Logbook and Photos

Hi there friends and family! Finally an update from TIOGA, currently located in the San Francisco area. Also check out new log entries and photos on our web page <www.TiogaAdventures.com>.

Well, we made it safely to San Francisco, our first "blue water" passage. Now we know why they call it "blue water" -what an incredible colour. We (our family and friend, Wayne Boldt) departed from Vancouver Island (Ucluelet) Sunday August 25 and arrived in SF at noon on Labour day. Our offshore passage took 9 days, 3 days longer than we had hoped for. The weather was clear, except a little fog the first 24 hours. At first there was no wind and we had to motor, then the wind started to build from behind us until we were in a ruddy great "Mendocino" gale (+50kts) by Friday August 30th. We hove the boat to for six hours (a defensive strategy) and all went down below to try and rest. Meanwhile TIOGA was pounded by waves we didn't want to see. Though it was pretty scary at times, TIOGA took things in stride and, when things had quieted down somewhat by sunrise, we continued on. It was amazing to watch and steer by the stars at night with a phosphorescent trail streaming behind in our wake or to feel the power of the ocean rocketing you south as if on a downhill sleigh ride. Three days later, we made our approach and slipped under the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco Bay. It was a great feeling with many years of planning coming together at that moment.

Joel (8) and Gerrit (6) were wonderful on the trip and did not get sea sick. We were concerned that Gerrit would be susceptible as he has been sea sick before but no problems (unlike his Dad). On that note, it was great to have a third adult crew member. Family friend Wayne Boldt from Calgary was a pleasure to have on board and was worth his weight in gold.

It took a lot of effort to get TIOGA ready for an offshore passage, much more than we expected or wanted. We left Calgary at the end of May, spent a week visiting family and friends to the north, then drove out to the west coast where we kept the boat. For the 3 months leading up to our departure (June, July and August), we worked continually on TIOGA, upgrading her electrics, servicing the diesel engine, adding safety gear, replacing the running and standing rigging (ropes and wires), adding a wind steering system, HAM/SSB long distance radio, holding tank, and new dodger and bimini. We also had to get all our belongings stowed onboard, sell the van, and prepare the interior of the boat such that things (and sleeping bodies) wouldn't get thrown all over the cabin when the seas got rough. Believe it or not, we are still waiting for a break!

As of the first full week in September, we began our home school program for the boys. It's actually kind of fun. For now, both boys get one-on-one instruction. Chris is covering arithmetic and Sheila is teaching reading, writing and spelling for now. Other courses will be added once the basics are well under control. Currently, formal school begins at 9:00 am with Oh! Canada and the sit down instruction ends at about noon. There is a 15 minute "recess" around 10:15. It's amazing what material you can cover in that time period without distractions. After lunch we try to leave the boat for a family activity, and either review the morning's lessons as we go along or work in a science, social, geography or history theme. For those that are interested, we enrolled with the Argyll Centre out of Edmonton, which is an Alberta government-funded home schooling learning centre.

Adjusting to our new lifestyle is fun, though it's not palm trees, beaches and pina coladas, as some might expect (at least not all at the same time). We still have two young boys and all the work entailed in managing them. Groceries are no longer a quick trip to a near by Safeway - now it becomes ... strategy. Our family "car" is an inflatable zodiac ("dingy") with a 15hp motor, which makes the trip for groceries an adventure! Everything about the boat and its maintenance we have to learn and be largely self sufficient - no Maytag Repairmen to make boat calls. Cellular phone service is expensive to us as a "roamer" at 95 cents a minute plus long distance charges, so we use that sparingly. Yet, with the popularity of cell phones, pay phones are becoming harder and harder to find. We haven't watched TV news, read a newspaper or watched the stock markets for months. Let me guess - the DOW is down, the US continues to prepare to attack Iraq, ... The boat size is more than adequate for our family. We have enough space for all our belongings, an upstairs, a downstairs and a huge swimming pool. Our cockpit is our "back deck" - with its BBQ and awning it's great for entertaining. The rigging, mast and boom are a great set of "monkey bars" for the boys and the boat is filled with adventure spots for their GI Joe men and massive imaginations. We are continually outside and active and nicely tanned. Chris' waist is shrinking and his blood pressure is way down. Daily coffee consumption has dried up, though a good "cup-o-tea" is an afternoon event. The boys are best friends and haven't missed a beat.

If you've been watching our position reports, updated frequently on the "Find Us" page of our website, you'll know that since arriving in San Fran, we've voyaged up the San Joanquin river into the "Delta", a system of islands below sea level and dikes or levees holding the water back. Very peaceful, and hot (90F+)so swimming daily in fresh water has been a delight. On Thursday Sep19 we began our trek back to the Bay area, where we will provision for the next portion of our trip, which is to harbour hop down the west coast ultimately to San Diego by the end of October. For our last weekend in San Fran, we plan to head out to see some more sites and to pickup some mail in Sausilito. We also hope to get a few more pictures up on our website before leaving the area.

******From Joel & Gerrit to all their friends

Hi everyone. We are having a lot of fun living on our sailboat. Our bedroom is in the front of the boat and is called the v-berth. We like all the places we get to travel to and the new friends we meet. We have been swimming a lot since coming to San Francisco - our favourite spot was called Potato Slough. The trip down from Canada was hard because it took a lot of time and we ran out of good food. But we made it. Home schooling is great because we have the best teachers ever [we didn't pay them to say that!] and it only takes a few hours a day. We have a TV on the boat and we get to watch movies once in a while if there is enough time or power. We also have a dingy, which we call Boomerang (because he always comes back) and we like to play in him a lot and go for fast rides. We also have the Morrow Book of Knots and are learning to tie knots.

Miss you all.

Joel & Gerrit

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Anyhow, if you've read this far without yawning, you're doing well! We hope this letter finds you in good health and we look forward to the next time our paths cross.

Cheers

Chris, Sheila, Joel & Gerrit

s/v TIOGA

San Francisco