Category: Trips Etc.
The Bostonians
Nope. No Nathaniel Hawthorne here. Or was that the other guy. Henry… Henry James. Ya, that’s the guy.
No plans for the day. U checked out a few local eateries for tonight and grabbed an inbound train.
And then it broke.
The offloaded the lot of us at Cowley and said catch a shuttle bus to Park. Right. Catch a bus. Along with fifty zillion others. I started walking east. Commonwealth Avenue has a great path/park down the middle of it so off I went. At some point u decided to turn south to see if I could reboard but while I found the closed Boston Public Library, I also found the closed Copley Station. Seems I would have to walk to Park.
Down the street, across the Public Gardens, and through Boston Common. I stopped in at the Visitor Center there for a better map and asked about the Aquarium and the other art museum. Initially I thought Aquarium but abandoned it for a better transit plan.
Down a few narrow streets and I found the Orange line. One stop to South Station and I went looking for the Silver Line. I couldn’t find it. The reason I couldn’t find it was I found out (after I enquired) that the silver line was a bus. An underground bus. A bus… That drives through underground tunnels. Like a train, but a bus. Underground.
Weird.
One more quick ride and I was in South Boston and the Seaport District that is undergoing renovation and revitalization. Which made finding the museum a bit problematic at first but eventually the signage pointed out pedestrian pathways and I arrived.
Today is the Fiber Sculpture 1960-Present show at the ICA (Institute of Contemporary Art) featuring artists like Sherri Smith, Kay Sekimachi and others. C you would love this. You really need to get that loom weaving. I did a couple galleries and then rested my feet watching short films about the artists in this awesome cantilevered galleria overlooking the harbour.
One other artist of note was Beryl Korot who originally worked in digital and video media. Later in her career she took up weaving and realized the synergies between digital and woven forms.
And then I bought the t-shirt.
Heading back I decided to walk the perimeter of Fan Pier. Apparently an old rail yard, the various Spurs arranged in a fan shape out toward the harbour. Across an old rusty bridge soft of converted to pedestrian traffic and back towards the aquarium.
But by the time I arrived it had lost its allure. I meandered into the market area I had transitioned yesterday and decided on a pint in an old Irish pub with a moderate tourist factor. Hmmm. 3 o’clock. I wonder if I can stretch this? I wonder if the train is running yet?
On the way back I passed through Faneull Hall, an old Boston meeting hall where apparently lots of Independence stuff occurred. Then down into Haymarket on on the Green C to head home.
Thai for dinner and then a movie (on Netflix).
Clash of the Titans
Well we finally got some sleep.
Morning brought about the inevitable clash if methodologies. L is here for a two day conference. She’s delivering a paper later this afternoon. I’m here to hang. My ‘hanging’ is generally based on careful research and timing that allows me to relax and be confident with schedules, mobility and general knowledge of my environment. L is pretty much the opposite.
Eventually we sorted it out by me waiting patiently for her to board the shuttle to the conference and then starting to get organized. She thought my slightly amused smile of tolerance was about her non-linear worry/rant about the nature of Christ’s corpus. I was just smiling at the absent minded professor impression and wondering if she would actually make it to the conference.
But you know what they say: different strokes; different folks.
I asked the front desk for a 60 second MTBA primer and headed off to the train. I hopped the above ground Green Line C train and headed NE. It cost 2 crisp American bills–the driver waves off the third saving me 65cents. I had intended to get off at Copely and transfer to the E line to hit the Fine Art Museum but decided to ride until the end of the line.
At North Station I got off and bought a 7-day pass for $19 and the reboarded a Green Line train to Science Station. Back above ground this station is actually on a bridge over the river. Great view.
The Science Museum was ok. A bit too kid oriented but I guess that’s what we expect in this day and age. Some tattered remnants of the old Natural History museum that got subsumed by the new ‘science’ orientation. At least there were still dioramas.
Back on the train I did the Green-Orange-Blue zigzag because of the closed station that connects Green and Blue, but bailed and went above ground to walk to the waterfront rather than wait for the train. I grabbed a dog and talked poppy with the vendor. Actually a young lady in the Haymarket Station had already asked me where I’d gotten the poppy. Canada was too far for her though.
Note to tourists: traveling on the Remembrance Day weekend with a Canadian poppy to the U.S. will make for a few friendly conversations. I’m up to 5 now. One guy recited all the provinces West to East, including territories, and only skipped Nova Scotia and PEI. Sort of mixing New Brunswick, Nfld and all the rest together.
I hummed and hawed and finally hopped on the water bus to the Boston Navy Yard to check out some ships. The USS Constitution to be exact. Old Ironsides. Oldest “active” warship in the world. Alongside was the USS Cassin Young, a WWII era destroyer. That’s where I heard the provinces recited.
Then it was back to the dock to try and catch my boat back to downtown and hopefully a train back to the hotel. A texting mixup had L upstairs and me in the bar but eventually we met up and headed out for Korean BBQ & Sushi.
Then it was bedtime for bonzos. So tired.
City of Brotherly Clam Chowder
Well we are off to Boston. Huh. Bawstin…
So far the day has been meh. A 5:30 start, I missed the offramp onto Calgary Trail, then we were offered separate seats so we tried to change them. That resulted is a pseudo-standby status until we hit the gate.
Passing through security we spotted Justin Trudeau going through the Nexus line. Didn’t see him in the lineups for our Ottawa leg though. Tall.
We got seats (we were worried for a minute) but they are separate. Our pilot keeps forgetting we are going to Ottawa as opposed to Montreal. Maybe we are just not destined to go to Boston. At least I’ll get to watch Guardians of the Galaxy. ???? Anyway… A huge puff of oily smoke just came out of the port engine as we were backing. This keeps getting better and better
Well. Not dead, maimed or other.
A 2 hour layover in Ottawa.
An hour and fifteen crammed in a Dash 8 against an ice cold bulkhead (still separate seats).
A 25 minute wait for a taxi.
This day was out to get me.
That’s why at about 12:30 the two young (twenties) girls in the next room came home and started laughing, inviting ‘Steve’ from down the hall, having speaker phone conversations and ordering takeout.
At 1:30 I went down and got a new room.
Day 15: Wrap Up
Baraka Too
1996 Beneteau Oceanis 40
Chartered from Nanaimo Yacht Charters
16 days aboard
12 days traveling
270.4 nautical miles (500.8 km)
60.8 hours at sea
9 brand new destinations
8 nights at anchor
8 nights tied up
6 nights eating out
3 crew
2 boating buddies (3 if you include R Shack herself)
1 BBQ brush melted
∞ Great Times
I’ll post a link to some pictures as soon as I get them organized…
Day 17: Flee Fleance Fly
Abut earlier this morning we were up and around 6:40-ish. C had had a shower already and L headed up for one. I started coffee and then got to packing. I seem to have acquired some volume (and no, I don’t mean my gut).
C and I scrubbed down the exterior of the boat while L did some touch ups inside. We have to be walking to the terminal before 8:45 but we should have plenty of time.
After that we filled the water tanks and started hauling baggage out into a cart. It’s a fairly high tide so we won’t have to haul it all up a steep ramp.
Jonathan popped by and we walked through the boat. I asked about the girl in the accident and he said she walked away from it and the ambulance tide was purely precautionary.
We finished cleaning up and loaded up the cart with the last of the recycling, garbage and bags.
The charter was officially done.
A short walk to the Seair terminal and we got ready to board our flight to YVR. This time it was a Cessna 220. I sat in the copilot seat and chatted with the pilot during the trip. The Cessna has about 60 more hp and took off out of Departure Bay like a bat out of hell.
We banked sharply and landed smoothly on the river to conclude a beautiful flight with a max altitude of 500 ft. A short drive in the shuttle and we arrived at the domestic terminal and checked in.
Some morning wiener was had by all and I had the strawberry milkshake
C hadn’t picked a seat on the website and for some reason that put her at risk of not making the flight. And sure enough they had overbooked and were bumping about 6 passengers. We explained we weren’t flying if C wasn’t flying so they took our tickets and asked us to wait.
15 minutes later C had a seat and we all boarded our flight.
A nice flight with the requisite half a movie and we were home. Henday to 127th and we were soon being ignored by the cats once more.
Home, and then off to the pub…
Day 16: Down, Down, Down, Down, Down
Windy-windy last night. Smooth as glass this morning. Granola bars, coffee and a fresh shirt start the morning. C & L are a bit in awe of my clothing management system as they ran out if fresh clothes days ago.
We’ve started to talk of home too often. Even Carmen is starting to lose her dirty as the title she supplied for today was downright pedestrian: Bulimic Gypsies and AWOL Cushions
D & M had a long night with the 20 knot winds bouncing us around so the departure time got bumped a half hour or so. We managed to lose a cushion…maybe…but the guy in a zodiac meandering around the bay this morning lost a kayak. I guess knots are important.
We putted around the boat tidying up and finally booked our tickets. We’ve decided that home sounds good so rather than stick around and rent a car to Victoria we will just head home. Unfortunately we’ve left it to late and the only, and I mean the only flight out of Nanaimo is the 9:30 Carmen is booked on. I mean it’s not unfortunate that Carmen is booked on it. Just that it’s at 9:30. That means we likely won’t get to see L’s parents.
The anchor came up smoothly–we always seem to master these things when the trips close to an end– and we headed out of Tribune Bay. The wind came up right away do we tried to sail but it died just as quickly. We motored for a bit and tried again.
We got a good hour sailing in a beam to broad reach and C has definitely got some sail-foo going on. We are learning tons about sail trim this trip. I just wish I could get the traveller to work.
Then it was winds die, motored, sails up, winds die, motored, sails up, winds die etc. Eventually we did some math, vectors and figuring and decided to maintain a course and shoot straight into Departure Bay. So we motored for an hour or so and then…
R Shack Island let out her jib first and turned into a beam reach. We waited and the joined in. Once again R Shack was uncatchable on that point of sail. As we were able to turn closer and closer to the wind we started to hit 6.4-6.6 knots and we were sure we were gaining and knew we would catch them as soon as we turned to a close haul.
And at that very, precise, exact moment, Dave radioed that they were going to turn back up away from the wind and sail around to Protection Island and the mooring buoys. It was plausible. Likely even. But we all knew that he was afraid. He smelled our wind-foo lapping over his starboard side and made a run for it. We were on fire! The 7 knot max was the highlight of the trip.
So we turned into our first and only close haul of the trip. Heeled over and doing 6 knots we screamed into the dead spot at the mouth of Departure Bay and slowly slowed down to a slow 4 knots. Just in time to meet the ferry departing. Safely past the the monstrous wake of the Queen of Cowichan, we glanced back to see the Queen of Oak Bay hard on our ass. Ferry-palooza!
Soon enough we furled the genoa and reeled in the main for the last time. Them we motored over to the fuel dock and tied up for some diesel. Just to end the trip on a good note I dropped the fuel cap into the water and hopelessly watched it sink. F*ck.
I called the NYC office and they gave me directions to our slip. I screwed up the entry as I mistook the right slip, but eventually sidled her up and we tied off. A bit of cleanup and it was Miller time. D & M will dinghy up and meet us at the pub 7:15-ish.
[flexiblemap src=”http://macblaze.ca/kmz/2014-12.kml”]
6h57m 38.1nm
C&L walked the recycling up and them headed for the pub. I hung out on the dock to flag down the dinghy. We had a great last meal and reviewed the past weeks and had one last visit. But all too soon we walked them down to their tender and said goodbye.
It has been a pleasure and a privilege and we are so grateful for the time we’ve spent with Dave and Margaret. Thanks again guys.
It’s a bit late to pack so it will be up early tomorrow and then we say goodbye to Baraka Too.
Day 15: Cinnamonny and Warm
I woke all excited to join C on an adventure to hunt down the World Famous Blackberry Cinnamon Buns!
But alas she had made it up and out before me and was just arriving back with 3 warm cinnamon buns. But the water wasn’t boiled so the morning wast quite perfect. Close though.
We devoured the buns in the cockpit and roused L so she could partake. And so she partook. After we’d finished licking our lips we went for a walk and visited the stores that weren’t open yet. Yes, we do have a poor sense of timing.
Eventually a wool sweater store opened up and we pawed through the $200 merchandise. It’s a beautiful little village with an emphasis on little. We stopped by the water taxi office to say good morning to the cat we’d met the day before. He ignored us like any proper cat would.
Back in board I rowed over to R Shack island to check their charts; I haven’t got one for Hornby Island. No big surprises. The wind is up tight now so we might get some sailing in on the crossing.
It was another warm bright morning and we watched the small fishing boats come and go and the big aluminum water taxis haul people, kayaks and even 3/4 ton trucks back and forth to Savary Island. Worth a visits next the I think.
All ready to go we cast off smoothly and headed out. As soon as we were clear of the breakwater we unfurled the genoa and tried a little motor sailing. R Shack Island followed us out and tried to hoist their main as well, but there wasn’t quite enough wind.
We motored past the shoal south of Savary and as we passed the buoy we rolled out our main and headed SW on a broad reach. R Shack once again proved faster and soon swept past our stern and passed us. I got a few nice pictures though.
The winds proved fickle again and our starting SOG of 5 knots faded to 4 then eventually 3. It was a nice crossing but when R Shack dropped their reacher it was time to give up. We’d managed to sail about a third of the way so it’s better than we’ve been doing this past week.
To use ourselves in the crossing I promoted puppets shows, a singalong, historical reenactments, mime shows and bikini sunbathing. My crew are definitely not the participating type. Still, I amused myself.
[flexiblemap src=”http://macblaze.ca/kmz/2014-11.kml”]
7h06m 35.5nm
Tribune Bay on Hornby Island is a huge bay with a broad sandy beach and tons of boats anchored. I maundered and waffled, wandered and whimpered and eventually picked a spot. Just before we dropped anchor I changed my mind and went to my second choice. Yup, I am decisive.
Then we let out too much rode and the rope started to run. We hauled it back in and got the chain back on the gypsy. A quick tug and the anchor was set.
We tidied up and cracked some brewskies. Long day. Only 35nm on the water, but a little over 7 hours dock to anchor. After about half of my ice cold Thirsty Beaver, Dave rowed over to offer us his dinghy. I turned him down but offered him a beer instead. Margaret’s too pooped to walk the shore tonight (and I can sympathize with that) so it looks like the beaches of Tribune Cove are a next time thing.
C started the pizza process and we fired up the stubborn BBQ. I’m on keep-it-lit duty so here’s hoping I don’t screw it up.
One minor mishap, but the pizza is cooking away: mmmmmm! Her homemade sauce is a spicy delight. I can hardly wait…
Pizza was great. There was a choice of BBQ and oven. Both were equally zingy! C and I polished off another bottle of red and we sat back sated and happy. Afterwards the ‘girls’ amused themselves with planning a fictional old-tyme dance party. At least I hope it’s fictional.
The sunset isn’t as nice as last night, but any sunset on the water will do; I’m not fussy. The wind is up. Might be a bouncy night at anchor, certainly more so than we’ve had on this trip. And maybe some sailing home tomorrow.
Tomorrow is 36 nm or so to Nanaimo. Then some boat cleaning, a last dinner with D & M and one last night aboard. Still no home plans. We really should have done something about that. Oh well, c’est la vie.
I will say I am ready for my own bed. Probably the only thing about sailboats that really wears is the uncomfortable cabins and berths. One supposes if one had their own boat you would have better foam and at least buy a boat with an appropriately sized berth. I don’t think I have been able to stretch out in bed once.
Regardless, life is fine and it’s soon time for bed.
I
Day 14: Lund Ho
Morning and a hot shower. Aaaaah.
Yesterday we got a tour of the Acania. The owner must be used to gawkers and is extremely generous in allowing people aboard. There must have been continuous tours while he and his guests–about 6 of them — were up having dinner.
There was original 1930s furniture, teak, brass and amazing features. There was even a prohibition bar that featured a drop-down wood panel that hid the bar from apparent sight.
Morning featured showers for C and I and watching the Acania cast off. Soon enough it was our turn and we sprung off the bow (successfully this time) and motored out into the harbour to wait for R Shack Island to catch up.
Outside of Gorge we raised the sails and tried to sail on a beam reach in light winds. After a couple of hours we gave up although R Shack seemed to be making way more way than us. Left us in the dust they did… We motored to Baker Passage and tried again and managed a pathetic 1.9 knots. Eventually we once again gave up and headed for Lund.
We spotted what we thought might be minkes but turned out to be extra-vigorous dolphins; weren’t disappointed, though. All too soon it was over and we headed for the Harbour. l radioed ahead and they gave us a space on the breakwater 🙁
R Shack Island followed us in and we started to tie up.
[flexiblemap src=”http://macblaze.ca/kmz/2014-10.kml”]
5h28m 18nm
As someone left the main docks I radioed the wharfinger to ask if we could have that space. He told us to hold, then offered me a short spot on the dock and said R Shack could raft up if they wanted. We moved over but Dave demurred.
We tied up, paid up and had a cold beer. Dave is going to change his fuel filters to try and deal with his stall and we are headed up to see what we can see.
We composed a poem in honour of C’s knots:
Perfection
Fast
Pwned
Knots by Carmen
It’s scorching hot and has been a muggy day so when we stepped in the air-conditioned store it was a wave of icy cold. Then when we stepped in the beer cooler it was positively Antarctic. We shopped around then headed to the pub at the Historic Lund Hotel for a cold beer and nachos.
Back to the store for more beer and nachos (for later) and retired to the boat to decompress, for me to have a quick cool shower and for Carmen to call her mom. Hi Grace!
A couple of hours later we gave up on the idea of a late supper. L had read/napped, C had communed with the wind and I had wandered the docks to see what could be seen. Watching the sun slowly set over the Georgia Strait, we were delightfully surprised to be serenaded by a lady and her bagpipes from up on the hill overlooking the harbour.
Dave and Margaret came by after their dinner at the hotel. Tomorrow looks to be another motoring day. We said goodnight and they rowed back to the Shack. L came up for air and we had some wine/hot chocolate and took a million pictures of the sunset.
Day 13: Sailors’ Night Out
We were to be off at 9 if there was a wind, 11 if not. I guess it’s 11 … Sigh.
We practiced knots for a while and watched the dog party on the beach. It’s amazing how many people have bigger dogs (Labs and such) and how much work they are at an anchorage. Dog in dinghy, row in, walk dog, dog in dinghy, row back, dog up and on boat, wait 2 hours, repeat.
Lots of boats leaving this morning. We will up and out by 10:30. We have a reservation at Gorge Harbour but checkout time is noon so there is no point getting there early. And it’s only about 6 nm across Sutil Channel and then down through Uganda Passage so it won’t take long.
Dave lost a water bottle overboard so he dinghied out to retrieve it then popped by for a quick hello. We will take off around 10:30.
10:15 comes by and we start upping anchor. I’m out front on anchor duty so I can see what the issues are with this boat’s anchor locker. It’s slow going and R Shack Island beat us out again, but we were soon on our way.
Around the spit there was still no wind and we crossed the channel heading for the zigzag path that is Uganda Passage which goes across the end of Shark Spit. A few minutes up the channel and we turned heading toward the entrance to Gorge Harbour, which is the gorge the harbour is named for.
It is a narrow entrance with steep rock sides that opens up after a couple of hundred yards into a huge harbour.
Just before we hit the entrance Dave radioed back to say he’d stalled. This is an ongoing issue he’s been having with vacuum locks and pressure systems. We swung back to follow him in ready to grab a bow line and effect a tow if necessary. It wasn’t necessary.
Into Gorge Harbour we radioed ahead and had to do laps while several boats fueled up in front of us. But by and by we pulled up to the fuel dock and filled ‘er up. Then we cast off, switched sides and tied up in our slip.
[flexiblemap src=”http://macblaze.ca/kmz/2014-9.kml”]
2h16m 10.4nm
All tied up, we filled the forward water tank, which we had finally emptied, and settled in on a scorcher of an afternoon. It’s beautiful here and the marina/resort has showers, laundry, store, pool and a restaurant. Expensive, though: $1.65/foot.
Today I am wrestling with the fridge. I thought it was choking on the battery power but it seems to run continuously on shore power as well. An email to Nanaimo Yacht Charters leaves me with just running the engine. That’s sailing…
I wandered the docks for a bit and checked out the resort. A quick beer with Dave and then we booked C’s flight home. Still not sure of our agenda.
Afterwards I headed up for a shower. Clean. The problem was that my damn mosquito bites stared itching again. Back at the boat a refitted 136’, 1930s motor yacht had appeared across the finger from us. Stunning boat. Acania.
Dave has tied his boat 6 ways from Sunday and is going to run up his engine to see if he can stall it. He has a pressure gauge on his fuel line so he had me stand at the helm and run it, in gear, at 2200 rpm. Me? Nervous? Abso-f*cking-lutely. But in the end, it worked. He figured out it’s most likely the fuel filters.
C, L & I sat and had a pre-dinner beer and talked future, present and then tense. Grammar people… Huh. The conversation varied and roamed. Anyone want to win a cookie? Guess who said, “You whip it out and suck it while you’re at it.”
Dinner in the patio was delish with another stunning view and warm evening with great company. After we walked back to the boat we enjoyed a glass of red in the cockpit of Baraka Too and then said good night.
Day 12: Hot Summer Night
Blue sky.
Sunshine.
Lapping water.
Morning at sea.
It’s going to be a hot one. Barely 8:30 and C and I have already abandoned the sun for some cool shade.
I did some laundry and putzed around. L worked on some book reviews, C worked on some knots and I fought with the outboard. After a while I thought I had it mastered but it conked out again after 10 or 15 minutes. I think I have officially given up.
Dave rowed over to say hello and we think we might spend the day on the beach, just walking and hanging.
So we floated on the water and enjoyed.
Sometime after noon Dave and Margaret rowed by and said they were headed for the beach. So I hustled and rustled the crew and we headed beachward. C and I decided to paddle. We got there. Eventually. We should so be a tv show…
Once on shore we beached the dinghy and tied it off to a big tree. We crossed over to the channel side and beachcombed for a while. I brought Leslie 4 rocks. Carmen brought 2 shells but wouldn’t share. She’s like that. I won.
A little while later Dave and Margaret joined us and we sat on logs in the shade and chatted. Soon enough though Margaret got antsy (I think she gets that from Dave) and prodded Carmen and Leslie into action, forcing Dave and I to have to choose between remaining comfortably in the shade and shooting the breeze or following along. We followed.
Along the way C spotted a big dog but thought its butt looked funny. That was apparently because it was a deer. A couple of deer in fact. She eventually figured it out, though, cleverly waiting until she was sure they were deer before pointing them out. Then not so cleverly ruining the cleverness by admitting she had originally thought them funny-butted dogs.
Tons of driftwood, shells and pretty rocks littered the beach and we eventually crossed the spit to the inside where tons of swimmers and picnickers were littering the other beach.
We snagged a picnic table in the shade and drank some water. D & M opted for healthy apples as their snack du jour; we had a bag of cheezies. Hopefully Margaret won’t think too badly of us. Afterwards we headed back along the park path up the spit towards our dinghies.
Back on board we eyed the water while R Shack’s crew went for a tour of Drew Harbour. Eventually the hot sun was too much and we (C & I) eased our way into the cold, cold water. There was some shrieking involved. What was even more interesting was the strength of the current. It was stronger than my lazy breast stroke; I had to switch to my side stroke to get back to the boat. When I let go of the bow, I would drift past the stern in 5 or 6 seconds.
Fun stuff and a great cool down. And I was smart enough to take off my underwear first this time! My swimming companion, however, was not. When we hauled ourselves out my drying time was half hers. Prior planning prevents poor performance, I always say.
Then it was beer time. We had rigged up our sheet to keep the sun out but I wanted to bake in the sun so I crawled out on the beam and baked. D & M motored by on their way back and offered the use of their dinghy.
After our beer C and I paddled over — much to Dave’s amusement — and switched boats. A long leisurely tour of the bay brought us back to the Shack and we dropped off the loaner dinghy. Along the way we saw an 80’+ sailboat called Celesteel and a couple of monster Ocean Alexanders.
Tomorrow we will take off for 10 if the wind is up and closer to 11 if it is calm again.
We said adieu to Dave and paddled back to Baraka Too. Another beer and some relaxing and C, getting restless, headed below to make dinner.
Dinner was French toast, with our imported French white pepper and a bottle of Joseph Faiveley red (Cote-D’Or). Delicious.
Mildly drunk, we hung out in the cockpit and enjoyed the cooling breeze as the sun slowly set.
