The ride into Campbell River was peaceful. We started early to get Lavanya off to her bus on time. The seas were rippled and traffic was mostly non-existant. May is the best time to come to Desolation Sound; the weather can be very good, the kids are in school, and most people are still getting their boats ready to fight the crowds. By the time those crowds arrive, I expect to be well north of here. We’ll be in Johnstone Strait in a couple of days.
Saturday, May 13, 2017
Down One Crew Leaves Two
We were sad to see Lavanya off at the bus station this afternoon. Aside from excellent company, she was a cleaning, cooking machine. An hour before her bus departed, she could be seen down below on her knees scrubbing the floor. Never let it be said that the girl doesn’t leave a place cleaner than she found it.
The Blind Helmsman
This was the Last Recorded Photo of Rod's Favorite Hat. The wind took it away shortly afterward. We quit sailing in circles though, so maybe it was for the best.
Friday, May 12, 2017
A Night in Desolation Sound
The weather today was as lovely as yesterday was nasty. Sunny with ten knot winds was all the encouragement we needed to pull out the spinnaker. We didn’t have many miles to make and with a little open space to play with, we made the best of our good fortune.
Now we’re in Squirrel Cove, a protected anchorage on Cortez Island in Desolation Sound. All just names. The book says space is at a premium in this cove during peak season, but there is plenty of room now. We are one of a half dozen or so boats. There is some shoreline that looks like it might make good exploring, but the girls have decided to nap instead, while I putter away at things I haven’t had time to do on the boat.
I’ll throw a few more names out, not because I think anyone reading it will care, but because I’d like to use this as one method of journalling our travels for future reference. Our ship’s log will do as well, but neither, log nor blog can be scrupulously thorough. I might find details in one that I missed in the other.
On that note, we had planned to anchor in Skerry Bay Wednesday night. The book advertises it as intimate and protected, but we found it full of mooring balls and aquaculture. It was neither practical nor scenic, so we went hunting for something else and ended up in the East Cove of Tucker Bay. Both Tucker and Skerry are on the North End of Lasquiti Island, but Tucker at least had swinging room and we were lucky to have the cove to ourselves. It gets shallow a long way from the head of the cove where a wrecked sail boat is a testament to the dangers of inattention to the charts. I should also note that Tucker would be uncomfortable in strong north-westerlies. Thankfully the winds Wednesday night were from the southeast, so we slept comfortably.
It was those same south-easterlies though, that made our anchorage a little bumpy last night. It pays to be nimble and have alternative options.
Now we’re in Squirrel Cove, a protected anchorage on Cortez Island in Desolation Sound. All just names. The book says space is at a premium in this cove during peak season, but there is plenty of room now. We are one of a half dozen or so boats. There is some shoreline that looks like it might make good exploring, but the girls have decided to nap instead, while I putter away at things I haven’t had time to do on the boat.
I’ll throw a few more names out, not because I think anyone reading it will care, but because I’d like to use this as one method of journalling our travels for future reference. Our ship’s log will do as well, but neither, log nor blog can be scrupulously thorough. I might find details in one that I missed in the other.
On that note, we had planned to anchor in Skerry Bay Wednesday night. The book advertises it as intimate and protected, but we found it full of mooring balls and aquaculture. It was neither practical nor scenic, so we went hunting for something else and ended up in the East Cove of Tucker Bay. Both Tucker and Skerry are on the North End of Lasquiti Island, but Tucker at least had swinging room and we were lucky to have the cove to ourselves. It gets shallow a long way from the head of the cove where a wrecked sail boat is a testament to the dangers of inattention to the charts. I should also note that Tucker would be uncomfortable in strong north-westerlies. Thankfully the winds Wednesday night were from the southeast, so we slept comfortably.
It was those same south-easterlies though, that made our anchorage a little bumpy last night. It pays to be nimble and have alternative options.
Surfing on Malaspina Strait
Today was crazy windy and from the right direction finally. What do you get when the wind gusts up to 33 knots and you have full sails up? You get wide eyed looks all around and a boat that surfs! We had a bit more sail than was prudent for those conditions, so we furled them in and headed for shelter.
It was a wet day. When we finally got ourselves anchored and then re-anchored in gusty winds and driving rain, it felt good to go below, peel everything off and relax a little. Even now, the rollers are coming in off Malaspina Strait and making our lives a little unstable. But at least the sun is out now and dinner is on the way. Life is good.
Tomorrow we’ll be in Desolation Sound.
It was a wet day. When we finally got ourselves anchored and then re-anchored in gusty winds and driving rain, it felt good to go below, peel everything off and relax a little. Even now, the rollers are coming in off Malaspina Strait and making our lives a little unstable. But at least the sun is out now and dinner is on the way. Life is good.
Tomorrow we’ll be in Desolation Sound.
Thursday, May 11, 2017
Safety in Numbers
With eight or ten knots of wind, we unfurled the mainsail today and plodded downwind at three or four knots, then we added the genoa for five knots. The genoa is designed to provide the power, but with off-shore sailing in mind, it’s built with a heavy Dacron than gives it a wide range of wind speeds it can tolerate. But a stiff material that performs well in 35 knot winds, doesn’t do so well in eight. Enter the drifter: a light air nylon sail with a lovely shape and exceptional performance in eight knot winds.
We furled the genoa and unfurled the drifter. I didn’t see much improvement at first, but we discovered that the top of the sail was wrapped up in the spinnaker halyard. After that snafu was unfu’d, the boat speed went up to over six knots. Yahoo.
OK, you’re thinking: so what. But imagine two boats sailing with the trade winds, one at five knots and one at six knots. It will take the former six days to go as far as the latter can go in five days. That translates to safety in terms of crew endurance, resources consumed and exposure to adverse weather - a sound investment.
We furled the genoa and unfurled the drifter. I didn’t see much improvement at first, but we discovered that the top of the sail was wrapped up in the spinnaker halyard. After that snafu was unfu’d, the boat speed went up to over six knots. Yahoo.
OK, you’re thinking: so what. But imagine two boats sailing with the trade winds, one at five knots and one at six knots. It will take the former six days to go as far as the latter can go in five days. That translates to safety in terms of crew endurance, resources consumed and exposure to adverse weather - a sound investment.
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