passin' through

Like so many great West Coast migrations, this time of year sees fl ocks, pods and gaggles of cruisers making their way from the Pacifi c Northwest, passin' through the Bay Area, and heading south for warmer latitudes. No small number of these transient sailors have their eye on a late-October arrival in San Diego for the start of the Silver Anniversary Baja Ha-Ha, and no small number are catamarans — a record number this year. It's always a pleasure to catch a cruiser tied up at one of our local docks. Here are a few people we've met over the last couple of weeks.

Salish Dragon "In June, we quit our jobs, headed out and turned left. We don't know when we're coming back," said Steve and Tracey Dolling. We met the Vancouver couple in early September during our Crew List Party at Spaulding Marine Center in Sausalito — they were headed for Half Moon Bay the next day aboard their Manta 40 catamaran Salish Dragon. "It's good to be here; it's cool, though.

Tracey and Steve Dolling take a selfi e in Alaska; below: 'Salish Dragon'.

We're waiting to get the point where we can wear shorts. We're going to fi gure it out as we go. We really enjoy Mexico, and may fi nd ourselves spending three or four seasons there." The Dollings are on their way to do their second Ha-Ha; their fi rst was in 2009, when the couple — along with their 11-year-old son — decided to take a year off and sail south on their Catalina 34, eventually joining the cruisers' rally. "It was a great way to meet people and meet other kid boats. We have friends we met back then who've been all across the Pacifi c and New Zealand. "But it was a rough year," Steve said. "I think the roughest in history." (That was the same year that the J/120 J/ World collided with a whale, and sank). "We made our little Catalina do 12 or 14 knots," Steve said, adding that such rough conditions bred confi dence for future cruising, and this next HaHa. "Because '09 had such bad weather, it kind of gives us comfort because it wasn't that bad. And this time, we get to enjoy it more. It's sort of nice knowing what to expect." Steve and Tracey said that the cruising grounds of the Pacific Northwest are dramatically different from what they've found on their southerly trek. "In British Columbia, there's a lot of islands close together. We would go by more anchorages within 50 miles of our marina in Vancouver than there are on the entire West Coast." The Dollings said that they were a bit taken aback by the shallow depths of the Bay Area. "When we were sailing across San Francisco Bay in 12 or 15 feet of water; that would be high and dry on a low tide where we're from. We're used to fjords that are thousands of feet deep. It's a different way of thinking here." Last year, Steve and Tracey did a shakedown cruise in Alaska with their new cat. They said the spectacular cruising became almost mundane."One morning, I woke up, went out on deck, and there was a humpback whale 50 yards off the boat," said Steve. "There were also sea otters and a salmon jumping — all in one scene. But I didn't even bother to call Tracey, because there was nothing new there. It was all the time, every day." The Dollings said they especially enjoyed their time here at latitude 38. "When we fi rst read about the entrance to the Bay, we were mildly terrifi ed," Steve said. "We heard there was fog, wind and lots of traffi c. But when we actually arrived, it was sunny and there were no ships. We sailed under the Golden Gate with the spinnaker. And we've found that wherever we go — if you're patient. It's never as bad as you think in your imagination." The Dollings especially liked Fort Bragg. "It's the coolest port on the West Coast; the waterfront, the little buildings on the pilings, and the entrance is just spectacular," Steve said. While in Fort Bragg, the Dollings had an epiphany about the cruising life after pushing a cart full of their clothes back to the marina from the laundromat. "I tell people that we're homeless and unemployed," Tracey said. "The other way to say it is that we quit our jobs and moved onto a yacht," Steve joked.

Big City Fish Rick and Linda Falder's plans to sail south this fall changed — or were annoyingly delayed — when someone ran into Big City Fish, their Leopard 43 catamaran, while she was at the dock in Seattle. "We were gonna have the boat ready to go in the springtime, but the refi t took longer than we thought. And then someone hit us." This will be the Falders' fi rst-ever Ha-Ha. "It seemed like a fun way to get from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas," Rick said. "I'm really curious. I've never participated in anything like this. I'm looking forward to meeting lots of people." Following the Ha-Ha, the Falders plan on cruising the Sea of Cortez, heading to La Paz for Thanksgiving, and ending up in Puerto Vallarta in February, though Rick was careful to say that they hope to

SALISH DRAGON

'Salish Dragon' lookin' good on the hook at magic hour in a Pacifi c Northwest anchorage.

be true cruisers and go where the wind blows. "We have big plans to go to Europe someday. For now, we plan on heading south, keeping the boat somewhere in Baja the next summer, and heading farther south the following season." Rick grew up sailing in Newport Beach, but moved to the Pacifi c Northwest about 25 years ago. "We've had the boat for, gosh, fi ve years now. We bought it in the Caribbean and sailed it up here — now we're retiring and heading back at a much more leisurely pace." Rick said that until recently, the pace in Seattle — when compared to the hustle and bustle of California — was a little more laid back. "But it's going through a growth spurt; you can't drive anywhere because of the traffi c." He also said that he at least occasionally enjoyed Seattle's famously inclement weather. "To be honest, there's something to be said for a storm. The occasional snowfall is exciting; it disrupts people and gets everyone out of their routine." Windless summers are another well-known aspect of the Pacifi c Northwest's weather. "If I was going to stay up here, I would probably own a powerboat because the winds are so fi ckle. A couple of years ago, we took our boat to Vancouver for a concert, and ended up motoring almost the whole trip; it just is what it is." The Falders are planning on spending some time in the Bay Area on their way down to the border, but like all wise cruisers, made no hardened plans. "We'll see when we get there," Rick said.

Stray Cat

We also met Derick and Barb Sindell at the Crew Party as they were passin' through the Bay on their Lagoon 380 Stray Cat 2. Like the Dollings, the Sindells had since moved on to Half Moon Bay, and said they enjoyed their time in the Bay Area. "It was fun," Derick said. "We spent 10 days there: Sausalito, Emeryville, Berkeley and Pier 39. That's the nice thing about being on a boat — you can move around whenever you want to." Derick and Barb said they especially liked being so close to the action in San Francisco, and said they were lucky to be on a dock opposite the famously cantankerous sea lions. What's more, it was just $50 a night to dock at Pier 39. "One of the things we've noticed is that the marinas are cheaper here than in the Pacifi c Northwest," Derick said, exclaiming for possibly the fi rst time in history that anything in the Bay Area is cheaper than anywhere else. This will also be the Sindells' fi rst Ha-Ha. "We were thinking about heading down to Mexico anyhow," Derick said. "It seemed like a fun way to do it, and there's safety in numbers when you're doing it for the fi rst time. We've been told

Left: Derick and Barb Sindell strike the obligatory pose in front of an iceberg. Left: The obligatory shot under the Golden Gate.

it's a good way to meet other people." The Sindells have sold everything, live full time on Stray Cat, and plan to spend a year or so cruising around Mexico before working their way south and making a decision "whether to make a left turn or a right turn. We're leaning toward going through the Canal and on to the Caribbean fi rst, then going back through the Canal and heading over to the South Pacifi c." Also from Vancouver, the Sindells took sailing lessons some 30 years ago, and have been chartering ever since. "We bought the boat nine years ago when she was still in the charter fl eet, which helped to offset the costs. We spent a lot of time cruising the Pacifi c Northwest." We asked the Sindells if our romantic image of sailing off Washington and Canada bore any resemblance to our imagination: Coves with towering pine trees, grizzly bears feasting on leaping salmon, and glaciers meandering down to deep fjords. "That's pretty much it," Derick said. "It's probably one of the world's best cruising grounds. There are lots of protected anchorages that are out of the wind and swell. There are also challenges, like 30-ft tide swings, lots of current, and narrow passages." Derick and Barb refl ected what we'd heard from Rick Falder. Yes, the Pacifi c Northwest is beautiful and stocked with idyllic anchorages, but there's very little wind in the summer. "When the high pressure sets in, you get that nice weather," Derick said. "But we call it stick boating; you motor everywhere, especially if you're in the Gulf Islands or San Juans. During the shoulder seasons, you spend more time sailing." The Sindells hope to arrive in San Diego two weeks before the Ha-Ha, and look forward to gleaning some local knowledge from the rally's many veterans. "That's why we were interested. It's an easy way to step in."

That one hopeful . . . It's becoming something of a Ha-Ha tradition for a handful of hopefuls to go to any means necessary to fi nd a boat. Last year, it was Cheryl and Machelle Yutzy, who fl ew in from Pennsylvania to catch the Crew Party (they mistakenly fl ew to San Diego fi rst, before catching a last-minute fl ight to the Bay). This year, Eric Specne from Portland, Oregon, sent us this dispatch: "Love Latitude 38 and the countless informative and entertaining articles I've digested over the last 10 years — especially the ones covering the Ha-Ha. So this year I decided I was going to fi nd a way to participate and be a part of the story fi rst hand. "Renew passport, check. Get the time off, check. Get permission from the admiral and fi rst mate with the promise we could do the Ha-Ha on our own boat someday, check. All I needed to do was get to Sausalito by 6 p.m. on the 5th of September. "I dropped off my fourth grader at school and started my personal Cannonball Run down Interstate 5, trying to shave an hour and a half off the Google drive time. After passing a parked state trooper going 85 and not catching any lights, I thought, "This is my lucky day — I might even be a little early." But all hope faded when I was a little north of Redding and came around a corner face to face with stopped traffi c and a 100-ft wall of fl ame blocking my way. For a moment I thought, what would Webb Chiles do? With all big dreams come setbacks. I am still looking for a boat that needs a crew member. I am athletic, laid back, hard working, and have a 25-ton inland master's if someone would like to contact me at ericshivashelleysandy@yahoo.com" — latitude / tim