The Evolution of the Sailing Plans

Like all good sailing plans, they're written in sand at low tide.  We looked at the weather again while in Gibsons and decided that Sunday would be a good day to push north instead of sailing to Nanaimo.  After a few days of kids running around the anchorage at Plunper Cove, and wake from passing boats, we wanted somewhere quieter.  So we slipped the mooring and headed out into the strait.  The forecast was for 10-15 knots NW and we planned to tack our way north.  The predicted current was supposed to be against us.  We sailed north with 2 knots of current with us in a 8-10 knots of SSW winds, so much for forecasts!  We managed about 2 hours sailing before the wind dropped out completely.  When we got into Pender Harbour, we decided to see if we could get space at Fishermans Wharf in Madeira Park.  We called the office and Robin, the wharfinger, who was in Vancouver, checked his cameras and there was actually room for us.  We tied up, found the local prawn boat and bought a lb. of fresh prawns for supper.  I made a pasta with cream sauce and it was incredible.  Nothing beats fresh!  Met a few people on the docks; Lynn and Caroline on a Nordhaven 35 from Olympia WA named "Encore", and Fri, a local who works tugs and fish boats.  He has a 1965 Bill Tripp designed and one-off built yacht that he lives on in the harbour.  Interesting people!

After a couple of nights at the dock, we'd replenished the food we'd used and set off north, bound for Squirrel Cove on Cortez Is.  We had 8-10 knots of WNW winds so we tacked our way north.  We set a track and when we got to a mile either side, we tacked.  Lovely sailing day!  We chased down another yacht ahead of us and passed them just before Grief point.  I do get a bit competitive when there's another sailboat around of similar size.  As per usual, the wind died after Grief Point and we motored the rest of the way to Squirrel Cove.  There was only 6-7 boats there including us so lots of room and very quiet.  Had a nice walk from the dock at the Squirrel Cove store and a nice kayak tour around the around the cove.  I've been working all the while we've been out.  I generally work mornings and take time in the afternoon to experience where we are.  So far it's working out well with our StarLink system.  We turn it off when we don't need it and that has let us re-charge the batteries only using solar so far, except of course if we forget to turn the solar back on after we've been motoring.  I found out after a lot of digging around the internet, that with smart regulators, once the batteries are charged and on float, if the smart regulator sees higher voltage, i.e. from solar charging, it will shut off the alternator and we lose the tachometer.  We've been having this issue for years, but it was only when I updated the charging system last year I ran across an article that laid all this out.  I ended up installing a simple high voltage on/off switch on the solar output and everything is working as it should now.

 

Cygnet in Squirrel Cove

What once was Marilyn's Salmon many years ago - Squirrel Cove Cortez Island

We caught with Lynn and Caroline on Encore while in Squirrel Cove and had a wonderful appie hour with them.,  They are heading to Alaska, retracing a trip that Lynn took as a much younger man with his brother.  They travel around 3 hour a day from anchorage to anchorage and are very practical and patient boaters  I hope that we run into them again, they have a great life story.

We left Squirrel Cove on Friday and headed over to Refuge Cove to do laundry and fill up the diesel tank.  It was very quiet there, not surprising as it's still early in the season.  Had time to talk to a few people, have a shower and top off the water tanks.  They now ask for a donation for the water as they provide filtered water and the donations go to offset the cost of the filters, fair enough!  We caught up with the gent who looks after the garbage barge in the summer.  Rules have changed for him and now all that he collects has to go to Comox, 35 nautical miles south.  I expect garbage prices are going to go up to cover the cost of fuel. 

We left after lunch and headed towards Tekern Arm.  We had never been up to look at the waterfall and the winds were favourable, not too much chop in the bay.  You have to stern tie as it's quit steep to shore so I pulled out our stern-tie line on a reel and rigged it up.  From start to finish, anchoring and stern tie, it was about 50 minutes.  A significant improvement on past efforts.  I think the last time we stern tied was a  couple of years ago and it took almost 2 hours by the time I got the line untangled, found a suitable tree, etc.  Not our favourite way to tie up for the night but as it turned out we kept the boat head to wind all night so all good.  While there was a good bit of chop running into the arm, we were well anchored and had a reasonable night.  We've had the opportunity to try out the redesign of the stem fitting and raised furler, work that was done during the deck repair over the winter.  It works beautifully.  The anchor clears the furler, is easy to get down, and equally easy too retrieve.  We had a bit of an issue when I first tried to bring some anchor chain in the first time we used the new system.  The chain stripper on the windlass was out of alignment, ok bent, by me, when I was taking the anchor gypsy off to take with me to buy new chain in December.  Quickly fixed and all good.

Tekern Arm Subset - Desolation Sound

We left just before noon the next day to make our way through Hole in the Wall and onto the Octopus Islands.  There was not a lot of current running at Hole in the Wall and we figured on getting there just past the max ebb which was supposed to be around 3.6 knots (going with us).  Not enough wind to sail, again, so motoring we went.  No issues through the pass, quick, but no whirlpools o standing waves.  Very uneventful, just the way we like it.  We anchored just outside the marine park and here we'll stay for probably a week.

Summer 2023 - From Frantic to Semi-Relaxed

 We arrived back from New Zealand on May 3rd after a solid 24 hours of travel and a 5 hour (and a day) time change.  The jet lag set in for a few days but the clock was ticking.  Cathy had a doctors appointment in Vancouver on May 16th so we decided to sail over rather than take the ferry for the day.  The other driver for all of this was to try and get out our marina berth before the middle of the month.  Our plan was to leave May 13th, go part-way and then head to Vancouver on the 14th.  We had a lot to do and only around 8 days to get it all done.  We hadn't completely put Cygnet back together after the work on the decks before we left for NZ, so there were a few chores to get knocked off.  We also had to try and re-configure our storage.  The goal is to be away until mid September and our friends Jan and Tony are joining us from NZ June 18 for 7 weeks as we head up to the central coast.  So we needed more space.  So Cathy and I did a major purge of the lockers on board and I practiced my tetris skills to cram as much of the "extra" stuff we normally carry but need very rarely, into our storage lockers on land.  I also built shelves in the aft hanging locker an a new shelf for the Sailrite to live.  We moved stuff around, found some more hiding holes, and then went on a shopping spree at Costco and The Superstore to both re-provision and get as much dry goods on board as possible before we left.  On top of all this, I finished my end of the probate for my dads estate and that is all now fully settled.  

So with a few days to go, out sailing friends here (Bert and Carey - SV Natasha) were going out for the weekend.  We moved our departure up a day to the 12th to meet up with them in Poets Cove on South Pender Island.  We did manage to leave on the 12th, which was a Friday btw, but we decided that we were not beginning our voyage on Friday, we were just heading out to meet up with friends, after all, it's bad luck to start a voyage on a Friday!  We ended p motoring over to Poets Cove in very light winds and got a slip for the night.

Sunset from Poets Cove Marina

We left together with Natasha as Bert was going to get some pictures of Cygnet under sail, something we don't actually have after nearly 10 years of owning her.  Bert got some great pics as we sailed to weather in 8-12 knots.  We tacked out up to Montague Harbour on Galiano Island and I think the motor ran for less than 30 minutes total, a very nice day sailing.  Just I was picking up the mooring, I started getting texts, that I completely ignored, being a little busy at the time.  When we got settled, the text was from our friends David and Linda who we shared a lot of adventures with as we crossed the Pacific ocean in 2008.  They were anchored in Montague in their, new to them, Mirage 33 "Almost Home".  We have a strange connection between the 4 of us.  When we were about halfway across the Pacific in 2008, our ham radio died.  We had left with them from Manzanillo Mexico and agreed that should either of need aid, the other would answer the call.  On our last check-in to the Pacific Seafarers radio net before the radio gave up, I gave David and Linda on SV Toketie out Lat and Long, told them we were heaving to and hoped to see them in the morning.  David had a true "Master and Commander" moment and come morning, when I stuck my head out the hatch, here was Toketie, less than 5 miles away.  I wondered why they hadn't hailed us on our VHF, then realized I forgot to turn it on.  Now roll forward to spring of 2014.  Cathy and I had moved back to BC from Ontario in January and were stopped in traffic on the highway into Victoria waiting to turn left at the lights.  We look to our left, and there's David and Linda, sitting in their car right next to us!  I don't know how, or why, but karmically, we are connected somehow in this universe!  If you want to read about David and Linda's adventures on Toketie as they cruised the South Pacific, check out Davids book on Amazon "LIVING THE DREAM: Toketie in the South Pacific (2006 - 2012) - David Allen.

Cygnet Under Sail!

The next day, we let go the mooring just before 09:00 and motored out to Porlier Pass.  We had the last of the current with us as we shot out the pass and into the Strait of Georgia.  The wind settled in nicely and we had a lovely sail right to English Bay.  This is the first time Cygnet has been back in Vancouver since we left October 30, 2021 to head to Nanaimo to look after my dad.  We sorted ourselves out at Fishermans Wharf in False Creek and settled in for a few days.  

Bell Bouy at the Entrance to English Bay

We left Wednesday morning bound for Plumper Cove Marine park off Gibsons Landing, just north of Bowen Island.  No wind unfortunately but it was still a wonderful day.  The move from frantic to semi-relaxed was well under way by this point.  This is a nice little marine park, a bit on the bouncy side with wake from passing boats but it doesn't bother us.  Lots of places to walk on Keats Island, and Gibsons Landing is a short dingy ride across Shoal Channel.  The folks at the Harbour Authority office are truely  wonderful and welcoming.  We always let them know when we come in by dinghy, and they appreciate it.  You get 4 hours free with your dinghy btw, more then enough time to have lunch, got for walk and enjoy life in this beautiful town on the Sunshine Coast.  We're going to hang out here until Monday and then sail over to Nanaimo, weather permitting.  The plan is to then sail back across the strait later in the week to Pender Harbour.  We are in a pattern of northerlies just now so instead of tacking slowly up the coast we're taking essentially two VERY long tacks to get to more north.  We have the time!

NZ North Island Adventures

We headed to Auckland on Good Friday from Omori.  We drove up the west side of Lake Taupo and ended up on the old Taupo road as we wound are way around to State Highway 1, the main route into Auckland.  When I say wound around, I really mean it.  It was an adventurous drive with lots of tight corners, blind hills, and generally a typical NZ road.  When we joined State Hwy 1, I was glad to be heading into Auckland as the traffic leaving was jammed for more than 100 km.  We had a brief lunch with our friends Tony and Helen and met their new grand daughter Indi.  Great to see new mom Sarah and dad Jens looking so happy.  We left mid-afternoon and headed on to catch the car ferry to Waiheke Island to spend some time with our friends Pip and John.  We had a lovely 12 days on the island, chilling, walking dogs on the beach, trying new wineries and whisky distilleries, and generally enjoying a quiet pace of life.

Whisky on Waiheke

View from Stony Batter WW2 Gun Emplacement

Whanau on the Beach

Onetangi Beach, Waiheke Island NZ

After 12 lovely days on Waiheke it was once again time to move on and head back to Auckland to meet up once again with our friends Tony and Helen and head up to Helen's family Bach (cottage) north of Whangarei.  Swimming in the sea every day (hypodermic every time), walks on the beach, and again, just chilling with good friends.  The Bach has been in Helen's family for over 50 years and is very simple, a couple of bedrooms, a common room with a small kitchen, couch and chairs. They had some erosion damage from Cyclone Gabriel but not as bad as further south in Hawks Bay thankfully.

Misty Morning at the Bach

The BACH!

After the Bach, we started back south again to eventually get back to Wellington where our flight back to Canada would start.  In the meantime we had a brief treat in a thermal suite at a hotel in Taupo where we had our own hot pool in a private courtyard off our room.  We filled it from the thermal spring running on the property and we could have it as hot as we could stand.  One plunge in the evening when we arrived and another first thing in the morning before we left.  

After Taupo, we headed back to Palmerston North for a few more days with Penny and Spencer.  Had a great "goodbye" dinner with their son Harry and his partner Jenna as they prepared to head off the UK for a few years or so. 

We said our final goodbyes and headed back to Wellington to spend a few more days with Jan and Tony on Alishan.  Managed to get caught up with their son Hayden and daughter Chrissy and their respective families while we were there.  Great to see the grand-kids again, they grow up so fast when you only see them every 5 years or so!  Managed to get a day fishing with Tony and his friend Richard before we left and I landed a 4.5 kg snapper!  The biggest fish I've ever caught.  Between the 3 of us we landed a lot of good eating fish!

A surprise red snapper

After a few short days that went by way to fast, we came to travel day.  We ended up with a 24 hour day of travel, arriving at Wellington Airport around 2:00 pm May 3rd (7:00 pm BC time on May 2nd) and arriving back in Sidney, on Cygnet at 7:00 pm May 3rd.  Thankfully our friend Bert was waiting for us at the ferry dock in Sidney and drove us home. 

Starting Out from Wellington NZ

On the Ferry from Vancouver - A little worse for wear!