Five Tips for Bicycles and Dinghy's in the San Juan's

     If you limit yourself to places with docks to offload bikes you are also missing out on some of the best places worth exploring.  Learning to haul bikes in the dinghy opens up a world of  onshore expeditions.

     Furthermore, if you are planning to use a dock to unload bikes, and the dock is for whatever reason, ie. crowded or out of service, there go all your well thought through plans, out the window and in the drink.

     Prior to heading out you should experiment with ways to load bikes into the dinghy.  You do not want to learn the hard way what not to do. Poking a hole in the favorite and likely the only inflatable would be the hard way.  I think type four seat cushions will protect an inflatable, but I have never tried it since my dinghy is fiberglass.

     Plan ahead, one time we sewed up huge bicycle bags from tarps to protect our bikes during an extended trip we knew may have salt water cascading over us.

Tips:

• Bring your old bikes if possible, saltwater means rust. Flush and wash asap afterwards.
• I accept that I will be wading in ankle deep water when reaching shore, so I wear sandals.
• Bike chains, pedals and spokes will get snagged, be patient and  super careful not to do damage while transporting and untangling a mess.
• I bring a tire patch kit, basic tools and pump.
• plus I use that anti leak slime stuff in all my tubes.
• Many of our bike rides end up as hikes where we leave the bikes unattended so we bring a cable and lock.  It's not that I don't trust people, I just don't want to risk walking miles and miles back to the boat.

Going ashore we took two at a time, which meant three round  trips for four people.  Upon coming back, Ryan suggested we try stacking all four bikes which meant only two trips.  Count them, it worked fine. The dinghy is a nine foot Livingston.

Anchor Rode Marking

       Why mark the anchor rode?  Easy -- sooner or later you will wonder how much line is out.

         In my opinion, marking the rode is not hard nor costly.  Suppliers sell tags, with footage numbers, some people use cable ties or bits of yarn.

        Some exuberant skippers, mark every twenty five feet and use day-glo colors.

        Years of anchoring in the San Juans has honed my system, or should I say reduced it to what works for me.


      My obvious observations:

• Anchoring, like coming in to the dock or slip must be done fairly quickly or the boat floats away.  This means doing math calculations or untangling snarly rode should be completed beforehand.
• Under water, red, black,and other colors look the same or just disappear.
• Trying to spot, cutesy paint marks, little tags or bits of string flying out of the hawse pipe is problematic, especially for newbie crew.
• Guesstimating how much rode has been let out is not accurate, but is never the less the system I used for years.
• I tried using a code, such as two marks, three marks, four marks to designate small increments. It was confusing, hard to keep track of, and kinda pointless anyway since I forgot the code.
• Anchoring in dark or windy conditions, or stiff current, quickly identifies inadequate systems, poor planning, and lack of preparation.

     What I do today:

• My experience has been that all paints I have tried last only one season in salt water. Now I  use whatever left over black or red latex paint or spray paint I have. I apply it on a three to four foot section.  
• My first mark is at fifty feet, then one hundred, then one fifty, etc. Since I usually anchor in 15 - 20 feet the third mark never sees water and stays in good shape.
• If I suspect problems or crucial timing issues, I will pull all the needed rode out of the locker and cleanly flake it on deck beforehand.
• When I up anchor, if conditions permit, I flake the rode on deck for cleaning and drying and then carefully drop it in the locker later. Sometimes I put my thirty feet of wet or muddy chain in a milk crate and leave it in the sun.  Putting away wet gear tends to stink, so I avoid it when  I can, especially if I plan to anchor again that day.
• I have a pair of dedicated gloves I use for anchor handling.

How well I anchor is proportional to how well I sleep!

Visit Vendovi Island Preserve

       For years all of us have been going around Vendovi  Island on our way to Sucia or the inner islands.  If you are thinking Vendovi sounds familiar but can't quite place it, I will tell you - it is the little 200+ acre dot on your chart due south from the southern tip of Lummi Island.  200 acres is about the size of Jones Island if that comparison is of any help.  The map clipping below should help you zero in on Vendovi's location.

        The San Juan Preservation Trust has owned and protected Vendovi Island since 2010.  Visiting  days are  April 1st through Sept. 30.    Open hours are 10 am to 6 pm, Thursday through Monday. They are closed Tues. and Wed.

        Access is a small cove at the north end.  There is a 70 foot, first come no reserve dock behind the breakwater, or you may beach kayaks and dinghy's in front of caretaker home if the dock is full. No anchoring in the cove or overnight stays at the dock are allowed.

      Bring your hiking shoes and plan to immerse yourself in unspoiled wilderness, but you should stay on the trails if you  truly respect the wilderness and the SJPT mission to preserve.  No camping, fires, bicycles, or hunting, pets are to be on leash.  Enjoy!

      Learn about the many San Juan Preservation Trust  preserves  here  >> Map of SJPT preserves

Is disaster simply one little mistake away?

 This is a short accounting of what we watched evolve on a balmy calm peaceful Sunday afternoon. The gentleman side tied behind us cast off, he said he was going to swing by the pumpout on the other dock and then head for home. I waved from our cockpit and dove back into my magazine. Suddenly my concentration is interrupted by a revving engine. "Somethings wrong," I said to Linda, "look over there." The boater that had just left had entered the next fairway, the current was dragging him towards the two foot high aluminum footbridge that connects the walkways.  "He's in trouble," I said, "the currents too much and he can't complete the turn."  Next, to my surprise he guns the engine of his thirty footer, full throttle, attempting to make a 180 degree turn before he strikes the walkway.  His boat does indeed miss the footbridge and almost completes the turn but instead, he hits the dock next to the pumpout and with engines screaming, he drives the as yet undamaged boat  three quarters of the way onto the dock.  Not quite out of the water and at a steep angle he slams it into reverse.  The boat instantly pulls off the dock, sliding back into the water. Now mostly turned around, the boat powers backwards towards the footbridge.  The unmistakable sound of crunching fiberglass is heard a split second afterwards as the driver finally throttles back and then kills the engines.

The whole sad episode is over as fast as the engines could rev up.  By the time I and some other onlookers get over there with our boat hooks the boat is back in the water floating peacefully next to the pumpout. What can you say to someone that has just trashed their boat in a frenzied show of dumb mistakes compounded by more dumb mistakes.

Speaking for myself and probably a few other skippers that have misjudged currents and our boats handling or lack of handling.  I will say, I too have gunned the motor in a last ditch effort to clear an obstacle. I may even have bumped a few times.  Luckily I have never done any real damage or I have suppressed the memory.

Experience teaches us lessons, sometimes expensive lessons. In this instance, one lesson learned is to not try to turn around upstream of anything you don't want to hit. In lieu of that, don't hit it at full throttle.

In this situation two alternative actions come to mind. #1 the driver could have turned his boat around outside the fairway and backed down to the pumpout, although he would still run the risk of crashing if he lost power or control in the strong current. #2 and a better choice, would be to choose another location or wait for a tide change.  Sometimes it is best to not push your luck.