Sailing and my iPhone

I have to admit that it is easy to get spoiled with an iPhone on board. I have instant access to current weather without having to listen to the complete marine radio forecast. I have an app that gives me real time wind reports; another that will give real time and predicted tide and currents. In some cases they don't quite match with the official tide charts but it is handy when you need info in a hurry. Of course it also allows me to do real time updates on the blog, vs having to wait to get to a wifi location. 

There is also the side benefit of being able to resolve a crew debate quickly - today's burning question was: where did captain Bligh make landfall after he was cast adrift from the Bounty?

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Regards,

 Bruce Warren  P. Eng

Day 3- post script

The crew did get dessert , not fancy but it was getting late: apple slices warmed in butter with lemon juice and brown sugar on yogurt. 

Longest day so far: 42 hard earned miles

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Regards,

 Bruce Warren  P. Eng

End of travel day 3

We arrived at False Bay on Lasquiti island at about 17:00- after long day of beating to wind, covered 43 miles, longest so far.

Photo 1 is Andy off duty mid- Georgia straight and photo 2 is looking westward from our anchorage today.

Dinner: used up beef while it was still ok to make stir fry with rice , salad. Will do some fried apples and yogurt for desert soon as I put my feet up for a bit.

Over and out.

Day 3- near noon position

15 kts on the nose beating our way to False Bay on Lasquiti island.

Travel day 2: hammond bay

We anchored in Hammond bay near Nanaimo at 18:00. The photos are of Shack island. The history of this goes back to the Depression when workers from coal mines squatted here. The people twisted development and now can keep their buildings in the family but cannot rebuild. Google shack island BC for more history.

No drama today ( that is good thing). My epoxy putty seems to have made a solid temporary fix for the chart plotter Mount.
Dinner tonight was canned chilli with pasta, cut up tomatoes, feta and olives with bread. Fast but filling.

LAst post was cut short. The island photo is of Entrance Island light House.
Over and out.

Position update 16:15

We were enjoying the sun and gentle downwind sailing and decided to carry on. I

' noon position'

We got up to Porlier pass in time to go through on the turn to flood, we had 2 kts.with us and it was uneventfull. Currently going 4 kts downwind in Georgia straight in 7 kts wind. 

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Regards,

 Bruce Warren  P. Eng

Trincamolli

Sailing downwind in 12kts.
Happy crew and repaired mount for chart plotter - casuality from yesterday during a gyb

Official day 1 on the water

We had 8- 16 knots and made good time until the 40% showers turned into a downpour. 

We bailed out on a mooring bouy at montigue marine park. 

We rowed ashore for a walk about and sunny sky's along the beach. It was very low tide do we were able to walk most of the on the beach. 

Back to tatoosh for crab cakes, poached cod, steamed potatoes and salad. 

Tomorrow we are aiming to go through Gabriola pass and anchor on east side of pass. 

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Regards,

 Bruce Warren  P. Eng

Fwd: Post script

1- ( DONE BY ANDY) notice the fancy table setting, including paper towel/napkins in shape of sailboat, and the centre piece.
2- new moon today and very high tide- dock walkway is almost horizontal.
Sent from my iPhone

Fwd: Update- starter

Repaired starter arrived this aft. And installed in record time - I have had enough practise.

Is there a curse on E dock? I have had a bit of a running joke with George as to which of us would get away first. George was off this morning so I conceded defeat ; he returned within the hour with a broken heat exchanger. We helped him into a slip and he will now be waiting for a replacement after the long weekend. Baring any further disasters we should be off in the morning.

OTHER NEWS:

1- we chatted with a guy today from Piers island. ( the one near Schwartz bay that the tide was dragging us to yesterday) who said they were up all night keeping a cougar away from their horses. Apparently they swim to islands after the deer.

2- we spent our idle time well. Andy re- did a splice on one of the bumpers and I had Richard help me go up the mast for inspection and to clean moss from the spreader.
3- for those of you wanting menu details, last night we had ' one pan meat paddies' > meat, onions, carrots and potatoes cooked in covered fry pan. Today we had ham and omelettes for brunch. Dinner will be salad, pork chops, spiced rice.

4 the 2 stove top espresso machine can't keep up with coffee demand. Tomorrow I am going to do an experiment with using espresso ground coffee( that is all we have) in a stove top perculator. It will be like cowboy coffee, Italian style, I expect.


Sent from my iPhone

Tatoosh under tow

Away but back again

We got away from E dock at noon but are now back at E dock, trip mileage today: 2 miles , one out and one back!

The summary for today, with all expletives deleted:

1. stowed all fresh food and off dock at 12:00
2. traversing the ferry lane/approach to the terminal
3. loud, strange sound from engine
4. shut off engine
5. raise sails to get to open water to troubleshoot
6. wind is light and swirling, i.e. not coming from consistent direction
7. cannot get boat moving
8. tide current is pushing us towards an island
9. large ferry is coming into terminal, we are in its path
10. large ferry gives us 5 horn blasts: nautical equivalent to "what the F#$% are you doing??"
11. try engine again: even worse
12. call marina for tow boat
13. tow back to E dock
14. George ( the guy i helped earlier in the week) finds mechanic on another boat who comes over
15. he confirms that the new starter is being engaged by the fly wheel; probably due to missing spacer at base of starter. Good news is that problem is not major issue with engine itself.
16. missing spacer is still attached to old starter; when I got new starter I wasn't told i'd need the old spacer ( new starter is different from old starter)
17. new starter removed ( yes I was back in the engine room)
18. new starter now at motor shop who will tell us tomorrow if it needs repair

So, we may be leaving tomorrow, or if not fixed tomorrow (Friday, ) then after long weekend.

Something else I have to check: appears that updates I am sending from my iPhone are not getting up on the blog....

New starter

Shiny starter arrived ahead of schedule. Harder to get in than it was to get out- plus I had to do it twice! The new flange is slightly thinner than the old one and I ran out threads and could not tighten the bolts properly - off then put in washer: spacer and all is good now. engine even started!

All done at 18:00 so we abandoned the cooking plan and are headed to the pup.

Meanwhile I am still trying to get straight after a few hours in the engine room.

Over and out.

away from E dock(?)

We were on track to leave today but discovered problem with starter last night when doing walk- through with the crew. 

Located a replacement which should arrive this afternoon. If it works we will be away sometime tomorrow after we get the fresh provisions. 

Yesterday we got all of the canned/ non perishable stuff. 

Mares' tails in the sky which is consistent with rain forecast in the offing. 

Plan is to be in position to make early morning slack at Porlier pass either Friday or Saturday. 

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Regards,

 Bruce Warren  P. Eng

July Trip Countdown

I arrived at Tatoosh early this morning ( meaning I left Calgary even EARLIER!).

Task 1 was to get the dinghy ready to deflat and rollup for the 'new owner' [ I had sold this via UsedVictoria and a few emails & phone calls].

In order to do that, I had to get the Pudgy launched[ both dinghy's were on the foredeck and there was no room to work]. doing that single-handled was not easy, but I did it so obvious it is 'doable'.

Buyer arrived on time, cash was exchanged and Tatoosh looks less crowded and I have one less dinghy to worry about!

Tomorrow morning the guy who is buying the outboard arrives and more cash will be exchanged... I hope.

I am too tired ( up before 04:00) to do anything usefull this evening, so whatever I had planned is now on tomorrow's list.

PS: spent a couple of hours helping George ( Surf Scoot circa 1929 wooden boat) fix some electrical issues ( i.e. he had NO electricity). Seems like my engineering 'book  learn'n" comes in handy occasionally. At any rate his boat is now ready to go ( he has to be away by 25th) and his wife is happier now that they have power on board.

I didn't get around to taking the bus into Sidney for groceries, so I ate at the Café.

Countdown:
1) Sunday is 'sell the motor day' and finalize shopping list
2) Monday is ' meet with sailmaker' to install revised foresail and then go out for testing with the sailmaker, go to Thriftys and buy meat so it can be hard frozen in their freezer.
3) Tuesday Richard arrives ( Andy ? or ?)
4) Wednesday Andy arrives , finish shopping , stow food  away or away thursday
5) thursday: adventure begins

Regards,

 Bruce Warren  P. Eng

Finally - sea trials

I finally got away from the dock today to test the new sail ( and to get away from the TODO list for a bit).

There may need to be an adjustment in the sail ( or it may be 'operator error'). I'll talk to the sailmaker when I get back.  It appears that the configuration is such that I am not able to flatten the foot of the sail properly ( the 'car' is at the end of the track and there is no more adjustment possible).  This was in a bout 8 knots of wind, and will only get worse in larger winds. If it can't be fixed, it will mean having to reef the foresail earlier than needed....  but i may be completely out  to lunch, so lets see what UK sails has to say.

The pudgy tows well. I have yet to put up the sail on the pudgy. I think part of me is putting it off to when I have regained some flexibility ( from my back and shoulder that are still giving me a problem).

I had intended to anchor off of Russell Island ( outside of entrance to Fulford harbout on Saltspring, but there already some boats in the small anchorage and i didn't feel comfortable trying to squeeze in. I ended up at Otter bay, but rather than anchoring as I usually do , I went to the marina ( to give my shoulder a break from having to deal with the anchor chain). My solo docking went without a hitch.

I've added a better photo of the newly 'tung oiled' hatch board. Looks pretty now, but will be interested to see what 6 months of winter weather does to it.

Wood work

I had to strip down the hatch boards and the frame around the companion way. Rather than revarnishing I am using pureTung oil.
Tung oil is made from a nut ( similar to walnut oil) and is non/toxic. If you are interested in details of its properties and uses you can google " real milk paint" and go to their web site ( based in Merrit b.c. ).

I have just finished the 5th coat and the wood seems saturated, for now at least. I may try another coat or two after the July trip up north.

I wasn't clever enough to get a 'before ' photo before I removed the old finish. However I will get an after photo tomorrow.