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August 21, 2005
Newport Harbor to Bandon Oregon
This morning, we left Newport for Bandon Oregon at 0615 over a fairly
calm bar. The seas were comfortable with 1' to 2' wind waves and
low swells, both from the NW on our stern. NO FOG!!! We
finally got a day on the water with no fog and enjoyed it immensely.
There was scenery!
The trip was uneventful except for a pod of Dall dolphins that decided
to play with us in our bow wave for about 20 minutes. That was
fun, watching them play.
We arrived at Bandon entrance at about 1730 and called the USCG there
for a bar condition report. They reported swells inside the
jetties of 4' to 6' with an occasional breaker. Not too bad so we
decided to go on in. As we approached the entrance we eyed the
waters ahead for signs of swell size and any breaking seas. We saw
nothing until we were in them! We had some 6' swells that rose
fast on the stern and tried to push Dreamer into a broach. I was
able to correct with a three-quarter turn of the wheel, only half the
rudder I had to work with. And then, just as suddenly as it
started, it was over. A very short bar but we could see that it
could be a dangerous one in bigger sea conditions.
We got into the port area in Bandon after hours and could find no slip
large enough for Dreamer that we could be sure didn't belong to someone
that would be coming back for the night. So we tied up at the
pump-out/fuel dock for the evening.
Next morning, we called the port office and were assigned a slip right
inside the entrance. I walked over to check it out and found it
open to the 25 knot winds that were blowing straight in from the
entrance in the breakwater. We ran Dreamer over to our new slip
and I tried to back in to have the wind off our bow, but the wind didn't
cooperate and kept blowing the bow over towards the other boat in the
slip. I could control the bow with the bow thruster, but then the
whole boat was blown over.
So we moved out, changed lines and fenders and pulled in with little
problem. There was a guy waiting to help with lines for which we
were grateful. The biggest problem was fighting the wind to get
Dreamer safely tied up. We actually had to use the engines to back
her into the winds to get the lines secured the way I wanted them.
Kath and I both strained our backs again which have not been the same
since we were moving out of our condo and getting Dreamer ready and
provisioned. We will heal.
The aft deck area on Dreamer got all salted up that day and night as the
waves broke on our transom and swimstep and sprayed the boat. The
next day, the winds calmed down a bit and we turned Dreamer easily and
gave her a much needed rinse.
The weather outside was still a little nasty so we explored Bandon a bit
which was fun since it is a tourist town right up from the port.
We were directed by the tourist center, where we got a map and
directions to the market, to a sweets store a couple blocks away that
had many many different kinds of sweets and samples of each to try.
I'm afraid we spent too much time browsing there and sampling. :)
We spent a pleasant few days in Bandon waiting out some weather before
departing for Brookings Oregon.