The Adventures of Captain Ray Penson
Sailing Yacht Truce
Last night I plugged on in poor sailing conditions, by midnight the mainsail came down and Truce was reduced to staysail only. Wind was gusting thirty five knots from the South with rain squalls. The midnight forecast predicted another two days of southerly winds – I was quite disheartened by this news. Not being able... Continue Reading →
Last night I was becalmed for the third time since leaving Neah Bay. I drifted until nine this morning when a wind filled in from the south. At seven I wrote in the log “ barometer falling and no wind – something will happen soon’. It did! At ten I had all sail set and... Continue Reading →
Since three this afternoon we have had some wind, early evening now and we are romping along at five, sometimes six knots. This wind is forecast to drop at midnight but until then I have all sail set to take advantage and get a bit more to the west. Last night was frustrating, we managed... Continue Reading →
Last night at sunset the wind started to decrease. First I had to bring down the main, it couldn’t hold the wind and was flogging about as if to self-destruct. Shortly after the staysail came down. I carried on until one in the morning with the jib, but the wind disappeared and the jib finally... Continue Reading →
It’s a month today since I arrived in BC from Auckland, seems less, the time has flown by. It’s taken a long time to get ready to go south, the weather hasn’t helped, things just seem to go slow when it’s wet and cold. I picked the anchor up at six this morning, a beautiful... Continue Reading →
Today has seen a great improvement in the weather, still windy but sunny as well. I spent the morning rigging up a gybe preventer. It looks the business but won’t know how it will work until I get offshore. In the afternoon the wind eased off a bit and I launched Piglet for a run... Continue Reading →
Late last night the fog closed down at the entrance to Juan de Fuca Strait and the mournful sounds of ships foghorns could be heard from the anchorage. Neah Bay was clear. After the fog came the wind, it blew a gale all night with torrential rain in the morning. I was confined to the... Continue Reading →
Just before eleven this morning I let go from the Port Townsend Marina to catch the ebb tide up the Juan de Fuca strait. Wind was forecast but only arrived for seven minutes sailing, then it was motoring all the way in flat calm conditions. Quite a bit of marine life about, seals, ducks, porpoise... Continue Reading →
The last two days have been quite busy and working around the weather to get the final jobs completed for the trip down to San Francisco. I am berthed in Port Townsend, a place that seems to generate its own wind and rain patterns. The town of Port Townsend is an interesting place, one of... Continue Reading →
This morning I went into Friday Harbour town to get a US sim card for my phone, only to find the shop didn’t open until ten. It was perishing cold and I could not wait around and risk hyperthermia. Back to the boat and cast off to head a bit further south with the tide. ... Continue Reading →
The Adventures of Captain Ray Penson 