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This summer, we spent 2 weeks on the Guillemot for our first extended cruise. We went from Seattle to the San Juans and then back through Seattle to the South Sound. Here is the first post from our voyage:

Day 1 (Saturday, July 3) Home to Marrowstone


We had a meeting with the contractor for our kitchen remodel in the morning.. Packed until noon. One last trip to Fisheries for supplies. Loadedthe boat. Got sandwiches at Ballard Market. Left at 2:00 pm. Went to Morrisons for fuel (48.6 gallons at $3.49/gal). Our wait at the locks was around ½ hour – big boat in front of us had to back out – leaving room for us. Cruised along western shore of the Sound to Marrowstone Island. Went along the eastern shore of Marrowstone, rather than through the Port Townsend canal. Arrrived Marrowstone around 8:30 pm. Spent the night tied to our friend Esther Trueblood’s buoy. Salmon and corn for dinner. 38.3 miles, 6.2 hours underway



Here we are at Esther's buoy at Marrowstone. Full Disclosure requires me to say that this picture was actually taken a year earlier on our first-ever cruise. Thanks to Ken Meyer for sharing the image



The Guillemot (in the background) and her 2 captains. Marrowstone Island

Day 2 (Sunday, July 4) Marrowstone to Fisherman Bay

Nan made eggs and biscuits for breakfast. Loves her diesel stove. Left Marrowstone around 8:00 am. Crossed the eastern end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, past the eastern side of Smith Island/Minor Island – lots of seals hauled out on the tip of Minor Island.



Seals on the western tip of Minor Island

Rough crossing – seas 3-4 feet, swells, lots of chop. Guillemot handled super, but we discovered what things were not well secured. We both agreed this was not fun. As we got near the southern end of Lopez Is, we headed for the shore, but the swells continued until the surf began, so no relief there. At the southwest corner of Lopez, Nan decided to duck into Davis Bay, behind Hall and Long Islands – finally found some calm water. Came out in the San Juan Channel – much calmer. Anchored in Fisherman Bay (Lopez Is), just south of Lopez Islander resort. Discovered that one of the drawers was jammed. No access to the drawer. We weren’t concerned until we realized it contained half of our wine supply. Rowed to dinghy dock and walked into Lopez village. Had lunch at local grill. Bought brownies and cookies (for our dinner) at Molly B’s. Still quite windy and cloudy. Oswalds from Freya (CYA) came by on dinghy to say hello , moored in bay as well. Guys came by collecting money for fireworks display. Fireworks began around 10:20. Friday Harbor fireworks began earlier – could see the lights in the clouds – made me think of distant battles in the dark. Lopez fireworks were long and impressive. 33.9 miles, 5.7 hours

One of the boats in Fisherman's Bay. All it needs is a little love and care

Day 3 (Monday, July 5) Fisherman Bay to Rosario

Nan determined that the only way to access the wine drawer was to drill a hole in the storage locker above the drawer with a hole saw big enough for her hand. We walked to the hardware store (around 3 miles) and got a 4 inch hole saw and a mandrel for our drill. We also went to the chandlery at IMC and got lines to rig the Pigeon (our dinghy) for sailing. Discovered that IMC was owned by Bob Meng’s brother. Left around noon. Decided to try towing the dinghy behind us. Total disaster. Got about a mile outside the harbor, and the dinghy was filled with water. Pulled out of the lane, and bailed for 15 minutes. Lots of wakes, rocking around. Decided it was much wiser to slowly tow the dinghy back into the harbor. Did so. Finished bailing and put the dinghy back on the boat in the calm waters of the harbor. Left for a second time at 1:30. Went through the Upright Channel to the East Sound of Orcas Island. Got a mooring buoy at Rosario Resort. Discovered that the mandrel we had bought for the holesaw on Lopez was for a ½ inch drill, and we had a 3/8 inch drill, so we could not work on the stuck drawer. Fortunately, ½ the wine was in other drawers. Nan rigged the Pigeon, and we sailed into the dock (with a little rowing at the end). Took showers. Realized that although we had brought clean clothes, we had forgotten towels. Made notes to self for next shower. Had beer and calamari and onion rings at grill. Toured Moran Mansion. Went to bed early. The wind died down and the sun came out. 8 miles, 1.4 hours

The resort at Rosario, Orcas Island

There's a hole in my Guillemot, Dear Liza, Dear Liza

This year, while we were at the Poulsbo Rendevous, we got a chance to see the bow of our boat - we don't normally see the starboard side when she is docked at the marina. Anyway, we were standing around sharing boat talk with our fellow wooden-boat-nuts, when Nan said, (and I quote), "There's a hole in our boat!" And sure enough there was - actually 2 of them, one on either side of the bow, both just above the waterline - just behind the stem. For the last several weeks, I had noticed there was more water than usual in the bilge after a trip. I'd get it all out and no more would accumulate while she was at dock. Suddenly, it all made sense - the holes were small and above the waterline, so we would only take on water when we were moving through the waves.

When we left for India several weeks ago, I took the boat over the Jensen Motorboats - our boat's favorite day camp! They got her pulled today, and cut back the rotten planks. Here is the view of the starboard side (the worse side):



Starboard Side View



As you can see, they have cut away 2 planks. There is also some water damage to the stem (brown vertical portion on the left), so they will have to put in what used to be called a Dutchman, but in today's PC world was referred to as a Dutch Person. The planks will be cut back around 6 feet or so and replaced with yellow cedar (which is the wood used in the orignal planks). Here is a view of the port side:

Port Side View

So far, they have only pulled one plank on the port side, but there is a soft spot on the top of the plank below the hole, so they may have to pull another.

Peter Proctor, my guru at Jensen's, says that the planks were bad before we bought the boat, that either the surveyor didn't catch them, or they might have been in the middle of the board. He also said that planks can last up to 60 years, so they will not need to be replaced again while we own the boat. He also suggested we spend as much time in salt water as possible, since the salt water cures the wood, but is hard on the fasteners, while the fresh water is good for the fasteners, but not for the wood.

The plan now is to let the boat dry out over the weekend, and then decide how much additional rot there is.

Early History of the Guillemot

The Guillemot was built in 1939 here in Seattle at the Edison Technical School. The Edison School had a shipbuilding program for young men who had finished high school and were looking for further training in the trade. The Edison School still exists as part of the South Seattle Community College.

In 1936, the school hired James Chambers to be their Instructor. He was a Scottish boatwright who had come to Seattle around 1910, and who had worked at a number of boatyards in the area.

Every year, the Edison school built one or more Project Boats. The Guillemot was the 1939 project. She was built for James Chambers, the younger, who was the son of James Chambers the Instructor. At the time, the younger James was in his 20s, and he lived on board the boat from 1939 until 1945 with his wife. His nickname for her was "Duchess", and so the boat was launced as the Duchess - a name she kept until 1990.

Since the boat was being built for his son, the family often worked on the boat themselves on weekends (after school ws out). We recently made contact with Scott Chambers, son of James, grandson of James, who loaned us a number of incredible photos of the Dutchess under construction. Scott makes incredible half-hull models of sailing vessels (http://www.halfhull.com/. Thanks for sharing these family photos with us, Scott.

Here she is with most of her planking on, before the cabin has been added.



In this picture, you can see the cabin as well as the round porthole in the forward cabin





In this photo, you can see James Jr on the right, his wife on the left, and James Sr in the center.


Here's a shot of her transom just before she was launched. Considering that she is flying a flag and has clearly been varnished, I'm guessing that this was on Lauch Day.

More on her history later

Mea culpa. mea culpa. I have not posted anything on the Guillemot blog since October. Perhaps I have been lying in a hospital bed after a tragic accident? No. Perhaps I joined a religious Order whose precepts frowned upon the internet (Thou Shalt Not Blog)? No. Maybe the Gullemot sat forlorn and forgotten throughout the entire winter? No again. We have been boating most of the winter. Sad to say, it all comes down to the fact that I am a lazy slob. Several of you have pointed my deficiences out to me, with varying degrees of tact. My beloved has mentioned it to me more than once, and her elbows are sharper (or at least nearer) than the rest of my friends. I will try to rectify this and catch everyone up on the adventures of Guillemot

Poulsbo Rendezvous

The last weekend in September, we went to our first Classic Yacht Association (CYA) event – the annual Rendezvous in Poulsbo. The CYA is a group of old boat owners (Nancy pointed out to me that although many of the boat owners might indeed be old, she is the owner of an old boat!) – in order to be a full member your boat has to be built before 1941, so it is a group of beautiful, mostly wooden boats, some built as early as 1910, and ranging in length from 26 to over 100 feet. The burgee has a C in a circle, that looks a lot like the symbol for the Chicago Cubs, so we get a lot of folks on the water letting us know that they are Cubs fans too!

Poulsbo is a small town across the Sound from Seattle. Every year the town of Poulsbo invites the CYA to hold their rendezvous there – and gives us all free moorage for the weekend. We in return open our boats and allow people to come on board and tour our boats. In addition we have a pot-luck dinner on Saturday night and a breakfast on Sunday morning. It was a great opportunity to show off the Guillemot and get to see some of the other old boats.

We had joined the CYA earlier in the summer. To be more exact, we had sent in our application and money. We were told at the time that it sometime took months to approve an application (hey, it’s a volunteer organization). We were confident that we would be accepted, since the boat had been a member under the previous owner, so we have been flying the burgee all summer. At Poulsbo, the current Commodore told us that he had just approved our application. We still haven’t heard anything official, but are assuming that we have been officially approved, and are behaving like full members.

We left for the Rendezvous on Friday afternoon. As we got in line for the Locks, we saw another wooden boat – Peaceful, A Richardson which is moored almost across from us at Stimson’s Marina. We got to talking while we were waiting for the locks and found out that they were on their way to the Rendezvous as well. Here’s a shot of Peaceful on the way to the Rendezvous (The images are courtesy of Rick Etsel, another CYA member who keeps a website of photos of the fleet).

After we got through the locks, we crossed the Sound together. It was a gorgeous warm fall day and the crossing took a little over 2 hours. We got to the marina in Poulsbo and radioed for our assigned spot. We were put next to our friend Martine Roudier on the Zella C, who did not arrive until Saturday, and she was moored next to her husband Ken Meyer on his boat the Patamar.

After we got the Guillemot docked (with lots of help from fellow CYA members on the dock) and tied down the sun had set, so we went up into Poulsbo and had dinner with Ken and his daughter, who had joined him for the weekend.

Saturday was spent on the boat, showing a few folks through, and visiting as many of the other 32 classics as we could. It was great, since this was the first time we had met most of the members, even though we had seen many of the boats on the water during the Summer. We also realized that almost half of the boats were from Stimson’s Marina – a veritable love-fest of old wooden boats! For example, we met the owners of the Hi’Ilani which is moored right behind us on D Dock at Stimson’s. They said they had been watching us practice backing into our slip all summer, and they were glad that we were practicing, since it meant we weren’t likely to hit them!

Saturday night was the Potluck Dinner, which has apparently become somewhat of a competition over the years as to who can bring the most exotic/best food. We contributed a salad of heirloom tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, which appeared to be hit – it all vanished fairly quickly.

Sunday was a Potluck Breakfast, with myriad variations on Omelets, followed by more open house tours until Noon. By then the wind was picking up, so we left just after Noon.

After an uneventful crossing, we got back to the Locks along with at least 10 other CYA boats.

Here is a picture that Rick Etsel took of us as we were headed back to Seattle: