Flicka Misty

Steve Smith had fixed up Misty, a 1985 boat, and on 15 May 2008 he and his wife trailered her from Truckee, California to Blaine, Washington, launching her there the next day — the first time he had ever had her in the water. He told the story as "Salish Sea Sailing" in Flicka Friends #61 (Summer 2014). A new Tohatsu 9.8 gave trouble from the start and, after a warranty carburettor replacement by a local dealer, was traded in for the Honda 9.9 extra-long-shaft high-thrust outboard he was still running years later in the Sea of Cortez, and the GPS, depth finder and tiller pilot were finished off at Semiahmoo Marina. He left for the north on 7 July, cleared customs at Bedwell Harbour, worked up through the Gulf Islands to Nanaimo, crossed the Strait of Georgia, and carried on through Desolation Sound and Johnstone Strait into the Broughton Archipelago, where he anchored at the head of Bond Sound in about eighty feet of water with a stern line ashore. He came home through Point Roberts and hauled out at Blaine on 3 October after roughly three months in Canadian waters.

Later Smith took Misty to Mexico. In "Sea of Cortez Cruising" in Flicka Friends #50 (Spring 2013) he set out two Baja seasons - a round trip from San Carlos to La Paz and back between 21 November 2011 and 1 March 2012, and a one-way run from San Carlos to La Paz in the autumn of 2012 - along with three crossings of the Sea itself. The first was a hard solo 130-mile passage into a rising southerly to Puerto Escondido; the last, with his wife aboard, sailed 65 of its 96 miles without the engine. He named Honeymoon Cove on Isla Danzante his favourite anchorage, and recorded hand-steering the whole 42 miles from San Marte to San Evaristo in 25-30 knots and a four-to-six-foot following sea, the boat surfing above hull speed for eight and a half hours. Flicka Friends #68 (Spring 2020) shows her still in those waters, anchored near Punta Pulpito in April 2019.

The registry, not the newsletter, records Misty's former name as Mel and Me. Flicka Friends #12 (Spring 1998) reports that Mel Dinesen, then an octogenarian, lived aboard a Flicka named MEL 'n ME at Channel Islands Harbor and singlehanded her through "washing machine" seas to the 1997 Flicka Rendezvous at Santa Catalina Island. The link rests on the name alone.

New Roller furler (Schaefer CF 700)
New roller Furling Jib (approximately 120)
New Bowsprit
New Mast and Spreaders
New Standing Rigging
New Running Rigging
New Garelick Motor Mount
New Honda 9.9 extra long shaft High Thrust Engine
New Standard VHF with DSC and MMSI capability
New AIS Receiver couple to the GPS
New Garmin GPS 545S with Depthfinder
New swing out mount for GPS
New Simrad Tiller Pilot coupled to the GPS
New Head, holding tank and all new hoses
New propane system with stern rail mount for aluminum bottle
New VHF antenna
New Antenna Splitter for VHF and AIS to use the single antenna
New OGM LED Masthead light (white only)
New bottom job with epoxy primer and Micron Extra bottom paint
New Radiolabs Marine Wireless Antenna for getting the internet in ports easily

Blaine,WA to Broughton Islands, BC and Back, meandering course through the San Juans, Gulf Islands, Desolation Sound, Yucalta Rapids and Port Hardy. 1200 NM total in 5 great months of exploration and pure fun.

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Currently (November 2011 ~ ) sailing across Sea of Cortez, Mexico, after trailering from Truckee, California, to San Carlos, Sonora.
For updates, check this blog:    Read the blog