Well today we are off for our great northerly adventure, which, when you think about it, isn’t very northerly. We’ve got a few thousand miles more north to go if we want to hit Alaska some day.<\/p>\n
I don’t know about internet availability as we go forward. I am pretty sure there are going to be places without cell coverage, so all y’all will have to be patient if you want to follow along. I’ll keep up though so you won’t miss an exciting moment.<\/p>\n
Morning started too early courtesy of the damn main halyard. I tightened it up yesterday but wasn’t really focused on it. The winds came up and when something woke me around 6:15, all I could hear was the halyard banging. I got up to tighten it once but it was no good. I was up and every little bang and whack wasn’t going to let me fall back asleep.<\/p>\n
So I got up, flipped on the heater and boiled the water. And now it’s time for, and in no particular order…<\/p>\n
So up it was with toast (yeah!) for breakfast. I hit the showers and came back to start tidying up. L wandered off while I took the garbage out and returned the washroom key. Back at the boat I topped off the water tanks and started stowing things for the trip. Winds are predicted at 10-15 rising to 15-20 and we will be heading strait into the wind. Bumpy but probably not too.<\/p>\n
I rigged the lines to cast off, unhooked shore power, brought out the winch handles and remote VHF, then started double checking latches and hatches. When Leslie got back we talked it over and since it was a pretty easy exit with the wind pushing us off the dock, she took the helm and I cast off.<\/p>\n
Out from behind the breakwater we turned into the wind, revved her up to 2400 rpms and headed out on about 290 degrees. A bit bouncy but fine. I’m nice and warm in the sunshine and the lee of the dodger, but Cap’n Doc is bundled up in her hoody at the wheel.<\/p>\n
We were the first boat out of our group, with the Corus about half an hour behind and Intrepid 4 behind them. By the time we’d hit Savary Island the superior speed of the Corus had brought her up off out starboard side. We just can’t compete. A little later Mariners Compass, a 46′ powerboat, passed us as well. I lost sight of the other sailboat so I’m not sure what happened to them.<\/p>\n
We motored up the Malaspina and eventually turned west into Baker Passage. Around Sutil Point and we ducked into the lee of Marina Island. Corus had stated they were going to lunch on Shark Spit at the north end of Marina Island. By the time we got there they and Mariners Compass were anchored up but the dinghys were still on the boats. We decided too forgo the stop and weaved our tortuous way through Uganda Passage and back into the Strait of Georgia. The wind was favorable for a good crossing to Rebecca Spit (tonight’s destination) so we raised sails and shut down the power. And the wind died. After 4 plus hours of 9-15 knot winds, they die as soon as we raise the sails. Oh well, 4 knots of wind is plenty. And then 11. And then 4. And so on.<\/p>\n
You know that thing about speaking too soon? Well I spoke too soon. No sooner had I typed the above then the winds picked up to a steady 12-15 knots, and then a steady 15-18 knots and very very soon we were heeled over like Abraham Lincoln after he chopped down the cherry tree for a second timeOr was that George Washington? Anyway he got a good paddle). I had asked Les if she wanted to reef and she said no it’s just gusting. About the time she had two hands on the wheel and was hauling on it like it was a 500lb tuna, I told her I wanted to reef. After some ‘discussion’ we hove to and threw in the first reef. Stubborn, stubborn Dr.<\/p>\n
So we zoomed along at a glorious 6-7 knots and it was…. well… glorious. About 3\/4 of the way to our goal of rounding the tip of Rebecca Spit into Drew Harbour I said we will either have to tack or drop the sails and motor, because we were gonna miss it by the width of my Ukrainian friend’s chin hair. Leslie was too busy sailing the perfect point of sail to listen to me. So the wind gods smacked her upside the head and cranked the wind up to 19-22 knots. Our port side dipped in the water and things went flying in the cockpit. So I repeated myself and added the ‘option’ of throwing in the second reef if tacking was the choice. “It’s gusts,” she repeated. There was a pattern emerging here.<\/p>\n
Those of you that know Leslie, know that bending isn’t her strong suit. Seems she hasn’t yet internalized that old sailing adage: you can’t change the wind, but you can adjust your sails. Anyway, for a second time I told the skipper what we were going to do, and, predictably, a discussion ensued. Thankfully said discussion occurred when we were hove to so I had more time to make my case. What really settled it was this rogue wave that broke over the bow and soaked us way back in the cockpit. We both were soaked and it made the whole situation a bit ridiculous. We dropped the sails and proceeded to motor into the harbour.<\/p>\n
We settled on anchoring as far away from everyone as possible. Mostly this was because it looked like a likely spot, but a lot of it is anchorphobia. Anchorphobia is a phenomenon that occurs when the following conditions join together: fear of dragging, fear of anchoring too close, fear of anchoring while being observed while anchoring and fear of failing in one of a million other unknown ways. Besides the wind was strong, the beach was close and I am so bad at math. Long story short, we eventually switched roles and Leslie dropped anchor while I tried to hold the boat steady. Since all our practice had been the reverse of this, it makes it seem like a bit of a waste. what was that French saying again? Oh ya, c’est la vie…<\/p>\n
[flexiblemap src=”http:\/\/macblaze.ca\/kmz\/Day9.kml”]
\n6h51m 37.6nm<\/p>\n
So anchored. Huh. With a roughly 4 to 1 scope and 125′ of chain out. It bloody well better hold. Debriefing consisted of me saying “OMFG, you sailed in a 20 knot wind,” and her saying “Well, we aren’t dead.” As you can see we react to stressful situations differently. But hey, she’s the smart one, so maybe I should rethink my position \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
We tidied up and I put the outboard on the dinghy because I think we will have to do some visiting tonight. And now we relax, drink beer and wait and see.<\/p>\n
Eventually I took a circuit of the harbour. Everyone was here but Corus and Intrepid 4. Back at the boat I whipped up some tortellini and we feasted. Just before we sat down Anne and crew came by in their dinghy and let us know they were hitting the beach for a fire and BBQ. We joined them briefly, before returning wet to the Shearwater. Tomorrow is a late start around 11 and we hit Beazley Passage at slack around 1:30.<\/p>\n
Reception is shite so no pics today. Sleep well!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Well today we are off for our great northerly adventure, which, when you think about it, isn’t very northerly. We’ve got a few thousand miles more north to go if we want to hit Alaska some day. I don’t know about internet availability as we go forward. I am pretty sure there are going to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[52,90],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6856"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6856\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}