After some final cleaning/packing, we left the dock around 9:45 am. On board were Captain Speck, Admiral Brewer, Nick and myself. As a result of our desire to get sailing, we almost immediately put up the mailsail and the unfurled a handful of genoa.
Sailing 101: You can’t sail straight up wind...
So we quickly realized we’d just have to wait to “get our sail on,” dropped both sails and and continued motoring along with the diesel. Even if the wind was cooperating, the sun was shining and we were all excited to be underway. Plus, conditions were good for motoring with small swell and relatively smooth going.
HOWEVER, when it comes to traveling across water, sailing is far superior to motoring (in my humble opinion anyways) and here’s why:
Reason #1: Water/wind noises >>>> Engine noise
Reason #2: Free (aka no gas consumption)
Reason #3: No/less boat vibration (see below)
Reminded me of that scene in Jurassic Park with the cup of water + dino footsteps.
As we putted along at 6 knots, pretty soon Vancouver was almost out of sight.
The Captain wanted to cover as much distance the first day as we could, as he said the first days of trips are typically the hardest. Much of the route we covered that day was the same as our earlier Princess Louisa trip.
Welcome Pass, NW of Sechelt, BC
Welcome Pass, NW of Sechelt, BC
Welcome Pass, NW of Sechelt, BC
Oh, as a random aside, don’t be surprised to see a lot of panorama shots like the one above. I just got a new Sony H55 point/shoot camera before this trip which has a pretty nifty panorama setting where you just pan the camera and it captures/stitches the image for you (subtle plug for Sony; please send advertising $). So, being as it’s brand new to me and I’m all overly excited about it, I’ll likely use it far too often, and you’ll all get absurdly sick of them. But hang with me. It’s a phase and I’m sure I’ll get over it soon enough. *end random aside*
As we were happily moving along, we started looking for projects. My grandfather always had his “10 minute projects” for my sister and I to work on whenever we visited his cottage in northern Michigan. These “10 minute projects” routinely turned into “10 hour” if not “multiple day” projects, much to our dismay. Some of tasks of the boat have have been known to go that way in the past. However, so far they haven’t been bad at all. Nick and I decided to get the two brass winches a good polish.
I’m always amazed at how much of a difference a little polish + elbow grease can make.
I also spent 20 minutes “whipping” the end of a line to keep it from fraying. Process basically involves winding thread around the end, using a nifty little loop tactic to tie it off, then melting the thread to make a smooth tip.
This one turned out pretty well if I don’t say so myself.
One unexpected project that turned up was the hot water system springing a leak and blasting water all over the saloon. I had JUST laid down to finally take a nap (we have a watch system and it was my turn to go below and relax) when we heard a strange hissing noise and see water spraying everywhere.
Turns out one of the hoses and blown. Gerry and I attacked it with some new tubing and clamps.
I didn’t get my nap...but this was almost as good.
We continued motoring for about 12 hours in total, finally arriving at Westview Harbor, just south of Powell River, BC.
Westview Harbor, BC
We were all pretty exhausted (me in particular from my lack nap) so we had a late dinner and decided to call it a day. Nick, Gerry and I did wander through “downtown Westview” before having a beer on deck and turning in. Tiring but satisfying 1st day.
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