Ship’s Blog

The Falcon in Sausalito

We’ve talked about this boat a bit. She was in Drake’s Bay with us. She made a grand entrance to the Bay last weekend and we watched from the Yacht Club with Craig and Vicky Johnsen (”Magic”). The boat is anchored near us here in Sausalito.

Maltese Falcon with Criag in the foreground.

Reproduced from cruising compass:

World’s largest privately owned sailing ship visits SF Bay

The Maltese Falcon, built for Belvedere financier Tom Perkins is the largest privately owned sailing ship in the world, and is in the San Francisco Bay as part of a cancer benefit regatta. The ship made its continental United States debut as it slipped under the Golden Gate Bridge on Saturday. Timing was important and had to match the low tide so that the yacht’s 191-foot masts could clear the bridge with just 20 feet to spare. The football-field sized ship is considered the most technologically advanced yacht in the world. It was launched in July 2006. The 289-foot yacht will be part of the Leukemia Cup Regatta, a two-day fundraising event by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Last year, the society raised $312,000 and this year, it’s likely to get more than $500,000 to support blood cancer research and to provide education and patient services.

We like “Atlantide” better, but hope the technology that “Falcon” represents can be used in future shipping.

E-MAIL: info@tonylatimer.com

SKYPE: SKYPE is a free internet phone service-just download it and put us on your list of contacts and then we will see each other on line. Our user name is: thompson-latimer (You don’t need a camera or even  a microphone to use SKYPE. You can use the instant chat feature).

SNAIL-MAIL: 1201 Colville Rd., Victoria, BC, V9A 4R2

The trip to Port Townsend from Victoria was a foggy experience. We were very happy to use the radar and AIS system. When we arrived in Port Townsend, the first sight was Lady Washington at the city dock. We had passed the entrance to Point Hudson without seeing a thing. We circled back and entered Point Hudson, rafting up to MV Lotus for the duration of the Wooden Boat Festival.

All around Cape Flattery Tatoosh shone bright……..

………up the Straight of Juan de Fuca on a full moon night!

As we got used to the new equipment …ie the AIS, Radar and Chart plotter, we realized how spoiled the modern navigator is…and who would want to be without these great tools!

…how am I going to make that bloody auto pilot work?

It was still cold and foggy but Patsy was HAPPY

Heading out of Coos Bay (our first landfall) - Pat and Tony and Chris. In Coos Bay, the docks are crowded with crabbers from all over America. They drive to Coos Bay in their RV’s and spend a couple of weeks on the docks catching crabs, visiting, smoking and drinking coffee. There is a big transient dock with lots of cruising boats coming and going. We saw our first pelicans there, and a tame dolphin fed by hand by the fishermen. The folks were friendly and helpful. We would have stayed there a bit longer, but the weather forecast told us it was time to go.

Pat and Tony never refuse a “Cuppa”

Sometimes all you could see was her smile

We tried all sorts of combinations of watch systems…sometimes alone, sometimes as partners. This time Patsy and Tony took a shift.

Kathy (Katie to the skipper) enthusiastically slaps together peanut butter sandwiches for the second leg of the trip.

Under most points of sail and in almost all conditions she would sail, and/or motor herself..for long periods of time, (with just a little trim tab applied via the “tiller tamer”) but sometimes, when it was blowing 35knots and your concentration lagged, she was a handful to get back on course.

Chris Wood and Katie Haight were the extra crew…and they were great. We laughed a lot…or were those smiles just grimaces?

Almost there…

It was hard to believe that after all those false starts we had finally made it to San Francisco

The light was magic and the warm breeze like a tonic.

Linn’s shirt seemed like the right thing to wear in California

San Francisco, open your golden gates…..

An Art Deco Masterpiece

We are currently anchored in Sausalito, California. All is well on the ship.

Sept. 18, 2008

Schooner Forbes & Cameron arrived in Coos Bay at 0930 hr. Pat and Tony are on-board with excellent crew, Able Seadogs Kathy and Chris from Port Townsend. Planning to spend few days here repairing the alternator getting ready for next leg of trip to San Francisco, waiting for the weather window.

Sept 19th, 2008

The alternator is fixed, meeting fascinating Cruisers and Crabbers. Had our first biscuits & gravy as well as chicken fried steak. Will probably be here until at least Monday, no complaints! Cruising is great! Detailed report to come soon.

At 0700, September 15, Schooner Forbes & Cameron departed Port Townsend. The next destination is Neah Bay, on the way to California. Stay tuned.

Schooner’s Crew
One Last Song

The cruise has already begun. Schooner Forbes & Cameron  is anchored in Port Townsend Bay. Come join Pat Thompson and Tony Latimer for one last sharing of songs before they head for Neah Bay and points South.

When: Friday, September 12th, 2008
Where: Landfall Restaurant, Point Hudson,
Port Townsend
Time: 7 pm (promptly)

Only the venue and the songs are provided. Feel free to bring your own non-alcoholic drinks.

Here we are anchored out in the bay, sailing ashore every day  in our dinghy Grace Darling to get the last few bits done on the boat. Adding a towed generator (we call it Mr. Toad), organizing the jacklines, stowing and all those other last-minute details. Planning to head for Neah Bay by the 15th of September. Had a blast at the Wooden Boat Show here, and got lots done on the boat, as well. There was lots of great music, with Tom Lewis and David Lovine, the Cutters and others. Steve Lewis (no relation to Tom), organized some shanty circles and we enjoyed hearing some new ones.

No time for more details now, but we will write a longer story once we get to Cal.

Forbes & Cameron will depart Cadboro Bay on Thurdsay, September 4th. She will spend a few days there tweaking the autopilot and attending the Wooden Boat Festival. Looking forward to a last session with Lewis and Lovine and all those great PT folks. Heading south the following week.

We will not be available by phone after Wednesday. Please don’t leave a message, unless you are nearby and wanting to connect with us. Our cell minutes in the USA are extremely limited.

We will check e-mail when we can, and will update this blog when we can. Feel free to e-mail us or add comments to the blog.

Stay tuned for the next episode, and a more detailed update.

Here’s a photo of Tom Lewis, Lynn Lewis, and Pat, singing on board in Nanaimo Harbour in July. Tony and Sue and Tom were running the boat while we relaxed.

Cameron has just released his new CD, Fallen Apart. Check out his website (www.cameronlatimer.com or find him on myspace) for details and upcoming gigs.

The Province (Tuesday august 26th, 2008, Page C5) has a review of the CD.

Pat and Tony are hoping to be out of Canada in the next couple of weeks (”touch wood”—well, we do that all the time) but we won’t say a definite date until we’ve actually gone. We will have a short stop in Port Townsend, get that autopilot going and do a quick House Concert and then head for Neah Bay and sail south. After that, the next post will be from California. Maybe then we will have time to do a longer post with details of the trip. Stay tuned.