We are using this free Amazon service — it’s really useful, and very quick and simple. Just add the button to your browser bookmark bar.
Dorothy and I continue beavering away in our efforts to catch up with Adagio Journal photos. As we organize our blog posts by the real-world dates, you will need to scroll down through the blog posts back to Sept 4th, 2008 to see the “latest” posted this week. Or could also use the Calendar tool in the sidebar at right — though personally I think scrolling is much quicker!
Alternatively, you can use one of the many photo-finding tools in our photo galleries — specifically “Photos by Date”, then select the “Show by: date uploaded” instead of the usual “…date taken”. E.g., click here to display all the new pics we’ve uploaded in November. That generates a big page of 302 thumbnails uploaded since we landed in Alameda.
Courtesy of Marginal Revolution.
We have been “catching up” on photos from Desolation Sound in 2007. You might miss the new galleries, as the posts are in chronological order, under the category “2007 Cruises”. The direct links are Family Lakeside Walk on Quadra Island and Family Cruise in Desolation Sound. Enjoy!
The Weindorf family bicycled from their home in Menlo Park to the Stanford Campus. Elizabeth and Miguel Vieira and Steve and I drove, and met them at the Rodin Sculpture Garden next door to the Cantor Center for Visual Arts. This is the third largest Rodin collection in the world.
We toured the Leland Stanford, Jr. memorabilia collection in the museum, then enjoyed a fine lunch in the museum cafe. It was too fine a day to stay indoors, so by bicycle and on foot, we followed the campus sculpture trail.
When we reached the Hoover Tower, we took the elevator to the viewing platform 250 feet from ground level. The views were beautiful, and the carillon in the tower was an added bonus. “Hoover Tower is part of the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, a Stanford-affiliated public policy research center founded by Herbert Hoover, a member of the university’s pioneer class of 1895 and the 31st president of the United States.” “At the top of the tower, visitors can see a carillon of 48 bells cast in Tournai, Belgium, a gift of the Belgian-American Education Foundation. The largest bell is inscribed, “For Peace Alone Do I Ring.” (from the Stanford web site).
Another highlight was the Stanford Memorial Church, which is covered in exquisite mosaics, inside and out. It was built by Jane Stanford as a memorial to her husband, Leland Stanford. Fortunately, the church was renovated after extensive destruction by the earthquakes in 1906 and 1989.
After we picked David up at his soccer game, he took us on a tour of the amazing murals that have painted on the walls of his school by the students. Guided by an art teacher, each year the Hillview School students create a new mural. The themes are varied, and they all look very realistic.
‘Twas a week before Halloween, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a guinea pig (because the guinea pig was out on the front porch steps with the pumpkins and dog (and grandma)).
The bicycles were stored in the back shed with care, in hopes that their riders soon would be there. When out on the back driveway there arose such a clatter, we sprang from our seats to see what was the matter. Away to the driveway I flew like a flash, carrying my camera, I came in a dash. The sun shining down on the new fallen leaves gave a golden sheen of autumn to objects and eaves. When what to my wondering eyes did appear, but a bevy of bikes and four riders, too.
They swirled in the drive, blurring sight with their speed, as they warmed up for their trip to Stanford campus and feed. And I knew in my heart that I had to follow, so we piled in the car (our bicycles were needing parts and conditioning) and the next post will tell you what we had to swallow.
Happy Halloween to all, and to all a good bike.
After some fifteen years in the South Pacific, Australia and New Zealand, Adagio is in San Francisco Bay for a while. Of course one of the very first things we were keen to do was to organize a sail on the Bay!
We found typical Indian Summer conditions on the Bay: sunny and windless on the way to the Bay Bridge from Alameda. Then light fog and 10-15kn crossing the Bay to Angel Island. “Bikini weather” in the lee of Angel Island. Light headwinds and LOTS of foul current as we tacked back and forth westbound in Raccoon Strait — which offered multiple opportunities to take some photos of our former Tiburon neighborhood around Tower Point Lane.
We sailed over to Richardson Bay hoping for a glimpse of Maltese Falcon — no luck there. We decided it was too foggy and cold to sail upwind under the Gate. So we fell off for a fast reach in 15-20kn back across to the City Front — where we got a brief glimpse of the magnificent Maltese Falcon berthed near Pier 39.
Our guests seemed very happy to be able to relax in the warmth of Adagio’s cockpit and saloon — well-sheltered from the wind, fog and occasional spray.
Oct. 10-14: Just before dawn we found ice on the decks in Neah Bay — is that a hint we need to be sailing south? We took the hint, departing with windless, blue skies and eight foot swells out of the northwest.
After motoring for ten hours, we were able to set full main and jib, sailing comfortably at 165 degrees true wind angle. The Olympic Mountains displayed their craggy, snowy western side all day, and black shearwaters circled the boat. A gibbous moon rose off our port bow after an orange sunset had entertained us to starboard. The true wind speed increased to 21 knots, and we sped along at 7 to 9 knots. Our only problem was that we were unable to send out messages over either Sailmail or Inmarsat-C. Since pre-passage testing in Victoria showed both were working fine we had not activated our Iridium satphone. So for the first time on ADAGIO we were down to just short range VHF communications. So Rick Shema and our daughter were wondering what happened to our usual daily position reports.
During the night, numerous ships and fishing boats appeared on our radar, and on Joe’s AIS system. On Saturday, the wind dropped to about 10 knots, but we maintained our speed of 7 to 8 knots, under blue skies.
We were unable to celebrate Joe’s Sunday birthday with a real cake, due to the sea state, and at 1700 hours, we put 2 reefs in the mainsail. On Monday morning the 13th, at 0200 hours, Joe was at the helm when ADAGIO surfed to 18.8 knots in winds gusting to 29 knots true. Joe thought it was a fun birthday present. But continuing to take it easy and sail conservatively, we put the fourth reef into the mainsail and the boat settled down.
Then shortly after Dorothy came on watch at 0300 auto pilot #2 decided to take a holiday. Fortunately we designed ADAGIO with two completely parallel B&G Hydra pilots — so we flipped the pilot selector switch to pilot #1, and quickly regained our course. As we rounded Cape Mendocino, the true wind speed dropped from 20 to 17 knots, and we hoisted the mainsail to the first reef. Dolphins joined us, and played in our bow waves for 30 minutes. We were finally able to send a couple of position reports out via Sailmail over HF email. During the night watches ADAGIO was surfing to 10 to 12 knots in 17 to 20 knots of breeze, and four meter seas. Between surfing, the boat speed averaged 8 to 11 knots.
On Tuesday, I phoned our daughter as we came into cell phone range north of Point Reyes. We were surprised to hear that she had notified the Coast Guard after not receiving a position report for 48 hrs. The CG contacted Jim Corenman, who checked our Sailmail activity and told the CG that it appeared to be a communications problem. Steve had spent many hours trying to send position reports through Sailmail and Inmarsat-C, so it was clear we had some trouble-shooting to do in San Francisco.
Four days + five hours from Neah Bay we were fortunate to be sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge on a lovely, fog-free morning — and this was ADAGIO’s first time to sail under the “Gate”. We had been away for fourteen years, so we looked forward to seeing all our San Francisco friends again.
Oct. 8-9, 2008: After motoring for three hours from Victoria across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, we arrived in Pt. Angeles, Washington, beneath the backdrop of the snowy Olympic Mountains.
We departed early the next morning in light rain and flat seas, to head northwest the length of the Strait before nightfall. The Maka Marina in Neah Bay, the farthest northwest point of Washington state, welcomed us, providing free, fast internet service so that we were able to download our final weather briefing package from Rick Shema. We sent emails to our friends and family members, confirming our morning departure.
