Tioga in a following sea.

 

Found this video made by the current owner of Tioga, sailing down the west coast of Vancouver Island. Enjoy.

Log 02 - Offshore passage from Vancouver Island to San Francisco

"Please understand, we have been waiting to leave ever since we figured out that there were SAILS willing to take us anywhere we wanted to go." - unknown

This blog covers August 23 to September 02 2002, which was our first serious multi-day passage from the west side of Vancouver Island direct to San Francisco, up to 170 nm offshore and 8 days of sometimes very rough sailing. 

14:04 Friday, August 23rd 2002 

Welcome Wayne..adventure awaits. 

Wayne arrives in Ucluelet from Calgary all smiles. He's packing a larger steering oar for our Cape Horn wind steering system. We still had a number of jobs on our job board to prepare TIOGA for the offshore passage such as packing away the dinghy, storing solar panels, and lashing things down, so we got straight to work.

Sunday, August 25th 2002 

All things that an angry sea might want to tear off are packed below, weather cloths to keep us dry installed, dinghy lashed, food and cabin prepared, and a favourable forecast. We departed Ucluelet at 11:00am after fueling.

Boat is ready as she's gonna' get for offshore - let's go!

Monday, August 26th 2002 
Our second night at sea, and still not much for wind. Here Wayne entertains the crew with some pretty good Monty Python impressions ... like the man with three bums. Alright, now, give us a look!

Here come the Monty Python imitations...

Tuesday, August 27th 2002 

Tuning the wind steering system.  It works!

With wind finally in our sails, Chris and Wayne get the Cape Horn wind steering system working really well. Wind steering systems are like cats, though. They have a personality and sometimes get set in their ways. Chris and Wayne "stroke" the cat.

Saturday, August 31st 2002 

Sheila and the boys on watch.

A few days have passed. We didn't much feel like taking pictures during our first gale. Seas and winds had been building throughout the week and kept us busy and on our toes or in our bunks. On Friday night it culminated in a gale with 50kt winds and really really big seas. We hove the boat to for 6 hours and kept in touch with the US Coast Guard during the worst of it then carried on the next morning. The boys handled the voyage extremely well, though Joel didn't think Mom should use her "good" life jacket if we had to abandon ship. TIOGA was rock solid for the entire trip and kept the crew safe and dry.



Wayne looking a little shell-shocked. "After last night, 30kt winds are a piece of cake ... man, could I use a hot shower and a shave ... what would a steak taste like? ... what day is it? ... are we almost there yet? ... where am I? ... who am I?"

A beautiful day sailing in following seas and steady winds

06:39 Sunday, September 1st 2002 
Joel looking tired after an early morning watch with Mom and a spectacular night of stars. California's in sight!

Joel helps out on the early morning watch as the California coastline gets closer

07:00 Sunday, September 1st 2002 
It's a tequila sunrise! California from about 10 miles offshore. But we still have to sail all day before dropping our anchor in Drakes Bay.

19:57 Sunday, September 1st 2002 
And a tequila sunset! But hey, lots to smile about! We're going to make Drakes Bay with a smidge of light still in the sky, a night's sleep for the entire crew, and a break from the constant motion. Maybe even a game of crib and a beer!

Rounding Point Reyes, an hour to Drakes Bay!

Monday, September 2nd 2002 
The Golden Gate is in sight and out come the Kazoos for Joel & Gerrit. Now why didn't we bring those out sooner?

Out come the Kazoos  the Golden Gate is in sight! 

10:21 Monday, September 2nd 2002 
Golden Success! Safe arrival in San Francisco!

Great family accomplishment - sail under the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco!

In Log 3 we get to spend some time in The Bay area.  So much to see and do in this new life we are still figuring out. 

Log 01 - Moving & Predeparture Preparations

WANDERLUST (n.) a strong desire for or impulse to wander or travel and explore the world.

Hi there. We are  Chris and Sheila Richards.  In mid-1997, we mused over a very simple goal: "Sail away, April 2002". And we did it! Welcome to our blog.

Late May 2002, Sheila packing up the house.

Prior to departure, we lived in Calgary, Alberta, located on the eastern foothills of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Chris spent 12 years as a natural gas marketer and prior to that a land surveyor. He has a Bachelor of Commerce degree (marketing) from the University of Calgary and a technical diploma (honors) in Survey Engineering from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology.

Since the birth of our first son, Joel in 1994, Sheila has kept our home and done a wonderful job raising our two sons. She too has a technical diploma (honors) in Survey Engineering from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology and worked in that industry prior to kids. Our second son Gerrit was born in 1996.

Joel and Gerrit are both fantastic and outgoing boys who are very enthusiastic about the trip. On board, they are home-schooled, though (as Sheila is fond of saying) the world is our classroom and we don't intend to let school interfere with their education. Prior to our trip, both Joel and Gerrit attended a French immersion elementary school, École St. Luke.

In September 1999  (less than 3 years before our planned departure date), our youngest son Gerrit was diagnosed with Type-1 (juvenile) diabetes. At 3.5 years old, he is insulin dependent. Our world was literally turned upside down. With much perseverance and diabetes education, we make the decision to continue with our sailing plans. We feel in the end it will be a much stronger message to Gerrit to just live your life. You can do anything if you take some extra precautions and Just Do It. 

Tuesday, May 28, 2002 Moving Date has arrived.

Why are we going sailing for 5 years?

There were a number of reasons why we chose to go on a multi-year sailing trip. First, there was the lure of adventure. In the mid-80s, Sheila and Chris had toured Europe for almost a year in a VW campervan and still vividly remember those good times as if they had happened yesterday. Second, we love camping and exploring and kids have only added to the experience. In the years leading up to our departure we often camped out 30 to 40 nights a year. Finally, there's more to life then getting up, going to work, coming home to your family dead tired, and repeating that day after day. Before the kids become teenagers, we want to spend prime time as a family and to give our kids life skills and experiences they will never forget.

Monday, June 3, 2002

We cram our earthly possessions into a crawl space at Sheila's brothers farm. That leaves us only needing a small U-haul to get our remaining items out to the west coast, where we keep our sailboat

Tuesday, June 4th, 2002

After an all-night drive from Alberta to Vancouver Island we arrive at Tioga, our 1979 Fast Passage 39 and our home for the next 5 years, if all goes according to plan!

Time to unpack - Yikes was all this stuff really necessary?

Friday, June 14th - Our new mode of transportation

Tioga came with a Polaris inflatable dinghy that is now our means of transportation to and from shore when we are at anchor. The 15 H-P Mariner outboard motor is very powerful and we can get the dinghy up on a plane for speedy travel if needed. It is nice to putt about the various coves, but when we are doing a grocery run to a near-by store, we want it done as quick as possible. Joel came up with the name of Boomerang for our dinghy as he said she always comes back. Clever thinking...Boomerang it is! Today we are putting about a Sidney Spit cove just east of the Town of Sidney on Vancouver Island. 

Gerrit and Boomerang

June & July 2002

A tremendous amount of work is involved in getting a sailboat and your affairs ready for cruising and off-shore passage making. Here Chris is working on a wind-activated automatic steering system (a CapeHorn Windvane).

Chris installing our wind steering.

The boys adjust well to their new life on the water.

Joel and Gerrit like to swing in the rigging.

July 2002

In between all the preparations, we still managed to get a weekend off here and there. This is a beautiful Gulf Islands' sunset.

Wednesday July 3rd, 2002

John G. with backup insulin pump.

We had a number of visitors over the summer, including John G. from Auto Control Medical and his family, who dropped by to deliver a back-up insulin pump for Gerrit and peace-of-mind for our family.

August 2002

Pretty much ready to go. We are exhausted. We are told that if you wait until your boat is completely ready to go, you'll never go anywhere. Next, up to Barkley Sound on the west side of Vancouver Island, from where we will depart for San Francisco on August 24th or so.

Tioga, ready to go

S/V TIOGA...our beautiful boat and home. She is a sturdy ocean going vessel we feel confident putting our trust in.

In Log 2 we take the jump off Vancouver Island and head south after months of preparation.