Upcoming Event The North Idaho Eastern Washington Movable Messabout

This is going to be an awesome messabout.  Join us if you can! 

North Idaho/Eastern Washington movable messabout
  10-17 September 2014

The 2014 Eastern Washington Moveable Messabout will be held Sept. 10 - 17 starting in Idaho and moving to eastern Washington. This is an 8-day event which includes several locations in Idaho and Washington which we visit in sequence to camp and sail/motor/paddle/row. The general plan is to offer a spread of places and types of “accommodations”. Each launch ramp will have a regular state or private campground handy for people who either don’t want to spend every night on the ground or who may be traveling with somebody who would rather stay behind. There are overnight beach camping spots at each location, with either “destination/turn around” spots or stops-of-opportunity for folks who choose to go less far by boat that particular day. More specific information is available at

Yahoo Group:   https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/ewmm/info

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/786628758038519/

"Think of it as a raid, with the option of sleeping in your camper. A messabout, with a changing set of scenery. A race, where everybody finishes a winner. A cruise, with no trailer shuttling. A wilderness adventure, with close access to the freeway. Like that.
Somehow, the interior Pacific Northwest has been kinda passed on by when it comes to organized small boat events. The TSCA folks and Pocket Yachters, over on what they call the Wet Side do an extraordinary job of bringing messers, builders, and armchair types together for some spectacular events. But between places the likes of Lake Pepin, Eufaula, Havasu, and Matagorda, and Puget Sound, there seems to be only Andy Linns tour dforce on the lower Columbia and what his fellow COOTS offer up in and about northern Oregon. That leaves just about a bazillion cool places to put paddle to puddle, or just about any other boat-propulsion method you might care to bring.

A chance to meet new people.  Experience new scenery, and new places to take your boat.  The plan is to start in some of the most rugged and pristine country the Idaho panhandle has to offer...

... move on to the canyonlands and semi-arid country of the upper Columbia watershed...

... and wind up in the prairie-lakes amid some of the most productive grain fields any where on earth.  Our last stop will also be at the edge of the dramatic scab lands formed by the multiple pre-historic Lake Missoula floods that also scooped out topsoil from as far upstream as Montana, and left it piled up where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean.

Think of it as just a sampler of what this part of the country has to offer small boat folks.

What I mean to tell you about is an idea for fun-on-the-water, with admittedly toned down heroics. Maybe, even balmy temps in the 70s or 80s. No crowds. Maybe, no people at all.

 I hope to see you in September, 2014."

-Dan Rogers

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Eastern Washington Moveable Messabout Day 1

“I just talked to a camper who came over from the other side of the island.", said Steve. "He said they saw a bear"
“Grizzly or black?”, I asked.
“They weren’t sure.”
Later that evening, just before crawling into my tent, I carefully packed away my food, eliminating anything with a scent.
At 2:30 am, I awoke with a start. Someone in camp was frantically blasting an air horn. Oh shit.

The Eastern Washington Moveable Messabout was Ellie’s grandest adventure to date.  Eleven boats, eleven sailors, seven days, 940 highway miles, two States, five campsites, hot days, freezing nights, fog, sunshine, gale force winds and dead calm.

 
It all began on Sept 9, 2014.  Joining Ellie and I was Steve Lansdowne from Austin, TX.  Steve, who manages the Events Calendar for Duckworks Magazine, was here to visit friends and relatives, attend the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival, join me as a crew member for this messabout, and then return home for Sail Oklahoma.  Quite the schedule!

We packed the back of the truck with a weeks provisions and set off for Newport, WA.  We decided to take the scenic route, Highway 2 instead of Interstate 90.  This added an hour to the trip but was well worth it for the scenery.

No trip to Eastern Wa on Hwy 2 is complete without a stop in Leavenworth, a charming Bavarian village in the Cascade Mountain foothills.  Our lunch stop included some outstanding brats and beer, along with some sightseeing.  Leavenworth is gorgeous in the winter, and of course its the place to be during Octoberfest.

We arrived at our destination, Little Diamond campground, and were soon joined by Tom Gale from Port Townsend with his Bolger Old Shoe.  We set up camp, as it was getting late and it gets dark quickly in this remote area of Eastern Washington.  Next stop: the 8:00 am crew meeting at AJs cafe in Priest River, Idaho.

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An Oughtred Eun na Mara in Port Townsend Washington

About four years ago (where did all the time go?) we heard of an Eun na Mara, that fine little cruiser from the board of Iain Oughtred, being launched in Venice, Italy. Then as now I am smitten by this design and have often dreamed of building one for myself. I know I say that often and its always true. But if I could build only one boat in my lifetime, this could well be it.

With this in mind, you might imagine how pleased I am to see an Eun na Mara nearing completion right here in the Pacific Northwest.
David Jones, of Port Townsend, Washington is building his version at the Northwest Maritime Center, with help from the staff at that fine institution.

David has been working on his boat project for a couple years and Ive heard about it from friends, but just recently contacted him to ask about his progress. It seems he is nearing completion and hopes to launch her in late spring:





 "Hi Michael,

I have visited your excellent doryman blog and have enjoyed it!

By May we should be in the water or very nearly so. Im working 6 days a week full-time to keep this project progressing, and it is moving along on schedule. Im now varnishing exterior parts, so I can mask and paint the topside. The spars now being varnished as well. Lots of labor, but I really enjoy working with the friends at the Northwest Maritime Center. Thanks for your interest, and well go sailing together when shes wet.
Best regards, 

David Jones"

A chance to go sailing in a beautiful new Eun na Mara on the transcendent waters of Admiralty Inlet is an offer I cant pass up!

David and friends. (Looks like a whiskey plank party.)

Fresh varnish and paint.

Nice shop area!

A well thought out design, artfully executed.

The proud owner. Very nice job, David.






The first two photos courtesy of Brandon Ford. The remainder by permission of David Jones.

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Eastern Washington Moveable Messabout Day 3

Sept 11, EWMM day 3.  I unzipped my arctic mummy bag just enough to get an arm out.  I unzipped the rain fly of my tent just enough to poke my head out.  I exhaled and saw my breath.  Then I reversed the entire process.

But alas, Nature calls.  Fortunately this campsite had restrooms. Better take advantage of them (who knows when the next opportunity will be?)

On the way back, it was clear we could do with a campfire on this cold morning.  Steve was up so we started one and made some breakfast.  The team soon gathered.

The plan for today was to transit to the north end of Priest Lake for overnight beach camping (about 15 miles) with the option to continue into remote Upper Priest Lake for an additional overnight or day trip (an additional 5-7 miles).

But, Dan warned, the weather forecast called for conditions much like the ones that kicked our butts yesterday.  After some discussion, we decided to make for the north shore of Bartoo Island instead, stopping at Kalispell Island for lunch along the way.

We broke camp, loaded the boats, and departed.  Steve opted to join Dennis aboard his Scram Pram. There was no wind at all when we left, so we motored at first.  As we entered the main part of the lake a gentle breeze appeared and we killed the motors.

Ellie was doing very well in the light breeze, slowly but gradually pulling ahead of the group.  I soon found myself all alone, in one of those rare Zen-like moments when there is absolutely no man-made sound.  Only the delicate gurgle of the water trickling past the hull, the slightest whisper of the gentle breeze, and the barely perceptible creak of Ellies wooden masts against her leather partners. I tried to remember the last time I was truly "away from it all", or if that was even possible?

Up ahead was Kalispell Island.  My handheld VHF radio crackled to life, bringing my moment of Zen to an abrupt end.  It was Dan, asking me to look for a patch of beach suitable for our lunch stop.  The first patch I saw was rocky and too small, but just past it was a longer beach, complete with a picnic table.  I beached Ellie there and waited for the rest of the group to arrive.

By this time Id grown quite fond of these sandy beaches!  Kalispell had an abundance of firewood so we gathered a bit and loaded it into Dans plastic kayak, knowing it would be another cold night at Bartoo. Soon after, we departed for another lazy sail to Bartoo, a largely uninhabited island with primitive campsites - no potable water or toilets are available.  The wind gradually weakened, and finally stopped altogether, forcing us to motor the rest of the way.

We set up camp in a long line near the beach, and then began cooking dinner.  The wind finally started to blow, gradually growing stronger and stronger as the evening wore on.  Then I saw Steve walking towards me.

“I just talked to a camper who came over from the other side of the island.", said Steve. "He said they saw a bear."

“Grizzly or black?”, I asked.

“They weren’t sure.”

Later that evening, just before crawling into my tent, I carefully packed away my food, eliminating anything with a scent.

At 2:30 am, I awoke with a start. Someone in camp was frantically blasting an air horn.
Oh shit.

There must be a bear in the camp!  What should I do?  Stay in my tent where Im safe?  Safe??  Behind a thin layer of rip-stop nylon?  I could see the flickering of flashlight beams glowing outside my tent, and could hear some alarmed voices, but I couldnt make out what they were saying.   I heard the air horn blast again.  Two short bursts followed by one long one.  I laid there, listening carefully.  The voices were more calm now, sounding like normal conversation.  I listened for a long time.  There were no more horn blasts and all the conversations went away.  I peeked out of my tent flap.  Nobody there - theyd all gone back to sleep, and so did I.

Next morning, I learned what had happened.  The wind had grown strong enough to break Ellie loose from the beach and she had drifted over to Denniss Scram Pram, rubbing against her hull.  Dan, anchored a short distance offshore, had discovered this during the night and sounded the alarm to alert us to move the boats apart.  The two boats exchanged a little paint and suffered some minor scratches.

Ill take that over a bear any day.

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Eastern Washington Moveable Messabout Day 2

Sept 10.  EWMM day 2.  We crawled out of our respective tents into the crisp morning air. There wasnt much time to spare before our 8am breakfast and crew meeting in Priest River Idaho.  Just enough time for a quick shower (who knows when the next opportunity will be?), to break camp and hit the road.

We crossed the border into Idaho and arrived at AJs Cafe in Priest River, ID about 15 minutes later.

Now, for the moment of truth.  As is the case with many Messabouts, you never know for sure whos going to actually show up until the day of the event.  Our group consisted entirely of a group of hardy sailors.  When Dan first organized the event, he envisioned families, wives, maybe children, many in campers, coming and going for parts of the messabout.  Such was not the case.

Attending the event was (clockwise from the bottom) Dan Rogers from Diamond Lake WA, Mike Cox from Everett, WA, Kim Apel from San Clemente, CA, Dennis McFadden from Burnaby, BC Canada, Steve Lansdowne from Austin, TX, Tom Gale from Port Townsend WA, Joel Bergen (me) from Mukilteo, WA, and Thom Vetromile from Sagle, ID.

 

After breakfast, the caravan hit the road to our first destination, Blue Diamond Marina and Resort on Priest Lake, ID.

Launching the boats took several hours. Each boat had to be backed down a narrow dirt road, rigged, and launched one-by-one.

There was very little wind, but Dan cautioned us that the wind was forecast to blow later in the afternoon. Dan suggested that we should all sail to Indian Creek campground instead of Bartoo Island, for safety sake, to avoid getting trapped on a lee shore. Steve and I ghosted along in the warm, gentle breeze while the last few boats finished launching.  Sailing was rather dull, the skies were clear, and I scoffed at Dans weather report.

With all boats launched, we set forth as a group towards Indian Creek.  Sailing was pleasant at first, but ahead, in the distance, I thought I saw whitecaps.  A few minutes later, the whitecaps appeared to be headed our way.  Fearing Dan might be right after all, I began to tie in a reef.  Halfway through tying in the reef, WHAM it hit us.

The lake churned like a washing machine.  It was so rough I couldnt finish tying in the reef.  I had a double reef on the forward end and a single at the back.  The sail was flogging. One of my battens flew out of the sail and sank to the bottom of the lake.  We got the boat under control and pressed on.  Steve, and my camera lens did a good job of blocking much of the spray, but Steves foul weather gear was on one of the other boats.  He was wet and starting to shiver.  I looked behind us and saw that all the other boats had turned around and were headed back to the launch.

Steve and I abandoned our attempt, turned around and rejoined the group at the launch.  We waited for a while to see if the wind would die down, debating if we should try again or pull the boats and go somewhere else.  After an hour or so, conditions seemed to improve.  We decided to make a dash to Indian Creek campground, under motor, as quickly as possible.

We beached our boats on a beautiful sandy beach and set up camp.  The water looked tranquil in the little bay.  A while later, another sailor in a Lightning sailed into the bay.  He was headed to the North end of the lake but couldnt make it.  He said the conditions were too rough.

We named this windstorm "Hurricane Dan".

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