Chronicle III

Chronicle III
June 21, 2007 Day 25

I do believe this is the Summer Solstice, or something near to it, and here we are in the Far North: latitude: 49 degrees, 40.977 minutes N, longitude: 123 degrees, 24.181 minutes W. You no doubt immediately recognized that position as slip #57 on C dock at Canoe Cove Marina just north of Sidney, BC…about 20 miles north and west of where we were on Day 3. I’m sure there is a story here. Does the fact that this marina is the home of Blackline Marine, the sailboat-rigging component of Canoe Cove Marina and Boatyard give you a clue?

For years, we have defined cruising as “boat repairs in remote places”. We’re going to revise our definition. Times change. “Boat repairs wherever you can find them.” Thank you, boat-repair gods

From our wet-but-nice moorage at Page Point in Ladysmith, Windwalker transited Dodd Narrows once again on June 11th and we tied up at the Nanaimo Yacht Club for Doug’s trek back to Bainbridge via BC Greyhound, the Victoria Clipper, Washington State Ferries, and Kitsap Transit. The “procedure” at Virginia Mason was minimally invasive. (No stitches…’probably could have waited until October). On Wednesday, Doug reversed the transportation order, with Joan and Richard filling in for Kitsap Transit, and cleared Customs with a new regulator in his backpack. On the way North, our engine tachometer had been going wiggy-wiggy, rollicking between 0 and 1800. It was not having fun. A phone call to Mark-the-Engine-Man caused us to order a replacement regulator, which Karl ferried over to Bainbridge and handed off to Doug.

Thursday morning Doug installed the new regulator, tested it’s lights and settings, we topped off our fuel tanks at the gas dock, and pointed Windwalker’s bow toward the Straits of Georgia. Crossing the Straits is the first “marker” on this trip. One look at our still-rollicking tac, and we altered course for the Nanaimo Yacht Club. The tac was still not having fun. The crew, ditto.

A phone call to John Wilton, Windwalker’s good friend on Bainbridge, gave us a starting point for solving the problem. Another phone call to the Harbor Chandler, and Dieter Reeh, a retired marine electrician, appeared. After some trouble-shooting, Doug and Dieter headed out to buy many, many feet of wire. The next day, they bought an oil-sending switch and, finally, a $5.00 in-line fuse and fuse holder, which solved the problem. Dieter was apologetic, but we were delighted to have a happy tac. He put everything back together and left. Doug did some more clean up and turned the key. The engine started, but we had no tac and no alternator output. We were no longer delighted. Check all the systems. Leave messages for Dieter. The next morning, Doug checked the brand new in-line fuse. He replaced it. Dieter called (good timing), and we were able to report that all was well.

Did I mention that it POURED on Saturday morning? Not a notable event, except that it was the start of The Van Isle 360, an around-Vancouver-Island sailboat race that is held every two years. Friday night, we had walked to the boat basin to view the 40-some entrants at the docks, flying their colors. Among them was a sister ship to Windwalker, as well as Icon, a large dark-hulled sloop that is owned by Barbara Robbins’s brother. (At least, we think he still owns it…) At 1030 hours, these sleek vessels were off in a drenching rain with about five knots of wind. Not an auspicious start, but such is the nature of sailing, racing or cruising.

We spent Saturday evening swapping boating stories with Sharon (a retired special ed teacher) and Dick on board Bankruptcy (we didn’t ask), a Catalina 36 out of Anacortes.

Sunday morning Windwalker SAILED across the Straits of Georgia! That is what she does, you know. And she does it very well. At Pender Harbor, (are you tired of hearing that these are all favorite places?) we tied up to the public dock and went for a walk in the spiffy tiny town of Madeira, When we returned to the boat, we noticed fluid dripping down Windwalker’s stern from one of her two hydraulic backstay adjusters.

Have you seen the movie Ground Hog Day? Windwalker keeps seeing Nanaimo and Dodd Narrows over and over again. Her fourth transit through the Narrows early on Tuesday was the beginning of a sunny day of motoring through the Gulf Islands (SOUTH!!!) to Canoe Cove. Brent, an-Authorized- Navtec-Technician quickly measured Windwalker’s leaking cylinder, made a call to the mainland to order parts, and assured us we would be good to go on Wednesday afternoon. As it turns out, Blackline is the largest rigging shop on the west coast. Windwalker was in good hands.

Dinner that night was at the Stone House Pub. ‘Beautiful old house, lovely English gardens, good beer, cheerful waiter, and an interminable wait for our overcooked and incorrect (anyone can confuse chicken with lamb) dinners. The waiter brought a second order of fish, which did not resemble shoe leather, and they “comped” our dinner, but we are not longing to return, which is just as well, since we had to give Blackline Marine more that $1.29.

Sometimes a Girl Just Has to Accessorize….

Brent installed the rebuilt backstay cylinders right on schedule, and we asked if he had time to go up the mast to inspect our steaming light which had ceased working for the third time. That was a mistake. Windwalker started fantasizing about other accessories.

If we had been paying attention, we would have noticed her trying to twist around to admire her shiny black backstay cylinders. When she heard “steaming light that works” she started daydreaming. How charming she would look with a bright steaming light AND a new main halyard! Dare she mention it? The old wire-to-rope halyard had a checkered history (which, of course, had cost money) with Port Townsend rigging. Windwalker was embarrassed by it, it didn’t run through the sheave at the top of the mast easily, and Doug cursed the shackle each time we (he) hoisted the mainsail. A day and a boat-unit or two later, and Windwalker could hardly stand herself: correctly wired steaming and deck lights, rebuilt backstay cylinders, AND an exquisite 10 mm Dyneema Braid (dark) Green with a Wichard 1495 10mm Captive Thimble. The best!

Deciding that we did not want to subject ourselves to Dodd Narrows again, we transited Active Pass at slack water, and sailed up the Straits of Georgia, anchoring at Buccaneer Bay. Saturday afternoon we tied up (again) at the public wharf at Madeira Park. We were sitting in the cockpit early in the afternoon, when a sailboat came in and circled around the crowded docks. “Do you want to raft up?” “No, we’re just searching for an internet connection.” A sign of the times. (Later that night, our computer found a connection wandering free, and we checked e-mails.)

Heard on our VHF radio the same afternoon: All stations, all stations, all stations,. This is Comox Coast Guard Radio, Comox Coast Guard Radio. A Golden Retriever has been rescued in Malaspina Straits. If you are missing your Golden Retriever, please contact this station. Comox out.

We anchored the next night in Squirrel Cove in Desolation Sound and THEN….(drum roll here)…. Yuculta and Dent Rapids. We have navigated these once before, but it was still a mighty effort to make sure we did all the calculations correctly. You have to go through Yuculta about an hour before slack water because Dent “turns” 35 minutes before Yuculta and they are about two miles apart. Coming east, we won’t have the problem. Windwalker was very excited, and pleased that we had read and checked everything so carefully.

Wildlife Report: Do nine eagles circling overhead while were transiting the rapids qualify as report material? ‘The best we can do so far. We spent the night in Chameleon Harbor on Sonora Island and, after listening to a benign weather forecast in the morning, headed out into the Johnston Straits.

Weather: The usual summer weather patterns are high weather systems coming down across the Queen Charlotte Islands, bringing sunshine and with northerly winds rising in the mid-afternoon. We’re assuming that Coastal BC used more than its share of highs in 2006 and is not going to get any in 2007. Or maybe it’s just early.....