From: Charles Vollum <moana@xsw.com> Subject: Re: Ahoy, Boojum! Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2004 14:01:05 -0700 To: Georgs Kolesnikovs <georgs@trawlering.com>, Joe Engel <engeljre@msn.com> X-ELNK-AV: 0 Hi Georgs and Joe, Sorry to be so long in answering your email! I am off the list at the moment, and our family has been involved in another project -- renovating a new house near Portland. We are almost moved in now, and thoughts have been turning to cruising on Boojum, but so far we haven't been able to realize those desires. Boojum is still in the Port Townsend Boat Haven. We just had her bottom cleaned, and she is ready to go adventuring as soon as we can get away. I had hoped that we could get out for most of the month of October to head north into the Gulf Islands, and maybe up as far as the Queen Charlottes, but that is seeming more and more unlikely as commitments pile up. We have trade shows at the beginning and end of the month, and a close niece's wedding in the middle! By November, the press of the holidays will be upon us, and weather will be less pleasant here in the NW. In 2003, we cruised the South Sound during the end of May and start of June, visiting many of our favorite places including Bainbridge and Blake Islands, the Point Defiance Zoo and some old friends on Vashon Island before stopping in at the Poulsbo Trawler Fest. We learned an important lesson in navigation when our starboard keel found a rock in Liberty Bay. The lesson? Every voyage, no matter how small, even moving from one slip to another on the same dock, deserves careful planning and attention to navigation! The Trawler Fest staff had requested that we relocate to make room for an incoming larger vessel, and we were happy to oblige -- the new slip would be closer to the festivities and facilities. We fired up the engine, cast off the lines, and were on our way. On approaching the new slip, I realized we would be tied off on the opposite side, and circled away from the dock to allow time for moving lines and fenders. As I made a slow circle just off the seaplane dock, we heard a shout from the shore, "Watch out for the rock!" *CRUNCH*. The rock we hit was charted on both our paper and electronic charts. Boojum is equipped with scanning sonar, and we had sufficient crew to have posted a bow lookout. Any one of these probably would have been sufficient to avoid the grounding, and on a "real voyage" they would all have been utilized. But because we were "just moving down a few slips" I didn't check the charts, and left all the electronics turned off. The crew were preparing for dinner. Boojum's keels have watertight "collision tanks" fore and aft just in case of such accidents. No serious damage was done (other than to pride) and repair was quickly accomplished on our return to Port Townsend. But as they say on TV, "Be careful out there!" 2004 has been a very good one for us in almost every way -- except that we just haven't had enough time for boating. The kids (now 3 and 5) have learned to swim, and we were able to spend some time in Hawaii while the worst of the remodeling was completed. Our new house is wonderful, and it is nice to be settled in again. Here's hoping that you have also had a great year, and that we all get more time on the water next year! Cheers, Charles & crew of the good ship Boojum (feel free to repost to the list if you like, Georgs.) On Sep 9, 2004, at 5:57 PM, Georgs Kolesnikovs wrote: >Charles-- > >They are asking about you on the List: > >http://lists.samurai.com/pipermail/trawlers-and-trawlering/2004-September/080111.html > >Too busy raising kids to do much boating these days? > >--Georgs > > ---- Charles Vollum http://xsw.com/boojum -- Boojum, a trailerable offshore tug yacht