Launching from Crescent City second half of June

The latest plan is to launch by rowboat from Crescent City during the second half of June. Finding the suitable weather windows based on long range forecast will be critical. Most of the work on the rowboat is complete and remaining items will soon be done. We are down to loading the rowboat and configuring the onboard communications systems for regular updates during the entire crossing.

For a while, there was the suggestion to launch from San Francisco on Earth Day, April 22. This would have required a stopover at Waikiki only to relaunch from there in September in order to avoid the worst of typhoons further west. My goal is to pace the crossing such that I reach the longitude of the Marianas in January. Arriving at that latitude in the fall would have meant assuming life threatening risks. However stopping at Waikiki created some controversy, so the San Francisco option is no longer in consideration.

With this change, I was able to choose my launch window and my launch site to reduce storm exposure and to better serve my personal goals. The relaxed schedule, also allowed nice-to-have improvements to my existing rowboat like a retractable rudder assembly. This will allow me to deploy a drogue or a para-anchor from behind the boat without the rode line constantly wrapping around the rudder blade. We integrated an auto-tiller in that setup to improve performance while I rest.

My friend and boatwright Paul Papenhouse built me a waterchest to remove bubbles from the raw water entering the desalinator and addressed remaining structural issues with the rowboat.

The vertical water chest that Paul Papenhouse built, will air the raw water before feeding that into the desalinator.

The bow had damage from a previous impact.

Together with trusted marine electrician Brian Johnson, we ripped out the original electrical system dating back to 2001 then installed new wiring, custom solar panels, instrument panel and switches. The new custom solar panels we installed, added about 180 more watts to my power production. That in addition to what I already had on top of the cabin now give me about 300W. I will no longer suffer from drained batteries when I make water using my power hungry desalinator.

Brian Johnson sorting the wiring behind the instrument panel inside the cabin.

During these improvements, Tacoma Community Boatbuilders offered me a roof while Aaron Goodge and Emerson Lamb shared their shop space, giving me premium assistance in wood and metal works as needed.

Kris Henderson scoping the manual rudder control.

Then I moved my rowboat to Henderson Boat Company near Fishermen’s Terminal where Kris Henderson completed the new rudder assembly. This has a cassette inside which I can raise and lower the rudder blade using control lines in the cockpit. Kris is an accomplished boatwright, I-14 builder/racer, experienced sailor and a former national sailing coach. Ken Selvidge helped with some custom stainless steel work and Doug Crews turned a brass bushing to customize an additional gudgeon for our new rudder.

The white rudder blade can move up and down inside the cassette. It is shown here in the raised position.

I am grateful for the competent help that I received to get the work done.