macblaze.ca

September 7

We cast off at 10. As soon as we cleared the bay the winds climbed to 10-12 knots from the SE so we raised the sails and killed the engine. Woo-hoo!

It was a long, long beat down Malaspina Strait with winds varying from 12 to 20 knots. We tacked back and forth all day until a bit after 4. We were an hour out of Pender Harbour but two more by sail from our original destination of Secret Cove so we decided to switch destinations. The winds were climbing a bit and I was pretty damn tired so I decided to call it and fire up the engine. It had been a grand day and I didn’t want to ruin it with a last minute bout of stressful sailing. R Shack tried to stick it out for a bit longer but eventually hauled in her jib and motorsailed straight to Pender.

The thing about sailing close hauled is that while you can do up to 6 or 7 knots steady vs the 5 to 5.5 you would do under motor, your course is anything but straight. So there is always a net loss. The real advantage is that when motoring you are generally bashing and bouncing into the waves and under sail, the boats slice through the water smoothly and with way less bounce. And it’s fun. Until you get scared. Then it’s not so fun. But is it still more fun than bashing into waves at a slower speed? That, dear Horatio, is always the question. Or is that a question for Yorrick? Hmmmm.

We wended our way through Pender Harbour and admired the big boats and fancy houses. We even spotted Oceanus III of the free salmon at her home berth. It crossed my mind to raft up to her and knock on their door, but decided I am not yet that sociable. We dropped anchor in Garden Bay and settled in for the night. I was pretty exhausted so I set L & Z to making meatballs and wandered over to the Shack for beer and bullshit with a fellow tired captain, Dave. I spent a moment regretting I had given up sailing. It would have been nice to say I had sailed all the way from departure to arrival… not something I have yet accomplished.

Dinner was delicious spaghetti and meatballs, which I cooked up upon my return and we crashed early after some cards and chatter. The winds tomorrow are looking scary so we have no idea what the plan is going to be. Unfortunately we have what is known as the biggest danger in boating: a schedule. We will see what the conditions are like in the a.m.

September 8

We were ready to go for a 10 am departure. As we exited Pender Harbour the swells were pretty big and that didn’t give me much confidence about the conditions once we got out of the lee of Texada Island. The original plan was to motor as far south as we could and try for a beam reach across the Strait of Georgia to Nanaimo. That planned lasted about 5 minutes as we bashed into the waves. So we unfurled the jib and tried to point as high as possible. Dave was sailing under two reefs and his small jib and we were keeping pace at around 4.5 knots so it wasn’t a bad setup. The sail kept us steady and who really needed to faster?

The problem appeared as we tried to clear the lee shore of the southern tip of Texada. I just couldn’t point high enough under just the jib. Eventually I made the call to turn into the wind and bring out the main. We needed a big reef in it and still haven’t worked out a could procedure on how to do so. The issue is to reef we need to engage the ratchet which is located on the mast. And if the ratchet is engaged you can’t bring out the main. So we would have t bring out the full main and then send someone out on deck to engage the ratchet and then bring the main back in. It’s not that hard but with the 6-8 foot waves and the 15-20 knot winds, it is a bit intimidating. I frankly cant remember how we did it. There were way too many things going on. But L safely made it out on deck and we reefed the main so only a metre or so of sail was out and headed back into the wind.

It was a great setup. One of the best we’ve done. And what followed was the very definition of an exhilarating experience. R Shack Island‘s tweet really captured it:

• @RShackIsland: Pender Harbour to Nanaimo in 20 knot winds and big seas up to +15 feet 9.5 hour best and only 1.7 hrs on the engine. *

Priceless!

Winds gusted to 26 knots and were steady at 19-22. The helm was never over-powered and we maintained at least 6 knots with some peaks as high as 7.5 knots. And no one was stressed or too uncomfortable and everything went just like it was supposed to. The only casualty was poor Z. He started up in the cockpit (reading) but felt cold and uncomfortable so went below to crash on the salon cushions. A couple of hours later it started to get to him and even though we dosed him with Gravol and hauled him back up on deck it was too little, too late. We still have some things to learn…

After we hit the cost of Vancouver Island off Winchelsea Islands we decided to stay on sail. The waves were still damn big and we wouldn’t make much headway motoring in on them. So we tacked back out into the Strait and started beating our way into Nanaimo. At one point we came right along side the famous Shack Island. It was another 2+ hours sailing before we made the entrance to Departure Bay but it was probably not going to be nay faster if we had motored direct. And I got my (mostly) point to point sail.

We decided to go in the Departure Bay side to get in a 15 minute motor around Newcastle Island while R Shack sailed on and came around the end of Protection Island. We wanted some hot water for a shower and to put a few amps on the batteries since we had been doing so much sailing. Soon enough we pulled into the bay and tried to drop anchor. After two failed anchor attempts — we got good sets but kept ending up too close to other boats — we followed R Shack Island to a mooring buoy and tied up instead. It was the smarter choice given how tired we were.

I was also too tired to cook so we through the motor on the dinghy and invited D & M to join us at the Dinghy Dock Pub. They forwent the engine so we gave them a tow over to save Margaret’s arms (she is the row-master). Turns out it was acoustic night at Dinghy Dock. Great stuff. Two “kids” did a kick-ass rendition of Can’t Help Falling in Love with unique phrasing and a raspy voice: awesome. Then we towed the other tender home in the dark (this time we had left lights on the boat) and called it a night.

September 9

The next morning Dave swung by and we rowed in to pay up for the use of the mooring balls. Then we booked Zak’s ticket on the Greyhound and headed over to say adieu to the Shack and crew. They were still two days from home and were off to try and make slack at Dodd’s Narrows. It had been a grand 5 weeks or so and we were sad to call the trip over. But it was, at least for us. Time to start thinking of the next leg after we rested up an bit and attended top some chores.

We cast off the mooring buoy and did the short motor to the Port of Nanaimo docks. Then it was clean up and pack up and get the boy ready to travel. The Greyhound terminal in Nanaimo is now at the Departure Bay ferry terminal so we loaded up in the Dinghy and headed for the visitor dock at Stones Marina which is where Nanaimo Yacht Charters is based out of. Then it was a short walk to the ferry terminal. We picked up the tickets and sat around waiting for the ferry to show up Then we said our goodbyes and thanks and watched the boy walk away for his 19-hour journey home.

I had been a great visit and a great way to end our Broughton adventure.

Back at the boat we did laundry and tried to relax. And we started thinking about what was next. The only thing we did know was it would involve hanging out here for a bit to do some evaluation and planning.