Thursday, January 15, 2009 Fort Lauderdale, Florida……Home!
I am very sorry that I have not completed the chronicles of my travels. The last month and a half of travels kind of burnt me out, and the will to write sort of went away for a while.
Pipe Dream is now tucked away for the winter at Bowen Island, British Columbia. The last couple of days of the journey down the Inland Passage went very smoothly and quickly, as we had the current pushing us for most of the day. Not far from Otter Cove was the Seymour Narrows, with the possibility of fourteen knot currents and whirlpools that have taken boats and lives. According to the charts, even ocean liners wait until slack tide to go through.
Before 1958, there was a rock in the middle of the pass called “ripple rock”. Many attempts had been made to remove the rock, and several workmen were killed in the process. The decision was made to dig a tunnel under the rock, and place a charge under it to blow it up. The explosion was the largest non-nuclear blast ever recorded, and ripple rock was blown three hundred and fifty feet into the air in the process, and the narrows are a much safer place now.
We did not have current tide charts, but there was a tug and log barge circling, waiting for the conditions necessary to go through. I was just going to hail the tug on the radio to ask for information, when he hit the throttles and took off for the pass. We followed and sped through the pass at over ten knots ground speed, with just a couple of very slight whirlpools providing a slingshot effect.
We arrived at the Union Steamship Marina late in the afternoon and tied up the boat for the last time this year. The owner of the marina met us on the dock, and I gave him a brief run through on bilges, pumps, and engine controls, so in case of emergency, he at least has seen things and will have the ability to act quickly if necessary. He and his wife then took us to dinner at their restaurant. It was the Canadian Harvest Day weekend, so I had a Thanksgiving type of meal which was the special.
Pipe Dream’s berth is quite close to the ferry dock, and every time the ferry comes, the noise that reverberates through the hull will wake the soundest of sleepers. After a night of rest, I began removing the sails and hired a helper to work with me. We folded the main and dropped the jib and folded it. The forepeak got emptied. Tyler and I worked very hard getting everything off of the boat and put in a storage facility. Scott was leaving the following afternoon, so I put the van which was lent to us by the marina into the ferry line at noon. The ferry ride over to Vancouver was very smooth, and took about twenty minutes.
I dropped Scott off at the airport in plenty of time for him to make his flight. On the way back to the boat, there were two accidents on the Lion’s Gate Bridge, so I ended up in a five hour traffic jam.
I spent the last days winterizing the boat and packing up the things which had to be shipped home. I met with the people I will be working with in spring at the boat yard, and discussed the repairs that will be done. I also tried to make the spreaders inaccessible to the large birds by tying lines in such a way that there is no room for them to land. I hope it works!
I had dinner one night with Rick and Mary aboard their boat, and we quickly became friends. They visited Bowen Island over New Years and sent me some photos of PipeDream covered in a blanket of snow. It felt kind of funny seeing her like that, and I sat down and thought about how lucky I have been.
The past year and a half, I have traveled the world and met an awful lot of very wonderful people. I can only say a heartfelt THANK YOU!!! to each and every one of you for giving me a wonderful experience. My travels will resume in February, when I return to Pipe Dream. I am looking forward to making the repairs and then resuming our cruise beginning in April.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Jeff's Log ~ Saturday, October 11th, 2008
Saturday, October 11, 2008 Otter Cove
Now don’t get confused. This is Otter Cove, not Sea Otter Cove! We followed a route down the Inland Passage with a lot of twists and turns with lots of really pretty scenery to get here. On the way, this afternoon, while I was on watch, I spotted a pod of Orcas off of our starboard bow. We turned to intercept them, and I managed to get a couple of good photos before they dove deep and disappeared. That really made the trip complete! I now have photos of bears, Humpback whales, salmon, and finally Orcas. They are quite majestic with their very large dorsal fins. They were very graceful as they surfaced and blew repeatedly within a couple of boat lengths of us.
This evening, we are anchored in a small cove that is in the middle of a logging operation. They are in the process of the cleanup phase, and there are many fires and lots of smoke in the air. The one good thing is that there are no mosquitoes or any other biting insects around. The gas grill on the stern pulpit got used to cook chicken tonight, and it was its farewell meal. I have been propping it together to cook on, and it has been having more pieces come loose every time. Tonight’s chicken was not one of it’s better jobs, so I have decided to bid it farewell and let it finish it’s days as a marine sanctuary beginning tomorrow morning. Scott is giving me his blessing to proceed with this noble duty. The air is much warmer tonight than it has been for a few days, so we are just running heat long enough to dry things up a bit before bed. Tomorrow will be the second last day of what has been a wonderful journey, and we are planning to be at another resort for dinner.
Now don’t get confused. This is Otter Cove, not Sea Otter Cove! We followed a route down the Inland Passage with a lot of twists and turns with lots of really pretty scenery to get here. On the way, this afternoon, while I was on watch, I spotted a pod of Orcas off of our starboard bow. We turned to intercept them, and I managed to get a couple of good photos before they dove deep and disappeared. That really made the trip complete! I now have photos of bears, Humpback whales, salmon, and finally Orcas. They are quite majestic with their very large dorsal fins. They were very graceful as they surfaced and blew repeatedly within a couple of boat lengths of us.
This evening, we are anchored in a small cove that is in the middle of a logging operation. They are in the process of the cleanup phase, and there are many fires and lots of smoke in the air. The one good thing is that there are no mosquitoes or any other biting insects around. The gas grill on the stern pulpit got used to cook chicken tonight, and it was its farewell meal. I have been propping it together to cook on, and it has been having more pieces come loose every time. Tonight’s chicken was not one of it’s better jobs, so I have decided to bid it farewell and let it finish it’s days as a marine sanctuary beginning tomorrow morning. Scott is giving me his blessing to proceed with this noble duty. The air is much warmer tonight than it has been for a few days, so we are just running heat long enough to dry things up a bit before bed. Tomorrow will be the second last day of what has been a wonderful journey, and we are planning to be at another resort for dinner.
Jeff's Log ~ Friday, October 10th, 2008
Friday Morning, October 10, 2008 Port Hardy, British Columbia, Canada 0229
I guess that I must have turned in a little too early last night because here it is at 0230, and I am awake and raring to go. The days are blending into each other, and time is flying by, even though it seems like it is dragging by slowly. We are now at about 160 miles from our final destination for the winter, which is in Vancouver.
We left Shear Water Marina on the eighth, at about 1000. We stopped at the fuel dock and topped off the two fuel bladders, to make sure we had enough fuel for possibly motoring all the way to Vancouver. We then continued our trip down the Inland Passage to Fish Egg Inlet. The morning weather was fine. It was possibly some of the nicest weather we have had since entering Canada. After lunch it turned stormy again, with blustery winds and hard cold rain. It was pouring as we entered Green Island cove and set the anchor. I cooked dinner of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and corn, and made a dessert of apples baked with cinnamon sticks and a crumb topping. After the cold and rainy afternoon, the food was comforting, and as the night turned totally black, we both went to bed rather early.
The fore and aft heaters still are acting up, so we warmed up the boat with only the main salon heat. It got really chilly at about 0200. I broke out my heated back massaging pad and laid on it with the heat on, and quickly fell back to sleep. We woke to clear skies and after morning coffee, pulled the anchor and got under way once again. We had about seventy miles to Port Hardy. The morning was again absolutely beautiful, as we traversed Fitzhugh Sound, and the Queen Charlotte Strait. There were storms building west of us that provided excellent sailing breeze. There was a slight problem though. In Shearwater, with high winds predicted, I had lashed the mainsail and closed the cover. In order to put the main up, I had to undo all of that. We sailed under jib alone for a while, but it was very ineffective with the wind so far behind us. I got up on the boom and began releasing the cover clips, but in the large quartering swells, I decided that it was a little too dangerous to be up there.
We poked along, until after lunch and a slight turn in our course put the seas a little more behind us. I pulled the boom to the side, stood on the dingy, and got the rest of the clips undone. There was some motivation provided by another sailboat that was closing on us from behind. When I see another sailboat, it is always a race; I don’t care where I am! Scott turned Pipe Dream into the wind, we raised the main, then resumed our course, and the other boat quickly shrank and disappeared over the transom. With the large quartering waves, the autopilot did a little too much wandering for my taste, so I drove the boat. It was good fun and a little bit of a workout, as we had twenty plus knots of breeze from directly astern and three meter quartering seas. I needed some practice driving downwind, and got it. After a while, I was confident enough to close my eyes and drive by the feel of the wind on my neck and ears. I have never been able to do that before. We picked up some kelp on the keel, and the boat slowed to fewer than ten knots, and down below it sounded like a machine gun rapping on the bottom of the hull. The turbulence caused would make the whole boat wobble as we surfed down the waves. We had to jibe in a short while, so I drove her like that to the jibe point.
Jibing is the act of taking the stern through the wind, and the main has to be swung around to the other side. Because of the kelp, we had to tack the boat around to the other board, using the engine, and allowing the boat to stop and begin moving backwards. Tacking the boat puts the bow through the wind. As we suspected, a very large bunch of kelp came off the keel. As we stated to sail, we could see that we were still dragging it, so we put the bow in the wind again, and let her back until it was clear. After getting rid of our underwater baggage, Pipe dream felt like a sports car. Our course took us to a beam reach, and the wind freshened to twenty-eight knots. It sure didn’t take long to complete the last four miles. I was a little occupied watching the course over ground instrument to avoid shallows to monitor speed, but when I did glance at it, it was twelve and a half knots. That’s Cruisin’!!! As we approached the small harbor, we sadly had to drop the main and end a very nice day of sailing, becoming a power boat again for the short trip to our dock. Port Hardy is a small resort town. The marina is quiet and the people are friendly. The restaurant is a cozy kind of place, with hockey on the TV. After having the special of ribs and chicken, and a piece of cheesecake, I called it a night. Tomorrow should be a fairly easy, short forty mile day. Our slip in Vancouver will not be available until Monday, so we will take our time finishing the journey.
Friday Night, October 10, 2008, 2100
This morning, after coffee, I was going to have breakfast up at the pub. As I stepped onto the dock, I realized that the entire dock was covered in frost. That is something that I haven’t seen in a long time. The last part of the floating dock before the ramp was extremely slippery. After the treacherous walk, the restaurant was found to be closed temporarily, so I reversed course and slipped and slid my way back to the boat for an English muffin with jelly.
The weather God smiled on us again today. We could not sail, but it was a totally clear, sunny day and the mountain tops were all covered in fresh snow as we started this morning. Visibility was at least twenty miles, and the wind was light and on the nose. As the day progressed, we watched the snow cover disappear from the lower elevations due to the warm sun. Tonight we are anchored in a place called Pott’s Lagoon. It is a very clear night, and the half moon is so bright, that I thought that maybe sunglasses would be needed to comfortably look around. There are four floating homes nearby, but only one is occupied at present. As we anchored and got settled, we observed a middle aged couple tending to their chores. It was pretty neat when we pulled up and saw the smoke coming from the chimney. Scott at first did not like the idea of anchoring in close proximity to the cabins, but after a while, he was ok with it. This place is so quiet and sheltered from the wind, that for the first time ever, we could hear a sea gull land in the water at a distance of seventy five yards. They are actually quite noisy when they take off and land. This evening’s dinner was spaghetti with meat sauce and a bottle of wine. It is tough being a pair of bachelors on a sailing adventure.
I guess that I must have turned in a little too early last night because here it is at 0230, and I am awake and raring to go. The days are blending into each other, and time is flying by, even though it seems like it is dragging by slowly. We are now at about 160 miles from our final destination for the winter, which is in Vancouver.
We left Shear Water Marina on the eighth, at about 1000. We stopped at the fuel dock and topped off the two fuel bladders, to make sure we had enough fuel for possibly motoring all the way to Vancouver. We then continued our trip down the Inland Passage to Fish Egg Inlet. The morning weather was fine. It was possibly some of the nicest weather we have had since entering Canada. After lunch it turned stormy again, with blustery winds and hard cold rain. It was pouring as we entered Green Island cove and set the anchor. I cooked dinner of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and corn, and made a dessert of apples baked with cinnamon sticks and a crumb topping. After the cold and rainy afternoon, the food was comforting, and as the night turned totally black, we both went to bed rather early.
The fore and aft heaters still are acting up, so we warmed up the boat with only the main salon heat. It got really chilly at about 0200. I broke out my heated back massaging pad and laid on it with the heat on, and quickly fell back to sleep. We woke to clear skies and after morning coffee, pulled the anchor and got under way once again. We had about seventy miles to Port Hardy. The morning was again absolutely beautiful, as we traversed Fitzhugh Sound, and the Queen Charlotte Strait. There were storms building west of us that provided excellent sailing breeze. There was a slight problem though. In Shearwater, with high winds predicted, I had lashed the mainsail and closed the cover. In order to put the main up, I had to undo all of that. We sailed under jib alone for a while, but it was very ineffective with the wind so far behind us. I got up on the boom and began releasing the cover clips, but in the large quartering swells, I decided that it was a little too dangerous to be up there.
We poked along, until after lunch and a slight turn in our course put the seas a little more behind us. I pulled the boom to the side, stood on the dingy, and got the rest of the clips undone. There was some motivation provided by another sailboat that was closing on us from behind. When I see another sailboat, it is always a race; I don’t care where I am! Scott turned Pipe Dream into the wind, we raised the main, then resumed our course, and the other boat quickly shrank and disappeared over the transom. With the large quartering waves, the autopilot did a little too much wandering for my taste, so I drove the boat. It was good fun and a little bit of a workout, as we had twenty plus knots of breeze from directly astern and three meter quartering seas. I needed some practice driving downwind, and got it. After a while, I was confident enough to close my eyes and drive by the feel of the wind on my neck and ears. I have never been able to do that before. We picked up some kelp on the keel, and the boat slowed to fewer than ten knots, and down below it sounded like a machine gun rapping on the bottom of the hull. The turbulence caused would make the whole boat wobble as we surfed down the waves. We had to jibe in a short while, so I drove her like that to the jibe point.
Jibing is the act of taking the stern through the wind, and the main has to be swung around to the other side. Because of the kelp, we had to tack the boat around to the other board, using the engine, and allowing the boat to stop and begin moving backwards. Tacking the boat puts the bow through the wind. As we suspected, a very large bunch of kelp came off the keel. As we stated to sail, we could see that we were still dragging it, so we put the bow in the wind again, and let her back until it was clear. After getting rid of our underwater baggage, Pipe dream felt like a sports car. Our course took us to a beam reach, and the wind freshened to twenty-eight knots. It sure didn’t take long to complete the last four miles. I was a little occupied watching the course over ground instrument to avoid shallows to monitor speed, but when I did glance at it, it was twelve and a half knots. That’s Cruisin’!!! As we approached the small harbor, we sadly had to drop the main and end a very nice day of sailing, becoming a power boat again for the short trip to our dock. Port Hardy is a small resort town. The marina is quiet and the people are friendly. The restaurant is a cozy kind of place, with hockey on the TV. After having the special of ribs and chicken, and a piece of cheesecake, I called it a night. Tomorrow should be a fairly easy, short forty mile day. Our slip in Vancouver will not be available until Monday, so we will take our time finishing the journey.
Friday Night, October 10, 2008, 2100
This morning, after coffee, I was going to have breakfast up at the pub. As I stepped onto the dock, I realized that the entire dock was covered in frost. That is something that I haven’t seen in a long time. The last part of the floating dock before the ramp was extremely slippery. After the treacherous walk, the restaurant was found to be closed temporarily, so I reversed course and slipped and slid my way back to the boat for an English muffin with jelly.
The weather God smiled on us again today. We could not sail, but it was a totally clear, sunny day and the mountain tops were all covered in fresh snow as we started this morning. Visibility was at least twenty miles, and the wind was light and on the nose. As the day progressed, we watched the snow cover disappear from the lower elevations due to the warm sun. Tonight we are anchored in a place called Pott’s Lagoon. It is a very clear night, and the half moon is so bright, that I thought that maybe sunglasses would be needed to comfortably look around. There are four floating homes nearby, but only one is occupied at present. As we anchored and got settled, we observed a middle aged couple tending to their chores. It was pretty neat when we pulled up and saw the smoke coming from the chimney. Scott at first did not like the idea of anchoring in close proximity to the cabins, but after a while, he was ok with it. This place is so quiet and sheltered from the wind, that for the first time ever, we could hear a sea gull land in the water at a distance of seventy five yards. They are actually quite noisy when they take off and land. This evening’s dinner was spaghetti with meat sauce and a bottle of wine. It is tough being a pair of bachelors on a sailing adventure.
Captain Scott's Log ~ Friday, October 10th, 2008
1:09 PM
Subject: Vancouver Island
3 days in Shearwater hunkered down for the "hurricane" that never even
whimpered. On the last night we had sleet and hail all night. Snow plows
were working inland. Wed I had to push on. We sailed by NAMU another old
cannery with dozens of old stately crumbling building. Like Burkedale it had
only one resident. These places were a big deal a hundred years ago. Much to
my amazement both places are on the world map that hangs on the bulkhead.
That night was in yet another perfectly sheltered cove--Green Island 51 38
5n 127 50w. Thursday we left the inside passage to sail across Queen
Charollete Strait and sail we did. 25 kts from behind got us surfing. Nearly
70 miles to the NW tip of Vancouver Island to Port Hardy, a resort. Thur and
Fri have been clear and cold. Outside temp 41 this morning at 10am. It froze
last night and there is ice on the dock.
Subject: Vancouver Island
3 days in Shearwater hunkered down for the "hurricane" that never even
whimpered. On the last night we had sleet and hail all night. Snow plows
were working inland. Wed I had to push on. We sailed by NAMU another old
cannery with dozens of old stately crumbling building. Like Burkedale it had
only one resident. These places were a big deal a hundred years ago. Much to
my amazement both places are on the world map that hangs on the bulkhead.
That night was in yet another perfectly sheltered cove--Green Island 51 38
5n 127 50w. Thursday we left the inside passage to sail across Queen
Charollete Strait and sail we did. 25 kts from behind got us surfing. Nearly
70 miles to the NW tip of Vancouver Island to Port Hardy, a resort. Thur and
Fri have been clear and cold. Outside temp 41 this morning at 10am. It froze
last night and there is ice on the dock.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Jeff's Log ~ Tuesday, October 7th, 2008
Tuesday, October 7, 2008 Shearwater Marina, Bella Bella, British Columbia
On our way from The Verny falls, we stopped at an old cannery called Butedale. The place is mostly in ruins, but there is a caretaker living there by the name of Lou. He is known as Butedale Lou. He stays there with his dog named Bert, who was born there and orphaned when he was a pup by a pack of wolves that killed the rest of his family. There is also an orange cat that looks like George, who is named Tiger.George is a lucky cat that is owned by a very dear friend of mine, Ivani. Tiger and Bert met us at the fairly solid, but rustic, floating dock. They were followed by Lou, who also came down to meet us, even though it was raining.
There were lots of interesting things to look at in the ruins. Lou took us on a little tour and told us how things were in the cannery heydays. The old power house that was a hydro-electric plant is still there, and the pipes that run down to it from the lake above still supply the stream of water which still is used to turn the old generator. The big generators no longer function, but the machinery still is used to turn an automotive alternator wit a belt driven off of the old armature. He has an inverter which supplies AC power for vcr and TV, as well as a little bit of lighting. There is a 12 volt battery bank which is charged by the alternator. That keeps the refrigeration working, as during the summer, Lou sells ice cream to his visitors. He also does painted native style carvings out of a large yellow cedar log that he drug in to shore a couple of years ago. He cuts and split’s the log himself, and makes his own finished boards from it, utilizing a hydro powered planer which is part of the old machinery. Quite a tough old fella, I must say.
He seems very happy and content, but is talking about retiring and returning to civilization, although he gets a gleam in his eye when he says that Butedale is the perfect place to live. I was impressed when we walked in to his home, and with a single wood burning stove, it was dry and very large inside. Things were kept pretty clean too. He lives in what was the mess hall. There are a couple of cabins, and during summer, he also rents rooms to fishermen and hunters. You would have to enjoy rustic living to stay there! After our tour, Lou joined us aboard Pipe Dream, and we all had a cocktail. Bert waited patiently in the cockpit for his master to finish. Lou enjoyed seeing the map of where the boat has been, and after a short while, it was time for us to leave, as we wanted to get to the next anchorage before dark. Lou gave us a hand with our lines, and we were off. We anchored in Bottleneck Cove, along with two other sailboats from Australia.
Morning found us leaving in the rain, and both of them staying, awaiting better weather. We made our course for Bella Bella, and arrived here at the shearwater Marina well before dark. The weather did deteriorate all day, and right outside the pass to Bella Bella, it was downright nasty with the cold rain being blown sideways, making the awning all but useless. My feet got cold, and I turned into a whimpering baby, and had to turn the heat on when my watch was completed. It’s amazing to me how cold feet can do that.
Shearwater has all of the proper stuff. A bar and restaurant that is pretty good, a Laundromat, and clean restrooms and showers. Hurricane winds were predicted, so we stayed an extra day. We never saw any of that wind, but I was glad for just a little time to relax ashore, with the shore power connected, and the heat on. It is nice to have a dry atmosphere for a change. As we were getting prepared to leave today, Scott noticed that the radar appeared to be cocked. The gimbaled mount that has been cracked since I got on the boat is now really cracked, and was in danger of breaking. I went up on the main halyard, and disassembled the radar antenna and removed the whole thing from the backstay. It took a while to gain access to all of the wiring, and supporting myself while not losing any of the pieces was quite a feat. I got the job completed, and now have a few aches and pains, and a stiff joint or two.
As I was putting away all of the stuff from that project, I noticed that the heat in the fore and aft cabins had quit working. The seawater pump was not running. I pulled up the necessary floor boards, and discovered a broken shaft for the impeller. I robbed the necessary parts from the used spare pump, and had that repaired by lunchtime. We chose to stay here another night, as there were still some squalls coming through from the storm that missed us. The dinner special was lamb shank with risotto, so staying the extra day turned out just fine for me.
On our way from The Verny falls, we stopped at an old cannery called Butedale. The place is mostly in ruins, but there is a caretaker living there by the name of Lou. He is known as Butedale Lou. He stays there with his dog named Bert, who was born there and orphaned when he was a pup by a pack of wolves that killed the rest of his family. There is also an orange cat that looks like George, who is named Tiger.George is a lucky cat that is owned by a very dear friend of mine, Ivani. Tiger and Bert met us at the fairly solid, but rustic, floating dock. They were followed by Lou, who also came down to meet us, even though it was raining.
There were lots of interesting things to look at in the ruins. Lou took us on a little tour and told us how things were in the cannery heydays. The old power house that was a hydro-electric plant is still there, and the pipes that run down to it from the lake above still supply the stream of water which still is used to turn the old generator. The big generators no longer function, but the machinery still is used to turn an automotive alternator wit a belt driven off of the old armature. He has an inverter which supplies AC power for vcr and TV, as well as a little bit of lighting. There is a 12 volt battery bank which is charged by the alternator. That keeps the refrigeration working, as during the summer, Lou sells ice cream to his visitors. He also does painted native style carvings out of a large yellow cedar log that he drug in to shore a couple of years ago. He cuts and split’s the log himself, and makes his own finished boards from it, utilizing a hydro powered planer which is part of the old machinery. Quite a tough old fella, I must say.
He seems very happy and content, but is talking about retiring and returning to civilization, although he gets a gleam in his eye when he says that Butedale is the perfect place to live. I was impressed when we walked in to his home, and with a single wood burning stove, it was dry and very large inside. Things were kept pretty clean too. He lives in what was the mess hall. There are a couple of cabins, and during summer, he also rents rooms to fishermen and hunters. You would have to enjoy rustic living to stay there! After our tour, Lou joined us aboard Pipe Dream, and we all had a cocktail. Bert waited patiently in the cockpit for his master to finish. Lou enjoyed seeing the map of where the boat has been, and after a short while, it was time for us to leave, as we wanted to get to the next anchorage before dark. Lou gave us a hand with our lines, and we were off. We anchored in Bottleneck Cove, along with two other sailboats from Australia.
Morning found us leaving in the rain, and both of them staying, awaiting better weather. We made our course for Bella Bella, and arrived here at the shearwater Marina well before dark. The weather did deteriorate all day, and right outside the pass to Bella Bella, it was downright nasty with the cold rain being blown sideways, making the awning all but useless. My feet got cold, and I turned into a whimpering baby, and had to turn the heat on when my watch was completed. It’s amazing to me how cold feet can do that.
Shearwater has all of the proper stuff. A bar and restaurant that is pretty good, a Laundromat, and clean restrooms and showers. Hurricane winds were predicted, so we stayed an extra day. We never saw any of that wind, but I was glad for just a little time to relax ashore, with the shore power connected, and the heat on. It is nice to have a dry atmosphere for a change. As we were getting prepared to leave today, Scott noticed that the radar appeared to be cocked. The gimbaled mount that has been cracked since I got on the boat is now really cracked, and was in danger of breaking. I went up on the main halyard, and disassembled the radar antenna and removed the whole thing from the backstay. It took a while to gain access to all of the wiring, and supporting myself while not losing any of the pieces was quite a feat. I got the job completed, and now have a few aches and pains, and a stiff joint or two.
As I was putting away all of the stuff from that project, I noticed that the heat in the fore and aft cabins had quit working. The seawater pump was not running. I pulled up the necessary floor boards, and discovered a broken shaft for the impeller. I robbed the necessary parts from the used spare pump, and had that repaired by lunchtime. We chose to stay here another night, as there were still some squalls coming through from the storm that missed us. The dinner special was lamb shank with risotto, so staying the extra day turned out just fine for me.
Captains Scott's Log ~ Tuesday, October 7th, 2008
Subject: hurricane & radar
Yesterdays hurricane amounted to 2 kts of wind gusting to 8. So today I got
the forcast in writing from the Coast Guard: "Today Tonight and Wednesday
Hurricane force wind warning in effect. Wind NW 55 to 65 kts". Its blowing 7
now so I decided to leave but noted a problem with the backstay radar mount.
The radar was tilted down 30 degrees with the front end pointing upwards. In
retrospect my first clue should have been several days ago --then I noted
something on radar approaching us very fast. I ran up on deck in time to see
the heliocopter pass. Now the radar is a hazard ready to fall on the
helmsmans head. So the morning was spent getting it down. Hope there is no
thick fog between here and Vancouver. Too late to leave so we will let this
hurricane pass and head south Wed
Yesterdays hurricane amounted to 2 kts of wind gusting to 8. So today I got
the forcast in writing from the Coast Guard: "Today Tonight and Wednesday
Hurricane force wind warning in effect. Wind NW 55 to 65 kts". Its blowing 7
now so I decided to leave but noted a problem with the backstay radar mount.
The radar was tilted down 30 degrees with the front end pointing upwards. In
retrospect my first clue should have been several days ago --then I noted
something on radar approaching us very fast. I ran up on deck in time to see
the heliocopter pass. Now the radar is a hazard ready to fall on the
helmsmans head. So the morning was spent getting it down. Hope there is no
thick fog between here and Vancouver. Too late to leave so we will let this
hurricane pass and head south Wed
Jeff's Log ~ Friday, October 3rd, 2008
Friday, October 3,2008 53 23.82N 129 17.20W, Otter Shoal, British Columbia, Canada
Yesterday, we just beat the high winds and most of the rain across Dixon Entrance, to our anchorage Kumealon Inlet. We did have to anchor three times because the anchor drug in the high winds. The third time proved to be the charm, and we stayed firmly anchored until morning. After a dinner of chicken with mushroom gravy, it was lights out.
Today, we slept in a little bit, and were under way by about 0900. The weather today was delightful, with partly cloudy skies, and light wind and the usual current on the nose. We anchored in a beautiful spot called Nettle Basin for lunch. It was a terrific anchorage right in front of Verney Waterfall. The waterfall is at the end of the river, and the river apparently breeds biting flies which drove us away after lunch. When we pulled into the cove, there were a lot of bubbles in the water. As we got closer to the falls, we encountered what at first appeared to be floating ice. On closer inspection, it was foam from the waterfall. Quite an interesting phenomenon, heh? We were wondering if maybe that had something to do with the flies.
At any rate, we headed back out into the channel, and traveled for another three and a half hours south to Otter Shoal, which is a fairly open spot, but fairly calm today. A south east blow would not be good, but I don’t think we need to worry about that tonight. We haven’t seen any otters, but we did hear the call of loons which is pretty neat. Tonight is a very simple dinner. We are making hot dogs and pork n beans. I’m going to have mine with relish, sour kraut, ketchup and mustard. It will be an early start tomorrow, so I will turn in early tonight. This is not really an exciting part of the journey is it!
Yesterday, we just beat the high winds and most of the rain across Dixon Entrance, to our anchorage Kumealon Inlet. We did have to anchor three times because the anchor drug in the high winds. The third time proved to be the charm, and we stayed firmly anchored until morning. After a dinner of chicken with mushroom gravy, it was lights out.
Today, we slept in a little bit, and were under way by about 0900. The weather today was delightful, with partly cloudy skies, and light wind and the usual current on the nose. We anchored in a beautiful spot called Nettle Basin for lunch. It was a terrific anchorage right in front of Verney Waterfall. The waterfall is at the end of the river, and the river apparently breeds biting flies which drove us away after lunch. When we pulled into the cove, there were a lot of bubbles in the water. As we got closer to the falls, we encountered what at first appeared to be floating ice. On closer inspection, it was foam from the waterfall. Quite an interesting phenomenon, heh? We were wondering if maybe that had something to do with the flies.
At any rate, we headed back out into the channel, and traveled for another three and a half hours south to Otter Shoal, which is a fairly open spot, but fairly calm today. A south east blow would not be good, but I don’t think we need to worry about that tonight. We haven’t seen any otters, but we did hear the call of loons which is pretty neat. Tonight is a very simple dinner. We are making hot dogs and pork n beans. I’m going to have mine with relish, sour kraut, ketchup and mustard. It will be an early start tomorrow, so I will turn in early tonight. This is not really an exciting part of the journey is it!
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