We managed to get Cygnet hauled out at noon July 6 to fix
the problem with the cutless bearing and overhaul the kiwi-prop. The prop came off easily, the old cutless
bearing came out easily, the old set screws came out easily, then I started
drilling through the strut to add a couple of additional set screws to secure
the new cutless bearing. The strut is ¼”
stainless and it took some time to get through, going slowly, lots of
lubrication, etc. All good, got the holes drilled. Next came the tapping. While the work at this point had taken about
an hour, tapping the 2 new holes took the next three hours. I’d been waiting for something to go sideways
(there’s always something right?), and it did when the tap broke inside the
second new hole. Lots of cursing and
numerous broken drill bits later, I got that sorted out and finally got the new
bearing in and secured. This time it’s
not going anywhere! The next day was
planned for overhaul of the Kiwiprop. The
new blades and new rollers all went on perfectly and after greasing everything
up, the prop was like new. That went
well so I got on to the last job, installed new skin fittings for the bilge
pumps and shower pump. Got all this
finished so got back in the water early on the 8th. The pitch on the new blades had been set by
KiwiProp in NZ before they sent them and should have let the engine max out at
3000 rpm at full throttle. Of course,
the only way to test this is in the water.
When we were heading back to the marina on the 8th, we got
the engine up to temp and then slowly increased revs. Unfortunately, the pitch is not quite right
and we maxed out at 3300. Oh well. I
either dive and adjust the pitch, do a quick slip, or wait until next
year.
This brings us to our current trip. We left Sidney July 22nd for a no
specific destination cruise. We had a
great sail up to Montague and hung out there for a few days. Left there and headed to Clam Bay. Ended up having an impromptu race with a
C&C 35 (Revelry) into Clam Bay. We
started half a mile or so behind them and after a pretty good tacking duel,
ended up about 4 boat lengths back when we got into Clam Bay. Next we headed up to Nanaimo to Newcastle
Island. Picked up a mooring for a few
nights while I worked. When we left
Sidney, I thought I was on the tail end of a summer cold, I wasn’t. Cathy ended up getting it and by the time we
got to Namaimo, we were both coughing and dealing with the joys of whatever was
going around. I did test for COVID
numerous times and always negative, so we dodged that anyways. Our friend Bert Vermeer and his granddaughter
Natasha showed up a few days later in Nanaimo.
We caught up with them, went out to the Dinghy Dock pub for dinner, and
ended up giving Bert and Natasha our cold, damm! We
left Nanaimo on the Friday before the long weekend and headed north. We weren’t sure if we were going to go to Lasqueti
Island or Tribune Bay on Hornby. The
forecast was for NW winds, so Tribune Bay it was. We had never anchored there so weren’t sure
what to expect. It was busy but lots of
room and we anchored quite far out. This
has one of the best beaches on coast! Had
a great walk exploring the next day before we once again decided to move
on. We both still felt like crap but
seemed to be getting better. Our next
stop was Drew Harbour on Quadra Island (Rebecca Spit). It was a long motor north. We had hoped sail at least half way but the
winds died out earlier than predicted.
We tacked north for about 2 hours and motored the rest of the way. The water in both Tribune Bay and Drew Harbour
was warm enough for us to have saltwater baths.
Now back to the Kiwiprop. I
figured I could adjust it in the water, I only have to tweak the screws about
an 1/8 – 1/4 turn. I was on the tail end
of the cold (finally) in Drew Harbour but still didn’t feel up to the repeated
dives. Next was Octopus Islands. Lovely spot with water temps about 14-15C, so
no pitch adjustment there. Maybe as we
move south in a few days we’ll find the ideal spot to sort this out, you never
know.
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Rebecca Spit - Drew Harbour Quadra Island
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Octopus Islands Reflections
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Newton Lake - Quadra Island
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A Walk in the Woods
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Friends...
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| Octopus Islands Early Morning |
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We set out Sunday from Octopus Islands to head for Gorge Harbour on Cortez Is. After transiting Beazly Passage and Surge Narrows, we had enough to sail so decided to head south to Comox. We sailed about half way until the wind died. Had a good 2 1/2 hours with the Asymmetrical before the winds went too light. Ended up anchoring in Roystan Anchorage across the harbour from Comox. Lovely spot. Had a wonderful meetup with local paddle boarder who used Cygnet as backdrop for a sunset picture. Tomorrow is laundry day and other chores before we head further south.
