SV Three Quarter Time

March 11, 2011 was a milestone date for me. It was my 40 th birthday. It was also the same day of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake that struck the Tohoku Japan coast. The tsunami that followed had a devastating effect among so many communities in the Pacific, and caused terrible destruction in Crescent City, California. Six-plus years later, locals were still discussing the impact of the roiling seas upon their marina, boats, and fishing industry. I am including links to several videos I found from that day online here: Raw video from youtube Raw youtube video with sirens Aerial view from a helicopter Prior to leaving Oregon, while we were still in Newport, we visited a “dock” in the downtown area that came from Japan! It made it's way across the Pacific over one year after the earthquake and settled on a Newport beach.  Meanwhile in Crescent City, although they rebuilt much of the marina, the area still seemed “off” to many because of the aftereffects of the tsunami

The view of the Yaquina Bay Bridge from Three Quarter Time The engine replacement took place over the winter and spring months. Sydney and I moved back onto the boat in early May, after spending 8 months in Alaska working and visiting with family and friends. Paul continued working over the summer in the Lower 48, and one week a month, was able to come back to TQT and help prepare for her August departure. During that time, a new group of Coho Hoho sailing vessels was working it's way south for warmer waters. It was then that we also started making new friendships with non-Coho vessels that also left behind the Pacific northwest, with Mexico and beyond as their destination. We are grateful to have met folks on Bella Nave, Lorien, Cayuse, Simplify, Westy, White Raven, Severance, Tuwamish, Malo, and a few others while in Newport. It's all about safety when watching a solar eclipse Lincoln Beach, Oregon (just a few miles north of Newport) was the starting point

On August 19, 2016 we attempted to leave Newport, Oregon and catch up with our fellow Coho Hoho sailing rally members.  Unfortunately, our engine lost oil pressure (we later learned she threw a couple of rods) and we limped back into port.  Within a few days, we both had jobs lined up for the winter, to keep us busy and to help pay for the engine replacement.  We were looking at around $30,000 to replace the iron jenny with a newer one on Three Quarter Time.   Yet as luck would have it, and explained in a previous post, we found a donor engine on a farm outside Portland that had less than 2,000 hours on her, and she was offered at a fraction of the cost of a new engine!    However, there is no lift available where we were at for  recreational  vessels, only  commercial  ones.  This added to the complexity of our engine replacement.   Paul had to remove the old engine by himself, using a block and pulley system, as well as the boom on TQT.  But amazingly, he accomplished that task un

Three Quarter Time (photo credit Debbie Brethauer S/V Bella Nave) Hello!  Debbie here!  I would like to offer our most sincere apologies for letting this blog trail off after we broke down in Oregon in August 2016.  We lost that forward momentum that was needed to keep you all up-to-date on our repower for TQT.  It was a very draining experience and was especially difficult for us because we lived separately for around 7 months while I worked in Alaska and stayed with family and friends, and Paul worked for a contractor that took him across many cities and states in the US.  We only saw each other every 3-7 weeks for a one week visit each time.  During the Christmas holidays, we were blessed with more time with each other.  This week, I will write a blog each day to get you all current with the engine replacement, getting back on the open seas, and finally making our way further down to bluer waters.  A lot has happened since that fateful trip August 19, 2016...

Over the course of last winter and spring, we joined this great rally to help us get from Port Townsend, Washington, pretty much all the way to Mexico.  We attended very informative seminars presented by the Coho Hoho, and even got to participate in a raft-up in Blakely Harbor.  We made some great friends, shared awesome stories, and eventually 7 sailboats left together on the 14th of August from Port Townsend.  The night before we left, there was a FANTASTIC pirate-themed party put together by the folks at Cruising Outpost.  On the 1st night, a few of us stayed overnight and fueled up in Port Angeles, but eventually all of us made it into Newport, Oregon.  Since Paul and I are only a crew of two, we opted to spend an extra night in Newport to get much needed rest and prepare for our journey to Eureka.  We left port on a beautiful morning, passing the ever-present sea lions, traveling through the often tricky bar, on our way out to sea.  We were about 20 miles south when Paul noticed w

We have cut the umbilical cord that was Seattle and Tacoma.  We are finally traveling around Puget Sound and, when weather permits, we are honing our sailing skills.  We are currently updating and repairing some minor issues on the boat (thermostat, electronics, etc), but have been on the hook whenever we get the chance.  We've seen some cool wildlife to note, no whales yet, but several varieties of the feathered-kind. As we were fueling up at the Foss Harbor Marina, Grant (an employee there) was kind enough to offer water to this mother duck, whom has nested for two summers in a row here in this hanging flower basket.    Her eggs did not survive last summer, but we are hoping this years eggs will survive. We worked our way to Blakely Harbor, across from Seattle, and saw this eagle hanging out on shore foraging for food; he was quite the opportunist. After spending a night in Everett, we traveled north to Coupeville, then on towards Anacortes, where we s