Coho Ho Ho Rally 2014 - Boat locations August 26 tuesday

Boat information as of 9:30am tuesday aug 26

9:00 am Mikey posted:  Fleet update: Andante underway out of Brookings at 8:30 AM. Rapture will be leaving soon after. Abby Normal is taking a lay day in Brookings to replace a macerator issue and find accommodations for a departing crew member. we got a relay from the US Coast Guard Brookings from Mabruka last night stating they were 17 miles offshore under double reef main sail only and comfortable continuing. Communications with Friday in Port Orford suggest they will be leaving shortly with a plan to stay within 5 miles of shore. A possible target of Brookings this evening.

Cheers Mikey

8:08 am Brad posted:  We (Abby Normal) were leaving Brookings, OR this morning, but while doing pre-daparture checks I noticed a foul odor… result is that I have to replace our macerator pump. A nasty job that I have done before. I have a spare. We will plan on leaving tomorrow morning (8/27). Cheers, and watch what you put down that toilet!

8:13 AM Kaye posted:  Good morning Hoho cohorts,Sonamara, Namaste, and Impulse are departing en masse now from Newport at 0800. We will be doing 8am net amongst us on 4A and net with Brad at 6pm 4A. Dense fog.

6:11 am Brad posted:  re: 6 am net, Nothing heard…  Andante and Abby Normal are planning on leaving Brookings for points south @ 7am this morning.

Mabrouka update from Andante

Coast Guard relayed from Mabrouka that they are 17 miles out from Chetco/Brookings with double reefed main and feel safe, so they are staying out. 

Coho Ho Ho Rally 2014 - Brads Weather brief August 25 monday

Brad Baker's Coho ho ho weather compiled 0915 pdt August 25, 2014

 

Well, we are down to just one tropical depression and one hurricane off the coast of Mexico.  That one hurricane is a doozy though.  Hurricane Marie currently located for or 4 or 5 hundred miles SW of Cabo had reached Category 5 status yesterday and is now down to a measly Category 4 hurricane, blowing at 125 kts.  Marie is forecast to move continually to the NW and will move over much cooler waters in the next couple of days which will eventually spell her demise.  The effects for the Coho ho ho fleet WILL NOT be the wind and rain which is usually associated with these storms, as Marie should stay well offshore and SW of the fleet.  No, it'll be the ocean swell that you will likely experience.   Those waves have yet to reach the N. California water.  The Southerly swell that is happening now is from two previous systems, Lowell and Karina.  Marie's presence is forecast to start being felt on Tuesday and is projected to build into the 4' to 8' range.  The good news is the wave period is supposed to be 15-17 seconds or so.  Out in open water this won't be a big deal, but closer to shore, where the waves start to feel bottom, they will stack up and create larger than normal breaking waves on the shore.  So be aware of this when sailing near shoals or when the wind and or current is opposite the waves.

 

Starting tomorrow it looks like a window of less wind and short seas will be opening up over the next 4 days at least.  The downside is it may end up being more of a motorboat ride to SF especially the nearer you get to shore.  As the high pressure weakens and retrogrades more to the West, the pressure gradients will relax and the inland thermal low will push offshore a bit.   In the Pacific NW things will go to an upper level trough pattern come the Thursday Friday time frame.  But that won't affect you guys because all of you are going to be well south of us poor suckers up here.  For me though it's a different matter.  I'm supposed to paint the family beach house over Labor Day weekend, and onshore marine drizzle could really put a monkey wrench in those plans!

 

Enough about me, here is the 4 day forecast:

 

Today August 25, 2014

 

WA coast – N winds 5-20 with the stronger winds happening in the evening.  Seas, west swell 5-6' at 7 seconds.  Wind waves around 2' and possibly less.

 

Oregon Coast – N winds 5-25 with higher gusts possible near Cape Blanco.  Seas, Combined wind waves and NW swell to 6 maybe 7 feet at 7 seconds.  There might be some S to SW swell to 1 or 2' in the S OR waters.

 

N. CA Coast – N winds 5 – 25 with the majority of the stronger winds occurring nearer the Oregon Border and further offshore (perhaps 20 miles or more).  It will be significantly lighter in the range closer to shore all along the coast.  Seas, N to NW Swell as high as 8' at 9 seconds along with a south swell to 3' at 15 seconds.

 

Tuesday August 26

 

WA – N winds 5-15, maybe a bit diurnal and kicking up to 20 in some places in the afternoon and evening.  Seas, NW swell 4-6' from the NW with wind waves to 2'.

 

OR – The max wind field should have shifted north now so winds all up and down the Oregon coast could gust up to 25 knots.  The range should be 10-25 from the N.  Seas, NW swell to 5' at 8 seconds and wind waves to 5'.  Possible south swell too in the southern OR waters to 2' maybe 3'.

 

N. CA – It's going to be pretty darn light, maybe even with some south winds.   Seas, mixed NW swell 4 – 6' at 9 seconds and S swell 2-4' initially at 12 seconds, but getting longer during the day to about 17 seconds.

 

Wednesday August 27

WA – N to NW winds 5-15.  Seas, NW swell to 4-5' with wind waves to 2'

 

OR – NW winds 10-15 with gusts to 20.  Seas, NW swell to 5' at 9 seconds, wind waves to 3'.  Southern Oregon probably experiencing S swell to 3' at 16 seconds

 

CA – Mostly north winds to 10 kts, maybe with some higher gusts.  Combined NW seas to 5' with S swell 4 to 8' at 17 seconds.  The largest South swell is projected to be from Point Arena South. 

 

Thursday August 28

 

WA – Light Northerlies to 10 knots.  Seas W swell, 4' at 9 seconds.  Wind waves 1' or less.

 

OR – N winds 5-15 kts.  Seas W swell, 4' at 9 seconds, wind waves 2' or less.

 

CA – NW winds to 10 knots.  Seas NW swell 2 – 4' at 8 seconds and S swell 3' to 7' at 15 to 17 seconds.  The south swell will be toward the higher end of the range the further south you get.

 

Friday August 29

 

WA – West winds to 10 knots.  Seas, west swell at 4' with wind waves 1' or less

 

OR – N to NW winds 0-10 kits, maybe to 15 near Cape Blanco.  Seas, W swell 4' and wind waves 2' maybe 3' if windier.

 

CA – Gradients may start to tighten so let's go with NW winds 5-15.  Seas, NW swell 2-4 feet and south swell 3-6' with a long wave period.

 

Brad

 

Coho Ho Ho Rally 2014 - Boat locations August 25 Monday

boat reports as of 7:32 pm monday august 25

6:36 pm Mike Beste posted:  Update from Andante ... us and Abby normal ducking into Brookings for the night, out tomorrow expectedly at 7 am. Sea State picked up just passed Cape Blanco. 10 to 12's at short intervals with Winchop up to 30 kn ...Friday ducked into Port Orford. Apropos is 10 miles out heading past Medecino in the night. They reported A wind change, now on the nose after Crescent city. Unclear if Mabruka will duck in with us in Brookings or will continue on.

6:19 pm Kaye posted:  Good evening Coho'ers,  Sonamara, Namaste, and Impulse all plan to depart tomorrow morning at 0700.  I will confirm departure at that time.

12:53 pm brad gibson posted:  An update…  Winds went from low 20's to mid 30's steady and gusts to 40 with corresponding increase in sea state. Had to triple reef main and jib in a span of about 2 minutes. Now steady winds from  the north about 32. Sea about 10 from NW (got to 20 for a brief while). Much better ride now. Still doing hull speed. Sporting ;-0

10:32am brad gibson posted:  Abby normal is 10 miles out nearing cape blanco. We're seeing 10-12' seas, wind low to mid 20s, one gust to 30 ;-) all is well. Andante says we're now s/v Abby Normal..

9:59am Jim Shutt posted:  Apropos just left Crescent City headed for San Francisco.  Down to a crew of three as Mike had to get back to Seattle. 

6:33 am brad posted:  No replies on 6am net. We're ready to go and currently awaiting a bar check from the cg. We will know in a few minutes whether we leave or stay in Bandon...

6:42 am Steve and Teri Mason posted:  Galatea arrived Saturday into SF at slack tide under the Bridge after a two day two night run from Crescent City. Sailed most the way but motored through the final night to catch the tide.

Got to our slip in Alameda at Village Marina at 5pm and straight to showers and dinner. Spent yesterday clearing the salt way and sleeping.   This is our stopping point for now with no plans to venture further South till next year. Best of luck to those continuing on. It has been great to follow everyone's progress. Thanks to Doug and Eva for the support.  Cheers

7:53am Mike posted: Fleet update Andante and Abby Normal left Bandon approximately 7:10 AM this morning. Mabrouka elected to stay in port. Friday is getting some well needed rest.  see you in San Francisco

Coho Ho Ho Rally 2014 August 24 Sunday - a few more locations

7:12 pm Chris and Cindy posted:  

Check in for Impulse on Aug 24, 2014 at 1400.

We spent the night making passage from Ilwaco, across the bar, and down the coast to Newport, OR.

Passage across the bar went as smoothly as we could have hoped.  A ebb tide pushing us out, only 2-4 foot swell, no wind waves.

We made our way South through the day with full sails up in 15 knot winds pushing a cool 8 knots speed over ground at times. Winds picked up as the evening set in, as did the waves and swell.  I estimate we had 7' foot swells, and gusts above 30 knots.  As we reduced sail power, we reduced speed as well, which worked out well as we wanted to slide into Newport during daylight hours.

We arrived in Newport around 0830 on motor since the wind died down when the sun began to rise.  Met up with Sonamara and Namaste at J-dock in the South Beach Marina.  Crew is again happy and healthy.

Impulse update 1730 on Aug 22, 2014. (Written for my Facebook friends more than Coho, but whatever)

We have done our daily weather huddle and decided to delay our departure from Newport for 1 day.  Instead of leaving Monday morning we will leave Tuesday morning.  

There are a couple pressure systems around Southern and central Mexico that have caused inland California to have a low-pressure system that conflicts with the offshore high-pressure system that has been hanging around.  This causes a squash zone (pressure gradients changing quickly in a small geography), confused seas (swells from different directions with different periods), and swells that a few feet larger than we are comfortable with (10-12 feet).

We want to time our crossing around capes Blanco and Mendocino carefully, and although there is never a prefect time to round these, we want to avoid these types of systems.  This is exactly why we gave ourselves 11 days to do a 7 day trip.  We can hole-up and time it with the weather.  So tomorrow will be R&R as well as completing a couple boat projects.

Photo is of what being 'holed-up' looks like.

And the story as told by Cindy (crew-mate).

Dave, Doug and I arrived in Portland on the 19th and accomplished many last minute projects and provisioning.  It is amazing what you can fit into small spaces.  The day ended with a walk to the Island Cafe on Hayden Island where our boat was docked.  Chris' friends had a nice send off for us all.  After overnight stops in the small towns of Cathlamet and Ilwaco down the Columbia River we crossed the infamous Columbia River Bar at slack high tide without incident.  Now I'm thinking this is going to be a cake walk.  We raised ours sails, layered up, turned off the engine and began a 20 hour down wind sail (no motoring) to Newport, OR.  Both sails were working hard in 20 knots of wind. As it increased after dark, we sailed with half of the jib only. And dark it was!!!!  Of course there was no moon and we were literally sailing blind except for big. dark mounds of stuff attacking us from all sides.  The seas were 6' to 8' high with gusts of 30 to 40 knots. Captain Doug, Dave and Chris did a remarkable job basically staying up all night taking turns at the helm and watches.  I personally never felt afraid nor did any of us get seasick. In the meanitme, our head (potty) backed up and if that happens on a twisting, turning boat, it is not pretty.  We had to rig a pump out the head window and took turns goinig below pumping it out - we certainly left our mark all the way down the Oregon coastline.  We are now in Newport, analysing the weather, which is never quite what is it suppose to be.   It was probably the wildest Saturday night we've had in a long time and all without alcohol.  

Thanks,

Chris

Photo is of what being 'holed-up' looks like. 

6:42 pm Brad posted:  Kevin didn't do a net tonight. Sonamara is in Newport along with Namaste.  Abby Normal, Andante, Mabrouka, and Friday are here in Brandon. Abby and Andante plan to leave at the 7am slack if the bar is open. Others are unsure and may wait. If the bar doesn't open, we might wait until Tuesday.   (you could read that last sentence to mean there are thirsty people sitting in front of a tavern, waiting :-) ed)

6:09 pm Scott posted:  Velvet Sky listened in and tried to call out on SSB 4A with no luck. We are staying in Coos Bay until at least Sept 2nd. We are making a trip to see family before we resume our trip south. 

3:03 pm Kay posted:  Sonamara in Newport, OR, until Wed or Thurs.

Coho Ho Ho Rally 2014 - Brads Weather brief August 24 Sunday

Brad Baker's Coho ho ho weather report combined 0900 pdt August 24, 2014

 

Good morning Fleet.  I have to keep it short this morning as I failed to get up early enough and the family has plans for today.  I can tell you its beautiful weather this morning here in Seattle.  In other news a magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck N. California this morning near Sonoma.  It was a shallow quake, therefore fairly violent.  Reports are still coming in of course, but it looks like no deaths, though the wine industry may have taken a bit of hit.

 

The weather forecast has remained consistent.   The high pressure offshore is forecast to weaken while the thermal low move a bit west starting late Monday.  The Northerly winds will remain strong today and Monday from just North of Blanco extending down to near Mendocino.  There will be a shift late Monday as the winds will get lighter South of Blanco and the strongest wind field shifts a bit North before it too moderates come Thursday.  The wind and seas will be worst around Cape Blanco initially and then Cape Blanco and extending North Tuesday into Wednesday.   Wind off the Washington coast will be mellow during the 4 day forecast period blowing 0 -15.

 

Forecast:

 

WA coast – Light winds to 15 from the N.  Seas 3-5 feet from the W to NW.  wind waves 2' or less.  This forecast holds Today through Thursday.

 

Oregon and Northern California Coast

 

Today

 

Columbia River to Newport – N wind 5-15 gusts to 20, Seas, combined wind waves and swell to 6' at 7 seconds from the NW.

 

Newport to Cape Mendocino – N wind 10 – 30 with higher gusts possible.  Seas, combined seas from the N at 11' at 8 seconds mixed with a 2-4' swell from the S at 15 seconds.  Remember that when wave height is forecast this is an average number.  There are always larger waves at times.  And you may have noticed that they come in sets.

 

Cape Mendocino to SF – N to NW wind 5 – 25 with gusts to 30.  More wind in the North portion and more than 10 miles offshore.  Remember there is always the possibility for fog pretty much anywhere on the coast.  Seas 6-8' from the N with a shorter period combined with 4' swell from the S with a long period.

 

Monday August 25

 

Columbia River to Newport – N wind 10 – 25 with higher gusts possible.  Strong winds will be closer to Newport.    Seas Combined seas to 7 ' at 7 seconds from the NW.

 

Newport to Mendocino – N wind 10 – 30 with gusts to 35 possible.  Seas, combine seas from the N to 10' at 8 seconds mixed with 2-4' swell from the S at 15 seconds.

 

Mendocino to SF – Starting to mellow out, N to NW winds 5-20.  More wind in North half more than 10 miles offshore.  In other areas it may get variable.   Seas 6-8' short period seas from the N. and 5' long period swell from the South.

 

Tuesday August 26

 

Entire Oregon Coast – N winds 10-25.  Strongest winds at Cape Blanco and starting to extend North.  Seas, Combined waves from the N 5-7'.   South and SW Swell to 2' at 15 seconds.

 

Northern California – N winds 0 -15.  It is possible there will be variable directions but should be light.  Seas Left over slop from the North 7' at 8 seconds.  South to SW swell 4' at 15 seconds.

 

Wednesday August 27

 

Oregon Coast – N wind 5-20 with strongest winds Cape Blanco to Newport.  Winds will subside during the day.  Seas, wind waves from the N. to 5', S to SW swell 2' at 15 seconds.

 

Northern CA – Mostly N winds forecast not to exceed 15 knots.  I imagine there will be a whole lot of nothing at times.  The N wind waves should be about 5' with an impressive 5' Swell at 16 seconds forecast.

 

Thursday August 28

 

For entire Oregon and N. CA coast winds are forecast to not exceed 15 knots, mostly from the N., but I expect variability, especially south of Mendocino where there could be light W and SW winds.  Seas should be mellowed out by now with the exception of the pesky south Swell which should still be running at 3-5' in the N. CA waters.

 

Coho Ho Ho Rally 2014 - Boat locations and more August 24, Sunday

this is what i have for today

on Sunday aug 24, Morris Adams on s/v Impulsive posted:  We've decided to stay another night and will leave San Francisco early Tuesday morning.  We sent our crew home today so it's just Deb and I the rest of the way to San Diego.

Amy Arroyo on s/v Millie J posted:  We are in SFM slip 241 until Monday. Come an visit anytime

s/v Velvet Sky posted:  Millie J,  We have a recommendation from a couple that has been there before. Fortman marina on Alameda. Safe nice and not so expensive. Let us know if you check it out.

Doug Lombard posted:  Berkeley Marina is virtually due east some old pilings to watch out for it but if you take a straight shot from the San Francisco bridge center I believe it's 76° but doublecheck on your chart very wonderful nice place to hang out you do have to take a bus to get groceries

Mike Beste posted:  Only 50 cents a foot, (at berkeley marina?? ed.) very affordable. Last year a bunch of us rolled in there. Showers available but bring quarters. Marina is run by parks department and won't have any. Berkeley yacht club is right there, you should be  able to sign in as a guest and take advantage of the cheap drinks and food service ...great view as well.  Train station very close @ maybe  a half mile ... 25 hours to union station seattle.

Roy Numan posted:  Kevin has had recommendations for Berkely. 50 cents/ft. Fuel $4.80/gal. 

5:43 pm saturday Morris Adams posted:  Hi all. Doug asked me to let you know that San Francisco Municipal marina is where we are staying. Millie J is also staying there. They have been very accommodating and it's within walking distance to Fishermans Wharf.

karl