This is where I post news and daily reports (when possible) all along the journey north.
December 15th, 2007
Okay. So the plan was to get up here to Astoria, and live and work on the boat. Living on it is great - I am enjoying the life here thoroughly. But I have been having a hard time focusing on work. My cozy few feet of living space is starting to cry out for a bit of a break! I am comfortable doing most everything on here, but having no desk, and having to cramp to use the computer is making it hard. So a change is coming.
I knew that eventually I’d want some office space. But an opportunity came up yesterday that expanded my thinking and should prove to be a big leap forward into a whole new dimension. I found this very funky storefront in historic downtown Astoria. I became interested when I found out that the rent was dirt cheap. And then, several fun possibilities started popping up.
The space has a nice big main floor, plus two lofts - one small area with windows and a rather large area toward the back. Between the two is a high ceiling over the main floor with hanging lights. So my thought was to use the bigger upstairs area for Red Hare Graphics, my office with computers and such, and the smaller area for storage. That would leave the entire main floor with front windows to do something new and cool.
So here’s the plan: I am going to open an art gallery and build a stage in the back, complete with sound system and have live music. It will be great! There are many gifted artists in this area who will be happy to be shown. And the live music should make it a fun place to just hang! I will get a woman I learned about to come in with her espresso cart to serve coffee and goodies whenever there’s a show, and just offer free/donation coffe at other times. I am hoping this becomes THE place to hang out in Astoria!
I am hoping to open it in a month or two, as I have to get all the permits and build out the inside first. I will need chairs and lumber and lighting and fixtures. Above all, I will need some operating capital to pull this off. I maxed out just paying for the lease on the place today, so the next step is to look for a loan. I shouldn’t need much, but I can’t pull it off with what I have on hand. Perhaps I will do a bit of PayPal begging on here and my other sites, as the downstairs part of the equation won’t be paying for itself anytime soon. If it can cover the rent, I will be ahead!
I am not worried about the obstacles ahead. This fell together so easily over the last day that I am confident I will have what I need when I need it. It is an exciting thing for me, anchored in the Web design stuff that’s been proven to pay the bills over the years, integrated with my two other passions - art and music. Then, at the end of the day, I can really enjoy just hanging out on the boat!
Posted in Living In Oregon, Portside, WebGeekery | 6 Comments »
December 6th, 2007
It is being called the biggest Pacific storm in recorded history. Sustained winds of over 100 mph, with gusts over 170 tore through the Pacific Northwest, leaving much destruction and a blackout which is still going on here in Astoria. We were at the center of it.
This is the first time since Saturday that I’ve been able to get online. I am okay and my boat only got a little damage. Most of the other boats in our marina didn’t do as well. Several boats broke loose and some ended up on the docks. Others had holes torn in them and cleats torn right out of the docks. Some of the docks themselves actually came apart. It is a mess.
I stayed in the adjacunt motel for 2 of the nights, my room overlooking my boat. I watched a 70′ yacht get torn from its dock and slam into several boats as it floated free to the far end of the marina. I and many others trie to stop some of the damage, but it was hopeless in such poweful winds. The roof was actually blown off of the motel just above my room.
We are still without power and it may be days before it’s back on. It will take months to clean up - maybe years. The power of nature is unbelievable, and I can’t even begin to describe what it was like. I am just thankful that I made it through, and my boat is still above the waterline.
To view video of the worst part of the storm on Monday, click the button below.
Posted in Living In Oregon, Portside | 4 Comments »
November 24th, 2007
I hope all of you had a fantastic Thanksgiving. I am just now starting to recover! I, as usual ate WAY too much. I went to a pot-luck thing and made tons of candied yams. It is a bit challenging to prep and boil a dozen large yams in my little galley, but succeeded and fried the sliced finished products in a big kitchen. I think they were a hit, as they always were around my family’s home.
I put up my Christmas lights today. I did so with a little trepidation, as I m surrounded by commercil fishermen and salty old sailors. I figure a little cheer shouldn’t ruffle anyone’s feathers … I guess we’ll see. I hoisted them up with the mainsail rigging, and with much trouble with tangles, managed to get them up and working. Hopefully, they will survive the storms, high winds, and perhaps, the knife of a grumpy pasing sailor!
Posted in Living In Oregon, Portside | 1 Comment »
November 18th, 2007
Yesterday, I had a fantastic time driving down along the Northern Oregon coast. I woke up to yet another hard-blowing storm, and decided to just get away from the boat for awhile. I drove as far south as Newport, which would have been my second-to-last harbor before arriving in Astoria. I wanted to get some pictures of that, as well as Garibaldi on the Tillamook Bay. I took a lot more than that!
The rain and wind was furious as I drove, but it was enjoyable stopping to look at the fierce power of the ocean against the coastline. It’s especially fun to watch seagulls, who are usually cocky in their gracefulness, stumbling backwrds in mid-air! It’s the little things …
Please go to my Flickr site at www.flickr.com/photos/redhare to see the pictures from yesteday, as well as all the trip photos. I am not going to continue posting to the Gallery here, as it takes too much time as is meely a duplication of my Flickr pages.
Posted in Living In Oregon | No Comments »
November 15th, 2007
I am finally settling in my new home here in Astoria. Thankfully, the mast is back on the boat, the sails are up, and I have managed to get her livable once again. I took all the cruising stuff off the boat and put it into storage, replacing it with the comforts of home - microwave, stereo and a nice area rug. I am quite cozy now!
Of course, it’s going to be a big adjustment living here. As I write this, we are in the second big storm since I’ve been here. The first one earlier in the week was incredible! We had winds nearing 100 mph. I watched peoples sails and even parts of their boats ripped to shreds. Luckily, I weathered it fine, thanks to good advice from my neighbors. This time, it is intense, but not quite as bad as the last one. The boat is being knocked around, the wind is really howling and the rain is pounding, but I am just listening to some good jazz as I write this blog entry.
I spent most of the day today finally sorting ot the photos from the trip since September. There are so many, hat I am not putting them up here (for now), rather have put them on my Flickr page. So if you want to see all the pics I’ve been promising for months, you can see the now at www.flickr.com/photos/redhare. Please check ‘em out and leave me some comments!
Well, I am going to relax now and watch The Departed again!
Posted in Living In Oregon, Arrival | 4 Comments »
November 9th, 2007
The first few days in my new place have been great. I’ve been blessed with a very unusual run of nice weather - in fact, it’s only rained once or twice since I’ve been in Astoria. That’s all changing, so it is fortunate that I got my mast put back up today. Tonight begins rain which is suppose to stick around for a long while.
The second morning in my new slip, I woke up and looked out my starboard portal and saw a surreal sight. What is normally a nice view of the Washington hills beyond the river, was now entirely taken up by an 846′ cruise ship! It was massive, yet they say around here that it wasn’t even one of the biggest ones. A very weird thing indeed to have such a huge thing appear a few feet from your home. It was fun to watch the town activate for the influx of visitors, then, as soon as they got back on their ship, everything immediately went back to normal. Watching the ship leave was also impressive. The local marching band played as the giant vessel slowly thrust sideways from the wharf. Deafening horns from the ship and surrounding vessels were met by sightseeing cars honking their horns. Then, within a few minutes, the ship was off into the sunset. Apparently, we get 10 to 12 of these cruise ships each year and this was the last one of the season. What is routine for the locals was quite unique for me.
So I managed to beat the clock to get my little boat re-rigged. It will be nice to have the sails out of my cabin and on deck where they belong, but now the rain has begun and the wind is howling, so that will wait awhile longer. Now, other than that, all that’s left is finishing up the wiring from the mast. A new friend, Bryan, is suppose to help me with that over the weekend. Of course, now that the mast is up, I am not in a rush anymore. There will always be plenty to do on this boat, but hopefully, the major stuff will remain at bay for some time, allowing me to start concentrating on adjusting to my new environs.
Posted in Portside, Repairs, Arrival | No Comments »
November 6th, 2007
This morning, the harbormaster and crew began to reinstall my mast. However, the crane was too small and the wind was a bit too high. So, putting off the mast for later in the week, the boat was re-launched. Again.The tming was great. Besides being completely sick of living in a boatyard, having to climb a big, slippery ladder and walk a good distance to use a port-a-potty to go to the bathroom for 2 weeks, there was something else. Last night, I drove out for the first time to the south jetty of the Columbia River Bar. It was impressive and intense - as much as I had imagined. I caught the sunset there, and knew I would one day go through that bar. But first, I’d just be happy to get my boat back in the water!
The launch was pretty scary. This is an interntional port and they don’t really have time to mess around. They simply dropped the boat into the water, I fired up the motor, and left. What was scary first was that I couldn’t get it in gear. I was adrift in a main shipping area and on the verge of panicking. Fortunately, the crew was abe to pull the boat up to a dock, where I figured out the problem. Then, the next scary thing was going out into the Columbia River for the first time in rough weather. It turned out t be fine, although it was weird steering against a 7 knot current! When I got into the marina, as I was trying to get off the boat to tie her off, I took a header and landed a leg in th ater. But I recovered and with some embrassment, made it safely home at last.
Now, the cleanup begins. I started straightening up, and even got groceries. (It feels much more like home having food in the fridge!) I will be removing most of the stuff from the cruise, and refitting the boat for winter living and working. As soon as the mast goes up, tough, I intend to take at least one good sail before hunkering down for winter. Regardless, there is much mess to clean up after the truck and 2 weeks of work in the boatyard.
And now I am released to do 2 things I promised to do only after I landed in my new slip: watch “The Goonies” (which was filmed here,) and shave off this hideous beard! Yeah, it keeps mewarmer and makes me fit in better around here, but good God, it makes me look SO old! So tomorrow, off it goes …
Posted in Portside, The Move, Arrival | 3 Comments »
November 1st, 2007
The morning after arriving in Astoria, my boat showed up and I was finally here. The plan was to put the boat in the water, then deal with the wiring and rotted-out mast-step before re-installing the mast. It didn’t quite work out so simply.
It turns out the fine work the boatyard in Monterey did, wan’t so fine afterall. Besides the expensive and careless mistake of cutting my radar cable (which I ddn’t know any better to protest against - now, spending $225.00 to replace it, I know better), but the fiberglass on the keel was so delaminated, that the truck-ride put a gaping slash in it. And I was made to feel I got a great deal at over 3 grand! Argh! More money. More time on stilts in a boatyard. Fortunately, the cost of everything here is a lot more reasonable.
Once I came to grips with the fact that I had more major repairs that had to be done before getting into the water, I began enlisting the help I needed to get it done. I found a good guy who also lives in my marina to do the glasswork. All of the wiring is being replaced in the mast, and I have a welder working on the mast-step. But things move very slowly around here. The radar cable had to be built at the factory and other things are catch as catch can. So I, once again, live in a boatyard. It’s been a little over a week now, and hopefully, I will be in the water and home in my new slip by early next week. Perhaps sooner, but I am not holding my breath.
I had a very close call in the car the other day. I was driving back from Portland and barely missed a huge elk. The car went off the road and I tore one if the tires of and obliterated a hub cap, but thankfully, me, the elk, and the car (for the most part) were spared.
All the obvious frustrations aside, I am really happy to be here in Astoria. I am getting to know some cool folks and getting a feel for the area.
Posted in Portside, Repairs, Arrival | 2 Comments »
October 24th, 2007
… and buses, and subways, and light rail ……
I left with Robert from Salinas this morning and boarded a puddle-jumper to San Francisco. It was an unbelievably beautiful day, and the views from the plane were stunning. That made it all the harder to see such great weather, knowing my boat was now on a truck and me in an airplane. I did, however, get to see many of the places along the coast that I had planned to sail to, and because of the intensive preparation, I recognised most of the coast all along the way.
When I got to San Francisco, I had a 3-hour layover, so I took the Bart (subway) into the Embarcadero. But I barely had time to snap a few shots then turn around and rush back to make it through security at SFO.
Once back in the air, I had a spectacular view of the bay, the city, and the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a fairly short trip into Portland, where I arrived just before 3. I took the light rail into downtown, ate some okay Chinese food, then hoofed it over to Union Station to catch the only daily bus to Astoria.
The bus was a 2-hour ride. I did get a chance to sleep a bit on the bus, being awakened a couple times by a screaming baby. But finally pulled in to Astoria around 9 PM. Home at last! Well, kind of …
My home is actually somewhere on Interstate 5 right now. In the meantime, I found a great little motel called the “Lamplighter Motel”, right near the marina. I was met there by a lovely lady named Tina who welcomed me warmly to Astoria and gave me the room from which I am writing this. There are a couple fancy places to stay around here, but this one is the best if you want to really experience the charm and friendliness of Astoria.
So, I still consider this my first night in my new town. Still, it will be great to get my boat back into the water and move back in - this time in my new permanent location! That is, until I take to the next cruise ……
Posted in Portside, Arrival | 3 Comments »
October 23rd, 2007
The boat was hauled out today and put onto a truck trailer. The trucker wound up being a lot later than I had planned for, but everything has worked out good. My dear friend, Robert, has me staying at his home this evening in Salinas, where I am writing this from.
At 7:30 this morning, I helped Michael and Suzanne off on their ongoing sea adventure on the Namaste. I was sad to see them go, but am happy to have had some great times while we were in Monterey. They even called me from sea, a ways out. Part of me wishes I was joining them on their voyage!
Then, around 2 PM, I moved my boat over to the hoist and had it hauled. When the truck finally arrived, we loaded the boat, then the mast, and I went through to make sure all the holes were covered and everything was secured. Larry, the truck driver spent several hours securing the boat to the trailer. In fact, when I left with Robert for Salinas, Larry was still preparing for the trip.
I ended up buying a plane ticket, and Robert will take me to the airport tomorrow morning, where I will take off for San Francisco, then Portland. From there, I have to take a bus that evening to Astoria. The boat should be there the next day, so I will just stay in a motel, then meet up with my boat - hopefully on Wednesday.
I have much repair and maintenance to the mast to do yet, but hopefully, I won’t be out of the water long!
Posted in Portside | 1 Comment »
