then looping back to Fish Creek. The woods here are amazingly quiet, beautiful and serene...kinda like Vermont. Which explains why I connect with it so much. We hauled back and went back out into the straights (this time sunny and a nice breeze) and went past Danger Rock up into Rosario Striaght and then into Watmough Bay for the evening. And, we only have to drop anchor once (it is notorious for being kelpy and having to reset multiple times). 

July 22nd- We did my favorite hike up the cliff in Watmough for the view and rope swing! If I could each and everyone of you wonderful readers of this up there, I would. My words could never do it justice, it is simply amazing. Eventually we had to head back to the boat and sail for PT(motor sail) due the straights not being in our favor once again. 

We had such a wonderful group on board and it was a pleasure to learn from them and also be able to teach them and show them my love for sailing. Thanks for a wonderful trip, wish it was longer guys!

xoxo to al you lovely people out there

Meryl

The compass made from rocks on the top of Watmough.

The view from the top of Watmough, Martha is just slightly hidden behind the treee!

Bill and Scott ready to strike the jib!

The coolest Madrona Tree

Baby seal sighting, thought the kayak was its mama!

Canadian Gulf Islands, 75.9 degree water!

Let me just start by saying what another beautiful area of the world AND warm water!!

July 8th- Our three wonderful ladies to be part of the crew for the 9 boarded and we got right to work taking sail covers off and getting to know the boat. We waited on the dock until the wind came up and then set sail for Victoria to clear customs in Oak Bay, got to sail the whole way and 8 knots! Woohoo!! What a way to start a trip. We anchored right next door in Cadboro Bay for the night and salmon and cake to celebrate the Captain Robert's birthday.
July 9th- Went ashore in the morning to get some food (silly customs and all) and see a little bit of Victoria, what a cool city, I think it should be my next vacation spot :). We headed out hoping to catch the flood(not quite sure where we were headed, but north) and instead got a little stuck in some of the back eddy's but finally caught the flood up and found some wind and, drumroll please...SET THE SPINNAKER!!!!! (if you know me, I had to work very hard to contain my excitement so I could actually work to put it up). To top it all off, we had a Minke whale come up right alongside Martha, swim underneath her and then come up right off the bow. We could have reached out and toucher him/her. Breathtaking... We ended up anchoring in Bedwell Harbor for the night and Mischief (a very cool small staysail schooner) came alongside for the night and we got to chat and play some apples to apples with them! Zodiak, which is the largest gaff-rigged schooner was also anchored in Bedwell, and very cool boat that you should go look up right now!
July 10th- We proposed to have a little informal race with Zodiak, Mischief, and Copernicus (another very cool staysail schooner) to Montague Bay in Galiano. Martha must have known we were racing because she sure gave us her best and we won! Another woohoo! I can't quite explain it but she takes of us while we are out there...she really does have a personality. We spent an evening playing in the warm water and then put on a little play with the youngsters on board revolving around a their stealing a salad spinner!
July 11th- We spend the day anchored in Montague Harbor doing projects on the new sails for the boat and I spent some time doing some boson work (see pictures) and then decided as a crew to go ashore for dinner at the Hummingbird Pub. Now to get there, you can get a bus from the Marina/Campground, but this isn't your average bus. This bus is a music lovers heaven. We loaded on and he blasted the oldies, I mean real oldies cause I didn't know some of the songs and then started passing instruments back! The driver had his own drum set up above the windshield and rocked out the whole way to the restaurant, it was a BLAST! Same thing on the way home, and yes, I have video evidence to prove it! The food was delicious and beer even better :)
July 12th- We hauled back super early, 8am, and headed for Ruxton Pass for the evening, but due to the lack of wind and glassy water, we had to motor the whole way. But we got there early and got to the spend the afternoon on the beach and swimming in the 75.9 degree water, what a treat. I finished up cutting and sewing the batons into the main staysail and then set it! It looks quite spectacular if I do say so myself.
July 13th- It was once again glassy, so we got to motor our way to Ganges Harbor for a little ashore shopping time and the yummiest bakery I have ever been to, Embe Bakery. Winds permitting, we set sail (maiden voyage for the main staysail) and made it to Narveaz Bay for the evening. Narveaz is not very well know and so we have the place to ourselves for the night and what a beautiful bay it was, serene and quiet. The perfect evening after some full days.
July 14th- We hiked up to Monarda Pt. on Saturna Island the next morning for an amazing view of the boundary pass. WOW, just wow. Unfortunately, we had to get back to the boat and head to Roche Harbor to clear customs and then onto Spencer Spit on Lopez Island for the evening. Another long, but beautiful sailing day!
July 15th- We hiked up to a little farm stand (Lopez Island is the one still covered in farms) and got some yummy fresh veggies (super sweet carrots) and then hiked back to the boat for the sail to Watmough Bay. We got to sail onto the anchor which is always exciting and good exercise for the crew! Unfortunately, I came down with a bout of food poisoning that night and had a sleepless and night and a rough last day and had to spend it in my bunk :(
July 16th- Spent the day in my bunk recovering, but heard it was a great sail from Watmough to Miner Island and then the wind died and had to motor across the straights and into Point Hudson.

It was a wonderful trip with a truly wonderful crew! Ladies, you were such a blast to sail with! Fun stories, great sailing, good food and warm water. What more could I ask for?!

Love to you all and miss you! Hope where ever you are, it is amazing and you are soaking up its beauty :) Im sending you all some Gulf Islands beauty.

Meryl

Woohoo spinnaker time!!!

Working on the new main staysail. Seeing hanks on! 

Some of the bosen work I was doing. 

A very cool truck we found at the farm stand!! And it still runs! 

The hummingbird bus! Video is to big to post but this gives you an idea! 

San Juan Islands 4th of July Trip!

I am currently sitting on a adorable little coffee shop looking out over the water called "Better Living Through Coffee", and with a special treat of some live music! A whole bunch of local folks jamming on their instruments. Pretty cool stuff!
On July 1st we took off across the Straight of Juan de Fuca towards Cattle Pt. and tootled around there until we headed up in past Cattle Pt. and anchored in Fish Creek for the evening. Unfortunately, we did not get ashore that evening due to weather but still had a nice evening of games and yummy, yummy food! On the 2nd, we hauled back the anchor and sailed off the hook headed north up the San Juan Channel. We veered off into Spieden Channel and then around Stuart Island to anchor up in Provost Harbor (Stuart Island). We launched our little dingy and headed for shore to hike up to the schoolhouse on the island. Stuart Island is very neat because it is completely off-grid! People power with solar or wind (sometimes both) and have their own school system so kids don't have to go off island. Once back to the boat we all jumped in (brrrrrr, the water is only 45-50 degrees!) and had a nice hot fresh water shower to rinse the salt off. The day deserved some sort of sum up and Captain Robert put it perfectly, "life is yummy!". The night ended with a hilarious game of apples-to-apples. Just to give you a taste, here were a couple of the cards and their definitions. "Duct tape - helping you keep it all together" and "Prius - a grown up golf cart".
The following morning, we headed to shore again, this time to hike out to the lighthouse at turn point! From their you can look out over San Juan Channel and over to Canada, very beautiful. We climbed down the rocks to play in some tide pools and poke some anemones (which start to suck your finger if your not careful). We headed back to the ship and sailed off the anchor again headed for Deer Harbor on Orcas Island for some fireworks! We anchored in Deer Harbor only to find out that the firework barge had moved and we were in the line of fire. So we got to haul the anchor back and find a new spot...which was difficult considering we are quite long and were in a very crowded harbor! But we settled in, had some dinner, went ashore for some ice and then brought our sleeping bags and pillows up on deck to wait for the fireworks. Some more apples-to-apples may have happened while were waiting :). Just so you all know, fireworks are 100 times better on a boat! It is like you have your own private viewing and they happen right over you. We all promptly fell asleep on deck (another wonderful thing about Martha) staring at the stars.
On the morning of the 4th, we took off early from Deer Harbor headed for Matmough Bay. We headed out through Pole Pass, then Harney Channel, around Humphrey Head, in-between Spencer Spit and Frost Island into Lopez Sound and down through Lopez Pass. While in-between Spencer Spit and Frost island, we caught a bald eagle eating a fish on the rocky slope, which was VERY cool. Lopez island is very neat because it is almost all rural farm land still producing almost all of it's own food. It also has it's own school system that uses 80% food grown on the island, including meat! We anchored in Matmough Bay for the night and went ashore for some beach playing time and climbing on big rocks, brought me back to my childhood days! We finished the day off with some dinner and yummy cake made by Mary! 

The morning of the 5th we once again rose early to hike up the side of Matmough Bay which lead to stunning views of Martha and Rosario Straight. There was an AWESOME rope swing and few stellar trees to climb. Eventually we had to make our way back to the boat to haul back the anchor and head home for Port Townsend. We had beautiful sailing weather and the crew did an excellent job with all aspects. We were sad to see them go, but it's time for the next trip and a new crew! Till next time my friends, enjoy life wherever you are, it's certainly yummy around here :) 

xoxo Meryl 

Sitting on the bowsprit while coming into PT. 

The view from Matmough. 

My attempt at a photo of the fireworks! Turned out pretty good...

Owen at the helm, always giving me a face when I take is picture!