August 29

The morning started lazily with us still in bed close to 8. Then I heard a voice calling us. I popped my head up and there was Dave in his dinghy floating off our stern. Apparently the latest forecast had the winds changing sooner than previously thought and the prediction for tomorrow (when we were thinking of crossing the strait) was for 40 knots. So if we are gonna go, we go now.

So we went.

An hour from bed to up-anchor is nowhere close to Leslie’s and my record but it’s pretty respectable. The weather was gloomy and wet so we put the side panels up to cut the wind. Then we headed out Wells Passage for the strait. R Shack Island started out with two reefs in but we were going to wait. We pulled out the main loosely and engaged the racket so we could reef later. It was a bit foggy and the batteries were down on account of our having left the inverter on, so I wanted to charge them up in case we needed to use the radar.

Soon enough the winds climbed to 10-15 knots on the beam and we had been motoring for over an hour so we let out the jib and killed the engine. The winds continued to climb as I tried to figure out the right trim for a close reach. I wanted to point up a bit more to avoid Numas Island’s lee shore. Unfortunately for me the winds kept climbing and right off Numas we had to put in the reef. It went moderately badly and we pulled in too much, but we figured we weren’t going out on deck in 17-20 to let the ratchet loose and try again. So we sailed with a much reduced main. But in the end it was probably right. The winds began to climb to 20-22 knots and we were screaming along at 6-6.5 knots, occasionally climbing into the 7’s. A real sailorly type would have laughed at our trim but it was working for us.

    

A beam reach is more comfortable than the close-hauled sailing we had been doing with way less heel, but in a way it’s worse because when a gust hits you the boat wants to swing to windward despite your best efforts and gusts will tilt you over suddenly. You don’t heel nearly as far as you would if you were close hauled but the suddenness of bit adds a bit of adrenaline to the mix.

We kept this up for and hour and a bit and then the winds began to die back to 10+ knots. I whinged and whined, and eventually sent Les out to loosen the ratchet and free the reef. Then we tried to reef it again with so-so success. My sail trim wasn’t getting any better but our speed picked up. The rain at this point was driving sideways and I was soaked. But I’d started with rain pants on so was fairly well insulated. Was getting a bit on the chilly side though. And L wasn’t feeling the wind today so didn’t really want to take the helm.

As we ht the north end of Malcom Island the winds picked up again and we turned away to keep from getting overpowered again. But one big gust came up and banged the rail over into the water and then threw us into the wind. It hit about 26 or 28 knots. Since we were upwind anyway, we decided to pull in the jib. If we were going to get to Port MvNeill it meant beating against these increasing winds and I wasn’t up for close hauled in 28 knots.

Luckily right about then R Shack called and said they were going to motor. That suited me just fine. We started up the diesel and furled all the sails and started banging up wind against steep waves and 20-25 knots of wind. Luckily this didn’t last much beyond Pulteney Point, and then the wind and waves dropped down to where sailing made sense again. But we were too beat to beat and happily motored the one hour to port.

We cut across Neill shoal and beat R Shack in. There was a tense few moments when the dock girls couldn’t find our reservation (Dave had called as soon as he had bars) but they figured it out. With the predicted weather, everyone was either coming in to dock or staying put, and space was at a premium.

This time the wind was almost nil and I had three girls to help me dock, so of course it was a breeze. Nothing like last time. Dave had the more difficult job as he had to dock 90° at the end of a finger, but he pulled it off beautifully. And then we had a beer or two.

I think I now know what the exact definition of exhilarating is. It wasn’t “fun” while we’re doing it, but as soon as we stopped it suddenly seemed like maybe it was. Exhilarating.

After beer we decided pub food was on menu so we cleaned up and headed to Gus of the Appropriate Apostrophe for more beer and burgers. M ordered a fajita and made great inroads into it, but I think she was a bit surprised at the amount of everything that showed up. It even came with a salad.

Great food, great company, great sail: can a day get any greater?

August 30

This morning was another supposed ’sleep-in’ day that was not to be. Zak had boarded a bus yesterday and was due to arrive in Vancouver at 6:15-ish. He did. His baggage didn’t. I got a text at 6:10 telling me so. And if he got his transfer at 7:15 the luggage wouldn’t come until Tuesday, which was way too late for us. And there really was no place to pick it up short of Courtenay. Sigh.

After many questions and texts we decided he would wait for the next bus, which should have his luggage and we would try and fly him up instead. But of course Pacific Coast’s site wouldn’t take same-day reservations and the call centre hadn’t opened yet. But eventually, a little after 7 I booked him a 4:45 flight that would arrive in Port Hardy at 5:30. The marina has a courtesy van we can use to drive out to the airport, so that was all good.

Then the luggage didn’t show upon the next bus. The next chance was 12:30, which was starting to make Zak nervous as he doesn’t know Vancouver at all and would have to catch a train to YVR and then a shuttle to south terminal. But he stuck it out and even waited a bit while the bus was delayed. But just as he was pulling away in a cab, he got the call and turned around to get it.

W00t!

So luggage in hand he arrived at south terminal with another couple of hours to sit around before we could pick him up and end his very, very long day.

Meanwhile we had gone into town and scoped out the Fields and the bargain store looking for potential resupply. We found 3 t-shirts for $10 and some $9 loafers for the boat. We would go back after for underwear and pants if he didn’t get his luggage. We also checked out the Super Value, which is another grocery store. It had a different product line and a lot of it was better suited to us boater types. We headed back to the boat to take stock.

When we started to clean out the garage (aka the v-berth) I noticed some moisture at the front. There is a leak somewhere, maybe in the anchor locker. It’s not wet but it’s really damp. We hauled everything out and I also noticed our luggage was a bit musty since that forward locker was now wet. (It’s ok, it is supposed to be; it’s part of the bilge system. But it had been so dry I thought maybe it would stay that way.) So we bleached the bags and hung them to dry.

Then I cleaned up the berth and put the heater in there to dry everything out. Something else to monitor.

Around 12:30 we headed back up the dock hoping to hear that Zak had his luggage. Since he had it, we bought some fresh food and a few treats before taking some time to relax. Leslie napped/read and I fueled the boat and wrote.

At 4:30 I picked up the keys to the van and L and I drove through the rain about 50 km to the Port Hardy airport. We were a bit early so hung out in the van (to avoid paying for parking) and waited.

At a few minutes after 5:30 Z’s 26- hour journey was almost over. We drove back through the rain and hauled his gear to the boat and introduced him. Then everyone settled in, rearranging everything to accommodate another body. I BBQed some dogs in the rain and Zak weaved an aquamarine charm/pendant for the boat to please the sea gods and bring us good luck. Tomorrow is a 10 am start to get to Port Harvey as we begin our trek home.

Bittersweet.