KatieKat 2006 Cruise Chapter One

January, 2006 -- More Boat Details

First off, I thought I'd show off a bunch of miscellaneous details relating to KatieKat. Most of these answer questions I'd received in emails.

Details of our port and starboard rope clutches. The most significant deviation from the standard factory configuration is that I utilize a clutch instead of the clamcleat for the jibsheet. I intend to replace that clamcleat with a clutch one of these days, and maybe add another clutch for the second spinnaker sheet turning block.

I thought I had previously posted this photo but couldn't find it when trying to answer questions - this turning block with the permanently-mounted line on the end of the boom serves three purposes: (1) Reef #1, which I only use when I know I'll be sailing for a long time in steady 18-22 knot winds; (2) Hoisting the SeaCycle up onto the targa bar; (3) Emergency hoist of a person who fell overboard - that's why I have that large stainless clip permanently in place. As you can see above, this red/white line is led to the winch on the port side and normally sits in the clamcleat.

Relatively unknown in the US (but popular worldwide), this Victron battery charger has a remote control panel and is fully programmable for just about any 12v battery chemistry. The only thing I wish it had is the ability to handle both 115vac 60Hz or 240vac 50Hz inputs. I haven't permanently mounted this charger on the boat as I use it at home and when on the boat have taken it off and loaned it out.

This photo of KatieKat's forward deck shows off my anchor stowing technique as well as five of the seven padeyes I had added to the foredeck - really handy!

No, I don't use these kneepads when begging for Kathy's forgiveness for some transgression: these are simply great when kneeling down on a dew-covered foredeck when cranking up the anchor in the early morning. Simply keep the knees of the long pants dry on chilly mornings, that's all.

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February, 2006 -- Whirlwind Australian Holiday

We've been quite homesick for Australia, and decided to get away in February for a brief holiday - Quantas had a great deal whereby we could arrive and leave from different cities in Australia and could take three flights within the country. This was perfect for us as we flew to Melbourne where we enjoyed the city and St. Kilda, then Hobart where we joined our friends Steve and Dorothy Darden (Adagio) who had rented an apartment for a few months and where we enjoyed Shakespeare in the Park and the Saturday market and watching the Triathlon, then on to Brisbane where we stayed with friends Ray and Sally Roth (Raptor) in Cleveland who took us around to all of our old sailing spots from Southport to Mooloolaba and where we visited with multihullers Andrew and Sonja Crawford, and finally ended up in Sydney where we met up with friends Tom and Dorota Piotrowski (Tom had taken that great photo of KatieKat with the Sydney Opera House in the background) and where I also had a chance to visit the Seawind factory. It was wonderful revisiting our old haunts, seeing the many friends we had made, and visiting some new (to us) places. We did get out onto the water - ferries in Sydney and a first-time visit by ferry to Stradbroke Island on Moreton Bay. We won't bore you with the touristy details and will spare you the photos (we took close to a thousand) - suffice it to say we had a wonderful time.

Impossible to drag Kathy away from this paper.

Of the hundreds of photos we took in Melbourne, this is my favorite. Snapped it just before going to the auto show.

Had to include a photo of one of our favorite areas that we had grown to know so well: South Bank in Brisbane.

Revisiting our photos and this website, we fondly look back on the wonderful memories Australia has provided us.

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April, 2006 -- Farallones Races and Boatshow

April was a busy month for KatieKat: DoubleHanded Farallones Race, SingleHanded Farallones Race, and the Strictly Sail Pacific boatshow.

The Farallones Islands are some rocky outcroppings about thirty miles outside the Golden Gate, with a number of annual races using the southernmost island as a turning mark. Normally very heavy-weather races, this year the wind failed to cooperate and we mostly had light but steady winds for both races, which were a week apart. Whereas unnecessary when cruising, for these races I would have liked to have had a MUCH larger headsail.

This graph of the tides demonstrates how inequitable handicap racing to the Farallones can be: the faster boats catch the incoming tide coming back whereas the slower boats miss it and sail for hours barely moving while bucking the outflow. Needless to say, I won't divulge KatieKat's finish position ... :-)

A view of South Farallones Island during the DoubleHanded race, with an F-24 in the foreground. Gives you a good idea of the swells out there, and this was a very calm-weather event. This is normally a rather bleak and fog-enshrouded place, with a zillion seals providing food for great white sharks.

During the SingleHanded race, who should I hear calling me on the radio but Endless Summer, the Farrier F-41 cat we had last met up with at the dock in Manly, Queensland! It's a small world! This is a nice action shot of Endless Summer. Scott Meyer was out for a daysail his boat and snapped some nice photos of KatieKat (below).

I really like the first photo - shows how unconcerned I am while racing and instead focusing on taking a good photo of Endless Summer. If you look closely, in the second photo you'll see the Golden Gate Bridge faintly in the background.

The heavy San Francisco ship traffic makes it rather 'interesting' during these races! Not to worry, the ship was in the process of turning behind Endless Summer.

Soon after the above photos, my trusty Raytheon Autohelm autopilot packed up and died! It had served very faithfully for 20,000 miles and so I can't complain. Unfortunately, I still had not re-mounted my backup Simrad autopilot on the port wheel, and thus I was forced to steer KatieKat by hand all the way out to the islands and back! Last time I'll leave home without a fully-functioning backup autopilot!!

The seas for both races were so much calmer than they normally are out here.

The motor innards had worn out, cooked, and fell apart. Replaced with a $6 motor normally used in computer printers (and I now have a couple of spares just in case).

The Strictly Sail Pacific boatshow in Oakland is an annual event in April, followed a week later by the same thing for stinkpots. I was happy to offer KatieKat to Seawind for the show, and it was fun meeting so many people who had been following our travels on this website. For those of you wondering about my enthusiasm and passion in showing off the boat (expecially to initially skeptical monohullers), this was strictly a voluntary effort on our part as we are obviously happy with our boat. The boat scrubbed up well, thanks to Kathy's good care of her over the years. Right next to us at the show was a Seawind 1160 which provided the more luxurious and spacious alternative to our SW1000.

KatieKat amongst the hundreds of boats, sporting her pretty new green sailcover.

Our tax dollars hard at work. They were at the refueling dock right next to the boatshow.

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May June July, 2006 -- Local Events

Won't bore you with the daysailing we've been doing on KatieKat. Participated in a number of local Bay races, one of which briefly subjected KatieKat to steady 33 knots and peak gusts of 38 knots in the vicinity of Alcatraz Island while carrying full sail ... couldn't help but recall that this is where I had been dismasted on my Telstar trimaran about 15 years ago in similar conditions...

The InterClub races of May and July, with pieces of the new Bay Bridge waiting to be installed shown in the background in the left photo. Hey, those sails still look good after 20,000 miles! I find racing Tornados or C-Class or even Hobies much more satisfying - but few boats can beat KatieKat for comfort.

In June, Martin Schöön - an avid performance multihuller from Sweden - joined me for the informal Catnip Cup cruise to Vallejo. That's Alcatraz and a portion of the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.

At the present time I'm in the middle of some significant upgrades to KatieKat, in anticipation of our resuming cruising in a couple of months: adding solar panels and a larger battery and installing a watermaker. All this, hopefully, will still result in an overall weight reduction due to the need to carry less water. Will keep you posted. JoeS.

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