macblaze.ca

Well last night Leslie cleaned my clock at Yahtzee: 5 games to 1. I feel good about that, I do; very Zen… dammit.

I tightened up the spinnaker halyard because it was banging against the mast in the gusts of wind. Very proactive I smugly told myself. And we crawled into bed to read and sleep the sleep of the dead. Or so I thought.

So the wind came up and things started moving. Almost immediately I got up and moved the dinghy ahead away from our cabin in the stern. I had noticed it’s slurping and banging noises earlier but underestimated how loud they would be. Back to bed. I fell asleep and around 2 I woke up to go out and tighten the main halyard to stop the incessant banging. Back to bed.. Sometime later I reached up and found an old mag light in the crevice above my head that would sharply bang on big gusts. Thankfully I could do this from bed. Around 5:30 I got up and pulled out the folding wing on the table which would rhythmically bang after each gust rocked the boat. Back to bed. After that I tried, semi-successfully, to sleep with a pillow over my head and finally crawled out of bed around 8:30.

Good morning!

I had a French Vanilla instant Nescafe (cause that’s all the store had in a small jar… Mmmmm) and a couple of granola bars to kickstart my brain. L rose and shone a little while later and had a shower with the remnants of yesterday’s hot water. We listened to the weather, looked over charts and talked options before mostly deciding to stay for the day in hopes that tomorrow’s forecast for calm was true.

I manually pumped out the bilge and then called Coopers just in case. We have a fresh water leak somewhere so we will likely have to keep pumping throughout the trip.

Eventually we decided to pack up a lunch and dinghy over to the dock. Ham sandwiches, chocolate chip cookies and some water out of the wind and we were sated. Meandering through Plumper Cove Marine Park we oohed at the trees and awed at the ferns before settling down on the rock and seashell beach to enjoy the sun.

I can tell that I am still pretty tense because as I was munching on my apple — yes, I ate an apple — a swallowtail flew in front of me and almost gave me a heart attack. So apparently I am terrified of butterflies or still pretty wound up. It was pretty though.

We chatted with a fellow seaman about the conditions and asked if the dock might provide a quieter night. He said to stay on the buoy as the dock wasn’t any more shelter and would just give us something to bang off of.

Eventually the lethargy threaten to take root so we brushed the shells from our asses and hopped back in the dinghy. Back at the boat we mounted the outboard for practice and took a cruise around the cove. Tiny, tiny dinghy…not going to be doing any major trips in this puppy.

Back on board it was knots and beer and some more baking in the sun as the Shearwater continues to spin and swing in the wind.

Eventually 6 o’clock rolled around and it was time for dinner. I seared my $23 hunks of fresh salmon and popped them in the oven since it still felt too windy for the BBQ. I failed to ruin it. A quick salad of baby romaine and some cucumbers and it was time to eat. Since Constantine the Great’s foot double wasn’t around we only finished a half a bottle of Rioja.

Dishes, clean up and I started the engine for some hot water. The friendly neighbourhood park warden rowed by for his daily tithe a little after 7. He’d delayed the trip until the wind went down. Did I mention it is finally calming down?

A quick shower and now it’s time to crush Leslie at crib to try and regain some honour after last night’s walloping.

 

Morning brought coffee, a quick breakfast and showers at the marina. We hoisted the sails and went through the system, then headed off for some groceries at the Granville Market as well as a six pack of beer for Bruce. We head back to town and the No Thrills, but stopped a convenience type store and found all of our remaining supplies without having to hoof it up the hill.

A safety video, a few knot reviews and we fired up the engine and cast off about 1pm. I forgot to start the gps so the track below begins in the beginning of English Bay. I guided the boat out from the docks behind Granville Island and handed the helm to L where she stayed the rest of the day.

We motored about amongst all the traffic and head on a course of 275° for Point Atkinson. The winds were 4-7 knots and we mulled turning into Haro Sound and ducking behind Bowen Island, but as we came out into the strait proper it all looked good so we carried on.

About half an hour later we decided to hoist sail so L turned into the wind and raised the sails about 2:30. The winds varied from 6-11 knots the rest of the trip and we sailed on mostly a beam reach for a little over an hour. When we turned into the pass to bring us around Keats Island and the wind was almost perfectly astern. A few minutes later we spied a tug with several barges in the channel and decided not to risk it. Down came the sails and then the roller furler got caught up in the dingy which was still on deck. Eventually Bruce got it sorted and we turned back up the channel with the motor putting away around 3:40.

Somewhere around 4:03 we spotted a tug towing a huge log boom at a snails pace. It was covered in seals so that couldn’t of helped speed-wise. There was a sprinkle of rain between Bowen Island and Keats Island and we curved around the back side until Plumpers Cove appeared off the port bow.

I demoed a mooring ball approach and Leslie took over while I rigged the lines. A few minutes later we had officially arrived at Plumpers Cove around 5 pm.

[flexiblemap src=”http://macblaze.ca/kmz/Day2.kml”]
3h13m 16.6nm (approx)

After tidying up and hauling the dinghy into the water we cracked a celebratory cider. After some relaxation we fried up some dogs and ate like kings. I rowed to the dock for a look see and L cleaned up. The dingy need some air so I pumped it up whilst waiting for the park warden to come collect the fees: $12/ night.

A bit of writing and that was that.

I don’t know if its nerves, recent events or just plain stomach flu but this morning’s wait for departure time has had me churning since I got up. Blah. The cats definitely know something’s up: Artemis has been a bigger pest than normal. But everything’s packed and ready to go and we are off about 11:30.

Drive to airport, catch the Westjet Flight 177 to YVR and the adventure was begun. One hour and 13 minutes later we landed and grabbed our bags. We then grabbed a cab to Granville Island, eschewing the Canada Line due to L’s delicate mobility and my not wanting to carry a ton of bags from train to bus to island.

At the Cooper Boating office the friendly people took my credit card and we headed down to the Shearwater. This Bavaria is a 2006 and smaller by a bunch than any of our previous boats. Except for the wheel. The wheel is massive. Huge.

Sam came down and walked us through the boat and then fiddled with the windlass remote as it didn’t seem to work. We headed off to No Thrills to try and get some provisions. We had to walk so we took it pretty easy. Tomorrow we will check out the market and maybe walk back up.

I snagged a few ciders and we had dinner on the island at one of the many pubs and then settled in for the night. Tired…

Three otters put in an appearance across the dock to say goodnight. Goodnight.

As June approaches, we now have word of who will be joining us in the flotilla to the Broughtons. There is a mix of power and sail, big and small, as well as charter and private. It will be interesting to see the demographics of who makes up the crews. The list provided included some couples as well as simply stating ‘and family.’ Leslie and I are still hoping not to be the most novice boat in the fleet but so far we just can’t tell.

Charter Boats
Corus — Bavaria 50’ sail (Lead boat with 5 paying crew)
Arcturus — Bavaria 32’ sail
Electra — Nordic Tug 42’ power
Simply Irresistible — Beneteau 42′ sail
Mariner’s Compass — Westcoast CB45 46′ power
Raven Magic — Grand Banks 42’ power
Shearwater — Bavaria 33’ sail (our boat)

Private Boats
Intrepid 4 — Sceptre 43’ sail
Ocean Grace — 30’ sail
R Shack Island — (I think this is a Tartan 3400) 34’ sail

There are in the neighbourhood of 25-30 people scattered among the 10 boats. and we will be getting together fairly regularly. I guess I will have to shelve my anti-socialness for the nonce. Supplied Meal Summary: 14 breakfasts, 14 days of snacks and lunches, a couple of Happy Hour Appies, 5 Pot Luck Dinners, 4 Eat Ashore at a Bistro dinners, 5 Dinners aboard.