boat maintenance

We left Shilshole with only a handheld VHF that worked. We have a shiny new VHF mounted at the nav desk but the reception has never worked. We've narrowed the problem down to the coax cable running through the mast (worst possible scenario) or the masthead antenna (not a terrible problem but still a trip up the mast). So we hauled Christy up to the top of the mast and determined without a shred of doubt that the coax cable running inside the mast was shorted out somewhere and needed to be replaced. Of course.

We brought along 70' of RG213 just in case we needed to replace the internal coax. We made several frustrating attempts to run the coax down the existing conduits but no joy. After several hours up at the masthead, Christy was getting pretty pooped. So we lowered her and I went up to the top. I pretty much knew I was going to get anywhere with the problem but I figured I'd go take a look and install our new LED anchor light/tri-color while I was up there.

Well.

Let's just say this: I didn't get the VHF antenna run. I pulled the old anchor light off, dropping a crucial piece in the water. I got the new light half installed only to strip one of the bolts and drop the screwdriver into the water. The only phillips head screwdriver big enough to install the bolts being used for the LED light. Awesome.

Decided to spend the rest of the day drinking beer and kayaking around the anchorage. Christy took some great photos while up at the masthead so we burned them on several CDs and dropped them off at other boats in the anchorage so they could have cool pictures of their boat in Smuggler's Cove. We had wine, appetizers and some great conversation with Ian and Hanna aboard s/v Yonder before running over to m/v Nor Epi and having dinner with Greg and Leslie and their friends from South Africa.

It's amazing how being in a place like this around people like that can turn a day around.

49°30.88'N 123°57.81'W

smuggler's cove

We chose to cross the Strait of Georgia. The guidebooks are filled with wide eyed tales of steep eight foot seas and bashing and wind and general uncomfort. We also noted a high wind warning in effect for the afternoon. Rather than wait around for that we chose to scoot early. Plus, we'd had plenty of the crowded confines of Newcastle Island bay. We decided to put the dinghy up on the foredeck rather than leave it hanging on the davits off the back of the boat to get swept away by the monster seas we were about to face.

We pulled out of Nanaimo but directly in our path is this little obstacle called "Whiskey Golf". WG is a torpedo range used by the Canadian and US navies and it was active today. We decided not to participate in torpedo testing so we motored around it and out into the Strait of Georgia. The wind was howling not at all. The seas were not steep nor eight feet nor bashing. It was a nice quiet motor (as quiet as motoring can be anyways) across. Christy napped for most of it.

Our destination was a spot called Smuggler's Cove. Apparently, this cove has a history of use by smugglers (who'd thunk it?) such as Larry "Pig-Iron" Kelly and served as a hooch storage area during Prohibition. When I mentioned before that Dodd "Narrows" was narrow, it turns out I was wrong. Dodd Narrows is a veritable Lake Michigan compared to the entrance of Smuggler's Cove. Christy and I estimated the narrowest point in the opening at around 30 feet wide. Which means less than 10 feet of water on either side of the boat lay between our delicate fiberglass hull and bedrock. But the water depth at the entrance was just fine. We laid off for an hour or so outside waiting for a low tide to pass so we could at least run aground on a rising tide but once again, never hit anything.

This was also our first attempt at a stern tie. For those not familiar, this anchoring technique involves setting the anchor and backing the boat close to shore where one person rows the dinghy to shore with a line to tie off on something. This prevents the boat from swinging and allows more boats to be stacked in a tight area. It sounds easy in theory. Reality is a tad different. I bought 200' of MFP which is a nice polypropolene based line that floats so it won't get caught in the prop. We then bought another 200' of cheap polypro in case we didn't have enough. That was a mistake. Cheap polypro sucks. It kinks, hockles, doesn't coil for shit and can't hold a knot. After making a train wreck of all that line, I finally decided to shitcan the polypro and just use the MFP. Much happier.

Hello World is currently tucked into an unbelievably beautiful cove, anchored from the bow and tied to shore from the stern. A seal just cruised by checking things out and a couple geese are sitting on the shore. We're surrounded by little granite islets and coves waiting to be explored by kayak. It's places like this that make we wish we had our friends and family with us so they could understand just how great these places are. If this is any taste of what's to come in this trip, the Inside Passage will wildly exceed our expectations.

49°30.88'N 123°57.81'W

nanaimo

The Canadians must have borrowed powers of understatement from the British. When navigating a passage referred to as a "Narrows", best rub down the hull with Crisco just to be on the safe side. Dodd Narrows just south of Nanaimo is one such "navigable" pass (I'm doing that air quotes thing with my fingers around the word navigable). We hit it at just a skosh before slack and fought a knot or two of uphill current to get through. It would have been less stressful had another boat not been going through at the same time, pushing us closer to the rocks than I'd ever like to be. An engine failure at that point would be ... crunchy and smashy and altogether exciting.

Dodd Narrows was at the end of another long day of motoring. We miss our sails dearly and hope to see them again soon. We left Montague Harbor around 0700 to make sure we caught the slack at Dodd Narrows. It was a mostly uneventful motor. After passing through the narrows, we entered Northumberland Channel which is notable only in the massive amount of logs that are freely bobbing around. Nanaimo is at the other end of Northumberland Channel and where we were headed. We had ordered a carb rebuild kit for our outboard engine and needed to pick it up in Nanaimo. We entered the Port of Nanaimo Marina and found the only transient spot was to raft up against a rusting steel sailboat in a narrow channel in a healthy beam wind. We decided - and by "we decided" I mean I chickened out and Christy rolled her eyes at me - to head across the harbor and anchor at Newcastle Island rather than tempt that fate.

Once snuggly at anchor, we caught a ferry across to Nanaimo to take care of some city business. Mostly internet and shopping for some fishing gear. It's mildly intimidating to walk into a chandlery in Canada where at 18 months old, every toddler already knows how catch halibut and admit that you haven't clue one about how to make delicious fish come out of the water and into our frying pan. But we got some great assistance and walked away with a bunch of stuff we have no idea how to use. Keep an eye out for an upcoming blog entry on how useful our first aid kit is to retrieve fish hooks out of my arm.

We spent the night in the bay at Newcastle Island. The island itself is a great park but the harbor is way too busy for our tastes. We have decided after our experiences in Sidney and Nanaimo that we don't like anchorages full of other boats. We're sure that the people on them are nice enough but other boats is not what we came to see. We're looking forward to crossing the Strait of Georgia and getting over to more remote anchorages.

49°10.5'N 123°55.7'W

montague harbor

We were sitting in the cockpit having dinner and listening to Damien Rice on the stereo. Christy cooked an outrageous concoction of mangoes, chicken, onions and tortillas. Hello World was lying to anchor in 40' of water in Montague Harbor as the sun was going down. Not a breath of wind and about 70° as we looked around at shoreside forest of Galiano Island. Most of the time on this adventure so far, I'm fairly focused on something. What is that other boat doing? How is our anchor holding? Where is the wind moving to? What's the weather doing? Where did Christy stow the jelly beans?

But at this point in Montague Harbor, I had a moment where I realized just how cool this is what we're doing. Turns out, this little adventure of ours is pretty cool so far. Montague Harbor is very protected harbor comprised of a marine park to the north (with scads of mooring balls) and a great big roomy anchorage to the south. We first picked up a mooring ball and rowed into shore (outboard motor still not working, sigh) and walked the trail around the provincial park. Beautiful trail linking up white sandy beaches and beaches made of crushed shells.

After exploring a bit, we moved off the mooring ball before we had to pay for it (they start charging you at 6:00PM) and headed over to the south side of the anchorage to set the hook in 40' of water. After dropping anchor, it was a relaxing evening of watching reflections in the water. Also, I was instructed to do some website work. We're working on a way that y'all can track our blog entries on a map but the code isn't quite done. What can I say? I've been busy...


Montague Harbor Provincial Park


The massive mooring ball field at Montague Harbor.




Lying at anchor in the south end of Montague Harbor.


Christy calculating what time we need to leave in order to make slack at Dodd Narrows. And you really want to make slack at Dodd Narrows.

48°53'22"N 123°23'36"W

sidney

We left Obstruction Island around 0730 to beat a minus tide. We motored through the San Juan Islands one more time. In no current, we typically motor at around 6.5 knots. Coming through the channel south of Speiden Island, we topped out at 10.5 knots. Nice to be running with a 4 knot current rather fighting against it. We've done that, too.

Coming across Haro Straight towards Sidney, we caught a nice southern breeze on the beam and reached across the strait. It was heaven not listening to the motor. We also pulled the bimini off as the weather has great. As PNW'ers, we need to break this habit of being frightened by the sun. It's not a hole in the sky or an angry god, just a star that warms things up now and again.

As this was our first time checking in to another country on our boat, we didn't really know much about what we should be doing. All the rules we read are very clear about the amount of alcohol you can carry in. Clearly, the Canadians would prefer you buy their booze at their prices. So we sadly had to dump some extra tequila and whiskey we had on board and couldn't get rid of at our going away party. We checked in at the Port of Sidney dock and then headed over to anchor in Tsehum Harbor. Tsehum Harbor is just north of Sidney and it mostly seems like a working harbor. It's not somewhere you would anchor your boat to "get away from it all". Last night, a mullet sporting dude in a dinghy roared through the entire anchorage with a stereo wailing KISS's anthem "LICK IT UP". Awesome.

We came to Sidney to get our headsail adjusted as it's a bit too long. UK/Halsey has a loft in Sidney and the guy we've been working with is there. Tim met up with us and offloaded the headsail, shortened it a hair and then returned it the next day. Since this might be the last place we'll have access to reasonably priced chandleries, we decided to take care of a few items. Tim pointed us to a place called Waypoint Marine. If you're ever in Sidney and ever need anything for your boat, please PLEASE go out of your way to see these guys. They have bent over backwards taking care of finding us a raw water strainer (ours shit the bed), a new starter battery (also shit the bed), another propane tank to BBQ hose (shit the bed after one use), a carberator rebuild kit for the outboard and various little bits of hardware. Mark offered use of his dock to bring our dinghy in to knowing that the local marina would probably tire of us when they realized we weren't spending money with them. Can't say enough about these guys. Awesome.

I can say enough about Tsehum Harbor though. We were happy to be leaving it in our wake. Sidney is great and Tsehum Harbor served it's purpose but there's more interesting places we'd rather be.

48°40'19"N 123°24'28"W